Josh Smith

The boat is nearing completion. I do not know if I'll get it out on the water this year, but it will be ready next year if not. Last time I went out fishing on the weekend, I saw some kids (teens) fishing. One was throwing a topwater frog while the others were bait fishing. I am a substitute teacher, or am when time allows. I would be a teacher full-time if it weren't for all the idiotic regulations getting in the way these days. I would be fired. Subs can get away with more stuff. Hell, I was sparring in class once with a kid who was in taekwondo. Probably not the brightest thing I've ever done, but it was fun. I come from a family of educators and this is probably where my "how-to" articles come from. At any rate, I felt for those teens. It looked like they were trying, but just weren't catching anything. (That was the only day this year I got "skunked" as well.) I would likely invite them to pile in. No drugs, no cigs, booze. Why no cigs? 'Cause I won't card you and don't want to be busted. I have a real problem with folks trying to invite themselves, though. Canoes and kayaks are not overly expensive, and if it's important to you you'll find one cheap. Heck, even inflatables work. Josh

In the beginning, Kentucky watch makers created the modern baitcasting reel, and the reel was good. The Makers intended the rod to be cast with the reel on top but retrieved with the reel underneath. And lo, the fishermen disobeyed the law set forth by the Makers. For their disobedience, they were condemned to switch hands after the cast for a period of four generations. At the end of four generations, the fishermen were freed by the bass prophets Abu Garcia, Daiwa, and Shimano. Only the chosen ones, the Lefties, were spared this plight. And the Lefties, for the favors bestowed upon them, were thus persecuted by those whose handedness necessitated the shifting of hands after the cast. - The Book of Joshua, 19:77

Man, I don't think I could be a collector. I'd want to start swapping parts around to see what fits! 65, though? I have four actively working (5000, 5000c, 5500c3, and a 5600 Mag). I just retired one '70s that was/is Dad's; it's back on the Lew's pole. I have a 5500 non-c that I want to find a place for, but that's it. A $10 Morrum would be right handy. I used to believe things like that didn't happen until I walked out of a gun shop with a Gewehr 88/05. (This was Germany's first smokeless military rifle.) Built in 1892, the gun shop owner didn't know what it was and let me have it for $37.50 OTD. I'm a believer. I'm sure you'll find that Morrum, now! Just make sure you talk 'em down to $7.50 Josh

Thank you sir. I'm sure if you bought enough bargain-basement abused reels from eBay like I have, you'd find trends too. Dad and I always maintained our reels, and so a lot of these negligence issues were foreign. Heck, after toothpaste, the first thing I recall seeing in a tube was Abu Garcia reel grease! Still, the resilience of the Ambassadeur line shows in that one damaged part rarely effects other parts to the degree of destroying the reel. Chances are the caps and shims can be replaced and that Ambassadeur will chug on ahead like nothing's happened! Josh

Yes. That's all any of them have seen except for the older Daiwa. Keep in mind that I only started fishing again seriously in early 2013, so the Daiwa has seen about two years of braid. Prior, it was mono as braid in the '90s ran about $50. I would be more concerned with fluorocarbon. It's pretty hard stuff. Josh

Hello, The red reel is a late '70s to early '80s 5000. It has 3.8:1 gears unless they've been changed out, and if they've been changed out, it's a 4.7:1. These are not as as slow as they sound. In that size reel, a 5.3:1 ratio would give you a 26IPT retrieve, so you're looking at around 23IPT if the faster gears are installed. The 5500c reel is an excellent reel, and was made about the same time as the 5000. It does have the faster retrieve of 4.7:1, and it uses bearings instead of bushings. This is only really an issue if you plan to throw light lures. Bearings help light lures go further. Otherwise, it's the same reel as the 5000. The 5500c3 has 5.3:1 gearing for a 26IPT retrieve. It's the newer design wherein the spool rotates around the axle, while the older designs had the axle rotating with the spool. It uses three bearings: The spool rides on two, and there is one on the right side of the worm gear. It may or may not have one on the driveshaft. In my opinion it's not worth $80 as there are some places where you can buy these lightly used for that amount, and I've even seen some new old stock versions for $90 and $95. I would probably offer $45 for one in that shape. They all look relatively well cared for but used heavily. There's some wear on the 5000's right hand knob where the axle might be trying to come through. This would happen if the shims it's supposed to ride on are gone or worn through. Any one of those you buy, you're going to want to have gone through and fixed. DVT is the site supporting vendor who does this and his prices seem very reasonable. If you decide to do it yourself, there are a number of us who can help you. The Fenwick rod is worth buying. I have one over in the corner of this room. Unfortunately, the tip snapped off this one and so I don't use it for much. I much prefer pistol grips and I think you will, too, if you give it a chance! I hope some of this helped. Regards, Josh

