BrianMDTX

I find it hilarious that carbon has basically eliminated aluminum when it comes to arrows (especially for bowhunting), and aluminum users (me!) are looked at like some aged weirdos who can’t get with the times. Yet in bass fishing, aluminum frame reels are top-shelf and carbon framed are looked at as a lesser product. I know. Apples and oranges. But still, it makes me chuckle.

I think you are dead-on with that assessment.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. In the Age of COVID, it may be difficult to find things to be thankful for when there is so much turmoil and uncertainty. But other than the standard (yet oh so important) things like health and family, I will say that I am extremely thankful that I Googled “bass fishing” earlier this year and happened upon some bass fishing site called bassresource.com. I’ve been a member of several hunting forums and learned quite a few tricks and techniques that upped my deer hunting, but I’ve never been a member of a forum where I learned so many new things that didn’t “up my game”, it radically changed and improved my bass fishing success in orders of magnitude. And still continues to do so. With folks more than willing to share their knowledge. Happy Thanksgiving Bass Resource!

sideways, like you, I went on a hiatus. A long one. Almost 30 years. I got married in 1989 and then got into deer hunting, especially bowhunting, big time. With a Sept-Jan season in Maryland, I decided to let spring and summer be more family time. And truth be told, I was never that successful catching decent green or brown bass then. My PB was likely about 2.5 lbs. I moved to Texas (Houston area) last summer for work. I noticed there was a 2-3 acre pond right up the street but never had a chance to fish it until this April. All I had was a 50 year old Mitchell 300 spinner on a fiberglass Eagle Claw rod, a 50 year old Shakespeare 2052 spinner on a UL Cabela’s graphite rod, a 40 year old Daiwa Millionaire 3H on a fiberglass Berkeley rod and a selection of 40-50 year old tackle. First trip out I caught a new PB of almost 4 lbs. Shortly after I caught another new PB between 6-7 lbs. That’s when I decided I needed to upgrade lol. Since then I bought two Abu Garcia Black Max baitcasters- one on Daiwa Aird X AIRX661MfB and the other on a AIRX701MHFB, a Daiwa Revros LT2500 spinner on a Fenwick HMX66MH-FS-2, a Shimano Sienna 2500 on a Daiwa Procyon PCYN661MXS, and am awaiting my Daiwa Fuego FGCT100XS to put on a Fenwick HMX76H-FC. Also bought scads of new lures and tackle as well as a Sea Eagle Packfish7 inflatable boat to get me out in the water. It’s been an experience learning new techniques with new gear compared to 1990, and this site has helped tremendously. I’ve caught more (and bigger) bass in 8 months than I have in my life. I’m so happy I decided to try that pond! Good of luck to you as you get back into fishing! One thing I have to be grateful for on this Thanksgiving Day!

That’s the same thing that happened to me two days ago. I switched to a 5” Senko weightless TR on my baitcaster and my first cast went (I thought) too tight to the shoreline and over some reeds. As soon as it sank it got slammed. Sometimes they fool you!

Congrats and Happy Birthday!

If I did that, a 5 lb bass would look like a dink!

I plan on it!

Ugh. One is bad. Two is a nightmare!

Nice fish! Congrats on the new PB!

Well...yes and no. Yes, your reel will tell you when it needs cleaning and (especially) lubrication. But preventative maintenance is performed to reduce or eliminate a component reaching the stage it “tells you” something requires maintenance. Let’s agree that none of us wait to change motor oil and filters in our car or truck engines until it tells us it needs oil lol.

Mineral spirits followed by an isopropyl alcohol rinse. I would never use brake cleaner. Get it in or on the wrong components and it may damage it. Frankly, coming from an aviation and automotive maintenance background, I think many overservice their reels. Keep them clean and dry and don't submerge them and you should be able lightly oil them from time to time and maybe do a deep clean every 2-3 years, depending on severity of use. They're not top fuel dragster engines lol.

Tuxies are special. We had a grey/white Tuxedo for 17 years and when she passed, we got Fresca. She was only 13 when she passed due to cancer. They are great cats. A week later we heard that this kitten climbed under the hood of a car in MS and wasn’t discovered until a rest stop in LA. Upon reaching TX, we adopted her. Turned out to be a “him” lol. Named him Harry after my wife’s maternal grandfather and because my oldest daughter loves Harry Potter lol. When we went to pick her (him) up, this one was too good to pass up. I think he’s got some Siamese in him as he’s a talker. Named him Boh (from Natty Boh, a local beer from back home in MD). Besides, Harry needed a playmate. Would’ve drive the other 13 year-old cat Amber nuts lol.

I feel your pain. We lost her in June. Still miss her bad.

Same for me. I run about 50%-50% baitcasters and spinning rigs in my inflatable boat.

My guess is that some simply prefer fishing with baitcasters over spinning rigs. But that’s a big preference considering the cost difference!

Yes, it’s a dink. But...it’s likely the first bass I’ve caught in November in my life. September to January has always been deer hunting, and IMHO, too cold in Maryland for my taste for fishing this late in the year. Texas is a different story. I stopped at the pond after work. Minimum gear. One spinning rig with a 5” Senko in green pumpkin wacky rig, and a purple Zoom Mag 2 Texas rig with a 1/4 oz. weight. Nothing on the WR and wasn’t feeling it with the ribbon tail worm. I switched to a weightless TR with a 5” Senko in watermelon with copper and orange and red flake (likely my favorite color) and made a sorry cast over some standing reeds. No matter. It hit the water and the line went running. Good fight from a small bass! Missed two more from the same spot. I’ll be back!

Yes 1- started earlier than April 2- kept at certain lures longer to see if they produce (I tend to fall back on known producers vs sticking with new baits that may catch bass) 3- started earlier than April lol

Same to you and yours, Tom.

I thought that may be the case. To be frank, he was a little “extreme” in my opinion.

That’s a nice piece of walnut!

I always try and take pics holding the bass as close to my body as I can. You can always tell when someone is trying to make a fish look bigger than it really is. Don’t get me started on bucks, bulls and bruins lol.

Mine are in a spiral binder, but every box has a label listing load date, cartridge, bullet weight and type, powder type and weight of charge, primer size, bullet seating depth and OAL of cartridge.

@NHBull, I agree with you. I just was surprised that some of those young bucks (of whom some were a little cocky about waiting to qualify due to their shooting skills) shot so poorly. I think one got a little miffed as I had an extra 9mm-sized hole in the bottom left of my target lol.

When I qualified in Texas last year, they would not us photograph or keep the target. The instructor said it was so there was no “proof” of how well (or poorly) one qualified in case of any legal action if involved in a shooting one day down the road. Don’t know if that was just his “thing” or if it’s a Texas thing. I was in a class of 16-17 people. All males except one female. She brought a 5-shot revolver. Everyone else had semi-auto pistols. Most of the men were a lot younger than me (20’s and 30’s) with modern Glocks, Sigs, Rugers, etc.). I brought my almost 30 year-old Star Firestar M-45 single-action .45 ACP. Most of those younger dudes looked at my pistol like it was a relic. I looked at some of their targets while we qualified. Many of these shooters were ex-military and had recently been in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. To be frank, they were not good shooters with their high-tech 9mm’s. My “ancient” single-stack compact .45 ACP shot light’s out, and I am much more the rifleman than a pistol shooter. I mainly carry a Kahr K9 as that all-steel Firestar is heavy, and a DAO is IMO inherently safer, but that Firestar is one nice shooting pistol for sure.