FloridaFishinFool

Glenn's video will be a good one to watch.

Open source software is far more powerful than windows. Far more. Windows is very limited. Once you get into open source software it is mind blowing what all is available. Linux is a 100% FREE operating system. I love using it.

I appreciate you sharing this with all of us. I do prefer to mend if I can and save some dough and make lures last longer. Its a great idea. I've been doing it with other adhesives with some success and some failures as some of my marine adhesives melt the rubber so I will be ordering this to try it out. Thanks Joe!

They ALL work. Its all about what you like first and foremost. Do you like shorter or longer rods? Do you need a shorter rod for kayak fishing? Maybe skipping under docks? Or, do you need long distance bombing casting and maybe a longer rod? Rod length selection is really up to you and what you like and what fits you best and your particular fishing needs or wants.

Thanks! I just found them so thanks for identifying it! I see there are many sizes to this Pogo lure. Have you used them? Any good? The one I am looking at is going to cost me over $20 just for one lure. I may go back to pawn shop and buy whole box. Silver and blue is one of my favorite color combinations so I might purchase this one. Looks like these have been out of production for a long time.

Well if WAHammer is not going to come back and post some photos of his lure, maybe he won't mind if I hijack his already existing thread for some of my own lures I would like to identify. I was in a pawn shop today and did not buy the boxes these were in, but I snapped some photos and hope someone here can help identify these old lures I have never seen before because I would like to buy some new ones and give them a try. Why not? This first one is kind of like a spin off of a rat'l trap with a paddletail. This next one is a spin off of a frog type of lure shaped like a small fish complete with spinning propeller tail. There is an "LH" marking on underside, but that is it for markings. It looks like a whopper plopper froggin' fish! Also curious what that white spot is on the underside here. Is that a weight for balancing it out? A water release port? I appreciate any help in identifying these lures. Thanks!

Good call. In the central Florida rod and reel repair shop WD40 was not even allowed in the door. Banned. Its not really a lubricant. Its a solvent more than anything else and dries up quickly. Best to avoid. Works OK for a penetrating oil temporarily just to remove rusted bolts and such, but I would never use WD40 on any reels. Won't even buy that stuff any longer. No reason to. Far better products out there for same price. Buy one that sticks around longer.

OK, I'll bite. What is it about Shimanos you don't like?

Thanks Mike! I missed that "tournament" part. Scratch what I said. I AM in another world.

I must live in a different world. I own a boat. I have to assume the costs of owning that boat. At 61 it is not safe for me to be traveling around Florida all by myself fishing in remote locations alone. I prefer to have a fishing buddy with me. I do not ask nor do I expect an invited guest to have to pay me or share in the costs just to go fishing. If I invite a guest, they are a guest. It would be nice if they volunteered to help cover costs, but it is not required nor is it even expected. I bought the boat so I can go fishing. I assume all costs of it. It is a benefit to me to have an invited guest go with me. Like paying for a safety precaution. I appreciate that they are there with me and give me peace of mind that I won't be alone if I fall overboard. If I went alone as I have done for decades, then all costs are mine anyways. By having an invited guest along my costs really have not changed, but now I have worry free fishing, and someone to have friendly competition with and talk smack with. Those benefits far outweigh expectations of money and boat cleaning. I'd rather do it myself anyways. If I started putting all those types of demands or expectations on an invited guest they may choose to not go. I guess I should clarify that my outboard is only a 35HP and does not take much fuel. So my expenses are really quite low as compared to the guy with a $100,000.00 off shore saltwater boat with twin engines and a long drive to the coast and miles of ocean to travel before arriving 10 or 15 miles off the coast at some reef fishing spot. Those guys spend hundreds per fishing trip. I don't. Mine is just fuel to get there and a little bit of running around a lake or river. Very minimal costs. So this might play a larger role as to why I am completely unconcerned about shifting the costs of what I chose to do onto others who are invited guests. I do not do that to them. Another reason I do not do that is because like I said I am 61 now. It is tough to find fishing buddies at my age to go fishing. Most of the guys I fish with are either my sons who are teenagers and perpetually broke, or in their 20's and also perpetually broke. I have even paid to help provide them with tackle like rods and reels and tackle boxes, etc. just to help them fish with decent tackle. I am glad if they want to go fishing with me to some remote places that are not safe for me to be alone like Lake Sampson in Starke, Florida. If you look at that lake from google satellite, and look at the western shoreline there is nothing there. Swamp and lake. If a person falls overboard there it could be all over. There is no shore to swim to. One would have to swim for miles if the boat drifts away. And good luck swimming past all the gators. Having a guest on a boat with you can be priceless. No amount of money can pay for the worry free peace of mind that can come from having an invited guest on the boat to fish with. So to read comments where it all boils down to $$$$$$$$$$$$$ and this is expected and that is expected is just something I don't get. If a person chooses to buy a boat for fishing they are the one assuming full responsibility for the costs. I would never think in terms of can I afford a boat? Well maybe if I shift the costs of it over to invited guests I can. I don't see much difference between expecting to be paid to fish and a for hire guide. Only difference is price. No, if I invite a guest to go fishing with me it is free for them. And I am glad to have the free company and extra safety of it and peace of mind is more than worth it. Besides I'd be going anyways at my expense, might as well help a buddy or my sons fish more as well. I place no expectations on anyone to fish with me and certainly not boil it down to $$$$$$$$$$$$ and oh hey, clean the boat too. I am the one who bought it and I am the one took on that responsibility. Now if they offer is a different story. But it is not expected. Do I live in a different world?

