jimmyjoe

I meant body. As far as I know, all gearing is metal. Body construction: Fuego Lt: plastic Shimano NASCI: plastic Shimano Stradic Ci4 and Ci4+: plastic Daiwa Tatula LT: plastic Sedona and Sahara: I don't know for sure, but I doubt they are metal. The cheapest reel that is aluminum and that I like (I'm finicky) is the BG series from Daiwa. That being said, remember what I wrote: " ...IF YOU WANT TO TIGHTEN DOWN THE DRAG..." If you don't do that, then you won't have to worry about it at all. So any of those reels would be fine. jj

What do you mean by "strength"? The techniques you mentioned don't need strength as such, so did you mean something else, like "longevity"? Or do you mean "cranking power", as in torque? Any half-way decent spinning reel is going to have all the strength you need for those uses. The only thing I would watch is that IF you use braid and want to tighten down the drag (something I don't advise) then you really should look for a reel that is metal, and not graphite-reinforced plastic. And as always, keep any reel well lubricated, especially the line roller. Makes a world of difference. jj

Fair 'nuf. I know how that is. The Monkey had me up until Christmas, then I see he left me and went to you. Good luck! jj

That's what I'm wondering, too! You've got one heck of a good setup there, and I'll tell you why. When you fish small waters, you hook fish at short distances. Not only that, but most of the time they can get their tails in the sand or rocks and fight you like there's no tomorrow. You NEED a rod with some "give" to it, because there's no need in hooking a dozen fish if they all get off before you can actually acquire them. That Eyecon has some "give". The other rods advised here generally don't. And to go down that road a little further, do you think you could switch to mono? As in all things though, it's up to you. It's whatever you like. jj

How did you punctuate that? Was it: "You can have fun, with your rod just sitting there" or "You can have fun with your rod, just sitting there." ? Slight difference. jj

Anyone with questions about rimfires should go to rimfirecentral, and read up for a few hours .... or months. Lotsa good info there, no matter what makes you happy. jj

Strike King Rage Tail Anaconda ...... 10" in red shad. No I don't, but yes I did. ? jj

You have my heartfelt sympathy, Tom. jj

Join the club, 'cause you sure as heck ain't the only one! ? jj

To me, "Neutral" and "inactive" are different. I think bass can sleep during the daytime. But this video makes it weird. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55YwDntyKu0 Fish start at about 2:50. Also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_in_fish This talks about fish being "unresponsive" and having an "arousal threshold". Are bass any different????? jj

The only one I ever thought much of was the little blue hand vise sold by Jun Sonoda at Japantackle. Don't get me wrong; it's not perfect. It's just the best I found. If I use one of those pliers-types, I'm guaranteed to mess that pin up. I've taken to sending reels in to the factory lately, just because I'm lazy and want to avoid frustration. Some people fabricate their own tools. Maybe you have that talent. I don't. jj

If I want to catch big bass, I switch to my set of pike lures. Now I know why it works. I always thought pike and bass were worlds apart. They aren't. jj

Catt is saying that you can get an inactive bass to bite by putting the lure so close to him that he strikes out of reflex. Tom is saying that it's too much trouble; come back 6-8 hours later and the bite will be better. I'm a shorecaster. I have no sonar, and I don't want any sonar. I fish green, muddy Midwest water. I agree with Tom. If I had a boat and used sonar, I'd agree with Catt. My whole world is the margins. 90% of the time, I don't fish over 12 feet deep, if that even. So my problem becomes simple: if inactive bass are within casting distance of shore, are they suspended or are they tight to cover? In my experience, they're tight on cover. I won't lose lure after lure trying to get them to strike; I'll move and come back later. And yes .... last year I thought soft plastic was the answer. It probably is, but I won't use it anymore. jj

Chisel that in stone and plate it in gold. Shout it from the highest mountaintop. It's that true. jj

