BrianMDTX

I’d probably drive it more lol

That's my plan. I just need to find a local place to hunt. I need blood in the bed! That's how I was. I bought a new vehicle every two years. I put 120K + miles on every two years. I did drive this truck over that by almost a year, but that was stretching it. Winter driving kills trucks and cars.

I would agree 100% if it was my daily driver. Or I used it to tow a boat, camper, etc. But it’s strictly a weekend or vacation time truck now, or a spare if one of our daily drivers is in the shop. I think I’ve put less than 2000 miles on it in the past 3 years.

If that don’t fit with chasin’ bass, nothing does!

I love me some Texas Radio and the Big Beep (The Wasp). But gotta be careful who overhears that nowadays!

I replaced the water pump, timing chain and all the pulleys and tensioners, alternator and had the rear end rebuilt about a year and a half ago. Also replaced both front hubs and the ball joints, tie rod ends, front shocks and U-joints just before that. Other than rust, it’s mostly new components. I used to drive it 130 miles a day to work, but in 2014 (when gas was close to $4.00/gal), I bought a 2014 Mazda 6 for the cost savings in fuel. Since then it’s been a hunting, junkyard, firewood, get appliances and (now) fishing truck. Putting 1,000 miles a year on the old Dodge is a lot now lol. On my 3rd Mazda 6 though. Traded the ‘14 on a ‘16, then a ‘18. But my commute in Texas is so much shorter this one will stay for longer. Heck, in April and May when no one was on the roads due to the ‘rona, I was averaging over 45 mpg and actually got over 51 mpg on a 30 mile commute. As good as a hybrid!

Screw a small hook (like you would screw into a wall to hang a broom) into a tree (if permissible) and attach a ball bearing swivel to it. If you can’t do that, run a piece of line around a tree and tie the swivel off to it. Tie your line off to the other end of the swivel. Walk back until almost all the line is off the spool (either backreeling using the AR switch or open the bail and let it spool out). Close the bail. Put tension on the line and hold it for 2 or 3 minutes. Then slowly reel the line back on the spool while under tension. That will remove any twisting.

You beat me to it. Change the mechanics of the casting motion. That will reduce strain.

I really still love my 2005 Dodge Ram QC 1500 4x4. 175K miles and still runs great. Just put a new performance exhaust on it on Tuesday (old one was rusted out) and replaced the rear shocks today. The sad part is that now that it’s in Texas after one year in Michigan and 13 in Maryland, is that it shows the ravages of road salt. The trucks here look pristine. But I’m going to grind off the flakes and spray it with Rust-oleum Rust Reformer (when it cools down in fall lol) which will be a big help. No truck payments for nine years is a big plus. Yeah, no Bluetooth, or a digital display screen, backup camera, etc. But it’s a workhorse and has gotten me through some deep winter snows and hauled many a buck and doe out of the woods. Now it will haul my Sea Eagle inflatable boat to the pond. I just need a new rear bumper. That’s rusted out, too lol.

Shipped yesterday and due on 07/14. Should be on the water on July 18th! Already got my Onyx Kayak fishing vest so I’m good to go! It’s got two rod holders (one on each side), but thinking about getting some PVC pipe, tee fittings and elbows so each holder can hold two rods so I’ll be able to take four rods out. Two months ago I would have said taking four rods was nuts. Now it’s not enough lol. Between all of you and that d**n monkey, I’ve been on a spree!

Sometimes you just gotta shock the monkey!

I’ve noticed that as well. I also think that back in the day, anglers tended to cast more weight (either heavy lures or sinkers for live bait) that tended to reduce loops. Plus, skirted spools can really foul line when caught under the spool, which IMO is way worse than with an internal spool like a Mitchell 300.

Hook2Jaw, that was excellent. Bravo, sir! My haunted bass was just on June 21st. I put a weightless 7” purple worm on a 3/0 EWG hook and cast it out. I’d like to tell you the exact worm it was, but as it has been in my old (now-departed) Flambeau tackle box for 40-45 years, I don’t know who made it. As soon as it started to sink the line started running. I was using a Garcia Black Max with 12 lb YZH on a Fenwick HMX MF rod, and I reeled in the slack and set the hook. The bass started running and the rod bent. I knew it was big. I had just caught my PB in May that was between 6-7 lbs (over 22”) and it felt bigger than that. I got it in close to shore, and it jumped. I saw the bucketmouth and before I could say OMG, the line went slack and the bass, as well as my worm, was gone. Just getting back into the game, I decided that maybe a MF was not enough to drive home 3/0 and 4/0 hooks, so I went right out and bought a Daiwa Aird X MHF rod. The next two bass I hooked...stayed hooked. But not that big, though. I’ll be honest and say that (to me), it still pales in comparison to the 140-class 10 point I called up the ridge with a Bleat-N-Heat can to within 15 yards, and missed clean when the bowstring hit my coveralls while I shot from a kneeling position. Watching him slowly walk off will give me nightmares until I breathe my last breath.

I have 8 lb on spinning reels and 12 lb on baitcasters. I do use KVD. So far, no knot failures (easy to tie). Casts well. Have used it as a leader on braid as well.

Thanks for the responses. Free is great, unless it's more trouble than it's worth. Sounds like it will likely do a good job for tossing weightless TR and dropshotting. Now all I need is the rod lol.

I stopped at Walmart this afternoon to get my wife a birthday card for her B-day today. I. Slowly. Passed. The. Fishing. Section. Darn. I bought a pack of Berkeley Powerbait Power Worms in junebug. I couldn’t resist.

Or...buy flowers and take her out for a night on the town!

I was surprised it had an AR switch. Took a minute to find it lol, but it has one. Reading on here, it seems many Shimano spinning reels don’t have them. Like I said...free. If it lasts a year I’m out squat lol. Seems relatively decent though.

Have an Aird X MHF casting rod and now a MF spinning rod on the way. They are great rods for the $$.

There is a line tie. That treble hook rig has an eye at the end where it comes up from below (2nd pic). I’m thinking it’s used to attach some sort of dead bait (with those crimp ends) and the treble rig is threaded onto (into) the bait. Maybe to liven up the action? I searched a while and could not even find a pic of anything similar, other than the ruby eyes on an Eppinger spoon.

I just received a Shimano Sienna today. The owner’s manual states that if used in salt water to gently rinse off the reel will no pressure.

I get that. Part of “growing up” is forgetting what it felt like to be a kid. An adult would say “Great! You found someone to go fishing with you. Have fun!” A child may not. I guess the best way to handle this is to have a talk with your son about it. Maybe bring up that this other kid really wants to learn to fish from you because you can teach him what others can’t. Then ask him what he’d like to do with you and do that first.

I think a 5” Senko is 3/8 oz. My baitcasters will toss them well, and I can adjust the spool tension so that when I press the thumb bar, they drop at a decent weight and stop with no backlash. What is the exact model of that reel?

I had some award points to cash in through a work program, and fishing tackle choices were limited. The only fishing reel was a Sienna 2500. I figured if it was free, why not? Pairing it with a Daiwa Aird X 701MFS rod (free also). Plan on spooling it with 8 lb YZH. I realize it’s a bottom-tier spinning reel, whether it says Shimano on the side or not. But I was pleasantly surprised with a less than $50.00 Daiwa Revros 2500, so maybe this will surprise me as well. Anyone have any experience with this reel? The Daiwa is my finesse rig usually set up with a 1/0 octopus hook for weightless wacky rigs. What would you recommend as a good set-up for this combo for fishing small to medium ponds that average 5’-10’ in depth?

Nice bass. Those rocks look rough, though.