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I have been using a slow action ultralight recently with 4 pound hybrid line. it is a lot of fun. Caught a 3 pound lmb on it yesterday with a beatle bug spinner. So far it works really well with weightless worms waky style, bettle spinners, and 1/8th ounce spinners. I have some small cranks and topwaters once it gets a little warmer here. This is my "just for fun" setup but I have caught LMB on it every trip out. No 9 pounders yet though but plent of 3-4.

Hey Everyone! Thanks for the tips and ideas. The whole idea of this rod was just to have some fun I think im going to try the worms like Joel said, then wacky style for the kicks, then hit the spinners and poppers. I have some fly fishing lures that im thinking about trying out also. I just wanted to make sure what I was throwing wasnt to heavy. Im going to hit the panfish after that Thanks again everyone. Some great suggestions Vic

Hello Everyone, I have an ultra light spinning reel and rod with 4 lb. line. Any suggestions on what type of tackle to use with it? I would like to fish bass and panfish with it. Would a size 3 hook and a 4 inch GY worm be to heavy this setup? Thanks for any help on this. Vic

Here is the biggest largemouth I have caught so far on my flyrod lol I do catch a lot of panfish on it though. Its a lot of fun especially with an ultralight rod. Vic

Two words.... Diamond Earrings All will be forgiven! Vic

Hey everyone! I just wanted to share my very first Largemouth caught on a flyrod. I was actually just practicing casting at a local retention pond and was supprised when a bass hit it. I think the 5wt rod was a little overkill for this fish though hahaha But it was still a nice suprise. I can't wait to try it out on a 3-5 pounder. Vic

Hey Reelmech! Thanks for the good advice. I ordered the new wormshaft kit for the e750PT. I much appreciate you looking also! Vic

Hey Reelmechanic It's a quantum energy E750PT. The part was number 27b on the schematic. I went to my local rod and reel (who I always try to support) and I purchased a replacement pawl. Unfortunately it was to big. It was also steel or aluminum and not ceramic. I am going back on Tuesday to try to get one that fits. But am also thinking about just going to Quantum's site to reorder a new ceramic one. But if I do that then I have to purchase the whole worm shaft kit. Not sure if it is worth the 15$ just for a ceramic pawl. I get get 3 pawls for that price at the R&R. Vic

Nevermind. I just found out its ceramic zirconia. now to find a replacement! Vic

Hey everyone! thanks for all the info. I really appreciate it. I just snapped my line guide pawl though hahaha What are these things made of? glass? procelin? Vic

Hey everyone, Ive been trying to play with some of my old reels and trying to oil and grease them up. I have a question about the worm shaft on a baitcaster though. Do I put oil on it or grease? Im looking at the one I have now and it looks like there is some grease on it. But I can't tell if it is just fishing residue mixed with oil or actuall grease. I know that the gears get grease and the bearings get a drop of oil. But I wasnt sure what the worm shaft qualified as. Thanks for any help all! Vicdotcom

I do the same thing but instead of 16 I do a yard of 20 pound floro and a yard of 12 pound floro. Works great and man cant beat fishing LMB of that setup. What weight line and rod do you use? There is also a book called Fly Fishing for Largemouth Bass by Lefty Kher that had a lot of great information from a legend. He also recommended against a tapered leader saying there was no need. Vic

Hey good luck practicing, thats all it really takes and I really enjoy baitcasting a lot more than spinning reels now. A few more tips I can offer is this: To help you with thumb control on an overhand cast, watch the lure. When it hits the apex (highest point) of the arc, start applying pressure with your thumb to slow the spool down. In the begining this helped me because I saw that most of my backlashes were comming because the spool was traveling faster than the lure was flying. Since the lure reaches the top speed at its apex, this is where I would get most backlashes. So start your thumbing there and lower the spool speed to match the lure. Other thing I picked up from a book is to let out a bunch of line (a few yards farther than you can cast) then put a piece of electrical tape on the spool. This will prevent the line from traveling out any further as well as stop birds nests at this point. That way your backlashes are always localized and wont go past that tape. Hope this helps Vic

First tip is to release the spool sooner than you would a spinning gear. If you loose it the same time as a spinner gear, your lure will head down and an angle, kinda like spiking a football into the water. So let loose a little sooner. Second is set the tension control knob properly. To do this hold the rod out straight and let go of the line. The line and lure should fall down to the ground. now watch the spool holding the line as it hits the ground. When the lure hits the ground, that spool should halt where it is and not spin out to much. If it spins to much then you have to tighten the knob. (To see what happens when its set wrong, just turn the tension know really loose and then drop the lure. Watch the spool and you will probably get an automatic nest). So adjust it accordingly everytime you change the lure and lines. Last thing is to train your thumb. This is the most important. Eventually, you wont need to use the tension control knob as much. Well hope that helps. These are the things that helped me when learning to baitcast. Reelmech had a really great article on it but I dont have the link on hand. Let us know how it works out! Vic

Probably not any dumber than using a lump coal to make the rods many of us use today. Vic

It works well. The only problem is that if you are using a baitcaster, the knot from tying the lines together can sometimes get hung up in the the top guide. What I do is use a short leader 6-9 inches and make sure that the knot is above the top guide. Then casting is not a problem. Vic