Have you ever used Linux?

I did a search on it and came up with this based on your description: AI Overview Your Minn Kota Ultrex is likely malfunctioning due to either a calibration issue, a physical obstruction, or a faulty component, such as the internal control board or power steering module. Start by checking for obstructions or loose cables under the foot pedal and ensuring the power cable is not interfering with the steering. Next, try performing a sensor calibration by driving in two circles, then accessing the boat scale setting to reduce compensation if it's overcorrecting. If the issue persists, you may need to contact a service center to diagnose a potentially faulty control board or other internal parts. 1. Check for Obstructions Under the Pedal: Inspect the entire area under and around the foot pedal for anything that could be touching it, such as the pull cord, wires, or a bait. Cables and Wires: Ensure the power cord and other cables aren't getting snagged or creating resistance, as this can interfere with the motor's ability to steer and hold position. This video demonstrates how to check for obstructions and loose cables around the foot pedal of a trolling motor: 2. Recalibrate the System Sensor Calibration: The motor's internal compass needs to be calibrated for it to know what is "forward". Access the system settings on your remote or via the Minn Kota app. Find the "Sensor Calibration" or "Sensor Cal" option and start the process. Drive the boat in two complete circles to complete the calibration. 3. Adjust the Boat Scale Reduce Compensation: If your boat is consistently overcorrecting and turning too far, the motor might be overpowered for the conditions. In the system settings, find the "Boat Scale" option. Adjust it to a lower setting, such as a "negative one" (-1). 4. Inspect Wiring and Connections Loose Connections: Check all wiring connections, particularly between the control head and the motor itself, for any signs of corrosion or looseness. 5. Check for Malfunctioning Internal Components Control Board/Power Steering Module: If the above steps don't work, the issue could be a failing control board or the power steering module. Professional Help: These components may need professional diagnostic testing or replacement. Take your motor to an authorized service center to have the internal components checked.

It would have been much better if he had gone to trolling motor to go up in there for both of us. I am no motor expert but when your water intake is down at the bottom near propeller and you are dragging sandy bottom and prop is really plowing things up does sucking sand into the water intake cause any harm to his expensive motor? It seems it would have been more in his favor to be more concerned about water depth and be more cautious about the expense of damaging his motor. The canal between lakes is deep enough for him to pass without bottoming out, but not in that canal. Maybe there should be a dead end sign at the entrance of it might help. I would have preferred if he had gone to trolling motor and been more courteous to me and maybe more on the ball about damaging his own motor with all that sand and plant debris he mowed up. He never said a word to me. Just motored in and turned around and motored back out. The location of this canal is in the Winter Park chain of lakes east of Harris chain. The canal is located on the north end of a small lake called Lake Nina. Tournaments are there almost weekly ran out of Fort Maitland boat ramp. He should have had a depth warning turned on. It would have been beeping the second he turned into that canal.

Lol! Same here!

