CrankFate

Round Abus feel much, much better with greased Carbontex. I have these drags in every Abu round reel that I have.

I’m not too far away and it’s been raining a steady 15-20 hours now.

Everyone’s different. Not knocking anyone. But when I go through the store and bounce every rod in the store around, I never find myself leaning towards the more expensive ones. In most cases, I find rods under $200 better than those over $200. I don’t like needle thin rods that feel like a 7 foot long hollow pencil. I’m happier with a 7’ BPS Crankin Stick than a super thin, super light and stiff expensive rod with tiny guides.

I have $1,000.00 to spend every time I buy a rod and reel. The combo is usually $600.00 or less. I never felt any benefit to a very expensive rod and because of that, a very expensive rod does not make me feel better about fishing the same way an overpriced reel does. I’ll feel better keeping the other $400.00.

I don’t know the reel and could only find the Speed Pro “Z” schematic, but I’ve seen this problem before. The only times I’ve seen it happen was either with grease in the anti reverse, and before anti reverses were everywhere, this would happen when the drag stack is misaligned, especially when the washer with the ears is misaligned or it could happen if the two springs on the pinion yoke are misaligned or caught on the screws or if they are damaged and cant provide the proper amount of tension for the sideplate. See parts 47 and 41 in the schematic. All of these are an easy fix. I am sure Alan Tani recommends tightening the drag all the way when reassembling the reel is because this will ensure proper alignment when putting everything back together. On $15 plastic Chinese reels, this happens sometimes and can’t be fixed because of bad tolerances or springs that are too soft or sideplate screws that screw into the plastic that get over tightened and cause the reel to not seal tightly enough, throwing the tension off. Sometimes, in rare cases, because they’re not usually easy to access, it’s the parts numbered 34 and 36. These are a pain to properly align. But it can be done if they pop out. Sounds very fixable (as long as it’s not overtightened sideplate screws) good luck.

Sorry to hear it, but that will break any thin, light stiff rod. That’s exactly how my son broke one of his rods last year.

I have never broke a rod. I’ve seen rods slammed in car trunks, stepped on on rocks and broken on a snag. But I’ve never broken a rod myself. i almost never order rods, because if you carefully examine the rods in the stores you can see the variations, defects and errors (like visibly replaced tips and rods that are longer and shorter than the rest). I personally believe the thinner, lighter most expensive rods also have the most visible defects.

Here comes the rain again ?

Thankfully for me, I’ve never done that. God bless you.

No. Fishing has not opened any doors for me at all. Except for the doors of the sporting goods stores.

I use all colors of braid. Depending on which type of fish fish, which rod and how deep. I use anywhere from a 6” leader to a 20’ leader of Fluoro or mono. I don’t know if braid color reduces fish caught. I still catch with orange braid and very short leaders. But I could be missing fish, too.

Do something different. Anything. Different rods, reels, lures, hooks, colors. Don’t get stuck always doing the same thing. It gets easier after seeing “beginners luck” catch the biggest fish time and time again. I eventually realized the beginner who was doing it wrong was doing the right different thing at the time. Watch or ask what other people are doing that works. And the one that gets me the most, in fishing, and everything else. Never think you know what’s best. I wouldn’t be able to count how many times someone else knew what was best at that time or place or for that kind of fish. I still do it, though. It’s the hardest one to overcome.

I’ve seen that, too. On other schooling fish fry like catfish when they look like tadpoles. They always say 80-90% of the hatch dies in the first year. I always assume those are part of that 80-90%.

I usually throw the hooks out and save the weights if the hook shows any signs of use. If I changed a hook that’s in good shape, i put it back in a pack. I am probably more OCD about hooks and line than most. I keep hundreds of hooks on hand and sacrifice hundreds of hooks and sinkers to the water Gods every year.

The only cranks I recommend are Big M’s Crankbaits. I have others, but these are the best I know of.

Well my Daiwa Tatula CT cost more than a Steez. So use that as a guide.

All good choices. I’d wait for the new Tatula. And if you want to wait longer, they’ll almost certainly come out with a Type-R or a SV version or something along those lines. There’s a reason so many people like the Tatula. It’s a great reel. But so is the curado.

It feels like you insisted on using brand new JDM finesse rigs that weren’t set up right and the Disney World guide insists you should use his rods. You refuse. But after getting a puny 5 bites, you agree to use his rods because your line broke the instant you attempted to set the hook on each of the measly 5 bites you got. And you thought the guide was just messing with you by trolling you through alligator infested waters with no fish in them because there are no bass big enough to break your line before the hookset. Then 20-40 minutes you have a 14lb 3oz bass that’s close to 30” long and a great picture of one of the biggest bass anyone has ever caught in the world. Only to find out that your wife did not put any film in the camera when you get back to the dock. But you know you did great good to all fishermen who will ever go on one of these trips in the future, because from that day on, it became park policy to include a working camera on each trip. I don’t know who or how, but there are people out there who can confirm this story. This is why there is no picture of the biggest bass taken in the waters of Disney World. This was one of the days between Sept 2 and Sept 10, 2011.

I’m not sure if I should ask where this dock is or to report you?

Today? If it was just today, you are way ahead of the game than you feel today.

It’s going to cost more than a Ferrari to make a regular car equal it’s performance. So start with either what you want to achieve or your budget. Hawgtech bearings are probably the best bang for your buck here. The color is irrelevant to performance and will cost more than performance parts. But might make you feel better about everything and still be worth it at any price If you really want to spend money, go with colors you like and as many grams as you can prossibly take off of the scale. The fish love that stuff.

I am much better at casting than actually catching fish. Rod and casting mechanics are 90 percent of casting distance. Definitely. I would expect that rod and reel to cause the spool to uncoil and over run while the lure or bait slows down before ever loading the rod or reel with anything less than 1 ounce. Unless you apply so much brakes that it just can’t cast any distance. I would put 2 ounces as a better weight for casting with that combo using braid. A light mono might get a bit better distance. IMO, light baits need light rods. My casting style makes casting less than 1 ounce with a MH fast rod not possible. Most fast rods rated at over 1/2 ounce will easily cast 2 the way I cast and will do nothing but uncoil my reel with 1/2 or less. Since it’s casting style and mechanics, the only way to find what works, is trial and error.

I know. You read my mind. I Can’t. No time now! Definitely this weekend.

You can start with faster bearings. By price, Hawgtech are most likely best. That’ll get you lighter baits, but takes more thumb control. I don’t know if there are lighter spools for these reels? I stick to reels with easily available parts, because I beat the hell out of some reels and fish too light almost all the time. Aside from bearings, a shallow spool is the best bang for the buck, IMO, for lighter baits. I can’t find any for this reel, though.

The temperatures dropped about 15 degrees in the last week. With low, starting to feel (dare I say it) COLD overnight temperatures. How long do you think it takes to affect the water temp? And how long to activate the fish? I never seem to time this right in freshwater. It seems like the ocean is a bit more predictable (and ocean water temps are posted online). How long to activate the fish in smaller ponds?