.ghoti.

Cabela's Guide Wear for cool to cold weather, and Frogg Toggs for warm weather. I've found that I need both. I get overheated wearing Guide Wear in warm weather. A word of warning about Frogg Toggs. If you're going to order online, go somewhere and try on a set first. They run quite a bit bigger than "real" sizes. Cheers, GK

I've tried every version of a spinnerbait box I could find, and I've tried making my own. For my money, the Falcon is the best I've used so far. I carry two of them, and none of my other baits are as easy to access as these.

Come to think of it, it's the four reels I have left that aren't metal frames that give me the trouble. I have two old TD2HI's and two even older Quantum EX500's. I don't know why I still fiddle with them. I don't use "em that much, but they still work good. I mostly use them for striper fishing. One lake about 60 miles away has hybrids, and one about 30 miles away has pure stripers. You need a lot of line for those brutes, and these four reels hold a lot more line than all my newer ones. Again, Dave, thanks for the insight. Cheers, GK

Buy or borrow a dial caliper, millimeter scal, and measure them. Most bearing dimension are given as: inside diameter X outside diameter X thickness PM ReelMech, he can give you the best advice. And, probably get you the parts. I know he can do the work for you. Cheers, GK

I've been doing my own reel servicing for about 15 years or so. Mainly because I couldn't afford to send them all off, or the reels were so cheap it made no sense to mess with them. Now I can afford it, but I now almost know how to do it right the first time. I said almost. I've made most of the mistakes one can make. I'm sure I'll make a few more. I have no problems with spinning reels. But baitcasters still give me problems. That's why I leave the old line on them until I'm done. Then I take "em out in the yard, and make a few casts. About one out every six will have to get torn down and re-assembled because it just doesn't sound right or feel right. What you may want to keep in mind is that ReelMech offers a discount to members of Bass Resource on reel service. Check out his website. You may just save yourself some grief by using him to do your reel servicing. A lot of folks here send their reels to him, and they all make very positive comments on his work. I've never seen a negative comment about him at all. That's almost unheard of these days. Cheers, GK

First, you need to tear the reel down and clean out all the old lube, dirt and grunge. Grease on the gears and oil on the rest, and not too much. If you've never done this, make sure you have the schematic handy. You'll probably need it to get it all back together. Lay out all the parts in order as you take them off, so you reverse to put them all back. If you screw it up, and can't get it back together properly, you'll have to send it off, and they will usually charge extra for working on a reel in that condition. Think of it as a nuisance tax or a "you shoulda sent it to me in the first place" charge. Good luck. Anybody can do this, but, it takes somebody like ReelMech, with years of experience, to do it right the first time, every time. Cheers, GK

Muddy, they will also sell parts to you, so keep the schematic that came with your reels, so you can get the correct part number. Without the part number you are glued, screwed and tattoed because they will not look it up for you. I've had no problems at all ordering parts from BPS. I've even ordered Quantum parts from them. I've never ordered any from Cabela's, so I can't comment. Cheers, GK

I had the store manager in the Gander Mountain in Peoria tell me the same thing. Most of the Guide rods are made by St Croix, and the lifetime warrant an extra ten or fifteen bucks. The rods felt like a great deal for the money. At least in the store they did. The only reason I didn't get any was because I was on a self-imposed rod/reel buying hiatus. Cheers, GK

Good advice from Muddy Man. The reel is probably as goos as can be had for 60 bucks. You may take a look at BPS extreme rods. A lot of them are on sale right now, which makes them a lot of bang for the buck. For a few more bucks, RW's suggestion is a great buy. I think you're going to have a problem fishing for panfish with either setup. They will be good for bass, but quite a bit too powerful for panfish. But, that's just my opinion. Cheers, GK

I'd do just as RW suggested, except, replace the trap with an X-Rap, or the jerkbait of your choice. I'm in central Illinois too, the water's still a bit on the cool side, and the jerkbait bite has been decent the last couple of times I've been out. Went out this morning before coming to school. Got 3 on a spinnerbait, worked in a slow yo-yo, and 2 on an X-Rap, worked with long pauses. Good luck, GK

Quote "Now that I think about it - It makes perfect sense" It does now for me too. The two places I fish the most have fairly clear water for most of the year. This could explain why I have little success with painted blades. Thanks everybody for the info. I can now make more room in my spinnerbait boxes by removing all the painted blade baits. I'll stick them in a small box to save for dirty water trips. Cheers, GK

