Josh Smith

Why? What's the advantage? Thanks! Josh

Hello, Look at inches-per-turn more than ratios. Different gears mean different things in different reels. For example, a 6.3:1 5600c4 has about the same lpi as a 7.x:1 low-profile. A good all around reel has 26ipt. I fish three 23ipt reels, one 26ipt reel, and one 31ipt reel. I generally like to fish slowly, but I have speed when I need it! Regards, Josh

Thanks guys! What I'm getting from this is that I should just work it like my frog-colored Zara Spook, only use it in thick stuff? Walk the dog and adjust from there to conditions? Thanks, Josh

Haha! I have that episode downloaded but haven't watched it yet! Great minds think alike! Josh

Hi Folks, I've never had any luck with froggin', mostly because I've never tried much. Dad had a rubber frog in the '70s that I inherited in the '80s because he never had any luck with that one, either. I figure I wasn't using it right. This year my goal will be to master a technique I'm no good at, or not experienced at. Last year I renewed my acquaintance with plastics (love the variety now, but Jelly Worms still work quite well!), and with topwater, divers, and spinners. I've discovered a new love for jerk baits. Now I need to master the frog, or get as close to mastering it as I do mastering anything. There are plenty of weeds on my favorite lake, though it's not matted like it started to get years ago. If I get the boat going by summer as I have planned, I can make it to some concealed lily pads, too. So, I need to know how to use this thing I just ordered. It looks funny to me, but I've heard it works. Any advice is appreciated. Regards, Josh

No doubt you're right. I've never used them and it seems like an added complication to me, but I'm also trying smelly stuff for the first time in years (figure it improved), so who knows? Josh

What I'm getting from this is that I can go lighter but not by a whole lot. When I tie leaders, I like the leader to be slightly larger diameter than the braid. In my experience this just casts better. Thanks, folks! Josh

Hi Folks, So far as I can tell, bass fishing is a bit down in this area. One weekend when I went to "my" lake, I saw a teenager tossing a large frog, but that was it. His buddies were using live bait, and nobody (yous truly included) caught absolutely nothing. I've never seen a day like that when the water seemed totally devoid of any fish activity. Anyway, I've long thought it would be fun to fish with someone who prefers totally opposite techniques than I. For example, I love topwater and plastics, plastics being first. I imagine bass always watching the plastic and therefore fish as I would if I were sight fishing. It produces well for me. Topwater is fun, and in my experience, produces almost as well as plastics. I like to fish anything that's lifelike. I'm still baffled as to why walking the dog works with Spooks and such as I know of nothing that make that motion (sick frog, maybe?) but they work well. I know there are a lot of folks that like the reaction strike, using insane speed reels of 30ipt or more (I have exactly one of these reels; a 5600c4 Mag). I never could get that to produce well. Others can, however. I'd like to see this in person, swap techniques. However, I have absolutely no idea how to find anyone who is into bass fishing around here, let alone those who use specific techniques. Reading only takes one so far, then one has to see the subtle actions of the technique in person to master them, or sometimes even understand why they work beyond the generic "reflex bite." Any ideas? Regards, Josh

Braided cotton -- where can I find this??? Braided Dacron -- I have some old stuff. Need more. Do you have a source for the round (vs old flat) braided stuff? Braided Micron -- What's braided Micron? Braided surgical suture thread -- where can I find this??? Braided Spectra -- This is just another braid along the lines of Firewire, Sufix, Spiderwire, etc, right? Micro Dyneema? What is micro Dyneema? I need to respool the 5500 setting upon the Lew's Speed Stick because the guides are relatively soft. I'd like to go with something with low stretch and very low memory. I'm not into any sort of sprays or line treatment. I'd be tying a mono or fluoro leader. Thanks, Josh

Hi Folks, I'm wondering what diameter line you all use for baitcasting. I generally select line with the same diameter as your average 12 to 17lb mono, whether it be mono, FC, or braid. (Never tried copoly.) I don't like line digging down into itself, thus these larger diameters. Does anyone here use lesser diameters than these on their baitcasters? Regards, Josh

I don't know. I've used them since age 3; started casting age 5 or so. I'd come home from fishing as a teenager feeling the ligaments and tendons, but that went away as I built my arm up. I'm 37 now and experience no problems yet. I did do a lot of Aikido when I was younger, so maybe that's part of it..? Regards, Josh

Hi Guys, I found a reel I think will be perfect. It's a 5500, non-bearing, though I did put bearings in the drive shaft (where you'd usually find the AR bearing) and in the levelwind. For heavier-than-3/8oz lures, I prefer to keep the bronze spool bushings, so that's what I did with this one. In fact, I think it may be the last one I have with bushings. A note on this rod: I was playing with it and for a fiberglass rod, it's very sensitive. I can feel about as much with it as I can on a couple lower-end graphite rods I have. It should be excellent for topwater, or whatever role I use it in. Regards, Josh

Hello, I hate mono. I always have. Before I took my "fishing break" we only had mono. I hate memory. And before anyone says that's on me... no, it's not. Even the XL stuff will have a bit of the spool's memory. Two things about mono and memory: It coils out along the water after a cast. When it coils, it moves the lure, especially if it's a floating lure. I always found it tough to do subtle topwater at long range with mono for this reason. I've had to break off line due to snags, and if it was a tough break, I'd get a nice bird's nest. Running braid with fluoro or mono leader is much, much more forgiving and is just one less thing to mess with my time targeting bass. Yes, mono is excellent for some things, but personally, I'll go with braid. This comes from someone who prefers round baitcasters and pistol-grip rods. Regards, Josh

I see wires.

