The Bassman

You ever notice how much better they cast at home with a practice plug than they do in the real world?

We finally got above freezing after two weeks of near and below zero. I'm off today so doing some driveway fishing. No hits yet but getting a few looks.

Such tactics may work on a glossy reel, but I wouldn't do it on yours.

And one day we will have magic reels with no ball bearings that you have to be careful not to spool out when you cast.

Love to fish a lipless. They cast great, have little resistance, and there's nothing like that hard thump when they get bit. Also, I get a lot of strikes at my feet from followers. A real wake me up!

I have a nice 5 wt. outfit that I would love to use for smallmouth in creeks. I've always had trouble controlling my back cast and never mastered a roll cast. Not too many bass in the trees.

I love mine, too. They're a little heavier and sit higher, but I find myself reaching for them all the time. One has a Chronarch 50 MG spool with a Chronarch 200E handle. It holds its own against any of my newer stuff. The other is actually a JDM Scorpion 1000. It comes stock with the MG spool. I added a 90 mm carbon handle to it. The short stock handles that came with these reels are the one thing I didn't like at all.

Probably 6-8 lbs. I own two. Saw the same post on TT. Don't be too concerned about specifics. Too much emphasis is placed on drag strength. I replaced the old drag washers with carbontex and they're more than adequate.

Daiwa's Tatula 2000 looks awful good and it's under 6 oz. I'm a Shimano guy but all of their 2000 choices are JDM.

No. It's bigger. I never cared for the smaller knobs. I even switched out the knobs on my Ald. for PG II grips. Looks a little big but feels great.

In defense of this member he's new and I think it would better represent these forums to not welcome him by laughing him off the stage. I can remember some of my logic being pretty laughable in the earlier stages of my learning curve.

Why? You'll need them at some point. Spool bearings need cleaning and oiling periodically and your brake race needs cleaned and oiled occasionally. When I started baitcasting I thought I was an expert. I realized over time that I was fishing a gummed up reel and getting half my potential distance, A good cleaning and lube humbled me real fast. Wind, lure choice, and reel maintenance will dictate your braking needs. Thumb, spool tension, and brakes (cent. or mag) are engineered to work together. If you're leaving one out you're just compensating with the others. Sometimes you need two on and sometimes you need more.

This afternoon was almost a carbon copy of yesterday. Caught eight with again one just shy of three lbs. Picked up a cheap digital scale on E-Bay a while back to keep me honest. Most came on a blade with the bigger one and an eater crappie on a TRD. Everybody have a safe and merry Christmas.

Much appreciated @Team9nine. You've really upped my game since being on this site the past year. Have a good Christmas

Blades or jigs? I did pretty good on blades yesterday. At this time of year I wonder how much lure choice matters as long as presentation puts the bait in the strike zone long enough.

Got the opportunity I had hoped for this afternoon. Caught six with one almost 3 lb. slow hopping a blade bait. Also got one decent crappie. If it's not too rainy I'll give it one more shot tomorrow. After that I think we're done for a long time. To quote Bullwinkle the moose, "This time for sure!".

See a chance by week's end except for the fact I have to work everyday and it gets dark so early. I wrote this season off over a couple of weeks ago but I don't want to take no as an answer.

Went looking for some open water today. All my spots are iced over. Funny, thirty years ago I would be getting restless waiting for safe ice. Drove down to IPL low head dam on White river with the hare brained idea that I might get some white bass or walleye action. Had the place to myself. Now I know why. The river was really pristine and peaceful, though.

Ice fished regularly until a little over twenty years ago. Cold January evening just before dark, very close to frostbite, I told my buddy to take my gear and don't let me have it back. Haven't been since.

Pretty sure 92 Metanium XT parts on Hedgehog will work. Handle knobs on Curado 201 are riveted so a handle swap would be necessary. Lots of options there. Check out Dad's Ole Tackle online. Might save you a bunch of $$ and they would have answers about fit on the cast control knob. Edit: One thing that I remembered after posting this is that any handle change will lose your drag adjustment click. It's built into the stock handle nut retainer. I'm not sure if there's a combination drag star/click pin&spring/click plate that will fit. Won't hurt the drag adjustment, just no click.

Had mentioned this in another thread a while back, but one of my fondest memories was going to local tackle shops with my dad and playing with the display case that many of these mentioned lures were in. It was a carousel that moved like a ferris wheel when you pushed the button on top.

I thoroughly enjoy my bass fishing being in control of the fish. Like @CroakHunterit's more about figuring out what the fish want at a given time and place. Doug Stange of In Fisherman wrote an article a while back addressing using light tackle to a point but not beyond that overstresses the fish to exhaustion. That said, what are you gonna do when a giant cat hits? I'm certainly not going to horse him to lose him on purpose.

I set my drag strictly by feel, not specific lb. If I had to guess I'm probably in that lower range that @WRBrecommends. I fish mainly braid and the lighter setting reduces hook tear out. Also, I don't fish heavy cover and in those cases I can see the need for more pressure.

Pretty sure this afternoon was the finale. 62 degrees before the cold front and a good bite on a #8 Husky Jerk and small blade bait. Caught about 20 between 12 and 17". It's going to be a long winter. This season has been memorable for me.

I find the morels to be a really good quality jighead. I just can't get the plastic to grab the keeper.