FloridaFishinFool

In my world both of those rods are too heavy for those small lures. I'd go with a medium for that technique. A 7'3" heavy is going to cast like a broomstick. And the 7'6" MH is not far behind to be honest. But out of those the MH may give you a little bend in the cast and load up some for you. The heavy, not so much. For those lures I'd be in the 6'6" to 6'10" medium range with a moderate fast rod with some give in the tip. Those stiff rods could be lip rippers, but the MH is probably your best choice IMO.

Disagree. ***And Mike, not trying to nitpick on you at all. This comment is directed towards the subject of your comment, and not at you singling you out in any way or other members with similar comments. I think this is a great subject for all of us to re-consider. All of Creation seeks balance. Equilibrium. Nature balances itself out. Both species were created to live and exist in the same bodies of water. And they do just fine and have for millions of years. And then here comes us humans to conclude after millions of years of cohabitation and WE decide those fish are not good for each other? Not buying it. Nature knows how to take care of itself and balance it all out naturally. And those fish evolved into living together holding fins and singing kum bah yah! Ha! The biggest habitat destroyers are not the carp. Its us humans. In my waters the primary habitat destroyers are the state of Florida and all their dam chemicals they keep spraying everywhere killing off our fish, and propellers mowing everything up. And septic systems leaking into the water. Compared to that what carp do is nothing. Their natural feeding does not come close to our destruction of bass waters. Lake O where Mike fishes is a perfect example of that. That lake is 6 times too toxic for humans. https://www.gulfcoastnewsnow.com/article/florida-lake-okeechobee-toxic-human-water/65833092 Its not the carp that is the problem. In my unprofessional uneducated opinion, whatever carp does that is considered as habitat destruction may actually be one stage of habitat restoration that they are involved with and we just are not seeing the long term benefits of what carp do, and in the short term thinking we see their immediate uprooting of bottom plants as habitat destruction, but I have to trust Nature on this one. The grand architect of the Universe's natural designs have to balance out. So there has to be more to this than just a one-sided human perspective based on limited qualifications for such conclusions. For all I know in the long term what carp do might actually improve bass habitat. I can't prove it does and I can't prove it doesn't. But I am not going to sit here and try and second guess the natural order and conclude carp bad. Bass good. To me there is no such thing as a junk fish. All are necessary. All work together. All balances out. Remove one species and the chain can begin to unravel. its not for us to decide really. We need to leave and let be. But I can't tell you how many fishermen I have come across over the years who have decided what is best for our waters. And as they catch a gar they decide its a junk fish and let's kill it. There. Nature is now some how improved. Bass now have less predators and so bass can grow bigger and more of them or some other ideas of what we are doing is some how an improvement to nature. Nope. I am of the mind that Nature is best how it is. It is we humans who are messing it all up with ideas that really just are not so. And I believe this is another one of them. I'd like to point out that a case in point would be Native Indians. Europeans came into contact with deadly diseases. And it killed millions of humans until our bodies developed immunities for those diseases. And then Europeans brought those diseases to America and killed off most of the Indians with them who had not previously been exposed to those diseases and had NO natural protections for any of them. So in one sense those germs are bad, horrible, evil monsters out to get us destroying all humanity is how one perspective on it can develop with short term thinking. And in one sense it might seem right. But in the long term thinking, becoming exposed to harmful germs has really only made us stronger and more able to survive. We NEED the destruction to survive! Carp are no different. They are every bit as necessary to Nature as bass are. Getting rid of fish we think are junk fish is just wrong and wrong thinking in my opinion. Nature balances itself out. Let it be. The mystic in me hath spoken! Ha! Back to regular programming..... carp are bad so let's kill them all. (shaking my head in sadness for what I am reading in this thread.) "I remove every single one I ever catch from anywhere at this point." "ABSOLUTELY!! Carp are trash fish on the same level of a Mud down here maybe even a notch below!" Unreal! I cannot believe this is where we fishermen have arrived at. My mind tells me this is so wrong on many levels. Like Ray Scott tried to institute catch and release throughout fishing, this idea of 'kill bad fish' would be an issue I would like to see change.

