FloridaFishinFool

I am also suspicious of why they create such lists, and who do they serve and why. Fi$hing touri$m? But, from another Florida perspective I see it this way... Florida has by various counts and estimates anywhere from 7,800 lakes and ponds to 30,000. And more than 1000 springs pumping out more than 65 million gallons of crystal clear water every day creating crystal clear rivers too. So from my Florida perspective whatever lists they can come up with that includes non-Florida lakes like way up north or, waaaay out west, those would be on my list below the Florida list. Now in my 60's, I have some 7,600 to 29,800 Florida lakes and ponds to fish first, and 975 springs before I can even think about Chicka what? Retiring to Florida IS the bass fishing bucket list destination.

No harm really. Lots of extra rust prevention! 😁 I doubt if a professional would do such a thing. I was referring to things I had seen customers do to their reels from time to time. I've seen AR bearings and reels jammed packed with grease. I guess more is better? And for some reason I keep having visions of bright red grease packed into a spinning reel. As long as the AR is visibly in like new condition showing no signs of rust or corrosion, then possibly a good cleaning with a mild solvent like paint thinner to remove the grease and oil, and relubing it lightly with a lightweight synthetic oil might take care of it. Some like to run the AR bearings dry, but here in Florida with our saltwater and heat environment we really need some corrosion prevention, and the oil will usually take care of it if maintained and the correct oil is used. The point is to get the grease and or other possible improper lubricants out as bulldog pointed out, and get the dirt and debris -even corrosion- out of there that could be contributing to it to malfunction. Sometimes a tech may not put grease on an AR bearing and maybe it can migrate in during use? Ya never know. But a good cleaning and relube should suffice. About all you can do unless you can purchase a brand new AR bearing and go from there. And don't throw the old ones away. They may come in handy one day.

To keep it brief, I now use a battery service company. They rebuild batteries and distinguish the difference for me between what they call thin plate batteries and thick plate batteries. The thinner plate batteries don't hold up as well as the thicker plate batteries do. I was told with the thin plate batteries that holes can be burned right through the plates inside the batteries. Point is, we out here in the consumer market can't always tell what we are buying. So I no longer buy new retail. Using the battery company puts me into the better quality batteries, and mine are all reconditioned batteries now. Battery companies like the one I use service commercial accounts like forklifts, bulldozers, dump trucks, etc. so they deal with heavy duty batteries every day and that is basically what I want in my cars and boat. And they are much cheaper than new retail too. I get on average 4 good solid years on a reconditioned battery. And the auto batts are only $50 and the marine trolling motor larger batteries are only $60 each so I can't beat the price for what I am getting. And they pay me for all my old batteries so that saves me even more. And they also have become a free safe battery disposal place for me for batteries like lithium ion, etc.

You are missing out! I think as a kid what got me hooked on coffee was all the sugar. I recall after church there was always a huge pot of coffee on in some social gathering room, and I remember piles of sugar cubes which I loaded up on along with creamer. Today its straight black. Every once in awhile I pull out one of these Moka pots and make it on the stove. Once you learn the trick to these, its coffee heaven. And with all the coffee these take, its also like 8 cups of coffee concentrated into a single-dose small cup. Only need one of these. But they are very good.

Wow! Glad you are OK and made it back! But to be honest with you I think a another lesson to take away from something like this- especially as we grow older- is to not go fishing alone. PFD's are important no doubt. But so is having some help in the boat! I hope you never go through something like this again. Glad you are OK.

I agree with bulldog, but not just in the heat. Anytime the wrong lubricant is used brings on a possibility of a malfunction. As an old bench tech one of the issues I have seen behind this are the springs inside used to push the needle bearings into place. In older Shimano AR clutch bearings they used some heftier springs. In more modern AR clutch bearings the springs are noticeably skimpier. Weaker. To me this means they are even more finicky and prone to malfunction. But the one thing to keep in mind for lubricants is indeed correct viscosity, and use a lightweight synthetic oil that will not change viscosity with our minor changes in temperatures. Petroleum products are more prone to this. But more importantly, Shimano makes it very clear that grease should not be anywhere near an AR clutch bearing and even had it printed right onto some of their AR bearings. They did this because of customers getting into their own reels and using grease repeatedly so Shimano started printing the warning message "NO GREASE" right onto the outside of the AR clutch bearings. Another issue I have run into in the past with these reels are that sometimes a combination of lubricants is found in the AR bearings. Oil plus grease. I've seen them packed with grease. Point is I have seen where combinations of mixtures of different lubricants turn into honey like glue. This causes malfunctions. Bulldog said: "Proper lube viscosity is critical in their proper function. Certainly in the heat, the wrong lube can become too thin and cause A/R to malfunction, both binding in wind, and not binding in pay." And I totally agree and add that to solve this is to simply use a full synthetic lightweight oil that does not change viscosity with the small minor changes in temperatures we humans can tolerate -should not be anywhere near enough of a variance to change viscosity of a good quality full synthetic oil.

