NCLifetimer

I'm right handed, cast with my right hand then switch hands and reel with my right hand. I think it feels the most natural to me because I played baseball for so long. The finally motion after full extensions when throwing a baseball(and your right handed) is to bring your left arm into your body( similar to a hook setting motion) and move your right arm forward(casting motion). Its very awkward for me to try and set a hook with my right hand/arm, as it is to reel with my left hand. I can cast ok on my left hand thou. As others have stated, its just personal preference.

I've been disassembling some of my reels recently. I've run into two problems. First, what is the best way to remove shields from bearings? I'm having a heck of a time getting them off. I'm guessing their is a tool/method for this? Secondly, on a Abu Garcia SilverMax, am I suppose to be able to remove the pin(picture below) that is to the right of the spool bearing? I would like to get the bearing off to clean it properly, but I can't manage to remove the pin and I'm hesitant to use more force then I currently am. Thanks, Chris

I've used Hi Seas flouro in the past and use hi seas copolymer on one of my reels. Main reason i bought it initially was to support a small local bait shop, and it turned out to be good line. The flouro preformed excellently, but not any better than trilene 100%, and trilene is a little cheaper where i shop. The copolymer is preforming well. Both lines have little memory and great strength in my experience.

Ya that's true, and what i currently do when I manually bilge out the boat. I would still like to get a pump that remove water as much as possible. Whats in you boat and how low does the water get until the bilge starts sucking air?

Which brand of bilge pump will remove water to the lowest level? I'm not sure if one brand quits removing water when the level is 3/4" high around the pump verse another that removes water down to a 1/8" level? It will be going in a john boat, and when I stand up on the boat the water gets evenly distributed. Each 1/4" of water in the boat seems to equate to several gallons, so i would like to turn the pump on and off as infrequently as possible.I'll probably get either a 500 or 750 gph pump. I've used JB weld for all the leaks i can identify, but it still fills up enough to be annoying to manually bilge when fishing. Thank, Chris

I have reels with all three possibility(magnetic, cent and mag¢). I personally prefer cent to magnetic. The one reel with cent and magnetic(lews tournament pro) the magnetic brake is almost turned all the way off. Cent. seems to preform better for me in the wind. Most high end reels(expensive) seem to have cent. braking on them, I guess that could indicate that cent. is better than magnetic? My magnetic reel does preform better throwing 5/8oz lipless crankbaits a long way. The cent brake slows the reel down to much at the high RPM's that are reached. The cent. brake works better for lighter (1/2oz and under) or heavier lures that are "bulky" like crankbaits.

I second the L&L conditiioner. I use the ardent brand and it makes a huge difference considering how cheap each application is. As for line/braid, use what you like. I used spiderwire for several years before going to all flourocarbon. I rarely use braid now, but if it works for you that's all that matters. "better" is a subjective term anyways in this context.

I use rod covers on my more expensive rods, I'll probably buy them for all my rods eventually. I have both stick jacket and rod glove, rod glove is a little looser then stick jacket but stays on fine. I see no distinguishing difference, in the future I'll buy the cheaper one. When transporting, I rigged a foam insert rod holder to the top of my SUV. The rods hang horizontally and don't bend like they use to when I put them over the back seats into the trunk. I usually transport the rods without lures, I'll leave the texas rig hook attached to the reel thou. Hanging rods vertically or horizonally is better then leaning against a wall when not in use when possible, as mentioned above..

I also use nail clippers, only thing it doesn't effortless is braided line, just have to pull on braid for it to cut.

I fill my baitcasters before spooling. Definitely saves money. Im using a cheap spool of 8lb right now, when i run out ill buy 12 or 15lb. Filler line size doesn't really matter, I don't plan on every getting to the filler. If its the same price i'll buy a slightly heavier line. How much depends on the spool capacity and what im doing with the reel. I fill most spools with about 50-60 yards of flouro on top of the filler and leave about 1/8" of spool unfilled.

What gloves does everyone use in the winter to fish? Without a full thumb preferably, I don't want to cut up a good pair of gloves unless i have to.

+1 more to that. Fished on a family farm pond for 10 years before I caught one over 3 pounds. Today between me and a friend we caught a 7,6,5 and a 4 lbs and about a dozen other fish. In my experience, ponds with both shallow water and deep water that aren't completely clear cut along with sides hold big bass.

As others have said, profit is the reason behind cheap hooks. Owner and Gamakatsu both make good replacement hooks that I've found sharper then most factory hooks. Buying a slightly more expensive bait with better hooks is preferred atleast by some, me included. I personally like the hooks that are on Rapala lures and the lures in general, atleast the ones that are on the squarebill cranks and the deeper ones. Not as good as expensive replacement hooks, but still good IMO. Some of the Rapala lures aren't worth their weigh in scrap metal, but a certain crank bait series I've found at my local shop has served me well.

Shore fishing on large lakes or smaller ponds/lakes? If on large lakes, I would throw crankbaits and rattle traps so you can cover alot of water. If pond fishing, either crankbaits or plastics fished slow, that's how I catch most of the fish in the winter. That's down south of course(north carolina). I haven't fished up north, but i would image if its cold that plastics/jigs fished sloooowwwww would be best.

Culprit and Deep Creek. If you've never tried any deep creek lures I would pick up a pack if you ever see them.