I have to disagree with this comment. I don't believe there is any such idea as messing up the action. All actions can catch fish. There is no wrong action and no right action. Only action. And the nose being weighted down is not a carved in stone consistent situation because of physics. As this lure sinks deeper into the water, if at first the nose is heavier it might tip nose down near the surface. But as it sinks down deeper the line going back to the surface provides drag resistance to the sinking lure pulling on the nose and so as it sinks deeper the lure will change it dropping position based on the amount of drag friction the line above is providing. I use straight braid and never use any sort of clear lines any longer. No leaders either. Both spinning and baitcast reels are all straight braid these days. And that braided line offers even more friction resistance or drag for the sinking lure. It will pull up on the nose nullifying this idea of improper action of weighing the nose down too much. That swivel is just not that heavy in my opinion. Professional bass fishermen have made too much of a big deal out of lures having to run true that flowed over into hobby fishing leading to some ideas that just aren't so- in my opinion of course from my own experiences and observations over 50 years of fishing. Today I could care less about lures running true or behaving as some engineer programmed it to behave. Just does not matter at all. If it moves, and hungry bass thinks he can eat it he will. Sideways. Upside down. Backwards. Running off to the side. Makes no difference. Lures do not have to run true. No such thing in my world. Does not exist. Another reason for this belief is because the way I operate my lures in the water in no way matches what the real deal living prey does. It might be similar, but never matching the real world. Everything I do with a fake lure is a fake movement trying to mimic a living prey. Out of curiosity, what exactly does a rubber worm mimic that is living on the bottom of lakes that even come close to resembling a rubber worm? And so which movement is true and which movement is not true? I believe sometimes us fishermen put too much emphasis on things that are really irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. And I believe this is one of them. Not trying to nitpick JHoss at all or even aim this comment towards him in any way, I only wish to address his comment and the idea of true running lures only catch fish. A true story about this subject. I went fishing with both of my sons on Lake Virginia in central Florida. One son and I were aggressively going after fish. Casting everywhere trying to get a bite. Not having much luck throwing the kitchen sink at them. My other son decided to take a break. So he leaves his weedless fluke in the water on accident. Just a lure hanging off a rod over the boat railing and into the water just moving around with the boat. Guess who caught a fish? All he had to do was pick up the rod and had the only bass of the day hanging off of it. He caught more fish than us and he wasn't even fishing! Explain that one! True movement? What's that? No such thing. IMHO.

They are fun to catch. I caught a 12 pound carp once on a small swimbait. I had to double check to see if it was in the mouth just to be sure and it was. So I have to conclude that carp hit on a swimbait! Never heard of such a thing. I have heard of a guy catching a 38 pound carp on a rat'l trap. It actually made the news here in Florida and was kind of funny. The man who hooked into it on Lake Howell in central Florida thought he had hooked into a world record bass. So he calls the FWC and has them come out to certify it once landed. News media caught wind of it. Next the news helicopters are circling the lake as the sun goes down and that carp is pulling him all over the lake trying to get away. He did not land it until after dark, and it was a huge let down when everyone found it was a carp and not a world record bass. And I am with ScaleFace and others who say carp don't bother bass at all. One of my favorite lakes is a really shallow dishpan lake with wide expanses of eel grass just below the surface. Casting out across it and invariably spook a lot of big carp in the 20, 30 and even 40 pound range. But the bass are in there too. Carp and bass seem to get along well in the same area and I have never thought for one second that carp run off bass here in Florida. They coexist just fine from what I can observe. And those carp love those shallow eel grass flats. Bass do as well. It makes for some fun explosive bass fishing using a weedless fluke worked through the top of the eel grass as bass hiding down in it see a feeding opportunity swimming by above and come up and slam the flukes. My son wants to target some of those large carp. Maybe we will soon.

Same here. Never use a swivel. Why? My flukes don't spin around twisting the line up. Not an issue. And I agree with little giants last line about Florida largies slamming flukes. I agree so much that I have given up using other common vintage lures and just go with various flukes and don't need an entire tackle store. Our bass are not that picky when actively feeding. They hit just about anything that moves they think they can eat. And flukes get 'em. I prefer to use the VMC DropDead weighted hooks and unweighted hooks. One thing I do to these hooks before using them is put them on the work bench and pull out the epoxy and close that gap on the spring where it snaps into the hook eye. Just one little drop of epoxy right there prevents a ton of trouble on the water trying to untangle line from the spring. I even found a foreign source for copy hooks that work just a good and I bought some in bulk really cheap. I think I bought like 50 hooks for $13. Just not a name brand, but work as well for me. And Big SwimBait, that dangleberry sliding weight would be a quick and easy addition to these hooks. Its real easy to make our own.