Happy 4th! And we have a great new story to go along with this 250th celebration: www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/07/04/previously-unidentified-original-declaration-of-independence-discovered-in-uk-royal-navy-archives/ Previously Unidentified Original Declaration of Independence Discovered in UK Royal Navy Archives This image made from video shows a newly discovered copy of the U.S. Declaration of Indepe AP IMAGES Celebrating American Greatness Oliver JJ Lane 4 Jul 2026 A rare Declaration of Independence captured from an American Privateer by a Royal Navy warship on Christmas Eve 1776 has been discovered in a British archive, and is now one of only 11 of its type known to survive. A volunteer at Britain’s National Archives in Kew Gardens, London, discovered a previously unknown copy of the Declaration of Independence while cataloguing long-sealed bundles of documents. The Brit was working on an America-250 project to sort and catalogue large volumes of documents relating to British naval captains and admirals who served around 1776." Click on link above to read the story on how this copy was captured and where. Who would have thought? What's amazing to me is to learn of the mission of the ship this copy was on when captured. Seems to me if you are going to go somewhere get militarily aggressive in another part of the world, you should bring a big enough ship and enough guns to back up your aggression. This was not the case here. Pretty gutsy. Lucky this one did not wind up on the bottom of the ocean at the time.

Same as others mentioned above, I use amdro outside, and it works well. But on the insides and places where rain cannot wash it away like carports, garages, boats patios etc. and even in the house, the pros here in Florida recommended this to me: And it does not take much. One drop- or less- of this on a small piece of plastic or aluminum foil well placed does the trick. I spread it out some- like smear out a line of it to give more ants more room to eat more of it and carry it back to the next. Colony gone in less than a day.

