Josh Smith

Hello, Strange. I never heard of such a thing. Good to know! As far as I can tell, most people have given up on this lake. I have seen kayaks but not recently. I do see charred wood from fires and forked sticks, so I figure folks fish for panfish or catfish at night. In the past months, I've not seen any other bass anglers, now that I think of it. Regards, Josh

Hi Folks, I got away for a couple hours this evening and managed to catch a smallish bass using the new 5500c3 and a green shallow-diving bait of some sort. I flat don't recall what it is: The 5500c3 as well as the old 5000 reels I've tuned out can cast a looong way now, and this bass hooked up at right around 30 yards. This is the furthest I've ever fought a fish of any sort in. Not that this one was big, but it does mark kinda' high on the cool factor. The 5500c3 does 25 IPT and with its comparatively wide spool, that number doesn't drop all that much. I liked being able to crank more instead of having to tire the fish too much. I play less and crank more these days to spare the bass. This bass's coloration was odd on the tail and the anal fin: At first I thought this was a bedding bass, but didn't see enough damage. Then I wondered if it was some sort of rot, but it didn't really look like it. The bass in this lake tend to have either light or dark tails depending on the amount of sunlight they get. This one had positioned itself by the dam's overflow to take advantage of the food there, and it's on the northern side of the lake. I suppose this might account for it. It just struck me as interesting. The rod and reel fish nicely. I wish the reel handle weren't foam, but there were no choices on that matter. Otherwise it all feels really good! Josh

Thank you!

I use a 17lb FC leader that is the length from the levelwind to the end of the rod. There is no practical limiting effect of a good knot through the guides. Use one of these: http://www.animatedknots.com/albright/index.php?Categ=fishing http://www.seaguar.com/applications/knot-guide/63-seaguar-knot.html Regards, Josh

Hi Sam, Thank you! Regards, Josh

Hi Folks, In theory I can build a fishing rod. Usually when I can build something in theory, the first whatever-it-is comes out fairly decent. This is one of my few natural talents. I have a couple Abu Garcia rod handles with pistol grips I'd like to build on: I know they won't be quite as sensitive as blank-through designs, but that's OK. I need a source of blanks, epoxy, guides and wrap. Can anyone recommend a good place? Thank you, Josh

Hi Folks, I have a couple questions. I'm suspecting bass in Indiana are moving into summer patterns at around the start of September. I cannot find historic 2014 highs and lows. I do know this was the worst winter we had in even the old folks' memories, and it seems to have been getting steadily warmer since. We didn't see the highest temps (at least from what I observed) until late August / early September. We're hitting 90 degrees daily now. On the other hand, we had a very nice cold front go through last week. It rained a lot and it was impossible to catch anything. The lakes clouded but it was too cold for the bass to stay near the surface to hunt. I went fishing out of curiosity only one day during this period and caught one bass in two hours. It was a skinny 10" critter. I told it (yes, I talk to bass) to go grow up, and tossed it back to do just that. Hopefully it will take my advice. The grass came in later than it should have this year, but the cattails were about on time. Is there any website that will have average historic temperatures and other conditions from January to present? I can't find one. Dad has looked, too. It's been an interesting but productive year thus far. I'm just trying to figure it out. Any help is appreciated. Regards, Josh

Hello, That rod and reel is just fine. I use an ultralight rig when conditions call for it. Regards, Josh