Unnecessary. I stopped using them all together here in Florida. In truth I have moved away from all spinners and bladed baits because they simply do not put as many fish in the boat as other methods do, and being an old guy not willing to play around any more, I stick with what works best for me in my choice environments. I don't even use rubber worms any more. I'm not much of a bottom fisherman because much of the water I fish has too much vegetation and muck down there my worms sink down into and no fish is going to bite it in the muck. So I use lures that stay off the bottom and higher up in the water column. So most often in lakes and ponds I prefer a fluke or a rat'l trap type of lure. In rivers I will pull out spinners. A white spinner on St. Johns river works great! But try that same lure in some swampy backwoods mucky place and the fish are laughing at me. All I can do is observe and adjust. And I have adjusted right on away from bladed jigs and spinners. I tried adding a spinner blade to my flukes and it did not help one bit. My problem with bladed lures and spinners is I fish a lot of water with heavy cover and lots of debris in the water so I don't want to spend the day getting unsnagged and always cleaning lures off to keep fishing. I want a lure that can slide through cover and not bring it back to me on ever cast. I even purchased weedless spinners hoping it would increase catch percentage while avoiding all the debris and snags. Did not help one bit. All of them got pushed to the side and back to what works for me. So today I keep it simple. Like last night my 12 year old son and I went bank fishing at a pond a block away and we both carried one rod with one lure hanging off of it. No backup lures. Just one. I was using a wobbler and my son was using a rat'l trap. We were out there about 45 minutes just before sundown and we both caught 2 fish each and were satisfied with that. When it gets hotter I will be using the fluke more in heavy cover. Will not even be thinking about spinners and bladed jigs. If I fished docks more I might use a jig more, but I am not a fan of docks. Too much work, and I don't like getting hung up on them and threatened by dock owners giving me a hard time about it. Florida has a lot of angry hostile dock owners for sure. I recently had one threaten to go get his gun if I came anywhere near his dock. So this type of lure this thread is about may work really well in other parts of the country, but for me in Florida I have walked away from them for the most part. I am a quantity over quality fisherman. Large spinners can produce a solid quality bite no doubt, but to me fewer of them. So I dial it back to catch more fish not concerned about their size. I do NOT target big fish unless during spawn seen on beds, but otherwise I am going for the most bites I can get, not the biggest fish I can get with fewer bites. Quantity over quality. For spinners, when out on St. Johns river, I prefer to use inline spinners like the rooster tail. And I buy the biggest 3 models they make which are not available in most stores. They have to be special ordered. I think these are the 1 ounce, 3/4 ounce, and 1/2 ounce models. Big and heavy. I choose these because with a treble hook on them rather than a single hook I think my hookup ratio is better. And I choose the heavy weights because the wire used to make them is larger and stronger and the extra weight allows me to make casts that are super long range which I need when chasing schoolies on the river. And when out there on that river I am not just targeting LGM bass. I am also catching sunshine stripers and even redfish and bowfin. I need strong lures. And so after decades of using standard V shaped spinners and not having the same success with them I get with other lures I simply stopped using that type all together and gave them all away. I don't even own a V shaped spinner any more. But I won't pull these out in lakes and ponds usually because I get hung up too much. I need open water without all the hang ups. And the St. Johns river gives me that. It is a strictly sandy bottom river. I can drag my inline spinners on the bottom and not get hung up. I can bounce them off the bottom and not get hung up. Not so in lakes and ponds. I have to adjust to the environment, and then go with what works best for me. So to answer the question of this thread it is quite simply unnecessary for me to use, or even have dedicated spinners or bladed jig lures. They don't fit my environment as well as others, and I guess they don't fit how I fish in that environment either. To your last question: ohioguy25 said: "More importantly, what other presentations could I throw on a spinner bait or bladed jig set up? I would really like to combine this with my top water rod," My topwater rod is a really dialed in speciality setup. I would not use it for anything else. My topwater rods are generally dialed in at 7'6" and on St. Johns river where more distance is needed I sometimes pull out an 8' long rod. I would not use it for spinners or jigs. I see you limit your rods to 4 in the boat due to being in a kayak, but for me using a regular boat I still use primarily 2 or 3 rods per trip out. I just don't need an entire tackle store in the boat and every variety, shape, and color. I find it humorous for those who do that. Its a lot of work to bring an entire tackle store fishing for sure. I am fortunate Florida fish just are not that picky and have given me the ability to carry one rod and one lure and be happy! Flukes and rat'l traps top my list for dedicated rods. I catch more fish with these with less work than any other. Its keeps fishing fun. When it becomes work I need to find another hobby.

The title of this thread is "SVS Infinite or Daiwa Mag brakes. Which is better to you?" And that's what I tried to write albeit rather unsuccessfully- and by intentionally leaving out one particular brand name that caused some miscommunication with my comments above about different brands combined to be about just Shimano, rather than as meant to read about more than one brand simply not mentioned to avoid heated exchanges we have seen in the past. In my opinion one particular brand is overly aggressively defended. I find that alone interesting. Moving on... I am not interested in the differences of magnets in reels from 1985 to now in 2026. I am sure things are improved. Does not matter. Magnets are always on and FOR THEM they have not yet reached electromagnets that can be turned off to suit some reel owners preferences. This was not a Shimano reference. In the 1980's I exclusively used Shimano baitcast reels with magnets. And avoided other brands because I did not care for how they built their reels. I landed on Shimano over 45 years ago and still there today. Back in 1985 these magnetic-only reels were my main reels. I had so many of them I was supplying them to the author of the Shimano history book on Banatam reels. Some of my reels are displayed in that book. With this particular Black Magnum reel was at the top back in 1980's because of its fighting star mechanism. I am one of those who really likes this feature, and still use it on spinning reels to this day- and I wish more reels had it. By the early 1990's I had followed Shimano's engineer's switch over from magnetic to centrifugal reels, and these Curado 201B's became my primary go to reels for years. Magnets have been completely removed by this time but Shimano has never publicly stated why. (I wish someone would write a book about this because you know there has to be a great story in there as to why this major shift happened.) I still have one of these old green bean reels as they were called. Shimano made a complete switch off of magnets to 100% centrifugal. And I was very very thankful indeed! Finally someone was making reels I could adapt to very well. Shimano created this version of SVS shown below which I used and discarded. It does not work for me how I wanted it to. I struggled with this SVS braking system, and won't use it any more because it simply was not effective enough for me and when I have to use more and more brakes something is wrong. This one was mushy for lack of a better word. Unresponsive in my opinion. So Shimano engineers improved upon it. Today I use exclusively this red type of improved SVS brakes shown below. And I use only 1 brake turned on, 3 off and barely use any of the 1 brake turned on with the dial setting around 3 or 4 and I am good to go. Almost a free spooling setup. Can't do that with magnets of any brand. A recent article about the above brakes has this title: "Bomb Casts With No Backlash: Shimano Curado 150M Casting Reel Review" So my point is, I prefer reels that can deliver 100% free spooling with ZERO braking to start off with. (Always on magnetic reels of any brand are never there!) And I use so little of the SVS brakes now my reels are darn near close to free spooling now and it works great for me. I cannot do this with ANY magnetic reels. Simply not possible and I have yet to find one that even comes close. As stated when those other brands can give me a 100% free spool and brakes that can be turned off 100% then maybe I will take a look. Until then I am stuck right here until Shimano improves even this one. Kind of funny when other people grab one of my combos and try to cast it they invariably backlash it not realizing there is so little braking used they have to be all thumb. I need just a touch of braking at the top of my cast and that's it. Do not want any braking in operation past the top of the cast. As it is slowing down it should be all free spooling & thumb only. Magnets are always on. Always affecting the cast. This bothered me to the point of walking away from all magnets forever in casting reels. I still have magnets in my flipping and pitching reels, but I could remove both of the brakes in those reels and not miss them. This thread is about our preferences and why. For my part I have tried to avoid condemning any particular brand in this thread, and tried to stayed focused on the brakes as the title of this thread requested. I will not use always on magnets. Not going back. Shimano DC reels I have used and like and I want one, but not enough to buy one. Why? I don't have problems casting with SVS. DC reels are made for people who don't have a well trained thumb in my opinion, and who have great difficulty in casting a baitcast reel so they opt for one that does it for them. They are trying to create reels that will cast fine with no thumbing required. All of them are improving no doubt, but going in different directions and we humans simply flow into that scenario with what our human condition adapts to, or adjusts to better, or more quickly, and we tend to stick with it. I certainly have. Preferences for one or the other are simply learned repetitive muscle training. Some people can go back and forth with no problems. If I were given one of those aggressively defended reels, the only way I would use it would be to remove the magnets to achieve a reel closer to what I prefer. It must start with a 100% free spool situation so I can adjust up from there. I can't make it any clearer. Make a reel with magnets that can be turned off -100% off- and I would try it. Until such a time, Its Shimano all the way. 45 years of Shimano and very happy with SVS today. There is nothing else out there for me right now.

