Brian6428

Hey guys, my brother has been having trouble with his bait caster lately. It is a roughly one year old Abu Garcia Revo SX paired with a 7' MH Veritas micro guide. He knows how to cast a bait caster and has no problems with any of our other bait casters-- just this one. It often has issues casting lures as heavy as 1/2 oz jigs, a lure well within the rods lure rating. The lighter we go from there the worse it gets. The brakes and spool tension are properly adjusted. Line is 15lb fluoro but the same problems existed when using 50lb braid. The casting distance isn't terrible, though. The real issue is that about 1 in 4 casts results in some sort of minor overrun, and often a full-blown backlash. The problems have been on and off ever since the reel was brand new. Sometimes it will be flawless for a month but then it gets bad again, like this past weekend, where just casting without backlashing is a success. Lastly, it went through a period of about a month where it would just seize up mid cast fairly often. During the middle of a normal cast the reel would just kind of stop. Any ideas? Reel is out of warranty so any help from Abu shouldn't be counted on. Thanks!

Sweet boat! I like that color scheme.

In my experience, small lakes can fish way different than their larger counterparts. Given that and no topo map available, I would personally just start fishing anywhere and try to put together a pattern. If the ice just melted the water won't be very warm at all, so try using jigs and, depending on water clarity, jerk baits. With the water warming up and the sun out, the shallow water will start to warm up and hopefully bring the fish up fairly shallow. The NW part of the lake warms up the fastest, so I may try the chunk rock in that part of the lake. Maybe try the same lures in and around the brush piles, too. The brush piles in the small local lakes near me have never been very good for me, but brush piles are very good at some lakes, especially those without much other cover. Aside from that, it's only a 25-acre lake. You can probably fish the whole lake in a day if you try. Pay attention to where you get bit and what you were doing when you got bit and work from there. Good luck

Can anyone tell me off the top of their head if I could launch at the Gravois ramp on LOZ tomorrow? I'm not worried about ice but I don't know how much the lake gets drawn down in the winter and if it would effect launching.

Intersting. I was conflicted on how to interpret the data. In a way, though, I am just kind of curious to fish up the river to see what it's like. My grandparents have a place at the 9 MM of the Osage so I have never been further up the lake than the Toll bridge. I guess going to see what things are like up the river may not be the best thing to try on the weekend of the BBB, though.

The exact numbers are, as of the 2013 fall BBB, 55% of fish were weighed in at Alhonna, 45% at Red Oak, 36% at PB2, and 12% at Red Fox (info from BassinBob). Even though that was a while back where people are weighing in probably stays pretty constant year-to-year. I'm not really sure how to interpret this info, but personally I would try and avoid the major weigh-in locations and maybe go up the river a little and try to find some fish that haven't been beat up too bad.

Ok, thanks. I didn't really figure it was worth any money but figured I should check before I fish it.

Pic #3

I found this jitterbug today. I can't tell the age, and I can't find the color listed on any tackle collecting sites. Is it worth anything? Thanks!

That looks to be the exact motor my boat has. I've only owned if for a season, but it has been a very good motor to me. It is an '07 and can still get me pretty close to 60 mph. As far as I know it hasn't ever had any major work done, and I had it looked at by a dealer last week and they said everything still looks good. Mine has just over 200 hours on it, which is a fair amount more than the one you're looking at. My only slight complaint is that it does smoke a little bit at idle, but from what I understand that's normal for older 2-strokes. I'm going fishing this weekend, and you'd be free to come along and drive my boat around if that would help your decision any.

Only 10-15 mph faster? How fast is that 115 pushing you?

What depth do you normally target, then? It seems like the boat would have to be pretty close to shore.

Pretty sure they're filled with foam.

No it isn't that long, but the rod gets here Monday and I fish year round. I seriously considered getting the curado anyways, and this might give me a reason to change my mind.

I think fluoro's benefits extend FAR past visibility. I think it handles way better in the wind and, in my experience, casts further than braid. By sinking it is more sensitive for bottom bouncing lures if you ever have a slack line. Braid is only more sensitive if you're actively dragging the lure and your line is taut. And either way, if fluoro helps me get one more bite than braid it's worth it to me.

Yeah it is crazy. I didn't even consider the citica being unavailable if I wanted to buy another. I may just need to pony up and buy the curado; the classic is a long time to wait for something that may happen.

Yes, switch to fluoro. In my opinion it is so worth the hassle. There's a reason most of the pros use fluoro for darn near everything.

I got a Citica this past summer and I absolutely love it, so much so that I decided I would be getting another for my next combo. I went on TW to order one but they have them marked down to $119.88, with only the RH 5.5:1 and 7.0:1 models listed. I want the LH 6.4:1 model, but it isn't even shown on the screen, like it would be if it were just sold out. Are they about to release a new model of the Citica or are they discontinuing it or what? I have a gift card to TW so I would like to buy from them. Thanks!

Luck-e-strike RC STX.

If I had more rods I would always have a ribbon tail tied up May-October. I bet a ribbon tail accounts for more fish per year for me than any other lure.

What about looking around for brush piles/sinking them yourself? Bass can hold to those year round if you put them in the right places, and since you fish the same cove most of the time you would only have to sink a few.

Thanks for the heads up, I have started using those a lot. What kind of hooks would you suggest changing to? I've never done this before.

Supposedly all parts of the lake hold fish equally, so I'd say to fish wherever you're comfortable. Up the river is normally dirty water while near the dam is usually fairly clear. I'm partial to the gravois area, but I've heard the area around PB2 is quite good for fishing. There's no way to predict what the fish will be doing then. If you want to stay as up to date as possible check out bassing bob. For $45 a year you have access to almost daily fishing reports, but the real value is in the monthly experts videos. The reports do help you know what's working and what the water temps are, though. I plan on taking a trip there this spring, and if you ask closer to the time I'm sure you could get better advice of what the fish are doing. Hopefully gardenerjigman will chime in, he knows a lot about LOZ.

You don't hear about the head knocker anywhere other than LOZ, but they are excellent buzz baits. The blade actually hits the head, which gives them a very distinct sound.

I would use 15 lb fluorocarbon. Some guys like straight braid or braid with a leader for those lures, but I think FC is better. I like the Berkeley 100% fluorocarbon. It doesn't cost too much and has been a good line for me. Pick up some KVD line and lure to spray on the line every so often to keep the line manageable. Do some research on knots for FC if you choose to get it. I use the improved clinch. Make sure to get the knot nice and wet before tightening or else it will snap off. Good luck!