Anyone going to ICAST this year? If so why do you go? What do you do at ICAST? Looking for new products? Networking? Filling the swag bag? Business? I know for some they bring family and play golf and hit the theme parks as well. Some fish. This year for me may be different - if I do still go. I made plans but not sure if they will work out. Since I am now retired there is no shop work to be done at ICAST for me. Others will be busy on that front for the shop. My main plans for this year was to take my now 13 year old son to his first ICAST tradeshow and let him begin his own meet and greets and get to know people in the tackle and fishing and even boating industry and maybe even a few biologists as well. He is ecstatic to learn Boston Whaler's main manufacturing plant is close to home. That may be the first place he fills out his first employment application soon. He wants a Boston Whaler. It would be kind of cool if he got to actually build his first BW boat. These days I go to talk to rod companies about rod making, and hope to see Gary Loomis one last time if he shows up any more. NFC has not been at ICAST for a couple of years now. I guess Aleks Maslov does not see any financial benefit from it and probably does not like the expenses of the show. He did it in a big way once. Huge booth. The works. And has not been back since. I bet that booth took a bite out of company finances. I also go to talk to old friends, see the biologists and talk to them for a bit to find out details on new water projects I have not heard about yet- and fishing projects. I am learning about a relatively 'new' water science being used here in Florida referred to as ASR (Aquifer Storage and Recovery) projects. These projects are also used in conjunction with land surface natural plant water filter tanks which is what interests me because that is where the new fish will be. And many of these are not open to the public. Some are but usually in limited ways like no motor zones. "The Headwaters, Farm 13, and Stick Marsh impoundments act as massive stormwater treatment areas (STAs) and reservoirs for the Upper St. Johns River Basin. Managed by the St. Johns River Water Management District, these interconnected, man-made marsh systems filter agricultural runoff, provide flood control, and serve as irrigation and water supplies." In some cases, the ASR's are used along with and in conjunction with the STA's. Many bass fisherman are not aware that places like Headwaters, Stick Marsh, Farm 13, Fellsmere, and other places were all created by biologists and scientists. Once created, fishing explodes in them. So I like to keep up with all of Florida's water projects, where they are, stages of construction, and especially keeping an eye out for when those projects come on line so I can get in on it first- if possible. I am presently following an aquifer water recovery project in north Florida area that I am waiting for the water to be turned on so we fishermen can get in on it. But since we are in a drought right now, even though the $100 million dollar project is now completed, built and tested, the water still is not flowing because the conditions here in Florida are not providing enough water presently. Kind of funny to hear biologists say "we need one good hurricane" to solve our current water deficiencies across the state. More than 3 feet of water behind right now. The rains simply have not come. And these ASR and STA projects require lots of surface water inflowing into them. So ICAST for me is part fishing tackle and part fishing sciences. I may spend a lot more time with biologists this year than I have in the past. They have the best bass fishing information in the state of the Florida. They know where the big ones are because those biologists are growing them with the sciences. The biologists created the Florida Trophy Catch program to track lunker catches across the state and compile that data into useful information us bass fishermen can access and use to our advantage. And what is interesting here in Florida is to see that new lunker catches listed in the Trophy Catch Program are also coming directly out of the biologists' water projects across the state. Certain areas of Florida are more productive than others. But you gotta network with the biologists to be on top of that info. https://license.gooutdoorsflorida.com/Angler/Home Aquifer Storage and Recovery I am going to have to tell my kid if we go to ICAST that for 1 I am NOT carrying his swag bag all over the show floor! And 2, don't view ICAST as a swag show. Its not about throwing out product to swarms of people walking by a booth. Nope. ICAST is an industry insider show, so it is one of the few that don't throw out a lot of swag. What happens sometimes is the companies pay to ship product in to the show, but it costs them twice if they have to ship it back out. So quite often at shows like ICAST companies will bring limited amounts of product mostly for display, and only on the last day will some sales be allowed on the show floor. So we might be able to purchase some new products if allowed. I will have to check on this- again. ICAST is one of the few shows that you do not find piles of product left behind on the show floor by companies. I worked in tradeshow business for more than 20 years. And I can tell you from experience that we got product after many shows. I'd walk in the backdoor the following day after a show closed and see piles of abandoned product left on the show floor. If it is in a booth, one has to ask about it. If the product was left in the aisle, it was fair game to take by any employees. We got piles of stuff over the years. Would be nice if GLoomis and NFC left behind piles of fishing rods! That will never happen! In years past when I was working in the industry we'd show up at ICAST and various executives at various companies would bring their rods and reels to ICAST and have them right on the show floor in their booths, and someone from our shop would pick them up and take them to the shop to service them. And in turn whatever products those companies had were also made available to our shop as well. Tools are a big one. Scratch each others backs is how it goes. Lots of networking too. I told my son to go to the ICAST website and make himself a list of all the companies he wanted to visit and to make his list in numerical order so he can systematically work his way through the show floor without jumping all around and going back and forth type of thing. Keep them in order and walk through it. And keep an eye out for famous bass pro's. One day walking the aisles I literally ran into Ish Monroe. Our paths crossed and both of us were not paying attention and ran right into each other. It happens. I think my son will be concentrating on rods and reels and lures primarily, and if any boat companies are there I am sure he will be checking those out as well. I think he wants to come away from ICAST with a bag full of swag lures. I told him, you carry your own load pal! Don't expect dad to carry all that swag you load up! I'll probably wind up carrying it some anyways, but I gotta try and make him take some responsibility for it too and swear up and down I'm not carrying it- until I have to. He also wants to try out the casting tanks. It will be his first time getting to try some of those large saltwater fly rod setups. He will also be taking a good close look at making his own lures. He is already melting rubber and using molds so he might expand on that as well. ICAST is Florida's Christmas time! Christmas in July! The only thing missing is Santa and his sleigh. But boats will do. Any of you going to ICAST and what are you going there for?

I agree with you that there is too much spraying going on. But the state is also doing experimenting there as well. The alternative to not spraying is that most of our waters can become so clogged up with vegetation making normal propeller driven navigation impossible. If they did not spray on the wekiva river it would become so choked up the river would be unusable. If the state did not spray, this would be a statewide problem. So they have to spray. I should also point out that spraying is long after the peak of some of these places. Behind the curve. Lake Toho is on the list now. The discussion on it is interesting. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1383724255218786/posts/3607411216183401/ The state is caught in the middle. Damned if they do. Damned if they don't. They know they have to. They are trying to dial in the where, what, when and how. Their spraying has killed so much vegetation the manatee have been starving and had to be hand fed some recently. So the state has backed off some just to make sure the manatee have enough food to eat. When they spray in the St. Johns River down in central Florida for a problem down there, the problem is those same weed killing chemicals now in the water flow north all the way to Jacksonville killing plants in the river the manatee needs to survive with eel grass being one of them. A river bottom stripped bare. So they have to be more restrained in the spraying to find some kind of a balance if possible. We can hope. I wish we did not have to spray any weed killing chemicals. The alternative to not spraying is a Florida so choked up with plants our enjoyment of lakes and rivers could be brought to a screeching halt. Lake Rowell is there now. Only airboats and paddle craft can use it today. Propellers are impossible to use now. The main point of my comment above was to focus on the water projects before their peak, and fishing them going into their peak and, over the peak for the magic of it all. Its on that downside well past the peak they have to pull out the weed killers to keep the water open. A necessary evil I suppose. So I agree with you, it does kill the magic. But what are we to do?