Usually a paddle tail fluke and rat'l trap.

SVS every day of the week- and then some. I started on baitcast reels with magnets. You can never turn them off. Always on. I was very glad to finally be able to move away from them in early 1990's as Shimano switched over. Best thing they could have ever done for me anyways. With SVS I can get a true free spinning spool. Can't do that with magnets. Another awesome benefit of centrifugal brakes is that they are not operating at full braking ability during entire cast. They are only on proportionately applied to the spool based on rotation speed. So the SVS brakes really only work effectively when needed at the top of the cast, and as the spool slows down so to does the braking effect. It just magically goes away when not needed. It really couldn't be any more perfectly designed. Unless they added a computer to do the adjusting. Which Shimano did with their DC reels. I have yet to use one of those. No need to. My SVS works well. So well I don't need the extra help. So some of those other companies who still use magnets had to "engineer" ways to separate the spool from the magnets with their own various designs reacting to spool rotation speed. So they get to call theirs "centrifugal" as well when its really not. The magnets are always on and very close to the spool. Those centrifugal devices in magnet reels really are more smoke and mirrors than really changing the magnets effect on the spools. They do not move the magnets much more than a 1/16th of an inch and if lucky might even reach 1/8 of an inch. How much magnetic flux density is removed from a spool with this little of distance change? It can't be much. So its not like one can turn off the magnets and create a free spinning spool. Just not possible. One day maybe reels will have electro magnets that can be turned on and off as needed, but we are not there yet. I've tried them all and keep coming back to SVS. The only reel I use that has magnets is an old Rick Clunn signature series Bass Pro reel I used for flipping and pitching and fortunately it comes with both brakes, both magnetic and separate centrifugal brakes as well, but I don't need either on that reel. I think it boils down to which type of braking a person can adjust best to, or prefer more. For me it is SVS while for others they may have adjusted better to the magnets. Once I left the magnets behind in early 1990's I never looked back. For my own personal reels, today I won't waste a penny on reels without SVS.

