CrankFate

That is so crazy to me. Because at the only place around here with clear enough water to see the fish in, it’s the opposite. The spawning males start at around 3.25lbs. It has to be the lack of spawning areas.

@CountryboyinDC it doesn’t help.

NY

@Russ E you’re lucky. Around here, those might as well be boxing gloves. I wish I could wear those. I cover myself up and use sunblock, but nothing works on the hands. I literally got a mole on the palm of my hand because the only way to cover it is with gloves. I almost always wear a buff.

S’mores. I remember reading message boards about car stereos some years back and someone had a signature line like ‘all of life’s problems can be solved with a long ride with a good sound system’ or something like that. I always think nearly all of life’s problems can be solved making s’mores around a fire.

I rarely use lures in saltwater. Depends on what you’re going for, I’m not from MD, but I’d think bait is the way to go.

Both. I do not recommend gloves in crowded public places. Trust me, guys will think it’s feminine and you’ll wind up in situations where you have to make sure they know that’s not the case. It’s just not worth it.

Seen this many times. Some people can’t be helped. In their mind, you need the help. And they taught you everything you know. The numbers and sizes of fish are just beginners luck. And usually they’ll be fishing 1/100th the amount of time year after year, but they have all the experience. Edit: I hate to sound so negative, but it’s something guys who target fish like LMB would see in their lives. There’s a lot of guys that judge your skill by the size of your target fish. It doesn’t matter what you catch in numbers and size. They truly believe youre not as good because you target smaller species. Like a guy who fishes muskies might see a bass fisherman as inferior. Or a bass fisherman might see a crappie fisherman as inferior. As someone who, for my whole life, targets only fish where 10lbs is a trophy, I never understood that.

All I’m saying is where I observed the most visible spawning, only the biggest males even get a bed. The smaller ones are just hanging around the area watching. They can’t be spawning out of site, because there are never small males protecting fry. May be there is very little space for spawning here, so only the biggest males are getting to spawn. In that video, they aren’t actually spawning. Just the dance doesn’t count.

I response to 3 in the OP - I tried greasing bearings recently. Didn’t like it much. The reels were smooth, but had resistance to them. I prefer everything moving fast. I don’t think any bearings should be greased. What I think works better with nonspool bearings is lightly greasing the slot it slips into, but not the actual bearing.

The whole trick is start with the reel too tight, then loosen it up slowly. Also, don’t start by throwing a light or heavy weight. Had my son practicing yesterday. Just started him off with the reel a little over tightened and then told him to slightly back the brakes and tension knob off a little every few casts. After about an hour or so, I switched rods with him and he was throwing my rod which had almost no braking with no issues. Not much more to it. Though, picking the right rod for the weight you’re throwing is really the hard part. That’s more difficult than I could explain here.

No. Wait until it heals.

You’re being too nice.

Not a treble but I took a 4/0 Gamakatsu octopus hook to the pad of my index finger. Felt like the tip hit my bone. I grabbed the hook as close to my skin as possible and pulled it right back out as fast as I could. It was either that or risk more hooks or tearing, since I was holding a ball of tangled lines on a crowded boat. The medical method is much, much worse and definitely more painful. Within 2-3 minutes I was back to fishing. I seen lots of guys go through more suffering than is necessary. Just pull it straight back out faster than you should take off a band aid.

T-Rig, EWG hook, with 2g Bullet Weight. I find the jigs swim better with a spinning rod then a casting rod.

Before I learned how to properly hook a weedless soft plastic, I’d hook them off a bit. It causes a bend in it. Now that I know how to hook them straight, I still hook them slightly off, because they swim like they are sick or injured. That works better than hooked perfectly sometimes.

@GTN-NY it happens. Then something will happen and you’ll be out there just as much as before again. You don’t have to be out there every day. Sometimes you just don’t feel like it. I prefer it when I don’t care so much about fishing, because if I feel the need to be out there, I’m dedicating half of my brainwaves to figuring out how to catch more fish when I’m sleeping.

If I had an issue like this, I’d tie it on another reel. Reel it all up, then reel it back up on the Antares from the other reel under tension. It should avoid the twist you get if you wrap it all onto an empty spool by hand. I didn’t come up with that idea, but I’ve seen it recommended on the internet before.

I specifically have modern rods with all metal guides for my father to use. He will break any other material in about 10 minutes. They fish all braid. Never had a problem.

Have you tried taking all the line off and starting over?

US. It is the most perfect baitcasting reel I ever fished straight out of the box. Ever.

No....I meant don’t worry about using braid. I fish braid only. It will not harm the T-wing. I was considering going straight fluorocarbon on my new Curado BFS, but then it was like:

Dont. I use my Tatulas in saltwater, no problem. Those reels are bullet proof with a little maintenance.

Not for another 4, 5 months. Right now I’m carrying a six pack cooler of live killies or frozen spearing, clams and squid ?