Josh Smith

Hello, On that reel, does the crankshaft ride on a shaft or rod coming up from the brake plate or frame? Or is it solid? Josh

Thanks guys! I went to Walmart (yuck) and they did indeed have some Yum F2, Gulp, and Ultra Classic Bass. I almost grabbed the Classic Bass stuff, but figured I'd start with Gulp because it hadn't been mentioned and because the Yum stuff was priced way down there -- so much so that I wondered how well it really worked. Price is not usually an indicator for me; for example, I've caught more bass on Texas Rigs and $2 swim jigs this year than anything else, including the more expensive jigs, but I figured I'd try the Gulp first because I've had really good luck with both them and Yum, but Gulp is the one that had a trigger spray bottle as opposed to the push-button type that I hate. No idea if I'll get to go fishing tomorrow. I want to, but the lake is likely to be crowded and I want to compare to the non-crowded days. Thanks, and keep 'em coming! Regards, Josh

Hello, I'm thinking about revisiting this topic. Last I experimented with it, I was something like 14 years old. Never caught anything with the attractants they had in the early '90s. I gave up after using that small spray bottle. I figure spray attractants have evolved as have lures and line. Is it worth anything? I'm thinking Yum F2 might be something to try. So far I'm thinking crawdad or shrimp would be best as there are no shad in the target lake so far as I can tell, and bluegill, freshwater shrimp, and crawdads are the main forage. I'm well aware that bass tend to hunt by sight, and that they use sound to start searching by sight for a bait. I'm thinking that, in less-than-really-clear water the scent might add a bit to convincing a bass that might otherwise be ambiguous about the sound. I'm really not sure. I'm not convinced. I probably will move forward with this experiment regardless, but I'd really like to hear your experiences with the new wave of spray attractants. Thank you, Josh

I have built computers and rebuilt reels. The two are nothing remotely alike. If you have worked on windup clocks, on locks, or on the lockwork of a gun, then give it a try. Have a schematic and a white work mat at minimum. Match everything on a piece of paper as you take it out. If you decide to go for it, you might as well clean out the factory grease, lube with oil, and upgrade the drag clutches while you're in there. Josh

Hello, I'm playing with three Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 5000 reels. All are upgraded to 5500 speed. All are supertuned. My notes regarding bearings: • The two with spool bearings installed do not outperform the one on which I retained the bronze bushings. They might be just slightly smoother than the bushing one, but that's up for debate. • The bushing reel and the 5000c both have worm gear bearings. They more easily outperform the reel which retains the plastic bushings on the idler, so much so that the remaining reel with the worm gear bushings is being upgraded to worm gear bearings next week when the parts get here. • All three are being upgraded to cog wheel (turns the worm gear) bushings to cog wheel bearings next week as well. I've noticed a lot of friction in the cog wheel that could be reduced. • I have one bushing reel in which I've replaced the plastic drive bushing with a ball bearing. It's much smoother, and the other two are getting the same treatment, again, next week. When all is said and done, two of the 5000 reels will have six bearings, five of which will run while casting, and one will have four bearings, three of which will run on casting. Currently, the bushing reel is on a 5'6" MH spinnerbait rod. After polishing the bushings, oiling with light oil, and installing the worm gear bearings, it casts 1/2oz accurately to 35 yards with about 40 yards being maximum. The 5000c with worm gear bearings and drive shaft bearings has approximately the same range and accuracy as the bushing reel. It is on a 6'6" M rod. The last 5000, the one that hasn't had the worm gear bushings replaced with bearings, is on a 7'0" MH rod. It won't cast 1/2oz as far as the other MH with the worm gear bearings installed. However, up that to 1oz, and it will go 50 yards. I look forward to seeing what it will do once I get the bearings installed in the worm gear assembly. In short, I see three bearings that are likely critical to a reel's casting performance/ease of casting (which is what I'm really after!) Reduce this to no bearings really necessary if bronze bushings are used and the levelwind does not run during the cast, just so long as the reel is lubed correctly. Of course, for smooth operation during reeling, bearings should be used in a couple, few spots. I've been opening up a lot of reels lately, and some of the smoothest surprised me. Mostly, they had the fewest ball bearings. Parts were just worn in well and/or polished nicely. Josh

Grandpa had some steel line-through rods and they disappeared shortly before he died. I would have liked to have had one. I would have mounted my other Grandfather's Bronson on it. Regards, Josh

Never heard of such a thing and it sounds like an excellent idea! I was thinking about paying the reel forward here to a new guy, but I do believe it will be better as parts. An old 1310 will be a better first reel. Josh