There's a small lake I fish that has good bass. During the heat of summer, I like to get there about dawn, and then leave when it gets real hot. One morning a few years ago, I was catching nothing. Zero. Zip. About 9:30, here come the DNR truck with their boat. Now I know these guys. They're good guys. I got a thermos of coffee, and I walk on over to yak a bit. I told them the fishing was lousy, and they needed to do something. Just kidding them. To my great surprise, they said, "Yeah. We know. We're gonna shock a few places this morning to see what the population is like, because it looks like there's a population of shad that's way too high." Oh. Okay. I didn't know that. Could I watch? I mean, years ago I saw people phoning up fish, but heck .... this was gonna be LEGAL! You guessed it; they shocked up bass right where I had been fishing. Bass, and shad. Lots of shad. That lake has been scheduled for partial drain-down and selective kill-off. I think they might have done it this last year. There's always a reason. You may not always know what it is, but there's always a reason. jj

I've seen days when the bass weren't hitting a certain type lure. I've seen days when the bass weren't hitting .... period. But I never saw days when the bass weren't there. Don't you worry; they're there. jj

Maybe. Rods are like women: No matter what someone else says, you don't know what one is like until you handle it yourself. The old fashioned ones bend under pressure but they tend to not break. The more modern ones bend under pressure up to a certain point, then suddenly they explode in pieces right your face. Some are more forgiving than others. Usually you get the best results from ones that are a leeeeeetle bit on the heavy side, but kinda soft. Have a nice day. ? jj

Sheesh ..... you kids. jj

When I was using the Ambassadeur 5000, I found it difficult to throw the Rapala Finnish Minnow, or what we now call the Rapala Original. And of course, being young and stubborn, I hesitated to use spinning gear. But when I discovered the Countdown, I was in 7th heaven. This one I could cast! And at first, all I did was chuck-n-wind. But one day, I took a lunch that included sandwiches with strawberry jam. I got some on the line accidentally. So here I am, winding back, and then pausing to clean the jam off the line, then winding back, then pausing to clean the jam off the line, and ..... WHAM! One of my buddies, much more knowledgeable about fishing techniques than I was, was standing about 25 feet away and laughing his butt off at me. Then he explained what fishing a jerkbait was. I have never been without a Rapala countdown since then. Floaters? Yeah, maybe. Countdown? Nope. If you look at the picture I posted above, you'll see a few other jerkbaits in there, some of them newer and "improved". But there's nothing that is as versatile, reliable and consistent as the Countdown. Like the guy on the TV says, "Don't leave home without it." jj

....the lure or the hand? jj

I swear, you guys make me feel normal. That's something that the doctors and nurses here haven't been able to do for years. jj

Hallelujah! The reassuring voice of sanity in a crazy, crazy world. Thank you; I feel better now. (Still gotta buy new spoons.) jj

Let's put it this way: Up until last year, I fished rivers. I never saw a soft plastic. Might have been some people using them, but either I didn't see them or I didn't pay any attention. Last year was The Flood, so I started fishing lakes pretty seriously. Bought myself a bunch of soft plastics. Got in with a bunch of guys who took me on their boats (I don't own a boat). No spinnerbaits. No cranks. No spoons. Very few frogs. When we met another boat, first question was, "What color they hittin'?" Second question was, "Texas or weightless?" I was flabbergasted. So yeah, I think it might be true. jj

Well ..... okay. You can keep all of them I guess. ? And here I thought I was gonna entice you into the wonderful world of snag-on-the-left and snag-on-the-right. Also called, "snaggin' and losin' and cryin' and boozin'" ? Remember what I wrote in the entry on "What lures did you lose the most in 2019?" . I said "spoons". Ain't no lie. jj

Plastics? Now, if you threw some of those plastics away you'd have room for these nice shiny, sparkly thingees. ☺️ jj Yup. It's winter, and I'm froze in, he's froze in, and I'm teasin' him if I possibly can. ? jj