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Mine are set pretty loose. If I drop the bait and let it hit the ground, it will over-run by quite a bit. I set the brakes, either magnetic or centrifugal, so that the line on the spool does not "fluff" up in the middle of the cast. I set the tension control by loosening it up far enough to allow some side to side movement of the spool, then tighten it down just until the side to side movement is gone, then go one click further. From there, it's all about the thumb. Excpet when facing into the wind. Then I'll tighten it up a bit. Cheers, GK

Thanks so much, Tommy for posting that. I grew up watching Red, and I still miss him.

A hula grub ( double-tailed, skirted grub ) became one of my go-to baits once I started fishing it on a jighead, instead of t-rigging it. I use Tru Tungsten's Iaconelli jighead, for the 4" and 5" GYCB grubs. I aslo got a few *** from a buddy to try. I'll be ordering some more of these from *** soon. T-rigged, the hula grub was a hit or miss bait for me; mostly missed. One the Ike's jighead, it's top producer. I almost always have one rod rigged with this. Fish it the same places and the same way you would fish a t-rigged worm or craw. I think the key to this bait is getting enough weight in front of it. It has quite a bit of resistance, so the fall is slow compared to say a worm with the same weight. A pegged t-rig might work as well as the jighead, if you get enough weight on it. Cheers, GK

sounds like you've got it dialed in perfectly.

A man is at work one day when he notices that his co-worker is wearing an earring. This man knows his co-worker to be a normally conservative fellow, and is curious about his sudden change in 'fashion sense.' The man walks up to him and says, 'I didn't know you were into earrings.' 'Don't make it such a big deal, it's only an earring,' he replies sheepishly. His friend falls silent for a few minutes, but then his curiosity prods him to say, 'So, how long have you been wearing one?' 'Ever since my wife found it in my truck.'

The Berkley spooling station is good for baitcasters, but has the spool oriented wrong for spinning reels. To spool up a spinning reel 1 run the line through all the guides 2 tie the line to the spool using an arbor knot 3 lay the spool flat on the floor under the tip of the rod, holding the rod parallel to the floor 4 keeping tension on the line with your fingers, make about ten cranks 5 drop the rod tip towards the floor. if the line twists up when you drop the tip, flip the spool over. 6 finish filling the reel up, stopping about 1/8" from the lip. 7 spray down the line on the spool with KVD line conditioner 8 allow to dry overnight 9 go fishin Cheers, GK

Hey Burley, THANKS A BUNCH, ARSEWIPE. ;D ;D ;D ;D I could have gone all year without seeing that

Doc Rodgers and the Rock Dodger

Not an old wive's tale, RW. Bourbon is, by legal definition, distilled from corn mash, and aged in charred oak barrels. If it's not made from corn, and aged in charred oak, it ain't boubon.

Good question; I've been pondering that one myself. My thoughts on this are related to last year's experience with the Swim Senko. I started out fishing the Swin Senko on a 7' MH, fast action rod. The same type of rod most of us use for soft plastics. I missed a lot of fish with this rig. I started using a softer tipped rod, specifically a Setyr 6'6" M spinnerbait model. This rod has a very soft tip, but transitions into backbone rather quickly. I'd call it a fast, or even extra-fast action. This solved the problem. This rod is the one I used for the rest of the year for Swim Senkos, and is going to be the first one I use for the swim tube type baits. Seems to be a very similar application. I have a bunch of Shadalicious and Money Minnows, in several sizes up to 6". Looking forward to giving them a shot. I can't seem to find any of the weighted hooks to rig them on. BPS at St Charles can't keep them in stock, and none of the local tackle shops have them. Anybody have a source for these? Cheers, GK

Hi Mike. Yes, I mean the drum. That's probably a better term than race. I don't think you can compare your truck's brakes to the brakes in your reel. The truck's brakes are designed to stop the truck. The reel's brakes are designed to control spool rotation at high speeds, not to stop it. Same name: brakes, two entirely different functions. I know that at this point, my reels cast better, and are much quieter. The question that remains is, how long will this last. Am I good to go for the whole season, are am I going to be required to clean and re-apply the grease frequently. If that's the case, I'll be reconsidering this technique. Cheers, GK

You got it. the same grease I use on the gears.

Absolutely. You can't be runnin around with an STX on a custom stick, and call yourself low budget anything. ;D ;D ;D

Last year when I cleaned and lubed all my reels, I paid particular attention to the centrifugal brakes on my Quantum PT's. Taking advice from a friend, I made sure that the brake blocks and the race the bolcks ride on were as clean as I could get them. What happened after that was all five of these reels were much noisier on the cast. The performance did not seem to be affected, but it was hard to tell that. There had been an entire winter between uses, making it difficult to make a comparison. This year, when I cleaned and lubed all the reels, I took two PT's, and greased the brake races liberally. I did two because I have two PT770's, one PT760, and two PT640. I greased the brakes race on one ot the 770's and one of the 640's, so I could do a side by side comparison. The two 770's were spooled with 10lb test Vanish, and the two 640's were spooled with 12lb test XL. There was quite difference. The two reels with greased races were much quieter on the cast. They also had a couple more notches of usable adjustment on the brakes. And I was able to reduce the braking by one notch over the ungreased reels, and achieved better casting distance. I threw the same baits with each pair, and even switched rods between pairs to even out the comparison. The results were clear. The reels with greased brake races outperformed the clean ones. Needless to say, all five of these reels now have greased brake races, and all are smooth, quiet, and perform better than they did last year. None of them are as quiet on the cast as my Daiwa reels with magnetic brakes, but that stands to reason. There is no physical contact in a magnetic braking system to produce the noise. I don't know if this would apply to any other reels with centrifugal brakes, but it might be worth your time to do the experiment. If I had a Shimano, I'd certainly give it a shot. It made a world of difference on these reels with the ACS centrifugal braking system. Cheers, GK