I can't really tell what it is. EX200? If so, I had one I worked on and tested before giving it away. It was a pretty acceptable reel with a 5:1 gear ratio. Regards, Josh

Hi Guys, I've been setting hooks since before I can remember, though Dad says I had a bad habit once of running up the bank to try to set the hook while shore fishing. I seem to sorta' remember that and was surprised it was as simple as lifting the rod fast. Anyway... Most bass I've dealt with do one of a couple things: They'll either grab the lure and run, or they'll hit it first to stun it. Now, when they hit it first, it's a quick, hard hit. That hard hit is followed by a BOOM (at least, that's what I hear). So, I have a tap. I wait a split second. The boom is coming, and fast. It's not a tap..... boom. It's more of a tap-BOOM if you get my drift. Very fast. If you feel a tap-BOOM--tap, the fish critter done spit it out. Other times they'll not bother with the stunning tap. It's then sort of a tap-pull and happens very vast. Then rarely, at least for me, I feel the lure action stop. That means set the hook. Try doing this: Feel the tap. DON'T SET THE HOOK. Prepare to, but wait for it. On the BOOM, set it. When you set it, do this: 1. Don't lower the rod tip. I know common knowledge these days is to lower the rod tip in preparation for the set. I disagree. Like in martial arts, chambering a punch or hook set will cost time you need. 2. You shouldn't have a lot of slack. When you set the hook, crank the handle 1/4 to 1/2 turn. In other words, pull up on the rod and push down on the handle. You get about double power and speed. No need to chamber. 3. Practice thinking tap-BOOM-set, tap-BOOM-set, so when you feel that boom, you wait about one heartbeat prior to executing the set. Dang, this sounds a lot more complex than it really is! I promise, it works. Regards, Josh

Well hey, if we're counting the Abu 5000 series, I'll throw in with the one rod and reel I grab when I want to catch fish: Yup, that's a ball bearing! Bearing locations I have two more of these, one which was Dad's, and a 5000c I traded for from this board. This one I left with bronze bushings in place because I love how it rides the oil film when I cast, but I did do some experimenting, as you can see. 1. Started with a super tune. 2. Installed 4.7:1 gears. This made it a 23 IPT reel. 3. Installed carbon drags (smooooth!) 4. Extended the drag adjustment range. 5. Installed bearings at the locations shown in that last picture. I felt they were needed in the levelwind's worm gear because this levelwind runs during the cast. This reel has gone from doing a max of 30 yards with 20 accurate yards to a 40 yard maximum distance (so far) caster with about 30 to 35 of those yards being very accurate. The other two 5000 reels have ball bearings on the spool axles and the same 4.7:1 gears. I have more bearings for the levelwinds on the way, and now that I know I can replace the crank's plastic bushing with a ball bearing, I'll be doing that with the other two as well. I'm going to end up with a couple 5 ball bearing '70s 5000 reels! They fish with anything modern, and I'm still trying to figure out why folks have problems with the dog anti-reverse system. If you have trouble setting the hook, you're not doing something right. On the hook set, you need to reel forward as the rod comes back. it gives a little extra power when setting the hook. This should be done with modern reels with IAR bearings, too! Regards, Josh

Thank you. What you just said to me is "parts reel"! The spool is plastic, so I wondered. I find that even junk reels usually have a few good things in them. Regards, Josh

Hello, It's a baitcasting with magnetic control and a thumb bar. Anti-reverse is not instant; it has a dog setup. There is a button on the side that you push to release that side to rotate off. Gear ratio is 5 or 5.2 to 1. I just looked around with a flashlight and it looks like there was once a marking that said "QL50A" or similar. It's absolutely invisible unless it has direct white light on it. Thank you, Josh

Hello, I won one of these on eBay for not much. I was curious about it. What is "lite" about it? Light line? Light reel weight? It is a Korean model. Thank you, Josh

Hello, You stripped the braid? How full is your spool now? Reducing line on the spool will decrease backlashes but will also decrease distance. Just an idea as to what may have happened... Josh

About all I use are old 5000 reels (three of them) converted to 23 IPT. I do also own and use a 5600Mag, which I enjoy. Ditto my Plueger ultralight. In the next week or so I will be grabbing a 5500c3 as it seems to be suited to me. I guess I just never thought of any of my stuff as outdated. Old, yes, but very able to keep up with and often best the newer stuff. Josh

Moss green for the reasons stated by Tyler. It just looks like weeds, especially if using a fluorocarbon leader. Josh

