Josh Smith

Thanks guys. It was a tossup between this and Shimano. I went with the Quantum because it'll get here faster, but I do want to try both eventually. Nothing I grease in my Ambassadeurs spins so fast as to throw the grease off. I am more concerned about temperature resistance and staying put under friction. I don't use a lot of grease at all; pinion and main are the only gears to get it, and only the teeth on those. Thanks again! Josh

Hello, I'm wondering how you folks feel about the Hot Sauce grease. My biggest problem with greases I've used in the past is that it tends to migrate off the gears. I was reading reviews on different greases and it appears that this migrates the least. Is this your experience? It was between this, Cal's, and Yamaha blue marine grease. I went with the Quantum stuff because it can be here tomorrow or the next day due to the vendor being 45 miles from me. Thoughts? Thanks, Josh

I can sometimes get on them with a small needle nose pliers. That's my preferred method. Otherwise it's a dental pick. Josh

Hi Folks, I'm looking at a new dedicated cranking rod that matches better the feel of the rest of my current rods. My current dedicated crankbait rod is a '70s Lew's Speed Stick fiberglass model, 5'6", with pistol grip. Though it does well, I've gotten used to the straighter grips. The cranking rods I'm looking at are fiberglass and hybrids. Because I use crankbaits mostly in the river, I'm going with the shorter (7' or less) lengths. Most of these have long butt ends, too long for my preferred fishing style. However, if I go and just chop the end off, it'll leave the rod imbalanced and, therefore, less sensitive. I've been looking at rod butt weights. Most are ugly -- I'd like a design that could be unscrewed and weighted washers or something added. It would give the rod a clean look, I think. Do they make anything like this? Any tips for doing what I'm considering? Will duct tape around the cut area keep the blank from splintering when I cut? I plan to use a hack saw with fine teeth -- is this correct? Or should I go with a fast rotary tool and cutting wheel? Answers will help me decide which rod to buy. Thank you! Regards, Josh

Do carbureted boat motors have fast idle cams attached to the chokes like those on cars? Is this lever the analogue to the fast idle cam? Josh

I find most spinnerbait brands I prefer have the closed loop. I've had knots slip down on the R bends before, too. Closed for me. Josh

How do you even fish with another's rods and tackle? I've tried and can't do it. Some have been nice rigs but I can't. Worse, I can't explain why! I'd feel foolish in another's boat, too, if I made the call to go out fishing. I mean, I'd want to at least be able to say something like, "Hey man, go fishing this weekend? How about Salamonie? My deep v will do better out there, or we could go to Hominy Ridge and take your jon boat." You know, not back the guy into a corner where he feels he must take his boat out. That's rude. In fact, since my boat's been down for an overhaul, I've not called anyone with a boat to go out fishing. My parents taught me that inviting ones' self is the height of rudeness. Then again, when my boat is finally repaired, I can see myself inviting random bank fishermen to come out. I thought through this while watching a teenage bass fisherman fish a frog on the opposite bank of the small lake this past summer without much success. I would have told him to jump into the boat had I had it up and running as that's how the lily pads are accessible. These three years without the boat have been hard, and I'm thinking more and more that when it's repaired, I'll use it quite a bit to help out young anglers who can't afford their own yet. Guys, I am sick and therefore rambling. Those on certain gun boards know I do this. I apologize if anything I've said makes less sense than most times. Josh

I just caught a nice river smallie in near-freezing water using a Live Target Baitball square bill. I was fishing it by reeling and pausing, with some twitches thrown in. Josh

In all fairness, it was in the mid-50s out. There was still a sheet of ice in the slackwater in the shade of Hanging Rock and the water was definitely in the low to mid 30s, but it looks to be a mild winter. When I go fishing for bass, I tell my wife I'm going to see my friends. She typically makes fun of that. After I told her this story she was astounded and kept asking me questions about how/what/why. I've been trying to figure the imprinting out. Logically, I think that maybe the rock was the closest cover and the bass needed to recover after the cold water fight. That's why I let it hang out initially. But when it didn't swim off after a recovery period, I started getting curious about it. I wonder if it associated me with something warm, since the water was so cold? That's a thought I had. Then again, Tom Mann had a pet bass that he was fond of, and seemed fond of him. He talks about it in Think Like a Fish. I simply don't know. I'm sure there's a logical explanation that doesn't involve that lil' girl falling in love with me, but I'm not good enough at bass psychology to tell you what it might be. There was plenty of other cover around and plenty of water without current. I found it very interesting. This is one bass I'm going to remember for quite a while. Regards, Josh