Hi Folks, I have both newer and older rods here. I think the oldest bass rod is a fiberglass job from the '70s; it's a Lew's Tournament Grade. It's a nice rod, and it's labeled as "medium heavy, fast action." Now, it's pretty whippy. It's not what I'd consider fast action. Medium, maybe, or medium-fast, but not fast. In the early '90s I picked up a Daiwa MH Fast action graphite. It's pretty stiff but not so stiff as these ones I'm seeing now. I was given a couple rods by Dad. One was a Berkely Lightening Rod from several years back. It's 7' and pretty stiff, but lists as a MH Fast action. I bought a BPS 5'6" MH Fast Action to go with the 5500c3 I ordered from them. That thing was STIFF and reminded me of the graphite we used in mechanical pencils. The first one broke. The replacement arrived and is just fine. When that first BPS broke, I bought a Berkely Cherrywood HD as a stopgap. It, too, lists as being MH Fast Action, but feels more like my '90s Daiwa. It is advertised as being a hybrid rod, an it puts me in mind of a mixture of the old Lew's rod combined with the '90s Daiwa, but with a nod towards the Daiwa. Sometime in here, I picked up a modern 6'6" Daiwa MEDIUM rod with a fast action. Know what? This bloody thing is about a MH fast action according to my frame of reference!!! Argh! I doubt there's an industry standard, but can someone clear this up? I've noticed a trend toward these "medium" rods for bass fishing and am starting to wonder if this is because the general definition of what constitutes a MH/F rod has shifted. Help? Thank you, Josh

Well, I'll tell ya'... All blanks used to be spliced to the handles. That's the way they were built. In fact, I have a couple laying around here. Further in fact, when I get the money up, I have a couple old Abu Garcia handles that are not blank-through that DVT will be building into complete rods for me. There's nothing wrong with spliced handles. There might be slightly less sensitivity in the type I'm talking about, but in the Abu Garcia up there, I don't know. My old Daiwa Bill Dance rod that the modified '60s 5000 sets on has metal guides. I never gave it much thought beyond that I thought it was cool to feel the line come up the guides. The guides are in excellent shape and I've had that rod since around 1994. It was my only MH rod for the longest time and only one of two rods I actively used (the other being an ultralight), so you might guess how much work it's done. The Cherrywood HD that I bought not too long ago is too new to be judged yet beyond my feeling not-quite-right that I really like a rod that's as inexpensive as it was. Friggin' $20 rod feels better to me than a couple $100 rods I have laying around. Something's wrong there! The BPS 5'6" MH rod also has stainless guides. From what I can tell, it's going to work just fine. I might end up wrong, but I don't think so. I'm not defending Abu Garcia. I love their old stuff and their Made In Sweden reels. I hate all long-handled modern rods equally so I have no special love for that one that seems to have failed. I'm only relating that I've seen no issues wit all-metal guides. Josh

Thank you! I changed the frame to stainless, swapped the gears to something slightly more modern so it's as quiet as my 2014 5500c3, and put some newer line on it as that other stuff was a couple years old. I did swap the brake plate out while I was at it, just because. Prettier? What's more, there's just nothing that modern reels can do that this one can't. It's as smooth as most modern reels, has more bearings than most of them, and I just can't think of anything that I need that this won't provide. Lessee: Retrieve is 23IPT or so. Test casts at 40+ yards. Practical casts on the lake are 20-30+ yards depending on lure. I can palm it. I do have large hands, but whatever. There's plenty of blacklash control. Two small brakes and my thumb do just fine. On modern reels, if I can't use my thumb, I fix 'em until I can, dangit! I've never been spooled. There's like 125 or 150 yards of braid on there to play with before it hits the rather substantial (25lb mono) backing. Sure, I have modern stuff. None of it beats this reel. I bought the modern stuff so I had a couple more retrieve rates, so I have retrieves of 23IPT, 26IPT, and 30IPT (4.7:1, 5.3:1, and 6.3:1 on round reels of the 5000 size). My retrieve rate doesn't drop that much with these wide spools, either, if I am fishing long distance. This rod and reel have taken many, many bass, a huge buffalo fish, bunches of catfish, and quite a few other fish that I caught while "seeing what was out there" that would have torn many newer bass rigs up... badly. I'm playing with the idea of putting another dog on the anti-reverse, too. While I don't mind the delay before the dog catches, a second one would provide some redundancy that I appreciate, and it would also provide a faster catch. Instant anti-reverse still feels kinda' funny to me. It's an idea have that I'll play with if I can find the time to do so. Regards, Josh

Surely you're not serious..?

