Bucketmouth King

Thanks! This was helpful!

Yeah theres several places I fish that a pitch would be beneficial. I had this underhand thing I did with spinning gear that worked the same. But with a baitcaster it doesnt. So I need to pitch I guess. Looks like its a practice issue.

Hey guys. Im here in Maryland and decided to close this season 2 wks ago before the cold front after landing my pb of 4 lbs. This is my first year fishing and I only bank fish. My plans to make it through winter were to practice and learn pitchin and flippin in the basement. I havent mastered flippin, but it seems like with some practice I could get it. Pitchin however has me stumped. Ive read all the articles and watched all the videos and I just cant get it. And I think this is why: Im 5'3" using a 6'6" rod. When I hold the rod at my waist, its only about 3' above the ground. With the lure held even to the reel handle, it has at least 5'6" of line out. When I drop the lure, its on the ground before I can get my rod tip high enough to bring up the height difference. Any suggestions?

I have 2 questions about trailers. 1. When you say "pork" for a jig trailer, what exactly do you mean? Like actual bacon or ham? 2. Should I use a trailer on spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, and if so, what's best? Thanks!

Well it looks like I at least hooked an 8 page thread here. Glad you guys enjoyed the topic. Or maybe its 6 pages. Ok closer to 5 and a half.

I agree 100% !

I care because I have wasted countless hours at a one acre pond that I was told held respectable fish and landed nothing but 8 oz fish or less. Its not my tactics. I can move to the next pond and catch 1-2 pounders all day long. The next pond and catch 3-4 pounders all day. So I am capible of catching fish of up to 4 lbs, and many of them. My thoughts are that in the first pond mentioned- if there truly are 6 lb bass in there, wheres the 1,2,3,4 and 5 lb bass in that pond? Because I havent even landed anything close to 1 lb there. My original reason for posting this was just thinking back that each time I was told about a pond, the # was always 6. And it made me start to wonder if there was an inside joke among veterans. For example: I once worked at bayliner boat corp. My first day, at the end of the day, they had me running all over the shop asking people for the keys to the basement. Each person sent me to ask someone else. An hr later the janitor finally told me there was no basement. Just a trick they play on each new guy. So I wondered if the "6 lb bass myth" in this situation was the same kind of joke played on the new guy.

Is there a 6 lb bass joke or myth used on beginners? Heres why I'm wondering. Im new to this. This is my first year fishing. I fish almost every day with several ponds and canals on a rotating schedule. Ive noticed that every single time I learn about a new pond, the person is telling me "I've caught 6 pounders in there". None of these people telling me about these ponds are related or know each other. But they all say the exact same thing. Now heres the catch- all of the ponds are only 1 acre or less. One of the ponds ive caught nothing but 8 oz bass when one bites at all. Another spot I cant clear 2 lbs. Another spot I cant clear 3 lbs. So I tried a test- I caught my pb of 4 lbs last week. Took a pic of it. Showed it to the pond owner who told me about the 6 lbs he caught in there. I didnt tell him the weight. Just showed him the pic. He said its the biggest fish hes seen out of that pond. So I'm wondering- why does everyone say "theres 6 lb bass in there". Is it a joke the old timers play on beginners?

So I tore these things completely down, cleaned and lubed everything. Put them back together and they seem to be working fine for now.

Tried adding an extra washer as suggested. It didnt help. It may have amplified the problem, but I might be imagining that.

Yes. Those parts are present. She did have the drag cranked down pretty tight before. I loosened it and set it using a 3 lb weight prior to her noticing the problem.

Bent on both?

*note- both seemed to have a loose bail assembly (part that spins). I removed the spool and tightened the nut, and the wobble is gone, but the "rubbing" and "clicking" sound is still there under the same mentioned conditions.

So my girlfriend has 3 of the same spinning reel: shimano sonora 2500fb. Two of them started acting weird today. The third she has never used, but when compared to the other 2, worked without issues. The 2 with the same problem seem to be rubbing something when cranking under load- say, reeling in a 1/2 oz lure. When reeled without a lure, its smooth and doesnt seem to rub anything. I also noticed that it only does this (under load) when the spool is nearest the rotating bail assembly in its travel. Once it starts to travel away from the rotating bail assembly, the problem dissappears. Any suggestions as to whats wrong and what I could fine tune ?

Im doing pretty well so far with the 20# braid. Its the mono I cant seem to work with. I have no trouble with the exact same line on spinning gear. But apples and oranges I guess. Ive also been experimenting with different rod action to see what I like best for the bc reel. I do like to feel the lure, but I dont like it to bend the rod in half when im cranking a spinnerbait.

Thank you so much guys!

It was a fresh unopened spool of XL

I spooled the braid on the same way and its working out great.

When practicing in the yard I just use a weedless frog for a weight.

Ok, hang on.... my reel is lefty. I dont spool from the floor. I slip piece of all thread through the spool with washers and wing nuts on each side to adjust tension, then chuck the extra length of all thread into the bench vice. With the line coming from the top of the spool over the top of mine, I reel it in also keeping tension on the line with my fingers as it feeds through.

I won't rehash old questions of "which line is best for a beginner" as I've already searched the forums and found that the majority vote goes to berkely trilene mono. Instead, I will tell you the issues I'm having and maybe some of you could help resolve that. I got my first baitcaster (okuma citrix) last week and spooled with 12 lb trilene mono and took to the yard to practice. 3 days later the rod and reel ended up on ebay. The line seem to be cutting into itself and sticking together and looping around itself when backlashing. The next day I ended the ebay auction and respooled one last time with spiderwire stealth braid 20 lbs. Ive had a few minor backlashes that were easy to pick out and quickly got the hang of using this reel. Now I love it! I even have a 2nd one on the way, as well as power handles for both. I want to be able to spool one with the trilene 12 lb mono. Any suggestions for why I may have been having the trouble with it that I was having?

Hmm...

Yeah they have a handle assembly on their site for $25. Not sure I want to dump that money not knowing if the knobs have a tighter tolerance or not. I would be happy just removing the existing knobs and adding a washer. They arent removable though. At least not without destroying the mounting pin. This may be my winter project....

Today i received my first baitcaster. An Okuma Citrix with matching rod. So far I'm getting the hang of it slowly. And I'm sure that with some time and practice I will love it. Right now my casting accuracy is completely gone. I couldnt hit a barn with this thing where with a spinning rod I can bullseye a target at 40 yrds. But thats not why Im posting. I hate the knobs on this thing. They feel loose, and theres too much (for me) play in them. So Im wondering if any of you know where one can score some replacement knobs? I really like the eva knobs on my Okuma Trio spinning reel. And those seem to be adjustable, though Ive never tried nor needed to. I thought about calling Okuma to purchase knobs for a Trio and modifying the citrix for them to fit. Just thought I would check first to see if you guys know of any nice aftermarket knobs available. Thanks for any help!

Thats weird. I just got my first Citrix , and first baitcaster today as well and just came here to post about it. I dont like the knobs or how loose they feel. Otherwise, I'm dealing with the typical beginners learning curve for a baitcaster. So far i like it other than the knobs being loose.