papajoe222

After watching a fishing show last spring, I did a little research into the subject of that show. The Maj. Steven Andrews Fishing Outreach Program was founded by his lifelong friend and fishing buddy. The former Marine and pro fisherman started introducing vets to this great sport and has been for over four years now. After an outing, he supplies gear to them in hopes that they will continue to enjoy fishing. Although, as a tourney fisherman, he has product sponsors that supply rods, reels and tackle boxes, he has difficulty stocking the tackle boxes. I came up with over a dozen new lures, hooks, bobbers etc. that I'll never miss and shipped them off to him. That was last June. Well, after organizing my gear recently I came across packages of hooks and sinkers I'd picked up on clearance and decided to send him another package. If you guys have excess gear, old or new you may consider sending some of it off to him.It's a great way to say Thank You to our vets and feel good about yourself at the same time. You can google the program and find contact information there. Thanks for taking the time to read.

I've been considering using them on my c-rigs as I tend to shy away from rigging that way due to gut hooking fish. I use a tube c-rigged about 50% of the time and nose hooking them or a fluke would seem like a good option, especially over gravel or shell beds. Anyone every try this and if so could you share your opinion, positive or negative? I'd really like to keep this as an alternative to Texas rigging all the time for obvious reasons.

If you don't want to take the reel completely apart, you could open the side plate and spray clean the gear with brake parts cleaner or Electro-clean and regrease. After closing check for the noise. If it's gone, tear the reel apart for a good cleaning and relube. If it's still there, It may be something as simple as a loose screw holding the pinion gear retainer plate or, worse case scenario, broken teeth on either gear. Does the anti-reverse work okay? More than likely, old grease is preventing a good mesh of the gears. If the reel has never been cleaned, that may be all it needs.

I've been using scent on both hard and soft baits for at least 10 years. Started out using anise oil based product, I can't even remember the name, on my plastics and graduated to adding it to hard baits when the wife was kicking my butt on cranks with it. Tried a number of them since and have settled on CB's Hawg Sauce. I use the water based in cold water as it is released easier than oil based attractants. I think it's a confidence mind set more than anything, although I do believe a fish will hold on to a crank a fraction of a second longer.

Another vote for the Sol, but they are getting harder to find. Beware if you're looking to pick up a used one of fleabay. The one I purchased recently needed extensive work to get it into decent shape. As stated in a previous post, the Prolite reels from BPS are decent if you give one a good cleaning and light lube. Another alternative from BPS is their Wally Marshall baitcaster. What is going to make or break you when attempting to cast light baits with any baitcaster is the rod. You'll need one that will load up using those light baits and still not be wimpy when it comes to fighting the fish.

I'm of a different mindset when it comes to jigs in the spring, especially during the pre-spawn. Although I do fish jigs, the ones I use most often aren't traditional bass jigs. I'll take a bare jig like a stand up or football and dress it with a plastic bait. Often that's a reaper or paddle tail grub on a stand up, or a spider grub or single tailed grub like a Kalins. As for colors, I stick to white or Holo-Clear or smoke/black pepper or just good ole black. The other style of jig I'll use is a Fuzz-E-Grub in white with either a red or pink head. I pick jigs with light wire hooks and fish them on spinning gear with 8lb test original Stren. Once the fish move up and start checking out spawning sites, I'll switch to traditional swimming or arkie head jigs depending on cover or lack of it, but if a cold front moves in and drives them deep, I'm back to these combinations.

Mine has to be my first Daiwa ProCaster. I only purchased one round baitcaster for bass fishing after that first Daiwa and it didn't take long to fall in love with low profile reels. I still have it, but rarely use it, but it still brings a smile to my face every time I hold it.

I fish a tourney on Balsam lake every July. The entry fee is steep, but the prizes, including a Ranger boat, and the chance of finishing in the money are fairly decent. If nothing else you have a good chance of at least recouping your entry fee. It's a two day, week-end tournament held on either the second or third week-end in July. The reason I say you have a good chance of finishing in the money is that a lot of pure amatures enter in hopes of getting lucky and winning the boat. In nine years, I've only seen one angler that was new to tournament fishing finish in the top 25. That narrows down the field On the flip side is the fact that it also draws a lot of expert anglers and fishing in the heat of summer on a big natural lake against some of the best anglers in the area really limits your chances of finishing in the money. If you fish club tournaments, think of fishing against 50 or so area club AOY. The best I've done was 17th. and only because I picked up some really nice fish the first day. The best advice I can give you is to check into local clubs, I know there are a few that target Petenwell and Castle Rock a few times a year, but don't ask me where they're based. Membership is affordable and even if you don't fish every tourney, it is a fun and learning experience.

I have good results using three basic colors. Bone, White with red head, and the G finish. There was a time when the only color I threw was bone as I'd worn the finish off part of the lure and removed it off the remainder leaving it 'naked' Now be honest, what female in her right mind can resist a naked, cigar shaped thingy dancing around? Notice I didn't even mention the red head.

I too, am chomping at the bit and have been for the last couple of weeks. All my reels are cleaned and respooled, rods are finished building or getting cleaned up, hooks on my baits have been switched out, tackle boxes organized and relabeled, hook box has been replenished, new prop, t/m plug and recepticle replaced, new depth finder on order............now it's sit on my hands and hide the charge card for the next four weeks. )

Sometimes they share info and sometimes we just don't listen.

