Josh Smith

Hello, It's a nice reel for the money but I never really warmed up to mine, and traded it here for a 5000c. Josh

Weird. That's not my experience at all. Well, the ends fray, I guess, if you don't melt them, but I sort of want them to fray a bit for some uses. Which version did you try? Josh

Have you found a reel? Josh

Grease, What is it about Spiderwire you dislike? It is one of my favorites. Josh

Hi Folks, As I make modifications to by beloved Abu Ambassadeurs, they of course needed tested. I take them out into the yard to test cast before actually fishing them. This evolved into practice casting daily. There are plenty of trees to simulate fishing, just no water. The spot I've chosen to do this only has a castable distance of about 40 yards before I hit the tree line to the woods, but the woods has overhanging boughs from trees and underneath them makes good long-range practice for getting under overhanging branches at the lake. My wife thinks I'm weird for this. Come to find out, when Dad got his Abu Garcia 5000 back in the '70s and mounted it on the Lew's Tournament Grade fiberglass rod, he'd practice out back by pitching to the neighbor's basset hound and playing tug-of-war with the dog! (The neighbors knew this and enjoyed watching it! They were family friends I guess.) Practicing casting is relaxing to me, like shooting my bow, or 1911 pistol, or .22 rimfire, or even black powder and centerfire rifles. I do all these in the yard or the woods, depending. So, does anyone else do this? Yard fish, I mean? Josh

This is what stands out to me: • It has to be stocked yearly • Largemouth, smallmouth, pike, musky, and carp are all stocked there. • Pond is 6' deep. • Pond has no vegetation. • "There used to be a couple of willoew trees there that provided shade. Recently, they cut the trees down and I've only caught one fish since." OK, so, a yearly stocking seems to point to a pond that has yearly kills going on. As others have said, the pike and musky are eating everything else. Bluegill tend to be spread by water birds, and there probably are just not enough of them. They were associating with the willow trees. Bass don't have irises that constrict light so direct light hurts their eyes. This is why they prefer shade. They would have moved off to other structure, preferably some that provides shade. Underwater rocks and ledges, etc, are perfect for this. To me, this type of pond is sort of like buying an aquarium, stocking it with fish, and fishing with one of these: You're 190 miles from me. If you ever get over this way, I'd be happy to take you to a few local areas and let you catch bass critters. Regards, Josh

Hi Folks, What in your opinion is the best braided line of 2014? I have preferred SpiderWire Stealth and Berkely Fireline (fused stuff, I think). Looking in the Walmart the other day, I noticed some stuff that seemed a lot smoother than either; I think it was Power Pro but don't recall. Does the smooth stuff have any advantages? Disadvantages? I'd think that the rougher the line, the less likely the knot is to slip. Given each of my rod/reel combos (except for the ultralight spinning setup) will cast 40 yards accurately with a 1/2oz weight and further with anything over 1/2oz on the MH rods, I'm wondering if switching would be worth it. And if so, switch to which, and why? Thank you, Josh

Hello, 6ft? In Illinois? Sounds like a really poor pond that pretty much freezes solid every year. Over here in Indiana I don't know that I'd even try a pond like that. Josh

Hi Folks, This is the Renovo Trio. I used to drink reservoir water when I was a teenager, but I'm older and, I like to think, wiser, so I bought the Trio. I chose it over the Lifestraw or Sawyer Mini (which is the one to beat) because the Trio filters down to 0.05 microns and removes heavy metals as well as cysts, bacteria, and some viruses. The Sawyer Mini is rated at 0.1 micron and the Lifestraw, at 0.2 microns. Both are single stage units. The Trio uses three stages: A 5 micron first stage (coffee filters only do 50 microns at best), a 0.05 micron second stage, and an activated charcoal third stage. All three stages are replaceable. The cost is only about $33. That's a bit more than the Sawyer Mini, but you do get 4x more filtration with the Trio. I carry military canteens, both 1qt and 2qt, and the Trio is a backup to those. I do carry iodine capsules in the pockets of the canteen covers but iodine only works on a relatively few nasties. Chlorine tabs work about as well, and chlorine dioxide works slightly better. Still, it's not all that great. If I ever have to use this thing for any length of time, say, camping with a questionable water supply, the water will be treated in three stages: First, filtered. Second, boiled. Third, iodized. I'm really contemplating replacing my iodine tablets with chlorine dioxide for a number of reasons. This filter should work plenty well, but if I have the time, I might as well use all methods available. Josh

