craww

Its a gift from above on spinning reels. I lean towards the appropriate daimeter line for application. For example when shad fishing w/ultralights alot of guys use 2-4lb mono. Just so happens thats 10-15lb braid. I did use the 8lb test 1lb diameter with great results this year. One reason to push diameters/lb tests down is less water resistance. You'll get improved action in some specific situations. Also Baits will run deeper, and that can mean the difference between catching fish and not. I caught 5 fish to a friends 1 using 8lb braid wherr he had 6lb suffix seige mono. Same lures same pool. As for baitcasters I cant go below 30lb. Any distance increase seen by the small diameters is negated by the fact you cant "push" it when going for max distance. Mono/flouro type lines are more forgiving when picking out backlashes, and its painful on the wallet to hit a limb or something and blow up a spool of braid. Though u could justify it perhaps with braids longevity I suppose.

Been on a chatterbait kick for close to a decade. The feast or famine nature some have noticed with them has been famine in my hands this year. Flash back a few years and Id gotten to the point I rarely threw a spinnerbait. Maybe the lake bass had seen them a ton. But the chatterbait, and a few others served me well. Ive switched up to fishing the river more this year, and the old bladed jig just isnt getting bit on this river Ive pretty much lived on this year. Meanwhile the increasingly overlooked spinnerbait has absolutely slayed big fish for me. They really can draw fish and the flash in the current just works.

Definetely look at leaders and not mainlines. The qualities that make line formulated for leaders good for their purpose, and likely yours- make them a nightmare to cast on a reel. For the large diamter you seek the salt water arenas probably the place to start.

About a dozen bullets weights up to 3/4 oz and a half dozen or so drop shot weights.. Really like the lighter weights as I fish alot of areas with filementous algae. You used to be able to find 1/32oz in stores pretty easily. Now while everyone still has tungsten, youre lucky they go down to 1/8. I believe it was true tungsten that made the mass produced smaller weights. Not sure if theyre even around anymore.

I was looking for something similar to fill a niche to fit my 4 year olds style and offer ease of use, castabilty, and not diving too deep. I found the Cabelas 3 1/2" floating minnow is perfect...Its supposedly a hair under 4", but seems to be bigger without measuring and casts really good. The action is good and some of the patterns like gold/black back and blue back are as good as a premium bait. The matzuo hooks are pretty sticky sharp. And you can get them under 3 bucks also.

I believe I took two of the little precision "hobby" style screw drivers with hex or torx heads, put some electrical tape on the ends and pushed and twisted. It wasnt easy and kind of awkward- remember thinking at the time there had to be a better way as it was tight. Didnt replace the knobs, just removing all the excess factory lube from the reel to free it up.

Not very informed on the latest versions of Daiwas spinners unveiled at Icast- but after using and breaking down a few of the sub $150 models in the last couple years Im not a huge fan. They dont put bearings in the line rollers, they take on water through the mainshaft (i had a fuego that got an alarming amount of water get into the body after a rain), and the way the handles pass through the body puts a great deal of stress on a little plastic plug (like a much cheaper reel), some models are particuraly heavy also for line capacity. They also dont have the distinctive "click" when engaging them, if that matters. I realise thats a blanket statement and perhaps changes were made but things to look for. Im a fan of the pfluegers, and recently got a revo rocket thats a gem. Certain models of the revos and even orras are really good (the 1st gen orra sx was a great reel). Though shimano and diawas seem to have much better paint than the purefishing reels.

Yes, but its a bit tricky to get a tool into the two divits on the cap to turn em... Not a fan of the foam "ball"?

Pretty work! Alot of replicas just dont look right IMO. More often on LMB, the color just doesnt "transition" naturally if that makes sense. You can tell some one sprayed paint. Yours however looks great, and you should be proud congrats!

They are criminally underrated ESPECIALLY crawling around, in, and through shallow wood and grass. Perhaps its something different that bass don't often see in that scenario. Ive done well with them (when I stuck with em) but have a buddy that I trade boat trips with and he absolutely slays with them. He also sticks with black/blue and is never caught without one tied on a rod. Just kinda finessing it enough to get the tail thumping through little pockets- sometimes killing it. The plastic density is more robust than alot of the swimbaits like the florida guys use and the thinner profile helps it get down. Ive had a fair amount of luck on a swim jig as a trailer, the GYBC plastics add a good amount of compact weight- you can really cast them. Briefly tried it on a chatterbait but it was a bit much. Its been a couple years, but I think the added weight and tail resistance made it harder for the blade to thump at slower speeds.

Very interesting. Fish them a ton and have never thought of that. Hypothetically if the "hook side" of the plastic was to be situated laying on the bottom of basses mouth- and running parallel, on a more vertical hook set wouldnt it have to pull back through the entire body of the bait? While more of a horizontal pull, such as shallow water or longer casts would likely be a better ? Not trying to poke holes by any means. And if you have on the water results that speaks for itself. You certainly peaked my interest. Another huge issue and a reason Im so picky is the problematic angle of many of the heads on the market. Between the gaps and poorly designed line of pull that doesnt drive the hook through the plastics Ive went as far as bending hooks out very slightly.

Never had an issue but have wondered why a part that gets torqued on a bit like that is always plastic. Good on em for trying to improve.

