Preytorien

I always like the pro videos, and I especially like the videos Gene makes. But I like the new ones posted by Glenn too, those are very helpful, they're short, to the point, and informative. I don't know if they're new or not, I've never seen them. Great job, keep them coming! Thanks Glenn!

There are arguments on both sides, mine does this, mine does that. Androidboys don't want to be told what to do, Appleheads don't want the vulnerability of Android. I'll just say this, I work for a company that makes applications for insurance agents. While our apps aren't available for the public sector, we distribute a TON of them, for both Android and iOS. Our Android developers all have iPhones. Take that however you want....

Great reel! I wish m'self I had one....maybe one day! Happy Fathers Day

I fish a couple of places that have abundant frog populations. As you can imagine, we do a lot of frog fishing there and tend to have pretty consistent success with topwater frogs. I was wondering, when the frogs really start croaking, does this sort of "signal" the bass and turn on the bite? Just wondering if there's anything to it.....

I was pretty pleased with the Shimano warranty. I broke the last 4-inches off the tip. I took it to my local Dicks Sporting Goods, they traded me over the counter for a new one. Couldn't be happier with that warranty.

That sickening feeling when you hear a pop.....ugh Great story though

Agreed. They're like PB&J - they just go together That's a nice looking set there!

Nice fish Kevin!

Looks like a good lil buddy, cute as can be too. Congrats!

Excellent illustration, thanks Jeff

Mostly a wacky rigged stick worm. Sometimes I'll put on a topwater - buzzbait or frog and get a couple bites.

I've wondered the same thing. Hopefully someone weighs in with information. They sure look like they'd help.

I started using baitcasters for the first time last summer. I can definitively say now I'm a bit of an expert at picking out backlashes. The worst is when I'm throwing a soft plastic and for one reason or another it comes off mid-cast. Boy, that reel pops like a clock spring. Ha! Just keep cutting, you'll eventually cut it all off and be able to re-spool. If you haven't already, it might be a good time to check out the Boomerang Tool - a handy braid cutter (works for all types of line), but the cutter jaws are more exposed than some multi-tools to enable you to get down in the spool to cut the line a bit better. Welcome to baitcasters, although I would encourage you that it truly DOES get better. Your thumb and mechanics will improve and soon backlashing will be less frequent. Hang in there!

I'm wanting to see the Shimano rod gossip

Almost looks like a Heddon Torpedo

Cool idea. I will use this for my wacky worm wide gap hooks for sure!

Sounds awesome! Glad to hear it's getting better. I live a bit north of Indy, the bite's been getting better. I don't have any private lakes to get to, but some of mine are giving up some 3lb-ers.

All of my rods have braid on them. So every once in a while I find myself being forced to use just one lure on an outing because I forgot my braid cutters

I didn't like Super 8 Slick on my baitcasters because it had a little more dig-in than I liked. I think maybe you're seeing the same thing. The line basically has dug into the spool and halts the line coming off, which of course shows during casting. I switched to Sufix 832, and have not had an ounce of problem. I think it might just be the overly slick nature of the Slick 8 braid - maybe it just lets itself dig more than the other types. I'll be watching this thread to see what others might offer for direction.

In cycling, we have seemingly a longer list of unwritten rules than there are actual written rules. Once you get used to it you understand their nature and remember them. What are some unwritten rules in fishing? I've heard some, such as no bananas in the boat, which might be more superstition. But concerning tournaments and just general bass fishing....what are some unwritten rules you abide by (mostly)?

I've seen some great starter combos at my local Wal-Mart. I personally got my start with a spinning reel setup with a Shakespeare combo. It was solid enough and provided me a great time fishing until I made the step up later in life. I think the whole rig was about $30-40. When it comes to using/casting a spinning or baitcasting reel. It all comes down to basic casting mechanics. I would just watch all the YouTube videos about it as you possibly can to enhance your knowledge. Practice in the back yard, I know I do, even though my wife looks at me like my hair's on fire. Soon your muscles will memorize the movements and mechanics and then smooth, effective casting will become second nature. There WILL be tangles, but just take a deep breath, slow down, untangle it, and keep practicing until you figure out what caused the tangle. Heck, I still get tangles bad enough I have to just cut the line. But I know where you're coming from, I just recently started using baitcasters, and while the videos made it look so easy, it took me a while to get the hang of it without a bazillion tangles. But like they say, practice makes perfect. It'll eventually get easier and easier until it's just second nature. But until you make the decision to really focus on spinning or baitcasting, I definitely wouldn't spend all that much money on it until you're ready. Check out your local stores though, budget-minded combos that are still decent quality can be found. And again, I've seen that Shakespeare seems have done a great job for me. In fact, the combo that I had is now my wife's and she refuses to use anything else since it's basic, works, and is easy to use.

