FloridaFishinFool

I was thinking more of the shape and size than composition of the Creme worm. It just looks like a trick worm to me is why I mentioned it. For the record, I got rid of these decades ago and have never gone back. I am sure they still work. Just not my cup of tea.

Why would the action slow? How can it change at all I wonder. Its the same rod just shorter. My mind is telling me shorter lever means faster side to side swing ability and longer lever means longer side to side swings that take slightly longer time. I thought longer was slower and shorter was faster? I thought removing mass meant less weight means faster response. Removing 4 inches would move the area of the rod that bends closer to the tip, not the butt end of a rod. Isn't that how action gets faster? How would it slow down? I'm not getting it. Scratching my head here. I can see where putting a tip now 4" down on thicker blank can maybe increase rods ability to lift a slightly heavier object or fish, so I am with ya on "power goes up" ever so slightly, but still wondering about the other.

Some great photos! How wide were the wings on that moth? I recently saw one in central Florida looked 4" wing tip to wing tip. Biggest moth I've ever seen. One of my photos along St. Johns river taken in the spring way back up in a creek.

Awesome! Congratulations! That smile says it all!

Now that is a great point! I only use straight braid.

Yep. Done on purpose too. You and I both know they could seal those up if they wanted to.

This After every outing I remove the prop and clean all debris from around the prop shaft and make sure the debris is removed from the seal as well. I also use a synthetic lubricant on the seal and shaft once it dries out. This keeps the gap between shaft and seal lubricated for next outing, and prevents the rubber from drying out and cracking or shrinking and changing shape over a longer time period. I also use that 100% silicon rubber sealant around the motor's joint and where the shaft meets motor. Just adding an extra layer of sealing that is easily removed next time I pull the motor apart it peels right off. One more thing to check is the prop pin through shaft. The stronger the motor, these can bend easily and snap in half while on the water when you need it most. I pull them out and check them and if bending slightly I hammer it back straight because these pins are designed to snap if bent too far. So a slight bend can be bent back straight and keep on going maybe for a little while longer. Its best to keep a few extra of these handy as well as a prop removal tool just in case. I like making my own custom trolling motor setups and rebuild all my own motors. . I now have a 12v/55lb thrust, a 24v/80lb, and just acquired my newest project a 36v/110lb I think it is. All of them are now modified with new electronics packages. Some years ago the shop did a clean up and clean out and tossed out a bunch of old motors laying around which is how I got the 80lb motor. It had digital electronics for variable speed control down inside the motor to keep it cool. But when water or moisture gets down into the motor that electronics package down there corrodes and fails, especially in the saltwater motors its faster fails. So I pulled the motor apart gutted all of the old electronics out of it and turned it back into a straight motor and soldered power wires directly to the brushes and ran my own variable speed control electronics mounted under the front deck. One of the interesting things about trolling motors is that there is not much difference between saltwater and freshwater trolling motors. The motors and seals are all the same just painted different colors. The differences are all the other stuff. They sure like to epoxy the electronics in sealed up packages no one can work on. That's why proprietary electronics get trashed and after market electronics are chosen instead. My new forward/reverse switches on deck is an old court reporter recorder footswitch used to control audio tape recorders in court. I chose it because of how low profile it is and size of switch pedals. I am considering using a guitar wah wah type of pedal for my speed control. I can't wait to get the 110 installed. Its gonna be fast. My backseat boater is gonna have to hang on. Heck they had that problem with the 80. Take a look at what saltwater does to a trolling motor variable speed control This was replaced with a sealed precision variable with a different taper. The new motor drive reversible variable speed control electronics package. This one comes with a motor brake circuit so I can go from full speed forward to full speed backwards instantly if I have to. Neat feature to have in motor controls. Minn Kota has never added a brake circuit. So I did. This little beauty right here cost under $40 way back when and handled 12-60 volts and maximum of 70 amps average with surge capability over 100 amps. Ah, there they are. The all important seals. This image shows the motor brushes circuit board with corroded burned up factory electronics still attached but new power wires are already installed. Here the old electronics have been removed and brush circuit board nearly done. Gotta cut out some more useless minn kota junk before installing. You can see that old burned up electronics is epoxy sealed. Did not help it one bit. All the heat built up right there in that white ring on the left side of this image. The open electronics is the new replacement motor driver package. It never even really got warm running full speed across a lake. Had much better heat dissipation once attached to the heat sink cover box. Something very important I would like to point out in the image below. Minn Kota did something down in this motor that was in part behind it failing. Look how the motor drive electronics delivers full power to brushes. This is a saltwater motor now, and you can see the attachment is done with 2 screws. That's it. A bad connection from my perspective. Mine are soldered directly to brushes. Huge difference. And you can't see it but those aluminum stand off's that deliver power to the motor have 2 more screws to make the power connection down inside all that epoxy. Not too good! Subject to heat build up and bad connections. And also notice the speed controls up on deck the boater is using go through that small reddish 4 pin connector on circuit board. All of these connections are subject to corrosion and bad connections. I eliminated all of it. And presto. The free 24/80lb motor out of the garbage can is rockin and rollin again ready for new paint job. I think the trolling motor in parts for new seals cost under $10. New motor drive package under $40. So pretty cool getting an 80lb thrust customized trolling motor for around $50 with a little hard work. Storing these motors in appropriate environments is the best for them. Heat accelerates moisture damage, especially salty moisture can ruin good trolling motors here in Florida real fast. I get my free motors because guys don't do what is necessary and honestly many don't want to. So right straight into the shop with them. Just fix it. How much? Thanks. I'm out of here. Can't be fixed? No problem. Keep it. I'll but a new one. See ya! I think a good suggestion is to pull props after each outing. Clean shaft down to seals carefully. Maybe use something to keep rubber seals lubricated, check prop pins and straighten them if needed, and maybe you can get further down the river without failures. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure here. If you do not do what is necessary to make sure your trolling motors are well cared for and maintained, it just might be my next project motor. One man's trash is another man's treasure. 😎

