Josh Smith

As do I, but I'd like to upgrade to a heavy because I sometimes fish long-range with frogs, 30 to 50 yards at times. Josh

I have never experienced problems with any reels in the rain. Josh

The river walleye I catch fight really hard. So do the smallies. The weakest fighting fish I catch regularly are gar. Even the lake largemouth pull drag. Josh

I would have recommended an older Quantum, but not the ones they have currently. The metal-framed 1310 was pretty awesome for its time. I'd still use one but got too used to anti-reverse bearings these past few years. Josh

I've been dissecting a lot of reels this past year. Of those, Shimano seems to have the most logical low-profile setups. Abu Garcia still has the best round reel design, in my opinion. Lew Childress's design is still the basic design for the Shimano low-profile, while the Ambassadeur designs are largely unchanged since the '60s -- they've been simplified on the handle side, have beefed-up axles with the bearings moved inboard, but are the same basic design. I'm an Ambassadeur fanboy, but if I ever go low-profile it will definitely be to Shimano. Josh

Fish is correct. That's the order those parts go into every reel I've ever seen. Ratchet on bottom engages dog. Small drag washer serves as a spacer to clear top of dog. Main gear engages pinion. Large drag washer and pressure plate turn the main gear. Regards, Josh

Thank you, gents. Regards, Josh

There can be. Place your max bid. Say the item is at $25 and you bid $50. The item won't sell to you for $50, but rather 50 cents over the next highest bid. It automatically bids for you up to your max bid. Regards Josh

But... why? What possible motive could you have for doing such a thing?

Just so I'm not misunderstood, I do not advocate going to his house either. A name, his AO, and agency is plenty. Not sure why you'd want to go to a guy's house on a chance. Josh

Hello, I'm wondering if anyone makes Ned rigs with worm hooks specifically made to Texas rig? I need something very weedless and have been using de-skirted jigs with brush guards, but I want a lower profile. Regards, Josh

My jig rod -- football head, etc, is a MH/F but fairly soft. It lets me impart the action I want on that type of jig. I run 65lb braid on it. My worm rod is a fairly stiff, 6'6", also MH/F, but lighter and higher modulus graphite. It's spooled with 12lb Trilene XT and is mostly dedicated to Texas rigs. My weightless plastic rod is a M/F 6'6" medium modulus graphite rod with a 3600-sized reel and 10lb Trilene XT. It's mostly, but not always, used for whacky rigs. It's good at dropshotting, too; it's within spitting distance of what most would consider spinning gear best for, but it works well and has produced some really nice bass for me. Regards, Josh

Excellent. Liked.

As I said, evidence is key. I can legally kill you and you can legally kill me, but not over anything trivial. Police officers of any sort are held to a higher standard than the rest of us and there's an escalation of force that must be followed. You sound as if you think the game warden can just haul iron and shoot you dead because he feels like it. Surely this isn't what you think..? Abuse of power gone unchecked only encourages abuse of power. As I said, if he has any evidence -- not just a feeling, but evidence -- he needs to write it down and submit it to the state's game commission, local law enforcement, and his attorney.

What the hell??? You never knuckle under to bullies! It only encourages them. Could it be that someone with your attitude "let it go" and so the suspect was free to steal the OP's setup? Doesn't matter much if you know where he lives. Gather your evidence. Present it in writing to your local police force detective, to your lawyer, and the game warden's boss. If you only "suspect" without proof, then don't bother, especially if it was a combo available at WalMart etc. You need to present details. Josh

Some sellers do this if the bid isn't what they want. I believe it's technically against the rules. Next time, bookmark/favorite the specific item on your browser. Use the bookmark to navigate directly to the page instead of relying on eBay to do it for you. If the auction's canceled it disappears from your watch list. If you'd like, PM me the details. I have no interest in bidding on jigs on eBay, and have no interest in bidding against you for anything. I would be happy to help you watch, though. Also, there are ways to look at canceled auctions, but it's to detailed to try to explain to someone just getting used to the system -- no idea offense meant. I'm curious now, so I do hope you take me up on my offer! Regards, Josh

What power and action is your spinning rod? My personal belief is that the baitcaster is superior in most ways for most things, but that a spinning setup is indispensable for certain techniques. No real difference for most between 6'6" and 7' rods. Get the length of your choice in MH/F, don't skimp on the reel, and take your time learning. I'd get a baitcasting reel that has both magnetic and centrifugal brakes and start with the magnets cranked to full. Distance will suffer a little like this, but you can slowly back off as you learn. Plenty of us grew up without magnets and we did just fine! Training your thumb gets you distance after the centrifugal brakes kick off. Josh

My observation is that it's a recessive factor; that a full or new moon adds to already favorable conditions but has little to no impact on poor fishing conditions. Same with hunting. Critters, both terrestrial and aquatic, seem to get worked up over the same conditions, like the approach of foul weather. Increased activity has been traditionally observed during full moons. This extends to humans as well. I worked in a nursing home for a year and full moons were dreaded by the staff because they were directly linked to an increase in dementia-related behaviors. However, the modern nursing home is also conducive to these behaviors; it's viewed as kinder to not reorient the patient and let the delusion play out unless it becomes dangerous. In a more restricted environment, would the moon have the same effect? I bet not. A bass in the presence of baitfish with a front approaching will probably feed slightly more heavily in the presence of a full moon than not. Josh

Couple things: 1. I carry a Ka-Bar for invasive species. 2. The way you all describe bowfishing is like nothing I've ever witnessed here. Josh

For deep vegetation, I rig Ned rigs using weedless football head jigs. They stand up very nicely. Josh

This might be part of the problem. I've never heard of managing jump before... Thank you! Josh

I was smallie fishing and felt something hit, so I set the hook...

On rivers I tend to stay in the same general area because I'm usually going after smallies. Lakes, I move around a bit. Josh

My initial thoughts: 1. What is this? 2. It looks like it was designed to allow the bait to be swept down by the current and slowly pulled back against the current. However, I'd think that you'd want to fish slack water, not current... unless you're targeting underwater current breaks. Josh

... I snagged it with a crankbait. I wondered if it was a rig I didn't know about, or if the person didn't have the right tools. I posted it to find out these answers. Josh