Here's some fun stuff: This is on my 5500c3. It's a bearing idler that I lightened. I find that these things have way too much inertia. I never liked that little plastic bushing in there. Too much slop. A $10 bearing and a couple small skateboard wheel washers work as an excellent replacement. The red circles indicate bearing locations. I've considered doing these mods on old 5000 and 5500 reels for money; not much, but enough to pay, say, DVT for a couple rods I want built. I even looked into advertising here, but I wouldn't have anything left since the work is so specialized and I'd limit the number of reels to one per week, anyway. I just have too much else going on. I might write up a tutorial on how to do this, though. Reels are not overly hard to work on and lend themselves well to gunsmithing techniques. My biggest problem was figuring out part numbers or modern equivalents. For example, back when I was a kid tinkering with this stuff, one could still find faster gears in kits (basically just 5500 gears) for the 5000 to speed up its pokey retrieve. I take a few (well, about 20) years off from serious fishing, and I come to find out they discontinued the pinion gear, and the kits are going for like $45 apiece as collectors' items on eBay! It was quite irritating. I think I have everything figured out again, though. That old red 5000, by the way, might just get a stainless frame today. I have one setting here and it's tempting. Should make it more comfortable, too, as it will convert it from a four-screw (that fourth screw really chafes!) to a three-screw. Yeah, I think I'll get that stainless reel soaking in some Dawn. Are these reels worth it? Definitely. Regards, Josh

Dude. Buy. It. I have been working with these more than ever and you would be surprised what they're capable of! Five or six bearings and 50+ yard test casts? Yes, Sir! If there is a 5500 in there, you might get it instead. Stock 23IPT while the 5000 might need upgraded. Josh

I just lightened the cog gear and that took off enough momentum to go back to the light brakes. This stuff is fun! Josh

Except with braid, I tend to cut small branches that would cause grief with mono. Josh

Hello, I just put spool bearings in my old '60s 5000 I use regularly. It's still a great reel other than being slightly noisy when cranking. It has a steel drive gear and this is likely the reason. Anyway... This thing is on a 5'6" Daiwa MH "Bill Dance Spinnerbait" rod. It as a polished worm gear, two spool bearings, two worm gear bearings, a cog gear bearing, and a crankshaft bearing. I guess in modern parlance it would be a 5+1. Everything is highly polished. Slow moving stuff is polished at 2000 grit, and high-speed stuff is polished at 3000 grit. I flicked my wrist and sent a 1oz weight over 40 yards. How much over I have no idea. It was stopped by dense vegetation at the 40 yard mark. The spool tension doesn't brake enough now, so I'll have to go back to medium brakes from light brakes. Regards, Josh

I prefer the Texas rig or a swim jig. The way I work them, I get reaction strikes, especially on the Texas rig. The added benefit is feeling the bottom. I like to feel the bottom, get an idea of structure, and these two lures let me do that. I don't fish them as much later in the year after I have a map of the bottom in my head, but still cast them out often enough to keep an idea of updating bottom conditions. Regards, Josh

Hello, Yup, Rockchucker here, too. I had a Lyman Turret 1 press but just like the single-stage Rockchucker better. W231 is in short supply, but I do still have some as well as an uncounted hundreds of rounds. Josh

Yup, this is one reason I keep my tetanus shots up to date, Lou. The other reason is that I sometimes put drills through my hands while working. Josh

I guess I'm weird. Rod and reel: 5'6" Cherrywood HD (yes, I'm loving this cheap thing, strange as that is!) and my tuned 2014 model 5500c3. Lures: 1. Zara Spook. Can I have two different colors or does this count as two different lures? If only one color, Black Shiner. If two colors, Black Shiner and Bullfrog. 2. Texas rig with black tungsten bullet sinkers and either Mann's Jelly Worms or Yum 4" straight worms. The fish haven't noticed any difference between the two, I don't think, but the Mann's really does look more natural. 3. 1/2oz blue and black swim jig with chunk trailers. 4. One of a couple old, high quality spinnerbaits. The particular one I'm thinking of has a copper Colorado blade and one silver willow leaf. 5. Chartreuse and black 3/4 oz shallow diver or 1/2 oz jerkbait. I fish them much the same. The above have all proven themselves to me over and over again. Lake? Hominy Ridge, the one that nobody else seems to be able to catch anything from. I've been patterning it all year. Regards, Josh