I had an old great uncle in B.A.S.S. tournaments back in the day. His name was Irvin Kasaw. He took me fishing when I was 12 years old back in 1976 on Smith lake in Alabama. I can still remember his old setup and tackle. White fiberglass rods and red Abu round reels and green Johnson closed face reels with a white cast button. But his number 1 go to lure was the grape purple Creme worm on the bottom. Nearly 50 years ago, and I have rarely heard of this lure ever since. I'm curious if anyone would consider the original Creme worm to be about the same thing as today's trick worms?

Its all a matter of personal opinion of likes or dislikes. But even doing an online search shows there are engineering reasons that give solid rods a slight edge, and it revolves around the joint and its ability to transmit vibrations across it: So taking my opinion out of it, this is what comes up in a search on side by side comparisons: Generally, a one-piece rod is considered to have a slight performance advantage over a two-piece rod, particularly in terms of sensitivity and casting accuracy, due to the absence of a joint. However, two-piece rods offer significant convenience for transportation and storage. Ultimately, the "better" choice depends on individual needs and fishing style. One-Piece Rods: Pros: Improved sensitivity: The continuous blank of a one-piece rod transmits vibrations more effectively, potentially leading to better bite detection. Enhanced casting accuracy: The seamless design eliminates potential weak points, resulting in smoother and more precise casts. Greater durability: One-piece rods are generally perceived as more durable and less prone to breakage at the joint, especially under stress. Cons: Difficult to transport and store: Their length makes them more challenging to transport and store, especially for anglers with limited space or those using larger rods. Two-Piece Rods: Pros: Convenient for transport and storage: The ability to separate into two pieces makes them much easier to transport and store, particularly for travel or anglers with limited space. Cons: Slightly reduced sensitivity: The joint can slightly dampen vibrations, potentially impacting sensitivity compared to one-piece rods. Potential for joint failure: While modern two-piece rods are generally reliable, there's a potential for the joint to weaken or fail if not properly cared for or if the connection is not snug. In Conclusion: For anglers prioritizing sensitivity and casting accuracy, and who have the means to transport and store longer one-piece rods, the one-piece rod is often preferred. However, for anglers needing the convenience of portability or fishing from smaller boats, the two-piece rod offers a suitable and increasingly high-performing alternative. The choice ultimately depends on individual needs and preferences. ---------------------------------- Putting my opinion back into it, I prefer the slight performance edge of 1 piece over 2 piece. And that is what this boils down to- personal opinions. The above search results suggest anglers buy 2 piece rods for convenience, not performance. And I notice the only "pro" thing mentioned for 2 piece rods is convenience. But as shown above it is not just me who thinks 2 piece rods are not there yet. I like how the search points out that performance of 2 piece rods is increasing because they are making better rods now. I think in a forum like this its the best approach to offer all sides and let readers decide. Sometimes I play devil's advocate, but hopefully it all shakes out to improved fishing in the end for all of us.