Hello, I got a couple hours to fish this evening, so I went to the Wabash River by Hanging Rock. I brought my jerkbait rig (6'6" Daiwa M/F, 31ipt Ambassadeur 4600), my jig rig (6' Cherrywood HD, 26ipt Ambassadeur 5500), and my heavier rig that I use for frogs, but really need to replace with something slightly heavier (7' Daiwa MH/F, 26ipt Ambassadeur 5500). There was snow left from a couple days ago, and there was some skim ice in the shadow of that huge rock that hangs out over the river, so water temps were around 32-34 degrees. The jerkbait rod is a new build. I got the reel for my birthday. Before I used it, though, I used the 7' Daiwa MH/F, which seems slightly slower than the traditional fast action, to through a square bill Live Target Bait Ball. A few casts and the rod bent. The way it was pulling drag, I thought I'd hooked a drum. Nope! A minute or two later, I landed this: She was 15 inches long, and a couple pounds. I really shouldn't have caught her as I was fishing a bit faster than I should have at that water temp. Not huge, but a respectable little brownie. Then it got interesting: I tried to release her. She didn't want to go out into the river, and swam back to me. I tried to nudge her that way again, and she swam back and hid under the rock on which I was standing! I wasn't trying to move her into current or anything; it was slack water I was fishing. So, I kept fishing. A gent came down to the water to watch. He asked if I was doing any good, and I told him that I'd caught a smallie. Just then, it splashed. Bending down, I grabbed it from the water and said, "In fact, here's that smallie I caught!" The guy was somewhat amazed. I told him I was going to take it over to another spot (and indicated the spot) to let it swim out into a pool, and did so. I'll be damned if that bass didn't turn right around and swim back to me! Well, I had fishing to do. After a while longer playing with my jerkbait rod and not catching anything, I decided to move to that pool in which I released the bass. Walking up, I saw the lil' brownie just hanging out, waiting on me! So I started stomping up to the bank. That scared it and it took off quite quickly for the deeper water I'd been trying to get it to swim to the whole time! It was some fun. Nice fish, fun time. I need to sharpen hooks now; rocks are hard on 'em! Regards, Josh

Thank you. I do generally run 30lb braid with an 8lb fluoro leader, 50lb braid with 12lb mono or 17lb fluoro leader, and 65lb braid with a 14lb mono leader (if I run a leader on 65lb; generally I don't as I need the strength of braid when I go 65lb). I guess I'll play with the blood knot on the similar diameters if I can tie it fast. R, Josh

Remember, 60hp Jeeps were used to pull trains in WWII. It's not so much about horsepower as it is gear reduction and torque at the wheels. Overloading the platform is a concern. A CJ5 with a 304ci could pull a travel trailer, in theory. In reality, the platform couldn't stand up to the anti-sway equipment. Josh

Maybe I missed it, but I've not seen the blood knot mentioned. Is it not a good braid knot? Josh

The knot I use as a fast alternate to the Albright is the Seaguar. I don't like it quite as much, but it holds well. Josh

I prefer Dare Devel spoons in different weights up to 1oz or so. I also have an old (antique?) silver-colored spoon with engraved "scales". One thing I do to all of them is to replace the trebles with standard hooks. Josh

I use the Albright. The terminal knot (usually Palomar) fails before it does. Actually, to be fair, I have found that when hopelessly snagged and I have to break off, the lure's eye or the snap breaks through the line at the terminal knot. Neither knot fails, but the Albright holds while the line breaks at the stress point. Josh

Thank you, gents. I see things I'm doing right (like fishing slack water) but I'm also seeing things I'm doing wrong, with at least two wrong assumptions I made based on lake bass behavior. I do still need to take the water temp as I'm sure it's dropped in the past week. My favorite spot along this river has a rock perch that puts me in mind of fishing from a boat. This river is one you'd canoe on or wade in the summer; there are too many hazards for bass boats and there's absolutely no way I'd be able to use my deep "V" in it for any distance at all. I'm looking forward to keeping active the entire year this year. Thank you! Regards, Josh

I like these threads. Yes, they do tend to get locked, but I follow them because I seem to always learn something. It may be small and it may be big, but it's always something! Josh

Hi Folks, This isn't a question about any particular lure type but rather technique. It almost went into General Bassing, but I figured maybe it belonged here better. The question is, why does deadsticking work? I grew up to make a lure look alive and so fishing an artificial like live bait goes against my grain. Still, winter fishing still seems to call for it at times. Why does it work, though? Why does, say, a deadsticked black or green Jelly Worm get strikes any better than surrounding vegetation waving in the current? Or does it? How about deadsticking jerkbaits? Does the lure pass a bass's visual scrutiny, look enough like a real baitfish, and get eaten? Similarly, if you deadstick for a few minutes after twitching -- how long, exactly, is a bass's attention span? A twitch might get its attention, right? But why does it strike after several seconds to several minutes? Thanks! Josh

Shimano or Abu Garcia (the Swedish ones). Josh

Hi Folks, I have never fished for bass in a cold water river. It snowed a bunch yesterday, and dropped to 12°F last night. I've done OK with walleye in the (distant) past under these conditions. Never caught bass under these conditions, but never tried. The depth of the river is generally an average of 5ft to 6ft or less, though I've never tried the outside bends in some spots where I suspect it's deeper; they're hard to get to. This is a cold snap and even last week we had one day at 70­°F. I'm thinking jerkbait as long as the current isn't too fast; I also have some spoons packed in my small tackle box. I do have my jigs as always, though only one is a hair jig, black with silver spinners. The others are blue or green craws with silicon skirts. The lipless crankbaits (Rat-L-Traps, mostly) have come out as well. I've had success in fall weather with these by reeling a few turns then stopping, then reeling again, but always did this in fall lakes, not rivers. What does cold do to fluorocarbon line, by the way? Anything? Anything you can tell me about cold water river bass fishing would be helpful. Thank you, Josh

Can. Shouldn't. Josh

Scratch rattle jigs along rocks using fluoro leaders. Josh

Gears are very easy to swap. There are several excellent sources for gears readily accessible online, so I'll not recommend any single one. You'll likely have to call and tell them what you need; they generally know what interchange. Being an Ambassadeur guy, I can't be much help with Lew's part numbers. DVT might know, though. Josh

I would really like to try snook fishing one day. Josh