.ghoti.

ME too!!

I've been in the habit for a long time now, of tearing down every new reel I get, cleaning and re-lubing, before I ever use it. Started that after getting Shimano that turned out to be totally dry inside. No grease on the gears, and no oil in the bearings. And, some of these set in storage for quite a while. A good cleaning is recommended. By me, anyway. As far as intervals go, I do it whenever I think they need it. My main baitcasters will get done every winter, and at least once during the fishing season; sometimes twice. My spinning reels only get it during the winter. I don't use them nearly as often. I recently tried out Reel Butter oil and grease. I can't tell any difference between the oil and the Daiwa oil I've been using for a long time. But I can easily feel the difference between the Reel Butter grease and the el cheapo Zebco grease that I've been using. I've only used the stuff once, on five baitcasters that sat out all day in the rain. One of them was making some noise, so I decided to clean them all. Turned out the problem was not dirty or unlubed, but a bad spool tension shim. But there was a noticeable difference in the feel of the reels during cranking that could only have come from the change of grease. I've done all my reels now, using Reel Butter grease, and every one feels smoother on the crank. Having said that, I really think that regular cleaning and re-lubing is more important that what brand of lube you're using. Some of the oils now available are promoted as be able to increase casting performance. Those are for the most part lower viscosity products, which will require shorter intervals between servicings. Rocket fuel oil comes to mind. I don't care for it. If you're using that stuff, you'll know when it's time to service the reel. It will start singing to you. Seemed to me that about 4 or 5 days of hard use would sling all the oil out of the spool bearings, and they would start to get noisy. Who wants to clean and re-lube every 4 or 5 days? Not me. So, grease on the gears, oil on the rest; do it often, and that new reel will perform like a new reel for many years to come. And don't try it without the schematic. Hang on, Reel Mechanic will be along shortly to give you the professional opinion. If he disagrees with something I've said, listen to him. He's been doing this a long time. Cheers, GK

For some reason, I don't think E=MD2 comes out right.

I use 10lb test for crankin, and tried out three this year, after using Trilene XL for ever. I tried Trilene XT, Vanish clear flouro and Sufix Elite. Here's how I'd compare the four. Handling; Xl is the limpest, easiest handling line, period. Sufix Elite was a close second. The other two were not close. Visibility; Vanish Flouro was best, Elite a very close second, the other two were OK Abrasion resistance; XT was the best, Vanish and Elite about the same, XL the worst. Knots; I use the SD jam knot for cranks, and these lines all did just fine with that knot. Sufix Elite is what's on my crank rods now. The qualities I want most in a crankbait line are easy handling for long casts, and no coiling on the pause; and low visibility. Cheers, GK

Team Daiwa Light & Tough rods are hard to beat in this price range. I have two, and one of those 85 million modulus Johnny Morris rods. The L&T's are just as sensitive, and are lighter. The JM has better guides. The reel seats are a toss up; I like both. The L&T cork grips seem to fit my hand better than the JM. The L&T's are IM6, ?? modulus. The JM's are 85 million modulus; IM-who knows what, and who cares. Those ratings are basically meaningless when comparing rods from two different makers. I'm starting to think they are basically meaningless, period. Bottom line; if those were the two rods I had to choose from, I'd buy the L&T's Cheers, GK

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html check this out. A different picture every day. A lot of pic's from Hubble and Chandra show up here.

Now if somebody will make a donut flavored jighead, we'll be set.

Unscramble The Code letters: O-N-A-M-I-H-S ;D ;D ;D ;D

Cool. I had one of those when I was a kid. The right collector will give you a lot more than 50 bucks for it if it's in the condition it appears to be. Don't use it!! Cheers, GK

A special thanks go to you and Zel for all the work you guys did on this project. It's awesome that some OUR guys over there got a shirt. I've worn mine twice, and it gets comments every place I go. Mostly "what the heck is a mook?" I even had one lady, she was somewhere around 60 years old, want to know where she could buy one. I almost gave her your name, Muddy. Common sense came to your rescue. Cheers, and thanks, GK

