Josh Smith

As long as you keep the line tight, it shouldn't be a problem. I like to hook in the beak as well, but I've not found fish hooked elsewhere to be lost with a decent hook set. It's only when I fail to set the hook well that I lose 'em, and I've learned to set the hook a couple or three times with my ultralight rig. Regards, Josh

Hello, Didn't get a pic. But! This is the exact one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/FISHING-LURES-1-UNBRANDED-SOFT-BAIT-JIG-HEAD-WITH-BUG-WINGS-/291136560119?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43c9175bf7 I just need a name or a maker or even a style so I can look it up. I'd like to have a few different sizes and colors. (Mine are bright green/chartreuse.) This eBay listing doesn't help any with the name. Thanks guys! Josh

I wouldn't mind trying saltwater fishing. After seeing SirSnookAlot's name, I looked snook up (this was a while back). It's a nice looking fish. Most of what I am used to seeing (on TV) pulled out of the briney deep don't appeal to me. Snook and a couple others do. Unfortunately, I'm landlocked and am at a stage in my life where I don't have freedom of travel. Bass will remain my main focus with walleyes secondary, but I think I'll branch out to pike and musky when I get time to study up on 'em. Josh PS: I never did mean for this to turn into any arguments over elitism etc. All sports have their snobs, and I don't think any of you here qualify as such. At least, I have nobody on my ignore list. Now you want to get talking guns, I can show you snobs in that field!

Thanks guys. The jig bodies are over at my parents; will try to stop on the way home from the shop and get a pic. Josh

Sorta' like this, http://www.powerteamlures.com/25-ct-3-5-food-chain-tube-pro-pack/ but on both ends.

Hi Folks, There's a grub style that looks like it has hairs coming off all over it (and in some cases, fur is used on the tail like a Malibu jig). It works well for me but I never did learn what they were called, and the supply I inherited from Grandpa is running out many years later. I'm always figuring out new uses for them. These grubs are awesome if you want a slow-falling presentation. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Thanks, Josh

I try to stay away from this topic because it's such a hot button with folks. That said, I think it's safe enough here. I've tried sight fishing beds in the past. It's no great thrill. Mostly I wanted to see the bass's reaction, as in, I wanted to observe the strike. Curiosity was satisfied and I moved on. I will and do target staging bass pre-spawn and I go after the worn-out females post-spawn when they're eating again (though neutral to negative due to being worn out). Female bass are generally bigger. Josh

Thanks! Will have to read this one, too! Josh

Who's Murphy?

Matt, They make a huge deal about being American. However, their reels look like the typical stuff coming out of China. Any idea? Regards, Josh

Hi Folks, Been looking at these. They make me curious. I've not seen much on them. Any thoughts? Thank you, Josh

Hi Folks, I have limited smallie experience. I do need to fish the rivers more, and am hoping I get the opportunity this year. I love to wade. The hunt and active fishing with lures is what it's about for me, too. I just want to lay into something that fights, too. I suppose if I had access to 5+lb bass all day long, this would be ideal. This is Indiana, though, and they grow slower. Maybe I need some FL or TX bassin'? I dislike still fishing. The buffalo fish that laid into that inline spinner was a brute. Only time I still fish is if I'm going to get to eat catfish when I'm done! Regards, Josh

I've not been after smallies in a while. This past summer was really too wet to do much wading, so I concentrated on the one lake. If it's drier this summer, I'll be able to wade my favorite place, where the Salamonie River meets the Wabash. Last summer it was always flooded out that way, and when it wasn't, that crap seaweed was all over the rocks. Never seen that before, either. I love to wade with an ultralight setup, though I have been wanting to try it with a baitcasting setup again, too, and I really need to get my fly rig out there. It's seen no real action in years. Josh