I'd recommend the VMC heavy duty worm hooks, and their drop dead weighted or unweighted hooks for flukes. No problems with them so far. They work well for me, and I use them in heavy cover and also with braid only. Let us know what you choose. It's great when a problem gets solved that puts more fish in the boat.

I've tried to bring this forum more information about these filter tanks created by state biologists. This is one of the subjects I have been following for years here in Florida. I recently posted about this same natural filtering process going on at Lake Apopka and how it is improving the fishing there as well. And other places all across Florida are also benefitting from this same application of science to the water. Not the fish. Focus on the water and clean it up and the fish will come. And they do. Stick Marsh, Farm 13, Fellsmere, Headwaters, etc. are all a part of Florida's water filtering plans and processes. Those locations are for cleaning up water flowing into St Johns River system. The point is, it is very clear from this thread that following state biologists is creating magical fishing moments and that is precisely what their plans were for doing it. The state of Florida wants the next world record bass and wants Florida to be a multi-billion dollar world class fishing destination. And their efforts are working and paying off. Both in fresh and saltwater. Some of my magical moments are also directly tied to state of Florida biologists efforts at cleaning up the water. So for those of you wanting to plan trips into Florida, learning about what all the biologists are doing here to the water is clearly producing the fishing results we want. So it pays- I think someone coined a new phrase- "piscatorial paydirt" to follow the biologists and their water cleaning efforts. I must be one of the few who does follow FWC biologists water projects, and it is amazing to learn about all the science and engineering involved. I guess this is one of those subjects I still keep to myself as well, especially the future projects so I can get ahead of the curve, not stay behind it. I am keeping an eye on a project now I am expecting will create a bass boom once the water is turned on and starts flowing. When it does I will have a new area of Florida to fish and boat in remote lakes with our natural bass species exploding same as what happened in Lake Toho years ago that still has a reputation to this day. Biologists were behind that one too. Another one to keep an eye on here in Florida is our phosphate mine recovery and reclamation process and projects. All of the mentions here of magical moments tied to biologists are in known areas already open to the public and receiving fishing pressure. The trick to this behind the scenes water works to fishing magic, is to get ahead of the 8 ball. All water projects are in some way public knowledge and discussed in public long before being built. Learning about each project takes some effort to dig for them. But once you have a comprehensive list of them, next just keep an eye on them and their construction development. This way you can get in on them long before the general public does. And this has been my mode of operation for years now. I am waiting on a project to be turned on right now. All built. Ready to flow water. Only we are now in a serious drought and don't have enough water on hand to turn the pumps on yet. Project on hold. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. They say one good hurricane can solve our water problem. Still waiting. Over a dozen pristine clean, clear remote Florida lakes that slowly dried up over the last 50 years due to over pumping of the aquifer are about to get a 6 natural filter tank inflow of clean clear water to fill them all back up again. The bass population will explode. Most of the lakes are not open to the public. A couple do have public boat ramps. When the water flows. Watch out! Magic will happen! But back to the mines, watch what happens when they turn on the pumps at Tenoroc mines and start flowing the water through the mines. Bass fishermen who are clueless about the water projects stumble onto magic moments themselves like Lakeland kayak bass fisherman John here in this video did. He even says on camera "I'm going to try to hide the location." Yeah not happening John. I got that spot mapped already. Watch the magic at the outflow. John sits in one spot and simply lifts one bass out after another. No casting involved. And he caught a tagged 8 pounder and got $100 free cash for catching that fish in one of the state's water projects and fish science fisheries. Any of us can win the $100 cash per fish too. Just catch a tagged bass in their project areas. Catch 10 and you are going home with $1000 cash just for fishing their projects. The fishing magic research ongoing in Florida is for both fresh and saltwater fishing. All of our fished down species are coming back. Big reds. Huge snook. Huge goliath grouper. Largemouth bass. And even some fish created in laboratories like our sunshine bass. Its kind of funny to watch how the fishing industry works in Florida. All the bass pro's who turn on cameras and even the influencers who turn on cameras here to film themselves catching fish like crazy are all following behind the 8 ball. Behind the curve. They are exploiting on camera water projects already finished, tested privately, and then opened to the public gradually. All those cameras are after the fact. It would be great to start seeing some videos of guys who are directly connected to state biologists and who learn of projects in their just started construction phase and follow the project to fruition and be on top of the curve and in front of the curve is where it is really at. Heading to the peak, not jumping on the band wagon after the peak has come and gone- like lake Toho. The peak has been gone from there for years. But the fishermen still come based on years old reputation. Biologists have the best fishing information in Florida. Fishermen are ALWAYS behind the curve. But hey, the magic is designed and engineered to continue into the future for years and decades to come. Us Florida guys spend a lifetime learning the fresh and saltwater locations, and then try and learn the timing so we can make magic happen on a regular basis. And I can say it works. Magic has come and gone many times in my lifetime, and now I am passing it down to my sons to carry on after I am gone. And the one connection I am making for my sons is to meet state of Florida biologists at ICAST and around the state and to get to know some of them and listen to them for fishing information- coming directly from their water filtration projects. Geo, glad you wore your thumb out! I hope you get the chance to do it again! And again! In your area of Florida they are currently building numerous phytoremediation natural plant water filters. Simply research your area for all of the current and future projected water projects and stay on top of their construction and development, and plan on accessing them as soon as biologists say its ready. Quite often if you know some biologists they can get you into those still not open to public areas ahead of the crowds. They allow pre public testing at times, but its not what you know, but WHO you know that makes the difference. And for those of you not in Florida, if you want to come to Florida and catch monster bass, we have a man made situation here at Rodman reservoir. They do a water level draw down about every 4 years. They are talking about removing the dam, but as long as it exists, just show up there when they open up the gates and let the water flow out into the drawdown. Then fish in the reservoir's river channel where an entire reservoir of bass are forced into during the drawdown and like monkeys in a barrel you can catch one lunker after another. If you exploit the water science. The fishing magic will flow right in behind it. And it is repeatable. Just follow the science. Or in Florida just follow the biologists. And seek ye the mines! The hidden mines! Most are still private. https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/04/10/a-monster-is-lurking-in-this-phosphate-pit/ "”You have heard the stories, the best pit fishing in the world, 100 bass a day,” (biologist) Chapman said with a quizzical smile." "”No lake system in the world keeps up with them,” Chapman said. ”They are extra fertile. There, of course, is a lot of phosphorus to feed the plankton. Is just like putting fertilizer on a pasture. There are other things, too, which we don't quite understand, and which maybe we never will, that make them extremely productive.” "All have some kind of management restrictions to give biologists a chance to measure various policies." Each of us can become sort of a 'test fisherman' for biologists projects and become a part of their science here in Florida. Every time I go to Tenoroc I become a documented part of state fishery science. I hope a comment like this one will help others find some Florida fishing magic too. We can bring it all together! We can repeat it.