He could see me in the canal before he entered. It is a straight canal that T's off a main canal between lakes and not very long. He was just exploring new waters preparing for an upcoming tournament and it was all about him and what he wanted. I did not matter. What I was doing did not matter to him. Simple as that. He did not have to explore that area while I was in there. He chose to tear the place up on purpose in my opinion. He absolutely ruined any chance of me continuing to fish in there for the day. By the time he reached me it was already too late. He was plowing up the shallow canal. Fishing was ruined. He chose to finish the job and do it while exploring a chain of lakes I doubt he was familiar with. He may have gotten himself lost. I don't know. Regardless of why he did it, what he did for me was cause for me to stop fishing there and pull up trolling motor and have to go find a fishing place elsewhere to finish out the day. Just an unfortunate situation. It happens. I did not say a word to him because its not my place to do so. I just had to adjust but things like that cause anger and conflicts on the water. Like others I try and avoid the conflicts and try to not walk all over others and just wish they would show the same courtesy. In order for him to pass me, he never asked me anything. Never said a word. I had to move to the side to allow him to pass and his boat passed within a few feet of mine because it is a narrow canal with tree limbs over the water on one side and houses on the other with docks about 10 out or less into the water. So not much room to pass in there. But he chose to do so anyways. Just how it goes sometimes.

Logan S said: "The guy in that video was looking for a confrontation and he got it. Most of us Potomac locals have been embarrassed by that guy ever since Ike put that video out." All I can do, and the rest of us out here can do is judge based on the video as is. Its not a big deal. Just a difference of opinion. So let's just agree to disagree and let it be. And move on. Exactly! Same here. 100 yards is too close since that person KNOWS I will be there soon. I think Ike was just plain wrong and he said he was sorry how many times? That is Ike admitting his own guilt in that situation- in my opinion.

I agree with what you just said. See, we can agree on some things. We have love of bass fishing in common, and love of rods and reels in common. Surely there is more common ground to be found? My personal experience is that tournament guys walk all over us locals on a regular basis with zero respect and not a care in the world. Some of them are downright mean about it too. Recently I was fishing in a dead end canal. Had it all to myself. Water was clear and I caught a few fish. I was on trolling motor slowly and cautiously halfway down the canal working my way to a dead end. The canal is 50 feet wide. It is a KNOWN dead end clearly shown on all maps. A huge bass boat tournament guy motors into the canal. He is just scoping it out. He saw me in there. But all he cared about was what he wanted. So he motors on past me to the end and turns around and motors back out. He just ruined that entire canal for me for the whole day. His big old heavy boat was dragging motor on bottom all the way in and out churning up the bottom. Sucking sand into his intake. Mowing up the eel grass. He could not have cared less. You bet I did not give him a friendly smile and wave. More like glared at him for what he just did. And that is the just about the typical attitude of tournament guys. Entitled- and we locals need to bow to them and get out of their way. Only they are important and we do not matter. Honestly tournament guys in central Florida do this more than show any respect for locals when on our backyard bodies of water. And we are NOT about to help them either when we would prefer they take their circus somewhere else and their entitlement and disrespect. This has been my personal experience over and over for decades and is largely behind why I do not get into tournaments any more. Not all are like that. But many of them seem to think they can intrude on us however they so choose and we are just supposed to like it and take it from them. We are told we know nothing about tournaments if we do not agree with their entitlement position. You know, rollover for them because entitlement is now called "respect" when the truth is such a position is disrespect to those the entitled want submission and rollover from. One way or the highway mentality. And we know nothing about tournaments if we do not comply is how it is playing out. And that is precisely how Ike treated the local in this video. What Ike did to this local is beyond disrespect it is WRONG. It is causing harm to others on purpose and with entitled intent. And then he tries to mouth his way out of it for his viewers. Pathetic really. This is NOT professional bass fishing. This is professional diva.

True. Let me throw another monkey wrench into this one-way or the highway etiquette issue and play devil's advocate. Let's say I am in a tournament and I know I am not going to win. At the bottom and struggling to keep chin above water needing one more fish just to stay in the game without being eliminated. And let's say Denny Brauer is #1 on the leader board and Ike is #2 and a few ounces behind Denny. Now let's say Denny and I have had a decades long friendship and share bar bq's on off time and Denny came to my kids baptism type of relationship. Real close. And say I have an aversion to Ike and don't much care for him- which I do. I'm minding my own business fishing a hole for my desperate stay in the game fish and here comes Mr. Philly/NY/NJ wanting to take my spot so he can try and win the $100,000.00. Am I to be expected to screw over my decades long friend by letting Ike win off my spot? I could lose a friend over doing something like that. And this is where tournament politics plays a large role over etiquette. I do not want to lose a friend like Denny Brauer so that etiquette rule is going right out the window for two reasons. 1)I personally want to remain in competition so my income is on the line here too. And 2)Denny is a life long friend and I am not going to screw him over just to let someone like an Ike take over my spot just so HE can win. I will play favorites on this one. Tough. Too bad. Like someone said its about fierce competition. Not rolling over and giving it all away. Sort of defeats the whole purpose of competing in the first place. And if Denny wins because I did not follow some roll over etiquette rule then we get to remain friends and enjoy it for years to come! Remember when? I sure do! We showed that Philly/NY/NJ guy what the real deal was huh? Respect has to go both ways. Tournament competition changes things based on rules and politics. It is not carved in stone.