I use a small pliers to grab and pull. It pops off and is retained by the pliers. Josh

Now you have me surfing schematics. Dangit man! Josh

Dude, that's all I fish! Modified 5000 and 5500 reels with a definite preference for pistol grips. Gotta remember, I'm 36, and I've been fishing since 1979 or so. Dad would sit me down on a river rock and go wading while I fished with a bobber. My first baitcaster was his old 5000 that he installed fast gears (23 IPT) into. It's still in my lineup. My other baitcasting reels are modified 5000 and 5000c reels, with a 5500 on the way. I have the black reel (5000c, fast gears) mounted to a Daiwa Jupiter medium rod and it balances fairly nicely, but man, the MH rod of the same design just doesn't feel right. It feels heavier than MH. Mostly, though, nothing but a pistol grip and round reel feel right. Josh

I was raised to believe that a Hula Popper was to be twitched. It works well. Josh

Hi All, A check came in from a commercial client of mine today. Most of it went back to my business, but I decided to treat myself: ... and a casting rod... (They had this in pistol grip... yay! I hope I like it!) Josh

No, but I do talk to them. I just caught my smallest bass of the season (10") and told it that it was purty, and then said "Now grow up" as I released it. Josh

Oh... really? I guess I didn't think to look at that when I was in the 5600Mag (a C reel). I am ordering a new 5500c3 and might just have to take advantage of that feature. Thanks! Josh

The fish seem more confused than us this year. On the other hand, I just caught my first of the year less-than-12" the other day. They're shallower than usual, and I wonder if it ever really warmed up more than 10' down from winter. Josh

Hello, I prefer the ratchet setup because I feel it's simpler, tougher, and needs less maintenance. I do fish both. My preferred setup would be a IAR bearing with a ratchet backup. I've not found one yet. When you set the hook, you should crank the reel about 1/4 turn, at least that's how I was taught. It adds just a bit more speed and power to the set. Any back play should be a non-issue with this technique. Josh

Abu Garcia.

Hello, Why? Josh

Two of the three I'm working on: And I just bought these: ... so I guess I get to learn to build rods. Something did occur to me the other day: These new, fast reels have large cranks for the most part. Large crank = slower cranking. In other words, you increase the gear ratio, and then decrease it again with the crank! The red reel is intended to crank hard due to its role as a heavy spinnerbait, crankbait, and worm rod. The black reel I built to crank faster because it's on a medium rod and mostly sees topwater. (I have another red reel that's currently on a 7' MH rod, but I might just put it on the 5'6" MH Lew's fiberglass rod. That red one is pimped out with mother-of-pearl handle knobs.) These two and the ultralight always go fishing with me. The red one gets used the most. Josh

Hello, The idea on which I'm operating is simply this: Currently, my lures attract with usually two senses: Sight and sound. I make several casts to the same likely-looking place as bass tend to sometimes need hit on the head before they strike. Consider a fine wine or excellent craft beer. We, as humans, are usually visual hunters first and auditory second. Smell is a third. If we see the beverage poured and hear it poured, we also expect to catch a whiff of the bouquet, right? Now, a bass that's not all that active might expect the same thing. In any case, adding sound to sight helps, and adding scent to sight and smell should help further, assuming it's the correct scent. This is the theory I'm testing. I've never been one to be swayed by advertising or by what is "new and better". I like to know what's available but in the end, I evaluate my needs and go from there. I have a huge tackle box full of stuff that didn't work before by is now working with new techniques. Maybe this will end up being a gimmick, but maybe not. I just picked up a Booyah Boo Alpine rig because it makes sense that it should work. It's one of the few newer things that I buy into. I really doubt the Booyah Alpine is a gimmick, and I don't think the correct scent would be a gimmick, either. Whether the makers have the correct scent nailed down, however, is another question entirely. Regards, Josh

Here you go: Nice stuff! Josh

I have an extra fast action setting over there in a corner. It's an old Fenwick graphite rod of Dad's. It may have been his first graphite rod, in fact. Someplace along the line the tip got broken off. I replaced the tip, but lost everything up to the second-to-last line guide in the process. I'm pretty sure it's extra-fast now Josh

Hi All, It almost sounds like mixing nightcrawler juice (nod to Sam) or fish oil or whatever with lanolin would be effective. Lanolin tends to stay put in the water, and smearing a bait with it would release a little at a time. Josh