RipzLipz

@AlabamaSpothunter Thanks for asking. They’re all wild, either born and/or weaned on or next to our property. I live in a subdivision so they’re more used to people than a squirrel living in the woods might be. It’s a long-winded story how it all started & how I get them to trust me. If you’re truly interested, PM me - don’t wish to bore others or derail the thread. Others can feel free to PM me about it as well if interested , I don’t mind at all. 👍

Kevin coming down to get one.

@Blue Raider Bob I’ve never witnessed what you describe but I do not doubt it. What I have seen in the clearer waters of the strip pits I frequent is small bass attacking a ball of bass fry, with the guarder going nuts trying to fend off the attacks. Reminded me of tuna torpedoing through a school of baitfish on TV documentaries.

@Crow Horse Hummers are cool little birds IMO. Here’s a late season straggler from this past mid-October. Have yet to have one perch on a finger but they aren’t shy about hovering 2-3 feet from our faces or peering into windows to introduce themselves. 🙂

@bulldog1935 I don’t disagree at all but IMO it’s best to remove all doubt when troubleshooting. If it were me having the issue, I’d want to be 100% sure the .001% chance was not happening. 👍 Kind of like walking around looking for keys which are thought to be misplaced only to realize they’re in your hand.

@Blue Raider Bob No problem bud. I also found a couple of things which were a bit staggering to me: "They can spawn every 20 days from April to September…" "Under normal circumstances male Smallmouth Bass guard nests and are effective in deterring gobies. When males are removed, gobies immediately invade and have been shown to eat up to 4,000 eggs within 15 minutes."

Interesting - have only experienced this happening once & it was a BPS Graphite Series spinning rod I’d bought off the shelf. The tip guide had a chip in it & was just shredding my mono like a cheese grater. If you haven’t yet done so, try lightly running a cotton swab or cotton ball around all guides (upper, lower & inside) & areas on reel where line contacts. If any burrs or deep chips are present, cotton should catch on it & pull away. Also feel in case any chipped areas of guides are smooth but still potentially sharp. If that isn’t it, I’d be looking at the line & seeing if it’s quickly snapping under a load. I’ve had fluoro basically rot when left sitting in the garage exposed to excessive heat for long periods. Now all my line is stored indoors (long term).

I’ve also fished large, single Colorado blade spinnerbaits using the yo-yo/lift & drop with some success. Bass will hit it hard on the fall. The speed of the lift can vary.

@TnRiver46 Free with fill up I take it? Decisions, decisions….eggnog or a steamy bowl of boiled peanuts?

@NorthernBasser I can tell a difference in weight with the Xtasy being very light IMO. I also have a Champion Extreme HP but the tip is quite a bit softer IMO compared to the Xtasy. I didn’t like the Extreme HP as much - just too soft of a tip & made me feel like I had to really set the hook harder to get a decent hookset. The Xtasy is a shade stiffer. With that being said, I’m often sitting (due to boat used) when I fish so I usually am not able to get a powerful hookset compared to someone who fishes standing up. Both are very nice rods, I just liked the stiffer feel the Xtasy seemed to have. It’s also worth noting in both cases I use the split grip versions & they balance just as well as the full grips IMO. Very nice looking rods, too.

@Blue Raider Bob Some interesting round goby info & range found here: https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=713 Keep an eye on that shaded area in IL - Kankakee River which feeds into Mississippi. MI anglers please correct me if incorrect but given that gobies are nest raiders, I would suspect LMB aren’t spawning in as rocky areas as SMB, which is preferred goby habitat, so the LMB haven’t yet adopted a kill at all cost reaction quite like the SMB have.

@NorthernBasser Dobyns’ Xtasy DRX-753 & 754 are my favorite jig rods by far - so light & sensitive. Really like their rods after years of using Falcons. Champion XPs are fine rods as well. I feel their CB Champion XPs are awesome for most moving baits & topwaters. I wish they made some XPs in lower power rating for smallmouth applications. Granted, I’m typically not hunting DDs so a 4 power doesn’t seem too underpowered to me. 5 power would be slight overkill for most of my fishing locally but I still have a few for those "just in case" trips/situations. Great people at that company IMO.