I was thinking more so in commercially available 2 piece rods. I am sure in custom rod building that better 2 piece rods can be found. Just not for me.

That is what I was trying to get at. My observations tell me that the bass are reacting to the oncoming pressure change long before the weather arrives. Long before the temp starts to drop. As I see it, it can't be the cold since its not here yet. Still hundreds of miles away. It can't be the weather of the front either. Has not arrived. So what is it that is telling the fish to stop feeding and run deep until the front passes and the pressure swings back to a low? It is decades of repeat patterns that have sunk into me on this issue. Simply put when a cold front is on the way fish like crazy and then put the boat and rods up until it changes back. I have been so frustrated over the bass shutting down I won't even bother with them under a cold front or right as it is about to hit us. Its like the pressure change gives them lockjaw and they will not bite well if at all. I'm just saying my personal observations tell me its the pressure change for my location.

Thanks for that detailed reply. Very informative. I avoid pressured waters and I do not target large bass. I am not looking for a new PB. I don't really care about catching the biggest bass in the lake. For me I just enjoy fishing period and getting explosive topwater bites if I can. I am just as happy with a dink as I am with a 4 or 5 pound bass. A 10 pounder would be nice, but I am not going looking for that one big fish. I dial back the size of my lures just so I can catch more fish, granted smaller fish, but quantity over quality for me. If a big one bites then great. But I will never spend my time going after that one big one all the time and give up catching all those other bass. So I do agree the big ones get smarter but I am not sure they have a memory beyond 15 minutes to a couple of months is what AI says. I have no idea really what bass can remember or for how long.. https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/78837-memory-of-bass/ My point is I never worry about scaring any fish with my braid line. If the big ones are afraid of it then I guess its dinks for me for life. 👎 Still fun though. I gave up chasing the big ones decades ago. I don't do tournaments either so no reason to target the bigger fish. No incentive for me. I just like catching as many as possible.

I think us Florida guys are going to be more prone to disagree with this statement. I know I disagree with it because of decades of personal experience. From my perspective our Florida bass are extremely sensitive to pressure changes. When a cold front is moving towards Florida but still hundreds of miles away, down at the bottom of the pressure change cycle as the pressure makes that turn upwards I think the fish are feeling it and bass in Florida will shut down long before the "weather" and cold front and cold air even reach central Florida and the bass are already gone! They do usually feed fast before fronts arrive, but as that pressure rises before the front and cold air actually arrives in central Florida the bass shut down. After 50 years of fishing in Florida when I know a cold front is coming we try and fish before but as it arrives and moves over us I'm not going out there until the cold front is moved on past because I know I will be spinning my wheels out there. I might get one or two bites, but not what I want. Take a read on what another central Florida bass fisherman says about this subject. https://www.orlandobass.com/2016/11/the-truth-behind-cold-front-bass/ "With this change the bio-metric pressure begins to rise and the barometer will go from one extreme to the other. This is not a good thing for fishing and there are a few reasons why. First bass don’t like extreme changes in bio-metric pressure. They are most active when the barometer is steady and neutral or the the first 6 to 8 hours of a falling barometer." Steady and neutral and falling. That is what I look for. I watch the news at night which tells me if pressure is on the rise or on the fall. I prefer to fish on the fall and neutral, but the rise is opposite. I'd say most of us Florida guys consider pressure very important here. Can't say about other places, but here there is a pattern we see.