Yes. I can say I have been fortunate to have stumbled onto fishing magic here in Florida numerous times. Sometimes it wasn't stumbling. But magical just the same. I stumbled onto the same thing this young man did, and in same location too. And then I got it for 12 years straight until I had to move. I'd like to move back there one day and find this magical place again...

I still use them as well. I use them on rapala type of minnow lures and rat'l traps. I like to use them on lures I use for stripers and sunshine bass mostly and even saltwater trout fishing seems to work there as well. Not sure if it makes a difference, but the old guys said so! Guess I still do what the old guys said. Now I'm the old guy still using them.

I'm just replying to your thread request. And that reel you have is the same model as the ones I have and these do not require gear alignment. But this had to be eliminated first. If what you are saying is happening, then I can see only one thing even remotely being possible for why you experience a difference. We have to ask ourselves where is water getting in? And to what can water get to that could affect the reel's ability to spin freely? And with these nexave reels there is only one choice and that has to be the AR bearing. It is the only possible part water can reasonably reach -without dunking- and possibly cause some type of issue that could change reel behavior: "Anti-Reverse Bearing: If your reel turns backwards or feels locked up at specific points, the "Super Stopper" anti-reverse roller clutch has likely failed or become contaminated with water and dirt. These bearings are designed to work dry or with only the lightest possible reel oil." And now this gets into those rebuilds and your grease applications might fall into this situation. The AR bearings should not have any grease on them and only use a very lightweight oil instead. Grease can act like a glue preventing normal movement and normal operation. Water can also possibly cause an AR to malfunction. On the nexave reels line, this is about the only thing on those reels that could be so affected by minor water intrusion. Just my opinion and a search seems to support this same conclusion. I will be keeping an eye on my sons reels since they are identical models to your reels. So far he has had no problems with his. I treat the AR bearings in our spinning reels with corrosion X, a full synthetic lubricant that never changes viscosity even with temperature changes, and it stays in place and protects the metal from rust and corrosion which is most important to me here in Florida, but it also rejects water intrusion and keeps water from even reaching the metal parts. Water does not displace corrosion X. Corrosion X displaces water which is what I want in those AR bearings. Out of curiosity what did you purchase to these nexave's with? The nexave is a $69 reel brand new retail price. I purchased a couple of $39 Shimano Sienna 4000 spinning reels, and with some prep work ahead of use with corrosion X and other good synthetic lubricants, my son actually likes using his Sienna reels in saltwater. He has had no problems with those either. Shimano AR bearings can be finnicky. I wind up having to disassemble them these days and try and restore them as much as possible since they are hard to come by once no longer made. Some need to be cleaned out on the insides and remove collected dirt and debris, and carefully sand down corrosion roughness on each needle bearing to remove rust and smooth them out again, and take each spring out and maybe increase tension on each one a little bit to try and keep these touchy AR bearings going for more years of good fishing. Using corrosion X or Reel X on these bearings ahead of water intrusion can head off problems down the road like the rust seen here, and water reaching these parts inside preventing normal movement within that can cause some binding issues. Properly cleaned and lubricated these should work fine for years to come. If the reel does not have good seals to keep water out, then we have to adjust what we do with the reels on the insides to prevent the water from having as much of a negative effect on our reels. We can reduce and minimize and mitigate it to some degree.

