Josh Smith

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

Hi Folks, Since getting back into tuning reels and updating myself on what parts are what, I've been having a blast! Mostly the old Abu Garcia Ambassadeur models get done, but the newer ('99 and 2014 models) also have been a central focus. The 1999 is a 5600 Mag. I thought it was a c4 or c5, but getting into it, it's a c3. I'll have to rectify that. The 5500 was a c3, but is now a c5. Everything that could have bearings does, save for the handle. I have noticed on both the old and new models that after super tuning, I have to use way less spool tension and way less thumb for backlash control. Additionally, the lures cast much further, of course. I almost wonder if the increased spool speed engages the brakes so that thumb isn't needed all that much. This is all with the stock bearings, too. I've not seen the need for Abec 7 or better, yet, though I might end up with some just for kicks. There's really no point in this post other than I'm taking a lunch break, and while I revive on coffee, I figured I'd throw this out there for the group to chaw on. Regards, Josh

Thanks, guys! I have a small urge to break out the fly rod. I got sort of good with it and tied my own flies, but I never did fish with them. Work got in the way, and it's been years since I had the fly rod out on the water. Josh

I tend to catch way more snagged line than lures. Using braid, I can usually get most of the snagged mono in. I would guess that an advantage to braid would be that it reduces line breaks. Josh

Along the same lines, how long does it take mono or fluoro to dissolve? Josh

Hello, I use FC leaders when I want lures to run deeper and mono leaders when I want them shallower. Josh

Of course. Most bass haven't seen older stuff, when they are often used to newer stuff. Josh

I am trying the "throw a different bait" technique but am not seeing good results. In nature, a missed strike would lead to the critter that almost got eaten, booking it out of there. Following this logic, the same lure should be thrown back but retrieved faster. Josh

Yes. I call them "fishing rods" and "tackle boxes". Josh

I catch 2 to 5 bass in two hours. If I catch less than that, I stay out until I do catch something. Saturday was disappointing because they all shut down due to a strange front. (It wasn't just me; it seems it effected multiple states.) I stayed out five hours trying. Did I ever mention I'm stubborn? This is from the bank, by the way. I'm still working on the boat when I have time. At this rate, I anticipate completion by around 2025. Josh

That seems to be a lot how the lake I've been patterning this year is. There is a lot of cover, never seen them school, and the bass seem territorial. They ambush feed, almost never feed actively, and I'm learning that if I catch one on one lure, I'm not going to catch another on the same lure. I switch it up, and if I don't catch another on the next lure, I move. The sole exception to this is when the spawn is on. The males are guarding the nests and the females are recovering off shore and a Texas-rigged worm or crawdad will work wonders for the duration of the spawn. Regards, Josh

Thanks folks. Yup, it's a bit whippy, but not near as much as the old fiberglass MH jobs. (Dad has a Lew's from the '70s that, while it's a good rod, takes a lot of getting used to and will never be as sensitive as graphite.) The Cherrywood strikes me as a tough, flexible, sensitive rod. Josh