BrianMDTX

I am bothered by strong scents. Used to be a serious cluster headache trigger. I may wear cologne 2xyear. Maybe.

Mono: Improved Clinch knot Braid-to-Leader: Lefty Kreh knot Mono backing to braid: double Uni knot

I’ve caught several turtles, but the weirdest was a pair of pink panties. About XXXXL in size. Absolutely no pics of those!

I just ordered some earlier today. I’m anxious to try it.

Try Dynamite Red. It’s a great winter color!

Old thread. Brought it back as it’s a bait you don’t hear much about. Yet…I love these things! I realize it was likely designed to be fished as a Neko rig (it is a Neko Macho!) and I have caught bass with them rigged as such. But I think it really shines as a weightless TR with a 3/0 EWG. It’s heavy enough to cast easily on a baitcaster. It casts accurately. It’s very forward-heavy so it has a great hopping action and the bulbous tail has a lot of action. But it also seems to get a lot of strikes on the fall, or even as soon as it hits the water. If you have not tried them, try them! My only “complaint” is that you may only catch one or two bass before you have to cut off the tip a bit and re-rig due to the plastic ripping. But I’m not overly concerned about that. I like Fat IKA’s as well, but I have more success with the Neko Macho. Good colors (for me) have been Watermelon Copper Orange w/Red Flake, Houdini, General’s Melon and Green Pumpkin w/Black Flake.

If you lose it…it’s structure!

Wanted to be out early as the weatherman said possible T-storms in the afternoon, but work issues kept me busy until 11:00. I wanted to fish from the boat but with limited time I opted to fish from the bank. Since it’s close to home, I brought five rods (3 spinning, 2 baitcasting), especially as I wanted to try my Fuego after the recent clean and lube job I completed a few days ago. I started off with a spinnerbait using the Fuego. No bites but everything worked well (almost lol. The handle started to wobble later in the day. I had to tighten the nut when I got home). Next was a jerkbait, a Whopper Plopper and a squarebill (no bites except one superdink tapped the WP). Tried a weightless Senko TR followed by Mann’s Jelly Worm TR (also a Zoom Trick) and a Ned rig. Nothing at all. I cut the squarebill off the Dobyns Fury/Tatula 100H and tied on a 3/0 Gamakutsu EWG and rigged the only Daiwa Yamamoto Neko Macho I had on me. Color is General’s Melon. I fished it for several minutes and got a strike. Not big but the first bass of 2023! Not long afterwards something hit it and ran fast as soon as it hit the water, but when I set the hook it was gone. Fished it for 15-20 minutes more and was ready to pack it in when I saw a fish strike something 2”-3” off the bank in heavy weeds. I figured what the heck and casted to that spot, hoping to catch the last dink of the day. Bam! It got hit. Hard. I set the hook and the fight was on. I knew it wasn’t a giant but definitely bigger than the first one. After a nice 20-30 second battle to get it out of the weeds, I had it in hand. My scale’s batteries decided to crap out so I couldn’t weigh it, but I’m guessing it was 2.5-3.0 lbs. Hooked it good in the lip. No damage and back in the water quick. I mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again. That Dobyns Fury 705CB may not be a rod one would use for that application per the specs, but I have caught several nice bass with it rigged with those hooks and either Neko Machos or Fat IKA’s. Every bass has been hooked solid. I like that set-up a lot.

So, all-in-all, not bad. I took pics every step of the way during disassembly and segregated the parts oriented as they were installed and in order. Wasn’t very dirty. Also wasn’t (in my opinion) well lubed, either. I greased all metal gears and shafts and oiled all bearings. I reinstalled all components and the reel works as it should. Still felt a little geary but the proof will be in fishing with it. The video I watched said not to grease the plastic gears. I’m wondering if that was a good idea (although I will say none of them had a lick of grease on them when I disassembled the reel).

I definitely have all the proper screwdrivers I’ll ever need lol. My “plan” is to disassemble the reel as much as required to oil and grease everything that requires cleaning and lubrication. I watched a video and as long as one takes their time (and makes sure they document how all parts are oriented prior to disassembly), it doesn’t look too bad.