An interesting thread to read. So its a mystery to solve if possible. And a Shimano mystery at that. How many of us prevented "binding" in older stradics by using Shimano's friction ring grease to keep every reel in optimal condition? Ha! Heck I don't even do it. I just remove the friction rings and forget about them. Shimano did for the nexave line as well. Not one single nexave reel even has a friction ring. So I think this one can be eliminated as a possibility. Digging in, the first thing I have to ask about is what is the precise model of reel being discussed in this thread? I have re-read it several times and still have no idea which reel. Its important because this line of reels has gone through various mechanical changes directly related to this thread's primary issue mentioned- binding- and at a particular point in time related to water- which I'll get into later on. A binding issue directly related to this line of reels pertains to specific models with gears that must be perfectly aligned in order to work correctly. The OP said this in his OP: "took it apart, cleaned it up and had plenty of grease but re-greased it etc and appeared to be fine." This is a curious statement to me. An issue I can't get past to get to the water- and grease- issues are the rebuilds of this reel. Without knowing what specific model, none of us can know for sure if the required to-the-tooth precise gear alignment is necessary for this reel or not. If it is such a reel then binding is all but guaranteed if gears not properly aligned. Its a mathematical certainty that all hinges around the number of gear teeth on pinion gear, main gear, and oscillation gear and how many times a reel must rotate to bring the gear combination around in sequence to gradually or more rapidly bind depending on how far out of alignment the gears are. Some reels do not require perfectly dialed in alignment while others do. So after reading this thread, and not knowing what reel we are dealing with, I did a schematic search and came up with like 70 to 80 different schematics to choose from so I randomly chose a model, and then also opened up a schematic for the Nexave reel I just rebuilt for my teenage son to use in saltwater mostly. He now has two. The reels my son are using are newer 2500HGFI reels. When I rebuilt his latest reel I did not pull the schematic, but I looked at the gears and did not see any alignment marks so I put it back together and it works fine. No alignment necessary. The schematic confirms it for this model: But if your reel is a different model requiring precise gear alignment perfectly done each time- no room for error here- in each rebuild, then this is an issue needing addressed first before water and grease can even be brought in. The random reel I clicked on showed this "box" below on the schematic- minus the oooops of my volume control at max volume being in there: In the box it clearly shows how to precisely align the two gears. This must be done right and without error in each rebuild. If not, it is a mathematical certaintly that when reel is spun around enough times that all 3 gears may work fine for a short time, but somewhere in the math of all 3 gears working around and around will come to a point where it binds up and reel slows to a halt. Not a grinding halt. But simply a calculated gradual to halt bind. Only when the gears are properly aligned precisely as shown in the box, will the reel work smoothly over long term. If the gears are really off in their alignment, then binding can be instant or close. But if the gears are say only one gear tooth off in either direction, then the binding may take longer to show up and be less noticeable going into the bind. It might be more gradual than say 2 teeth off to either side or 3 or 4 teeth off. The greater the misalignment the faster it should bind and more severe is my point. So its important to this thread to know which model reel we are dealing with to be able go around this designed-in gear binding issue that could be related to any recent rebuilds of the reel this thread is about. I love good reel mysteries. And the Agatha Shimano mysteries are the best! So what is the model number of this particular reel?

We need an AWESOME emoji around here! Like is just not enough! Great catchin'! I would do some of the same things you are doing but I would also try some cranking techniques from spinners to rat'l traps to minnow lures. You are very fortunate to have so much clear open water. Here in our Florida jungle even our lakes are jungles below the surface and on the surface. About half the time I am fighting the jungle as much as the fish. And then fighting the fish in the jungle. But hey, that is what makes it so fun. Well done Swamp Girl! I just showed my son your last line about needing only 141 more fish to make 1000 for the month. I said see what you gotta try and top? His response was priceless.