I tried to point out for Ike it is not just about drama and passion and emotion. It was about him being in the wrong. Disrespecting others over and over. To your point of gambling their money to make a living is precisely why a person should not give up a spot to a potential leader. If respect goes both ways then the little guy losing may need those fish to stay in competition. The "leaders" should respect the little guys too and let them have their fish so they can stay in the competition game. On this one I disagree with that respect goes only one way to the leader to give them what they want at my expense. The little guy is there to win too. He has every right to those fish if that is what keeps him in competition to make his living. This unwritten rule to submit and bow out to some leader who may or may not win should be at play when $100,000.00 is on the line and elimination is imminent if you show respect in only one direction. The whole point of competing is to win and move up. Knock the top guys off and move up. Not just give it all away and call that respect. The little guy is being disrespected by those demanding respect be given to them. Respect should be two ways, not just one way is my point. Now if you want to bring that etiquette rule into local tournaments where its not a big deal, no real money on the table and giving up your spot and fish does not hurt you or cost you ranking status or eliminate you from competition, then sure, let the big dog eat. But not when it cost me my income at my expense on fish I need to stay in competition. It is the rules of the game that dictates which way respect is to go. Its not one way or the highway as I see it. Respect should go both ways. Just my opinion. As for that confrontation with the local, Mike was NOT confronting conflict head on. He was causing it. The local was driving off. Leaving the drama queen. It is the drama queen who called him back basically calling him a sissy for driving off. Come back and talk to me like a man. Come back and let me run you down, over power you with my how did you describe it the "Philly/NY/NJ way"? No, Mike was not confronting conflict head on. He was causing it and then profiting from it on camera for his views and likes and on camera drama he is famous for. The local was leaving confrontation behind and Mike instigated it and propelled it and videotaped it carefully for his viewers. He does this on purpose so we won't agree on how you spin this one either. I'll stop it here. I have said enough on this subject and don't want to keep going for my part. Justifying Ike being Ike cannot be worded away. Not with him or here. Ike is just Ike like you said the "Philly/NY/NJ way". Your words. Not mine but they work just fine. As for tournaments. I have fished local tournaments only. The little guy weekend warrior tournaments with a little pocket cash on the line. I hated it. Still do. When I am at a boat ramp and I see the guys with clipboards in hand and I am backing boat into the water and they come up to me, "hey do you want to fish in our tournament tonight?" I politely refuse because I know what they really want is more pocket cash put into the kitty, and I tell them, thanks but no thanks, I fish for fun- meaning turning fishing into work is not fun for me. Besides I can't stand the politics of it all. Here in Florida I am surrounded by tournament guys and guys who run tournaments and all I hear is whining and complaining on a regular basis about this guy did that or that guy did this and so and so blah, blah, blah. That's not fishing. Too much politics for me so now I avoid it and rather just mess with them. I stay out of their bass clubs too. What a load of BS those can be. Lots of Ike's all over the place. Even here on this forum. Sometimes I go to Whitey's fish camp when the fish killing weigh ins happen just to watch all the drama. Quite the entertainment along with dinner and fish killed floating in the water. When I fish the St. Johns river one of the things I despise out there are the tournament guys pre-fishing learning what they need to know ahead of a tournament. They often follow locals around using binoculars to spy on locals. Tournament fishing has become a circus. It takes a certain type of mentality and ego to put up with it. Ike is perfect for it. I am not. God did not give me a funny bone. I prefer fishing alone privately and quietly away from all the drama. Count me out.

