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Hey does anyone know if there is a difference between these two florocarbon lines? I was looking to get some good leader materail for my braid and didn't know if Vanish was a good line or not. Then I see the Vanish transition and wasnt sure if it was worth the extra 7$ over the normal Vanish line. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance all Vic

Woo hoo! glad you liked it also. Using rubbing alcohol or denatured alcohol makes it dry a lot faster also. Also I have a question to everyone, does using the cork sealer change the feel of the cork? Or does it retain the natural cork feeling after being treated? Thanks for any info Vic

I just recently tried Mr Clean Magic Eraser and instead of water I used rubbing alcohol or denatured alcohol. Made the cork look and feel like new. Cut through all the greese and gunk. I used the same thing for my pool cues and decided to try it on my cork fishing rods. I will never go back to anything else. ReelMech also recommended some cork sealant. That is my next step. Vic

Im in florida and the same thing happened to me also! But the water has been so low recently that I really cant be suprised. Another thing is that google earth cant tell you which bodies are private lakes either. That gets me more aggrivated more than anything.

Hey everyone, I dont know if anyone has mentioned here about using Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser to clean cork handles or not but I just tried it and it took off years of gunk, sweat, and oil. It looks brand new. I used it with some rubbing alcohol so it would dry faster and it worked wonderfully. Sorry if someone already mentioned this already but I did a search and nothing came up. Victor

LOL I like that estimate! 22 pounds sounds right to me

Well as far as the fish, Everytime I tell the story naturally the fish gets bigger haha. But this picture is my proof if anyone asks of it. I got the pic because, after the knot slipped, I was upset and was putting my camera away. That is when the fish started jumping out the water at least a foot and a half trying to throw the hook out. After the second time it tried, I got my camera ready and watched it head off behind that bush for cover. When it settled I snapped the picture. It was a fun fish that was for sure. I love the pic because you can see most of the coloration of the fish even through the water. I certainly got lucky, if not with the fish than with the picture and the story. Vic

Hey all, Here is one of mine that got away. Any ideas on how large it was? That was a 1/2 ounce 3 inch rattle trap on its lips. I was being dumb and didnt check the knots after casting for a while. It was impressive watching it try to throw the hook after it was back in the water though. Vic

It only makes sence that the fish can feel braided line because of its lack of stretch. But if you give the line some slack it should be ok. It is only when the line is pulled tight that they can feel you back I would think. Vic

Hey everyone, I was watching tv the other day and saw that one of the people kept switching from a spinner reel and a baitcaster while fishing for largemouth bass. I am pretty new to baitcasting but I like it a lot. My question is, what circumstances do you use a spinner reel rather than a baicaster while fishing for largemouth? The person on tv was using a spinner reel for his dropshot rig I think. Thanks for any input all! Vic

I used a botton of the line spinner reel for a long time also before I really got into fishing more. One thing that I did was change the line out. That seemed to help the twist a lot. It probably wont help the drag much though. But I went with a braided line for my cheapo reel. It worked well for the few months that I fished it. Vic

My favorite shows are bass pros because they focus mainly on bass fishing and One more cast with Shaw Grigsby. I love One More Cast because Shaw always seems so enthusiastic and enjoys every fish so much. Its actually pretty fun just watching someone enjoy something so much. Even my wife likes to watch the show because of that and she usualy HATES watching anything fishing related. Vic

Hey blake! I had the same problem at first to. Here are some of the things that helped me. First I used a heavier braided line. 50lb test. It has the same diamerter of 12 pound mono. This made removing the backlash a LOT easier. Secondly, I drew off enough line to mimic a long cast about 25-35 feet. Then I put a piece of electrical tape arround the spool. This prevented the line from moving any further from this point. The point being, backlashes wont go beyond this piece of tape also (this saved me a LOT of time undoing backlashes). Now as everyone else has said, you have to adjust the knob that is on the right side of the spool (for right handers) This allows the line to have more tension or less. You have to adjust it for the lure that you are using. A heavier lure will need more tension. You want it to where if you hold the rod straight out, the lure will slowly drop to the bottom (this is at first, when you get better you can lower the tension). Now when its droppping slowly, turn the knob a TINEY bit tighter. Now you should have the right tension to start casting. If you want, take a crankbait and take the hooks out. this will give you a good practice plug. Now when you cast, have your thumb on the reel. When you do an overhand cast, remember to release SOONER than you would a spinner reel. Otherwise you will be spiking your lure into the water and a sharp angle. Release sooner and you should get a good lob. Now as soon as you feel that your cast is wrong, put pressure on the reel with your thumb. Otherwise it will backlash. Good luck with this. At first i was so frustrated with baitcasters that I did not want to touch another one for years. Now tha I have given them a second chance. I can really see how they are more accurate. There are still times and situations to use the spinner reel but I get a lot more enjoment out of a baitcaster now for sure. Hope this helps Victor

was the cheap ugly stick a baitcasting rod? Or was it the spinner bait that you were used to? I made that mistake onetime. Vicdotcom

I actually had the same choice to make just not to long ago. I actually went for the quantum in the 5:1 speed. Reason was because I threw a lot of crankbaits, I wanted the slower retrieve. But you really cant loose with either i think.

Hey everyone, I just wanted to gather some opinions on the differences between the red glass faceted beads and the smooth red ones. Is there any difference in the way they fish? anyone notice if one type gets more bites? I would think that the faceted ones refract more light but only at certain angles? Any thoughts? Thanks! Victor

I caught a clam one time and a snail that was the size of my fist. It was kinda gross actually. Vicdotcom

One thing that I found helpful when removing backlashs is this.. ( a little hard to describe though). I feed a little line back through the eye of the reel and release the spool to turn freely. After that I take up that small slack in the line over the reel and pull straight upwards while pulling the line out a little at the same time. The upwards pulling seems to help free the snags and tangles a lot easier. But I do use braided line so im unsure if it will work the same with mono. Vicdotcom

Hey I have a question for everyone, If you happen to be fishing and caught a huge lunker that might be a record but had no camera or anyway to document the fish, what would be the best thing to do? Return the fish? Bring it back with you (taking a chance of killing it) Note the spot and try again some other day? Vicdotcom

what helped me the most going from a spinning gear to a baitcaster was learning to let of of the line a little sooner than I would on a spinner. For the first 20-30 casts I was spiking the lure into the water not 10 feet away from me. But after I learned to let go of the trigger sooner than what I was used to, everything worked out great. Vicdotcom

Hey Patriot fisherman I just went for the purchase of my first decent baitcaster also and I have to say it is one of the best purchases I have made. My first one was actually when I first started fishing for bass and it was a 20$ combo special. It kept backlashing and I used strictly spinner reels for the next 4 years. After learning more, I decided to try again with some qualilty baitcasting gear and I never looked back since. I get MUCH more accurate casts and the backlashes have since stopped : ) But as I was shopping I got some good advice to get a lower ratio reel. I am not a tournament fisher and I love to use crankbaits and finese worms. So I was recommended against a 7:1 or a 6:1 gear ratio. Instead I went for a quantum energy 5:1 gear ratio for more control in my slower retrieves. This was the best advice I was ever given. So if I can pass along that advice I would recommend going for a lower gear ratio. Vicdotcom