Early spring is about the only time that color plays and important part in my decision of what to throw. Around here, an orange belly on a crank will out produce most any color. I even color the underside of a white spinnerbait's skirt and head orange. Can't figure out why as the crawfish are still burried when I start catching anything after ice-out. I don't really care why as long as it produces. ;-)

There are a number of ways you can fish the grass, but if the fish aren't active and are burried in the grass, your options are narrowed to either penetrating the weeds, or fishing the edges (that includes the top of the grass). You can't beat a jig for getting into the grass and either a Senko, or a drop-shot will get your bait on top or on the edge. With the grass only growing two feet off the bottom, you might try a drop shot setup using a jig as your weight with your Senko or whatever two or two and a half feet above it. You have the option of changing speeds and still staying in the productive zone with these setups that you don't with a spinnerbait or crank. If you're working it slow and not getting any love, try either dead sticking it or working it fast. BTW, just because you're not marking fish on your electronics does not mean an area or some form of cover is not holding fish. If you have confidence in a particular piece of structure or cover, it's never a waste of time to fish it.

You'll love that reel. I have mine mounted on a 7'2" St.Croix med/mod that I finished making earlier this winter specifically for that reel and smaller/ lighter cranks and top-water baits. If you really want to take advantage of the Sol's ability to cast lighter baits, you're going to need a rod that will load fairly easily and there aren't a lot of M/H rods with a moderate action out there. Prior to this rod, it was mounted on a Browning rod that, although wasn't rated for action, was a med. power and what I considered a moderate action.

The last step of my pre-spring Cleaning and Organization Ritual is cleaning the cork grips on my rods prior to mounting the reels on them. For more years than I care to remember I've used kitchen cleanser with bleach and an old tooth brush to get them looking good again. I was just wondering what you guys do, if anything, to get them looking 'top shelf' again?

Okay, now I get it. Like Daiwa produces a $500 reel and still offers a Quality product in the $150 range. Yea, and I don't think it'd take Lomis off the pedestal some have them on, except for maybe those that have them there.

Okay, correct me if I'm getting this wrong. You'd like to see G. Loomis and other high priced rod companies to get with the program and offer a line in the $100 range. Why? If you don't want to spend $200 on a rod, there are plenty of good quality rods out there, just like there are plenty of vehicles out there for under $30K. Should Mercedes or BMW offer you something in that price range? I'm not attempting to be antagonistic, just wondering why you'd want something you're not willing to pay the price of.

Thanks guys. I have an advantage 150H and it sounds like the Tierra when compared to the 153HST

I'm looking for another work horse reel and was wondering how the Tierra TD-TR153H compares to the Advantage 153HST. I know the Advantage is 'Super Tuned', but other than that, is there any major difference that would sway me toward the Tierra other than price?

I've used them in the past with moderate success, but am unsure about one thing. The ones I own have three holes in the top side of the bait and use a snap to allow for changing the 'line tie' location. I'm unsure which hole is for shallow running and which is for deep running, so I only use the center hole and attempt to adjust the running depth by varying my retrieve speed. Can anyone shed light on this? Also, my best results have been using a pumping type of retrieve, letting the bait fall on a semi-tight line. The other thing I was wondering is if this style bait is productive during the summer months?

I fish a lot at night during the dog days and occasionally from shore. What applies to fishing from a boat also applies to fishing from shore, but being shorebound has it's advantages. First and foremost, know the area you're fishing, especially the terrain you'll be standing/walking on. Second, slow down. This is no time to be in a hurry. If you only have a couple of hours to fish, get your mindset on concentrating on the details and you'll be forced to slow down. I'm not implying slow presentations, just being deliberate. Third, keep your equipment to a minimum. Clutter is not only a hassle to deal with in the dark, it can be dangerous. This is one area where being shorebound has an advantage as you are likely just bringing the essentials with. If you're fishing anywhere there is lighting, keep it in your face, not to your back. At the very least don't stand directly under shoreline lighting. Carry a landing net, more than one flashlight or a combination of cap light and flashlight. The advantage you'll have when it comes to using them is you can turn your back to the water when you turn them on. As far as lure selection goes, use the same ones you'd use during the day. If you have them in dark colors, so much the better, but remember that baitfish don't get darker in color at night, so color selection is at the very bottom of my priorities. Unlike fishing during the day, however, steady retrieves seem to work better at night. One last note. If you can, by all means bring a friend. At the very least, tell someone where you're going and how long you intend to stay.

I have one 'burner' and it's mounted on my jig rod. It's all about line recovery to me. The faster I can pick up the slack and get that fish moving away from cover, the better. Check the line recovery stat on the reel first. Gear ration can fool you into believing it's a fast reel, line recovery proves it.

For me, it's reels. I'll dump $200 on a reel, but wouldn't consider looking at, let alone spending that much on a rod. Don't get me wrong, I have more rods (21) than reels (14), but the least expensive reel that I actually use cost me more than the majority of rods I use.

I've upgraded the spool bearings on four of my Daiwas. Two to ABEC 5 ceramic and two to ABEC 7 and I did notice a difference two of the reels, but not on the other two. The two that I didn't notice any difference were on the two that, pricewise, are in the same ballpark as the chronarch. New bearings on a used reel will likely improve it's performance. New bearings on a new reel???? How would you compare any difference? Decide which reel you like and use it for a while, like a full season. Once you get a good feel for it and the bearings are broken in, you can always upgrade. BTW, the spool bearings are the only ones I'd consider upgrading. None of the other bearings spin fast enough or have a heavy enough load on them to make it cost effective to upgrade.

YES. This is the kind of information you don't get from reading articles or watching the tube. Although I have read about your favorite lakes, I never saw any information like this. Fifty plus years fishing and I still love learning new things about my favorite fish.