Gentleman Jack Daniel Bushmills Black Label and a new favorite, Bernheim Wheat Whiskey modified to add I drink "em just like they make "em. No water, no ice, and for darn sure no friggin soda pop

I gave my new Revo STX it's first try on the water this weekend. Put it my Avid 6'8" MXF, loaded it up with 10lb test flouro, rigged up a senko, and went fishin'. All I can say is, SCHWEEEEEEET. I can easily see myself replacing all my other reels with these. I'm seriously considering giving your phone number to my wife, so she can give you a piece of her mind after I buy a few more. ;D ;D ;D ;D Thanks again, Glenn. It was unexpected, totally unnecessary, and thoroughly appreciated. Cheers, GK

"I HATE MY JOB" DAY: When you have an "I Hate My Job" day, try this: On your way home from work, stop at your pharmacy and go to the thermometer section and purchase a rectal thermometer made by Johnson & Johnson. Be very sure you get this brand. When you get home, lock your doors, draw the curtains and disconnect the phone so you will not be disturbed. Change into very comfortable clothing and sit in your favorite chair, open the package and remove the thermometer. Now, carefully place it on a table or a surface so that it will not become chipped or broken. Now the fun part begins. Take out the literature and read it carefully. You will notice that in small print there is a statement, "Every rectal thermometer made by Johnson & Johnson is personally tested". Now, close your eyes and repeat out loud five times, "I am so glad I do not work in thermometer quality control at Johnson & Johnson." HAVE A NICE DAY AND REMEMBER, THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEONE ELSE WITH A JOB THAT IS WORSE THAN YOURS!!!

I like Big Game. It's cheap. I use it for backing on all my reels.

poppy seed celery seed sesame seed probably sesame

What a trip!!! I won't say it as well as some of the others, but here's my fifth of a dimes worth. Thanks to Glenn and Keri for everything you two did to make this such a success. You did your selves proud. Guntersville State Park was an excellent choice. Thanks to all the sponsors who really stepped up to the plate. Thanks to Alpster for everything he did to make this happen. Ronnie is truly one of those special human beings. I'm glad to have finally met you. To electrikal; thanks Rick, it was a pleasure. I'd fish with you again, anytime. You need something, let me know. If I can do it, I will. To Senko77; Ryan, it was a treat to meet you. Folks, this is an excellent young man. To RW; Kent, it was a tough day we had on the water, not many fish, two frozen *****, and a new friend. I'm calling it a success. There were a lot of people I didn't get to spend as much time with as I wanted. We got in late on Sunday, and left first thing Thursday morning. We just ran out of week. To Blaine and wife, AJ, CJ, Carl, Wayne, MHMike, and Gene, I'll do better next time, I promise. I really wanted to sit down with all you guys, and just didn't get the chance. Long Mike and I planned to fish together one day, and it didn't happen. It will next time. Thanks to everybody for making me, and Mary, feel like part of the family. It was awesome. Se you all next year. VIVA, Kentucky Cheers, GK

One of the first things I did after making it home late Saturday night, was put some line on this thing, and go backyard casting. What a sweet reel, and an awesome gift from Glenn. This was totally unexpected, and absolutely not necessary, but he did it anyway. Thank you, Glenn. I'll put it to good use. I'll be able to give you all a review once I've caught a couple of fish with it. Cheers, GK

Right in the middle of Illinois, everything I've seen is ice free.

AH, that's good. Let's hope everybody else comes up with the same answer. I've been trying to stay away from this thread; it's driving me crazy. No fishing for me this year. Except for my trip to Florida in January, it's been a long dry spell. Cabin fever has really gotten me down this year. The anticipation of this trip has, I believe, made it that much worse. And now, it's almost here. Got the rod tube packed. Got the reel case loaded. Got the tackle sorted, and packed in the bags. Got most of the kitchen supplies packed. Just have to buy some food, pack some clothes, load up the jeep, and hit the road first thing Sunday morning. I'm looking forward to meeting all you folks; whoever decides to show up. It's more than a little disapointing that so many signed on and then dropped off the radar. It's also a bummer that so many had to drop out, for whatever reasons. Looking forward to wetting a line with some of you too. The only down side I see is I'm only there until Thursday morning, and I won't be able to fish with everybody. There's always next year. Now, let's go catch some fish.

Once you get the brakes set for your thumb, you can pretty much leave it alone. Use the spool tension adjustment for changing bait weights. Quick and easy.

I have an iron with a tag on the cord which reads "DO NOT IRON CLOTHES WHILE WEARING THEM" What freaking idiot tried this?