Hello, I mostly cast for practice. When I cast for distance, it's because I want hang time to analyze a reel I've just tuned. My casting measurements are accurate. They are done on the range I use for bow shooting. The range is a max of 40 yards. When using a 5/8oz or heavier weight, any of the rods or reels I use will go over 40 yards and bit into the trees. 1/2 oz steel weight will go 35-40 yards. Once, using a reel I'm still tuning, I cast a 1-1/4oz (or so) weight into a tree about 50 feet up at 40 yards. I'm not sure how I did that, and have no idea how far it would have gone had the tree not been there. This has been done with Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 5xxx series reels from the '60s to 2014. Rods have been a Cherrywood 5'6" MH, Jupiter M and MH (6'6" and 7'0", respectively), a BPS 5'6" MH, and a Daiwa "Bill Dance" 5'6" MH rod. The longest practical casts I make when fishing range from 30 to 35 yards using original Zara Spooks (3/4oz, IIRC), a variety of 1/2oz+ crankbaits, and 1/2oz+ jigs with trailers, and heavy spinnerbaits. Non-aerodynamic lures will cast from 20 to 25 yards. I use centrifugal brakes and minimum spool tension. My best spool tension settings are between letting the spool overrun one turn to letting it fluff just a bit without actually backlashing. This allows me to use my thumb to control any fluffing during the cast, but it's far less forgiving than the traditional recommended settings. Josh

1. Catch bass. 2. Use rectal thermometer on bass. Very easy. Josh

Where's the challenge in that? Josh

Hello, I went out back to try this out for you. I used a steel 1/4oz weight. In choosing a rod, I figured that the graphite rods I have are simply too stiff. I would have to cast them too hard and the velocity would overrun the spool very quickly. In fact, the BPS rod I have says it's a fast action, but it acts like a super fast. My modified 5500c3, 2014 model, on the 5'6" Cherrywood HD rod (1/4oz to 1oz capacity) seemed like the logical choice. Playing with things, I found that I could get 25 yards to 30 yards consistently. This involved a lot of thumbing though, more than I've ever had to do, I think, except for when I used to practice with Grandpa's direct drive Bronson. Now, I've done the following to the 5500c3: • It's all bearings. It would be a 5500c5 now. Bearings added to both ends of the worm gear, cog bearing, spool bearings. All are stock Abec 5 (I think that's what it comes with) except for the cog wheel bearing which is an Abec 7. • The cog wheel has been lightened so there's a lot less mass to start spinning. Too, I've never known one of these to spin freely. I do something to it to make it spin freely. • The worm gear and levelwind are polished. It's all very close to not being a drag issue. I'm not sure it can get much closer, honestly. Keep in mind that I never throw less than 3/8 oz when fishing, and prefer to throw 1/2 oz to 5/8 oz. The 1/4 oz was a new thing for me and while interesting, my setup is not for that. I actually think you could set up for 1/4 oz to 1/2 oz casting loads, but it would take a bit of doing. Get that reel as tuned and polished as it can be, and switch to to a medium or medium-light rod with a medium-fast tip. Regards, Josh

I am liking the hybrid Cherrywood HD over a lot of my more expensive stuff. In fact, I sorta' feel like I shouldn't like a $20 rod as much as I like this one. It's strange and I keep waiting for the catch, but it never comes. The Cherrywood HD is a bit more whippy like a glass rod, but still as sensitive as some full-graphite rods out there. It handles cranks well. Josh

Hello, I've been searching for something like this for over a month! I thought maybe Blakdog had 'em, but nope. Pray tell, where did you find 'em??? Lighter spools will indeed make them easier to cast. Full light spools even moreso due to the mechanical advantage. Currently, on deep spools, I've resorted to backing with the thickest, cheapest mono locally available. Being circular and thick, it has less total mass than thinner backing mono. Still, this isn't ideal and I really want light spools! Where'd ya' get 'em??? Regards, Josh