For a retired old guy the rods and reels just keep on coming. I try and avoid new projects and guess what? Here comes another one. So I just placed a quick bearing order and wondered what bearings some of you have to order on a regular basis? This particular bearing batch is coming from primarily Shimano spinning reels in the 4000 to 6000 size range. Minimum 10 bearings per size. Ordering 1 at a time won't cut it. Bulk is cheaper. 5x8x2mm 7x11x3 7x13x4 7x14x5 8x14x4 The 5x8x2 are so cheap its best to order 20 or 30 of them at a time. These are found in some spinning reel line guide rollers. Its the same in the 4000 and 6000 size shimano spinning reels I am working on right now. I have considered going full ceramic here but never have as yet. I'd only do it in some of my own reels if rusting roller bearings were a problem. Some of the reels I just finished up using old used bearings as needed- a shimano stradic 4000FH, 6000FH, 4000FI. Wound up having to tear down and clean up some AR bearings: And I stopped by the old rod and reel shop in central Florida and heard they may close their doors for good soon as business is declining. Not as many rods and reels brought in and trolling motor side is not doing well either. And custom rods have gone since that large custom rod shop opened up years ago. A slow decline. I have always wished the shop would have been located inside a place they owned rather than leased. I am sure the lease is one of the largest expenses that could have been mitigated long ago. (I am not fond of paying rent so I would have looked for a location to own not lease, just me) Be a shame to lose this repair shop. Been around for 40 years. Going to miss walking in and actually finding the parts I need. This is one of the 8 reel repair benches. This one is open and not claimed by any of the techs at time of this photo. So anyone could use this bench without getting yelled at. (kidding) This side of the shop is just for reels only. Rods and trolling motors on other side. Half of the reel workbenches. The owner's is now the last chair at the other end- looking towards front counter here. And the job no one wants...... And the parts ordering desk. Rods, reels, trolling motors. You name it. If the shops has to order it, it usually happens here. And the other 4 reel benches are down this side. Cool thing about repairing reels this way is look where parts are. Quite often a tech did not even have to get up to get a part. The techs sit in chairs that roll well and often can roll to the part and back to bench without getting up. Mostly spinning reel parts on right- all the RD numbers- and baitcast parts on left side all the BNT numbers. Going to be a shame to lose another repair shop. But there just is no money in reel repairs. Not enough to keep all the bills paid apparently.

Not sure how we are being misled. Not seeing it that way. "ABEC stands for the Annular Bearing Engineering Committee. An ABEC rating measures the manufacturing precision and dimensional tolerance of ball and roller bearings. The scale ranges in odd numbers: 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. Higher Ratings = Higher Precision: The higher the number, the tighter the manufacturing tolerances, meaning the bearing is crafted to stricter, more exact measurements. And that is how I see it as well. The higher the rating the smoother the bearing should be, and higher quality as well. The next consideration is ceramic versus steel with ceramic 40% to 50% lighter than steel meaning less weight to start up spool rotation and lighter lures might cast a little better. And you are right about not having objective data on bearing differences in reels. There is a forum dedicated to tackle and they don't even do it. So basically it is up to each of us to do our own side by side comparisons, and then endlessly & vigorously debate the results. 😉 That said, I am sold on full ceramic bearings. All of my baitcast reels have them. In some I even replaced the pinion support bearing with full ceramic because it sits right next to the spool and is the first bearing to get wet and begin to rust. Replacing it with full ceramic is just to prevent rust and less maintenance over longer period of time. That bearing has nothing to do with casting ability since spool shaft does not touch inside of the pinion gear any longer. So only spool bearings go full ceramic and no oil. I run them dry and don't mind the noise they make. I use it to judge my casts. Hearing it gives me ability to close eyes during a cast. I also think ceramic bearings kind of put my sense of feel into better contact with the reel than steel did buried in grease. Ceramics are more responsive and increased feel I think. That said, to me a bearing upgrade is going from full steel to full ceramic. No in between bearings like the hybrids. That's not really an upgrade. The full steel have two steel races and steel balls and usually a steel or plastic retainer to keep balls positioned between the races. A hybrid still has 2 steel races, but now with ceramic balls. Those steel races still need oil to keep them from rusting. Ceramic does not need any oil. It does not rust, is its own lubrication due in part to hardness and low surface friction. Going full ceramic is now 2 ceramic races, ceramic balls, and usually a plastic retainer. No oil needed. Nothing to rust. Some might use oil on full ceramics just to quieten them down some. To me that also slows them down. I simply keep mine clean and run them dry and never look back. Maybe I should change the name of my boat to screaming demon reels! So with bearing, go all the way or stay at home with what ya have. Steel work fine. Just maintain them. Upgrade advantages are not all that. For me its not about casting distance. Its more about being able to use lighter lures than I normally could have with steel bearings. They just make things a little more versatile rather than explosive casting gains like I read 30 feet somewhere. I even consider the sound a gain where others do not. If one were to purchase ceramic bearings and then packed them with grease would nullify any real gains. In cases like this, I'd say full steel bearings soaked in solvent to remove thick grease and now only oiled would outperform full ceramic bearings packed with grease. Upgrading is one thing. Getting the most out of them is another. Which is in part why I went full ceramic for full benefits and run dry also for full benefit. I maximized for reels that sing. One thing I would do is homework on bearing upgrade prices. I prefer wholesale from source is cheapest. But there are companies here in USA and Florida that are little more than middle men raising prices through the roof. Not going to mention any names, but I'd go around them. Skip the middle man. Buy direct and save is all I can say. And the higher the ABEC the better! I don't think this rating is meant to mislead us. I think maybe more in terms of it not being understood the way engineering ratings and terminology are meant to be used. I view it in terms of roundness quality. The higher the number, the more accurate the balls will be closer to most perfectly round translating into a smoother ball bearing. Has nothing to do with load bearing capabilities. Just a measurement of roundness accuracy is all it is. And this rating also relates to a speed rating meaning the more perfectly round a bearing is, the higher the speed it can travel. "ABEC 9: Represents the tightest manufacturing tolerances for precision, high-speed applications." But with little old no load- no speed fishing reels we can get away with using plastic nylon bearings with an ABEC rating of 1 and you might be surprised how many never notice. Tweaking bearings is kind of a specialty. Hopefully for a gain one can use. Its more than just upgrading to a different bearing. It is also in using them differently to maximize gains or benefits.

