newapti5

I was watching the new Star Trek series, and saw this interesting fishing scene on tonight's episode - someone on the production team is a bass angler I guess. Is that Revo X? (Correction: it's a BPS house brand Megacast reel without the logo) Anyway, you need to put more line on it, pal. Come on, who puts a t-rig and a spinnerbait on a hat? A snap, a swivel, and a couple of split shot weights on a mid-crank. Again with that stupid hat. They even put a frog on the back I think. That's not what we call two-handed casting, man.

Speaking of bargain, I'd digress a bit and argue this Shimano Engetsu is a real bargain right now on Amazon Japan, if you use left-handed reels. For $129 tyd, it uses the last gen Curado 70 frame, and reinforces it with metal sideplate, micromodule, and a beautiful 102mm power handle. Although it doesn't have MGL, the shallow spool makes up for the total spool weight - although labeled as 100 size, it's actually less than 70 size, so the total spool weight, with 70 yards of 0.30mm fluoro, is just 22 gram, quite good at casting light lures. And it has a clicking drag, a nice feature not so common for Shimano reels. And it is a saltwater reel, with better spool bearings.

Ouch! Similar things happened to me; far less severe though. But yeah, short handles/knobs is the culprit.

I've also tried BPS's version, and for uncertain reasons, they're less effective than Nikko's.

I personally have to have longer handles and larger knobs, especially the latter. There had been many occasions that my hand slipped off small knobs during the excitement of fighting a fish or catching up with it.

I got this RigRap Ceramax Super Cutters when it was on sale. It never gets rusted, quite effective and durable for cutting braid lines and living rubber jig skirts.

Yep. Some wives of the group members are already planning a whole shopping trip out of it.

Similar experience happened to me once, and the other guy was mad for sure. I apologized and explained that I truly didn't see him, but he didn't seem to believe me. Anyway, lesson learned, now when I bank fishing a spot, I always look around thoroughly first.

Thanks! Yeah that charter captain may be more experienced, but I am just not very comfortable with the payment process. So I changed to another one for afternoon fishing, and he only charges on the day of the trip as yours. Yes I asked, and the new captain said not much differences between early morning and night during the summer. The early captain with the strict payment method, he may have more years of experience as he's older, but I can't take the risk of messing up the holiday trip for the whole group. Maybe I will check him out next time with a smaller group of people.

Thanks for the advice, Mike. Yeah, I just talked to another charter captain at the same area, and they do credit cards for sure. Now the problem is the morning trip is already booked for that day, and we can only book the afternoon trip for striped bass fishing. Which one is better for striped bass fishing now at the Chesapeake Bay? The morning or the afternoon/night? If morning is much better, then I will have to ask everyone in the group to pick another date...

No idea how he did business back then, but judging from the reviews and photos from the booking agent site, I think he was doing well back then. Yeah I would ask him if PayPal is doable for the deposit. The problem is, our group has 16 people, and there aren't many big boats available for that date now. Otherwise I'll contact others for sure.

I was trying to book a charter boat for a church group fishing trip during July 4th holiday, and found this charter boat via the fishingbooker.com. It's got good reviews on the booking site, but when I contacted the captain, he told me that due to gas price, they no longer accept bookings via third party agents. So I called him directly, and he suggested booking the trip with them directly. OK no problem, I could understand that. But then he sent me this deposit instruction, saying due to gas price, they don't accept credit cards anymore and "have terminated our business arrangements with all third party payment processors." I'll have to deposit $200 with personal/business check only (payable to a person, not business), and pay the rest with cash on the date of the trip. Is this normal among charter boat business now? I don't have problem paying cash later on the trip day, but I'd rather pay the $200 deposit via PayPal, even cover the 4% PayPal payment fees myself so that I have at least some payment protection. This is the first time I deal with them. I will go with other captains if I could, but our group has 16 people and no many boat choices left for that holiday. Am I thinking too much? Thanks!

Got my beautiful swim jigs order today, AND something extra. Thanks Mike, for another great order!

Yeah 5:1 is what I would go, but 6:1 is fine as well. It's not as effortless as 5:1, but it won't tire you out that easy either.

In that case, IMO a 200 size Curado K is fine for that as well, if you want to stay in Shimano camp. Outside of that, Daiwa's Zillion HD/Catalina SV, Lew's Superduty, Abu's Revo Winch, they are all good. The new Bantam would come out around July/August, according to Shimano's plan, and the JDM version would probably be around $300, maybe less.

250 budget could get a nice used one from Japan nowadays.

I would wait for the new Bantam, and get the more affordable JDM version. Deep cranking needs power instead of heavy line, and the new Bantam has that "infinite drive" feature to give you round reel power.

I am gonna list my C4 up for sale soon, hopefully this month.

Looks nice. A total weight of 6.3oz with aluminum frame and sideplates (plural), the main gear is likely aluminum as well.

I prefer to let the fish tell me: If I start to tear up their mouth and lose them, the drag is a little too tight; if fish start to jump free of the hook easily, the drag is a little too loose.

Right on time. I was just thinking about getting some swimming jigheads yesterday.

Sometimes, but I mostly use it on summer time, when the water level and flow are both low, especially during those bright blue-bird days, so not many occasions that I need to adjust the weight. During the spring time when the river/creek level is up and the flow is fast, I usually find other lures more effective. If I do use it in spring, I would cast it to eddies and calmer waters, and use a 1/8oz jighead if needed. As you know, susquehanna's bottom is big boulders and small rocks, but I found a 3/32~1/8oz jighead with weed guard could keep the Nikko Hellgrammite closer to the bottom but much less prone to snags, so I can fish it slow, instead of only drifting it in front of a fish for a reaction bite.

I like the Nikko one the best, durable and realistic. On summer days, it's like irresistible candy to smallies. I use a 3/32oz VMC finesse weedless jighead to rig it, fishing the rocky bottom of the shallow river and creeks.

I have tried out several brands of Chinese made carbon handles, and I agree with others - Lixida is cheap but so-so on quality; Gomexus is great quality but expensive. Other than those two, you can also try Kawa, Ray's studio, and other brands. The one I like the most is this less-known brand of HEIGHTEN. Their carbon handle is well made with good quality material, strong but the lightest one that I've used. And it's only $15, with all the accessories you'll need. If you also need the knobs, this ARTSEA brand provides a good quality handle AND knobs at a low price as well. Each knob has 2 bearings inside, and there's zero gap/flex between the knob and the handle, a production detail that is better than most Shimano and Daiwa reels.