Within the next day or so I will be cleaning and lubing my Daiwa Fuego CT. Over the summer I noticed it was starting to take increasing effort to crank in spinnerbaits, etc. I have oil and grease arriving tomorrow and I have all the tools required. I definitely plan on taking scores of pics as I progress to ensure what comes off goes back on correctly. Hopefully all it needs is cleaning and lubing.

I’d say no. Unless you consider your thumb as the brake. Then…yes!

I’m in 100% agreement with the Daiwa Revros kudos. I have two- a LT2000 and a LT2500. They are great spinning reels for the $$. Rods? It’s hard to beat an Aird-X for that price.

So, it’s actually Fishmas, so I opened my gift, which came from @Darth-Baiter I could not tell what it was until I opened the box. It’s a (at least to me) a big swimbait- a Jack All Gantarel Jr. I say “to me” as I do not have many lures of 1 oz. or heavier. This may be a great bait in the spring. I’m guessing I should use my HF baitcaster with this sucker! And it came with a handwritten letter which was nice. D-B, I hope it catches a big ol’ gal! Thanks!

Sorry to hear about your brother. From one vet, my condolences.

My sent Fishmas finally shipped almost a week after I ordered it. Hope it gets there before Christmas. I received mine but won’t open it until 12/25.

They just want your honey holes! ?

Only have a baitcasting Lowrider. If the spinning rods are similar, I bet it’s a real nice rod.

I’m with you. I never open gifts early.

Could you imagine hooking a 5 lb. bluegill? I truly believe that, pound for pound, bluegills have more fight than any other freshwater fish in North America. They never give up. Big 1 lb. bluegills on a ML or L rod are extremely fun to catch. And they are excellent table fare! Way better than bass!

I learned cursive all through grade school. Mine was so bad Sr. Rose Raymond had my mom buy a composition book with dashed lines in the middle so I would learn to keep my lower case letters properly sized. I’ve always been an outside-the-lines kinda guy lol. Without cursive, how can you have a signature?

If I'm fishing a Texas rig with a bullet weight, I'm using my baitcaster. If I'm fishing a weightless TR, I'm using a spinning rig.

Thanks. Getting a little nervous with Army down 10-7 with about 9:00 left to play lol.

I’ve never used a M/XF with a jerkbait. I’m taking a SWAG that it may have helped (the bass, not me!). Didn’t seem to bother the other two, but they were nowhere near as big. Thanks. It was fun. Heartbreaking, but fun! ?

I haven’t posted here in a while because A-I haven’t had the opportunity to fish much lately; and B-when I did, I had nothing to post about lol. But I got out a couple hours today, just from the bank. It was interesting. I brought three spinning rigs. A M/F, a M/XF and a ML/XF. I had a 3/0 EWG tied onto the ML/XF, a 1/0 octopus circle on the M/F, and for some reason that I cannot fathom, I tied on a jerkbait on the M/XF. I started with the jerkbait, and after a few casts, I caught this 1.64 lb. bass. I then tried a few different soft plastics to no avail on the ML/XF and then a WR on the M/F. Nothing. I put a squarebill on the M/F and again…zilch. So I went back to the jerkbait. It’s a Googan Squad Scout 4 in Pro Blue, and it’s the best-producing jerkbait I’ve tried. I casted it out several times and then I got hammered. I started playing the fish and it started to come up to jump. It was (was) the nicest bass I’ve hooked all year. Guaranteed 5 lbs, may have been 6. I saw it’s gaping maw about 8” under the water and then I saw my jerkbait sailing away. That’s when I facepalmed thinking “why the hell did you use a M/XF on a jerkbait, dummy!” But I casted right back out trying to see if I could catch him again. I didn’t. But another bass about the same size as the first hit it. I should be kicking myself, but as I haven’t sniffed a bass over 2 lbs in quite a while, I’m happy just knowing a big gal is still there. But I’ll have that jerkbait tied on a M/F next time. Or a M/M baitcaster.