Josh Smith

Hi Folks, Thank you. I was playing with knots today. I knew I was going to lose a couple lures the way I was fishing, so I went ahead. The Seaguar, which is easiest for me to tie quickly, broke when pulling to break it off due to a snag. The Alberto, tied five up and five down, didn't fail when I had to brake the line. Rather, it broke at or near the palomar knot! Five up and five down keeps the Alberto compact like I prefer, and it doesn't seem to slip or break. I may be switching my go-to knot. Two bass, by the way. Both were caught by fishing chartreuse divers stop'n'go. The bass critters wouldn't touch the jerkbaits. Weird. Josh

Well, there you have it. No true American badass uses less than .45... ever.

Hello, I'm wondering what your subjective opinions on knot strength is. Out of the Albright, Alberto, and Seaguar, I believe the Albright is probably the weakest when going from braid to mono or fluoro. Between the Alberto and Seagur, though, I'm not sure. They both cast the same for me, and the Seagur is a bit easier to tie I think. Thoughts? Regards, Josh

Quantums are nice enough. I have a couple. Nothing will ever replace my round Abu Garcia reels though, 1960s vintage to present. They just feel right. I don't like the new low-profile anything. The IPT just reduce way too much with long casts. Josh

We will not!

A Quick History Back in the day when folks were still trying to figure out how reels should be built, the idea was to cast with the reel on top of the rod so the thumb could be used. When it was time to work the reel handle, the idea was that the reel should be underneath the rod. It didn't work that way. Folks found it easier to reel backwards. Thus, the tradition of the reel handle on the right hand side of the reel was born, and left-handers like yours truly were happy. Then came the French. They introduced the spinning reel, and showed the right-handers that a reel handle could be put on the left side. Blasphemy and unnatural deeds followed. Josh

For example: http://www.gunbroker.com/All/BI.aspx?Keywords=308+ap They're salty, but they're there. Josh

AP is available all over in the form of pulled military bullets. Been thinking about getting some API myself, for what, I don't have the faintest idea. They were anti-armor back in the day but I'm really not so sure a 7.62x54r API would penetrate a modern tank's armor... Josh

Not cool. Wondering... is "slimshad" a play on "Slim Shady"? Josh

I use a q-tip with denatured alcohol to degrease localized stuff. For more general cleaning, hot water, Dawn detergent, and an old toothbrush work best for me. I have been known to use gun degreaser on old reels if they were caked, but I have no idea if the stuff will hurt graphite/carbon fiber/whatever. The stuff I use is safe for metals and plastics. Hot water and Dawn just works best for me, though, for routine cleaning. Josh

They were once the same thing. Gonna go sit in the corner and feel old now... Josh

I tried braid, then tried going back. I can't. Braid just has too many advantages and leaders are easy to tie, when needed. Josh

Mann's is excellent.

Hi All, There are a few baits on which I'd like to replace the front treble hooks with the same size, but red. Come to realize there's a huge gap in my memory pertaining to hook sizes. I've always eyeballed regular hooks and never paid much attention to size. Problem is that when I go to replace hooks, that lack of knowledge could mess up the lure action. This was never an issue in the past, but the replacing of regular hooks with colored has me interested, and some hooks just feel cheap and I'd like to replace them with something else more substantial. Help? Regards, Josh

What is this "Pure Fishing"? I have gone to their website and I get a "store closed" message. This is the one listed on Google; comes up first on the search. Josh

I buy handmade ones from eBay. Figure on supporting the small business folks! Josh

Hello, It's closer to Huntington, right near the county line. Me and a kayak would be an interesting experiment. Never have tried one. PM me and I can give you the coordinates. Regards, Josh

Not that lake! About five feet out from almost every shoreline there is a major dropoff. A lot of the shoreline is not accessible, either, except by boat. Josh

Alberto, Albright, or Seagur. Josh

If I recall, I sounded it at 20ft but that was like 20 years ago. I'll be doing it again after the boat is repaired... I need that boat! Josh

Hello, Practice with 1/2oz. Turn off the mag breaks and activate all four centrifugals. When you cast, ride the spool with your thumb. Tighten down with your thumb a bit if you feel the line start to get loose. In my opinion, a person should train without brakes, then use brakes to make life easier. I used to practice with Grandpa's old Bronson a lot for this reason. That thing has no brakes and the handle spins on the cast! I do regularly do 40+ yards when I practice with a 5/8oz dropshot weight. I could go further but my target tree is at 40 yards. These reels are supertuned, and so I expect more from them than stock reels. Stock, I expect 30 yards from a good baitcaster. What kind do you have? Josh

Hello, It's 11 acres. Josh

I generally run at least 4' when I run a leader. Most times, the leader is there so I can break it should all else fail when snagged. That just happened to me today, in fact. I had to let a lure go and I tied a snap right to the braid, and ran a Zara Spook along the same lane I lost the crankbait. Well, I'll tell ya', the bass that blew it up sure wasn't line shy. Josh

Hi Folks, I'm wondering what your favorite topwater lures are? Mine was the Hula Popper, but I'm rapidly coming to like the original Zara Spook. They hit those Spooks when they're not hitting anything else, it seems. Bad fishing conditions put me in mind of Texas rigs and Zara Spooks. Rarely do I go home without catching at least two anymore. Josh

I'm catching largemouth on topwater (Spooks mostly) and I'm at around your latitude and climate. I would try jerkbaits colored like baby bass or sunfish. Add some red in there. Do you wade? I didn't get to this past summer and I'm hoping we'll have a bit of warmer weather yet where I can go wading, but they are emptying the reservoirs. My all-time favorite tactic for river fishing is to wade out (or at least find a sand bar or a bend in the river). I cast out a small jerkbait and let it drift with the current to a breakwater like a rock. Right in front of the rock I either twitch the jerkbait or tug it hard, depending, and more often than not something blows it up. This has never failed me. Generally I target all the rocks in an area like this before moving on. Smallies hit like this, and recently it's been what I call razorfish -- walleye, sauger, and saugeye. Funny thing: I keep catching small channel cat on inline spinners so I've mostly stopped using them. Josh