This morning I think qualifies as the fastest reel repair ever. I rebuilt an old Bass Pro reel last week I bought for $8 or less as I recall off ebay. I took a chance on it because it was so cheap and had an all aluminum frame and I wanted to give my 12 year old son some beater reels he can use and abuse in saltwater. Reels no one is going to cry over if dropped overboard. So when I rebuilt it I admit I did not thoroughly examine the line guide pawl and just slammed it back in there and set it aside until this morning when I wanted to put some line on it I noticed the line guide would do fine until it reached all the way to left side and then it had trouble catching the worm gear and turning to go back in other direction. So it was hanging up on the left side and could not be used that way. I knew the worm gear was good. No wear on it. And this reel is designed so the pawl can be replaced without any disassembly of the reel. I quickly removed the pawl to examine it more closely and found some wear on its side, but the issue of hanging up was caused by one of the pawl tips worn off or broken off. Just gone. How I missed it I don't know, but chalk it up to being hasty I suppose with a pile of reels to get to. And since this reel has not been in production for 20 to 25 years, parts for it are not something easy to be found. But fortunately over the decades I spent working on reels, used pawls are one item I keep a box of them just for times like this. So I grabbed some likely candidates and laid them out side by side and quickly separated out those too short or too long and zeroed in on some that were same size, and picked one that was closest by eye. The broken worn pawl is on the left side. Move through them one by one by eye. No need to measure anything. Kick out the ones that won't work, and settle on those that come closest or exact or slightly shorter and can be shimmed up if needed, but not needed this time. Pick a used pawl, clean it thoroughly, use a little lubrication and in it goes. I prefer to use grease rather than oil here because I believe grease lasts longer and requires less maintenance. Oil just does not last as long here in my opinion. Both will work. Don't pick a pawl that is longer. It may bind up the reel. Slightly shorter by a shim washer or two, or same length. The thing to pay attention to is when the pawl is inserted into the line guide, once it is seated in the gears, the bottom of the pawl should be flush with the line guide. It can also be shorter and have a little space to line guide which can be shimmed with standard pawl shim washers. Flush is best, but never sticking out because as one tightens down the cover, it will push pawl hard into the worm gear causing binding issues. There should never be any pressure on the pawl. It should sit freely in its assigned space for free movement and rotating during use. Instant fix in 90 seconds. Its a good idea to keep a stockpile of these! It paid for itself today! Another free fix.

I agree Ike can be a good guy, but there are times when he is not like what he did to this local in following video. A guy is working down a bank fishing minding his own business and in blows Ike going around this guy to get in front of him just so he can do some mapping ahead of a tournament. He stirs up sediment and grass and messes up this locals bank ahead of him. Now Ike said he was sorry, but if you listen to Ike he is telling that local I am more important than you. I have to mark my waypoints or whatever ahead of time. He is trying to win the argument of just having messed over a local. No amount of words from Ike can fix this. He did it. A complete lack of respect because Ike thinks he is more important and what he is doing should take priority over everyone else. This is NOT being a good guy here as I see it. Ike should just say he is sorry and move on and stop trying to win an argument over what he just did to this guy. This is thriving on causing trouble. This rubs lots of people the wrong way. And that is why he is viewed as the Bubba Wallace troublemaker of pro bass fishing. Ike has no one to blame but himself. And this cannot be written off as fierce competitor because competition is NOT happening here. Messing someone else up for his own selfishness is what this is. And this is why Ike gets thrown under buses. No, he walks out in front of them and gets run over all by himself with this type of thing right here. His words are domineering and controlling. "Come talk to me like a man!" And "Turn your engine off" and barking all kinds of do what I say language. Why? This is an ego issue right here. A lot of guys would just rather avoid him if this is how his "fierce competition" ego plays out. Respect is supposed to be a two-way street. Not just one-way. In following video they say its a semi-final day and you have to be in top 12 if you want to fish the finals. And, on this spot or hole are a limited number of fish. KVD and others are already on the spot hauling in fish and staying apart and respecting each other no problems. Then in blows Ike. He slides in and starts casting into the same area KVD is casting into. And then Ike yells "Community hole bro!" KVD says "Not cool!" Ike says if you want me to leave just say so. Where is the respect etiquette rule at play here? Its not. This is fierce competition? Hardly. This is the ultimate in disrespect moving in and trying to take it over and take it for himself and KVD rightly calls him out on it. Again, Ike is the one throwing himself under the buses. For the rest of us it is just great entertainment watching and listening to him do it and then try and use controlling manipulative language to try and justify his selfish self centered behavior. He KNOWS he is causing trouble. I think he wants it. Thrives on it and captures it all on camera so he can get views and his name out there for any reason is good publicity to him. Or, I should say disrespect is not fierce competition. It is simply being a jerk. And he's very good at it. I'm not throwing him under any buses. He does it to himself over and over and over. Fierce competition does not include being in the wrong over and over again. But I agree there are times when Ike can be a great guy. He's just abrasive and controlling. Even the other bass pros have issues with Ike. Listen to Greg Hackney here as he clearly says while Ike is screaming- "If he was my kid I'd be giving him a spanking right about now." What we have in Ike is not just a fierce competitor, but an egotistical arrogant jerk at times who throws respect out the window quite often just to try and win tournaments and always rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Again, its not me throwing him under any buses. I do believe he does it to himself. Mark Zona even did a short compilation of Ike meltdowns- an ego maniac seeking attention and intentionally being a drama queen. That is how Ike is viewed and its not just me. Mike Iaconelli IS the Bubba Wallace of pro bass fishing. Always causing trouble everywhere he goes. And then trying to argue his way out of it when he is completely in the wrong. Here comes another bus Ike! Can you say I am wrong with my observations? Gotta love Mark Zona's description of Ike being nice... "Whether its in a bassmaster classic or whenever, when Mike Iaconelli catches a fish he has an allergic reaction to HIMSELF!" Is fierce competition always being the loudest drama queen on the lake? Does he really have to go there? Pure ego. Not competition. Ego. That's how I see it. And it won't change until Ike changes. Because of how he behaves, often unjustly too, Mike Iaconelli freak out videos are a great teaching tool for kids getting into bass fishing. Here kid watch this guy right here freak out. Don't be like him! This is what you don't do! Sad but true. He throws himself under buses. I think I have allergic reactions to Ike too!