Yea, I never get too caught up on technique specific rods. I just first and foremost use what I think will bring in the most fish while also imparting the best action to my lure. If that means I break the "rules" then so be it. I know personally I've casted umbrella rigs with my frog rod, so I'd presume the same could be used the other way. Either way try it, you'll find out real quick if it'll be comfortable/effective for you. There should be some kind of "unwritten rules of fishing" book - that way we could include statements like "reason" said......"The first rule of technique specific is you don't talk about technique specific"...haha That'd be a funny book I bet....there are all kinds of "rules" it seems.

Just a quick update (and momentary diversion from the ABEC discussion).... I cleaned the bearings by soaking them in acetone for 24 hours, then let them dry several hours. I used a very high-quality bearing oil - very light but the same kind of oil we use in competitive bicycle wheel bearings. Additionally I downsized my braid from 65lb to 40lb. Summed up.....it's a world different. I don't know which one made the most difference, but likely it's a compilation of the two, but the casting difference is significant. Thanks for the help. As for bearings, I don't use ceramics - for a number of reasons but I won't get into that. But I do use them on the bearings in my wheels, crankset, and pulley wheels on my competitive bicycle. While the higher ABEC ratings are significantly more expensive, lab testing has only shown marginal gains at extremely high speeds for ABEC ratings over 7. What that translates to for reel bearings I'm not sure. I just know that it means for us, ABEC 5's do just as good as ABEC 9's. But hey, if the 9's weren't twice as expensive (and for bike components that equates to about $400-500 for a total bike bearing switchout) I'd probably run 9's just to ensure I've got the best. Additionally, I'm not sure what kinds are available for reels, but we use almost exclusively silicon nitride bearings. But for us, the majority of the advantage lies in just simply how tough they are against wearing out (causing inefficiency). I can imagine ceramic would be at an advantage for very specific applications, like a reel, where any problem with a bearing can translate to significant performance degredation. As for me, I keep toying with the idea of upgrading to ceramics, my problem mostly lies in hearing stories of how they're more noisy. Maybe it's my bike background or something, but I hate my components to make too much noise....I enjoy silence! As for the type of oil I used, it's definitely NOT a reel oil, so I'm sure that violates some kind of fisherman's code, but this stuff is more expensive and used for very very high quality applications for bearings and other lubrication needs, so I'm sure its fine. If you're interested it's called Boeshield - has a lot of applications, particularly ones where water exposure is a consideration. http://boeshield.com/

So I went fishing last night in a small shallow pond near my house. It's aereated by a couple of fountains. Real pretty place with a nice healthy population of bass and bluegill. I rigged a senko and within a couple of casts I had one on. I didn't horse the fish or anything since there was a good bit of slop around the bank, I played the fish enough that it wouldn't flop around in the algae too much. Ended up being about 2-2.5lbs. I detected the bite pretty quickly so the hookset was clean, however the hook was somewhat far back, but not so far that I easily removed it from the fish's mouth with forceps. It seemed sluggish when I put it back in the water, so I gently moved it back and forth to get the water flowing across its gills. Sadly though, I see the fish surface a few moments later, and basically watched the next few minutes as the beautiful thing died right in front of me. I felt as worthless as the senko I caught him on. What part of my catch and subsequent release could've caused it? I've caught fish with the hook much further in their throat, I've even had to resort to advanced hook removal methods for removal, and ended up being covered with blood, and those fish didn't die. They took off like a shot. Why'd this one die? I'm pretty concious about conservation and making sure my fishing is clean, this is honestly the first fish I can remember dying after I've caught it, so it's got me a bit disturbed and stumped at the same time. Any thoughts?

I typically use the colors that look closest to the frogs I'll see in my bodies of water. That said, I also have one in Killer Gill that seems to pull fish in pretty consistently