Ive had a couple bags for a year or so. Fished them a few times shakeyhead and texas rigged, no luck- but need to throw it more and tinker with the hook. That size is kind of a tweener between a senko hook and a finesse worm gap (for me)...But its a straight tailed power bait worm in good natural color- sure theyll catch em . I really miss the regular old powerbait shakyworms. They still make the gulp version, but it tears if you look at it funny and these river bluegill wont leave em alone.

For a $130 rod you can do alot better these days tham the premier blank IMO. Its not very sensitive and theyre tip heavy in my experience. The newer mojos are a step up on the blank alone, but I havent fished them. St Croixs medium will handle most of what you encounter at Briery (definetely go braid), I pulled a 27" fish out of a laydown a couple years back w/a 1st gen mojo. As for the balancing, if you can Id really try to take your reel into a store. My experience is the weight really needs to be farther back for it to offset a tip heavy rod like st croixs can be. With a spinning reel the weight is pretty much directly at your hand and the small amount in front of it, though not much- compounds the torque. I put a 40 series 11oz president on the 7' Mojo thinking it'd help "balance", it didn't....It just made a tip heavy set up more heavy overall. Adding balancing weights to the butt cap did the trick however.

Been using 12lb yozuri Hybrid for a decade and its my favorite by far. I can push it to the brink of casting distance better than braid, and its not quite as stretchy as most other nylon based lines.

Love my HMGs. Really nice actions and exceptionally tough blanks. No experience fishing them, but the new silverhawk 2's definetely feel like a step up after looking at them today. Never was impressed by them, mainly because of all the mod fast actions- but the new rods are crisper and very nice.

Just a heads up I know some of you really liked these rods- they are ringing up at 79 now. Saw one marked 79 on the rack, all the others still said "was $200, now 150". Had a guy check and theyre all $79... There's probably not a rod that fishes better at $150, much less $79. Lifetime warranty still applies according to the fishing dept mgr.

They look nice. Maybe they've heard the complaints about the current spinning reel line up. I have a 2000 model of the current fuego and wouldnt reccomend it for the msrp of a $100 reel. Out of the box it took just a bit too much effort to crank, not dramatic or in a defective sort of way- just a bit too much resistance. It just bugs me Shimano and Daiwa spinning reels do this more than Pfluegers, Abu ,okuma. Tearing it down and removing excess grease helped. But there are other things that bother me about the line up currently. - sticky inconsistent drags. TT also noted this on their "machine" on a sibling reel. I may add drag grease and try to polish the key washer or whatever its called to smooth it, but its a 4lb max drag as is. I legitimately lost a fish because of the drag sticking the other day. The reel has one single drag disc and the adjustment window is short and jumpy....Several Other 2000's share this identical platform. $30 dollar abu cardinals and pflueger trions perform much better. Its not defective, just poorly engineered especially for lighter line techniques. - Dont think any of the sub $200 reels have bearings in the line rollers. I bet this would help w/my 1st point and light line. A bearing will be more free than a bushing and help with the initial shudder. -its sealed horribly. Dropped it in the river for literally less than a second and 2 days later when I tore it down an alarming amount of water just poured out. -no more postive "click" engagement. - Tough luck if you want to service the magnet oiled reels. -All the jargon about "air bails" and Zaion, yet alot of the daiwa reels currently made are tanks. - The 2 part handles used, despite the gimmicky jargon about hardbody or whatever effect the feel and rigidity of the reels. -

Really like the way the palm swell reel seat on spinning rods fits in my hand. Theres alot of spinning rods on the market that just dont naturally fit the way your hand grips something, mainly the minimalist designs.

I would definetely put fresh line on - but if youre not casting down to the end of youre line, and are frugal or cant get out to a get a fresh spool, you can always wind the line onto another reel, add backing from whatever you may have laying around to build the spool back up some, and put you're line back on. But again if it were me, Id just get new line.

For my needs, its like a rattle bait that can be fished in timber and slowed down to allow fish to have time to get it in heavier cover situations. Its one of the baits Im most accurate with, and dont hesitate to throw it in tight pockets in the back of a laydown. Fish dont see a lot of reaction baits in that situation. Even with the exposed hook it comes through cover pretty well. Definetely agree with above regarding how the bite can often be hot and cold for some reason. Had some really epic days with them. Also tried to grind through conditions that are typical of a spinnerbait bite where the fish just wont having it.

If the body of water allows nose hooking gives the best action IMO. Ive always just used a EWG hook, sometimes left a 1/16 bullet weight on, but my eyes have been opened after a buddy took it to me nose hooking a yamamoto D shad vs my EWG rig. Its a little more erratic, possibly better in warmer water for more active fish- but thats just a thought.

It'll be interesting to see how things shake out going forward as the coming bubble of TV money bursts. Not sure how long it'll take but its going to happen..Reportedly TV revenue and viewership was down a bit last year. There was talk that ESPN is now losing money on the MNF deal all things considered. With inflation Im sure salaries will keep going up but something is going to have to give at somepoint. I'd much rather do away with cable companies all together personally and go ala carte for 2-3 channels.

Yes, generally leader material will be stiffer, more abrasian resistant, and supposedly a better knot strength. What makes it good at the things above results in a trade off in manageability. Don't think it's super critical for bass guys, but there is a difference.

Acetone or lighter fluid in a GLASS container. Agree with the above of soaking a time or two and then putting them on a pencil and hitting with keyboard cleaner or even throttle bottle cleaner with the little straw attached. Had two spool bearings recently where one was just much more free than it's brother after multiple soaks. Making it spin with Throttle body cleaner did the trick.