Kevin22

Cow manure is commonly used and usually cut with some compost and top soil to get the right consistency. You can use anything as long as it is not too compact (they like loose but not as loose as what you want for red wigglers). Just make sure it is natural and has NO chemicals be it fertilizer or pesticide.

Burbot have barbells on their chin, you said it did not. However, it does look like a burbot.

Have to start carrying a jewelers scale with you to weigh your fish!

Garden peat will work fine, peat moss might be too light.

Of course that will work, anything will work. With that one I would say your max hold would be around the 150 crawler mark.

Bass swallow prey whole, they don't strip flesh. They crush with those pads of sandpaper in the back of their mouths. If they take in something like a crawfish which is too oddly shaped to go through their throat they will crush it. That is why you don't see whole crawfish in bass's stomachs, just the claws and body parts. They also use them to push food towards their throats when they have something like a big shad.

No clue about worm species, our weather is totally different than yours! I would suggest you do not bother if you are going to use a 5 gallon bucket. You need something with a lot of surface area and about 2-3' is plenty of depth if you keep it out of direct sunlight. Something like a large horse trough would be a perfect start-up. With that you could start with 250 crawlers and contain roughly 1000 with periodic removal. For your first "stocking" I suggest 1/4th of what you think will be your maximum hold. (in my example it was 1000, so stock 250) It will be MONTHS before you can harvest full grown crawlers and you want those crawlers to all be breeders from the start. If you start them now you should be able to harvest come spring, taking up to 100 full grown a month or so... again this depends on how many you can hold. Make sure when you harvest you take some of the smaller and some of the bigger. You want different classes in there so you get fresh stock constantly. You will also have to remove a lot of little ones from time to time if you see a big build-up. Sometimes they will over-reproduce and one day you will see a million little pink worms. Start picking them out so they don't build up. For food, high protein mixed with veggies will work best. If you clean fish, toss the scraps minus the guts in your worm farm. Any sort of over-ripened veggies from your garden or just stop in any grocery store and ask for some throw-away veggies for your worms. Be weary of any highly acidic fruits like pineapple and lemons/limes. Oranges and peels are okay in moderation but not as a steady food. Another good one is FRESH grass clippings. You will be surprised how much food they will eat but be sure and remove it after a couple days if it is still there. Don't want a big mold culture growing.

I have been having very good luck with 8lb seaguar red label (6lb dia) on my spinning rods for bass and walleye. Very subtle and silky.

Strike king bitsy minnow. I use them for UL bass fishing.

Man time flies. It was really 2 years ago? seems like it was sooner than that. I don't agree with those sellers that try and trick buyers, that is not cool at all. I am always honest and will usually list as free shipping just to make it easier on buyers.

That is only recent (2013), before that we (ebay sellers) could list an item for $0.99 and $40 shipping and only get charged 12% on the $0.99. Of course it was against ebay policy, but we still did it. Then they started charging fees on shipping as well. I'd guess the seller has had them listed for a long time and just didnt convert it over until now. Ebay buyers were probably giving them low ratings on shipping costs and that drove them to switch it around. Besides that, I don't see a reason he would have it listed the way he did. Maybe to avoid some sort of chinese tax on profit? Write it off as shipping expense instead of profit.

Be careful taking it apart, especially if the instructions/schematic are in chinese. Don't take it apart unless you know you will not break it. Doesn't matter what these guys think about it. If you do not want to open it up then dont. But if you feel comfortable with it, open it up and show us some pictures. Agree with all points! Just understand, the chinese CAN make quality items using quality parts for 1/10th the price of other places. But they usually don't so they have a bad rep. If they wanted to, I bet they could make a reel identical to the energy PT or similar cheap enough to sell for $30.. using the same parts. Figure Quantum is retailing the energy pt for $159.99. They are getting them made for less than $50 each in their factories. Now take out the mark-ups at the mfg and they could sell them for way less than the $50 point quantum buys them at.

Be careful taking it apart, especially if the instructions/schematic are in chinese. Don't take it apart unless you know you will not break it. Doesn't matter what these guys think about it. If you do not want to open it up then dont. But if you feel comfortable with it, open it up and show us some pictures.

I just do not understand how someone could put someone else down by telling him the reel he bought is crap, or won't hold up, or was not worth the money when they have never been within a mile of one and probably never even heard of them until this post came up. I hope when newbies are asking questions those type of people who have never tried the products arent chiming in their unfounded opinions of stuff they have never seen in person. I think some people on here just like to post and will throw their unfounded opinions out whenever they can.

I've caught several of them crapping out hook shanks. They will pass them.

I agree with all points! All you are doing is sending an excessive amount of line into the landfill to sit for hundreds of years. Totally wasteful.

Admit it, you guys are all jealous and upset because he could have just bought a reel for $30 that rivals your $190 reel and you don't like that. Quit telling him it is junk if you have never seen one in person. God, that is freaking stupid to put somebody down when you don't even know what you are talking about.

LETS GET ONE THING STRAIGHT. THIS WAS NOT A $1.40 REEL. IT WAS A $30 REEL. The seller listed it at $1.40 + $30 shipping to avoid ebay fees. It costs them MAYBE $3 to ship it to you. This is NOT a $1.40 reel, it is a $30 reel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They will have a better chance of surviving with the hook in them than if you rip it out. Most will do fine, the stomach acid in them eats away at the metal and will corrode the hook barb first, then the point. This will make it release from the fish and he will pass it right through or regurgitate it.

Do you still have the broken rod/tube? Take it with you and go to the fedex store (it was fedex that broke it right?) and file a claim there. Don't even mess with calling them, they won't help you at all. If you go into the store they will help you, and if not ask for the manager and refuse to leave unless you are satisfied. It is obvious they treated it unreasonably rough and broke it.

I wonder is there any set requirements for what is a river and what is a creek or stream? Around here that would be a creek (crick) and there are hundreds of them.

The last three spools I have gotten have been super soft and subtle. Two 8lb and a 15lb. I use the 8lb on spinning reels (2500's) and it is awesome. Handles just like good mono and casts a mile. No lag feeling when casting like you get with stiff lines, it is very silky! With that being said, the first spool I bought was about the total opposite. It was as stiff as $2 mono and broke pretty easily. The only reason I tried it again was because I found it on clearance at Dicks so I gave it another shot.

Drop shot really isnt ideal in the strong streams/creeks/rivers where browns typically are. You may have more success with it in deep slower holes. Give the gulp 2.5" minnow a try, trout love them in streams.

Seaguar red label! Tested it all summer and I am a big fan. Will be using it all next year for sure. Tried others in the same price range and they sucked. This line rocks for a sub $15 line! Twice I got it on clearance at dicks sporting goods for less than $10 a spool. Otherwise the standard price of about $12.99 is very good.

No, if you really want to have some fun ship it in a PVC tube with caps. Take it to the UPS store and when the clerk asks "what are you shipping today?" say "a pipe bo..... I mean a 2X4". See his/her reaction.