Agree he needs to know what he's getting into, but he could glue on a split piece foregrip without removing reel seat. A tool I use for grips and reel seat removals are a large 8" pair of hefty sharp flush cutters. I can remove almost anything right to the blank without causing any damage to the blank. Knives can run wild and I'm not a fan of using power tools that can also run wild. Some good sharp flush cutters can clean back to the blank quickly. https://www.ebay.com/itm/177542417706 I recently acquired a dozen Loomis custom rods from an estate sale all of them with heavy solid custom wood grips. I'm keeping a couple that are not too heavy, but all the heavy grips have been removed for back to cork again grips. Those flush cutters make fast work removing old grips and reel seats too. Controlled work so no blank damage. No slips. No ooops.

That technique goes back centuries to the 14th century. Southerners used it to put food on the table. It worked very well here in Florida. Jigger pole fishing runs deep in Florida... The following Pepsi Tribute film was filmed in August and September of 1977. Seen here are Ronnie Van Zant and Gary Rossington fishing in Doctor's Lake, Orange Park, Florida just off shore from Ronnie's then house. In the opening few seconds of this video from 09 seconds to 23 seconds in, Ronnie Van Zant for some unknown reason is seen jigger pole fishing. Its as though he were using jigger pole fishing to send a message. A message that the roots of the music came from Nature itself. Man in Nature surviving from the land and water. Ronnie showing his family's roots in Florida by way of a rare fishing technique used for food, not sport fishing. This was a food technique before sport fishing. In a way, Ronnie was connecting his music back to old Florida through jigger pole fishing. On October 20, 1977 just weeks after this film, he would die in a plane crash. This is the last known video of him fishing and he chose to include jigger pole fishing. We will never know why for sure. "It was largely outlawed in bass tournaments due to its high effectiveness, which many anglers felt gave jiggerpolers an unfair advantage over conventional casting methods." Hmmmm... so Southerners had an advantage that was taken away from them in tournament rules. Maybe we need some jigger pole tournaments! And to the OP, a gator on the end of an 18 foot pole way out there is better than a gator following a bass back to my hand!

I think this is the key. Timing of hookset. I would not necessarily put most of the blame on the rods. Maybe. Stretchy line could also be a factor. Distance to hook another one. But I think setting the hook at just the right time is key to increasing catch percentage. But I agree with SG, letting them go too long is also a mistake. Setting too soon. A mistake. Setting too late. A mistake. So the key I truly believe is all in the timing of when to set the hook. I don't let them run, but when I feel the tug I let them take slack out of the line and pull it tight and as soon as its tightening up I hit them. I'd say my percentage of catch versus miss is greater than 70% this way. Like SG said you can up that by waiting longer but risk killing fish. I'd say something akin to maybe a 3 count and then set the hook. Feel the bite. Let them tug it tight As it is tightening up hit them with the hookset. I have not gut hooked a bass in more years than I count so that's a plus.

Now that was awesome! Thanks for posting that one! I am an instant fan! I'd give that one a 7.5 or an 8. Really enjoyed that one! I miss good quality original blues/country oriented Southern rock music! About all we have today is Blackberry Smoke and a new band called Texas HeadHunters with three well known guitarists in the band, and of course the Kentucky HeadHunters too! Other than these bands, Southern culture music has been dwindling away over the years. Glad to see & hear the roots still alive and kickin'! Here is a video by the Texas HeadHunters. I have been a fan of one of the guitarists in this band since 1993, a guitarist out of Austin, Texas named Ian Moore. I met him back in '93 when he first blasted out of Austin and came to Florida to do some concerts. I got the opportunity to work some shows with Ian Moore. Good memories. And here is the song that made me an instant Ian Moore fan back in 1993. This kid came out swinging! Had a major radio hit on his first album making its rounds on national radio stations. Tossing in a bonus track here... and then going to subscribe to dark Appalachian channel.

