GrumpyOlPhartte

Way ahead of ya! In my declining years, I forget stuff so I did go down to the basement and try removing the cover plate so I didn't end up looking like a complete idiot. Heck, for all I know, I could have broken something the first time I rotated it up! Anyway that's what I did this morning and it rotated up quite smoothly. Good luck. Oh, if you call or e-mail Lew's, I am confident they will help. At least from my experience they actually seem to care about every customer.

First, pull the release pin out. (Be sure it's pulled out as far as you can move it.) Then, from my experience, rotate the side cover toward the top of the reel about thirty degrees and it should come right off. Mine was also stiff the first few times, but seems to be easier now. The good news is that even though it has gotten easier to remove, it still appears to be fairly water-tight. I checked a couple of times after inadvertently dunking my rod butt in the lake and found no water. Frosty, it's weird that mine twists up and yours twists down, but I use a left-hand model so maybe the left-handlers are different?

I appreciate your situation! I'm 68, retired, and not rolling in dough. Two years ago I was in exactly your position. One other consideration might be kayak storage. I had to find a yak that was 10 feet or shorter. And, at my age, I was more worried about stability than speed so I paid attention to kayak width. One final thought. Look for scupper holes or built-in rod holders!!!! With a little imagination, and some PVC pipe, you can do wonders for rigging an inexpensive kayak for fishing. I could write several articles on poor-man's modifications that made my life easier. Took awhile, but I now have a sit-in kayak that meets my needs. Hope this helps!

I have had limited success with this lure; can verify that it bounces really well off the ice covering our lakes without sustaining any damage! Seriously, I just want to mention that the version I obtained is four inches and I have cast it with two rods. Since I am on a budget, I acquired an Okuma TCS 7'3" Frog/Swimbait rod and a Manley Gold Series Kayak rod (MRKBGH-B). My kayak is a sit-in style and rod butt length is a factor for me. The Okuma rod (rated for lures up to two ounces) has a butt length of 10 3/4" which is a little long for easy maneuvering but casts beautifully for me. The Manley (rated for lures up to one and a quarter ounces) has an adjustable butt length but may be a little light. I find that if I don't whip the rod tip when I cast, it seems to handle the four-inch model just fine. Not certain if this will help most of you, but if you're in my situation (poverty-stricken, stuck with a sit-in kayak, and wanting to try swimbait) you may want to try this lure in the aforementioned setups. Brian: The lures I bought have a removable weight just behind the anal fin. I imagine you could also use one of the slender drop-shot weights to suit your requirements. Just a thought.

As an aging, enthusiastic (but not too skilled) fisherman I am fascinated by all the new, bright, shiny things on the market. I just saw Trapper hooks and said, "O-o-o-h!" Then I got to thinking ... the two right angles in the hook appear to make sense since they SHOULD keep the hook barb parallel to the body of the soft bait, but then I realized that if a bass bites, it looks like the bait can't slide down the hook when I set the hook. Instead, it would seem that one has to compress the body of the plastic to expose the hook point. Seems to me it might be tough to get a good hook set, especially with a tougher plastic like that used in Z-Man baits. Am I missing something? Oh, since this is my first post, I apologize in advance if this is in the wrong area. Thanks for any info or other thoughts!

Early spring of 2016 I managed to wrestle in three smallmouth bass over three pounds from Onota Lake near Pittsfield in western Mass while fishing from the bank using Craw Fatties. Also hooked a couple of smaller smallmouths from Lake Ashmere. I seem to do better with smallmouths in early spring and fall (September/October). Not sure if you are interested in western part of the state, but thought I'd toss this info out there.

I was an enthusiastic if amateurish fisherman back in the early '80s and had pretty good luck at Onota Lake, Cheshire Lake (Reservoir), Buckley Dunton Reservoir, and Lake Ashmere. All are a short drive from Pittsfield. I did find largemouth bass in all these lakes. In addition, I have taken smallmouth bass from Onota and Ashmere. Bank fishing is available at all but Buckley Dunton. I just started up again using a kayak and have had pretty good results though nothing over 2 lb. 10 oz. (largemouth) and 3 lb. 12 oz. (smallmouth) so far. Three smallmouth over 3 lb. from Onota taken in early spring on Craw Fatties at Onota. Cheshire produced the greatest numbers mostly on Texas-rigged worms and a variety of flukes, both paddle-tail and regular Zoom styles slow rolled. Hope this helps!