If she only made a comment then don't worry about it. If she takes your fishing expenses personally and is trying to control you, then that is another story. You be the judge. I'm in college too, and a girlfriend would be nice, but I think I've subconsciously put that on hold until i save enough for a bass boat haha. As far as justifying expenses, well you aren't married so I won't worry about that. If you want to humor her or feel the need to, I think the spreadsheet is a good idea. If you spend more on her then fishing stuff then you can mathematically prove she's #1 and make her feel special. If you spend more on fishing stuff, then find a different approach haha.

So we can see about how big most people's personal best is, but their is always more of a story then that. So lets hear it... I caught my PB(8lbs 5oz) in a farm pond on land that has been in the family for about a hundred years. A creek was flooded about 20 years ago to make the 4 acre pond. Lots of memorable afternoons fishing on the banks of that pond. Caught on a shallow crank bait next to some flooder timber about 2 weeks ago in early December of all times of year. Their has got to be a 10lb'er in their somewhere. I won't talk about my personal best in a actual lake...

I also use 12lb trilene 100% and I'm very pleased with it. Very strong and abrason resistant. Probably will use 15 or even 17 for texas rigs and jigs, 12 stretches a little to much for my liking. Doesn't take away from the sensitivity, but I think the heavier test will help with long hook sets. I tried the vanish stuff before switching to trilene 100%, its half the price and in my opinion it's also about half the quality of trilene. Ok if your throwing heavy weights(1/2oz plus) but its very stiff and has a lot of memory which for me equated to too many backlashes and shorter casting distances. I switched and even thou trilene is twice the price, I think its worth it.

Trilene 100% has been working well for me recently.

As others have said, I would try and different flouro then vanish. I tried it and its ok, but it didn't cast well and would backlash a little on most cast. Thats just my experience thou, others use it and like it. I switched to Berkley trilene 100 percent professional grade and its made a world of difference, long smooth cast and doesn't loosen on the reel during every cast. its twice the cost, but in my opinion over twice the quality. These are the only two fluoros Ive used, I can't comment on seaguar or the other brands. I can't image a flouro being much better then trilene 100 percent, might try some other brands out of curiosity thou..

I use a Quantum Energy PT SS. The 7.3 gear ratio is very nice. The reel is also very free when set right, I can pitch a considerable distance with it.

Found a couple of links that seem informative. The second is information from shimano, and they have a section addressing a drag issue. http://www.tackletour.com/menumaintenance.html http://www.shimano.com/publish/content/global_fish/en/us/index/customer_service0/reel_maintenance_instructions.html http://www.ichibantackle.com/reelmaintenance/baitcasting.html

I'm sorry, I guess i should have been more clear. I'm not a qualified reel expert, but I'm mechanically inclined. I've taken apart several reels and had them work better as a result. I guess my reels were different then most, all I needed was a screw driver to take them apart(and an adjustable wrench, forgot about that). By no means was this a full service, but it definately helped. Basic maintenance can be preformed by the owner. Just be careful with what your doing. WD-40 was just an example, worked for me, but I agree their are better products to use. Any suggestions? Sending it to an expert is obvious the best choice, but at $15 or so a reel I see how it could be costly. Wish I had the open cash too. Hopefully someone can recommend a solvent/ grease and possible some tips for those that clean their own reels..? as I believe that is the intent of the original poster.

Don't know much about cleaning reels, ill be interested in a detailed response. One tip i can offer, is when you take the reel apart, lay out a pieces of duct tape on the table that is about 4 foot long(sticky side up obviously ). Lay the pieces as you take them off down the strip. Then when you put the reel back together you know which order you took things apart. You'd be amazed at how many parts are in a bait caster. As for tools, screw driver should be all you need. Maybe a nylon/brass brush to clean up buildup. A solvent like WD-40 will also aid with cleanup. Make sure you reapply a grease afterwards thou.

I would recommend a 2 rod set up. One for moving baits(crank baits, spinners, lipless cranks, topwater, etc). A medium to medium heavy action rod would be good. The next would would a medium heavy to heavy action rod for jigs, plastics, etc. Get the rod length that your son is comfortable casting, Im 6' and for me that is between 6' 6" and 7' 6", with the preference on the higher end. He can definitely still use the rods that you already have, but they are on the light/smaller end of the spectrum. I would definitely get him a longer/heavy action rod for plastics/jigs. The more rods that you have, the better in my opinion. I personally would rather own a mid priced 6 rod set up then have 2 or 3 really nice rods and reels, the ability to have different lures rigged at the same time is important. I just went from 2 rods to 4 and its a huge advantage. Spinnering or baitcasting, that is up to him. Either work. St. Croix makes a good rod for relatively cheap, the Triumphs sell for about 80 I believe. As for reels, I have a lower level Abu Garcia (silver max) that has been flawless for the past 3 years, they can be picked up for about 60 dollars. Its not a 250 dollar Shimano or Revo, but it gets the job done. Lews also makes a relatively lower priced reel (100 or so) that has good reviews. Just like anything else, you get what you pay for. The higher end rod/reels are nice, but not necessary by any means. Not sure exactly what your price range is, but that information will help others on this site make specific recommendations. Good luck to you and your son, he has just entered an addicting and expensive hobby I just joined my college's bass fishing team and can confirm both of those claims