When I worked for the rod and reel repair shop we always donated to just about every kid fishing club in Florida. We always collected up a pile of old rods and reels just for the kids. Lures, line, the works. But in my house I have a 12 year old son who is really into fishing right now. And the lure situation is kind of funny to watch. Look, I plundered my dad's stuff and now its my turn to be plundered! We have a half dozen tackle boxes with lures doing the tackle box shuffle all the time. Just last night my son was plundering my dad's old tackle box. He's been gone since 2009 so he won't mind half of his lures sliding over into my son's tackle box this morning. And then he hit up his brother's tackle box. He don't care to fish so he does not even need a tackle box right now so its getting emptied out. And my son keeps digging around in my tackle box as well. Lately he has been plundering my rat'l traps taking the best of them. And you know, I don't say a word about it. I just smile. Go for it kid! All my fishing stuff is going to be yours one day anyways! And if I ever need anything I know right where it is, in his tackle box. No problem. And it seems like every time I take him to a bait and tackle store I am always buying him new lures and other fishing items. Every time. Right now he thinks popping bobbers with shrimp for snook and reds is the hot way to go now. 12 years old and quickly catching up to all my PB's. His snook PB is now 31 inches and closing in fast. Oh, and at 12 he is already searching for his first boat. He wants me to drive him across Florida to go look at an old Boston Whaler boat and trailer. Changing gears to another lure story... Last year a buddy of mine showed up to a boat ramp and found a small boy there fishing. As we put the boat in we paid attention to him and what he was doing. And it was not very good at all. So while I am driving trailer to park it, my fishing buddy starts bank fishing with the kid. He hooks into a 3.5 pound bass and reels it in as I walk down to the ramp. That kid's eyes were as wide as saucers. And he said there are fish that big in this lake? We said bigger. Much bigger. Some carp reach upwards of 40 pounds. The kid had a small bream sized hook and some old rubber worm he had found laying on the ground there suspended underneath a small bobber with only about a foot of line between hook and bobber. We knew he was not going to catch anything like that. So both of us put off our fishing trip so we could work with this fatherless kid wanting to fish. We both opened up our tackle boxes to show him what we use and why and how, and we both gave the kid a handful of lures to try and suggested he learn bass fishing from youtube videos. We did all we could to uplift that boy and improve his fishing experience. He was thrilled to receive them and learn how its done and we went about our way never to see him again. But hopefully we made a small positive impact on him and his fishing to come. Who knew humans can bond over a piles of lures? They collect dust in one man's box, and open up the world to a small boy's ambition and desires. If that boy's mother or parent(s) had been present at the boat ramp on that day with their child, we would have offered to take him fishing in the boat which I think really would have opened up his fishing world a lot more than we did on that day.

I don't think I could ever be all one way or the other. Wait, that did not sound right. I vote wing it. Rig on the water. If you rig ahead of time then maybe you have too much time on your hands, and not enough time on the water! Some bass fishermen are drill sgt. efficient and organized and ready to fish as soon as they hit the water. And then there are us junk fishermen who call getting ready is having some combos thrown together- usually 2 or 3 and no more. 4 would be unusual. Rushing to get the boat in the water. And then once on the water all the burdens melt away and I can relax and take a few minutes for some serious bass fishing information crunching from the apps which results in oh well & leaning over and grabbing an old lure off the bottom of the boat from the last fishing outing and start swinging away. Here in Florida we can get away with it! 😉 No, honestly, it goes both ways. Sometimes I am well prepared in advance and hit the water running all rigged up and ready to go and other times its grab what you can and wing it by the seat of your pants. I've showed up with rods, reels, and boat on lake and then realized I left the tackle box at home. Talk about winging it and scrounging around in the bottom of the boat. Junk fishing at its finest! Florida style figuring on a good day they will hit about anything that moves. (I am hoping) Even old tore up lures from the last time. I think this way is maybe more fun than all those electronics screens getting in the way. Being retired does not mean improved organization. I think if anything it makes me lazier and more of a junk fisherman for the increased fun of it.

Just 1 Curado as well.

Same here. I've been using VMC for years and never had one bend on me. I've never had to straighten one, replace one because it was bent, nor have I had to sharpen any of the VMC hooks. I really like VMC Drop Dead weighted hooks. No doubts about them at all.

Drilling could cause more harm than good. And there is no guarantee that there is space for epoxy to flow around under reel seat. Based on photos alone, it appears maybe the only solution without tearing up the rod too bad is to free up the winding check at the thread end of the reel seat and see if you can get the reel seat to slide up the blank from it's glued down position. Clean up what you can and re-glue it and slide it back into place and reglue the winding check. I'm stripping a rod right now that shows the reel was glued on horizontally as glue is only on one side of the blank, the lower bottom side where gravity pulled the epoxy to rest as it cured. Absolutely zero glue on top half of blank. To avoid this situation I stand rods vertically and fill the reel seat's cavity or void like filling a glass of water. I backfill both ends of the reel seats for solid connections to the blank. A lot of manufacturers don't fill those voids and often rods have reel seats that can move around side to side while using and you can feel this loose movement between reel seat and foregrip or rear grip as well. Back filling a reel seat in a vertical position can solve this problem. It may be a possibility for this rod as well, but once reel seat is back in place the rear grip might block backfilling of the rear of reel seat, but you might be able to fill in the front side some. Another trick for this type of repair is to heat or warm up your epoxy so its thinner and more runny so it can more easily flow into tight places. The issue I have with you trying to drill this reel seat is the shape of the drill bit tips. For a job like this you need flat tipped drill bits that can drill only through the reel seat but not touch the blank. With the standard pointed drill bits once your drill bit clears the reel seat, the point of the drill bit could already be into the blank. This must be avoided at all costs or could permanently damage the rod blank. And if all that is in the way of moving this reel seat is a winding check and maybe a hook keeper, I would be considering removing the hook keep temporarily and free up the winding check and simply slide reel seat forward to access blank under it for regluing and slide everything back into place, front fill reel seat if possible, glue in winding check at same time, and restore hook keeper and keep on fishing. No blank damage this way. Just an idea based on photos only.

I'd be willing to give it a try. I'd like to see the insides and see how well they are built. Abu released two versions. One has an all metal frame, and the other is carbon composite. Revo SX VoltiQ: Features a X2-Cräftic™ alloy frame. This is a metal frame designed for high corrosion resistance and rigidity. Revo X VoltiQ: Features a C6 Carbon frame. This is a carbon-composite frame designed for reduced weight while maintaining strength. Both models utilize C6 carbon sideplates.