@Catt I can’t speak for everyone, nor will I ever intend to do so. Like you, "what I’ve heard, read, watched" has implied that the straight shank can often tear up the bait more frequently. Also, for some, a snell knot isn’t the easiest knot to tie, let alone rocking around in a boat. As always, some anglers just do certain things because that’s their comfort zone. For me, that’s how I view it (comfort zone) & most things in regards to fishing in general. If something works, we may often think, why change it up? Then again, if we never try to change or adapt, will we improve in any way? No different than seeing the left lane on a busy highway full of traffic but the right lane is completely uncluttered. Many folks are just naturally sheep & follow what everyone else does. I hope that makes some semblance of sense. Sometimes us anglers just overthink things, too, when we should "just go fishin’". 😉

@NorthernBasser Exactly - he keeps messing with you but you never catch him. You’re his toy. ….as if I have any room to talk.🤣🤣🤣🤣

I’m not claiming this will improve the hookup ratio but from what I understand the theory is that if a straight shank round bend hook is used in combination with a pegged (bobber stop) weight & a snell knot, the hook eye will pull up against the conic shape under the sinker & rotate/leverage to a more horizontal position during the hookset. This places the hook point over top of the shank & supposedly results in more hookups in the roof of the mouth.

Do it. You want a new reel. You must have it.

Nope, I’m not a hammer by any means. I don’t fish for labels - I fish for me & hope to pass along any knowledge gained to my family & friends that proves useful to them. Simply a fisherman or angler & that’s a label with which I’m perfectly fine. I’ve certainly been called worse, both on & off the water. Others can refer to me how they wish, be it good or bad. I know the truth as do those who know me well. However, I do feel this sport would benefit greatly if some worried less about being called a certain label & more about how we treat each other from time to time. 🙂 @Woody B You should make an improvement to “The Hammer’s" boat for him. Get some spray paint & make it “The Scammer". What a tool. 🤣🤣🤣

@KP Duty It’s Marty Huggins (Zach Galafianakis) from the movie The Campaign with Will Farrell.

@Columbia Craw "Since you’re having difficulty answering directly, allow me to rephrase the question for you then, Mr. Craw. Did you steal that reel?"

@LrgmouthShad There is a switch on the lower rear portion of the Gen4 reel. That locks the side plate on. Slide it down & you can remove the side plate, which should pull away from the reel but remain attached to a shaft. Rotate the side plate out of the way & you will see those red/orange sliders. Moving the sliders outward from spool shaft will turn them on. Moving inwards will disengage them. Abu recommends 4 on, 2 off as a starting point. I would turn off opposite brakes (180° apart) if any at all. The Gen5 brakes may require a higher brake number setting than you had on the Gen4. I seem to recall Abu recommending getting brakes & tension set as follows with chosen lure tied on & reeled to point where you’re ready to cast: Turn brake setting to 0 (lowest setting/least amount of brake). Turn tension knob so it’s tightest (max tension - knob should not be completely torqued tight). Engage thumb bar so spool is free; lure should not fall unless way too heavy. Slowly loosen tension knob until bait begins to slowly fall without spool overrunning (no loops). Reel up & make a cast. If distance is less than desired, loosen tension 2-3 clicks & repeat cast. If you get overrun/backlash at end of cast, apply 2-3 clicks on the brake side until it goes away & repeat as necessary until cast feels comfortable to you. If spool wiggles right & left, tension is too loose & reel may make odd screams at some point during cast. The above is just for help if you need it - not trying come off like a know it all. I typically have to play around with both a bit to get it dialed in just right, mostly when changing lure weights or wind present. Feel free to PM me if needed.

@LrgmouthShad I have the Gen 4 Winch. Looks like this: The Gen 4 Winch has a different braking system (Infini) where you can take off the side plate & adjust the sliders to turn on & off individual brakes. The Gen 5, which is what you have, does not have the Infini but rather IVCB-6 (Infinitely Variable Centrifugal Braking) with 6 non-adjustable brake legs. If you unlock the side plate & carefully remove it (turn reel so handle is down) you will see 6 white legs - those are the brakes that fly out during the cast. From my experiences with the MGX reels, you can throw very light baits when you adjust both tension & braking correctly - lighter rods help as well. ETA: I only use this reel for deep divers & A-rigs. Most other moving baits I use my 6.4:1 MGXs & love them.

@LrgmouthShad Let me go check mine. I think the Revo4’s had the Infini brakes where you took the side plate off & slid switches on & off. The Revo5’s braking is not like that - no internal adjustments, just external dial. It’s like the MGX but with 6 arms instead of 4.

@LrgmouthShad Seriously, let me know if you like the braking on the Winch. I really like the IVCB-4 but I’ve not used any models with the IVCB-6. Once that’s done, go ahead & ship it to me. 🤣

So when is the Revo Winch due to arrive? I never got a tracking number from you. 🤣🤣🤣

Not throwing shade on a team to rile up any fans, but I look for DAL & BAL to do their usual post season choke jobs. DAL has the talent but seems to lack brains in certain situations. Interesting season - lots of teams with so-so records or up & down showings up to this point that can turn into a juggernaut on any given day - teams like BUF, JAX, KC, MIA, CIN, DET and others. Lots of inconsistent play across the league probably attributable to younger QBs & more coaches with less experience.