I have to disagree. I am in the gun business and am seeing first-hand the number of new shooters. It's unprecedented. In fact, I hate to give numbers because they'll not be accurate tomorrow. Rimfire and milsurp (especially Mosins) is what is selling right now. Mosins have doubled (at least!) in price. It was impossible to find surplus ammo in many locales. Even a lot of democrats and/or former anti-gun people are now shooting. Winchester predicted, about a year ago, that supply would not meet demand for about two years. That's late 2015 sometime! I am looking for my preferred fodder, CCI Subsonic, for hunting. I might have to switch to supersonic and limit myself to 50 yards if I don't find some soon. I will be doing a custom 5.7x28 or maybe a .22 Epperson Cricket build so this doesn't happen to me again. Josh

Hi Folks, I'm wondering if anyone makes a direct-drive with drag these days, along the lines of a 5000D. The way the 5000D worked was that as the drag let out, the reel handle would go backwards. There was an anti-reverse dog and disengaging spool. The 5000D was constructed so that the drag could be overridden with the reel handle. Actually, a 5500D (23 IPT) or similar would be more along the lines of what I'm looking for. Something faster than the old 3.8 gears. I have a very specific niche that this type of reel would fill nicely. I just don't know that any are made these days. Thank you, Josh

Hello, As some of you know, I'm fishing an overfished lake this year, concentrating solely on it. I'm seeing most bass between half a pound and two pounds. There is a lot of cover and they are therefore ambush feeders. From what I've seen, they don't seem to school much. I've caught pretty big (for Indiana) largemouth in the past. I don't recall the weight; I doubt I weighted them. It's not about that for me. It's about the size of the fight. I have found that the larger bass rarely school around here. They seem to be solitary and protect their territory. If there's a shelf, they'll be a bit deeper (usually) than the smaller bass. If there's one piece of structure, it will likely hold one large bass. In the current lake, there are smaller (12" to 14" or so) holding and ambush hunting nearer to shore. Throwing large baits gets the baits attacked, but nothing hooks up. My current theory is that once I get the boat back out on the water, the large ones will be in a couple coves inaccessible from shore, and also near structure on the bottom of the middle of the lake that I know is there but haven't been able to reach without a boat. So for me at least, it's not about locating the bass. I know where the bass are and rarely go away without catching a couple 12"-14" bass, even in the worst fishing conditions. What it is about, is finding the larger ones and giving them presentations that work. For most of this fishing, I prefer lures in the 1/2oz to 1oz range, though some of the larger lures do weigh more and I tend to overload the rods. I'll be investing in a heavy rod or two if my experiments work. Josh

Hello, The brief history of why the handle is traditionally on the right hand side of a baitcaster is thus: Back in the day when reels were beginning to evolve, the idea was that it was logical to put a reel under the rod so that it was properly balanced. An under-rod reel was difficult to cast unless you consider fly fishing, and then you don't really cast with the reel, right? Well, you were supposed to cast the proto-baitcaster by thumbing the spool as we do now. However, when you were ready to start reeling, you were supposed to turn the rod so the reel was on the bottom before you began cranking. Come to find out that it was just easier to border shift the rod and reel that way instead. The design persisted until the Europeans came up with the spinning reel. Folks here started buying them, and as they were designed to have the reel in the same position reeling as when casting, the handle was on the left side for the right-handers. Baitcaster manufacturers figured this out and started putting the handles on the wrong sides of the baitcasters. Being a lefty, I prefer to work the rod and lure action with my left hand, so the traditional right-side reel handle has always fitted me well. Josh

Groan... And I forgot the pliers. I took three poles and left the tackle box. Almost needed them, too! Josh

I wasn't exactly serious, though I guess that didn't come through well. My preference is to keep the barb. I've hooked myself before, but not seriously. I accept that there can/will be more serious consequences if I hook myself and the barb is not bent, but I've fished barbs before that I crushed down and the results were not great. My biggest concern is hooking the eye, but that's also why I wear sunglasses. Everything is a risk and everything is a trade-off. In this instance I believe that the risk does not warrant the action. Your mileage may vary and I'm in no way trying to "dis" your methods. Regards, Josh

Um... no it's not. Just shove the hook the rest of the way through and clip it. Then again, I've been known to give myself stitches too. Some think I'm not quite right... Just make sure you're up on your tetanus shot. You should be anyway! Josh

I've been puzzling this over for days. How can you have no shoreline? There's water, then there's not water. That's the shore... isn't it??? You kids confuse me. Josh

Reading through these I get an idea that the cup is half empty for some and half full for others. For example, someone is unhappy because there's always more to learn. On the other hand, I'm content knowing that I will learn more. I think a lot of folks are saying the same thing, but feel quite differently about it. For many, it's the journey, not the destination. Just some thoughts. Josh