Scott F

If he was fighting a fish at the time, it's called back reeling. In the "old" days, spinning reels did not always have very dependable drag systems so guys would flip the anti reverse switch and control the fish by letting line out turning the handle backward as needed. Those who got used to fighting fish that way still do it even though the drags are much better on modern spinning reels.

GoPros are designed for close up selfie type shots. If your videos are going to contain anything that is not a close up, you'll need another camera that does not have the ultra wide angle lens that is on the GoPro. Those long distance, curved horizon shots made by a GoPro are hard to watch and certainly do not make professional looking videos. Editing videos takes a lot of time. 90% or more of what you will shoot is going to be stuff that will not make it into your finished video. Be prepared to put in a lot of hours looking at footage that you won't use. Most people find they never look at the videos they spent hours editing after they are done. Make certain before you invest a lot of money that you will be making videos that you and others want to see. Before digital video came along, I was making and editing videos of my fly in fishing trips. They made great souvenirs of the trips for the guys who went but filming can take away from your enjoyment of the event you are trying to capture. Today, I rarely film my fishing trips because I'd rather be fishing than taking videos of other people fishing. I could use a mounted camera like a GoPro to film myself, but I can't stand looking at those wide angle videos. Think about what you are going to do with the videos you want to make. Are you going to get enough use of them to justify the time and expense? Try and borrow someone's camera first to see if you enjoy the process.

Tyger wire or American Fishing Wire Surflon.

Park Falls is about 240 miles from Madison. That's nearly 500 miles round trip farther from Central IL and over 8 hours extra driving. The money you'll save on a rod or two you will just put into your gas tank. There is a beautiful state park, Copper Falls another 40 minutes North of Park Falls if you'd like to do some nature walks.

There are other tieable wires out there that are MUCH more reliable than titanium. Titanium won't kink but it does break. Don't use the titanium.

You said you could weld so I assumed you had tools like a die grinder that could cut an aluminum or steel plate.

I'm sorry if you already thought of this but, would it be possible to cut down a standard base to the size you need?

Power Drives are notorious for having foot pedal problems. See if you can borrow one to test your motor.

They don't sell blanks at the outlet store. They have a basket full of rods that have had the tips replaced. There is a big measuring stick next to it so you can see how much of the rod is missing. To find a Legend with only 2 inches gone is a find. I think the locals visit every day to see what new rods show up and grab the best ones right away.

Fifty years ago this past June, my uncle gave me a Zebco 202 combo. I'd guess that there a lot of guys who started with the same set up.

As a guy who has serviced commercial cooking equipment for 35 years, I can tell you that the oven you are looking at will give you temperatures at best, that will cycle between 255 and 295 degrees when you set the thermostat at 275. That's the way nearly all ovens work. NO oven made holds temps at exactly the set temp. 6 degree accuracy is just not possible.

From all the positive comments about Korkers, it appears they solved the problem they used to have with the interchangeable soles falling off.

What, no Arctic Grayling, Lake Trout or Char?

I've got a rod with an inch or two broken off the tip and I can't tell the difference. It's an easy and cheap fix.

I've used the curved post too and bent 2 of them. That's why I'm using the offset now. Much sturdier.

I'm a big guy too and I use the seat offset. It works very well and would be a lot easier than moving the foot pedal tray. Is this the type you are using now?

This works great!

One of your measurement numbers is off. An 18 pound musky is normally around 40 inches long. A 50 inch musky is closer to 30 pounds. Either that or that is the skinniest 50 incher ever. Either way, nice fish. Congrats.

Do you set the auto lock so your screen stays on all the time or do you have it go dark if you haven't touched the screen for a while?

Before you buy a mount, make sure you can see the screen in the day light. I've got an iPad and can't use it outdoors in the light. You also have to mount it close to a place you can plug in the USB power cord.

I checked 3 different terms. Fly fishing, bass fishing and centerpin fishing and all 3 had Wikipedia entries. So there are fishing related Wiki entries. I also checked bass and Bass Angler Sportsman Society those were both in there too. I was 5 for 5 finding fishing related entries.

I know Jim. As a matter of fact, I just had a conversation with him about Mille Lacs. Now that guys can't take home any walleyes, from there, they are harvesting the smallmouth and Jim is trying to find a way to protect the smallies. I'm sure he told you about the problem. What I was wanting to know is, what were you catching them on and how deep did you have to fish? I might understand if you didn't want to tell, but curious minds want to know.

There are some people who almost extinctively have a feel for where to cast. I'm sure that it comes from having spent a lot of time paying attention to where they've caught fish in the past and they now do it almost without having to think about it. I know several guys like that who fish rivers and some who can do it on lakes and rivers. There is a level of concentration that is required that many guys just can't do. I'd bet that it's a skill that Every Elite angler has that separates them from those that don't ever achieve a high level of success.

I fish rivers from mid summer through fall. The later the date gets, the better the chance for bigger smallmouth. My favorite thing is that they are always shallow.

I wish I could still fish with my father, but he passed away many years ago. How did you get those beautiful, big bass?