Hi Folks, I'm sitting here watching the snow come down from Linus and I'm itching to have a good bass rod in my hand. They're all at my shop! So I'm reflecting instead: The bass I catch... they fight hard. They're scrappy. But even the larger ones (for Indiana) play out pretty fast. Granted, I do use heavier tackle, mostly Ambassadeurs of all years and MH/F rods. I do have one M/F rod, and I catch a fair amount of bass on my ultralight, too. They're fun on the ultralight. Still, they play out fast. I caught a buffalo fish once. The thing was a yard long or so. It bent my MH rod like bass bend my ultralight, and I fought it for a good, long time. The old Ambassadeur I was using had 4.7:1 gearing and I was glad of it. At that time, all that there was on the popular market was mono line. My biggest fear was that it would break. I love bass, though. I guess my question is this: Where can I find bass that fight like these buffalo? I've thought about running up to Lake Michigan, but I don't know the first thing about big lakes and my boat, while a deep v, doesn't have (and won't take) a motor large enough to really fish a huge lake efficiently. It's really geared toward small to medium reservoirs. Is it the nature of bass to play out fast? Or, is it just the northern bass that play out fast due to colder waters etc? Just some ramblings from a cabin fever victim. Thoughts? Josh

My current plan for dealing with drones involves a shotgun with a full choke. Josh

Hello, I build or heavily modify most of my guns. My carry 1911 is no exception. There are more pics but some are watermarked, and I'm not trying to advertise. A Google search on my name and 1911 will bring up a lot. The only things stock about this pistol are the frame, slide and barrel. It almost got a new barrel but dang, this one shoots well! Aftermarket ambi safeties are bountiful. Choose one you like. Fit it, and enjoy it! "Proper" safeties need fitted. Kimber's safeties are MIM and have a relief molded in to clear the sear on Kimber pistols. This may or may not work on other brands. (I tried one on the above carry pistol and it fit very tightly, but wore down with contact. I was not, however, impressed by the strength of the safety. It broke at the joint.) Look at Wilson Bulletproof and Ed Brown internal locking safeties. They are expensive but worth it. Stay away from Mueschke and the like; they are junk. I do like my Caspian ambi safety (with reservations; it's strong!) but they don't make it any longer. My carry holster is a K.L. Null Super Speed Scabbard. I'm 6'2" and I don't hardly notice this OWB holster and pistol. The weight its offset by a couple mags on the other side. Josh

Hello, I see these sometimes on eBay. A Google search didn't turn anything up about worth, etc. It did show that it has what's called "Power Mesh", whatever that means. I thought it was just decoration. It thought I bought it in my early teens and I'm 37 now. It was my first or second graphite rod. (I got a Zebco trigger reel combo that had a graphite rod with it for Christmas one year, but I just don't recall if I got it before or after the Bill Dance.) I'll research it a bit more, I guess, but there's little information out there pre-1996 or so. Unlike with guns where I can find loads of information about, say, one of my rifles built in 1892 Amberg, Germany, it seems that the majority of fisherman and the fishing industry are always looking forward to the next, 'better' thing and the the internet presence of products reflects this. Regards, Josh

Well dang, guys! I never knew this was an issue. The boat repair/restore is taking longer than I expected due to business, but I figure I'll have it out this summer. Maybe the following summer, I'll fish a local tournament or two. My idea of boat use has always been along these lines: "Dude, wanna go fishing? I'm taking the boat." "Cool. What time?" I doubt there will be any difference for any tournaments I might enter. Sure, I might win some money. Then again, maybe not. It doesn't matter. For me, if the focus ever switches to money instead of the enjoyment of fishing, I'll hang up my rods. Lunch? Hell, it's bologna and cheese on white bread, with mustard, and coffee to drink. Oh, and I prefer the back and I enjoy backing the boat into the water. That might just be me. Josh