4bizz, you might look into some heat-shrink tubing. If it's a casting rod, you should be able to find some that will slip over the guides, and still shrink down to fit to the threads. I don't think you'll find any that will do that for a spinning rod. You're not gonna be able to buy just one piece, so you'll have enough to last for several years cause you'll be cutting it off to get the reel off for service. Cheers, GK

I bought several packs, and probably won't be buying any more. They're OK on a drop shot rig, which I don't use often. Too small to be a substitute for a fluke, and a dink magnet on a jighead. Like Munkin said, nothin special about these. I'm a GYCB fan, but these don't cut the mustard. Cheers, GK

Good one, Dom. ;D ;D ;D

Glad this came up. I intended to post about this, and forgot. I've been using Daiwa oil. I have several tubes of it; enough to last for a few more years. And I've been using el cheapo Zebco grease. The stuff that comes in a small accordian looking tube. I also bought Hot Sauce oil and grease for the PT reels that I own. I was out of the cheap grease, and while at BPS I picked up some Reel Butter grease, and decided what the heck, and got the oil too. Took it home and promptly forgot I had it. On my last trip to Trophy Country, ( I need to put up a post about that trip; it was awesome ) all my most used reels sat out in the rain all one day, and part of the next. I decided to clean and re-lube after their soaking, and remembered the Reel Butter. I don't know if the Reel Butter oil is any better than the Daiwa or Hot Sauce oils. No real difference in casting. I can't feel any difference, and there hasn't been enough use on the reels to tell about longevity. But the grease; wow. The Reel Butter grease is so much better than what I've been using that it's hard to believe. Every reel I've used this in has turned out much smoother than before. My Millionaire reels are much smoother cranking. The Johnny Morris reel is much smoother cranking. And yes, even the PT reels that used to have Hot Sauce in them are smoother, just not as much difference. That little tube of grease was, I think about 8 bucks. A little pricy, but it should last quite a while. A little goes a long way. I'm impressed with the grease. Check it out, you may be also. Cheers, GK

T-rig, it sinks at about one foot every two seconds. The color that works best for me looks like a shad. Sorry, don't know the official name for that color, but every one I have looks more or less natural. The two places I fish most have fairly clear water, so I don't buy many unusual colors in hard baits. If it doesn't look like a shad, bass, bluegill or crappie, I don't buy it. Cheers, GK

I should have said; keep that mono line out of the light. flouro is supposed to be unaffected by UV light. The co-polymer lines? Play it safe and store it in the dark.

Good tip. I've been buying the 1000 yard spools, and end up buying more before the season is over. I need to step up to the big 3000's, and save some more cash. Good tip too from links_man2; keep that line out of the light. It will last a lot longer. Cheers, GK

I just celebrated my 30th anniversary, October 22, 1977. Never lie! If you don't know what to say, have nothing to say or you are already in a hole... Say NOTHING... Go to bed. : Good advice right there. Oh, and happy anniversary. old man. ;D ;D Cheers, GK

Absolutely useless in dirty water.

;D ;D ;D ;D

I bought half a dozen of them. I've had the best success fishing them like a senko. Cast, let it hit the bottom, twitch it up off the bottom, let it sink. Very slow fishing, and not much good in any kind of cover. This bait will not deflect off anything. You get it in the weeds or wood, and it will be hung up. Good fall bait for fishing outside the cover. Cheers, GK

Just what the world nees; another expensive GYCB bait. Where can I get "em?

It is ALL about the fun. For this year, the Swim Senko has been one of the fun lures since SOMEBODY here convinced me to fish this thing weightless. I got half a dozen packs of GYCB Kreatures to try, but haven't yet. You want some fun? try these. http://www.flyshack.com/DisplayItem.aspx?ItemID=22294 Fish these on a spinning rod. Once they get wet, you can cast them quite well on light line. A split shot will get them deeper, but the fun is in the barely sub-surface strike. Bass try to kill these things. Cheers, GK

Mike, you're right on the money. When I was a kid, only Dick Tracy had one of these gizmos. Now everybody has one, and you wanna type on it? With yer thumbs? What's next, bring back the freeakin Pony Express for cryin out loud?

It's been a long, long time since I did any HVAC, but I'd say replace the thermocouple first. If that doesn't do it, call a qualified tech. Cheers, GK