Interested... and the down side? Is it very visible under water? Or why doesn't everyone use it. There's gotta be a catch! ALSO, if I did go to Braid.. What do I need to know about Spooling the line / Other things... Anything I should be aware of? It is more visible but you can always add a florocarbon leader of a few feet. No real special way to spool it as far as I know. Just do it normally, there is very very low line memory so that wont be to much of a factor either. Some people do use a mono backing to prevent it from possibly harming the spool. Some of the downsides are that it is more abrasive than mono or floro. Low stretch can sometimes rip the hook out of the mouth of a fish if you set it to hard. Some say it also can affect the action of lures But again adding a leader should help this. Also it is pretty strong stuff. If you hook up on a rock with 50 pound braid, its going to be hard to get out. Its expensive. So basically there are pros and cons of using any line. I think it can come in handy bank fishing, especially when getting fish out of the pads. But basically you gotta try it and see for yourself. What one person likes, others may not.

I have a feeling that its not the line either. Lack of fish could be many many many factors. It could be weather (earlier/later spawn), it could be environmental (lack of baitfish), it could be time of year. But I don't think it is the line. Its hard to completely replicate the fishing factors that were in effect last month because there are so many variables that you have no control over. Heck for all you know someone could have come in one day and fished them all out and ate them. But likely the fish could have moved deeper and since you mostly bank fish, you probably cant reach where they are at now. The only way to tell for sure for yourself though is to switch back to your old line and throw in a few again. See if you get as many hookups as last month. That may be the only way to prove it to yourself. IWe all heard of confidence baits, why cant there be a confidence line? Also about braid, I personally love it for bank fishing. Especially when there are pads arround. I get plenty of hookups using worms also. Sometimes you have to give it a shot and decide for yourself. Just because you heard bad things about something doesnt mean that it wont work for you. Good luck! and Have Fun Vic

Ha I do the same thing also! I always has my spinning reels set up for leftys even though im right handed. I didnt even know that I was switched arround until I went to the store looking for a new spinning reel and i thought to myself "why are all the display reels set up for leftys???" Then I realized that they were actually set up for right handed people but I was fishing spinner reels left handed all along lol Vic

I think that depends on what line you put on it. If you use a lighter line then a spinnerbait will work well. But if you use a heavier line, you might want to start with a crankbait. A spinnerbait may be a little harder to learn with when using heavier line due to its lack of weight. So that depends on the line you use. Your cant really go wrong with a shimano reel. The most important things in the begining is to set the cast control knob correctly for the lure that you are using. It should drop to the floor smoothly and when the lure hits the floor, the spool holding the line should not move anymore on its own. To see what I mean you can turn the cast control knob completely loose and drop the lure to the floor. The spool will continue to spin after the lure hits the floor causing a backlash. So set the control knob. Second important thing is when casting remember to let the spool and the line go SOONER than you would a spinner reel. This may be the hardest thing because you are so used to a spinner reel. At least this was the case for me. If you release the line at the same time as a spinner reel, the lure will spike into the water at a 45degree angle like a football hahaha. So release sooner than you would a regular spinner reel cast. If you have the reel and rod already, I say try it out. You might like it and have fun, or you might think they suck. But you already have the equiptment give ita shot. wont hurt anything:) (except the fish) But after a while, you should be able to see what everyone means about better accuracy. The way the line comes off the rod and reel have a much more direct line than with a spinning reel. Kinda like throwing a football in a long arching lob or throwing it in a tight spinning spiral. Vic

I asked the same question when I startd using a baitcaster. But I gave it a shot and I like it because.... well it looked like fun! I like casting with a baitcaster better now that a spinner reel. I was very accurate with a spinner reel and it did take me more time to get used to a baitcaster. For me the main advantage is the angles and places I am able to cast. When I was casting a spinner reel, I had to lob a lot of casts in an arc especially when im aiming far away. I eventually learned how to do an underhand and sidearm cast with a spinner reel later to hit hard to reach spots. With the baitcaster, the lures and line travel at a much straighter angle giving me more places that I could cast like under a low bridge etc. I can still throw lobs if I wanted or I can toss a laser. Its just fun really. Thats the reason I tried it and fell in love with it. Also as with anything, its just another skill to learn and practice. I like to learn and try new things. Getting good at it is part of the fun for me. Once I got bored of that I tried fly fishing and that is taking a lot more time to learn than baitasting. But in the end, the bottom line is having fun fishing wether your using a tin can with a rope, baitcaster, flyrod, or spinner reel. Its the same result. Having fun fishing Vic

A friend of mine got her airbrush set at Michaels crafts. Their circulars in the papers often give a 40% coupon off the purchase of a single item. She used it and got 40% off her kit. There are a few Michaels in toledo. Vic

Yea I thought of attaching a float after I saw the nylon rope sinking down past my reach lol. Need a longer rope also haha Vic

Has anyone ever dropped an anchor into the water then realize that the other end was not tied down to the boat? I guess the lesson is to always make sure huh? Haha Vic

I just purchased a fly rod setup not to long ago and got some great info on the boards here. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1177538443/0 I looked at St. Croix, G loomis, and some other brands. The St. Croix had the fastest action of them all. G Loomis has a lot slower action but casted really smooth. I finally settled in on a Temple Fork Outfitters (TFO) TiCrX. It has a faster action than the G loomis's I tried but not as stiff as the St. Croix. I also liked that they had a no fault warranty on the rod. Any damaged part can be sent in and repaired for 25$. Vic