dsw1204

I have always thought it was better to have a higher-end reel than a higher-end rod. But, I am reconsidering this idea. I know it’s probably better to have equals, here. But, if you were putting more money into one or the other, is it better to put the money into the reel or rod?

Thanks, that’s very reassuring.

Well, I purchased a spinning reel and it is not what I thought I was going to get. I splurged a little bit and purchased a Diawa Ballistic MQ LT 2500D - XH. This is probably overkill for my bank fishing activities for bass (largemouth and smallmouth), but I have fished with it a couple of times and it is unbelievably smooth. I like it!!! And, I like how light it is. I have heard that some Diawa reels have an issue with the handle getting loose and making some noise. I’m betting this will not happen to this reel. We shall see.

It’s been a while since I last posted. I’m not the most experienced fisherman. I’m just finishing up my fifth fishing season and I want to add a third spinning reel to my collection. I have been looking at a Diawa Tatula MQ LT, a Lews Hypermag, and an Abu Garcia Revo SX. I would be very interested in hearing what you fellow (and more experienced) fishermen have say about these three spinning reels. I am sticking with spinning reels because I haven’t picked up the knack of casting well with baitcasters and I really don’t like the feel of the reel being above the rod. I appreciate your input in advance.

I am currently visiting in the Tampa area. Are there any Peacocks around this area?

Didn’t find any live crawdads, today. But, I did see a very decayed and very large portion of a skeleton of a crawdad. I dropped my keys next to it to show scale. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of the skeletons all around. I also did see lots and lots of raccoon tracks in the mud. They are the ones that must be causing all of those skeletons.

Here’s a pic of one of the crawdads. It is the only one I have, currently. I will try to get some better pics later.

I took a picture but the file size is too big and I cannot download it to show you guys. I will have to go out and get some more and take pics that are smaller file sizes. I may have been exaggerating about how wide the crawdad was, but it was very wide. Maybe it was half as wide as my hand. Maybe. But, I was not exaggerating about the length of the crawdad. I’ll try and see if I can find some tomorrow.

I am fine with the fishing regulations with live bait, just can’t have more than a hundred of them. A friend of mine said they may have been transplanted from Louisiana, because of their color. That doesn’t matter. I just know that there are lots of them and that they are pretty darn large. I’ve seen YouTube videos of anglers fishing with crawdads. And their crawdads were considerably smaller than the ones that I am talking about. I just think they may be too big for bass to eat. Am I wrong? I hope so, I would like to start fishing with them. But, I also don’t want to waste my time if they are too big. If I do use them, would pulling off their pinchers improve my chances of catching bass? Or, is that just cruel to do?

I found a pond that looks very promising to fish. It looks pristine and there’s tons of cattails. There’s just not a lot of access. However, I have fished it a few times without even a bite, not even once. There are, however, tons of crawdads. And I mean lots, and lots of them. I can’t walk 10 feet without almost stepping on skeletons of them. And, they are quite large! At least, I think they are large. They are about the size of my hand and I wear an extra large glove. When I say they are the size of my hand, that’s NOT including the pinchers. And, they are almost as wide as my hand. I have never fished with live crawdads. I have seen videos on how to hook them up, but I’ve never done it myself. My concern is, are these crawdads too large? They are a dark red/purpleish color, just to let you know. I can easily catch them. But, should I be looking for a smaller crawdads? What do you guys think?

I live in Southwest Ohio and I don’t have to worry about gators and venomous snakes, for the most part. Once a year, I visit my mom in Florida. And practically every morning, early in the day, I go bank fishing. I see alligators all the time. They have never bothered me. I am more concerned about the snakes. So, I bought a pair of snake boots. This keeps me worry-free from the snakes (at least from the venomous ones)…unless I run across a big python. And, I’m not too worried about that. So, I say, buy some snake boots and just keep your head on a swivel for the gators. You should be good to go.

There is a creek that runs right by it. Don’t know if it connected to it, although. I will have to take a walk by and see if it is.

There is a new pond in my area (Cincinnati metro). I discovered it just recently. It may be a year old, it may be two years, I’m not sure. It looks like a retention pond for an office complex that is currently being built. It’s a pretty decent size pond although I could not tell you how many acres it might be. It looks to be maybe 500 yards long by two or 300 yards wide. That’s just a guess. What are the odds that there might be fish in this pond?

Okay, I got my oil, grease, and bearing lube. What I forgot to get is a cleaner. Would isopropyl alcohol work as a cleaning agent? Or, must I get a specialized cleaner for fishing reels?