I just finished another flipper reel. A reel bought low and resell higher. Just flipping reels for pocket change to cover costs on my new tackle. I bought this one in a bundle deal at a pawn shop last week. This reel came on a "made in USA" All Star rod made by Gary Loomis and his LCI rod company. I wanted the rod only. My days of using these Abu type of round reels is so over. But these are quick and easy to overhaul. But this one gave me some trouble because it appears to have been buried in the mud on the bottom of a river. It is an old Abu Ambassador 5000. The frame showed signs of very fine silt type of mud in every nook and cranny. And I mean everywhere. Even the line guide was choked up with it and entire frame inside the reel. So most of my time and effort was put into just cleaning every single part. Fine silt mud clogging line guide. The drag washers in these reels suck big time. They are weak and brittle and you gotta be real careful removing them because whatever they are made out of is not very good material at all. Its like bees wax or something. I have to use razor blade sideways very carefully cutting and gently prying the old drag washers off the gear and key plate. And just look at what it leaves behind. Some kind of hardened up goo. This is NOT a good drag material at all. This part was not only covered in stuck on goo like wax from the drag washer, but it had also slightly pitted the key plate washer on top of the drag washer. Maybe a lot of this has to do with being pulled from the silt on a river bottom? Not sure, but it was nasty. So onto the sanding... I'd really have to do some grinding to get rid of all that pitting. And keep in mind the pitting is only on this part where the drag washer touched. So that tends to indicate to me that the material the drag washer is made from has a corrosive element to it when contacting with water. You don't see pitting where the drag washer did NOT touch! So that points directly straight to a materials issue with the drag washer itself. Some of the fine sandpaper scratch marks are still visible. I am not going to spend a lot of time on a $50 reel making it perfect. I had to really scrub hard to get this far. I could have touched it up with a finer sandpaper, but it really is not necessary. The very slight scratch marks are no where near as bad as what pitting can do for a drag mech. Someone who really wants to do some work on this part can have at it. I gotta move on. Can't spend too much time and effort on this. It will work fine for years to come now. I brought it back more than 95% from where I found it. This is a quick fix reel. Its not a display reel for sure. Just a useable workhorse reel. This reel did not have bearings, but did have the rounded edge bushings on each side of the spool. Notice the not sure what to call it, but the markings or machined change to this bushing? There is only one reason they do this is to prevent these bushings from spinning around in the side plates. Abu wants these bushings to stay in place and only the spool spin around inside the bushing. Not the spool getting locked up to the bushing and it start spinning inside the reel's side plates. These are added one in each direction polarized to prevent the bushing itself from spinning in side plates. These are designed to grab in both directions. Again, the rounded edges to these bushings is a bandaid quick fix to a known design flaw in these reels. Soft aluminum side plates that bend way too easily, and if flat edged bearings or bushings were used in these reels as they get beat up and bent up, the spools would bind up bringing the reel's useful life to an end. So rather than fix the design materials flaw to this series of reels, Abu engineers simply swapped out flat edged bearings and bushings for rounded edged bearings and bushings that can now self adjust with those rounded edges to the slow bending out of shape of the side plates over the years extending the useful life of these reels- even when bent. I inserted a flat edged steel bearing in between bushings to show the difference in edges from flat to rounded. A lot of people who own these reels that want to replace factory bearings and bushings usually, well ok almost 99.99% never- do not notice the rounded edge and invariably they install flat edged new bearings that will work fine until slight bending of side plates bind up the spool. These reels have rounded edge bushings and bearings for a reason! And don't forget to add a couple drops of oil to each of these end caps with felt oil retainers in each one. In this image one has new oil, two drops, and the other is untouched yet. Another sucky issue to these Abu reels is their inadequate brake shoes. Almost nothing there. So over the years, well decades ago now that I used to actually use reels like these I often tinkered with the brake shoes and made my own custom brake shoes from various materials. The teeny tiny almost nothing factory brake shoes are on the left. Also shown here are some of the alternative materials that can be used to customize & change the level of braking force for these reels. It is done with different materials, different sizes in widths or diameters, and lengths, that also change the weight of the brake shoes increasing the braking amount or decreasing it (well can't go any lower than factory unless you use reel without any brake shoes). You can even stack brake shoes to increase weight and braking force as needed. I played around with these a lot back in the day. Custom cut your own brake shoes. And she's back! Fully operational now and smooth again. This reel should last another 20 or 30 years providing it is not dropped to bottom of river again and old drag washer can hang in there. Since this one was so beat up, I kind of faked it out for this photo using a red permanent marker to cover over the worn off red anodizing to make it prettier. Still shows its beat up though. The legendary lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd back in the 1970's used the Abu Ambassador 5000 series until the day he died in a tragic plane crash 10-20-77. In following video filmed next to his house along St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida area, he was filmed about 30 days before he died using this same series of reels. A gold 5000 is in his hands here on film. Legend has it he was buried with one of these! And his favorite rod, maybe the one shown here in this old film. Rest in peace Ronnie! The FreeBirds still flying high! ***The materials I bought over the years to customize the brakes on this series of reels I no longer need so one day soon I plan on putting together a package of reels and parts to sell here on the forum, and if any of you tinkerers out there want to play around with the brakes on your reels these customizing materials will be available soon. My days of playing around with these are over.