Yeah it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to modify inexpensive reels. The cost and trouble makes stepping up more logical and reasonable so I am with ya on that count- unless its just a spool swap to make casting those lighter lures further. I've been waiting for images of spools so drilled out there is not much spool left. lol Have you looked at the Shimano SLX? They can give you a true free spinning spool, and fine adjustment braking all the way up to full on. I saw on one website this reel starts at around $115.00 and the DC version is only $225. If the abu black max is $55, then the SLX at $115 is right at the next step up but switching off heavier magnets, and onto lighter centrifugal brakes as primary difference, and much tighter more precision tolerances as well that Shimano is known for. When I worked for a Shimano warranty repair facility, every reel was peer reviewed before being approved as being "finished" and one of the things they always checked for was tightness of tolerances. It was a huge deal and made the difference between approval or do it again and do it right next time type of thing. I read comments here yesterday where one person said their abu's felt loose to them. I don't think you'd have this problem with the SLX or any Shimano. Tight tolerances is in part what drives their reputation as well as not having a ton of please help threads about broken reels. So that alone is worth the extra dough in my opinion. Something to consider moving forward. Down here in Florida us Stradic lovers have found a new love called Florida Fishing Products. They make some good reels and we really enjoy using them. But they are more of a midline to upper midline company. Like two steps up from the Black Max but worth a look. I have not tried their baitcast reels yet, but we love their spinning reels.

One lure per package? Not sure I'd use one of those. Looks expensive. Over the last few years I have had the good fortune of having a professional rod finding agent helping me to find specific rods for my sons and I. And yesterday I got a text to stop by one of his 2 tackle stores to take a look at some rods he acquired recently per our request. I was pleasantly surprised to find he had several made in Texas All Star rods made in the factory Gary Loomis' former partner Don Mook had built for Morgan McCain. Once Don Mook completed his task for Morgan and went back to LCI, Morgan McCain was now making his own rods in Houston. And that is what my rod agent had found. Some like new 40 plus year old made in USA All Star rods. Some true Morgan McCain rods I was happy to add to my collection for $40. I may go back today and buy the others. He finds them and keeps them in a back room for me. They never hit the sales floor. So the general public walking in the front door never even knows what is hidden in the back room. He is also searching for reels and lures as well. He's a big reseller of used tackle which is perfect for us. These may be turned into CHW spirals soon. They are the same blank underneath, but finished off slightly differently due to the years in between these production runs. The top rod is the newer version of the older rod below it. These will be great for worms, spinners, and rat'l traps, etc. When Gary Loomis stood at the employee gate to Boeing Aircraft corporation looking for graphite engineers that kicked off the graphite fishing rod manufacturing here in USA, there is a select group of people who were involved. And it is from that group that I specialize my rod collecting within strictly. Vintage made in USA rods from the core of historical development. My son is now focusing on Trey Kistler and Brad Loomis. He used one of my Kistler Helium rods the other day and was blown away by it. Now he wants some. Kistler rods "born in a Texas garage!" At ICAST, we will be taking a good hard look at Tooka next. I picked up one of these recently on a rod I wanted. Not sure what to do with it. Its too big for bass fishing and kind of heavy. More saltwater size and a clicker reel. I think I will take it down to my local rod agent and give it to him and let him resell it. Other than a few scratches after more than 60 years its darn near like new otherwise. Does not even need servicing after all those decades. Works fine as is. So I won't bother with this one. And I have been enjoying another recent purchase based on a 1991 Shaw Grigsby Clearwater bass fishing video he did that we are planning on duplicating soon in same location. Lure making is something I have been wanting to do for decades but never got around to actually doing it was kind of forced on me by my now 13 year old son. We had a lot of unused unwanted rubber laying around saved just for melting down and recently my son urged me to start buying some lure molds so he can pour his own. And now he is off and running after watching local bass fisherman Terry Scroggins show him how to do it. So yesterday he says dad we need more white rubber! So let's go scrounge through the clearance bin at the tackle shop! And so we did. My problem is finding the right molds. I want specific shaped lures and just might have to make our own molds soon. This one is a silicone rubber mold that takes longer to cool down extending time between pours. The aluminum molds cool quicker and can be cooled down manually even faster. Not so with these silicone molds. They seem to hold the heat longer no matter what you do. So he's been sticking them in the freezer to speed it up. I told him to just fill up the shop sink with cold water and just dunk it. Water is not going to hurt a thing. We may get into injection molds down the road, but for now just doing the top pour molds. It works. Just have to trim them up some. My 13 year old son is already making triple color lures by pouring in one color for belly of lure, and then other colors on top. He's going to town on it now. No stopping him now. I told him maybe you can open your own lure business. Change the Z to B and BOOM lures is born! lol He is planning on making millions of dollars selling his custom made lures to all his fishing buddies. I hope he does.