I have my sub license and enjoy teaching quite a bit. I can't handle the politics of full-time teaching. Subs can get away with a bit of "ignorance". I *** you for being able to work past that. Fifth grade is one of my favorite grade to teach! They're old enough to understand most things but young enough to have a sense of wonder. You enjoy yourself! You'll love it! Josh

When we were 16 or 17, a friend and I took my (Dad's) boat out on the Salamonie Reservoir for fishing after pitching the tent at a campsite. Well, we got to fishing and noticed dark clouds rolling in. The boat is a deep V and perfect for riding waves. It is, however, only rated for a 35hp motor and Dad saw fit to only equip it with a 15hp, so we started back to the ramp. When we were about halfway back, the white caps started. This was no big deal; the boat handled it fine and we were wearing life vests. However, we noticed all the other boats zooming back ahead of us. Bass boats, speed boats, even a couple pontoons -- all but one were faster than us. The one that wasn't faster was a john boat with a couple folks in it. We'd passed the time of day earlier, traded strategies, and they were nice folks. They were behind us, but we lost sight of them someplace. We had both been hugging the bank as close in as was safe to try to keep the lightning to the trees. My friend and I debated going and finding them, but we weren't equipped and besides, that funnel cloud that just appeared didn't look too cool. The wind started blowing harder, and we figured those folks had turned the boat into the cove we should have used, too. We hoped so. We couldn't talk about it much as the wind was drowning the outboard's sound. I've never been out in anything like that before. It was awesome! We passed a point that had a huge tree. That tree came crashing down behind us close enough to give us a bit of a boost. That was a cool experience. By the time we got to the dock, it was raining so hard I literally could not see. I left my friend to hold the boat, backed the trailer into the water, and we loaded that boat on in record time. When we got back to the campsite, we found our tent torn to hell. It was a good campsite, too, but all the shelter it provided hadn't been enough and the tent showed it. We gave up recovery long enough to toss the tent into the boat and take off to his grandmother's, which was closer than either of our homes. We found out later that there had been a number of tornadoes in the area. It had been supposed to only rain, and it ended up being one of the worst storms of the season. We were too dumb to be much scared. It was exciting and educational. Dad did tell me later that I should have gone with my first instinct and headed for the cove where the other boater with the john boat probably headed. (We heard of no fatalities, and so we assumed these other folks end up fine.) Just one of those things. That boat is the one I'm rebuilding now, and though I want to run it mostly electric, it will have a 35hp motor. Josh

I only use a swivel if I am using an inline spinner or spoon. I use snaps, yes, no swivels. Josh

This is the info I was looking for. Thank you! Josh

Here are the So-Slo jigs: http://www.soslo.com/ I just got them in from eBay (cheap) and they look like they'll do what I want them to do. Regards, Josh

It'll be a while! I'm the breadwinner in the family; we decided my wife would stay home with the kids. It's funny. I'm 37. I'm sure Dad had this thing when was born; I don't remember him NOT having it and I was going fishing with him before I was three. I'm also in a similar situation he and Mom were in: I work; wife stays home. Dad began studying engineering shortly after so he worked, paid tuition, and raised three kids while Mom stayed home with us. He had good, but limited, fishing tackle until he became an engineer and we moved up here. I've accumulated my stuff over a lifetime, starting right around 34 years ago. I've restored a lot of his old lures that he stopped using when he bought new, and I've found I prefer the older stuff. It works just as well (Roland Martin - marked spinnerbaits, especially!) as, and in many cases better than, today's tackle found at the same places Dad bought these. The box stores do not carry lures of this quality any longer. The old reels and rods work well, too. It's this fiberglass job that I wasn't sure about; been going back and forth with. I do believe I'll run the moving lures off it as was suggested. I know that my old Ambassadeurs are used right up next to my 2014 model year 5500c3 and a 2008(?) 5600c4 Mag. The gear ratios on all these reels give me versatility, and the 23ipt retrieve of the old Ambassadeurs I run are far from a handicap when they are what I need! Ah, well, late night ramblings. Time for some sleep. Shop time tomorrow! Regards, Josh

Me too. Only left forearm. Know what? I'm used to it now, the tendons and ligaments adapted long ago, and though I have straight-grip rods I like, my favorites are my pistol-grip rods. I'm actually saving up to have a couple custom rods built by DVC on old Abu Garcia pistol grips I picked up some time back. Josh

Thank you, gents. You're confirming my thoughts. Josh

Um, no? It's in a man cave right now and will be coming out of retirement. Josh

Hello, I love pistol grips. My question is more along the sensitivity. I've been spoiled by affordable graphite rods since I was a teenager, and I haven't used a fully fiberglass rod since my Zebco 33 or sometime in there. Is there a place in which sensitivity doesn't matter so much? I use braid pretty exclusively, so this will be more sensitive than it was when Dad used it, the 5000, and monofilament! Thanks, Josh

Hello, I'm late to this. A trick I started using when my friends and I would go catfishing as teenagers was to buy cheap womens' pantyhose and use small pieces of it to hold whatever bait we were using. Just wrap the bait into it, and spear the hook through. It let the scent out just fine and held the bait to the hook very, very well. Josh