Yuddzy

Do you ever use the particularly old reels? The "knucklebusters," as they say. I saw a mint Pfleuger Skilkast No. 1953 with box, manual, etc come up on eBay for $35 a short while back, but couldn't justify it. It was beautiful though, mirror polish and all. I think it even had oil for some sort of braking system.

I wonder if sealer would help hold it together? Not that you should need to do such things anyway. Best of luck with your future rods. Mine feels okay so far, time will tell I suppose.

I have one that I've only caught pike on so far, despite throwing mostly Texas Rigs. I'll go fishing from shore today, see what happens. There's some decent rocky drop offs I could probably flutter a Senko down.

As someone who just bought a 7' MH Fenwick HMX, this whole thread made me visibly frown, and then I got to this post. Noooooooooo ))): At least it's under warranty for 5 years? I'm really hoping mine just lasts, I don't want to be buying a replacement for a new rod.

Have you been banned from Bikeforums by chance? Speaking of wax, @bulldog1935, you're familiar with how many opt to wax their bicycle chains rather than use some other form of lubricant. Claims generally include mention of "long lasting" and "doesn't collect road debris" or something similar. Would utilizing this wax treatment on the worm gear and pawl of a baitcast reel finally solve the issue of how to lubricate this part? Grease collects too much junk, oil washes away and needs frequent relubing because it's thin. Perhaps waxing is the ticket to keep it well lubricated and clean?

Seems a bit like reinventing the wheel. I'll believe it when I see it.

I reckon some people said similar things about monofilament? The only thing I dislike about braid is that you need to buy heavy poundage to get an equal diameter line, which can be a nuisance to snap off when you need to. Otherwise, I don't see why it would completely lose viability in exactly 10 arbitrary years?

You can use any sort of clear coat you desire for this application, I don't think it matters much. Either spray or wipe on polyurethane will be fine, after taping up areas you don't want clear coated. I don't think it'll make a lot of difference in the fish you catch though? The paint scrapes on lures seem to be cosmetic in my experience, without much impact on actual effectiveness. I have a Rapala Fat Rap with a majority of the paint scraped off the bottom of it, but it still seems to catch fish the same. YMMV as always.

This is clearly a lie, no one would simply give away free Velveeta or Spam. That's 5 star camping trip slop right there fella. Giving away Miracle Whip I could believe. That stuff is wack.

Echoing the other comments, I can say rocky points and dropoffs have proven to be effective as well when fishing for both Smallmouth and Rock Bass, in my experience. I even caught both my PB Smallmouth and Rock Bass along rocky dropoffs near shore.

One thing to consider if you're fishing at night is bird's-nests in your baitcaster, especially if you don't have good eyes and/or lights to assist in clearing them up. My first time ever using a casting reel was at night, fishing from the shoreline. I spent around an hour out there casting, and around 45 minutes of it was fixing blown up spools. I don't recommend the experience. Simply put, fixing backlashes at night can be a pain just due to lower visibility. They're also a bit more likely to happen at night. Bringing a spare rod and a good headlamp alleviates most of the issue. Good luck out there fellas.

I would stick to 12-14# mono until you're totally comfortable with the baitcaster, Berkeley Big Game line works well and can be bought in large spools. There's some debate about whether or not backing is needed due to many spools having holes to tie onto initially. I'd use monofilament backing to fill the spool up until you hit a point where you'd like your mainline to start, since that line won't be used anyway. (Keep your spool full, don't run it empty. Mono backing reminds you to replace your mainline.)

This is what I was looking for. Keep that spool full and your IPT should actually be quite good, which negates a lot of that slower ratio. The paragraph below gives a ball park? I'm fishing a 4600C3 Ambassadeur with a 5.3:1 ratio and I don't find it too slow at all, especially for cranking. I believe the IPT is something like 26" according to the tackle direct listing for it. A 4.7:1 should be around 22" or so based on that?