Okay, guys. Thanks for all the input. I think I will get the Ardent Reel Butter Grease, the Ardent Reel Butter Oil, and the Ardent Reel Butter Bearing Lube. I am going to start off just doing the basic lube job on my reel. Is everything I mentioned above sufficient to do the job? Or, is the bearing lube not required for the basic lube job?

I am in my third year of fishing and I am in need of maintaining my Pfleuger Supreme XT spinning reel. At the end of my first year of fishing, my Supreme XT broke and I got a new one from Pflueger. Now, my current Supreme XT is making some squeaking noises while retrieving. So, I started looking into some lube and oil packages. I have found I can just purchase the oil, or just purchase the lube (sometimes called grease). I, also, found some packages that have both the oil and the lube, but also found packages with oil, lube and a cleaner. Then, I found a package with all three PLUS a bearing lube. Now, I am very confused. Can someone recommend to me what I should purchase. I have watched a number of YouTube videos about reel maintenance. Some pretty simple. Some, a little more complicated in the maintenance. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Tom, a couple of questions: I am not familiar with the term fan casting. What is that? From what am I to be careful? I don't plan on wading the waters, at least not more than a couple of inches of depth...if any. Thanks for all the info (to everybody, as well), so far.

I have some rat wake baits. If I fish at night, how far out do I throw the lure? Do I keep it close to shore where that shallow water is located? Or, do I try to keep it around the color change, about 7' from shore? Or, do I go further out even more?

The lake's shores seem to be very shallow up to about 6'-7' out. Then it looks like a big dropoff. If I am throwing a Whopper Plopper, I am guessing I should be throwing around the color change of the water? And, if it's very clear water won't the fish see me and get spooked? Also, I do have some Zoom lizards, but only the green pumpkin color. Do you think these colors would work? Oh, I am in the southwest Ohio area, by the way. I was in Florida this past March, and I was very successful with the Reactions Innovations Sweet Beaver on a swinging football jig (caught my PB 6 1/2 lbs. largemouth). I was thinking of giving this a try, as well.

Hi, I'm relatively new to fishing and I am going to try something I have yet to do. I'll be headed to a quarry lake. Not sure what to expect, but I am sure I will enjoy it. I don't know how to fish it. I went to it once, just to scope it out. It looks deep and it looks like it gets deep quickly. The water looks crystal clear. I will be bank fishing. I am guessing top water is out of the question. Am I correct? There does not look to be a lot of cover, at least on the top of the water. What do you guys recommend on how to fish such a lake?

I have no idea as to the type of vegetation. I will have to ask a friend who fishes there, occasionally. Right now, a pic will not help. The pond is looking pretty clear, right now. But, in the summer, the muck gets very heavy. The pond is a pretty small pond, but I cannot give specifications. It is, also, a pretty shallow pond, for the most part. The pond an oddly shaped one and does not have a dam.

I am a bank fisherman currently in his second season of fishing and still learning the ropes. One of my favorite ponds to fish has tons of vegetation. All the time I throw out a diving lure it either comes back with tons of muck on it or it does not come back at all. So, I tried Texas-rigging soft plastics. But, almost always they come back with a bunch of that muck on the lure. Other than topwater, do I have any alternatives to fish this pond? I love topwater (who does NOT love topwater), but if I want to go deep, what do I do and how do I do it?

Now I know. Thanks. Was just looking at a couple of my spinning rods and they definitely do NOT have that trigger. Thanks, again.

I am not sure how a baitcasting rod looks different from a spinning rod. The Dobyns website is not very informative about their rods. It does not state which rods are baitcasters and which are spinning rods. There's probably some code in the model numbers that let people know which are which. I kinda like that Tsunami Carbon Shield 8' XH rod. I'll have to do a little research on that one. Does that one have those micro-sized eyelets on the rod? If so, what is the advantage to those tiny little eyelets some rods have?

I thought those were spinning rods. I, actually, talked to Dobyns on the phone and I am almost positive they said the Fury Series FR 795SB was a spinning rod. Maybe I got it wrong. I will call them, again, tomorrow. As I said in my opening post, I am relatively new to fishing and not all that knowledgeable with fishing facts, and such. But, why not throw 4 oz lures for bass from the bank? I, currently, am not throwing the big lures. I just have a desire to do so. And, that is why I am looking into this. Is there a reason I should not be doing so? Please enlighten me. If this is going to be a waste of money for me, then I will not get into this venture. But, I cannot figure why throwing big lures from the bank is a bad idea.