Just recently some of the behind the scenes water quality efforts on lake Apopka were released to the public. This is amazing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o351nAnJ_tM

How would I rate this choice? I don't mean to go negative, but for a beginner that is a really inexpensive combo that may not offer you the features and controls that better quality gear would give you- especially as a beginner. This means you have a steeper uphill battle for a beginner to climb to success. Spend more, buy better tackle, and it can make it easier on you to control it because more expensive tackle has better features that I believe will be more effective than entry level tackle. So, better tackle means a less steep climb, and less to climb up from the beginner level. That rod might be find for a beginner, but I would consider spending more on the reel for your own comfort and ease of use. As has been said, it might be a good idea to start with a spinning rod and reel combo as it will be less trouble for you if you backlash too much. If you really want to get into baitcast reels though, I would definitely consider spending more for reels at beginner level so you might have a better experience than trouble. Good luck out there and let us know how it goes.

I don't believe I have ever said one casts further than another. I can't make such a claim without objective data to back it up. A lot of that has to do with the rod, line, setup, adjustments, weight of lure, line size, weight and flexibility, and casting ability of the person doing the casting, and even wind direction at time of cast and possibly humidity or air density/resistance variables plays a small role as well, and whether a reel has steel bearings with heavy grease or ceramic bearings with no lubricant, or oil only, and weight of spool. Lots of factors beyond just the reels. What I have consistently said is I prefer centrifugal over magnets because the magnets can never be turned off and I want them off permanently. So all of my casting reels are magnet free which I can then turn off all brakes and have a true free spinning spool which is my choice and preference. Only my flipping and pitching reel has magnets and they could be removed from those reels and not missed. Shimano gives me a true free spinning spool. Other brands do not. So today I won't spend one penny on any reels with magnets. Just personal choice. I only need a little braking help at the high speed spin out at top of the cast, and I want brakes to taper off as cast progresses. Only one type gives me what I want and prefer. And I agree with MikeL's comment lines: "it’s my experience either a dual braking system or a reel with centrifugal only, I get more distance and much fewer overruns." "Doesn’t matter if the spool slows on impact, that’s what the thumb is for." Exactly! With centrifugal, those brakes are backing off as spool slows so there is less braking on back end of a cast which is what I want. Magnets cannot be turned off, and are MOST effective when there is less inertia weight to slow down that happens as a spool slows on tail end of a cast is when magnets do the most braking which is opposite of what I want and prefer. So engineers of magnetic braking reels have worked hard trying to turn magnetic brakes into centrifugal brakes with spool speed controlled devices trying to minimize the "always on" magnets at tail end of cast to try and make them more appealing to the market. That's how I see it anyways. I made the switch away from magnets back in early 1990's when Shimano engineers made the switch away from magnets, and I have been very happy and thankful ever since. My curado HG's cast like a dream, and year after year no problems with them. best bang for the buck in my opinion. Now as for the comment about magnet reels holding all the world records. I did an exhaustive search on whether or not the reels discussed in this thread have world records and they do not. No such thing as a world record for bass fishing baitcast reels that I could find anywhere online. So I went to the source of the world records and find this quote: "The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) does not maintain separate world records based specifically on the type of reel (baitcast vs. spinning or spincast)." So the reels that hold world records for casting distances are NOT the ones being discussed in this thread- from what I can tell so......... back to reality. If anyone can find such world records please post them. I was not able to locate any. If you search the web for which casts further, what I find out there are opinions only of the users. So it goes both ways out there. It is a matter of choice and preference and nothing more.

Swamp Girl my son and I used the solunar calendar last night to target our bass and he scored 18 fish in 1 hour, and I was around 13 I think. I lost count really. Just get caught up in the catching we forget about the count sometimes. Not my son. He's out to win. And he did. He concentrated on open water and said he found them in a corner of the pond we were bank fishing. I was walking the far side targeting heavy cover and getting hung up a lot more, but the topwater bite was explosive in there. And as the solunar calendar turned past the peak, the bite just shut off as expected. It has shown itself to be a very accurate indicator. I hope it is as accurate for you as well. 80 fish is amazing! My kid thought his 18 in an hour or so was doing good, and when we got home I showed him your count and he could not believe it. I said she takes photos of each and measures them. Documented kiddo! Now he wants 80!

Some interesting comments. I see line dig is mentioned. I've used 25lb braid for years, maybe even decades without problems. And some 20lb as well. This range of braid falls into my open water schooling bass setups. I use most often a Curado HG reel with 25lb braid on medium rods for things like rat'l traps, wobblers, 3" to 5" paddle tail swimbaits, and smaller spinners. Primarily used for cranking in the lures in open water chasing schoolies. I want the smaller diameter line for better casting. There is no need for heavy line that would limit my casting. 25lb is a good top of the fence balancing point.

VMC Drop Dead hook