Hi Folks, I mentioned I was going to be ordering a 5500c3 and a new rod. I found what I wanted on BPS, though the rod doesn't have quite the pistol grip I've come to prefer, it works. The reel took a couple more days to get here as I chose free shipping and the method was up do them. The rod was sent USPS, and the reel was sent FedEx Smart Post, which just means they brought it to my town and dropped it off at the post office for delivery. "Smart" Post? Huh-uh. I love this reel! Shown with a 5000c with fast gears (top), a four-screw 5000 with fast gears (middle), all these reels have an equal number of bearings! The first thing I did when I got the 5500c3 was open it up. It was filled with grease, but not overly packed. It could have been fished as is. I have come to prefer bearings in everything that links up when the level wind moves during a cast. As the 5500c3 came, it was equipped with four bearings: two on the spool, one on the worm gear, and the anti-reverse bearing. I dug out some parts I try to keep around and got to work. The interesting thing is that a bearing cog wheel and bearing worm gear assembly both work fine on both the vintage Ambassadeurs and this 2014 model! Thank God they kept it simple! Reels from the 1990s I've opened up are generally a mess. Not too complicated, but could be simplified. I am happy Abu Garcia has finally simplified things. My only complaint is the plastic, but honestly it's not a huge deal. Polymer has advanced to the point I'm starting to trust it, and it does help keep gear noise down. There are now bearings in both ends of the worm gear, two in the spool, one in the cog wheel, and the anti-reverse bearing for a total of six. The vintage Ambassadeurs have six as well, though the anti-reverse bearing of course cannot be fitted to them, so they retain their dogs and use a ball bearing on the driveshaft behind the drag star. I wasn't impressed with the amount of lube in the 5500c3's anti-reverse bearing. Abu Garcia presses these in on all their current models of which I'm aware, and so I took a new shotgun bore swap and spun it around in there until it was pretty dry, though I didn't use alcohol or degreaser so a protective film still exists. Pics: Casting impressions were mixed. Testing it in the yard, it seemed to require more spool tension than it should have with four of the six brakes engaged. I took it out to the lake briefly alongside the four-screw, and I burnt my thumb on the 5500c3 keeping it from overrunning. I do run my brakes dry (personal preference) and I couldn't figure it out. Finally, I did. I spooled it with new Berkely Fireline, and when I held the rod pointing down and hit the free spool button, the lure dropped just fine. The braided line had too much friction, dangit! I got home and tied some fluoro leaders. That solved the problem. I prefer to set my spool tension to drop the lure fast enough to give one loop of overrun, and those settings seem to apply to the 2014 model as well as the '60s and '70s models. This is a very nice reel, and the rod is more than acceptable. I do wish its grip was better molded and of hard pebbled rubber, but those seem to be out of vogue. I was going to order a custom rod until I wandered across a couple handles and seats (made by Abu Garcia) on eBay. Looks like I'll just be building my next rod. It should be interesting to learn! The only thing I have left to do on the 5500c3 is to install carbon drag clutches, which I just ordered. I almost got them on their way so they'd be here when the reel arrived, but I figured I'd see what the reel had in it, first. It turns out the clutches have a substandard feel to what I've come to prefer, and so it's getting carbon. I can't wait to get this thing out again. Tonight was not optimal for fishing and I caught nothing. If I can get away tomorrow, I'll get to give it a more thorough workout! Regards, Josh

Hello, I conducted a penetration/expansion test on Guardian Gold. i would not carry it for defense. For practice it is fine. Josh

When I first read this, it was while sitting on the toilet. Appropriate, in a way. Dude, look: You stepped up a lot more than you needed to. Get the kids, wish the ex and the new bf best of luck, and be ready to go it alone. Pursue any child support the ex is ordered to pay with a vengeance, and try to get supervised visitations for the wife if there is any reason to think she might take the kids and run or if drugs are involved in any way. Josh

Spook or Hula Popper if I want to fish slowly. Buzzbait or Jitterbug for faster retrieves and/or after dark.

I think it will last. My issue is that I'm just used to round reels and centrifugal brakes. Even my round Abu Garcia 5600 MagTrax got upgraded to brake shoes and I hardly use the magnetic brakes as a consequence. I'm 36 and have been fishing since I was like, two. I don't recall my first fishing trip. I'm sure the Black Max is an excellent reel for those younger fishermen or those new to the sport of bass fishing. It didn't feel round enough to me and the braking felt funny It will be interesting to see how long yours lasts. I only took mine out a couple times. Regards, Josh (edited Sept 10: Writing from the BlackBerry seems to insert "corrections" and change the whole meaning of sentences, sometimes...)

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