Thank you for that Columbia Craw! You said: "Lamiglas produced that Cabelas model." Let me point out a couple of things... The history of Lamiglas is very interesting! This is from their current website: https://www.lamiglas.com/pages/about-lamiglas?srsltid=AfmBOorGksKqBbfnhyBgAyJXfOtXC_zLstuBmIVPhZtH8vWauUqpz9oP "Lamiglas invested in hiring top-level Boeing Engineers to pioneer blank designs that had never been produced before. This commitment to innovation and design provided the groundwork that continues to build today." This is a very curious way of spinning their history while at same time cutting out the man who really did this, one of Lamiglas employees named Gary Loomis. No one else at Lamiglas did what Gary Loomis did. He is the man who went down to Boeing and stood at the employee entrance gate day after day talking to Boeing employees seeking out carbon graphite composite engineers there working on top secret Dept of Defense aerospace engineering. Gary Loomis is the man who made that contact. Gary Loomis is the man who is to this day credited with making the very first carbon graphite fishing rods. Notice how Lamiglas avoided this in their history of? From internet: "Gary Loomis worked for Lamiglas in the 1970s, where he developed and helped commercialize the first graphite fishing rods by collaborating with Boeing engineers and perfecting the process." It says Gary Loomis did this. NOT Lamiglas! Gary Loomis's work at Lamiglas Background: Gary Loomis was a machinist and avid steelhead angler who recognized the need for better fly rods. Transition to Graphite: He began experimenting with new materials, eventually working at Lamiglas to develop rods using graphite, a new composite material. Collaboration with Boeing: Loomis worked with Boeing engineers who were working on the proposed supersonic transport (SST) project, which involved graphite, to design and develop Lamiglas's first graphite rods. Rod Development: The new Lamiglas graphite rods gained recognition when baseball legend Ted Williams praised one at a sports show in 1974, which helped the rods gain popularity and outpace competitors like Fenwick." What is still murky is what happened to Lamiglas when Gary Loomis split off to start his own company. A book should be written about this history! Hidden U.S. rod blank history to this day. Fenwick did try and get in on the graphite game but without the same level of engineering and paid a price for it with rods that snapped and did not hold up. Gary was keeping his engineering close to himself as he left to go start his own companies. Fenwick and Lamiglas had some catching up to do, and there is possibly some bad blood in there over this! I can't blame or fault Gary Loomis one bit for what he did. Any of us would have done it too! So it was indeed Gary Loomis who brought to and delivered to Lamiglas those Boeing engineers who brought with them the technology to begin making graphite rods for the first time in rod blank manufacturing history. Gary Loomis started his own company with a partner named Don Mook and together they formed Loomis Composites Incorporated or LCI, Inc. making graphite rods for everyone he could sell them to. Others had to play catch up. The point of this comment is, that rod of yours IS a Gary Loomis legacy rod! That rod is a piece of history! A museum specimen! Thanks for posting it and I hope you will consider posting it in the rare rods thread as well! Kind of cool to fish with one of a kind iconic national history! Now all I gotta do is try and track down the story of that one offset guide! Was this a Lamiglas decision? Or, a Cabelas decision? One of the interesting tidbits from history is that it is a fly rod fishing technique. Look at source of the rod itself... "Gary Loomis was a machinist and avid steelhead angler who recognized the need for better fly rods." What if? What if? Hmmmm.... could it be? What if it was Gary Loomis himself who came up with this? I am going to contact Aleks Maslov asap on this one and see if he will ask Gary Loomis himself to provide some details on your rod. I'll report back if I get any response to this one! Super cool history in this thread! I can't thank you enough for posting that rod! Your specimen could rewrite some U.S. rod history and add a whole new chapter! That rod belongs in a museum one day! My Loomis radar was going off on that rod. Glad to know my gut feeling instinct was right on target for this one. Glad I did not miss this one. Would it be possible to get some higher resolution images of it? The ones you posted here are small sized. I will use what you posted to send to Aleks so maybe he will ask Gary about it. Gary is getting old and having more trouble walking. At the last ICAST show I met up with them Gary had a mobility scooter. -----------------------ADDED: One more important detail the stated source of your rod has helped to nail down. When I talked to Gary Loomis at ICAST he told me he had sold rods to a lot of companies that I had no previous knowledge of. To Johnny Morris and Bass Pro, and even to Browning. But Gary did not say which company had done this. I thought it was LCI. I have a Browning 6'6" MHF rod that is identical in color to your blank from the same era. After talking with Gary I had suspected my Browning rod was possibly an early LCI rod. I never once considered it could have been Lamiglas. But now that you have identified that color and type of blank as having been sourced from Lamiglas has now finally nailed down some level of confirmation to the exact source. So we both have rods sourced to that same time period and same source. Your rod has just raised the level of value to me for my Browning rod. My Browning rod is an exceptional blank. I have loved that rod since the second I acquired it not even knowing it was sourced from Gary Loomis legacy. I turned it into a spiral wrapped rod and it is one of my favorite rat'l trap and swimbait rods of all time. And I have around 100 rods but that Browning is in my top 10 and may now move up some to top 5. It is a shame that rods keep changing over time and that the blanks they made decades ago will never be made again. Maybe they can get close today but there was a time period in rod blank manufacturing history that was kind of like a sweet spot that will never come again- at least for some of us old timers. Just the right balance. Today's rods can be too stiff and inflexible. Too fast. Some of the old timers in this game unknowingly found that sweet spot in rod development.