Outstanding!! You will never regret this. I've been a professor for quite a while now, so if you ever need any advice, I'm just a PM away. I'd happy to help in any way I can. Cheers, GK

John the farmer was in the fertilized egg business. He had several hundred young layers (hens), called "pullets" and eight or ten roosters, whose job as to fertilize the eggs. The farmer kept records and any rooster that didn't perform went into the soup pot and was replaced. That took an awful lot of his time so he bought a set of tiny bells and attached them to his roosters. Each bell had a different tone so John could tell from a distance, which rooster was performing. Now he could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report simply by listening to the bells. The farmer's favorite rooster was old Butch, and a very fine specimen he was, too. But on this particular morning John noticed old Butch's bell hadn't rung at all! John went to investigate. The other roosters were chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing. The pullets, hearing the roosters coming, would run for cover. But to Farmer John's amazement, Butch had his bell in his beak, so it couldn't ring. He'd sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the next one. John was so proud of Butch, he entered him in the Boone County Fair and Butch became an overnight sensation among the judges. The result...The judges gave Butch two awards. Care to guess what the awards were? the first was this is sick don't shoot me “The No Bell Piece Prize” and the second award was this is worse please “The Pullet surprise” Cheers, GK

Happy birthday, Nathan. You're almost half my age. Cheers, GK

Good, too for active crappie. Cast it out, count it down and crank it in. Sometimes a lift and drop retrieve works too.

Hey Chris, Thanks for the tips. I need the help in this department. I just can't ever seem to get a good fish pic. I'll be experimenting with your concepts. I've never tried the fill flash in daylight. Sounds good. Don't know if either of my cameras have a saturation feature, but I'll be digging into the manuals before the next trip. Thank you for taking the time. Cheers, GK

WHAT ARE CAPS????? We call "em hats around these parts.

Yes, please Gary Kilmartin ( ghoti)

Dodgeguy, thanks for the correction. For some dumb arse reason I had a picture of my JM reel in mind when i was typing my reply. Cheers, GK

The centrifugal brakes control spool speed at the beginning of the cast when rotation is the fastest. As the spool slows, the effect of the brakes is reduced. By about halfway through the cast, the centrifugal brakes are doing nothing. The cast control knob, the one by the crank, applies friction during the entire cast. Start off with four brakes on. They're on when in the out position. Space them equally. I've always been told to space the brakes evenly, but I'm not sure that it really makes much difference. Adjust the cast control knob by first loosening it enough that you can wiggle the spool back and forth with your thumb. Slowly tighten the knob while wiggling the spool. Stop when it will no longer move sideways. Now tighten it just a tiny bit more. Make a very gentle cast, using your thumb on the spool. If it seems too loose tighten the knob a tiny bit more. Repeat, making very small adjustments, until you get it where you like it. Leave it like that for a while. Once you get used to this, you can try going down to three brakes, or even less. Practice is the key to success. By this time next year you'll be casting like an old pro. Cheers, GK

Some of the tip-tops can be removed by heating, then pulling straight off. I've also replace a couple by cutting the rod just below the tip. Then glue on a new one. Fuji make a tip replacement kit with several sizes of tip and the glue to put it on with. It rather resembles hot melt glue. It's easy to do. Cheers, GK

I'll have whatever he was having.

Every flouro line I've used has this tendency. I still use it for plastics, jigs and jerkbaits because I'm willing to put up with this problem in exchange for the extra density. Besides, I never get backlashes. ;D Right. If you buy that one, I have some ocean front property for sale here in Illinois. All you have to do is pick out your backlashes gently. If you put a kink in it, it is weaker, without a doubt. Cheers, GK

Ga Farmpond, my suggestion would be either heavier line, like some 10lb test, or a light wire hook. In my experience, 8lb test has just too much stretch to set a big hook. Cheers, GK

Lake of the Woods, last August: big, black Senko's and Dingers were the ticket. Let "em sink on the outside edge of the weeds, and don't let the fish run with them. They will swallow a senko, so set the hook quick. You can get the hook out their gut with the In Fisherman method, but you will get bloody doing it. It WILL be your blood. Trust me on that. Cheers, GK