Hello, It depends on what you're looking for. For me, it's not all about sensitivity. I really like the Cherrywood HD Rods, for example, for a lot of things. They're $20 rods, hybrid design, graphite and glass, I believe. Probably my most sensitive rod right now is short at 5'6", stiff, and graphite. I feel everything with it. It will break easily compared to the Cherrywood HD. One rod I've had forever is a Daiwa "Bill Dance" Spinnerbait graphite rod. How much graphite is in it is probably debatable, but I've used it for over 20 years. I'm used to it and can probably use it the easiest. It's a blank-through design with a nice pistol grip. One day I'll be having DVT build me a rod or two. (It's not that he's expensive but rather it's that I'm the only breadwinner in the household. We decided my wife would be a stay-at-home mom and we don't regret this decision at all!) The rods I have him build will be on pistol-grip handles made by Abu Garcia from way back. These are offset, not blank-through, and so will not be the most sensitive rods ever. However, they will be worth it to me for their other aspects; ie, handling round reels better and the feel of the excellent pistol grips. I'll probably end up with a Loomis or similar later on at some point. I've tried them and while yes, they are very sensitive, I question my need for that sensitivity. Maybe it was growing up on glass rods that did it, but I can feel everything with less-expensive rods; the feel is just a bit muted compared to higher end graphite. Sort of like listening to music wearing earplugs. I wear earplugs every day at the shop and listen to music or OTR the whole time, and have learned to understand everything as well as if I weren't wearing earplugs. It's just muted. Just my thoughts on the subject. For me, it's about overall feel, not just sensitivity. Josh

I used to, at times, with my baitcasting reels. I didn't have time to fish for years, and came back with a passion. While studying the improvements made in drags and such, I found the carbon drags. Fiber drags of any sort, I found, were initially sticky whether dry or greased. Not so with the carbon drags. I think this is why the 5000D worked so well. You had the back-reeling capability -- and advantage at that time -- but the back-reeling was tempered by a drag. Josh

Nice! I had a Jeep CJ5 from 1978. Couldn't find the Dana 44 rear I needed, though, and kept blowing the Corporate 20 with the power I had running through it. My friend had a Datsun pickup that would do anything we wanted, even in 2wd. We couldn't blow it up. We tried! Been wanting a 4wd Datsun from the '70s as well as a CJ3a or similar. Something simple. Josh P.S. They all have/had braking systems.

That's just cool. What kind?

Hello, I was born in '77! I can do new cars too, but man, the old ones just have those classic lines as do the old Ambassadeur series. Dad had an Ambassadeur 5000 he upgraded to 4.7:1 that he fished with when he took me starting at age two or three. It's the first baitcasting reel I owned when he got a new Quantum. Though I prefer '70s tech for the most part, there are things from my own era I prefer. Even a cheap graphite rod, for example, is much more sensitive than my dad's "Lew's Tournament Grade" fiberglass '70s job. I'm not sure how I ever got by with monofilament line as braid has allowed me to set the hook way further than I ever could with mono. I did 35 yards this past summer. I really like the first GM TBI setups. Those were dead simple to work on. Like a carburetor setup but with a nozzle shooting gas into the throttle body. Love those things! It satisfied emissions to the point that not a lot of extra crap had to be on the engine, too! Josh

Maybe I'm just a gearhead at heart, but I view it like a car's distributor: You have centrifugal advance and ported vacuum advance on those. Sort of the same thing on the reels' brakes. Josh

Hi Folks! Sounds like one of my discussions -- hehe! Lenz' law sounds pretty intimidating. It's not. Here's the thing: You're passing copper or aluminum through a magnetic field. You know how a generator works? That's all it is. Same as your alternator on your car and if you put wires on the ends of the spool you'd charge a battery. The faster it spins, the more resistance. Centrifugal brakes provide the most braking at the beginning of the cast were it's really needed. Mags do, too, to a point. The curve is much more gradual on the mag brakes. When the lure hits the water, I prefer to use my thumb to stop the spool. I could go with a dual-braking setup and not mess with using my thumb, but that's just not my style. If I use a dual-brake system and set both brakes, I can get a max of about 25 to 30 yards of casting distance. If I turn the mags off on that same reel, I get out to at least 40 yards using a 3/4oz weight. This is why I only have one dual-braking reel. The rest are centrifugals. On the 5500c3, I use three brakes (out of six) turned on. I can (and have) go down to two, but I prefer to use three and less spool tension. On the 5500, 5000, 5000c, etc; the old Ambassadeurs that I use, I go with the lightest brake shoes they have. For quality casts, you have to use your thumb. The thumb can overcome the wind and dang near anything else you're liable to run into. You start feeling the spool begin to fluff at all, you give some thumb braking. Josh