Phil, as a younger fellow who wasn't around to see older fishing technology, but has an eye for the vintage equipment, I always appreciate your accounts of fishing in the past. You paint a good picture, I can really imagine someone out there with a stiff steel rod making a rather vicious hookset, swinging for the fences to hook a regular bass. Would you say the issue with older hooks was due to sharpness, shape, or something else?

If you've been fishing casting reels for 28 years, why bother with the DC at all? Your thumb is way more than enough by this point with that much practice. If it ain't working, I'd move on from it and put the money towards an upper end reel. (Call back to the thread where you mentioned that mid-range doesn't quite entice you)

It only matters how it feels to you. Weight aside, if it feels good, keep it around. If not, move on. Fish whatever feels right to you, regardless of how subjective that may be. 1 ounce wouldn't bother me personally, but an off balance rod surely would.

I'd vote for a Fenwick HMX 7' MH/F rod ($80) paired with a Daiwa Fuego CT ($100) Spend the last twenty dollars on a pack of Yum Dingers, Bullet Sinkers, and EWG hooks to break it all in.

Fellas, it's been great in here, but I need to go Swiffer my kitchen and eat some rotisserie chicken afterwards. I hope AmmoGuy someday finds the price point where reels feel worthwhile and consistent in quality for the price. ??

What exactly results in some reels having more noise than others within the exact same model? Gears cut not quite right? Spacing not quite correct? I've always wondered what little thing goes askew in the manufacturing process that causes this noticeable difference in noise.

That's where it gets really tricky I suppose. There's some simple reels that are built remarkably well in upper price ranges, despite not having all of the "advanced features" of reels typically in that price range. The Ambassadeur C3/C4 reels are a good example, they're around $130 if I remember right. Not many bells and whistles on those and a lower bearing count to boot as compared to a typical $130 reel. To answer your question, I would never consider the Calcutta to be lower end. I'm biased because I love simple, well made things rather than complex items. The Calcutta embodies that well, and will likely outlive many reels in it's price point if I had to guess.

The only productive direction for this thread to go would be to produce a detailed list of features typically found in the upper end reels mentioned that are not found in the lower end reels so we can make some sort of objective analysis as to whether or not the price gap is warranted.

If you don't feel that these upper priced reels are improving your experience in any tangible way as compared to less expensive options, then you're right: you shouldn't buy them. Most reels we can buy today are more than capable of catching fish in my opinion. I can pick up an inexpensive reel to use knowing full well that the reel has nothing to do with my lack of catching fish so long as it carries out the tasks of a reel in the first place. We buy fancier reels because we enjoy the craftsmanship, looks, feel, long-term durability, warranties, etc. You should simply buy whichever reels are enjoyable to fish with. If you don't notice a difference between a $99 reel and a $200 reel, then buy that $99 reel and fish it with a smile on your face. Fishing gear is very subjective, buy what makes you want to fish more for the best price; whether that means you wind up with a Lews Speed Spool LFS or a Daiwa Zillion.

Interesting. I suppose U-40 would be pretty similar to a spar varnish? By the way, the 4600C3 that you walked me through doing a total clean/service on is working great. Still getting familiar with the reel, caught 6 Northern on it a couple days ago amidst the cottonwood fluff covering the lake. It's a real winch. Cork must be more durable than I figured. Do you find your cork takes on fishy scents over time or not much at all?

I have a new rod with cork handles. After seeing some rods with crumbled and/or dirty cork grips, I'm wondering about preserving the handles on mine. I imagine leaving them bare causes breakdown, discoloration, or fish scent to "stain" the cork. (Especially pike slime) U40 seems very popular. There is not much on the forum about waxing cork handles and I'm curious about this as an alternative.

It's sickening the amount of junk that people leave behind. If we all did our part in cleaning up after ourselves it would be easy to keep our lakes clean and healthy. Unfortunately, there's always bad apples that have no regard for shared areas or nature. Thank you to everyone out there who cleans up their trash, and double thank you to those who clean up after others.