My issue with 2 piece rods is lack of performance and most are whippier and often don't have the backbone a single rod does. I have to find a 2 piece rod that can live up to some of my 1 piece rods. So for me its not the 2 piece situation. It is just that I don't find 2 piece rods that I like. Only one in decades. Just 1. I still have it. But I don't go looking for more. I figure if I am gonna buy a rod I'm going to buy a whole one.

Sounds good to me. One of my favorite central Florida lakes a lot of fishermen avoid because of how its bottom is shaped is lake Minnehaha in Maitland. For me it is ideal. (There is another Lake Minnehaha in Clermont I've never been on) I love its wide flat shallow eel grass fields or flats. The bass are down in that stuff and laying in holes and swimming through it. Nothing I love more than long distance topwater casts over that eel grass with tips of the grass just below surface with some sticking up out of the water. Long casts over the eel grass and the bass blow up explosively. Quite often jumping out of the water they hit so hard. I either run on the surface or just below it in the tops of the eel grass. I never catch bass down deep in the eel grass at bottom or near roots. Gotta keep it up at the tops of the eel grass. Either right over top of it or through the tips of the eel grass. When I move around to the lily pads I approach them from a long distance at first. Casting out around the edges 10 to 20 feet or so and then work my way in closer. I want try and catch edge bass first and those running along the edges of cover. As I move into the lily pads I begin to pick apart what is closest to me in my area maybe some flipping and pitching everything near me. Without moving- my boat is right up against edge of lily pads & sometimes I let wind hold me in place up against them, next I will break out my 7'6" MH spinning rod with a weedless rubber lure on it. I prefer paddletail flukes. 4 inch to 6 inch flukes to somewhat mimic goldern shiners and baitfish. Often I either use just a hook and no weight, or a weighted hook. Usually a 4 or 5. I cast that sucker as far as I can to shore. Dry land if I can cast that far. I cast all the way over the lily pads to shore and slowly work it back to me all through that stuff and let it drop down into holes and wiggle it around and bring it back up to the surface and make some surface noise with it splashing a little bit and do some hesitations in there, maybe some dead sticking. But I really love those jumping out of the water explosive hits on the surface. I catch a lot of bass behind the lily pads. Between pads and shore where bass move around back and forth along the shore or find a place to lay up waiting on dinner to swim by. I pick lily pads apart. Denny Brauer taught me the art of starting with what is closest and steadily branch out. You don't have to always move the boat if you adjust your techniques. That 7'6" spinning rod I have for this gives me the ability to make one lure do the tricks of several lures on each cast. And I am not worried about any of you going to one of my honey hole lakes either. When you come out of the canal there, a house real close by has a new owner who loves to threaten boaters and fishermen. He threatened myself and another member here with "I'm going to go get my gun" because he said we were on his property while sitting in a boat 100 feet offshore and 50 feet from his dock. He said his property goes all the way out to the middle of the lake and that we were trespassing. His wife was videotaping us as evidence of our crime. We called the cops on them for threatening us with a gun. We never touched his dock or his dry land. And we were trespassing. The cops laughed at me when I told them when he said he was going to get the gun I yelled at him well go get it then. He was not going to shoot two unarmed boaters out in the middle of lake and I knew it. So his threat was bogus. And do you know the Maitland police told me because I said that what he said was not a crime? Police told me I should not have said that to him but instead I have to be in fear for my life to make his threat a crime. I had no idea. Police did say they would go talk to the new owners from out of state. So if you want some of that lake Minnehaha is the place! Otherwise that lake can be lots of fun to fish when the water is clear. It gets murky from algae in hot summers but usually stays pretty clear. And it is canal connected to 5 other great lakes too. The rich homeowners around some of the lakes can be a real pain though. I had one drunk old lady in nightgown come stumbling out of her mansion yelling at me to not touch her lily pads or she was gonna call the police on me! Her lily pads. Uh huh. OK. ------------------ADDED I would like to point out the shallow eel grass flats changes how fish feed. In normal lakes a topwater bite is usually a lower light technique at first light or last light. But not so in the shallow eel grass flats. The only way those bass are going to feed being down in that stuff is by looking up. So in those shallow eel grass flats I can get topwater bites all day long and maybe all night too if I was out there. And I think the reason for this is the shallow water situation and eel grass growing to the surface. Bass only have to travel upwards only 3 or 4 feet at most which I think helps keep that topwater bite going longer in the shallow eel grass. My lure is a quick grab for them. Now if I move into Lake Maitland just South of Minnehaha, in that lake are large eel grass flats but the water is deeper and there can be 8 to 10 feet of open water above the eel grass and the bass do not behave the same there. My technique does not work there. Only real shallow eel grass flats. Can be heck on the trolling motors getting into it.