Thanks for all the information and responses. I did not update this thread as I should have. With this motor I got really lucky. I opened up the fuel pump. It has one screw to get inside. Once inside I found it as clean as new. I expected old fuel and some gumming up, but none was to be seen. So I took a chance and fired it up. And surprisingly she fired right up. I was not able to run it long because it needs a new impeller, but it appears the motor runs fine. I will try and get back to finishing it up soon. It needs a new starting wire as this one is now too short, and lower gear oil needs replacing along with impeller. I may get lucky and not even have to rebuild the carburetor. Keeping fingers crossed.

Yep. Well kind of sort of... https://www.bassmaster.com/elite/news/b-a-s-s-statement-regarding-elite-series-angler-david-mullins/ B.A.S.S. statement regarding Elite Series angler David MullinsPosted onApril 13, 2026 Written by B.A.S.S. B.A.S.S. officials confirm that Elite Series angler David Mullins underwent a standard credibility assessment administered via polygraph following the recent Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway event. He was randomly selected for one of the five screening exams performed at each Elite event, which is determined by finishing place ahead of the competition to eliminate the perception of any bias. During his initial examination he was unable to pass. In accordance with B.A.S.S. rules and established protocols, Mullins exercised his right to appeal, which was granted. As part of that process, he completed a subsequent examination, with an independent Bassmaster-approved examiner, which he passed. This outcome affirms the effectiveness and integrity of the B.A.S.S. credibility assessment process, which is designed to ensure fairness while providing anglers with a clear path for appeal. All polygraph examinations are performed in accordance with the Bassmaster Credibility Assessment Policy, are subject to a Quality Control review by an independent examiner and can be appealed. B.A.S.S. does not comment on the outcome of polygraph examinations until all results are reviewed and final. Anglers that choose to go public with preliminary results are bringing the spotlight on themselves. Failure to pass an initial exam does not necessarily mean there is foul play. This is the reason why B.A.S.S. designed a process that has independent checks built in throughout as well as the ability to appeal. As a matter of policy, B.A.S.S. only makes public statements when a disqualification occurs after the credibility assessment process is complete and final. B.A.S.S. remains committed to upholding the highest standards of competitive integrity across all events."

Great song Mike! And Little Feat is one of those bands who can still play and record great rock music as they age. They are still producing great sounding studio albums in their 70's. I have their newest albums on my playlists now. Great band! I've been following a young band out of Jacksonville, Florida called Fortune Child. Just three friends who put their own band together and do things their way. They make it a point to not try and follow in past music styles that are historic to Jacksonville area like Southern rock genre. This band says they want to be different while at the same time still being true to their roots in blues and classic rock music while not getting pigeonholed as another Skynyrd knock off. One of the interesting things each band member does is study and research past music history and band music history, so not just the music, but the band's histories as well, and their influences behind the creation of classic rock music we all know and love. The point is, these young guys are in their early to mid 20's and very serious about producing rock music today influenced and literally sourced in the 1970's classic rock style. Who says rock music is dead? And right now this band is writing new songs at a furious pace and recording many of them live in the studio as is the case with this latest song I hope some of you might enjoy hearing- and knowing that these young guys are trying to keep classic rock alive. Two of these band members are fishermen and one of them is a serious bass fisherman. I wonder if that makes the music even better?

In my younger years I began using light tackle and moved to heavier, and now in my 60's I am moving back towards the middle and lighter tackle again. Rather than using heavy rods and 50 pound braid line making it an unfair fight between the fish and I, I prefer a more balanced fishing experience as being more fun. Old Ray Scott also spent his life and career promoting and even selling light and ultralight tackle as the way to go... https://www.bassmaster.com/news/recollections-of-ray-scotts-presidents-lake/ "...Not coincidentally, Scott had developed a line of ultralight rods meant for fishing spider web-thin mono. Called Ray Scott Tackle rods, they were actually good light-action sticks. I use mine to this day. He likened the light-line challenge to bowhunting for deer, and he proved it could be done by landing an 8-pounder from his lake on the gear." https://www.rayscott.net/news/cr/rodandreel.html Bassers Catch More Fish On New Sportackle™ System For Light-LineInnovative Rod and Reel Designs Improve Casting Performance and Sensitivity to Feel More Strikes... PINTLALA, Alabama-If as a bass fisherman, you're spending too much time between bites, Ray Scott, the founder of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.), has an answer to the problem. "You'll get more bites on light-line," swears Scott, who says, "increased fishing pressure has made black bass more hook shy of artificial lures fished on heavy lines." Ironically, Scott, who built the popularity of bass fishing with his B.A.S.S. organization and its over 600,000 dedicated bass anglers membership, sees too many fishermen chasing too fewer fish as the reason. And, using "well-rope size line" the culprit. Scott believes, "Downsize your line. The smaller the better and more difficult for bass to see, and light-line makes lures action more natural." Scott is behind a campaign to "put the sport back into sportfishing." He thinks such a move will recharge interest in bass fishing, and, perhaps, reverse the decline in fishing overall." Ray Scott was a man ahead of his time. He thought it was important decades ago, and this thread shows its alive and well to this day!