Good one! And the rest of us Floridians are their security detail! 😅 🤣

12poundbass said: "If I were fishing a tournament and I had no chance of winning and the other angler did I would move. Why wouldn’t I? If the roles were reversed I’d expect the same respect." Why wouldn't I move to give someone else a shot at winning? I totally agree fishermen should have and show respect for each other, but in an MLF tournament it is not about showing respect to someone who might win. They could still wind up losing even if that spot were given up to them. But the real issue is this... what if you needed the fish you were about to catch off that spot to keep your MLF rankings? And you give up that spot to someone who may or may not even win, and it costs you from being eligible for the next tournament because you just let him catch the fish you needed to keep ranking status? "MLF angler standings are determined by various factors depending on the specific circuit, but generally depend on cumulative points rankings earned over two-year cycles or recent tournament results and total weight from matches." "If MLF (Major League Fishing) anglers don't catch enough weight for a tournament, they are eliminated from the competition, with final standings determined by the heaviest weights." So its not about respecting someone who might win. That is irrelevant to the rankings! The fisherman who gives up a spot out of respect may be the nice guy here, but he may also lose his own rankings by doing so, and may not even qualify for the next tournament because he was nice and respectful to the potential winner- who might still lose. Giving up that spot could cost a fisherman $$$$$$$$$$. This is where MLF rules make being the nice guy a bad thing! The rules turn it into cutthroat bass fishing! Just watch Ike! He's a pro at it! 😉