Hmmm... with that disclaimer I am not sure how to take this. For the record lily pads are where I fish 95% of the time here in Florida. In them and around them. That said, I gotta disagree with his statement bass are line shy. From my own personal experience I completely disagree. I fish a lot of spring fed lakes that are crystal clear. I can see bottom in 12+ feet of water. So I know the fish can see my braid. And I never use a leader either. Straight braid. On many occasions I have tested this theory that bass are line shy in clear water. I have watched as numerous baby bass in the 6 inch to 12 inch range swim right up to my moving braid line and peck at it testing it to see if they can eat it. None of those fish are scared of my braid line. Not a one of them. I have been using straight braid in clear water for decades and never even give it a second thought any more about whether or not fish are scared of my line. They don't show it, so straight braid it is. Maybe my Florida bass are different than bass in other areas I don't know. But chasing my line trying to eat it surely is not a case of them being line shy. This one is a non-issue for me these days, and especially when I fish murky water those fish can't hardly see it if at all.

These numbers refer to the solunar calendar catch percentage likeliness. The cycle goes up and down. So the app rates days on a scale of 0 to 100%. I can see the cycle shape in the app, and it kicks out a number for each day based on where the cycle is. You can see if it is going up or down. So a 14 day is at the bottom of the feeding cycle, and a 96 day is on top of the feeding cycle. It shows you down to the minute when the daily major feeding times are. Its pretty accurate and reliable. I use it religiously and refer to it while fishing. I am doing OK with the free version. There are numerous apps out there for this. Here is some video a guy did reviewing and explaining the app

Gonna be honest with ya here. A broken rod is like a girlfriend who cheated on you. Its never the same again so breakup is inevitable. I'd like to see a poll done on how many members here would want pieced together rods. I surely don't. This is a big deal to me. Rods are one of the most important enjoyment factors to fishing. I won't even use a 2 piece rod. Must be one piece and solid. No exceptions. And most importantly, NOT broken! When the rod is broken, the spirit to use it can be broken too. And that is where I am with this. I have been repairing things my whole life. But a broken rod is one of those items that I will never piece a broken rod back together, but that is just me. The only thing I will do is examine what is left of the rod and if it is fishable then maybe repair what is left of the solid blank. But it depends on how much is broken off too. After 40 plus years in used tackle biz I will not buy broken rods and I will not piece together broken rods. Once broken, most are usually done. A few can be somewhat repaired and used again, but its never the same and I gotta go elsewhere to find what I lost. Just how it goes. Buy a new girlfriend! Ha! (girlfriend = rod) Can we do polls here? I'll check. This would be a good one to see if there are any serious fishermen out there who are willing to use pieced together rods. I worked in a rod and reel repair shop for years and I don't recall any customers coming in paying the shop to do something like this. They have asked. And the shop probably would not agree to do it either because if it went out that door and broke again who gets blamed? The whole reason I loved that rod is because it was whole. Once broken the love is forever gone. Can't fix that. And I can't fix a cheating girlfriend any more than I can make a broken rod whole again. I am one who won't even try because I know it is futile for me, maybe not so for others, but I know once pieced back together I can never love it or enjoy it again. I gotta move on. Hope ya understand where I am coming from with this. I know you are a mechanical engineer so I get it you have the knowledge and skills to do a good job, but its still a broken rod forever. Most of us out here aren't gonna go through this kind of trouble to "fix" them like this. Another issue is many who might try it might not have the necessary skills so they think its fixed and go out and hook into a fish and find out real fast a different point of view.

If that is the case then he can remove 2 parts and put it back together and try it. He won't need the retainer clip 76 and I can't really see that schematic well or enlarge it enough, but the clicker spring 74 can be removed as well. But to keep the height of the drag stack the same keep the clicker plate 75 in there. In looking at schematic more closely #49 shim washer(s) are called "sleeve washer." This is a link directly related to the AR bearing. What we out here don't know and aren't told is that Lews does not make AR bearings at all. They buy them from other companies. And what this is telling me is that Lews is purchasing AR bearings of various sizes and so the sleeves in each AR bearing are of different lengths. So one reel may have an AR bearing from one company while another reel of same model may have an AR bearing from a different company. The sleeves may be different and so Lews added #49 optional based on whichever AR bearing is in any given reel. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Has anyone picked the pork chop yet? Don't look like it!

Well they do it. These are shim washers. All they do is take up space to adjust the drag stack so the drag star is balanced in between two opposing ends of the sweep of the drag star. Factories do adjust each reel sometimes slightly different. This is not the only place in reels that you will find this situation. Sometimes in the pawl you will find 2 shim washers or none while at least one is normal. And at the base of the drive shaft where it mounts into the frame can be shimmed differently too. I do it all the time. How many techs check that one? Pull in and out on the handle and remove that extra play. I hate it on my reels. I shim 'em tight. Concerning the two washers you say are not the same. I agree they are not the same. But if you look at what each is doing it is the same. We would need a micrometer to double check, but my eye says both washers appear to be of the same thickness. Both are 49's and it does not matter what they look like. Just made by different companies or different batch type of thing. Another thing you might find with these reels is if you took 10 or 20 of them apart at same time you might even find some reels have shim washers of different sizes. They are all 49's. Factories purchase them by the tens of thousands and one batch may be different from another or sourced from a different source. They are both steel. They are both about the same size. Color is irrelevant. They are the same thing according to the schematic. Both are #49 and put in there as shims. So far none of us are seeing anything wrong. Nothing obvious. So is there really anything wrong with this reel or is it simply just not as well built as the other one and maybe has some parts just not fitting together well? Tolerances again? Try removing one of those 49's and put it back together and see how it is. He may not be able to crank it down as tight as before with two of those washers. Pull one and try it.

Most of my 51 year old rivets are fine as well. But I've replaced around 10 of them and got another one to replace now- but I stuck some gum on it and all is well! Next boat- no rivets. I am rivet done! Can't complain about the boat one bit though. Loyal and faithful and always ready and delivers too! 51 solid years and still going strong. Thanks AlumaCraft!

You can play around with the positioning of those 4 washers under the click holder. Leave that one where it is, but take one of those 49's and try it on top of the belleville washers. As long as you keep the same stack height, you can move them around some. Just keep those belleville's opposed to each other and never aligned.

Yep. Let's go fishin! I got a lake over here too. Kind of funny 3 Florida guys respond to this thread, and all of us go straight for the beef You just gave yourself away!

I'm on the way! Stop by if ever in Orange Park!