WRB-2.0

There are several well known brands with good warranty and customer service to choose from; Dobyn's , St Croix, etc. My suggestion is look at a custom rod from someone like ALX rods before making an off the self rod decision. If you choose a Dobyn's 735C, check with Valley Sports for P & D. Tom

Most states encourage calling and have a tip phone number to call for illegal fishing and hunting activity. Tom

Totally agree with Catt on this. Tournaments are about winning money, stay what works for you, catching bass is the only pattern you should be concerned with. Tom

You are right the Gary plant still hangs in there.Tom

Interesting thought process. The T wing is a gimmick, so now your are a reel engineer. There have been several designs trying to improve the level wind from slowing down line leaving the reel spool from the narrow spool designs to disengaging the the level wind and widening or elongating the level wind guide. So you believe the T wing is nothing more than a gimmick!Amazing, Tom

Starting about 1980 the US shut down metal processing plants starting with steel mills, no steel is made in the US today. The Barry amendment requires stainless steel to be domestic or made in partnering countries in western Europe and Japan, if used in military products. does not apply to steel, brass or aluminum. The reason for the Berry amendment was product failures related to counterfeit SST metal. Engineering thermoplastics used in reels or any other product are no longer made in the US, they are off shore companies today. Fishing reels are not critical products, therefor no concern with what is used to manufacture them other than consumer pressure where price controls the market. If you think consumer products are US manufactured you are probably mistaken, possibly some assembly is domestic. Today's reels far exceed the legacy reels in design and performance, we are no longer in control of what we make or purchase regrading made in the USA. Tom

Most bass anglers prefer to use traditional baitcasting tackle and use spinning tackle only when fishing light (4-8#) line presentations. When you use light weight lures 1/8 oz or less it can be difficult to make accurate casts with a baitcaster, lot easier with spinning tackle. Baiticasting reel is more accurate with 3/16 and up weight lures and bass fishing is often about making accurate cast. It is also difficult to keep in contact with your lure using spinning tackle because you can't feel the line as easy as a baitcaster. The only pro angler I know of who using spinning tackle exclusively is Gary Yamamoto, all others go with baitcasting first, spinning second. Tom

That is the 2nd time I made that mistake, think I would learn! The problem with China made products is materials used. I am sure the manufacturers are supplying certified metals, it getting the Chinese to use them. The difference between made in Sweden and some assembly in Sweden is a fine line. Whatever in today's world you never know what you are getting. Tom

The chemical was more than likely blue stone (copper sulfate) being poorly distributed by unskilled folks. Killing a carp is hard to do! Tom

If 3 gear ratio's is a priority, then add Shimano Curado I series to your list. Also look at site sponsor Valley Sports for P & D before buying. TT didn't treat the Tatula R series with a good review, although it is a better reel, the ? Was it worth the extra $. The R series comes in 8.1:1 ratio and worth considering.

Abu is planning to re-launch making the above reels this year, 2014. There is a few Swedish made Abu reels, very, very difficult to get them, not for general public use and expensive.The OP said his reels are vintage models and they were made in Sweden. It's not easy to find fresh bass reels made in the US today, they are made China, Korea, Japan, etc. Diawa Tatula series reels are made in China, not Japan and are good solid reels. Like everyone else I would like to find a decent U S made bass reel, Ardent was but no longer. Tom

Barlows Tackle offers dozens of jigs in 1/8 oz, go online and look at their catalog. Tom

If you bought a Abu reel since 2005, it's made in a China.Tom

Spinning or casting rod?

Don't be naive, lock up everything and keep a low profile, out of sight is out of mind. If you don't have locked storage compartments, get locks! More thrift occurs at the launch ramp by your fellow angers than you can imagine! Lock your boat trailer onto your vehicle, never trust anyone around your gear unless you don't want it. Tom

The wooden Black Dog shell cracker is $55 and excellent bluegill swimbait. The G2 shell cracker is plastic, smaller and $20. Today's hot wake bait or surface is ABL Dirty Donkey, similar to the wooden original Lunker Punker, $57. Tom PS, always buy 2 or more!

We call this technique strolling or dragging, both illegal for tournaments, can't move the lure using the boat! The split shot rig is ideal for this presentation. Tom

There are several types of bass boat anglers, the majority never fish further away from the shore line than a long casting distance and focus on visual structure and cover, I call them bank pounders.The bank pounder may have sonar/GPS units and use them to keep in a specific depth range or find there way to or from the fishing area. The sonar/GPS is more of a status symbol and under utilized with bank pounders. Another class of boater is always looking for bass and tends to run and gun all over the lakes, 15 minutes here, 10 minutes there, may use the sonar unit or may not and make a few dozen casts then move on. I will call these anglers weekend warriors. The boaters that know the lake and have a handle on what's is going on tend to fish slower and use their sonar/GPS units to locate baitfish, isolate small structure areas and stay on spots longer. These anglers fish anywhere the bass are located, near or off shore and are aware of the topography of the lake, use both electronic and paper maps. I will call these skilled bass anglers, often tournament anglers. The boaters that have and use sonar/GPS, don't move around often and camp out waiting for bass to become active in a high percentage area are different then the tournament angler, these are trophy bass anglers. The type of angler your boater is will dictate where and how you fish. if you are the boater and want to learn how to use sonar/GPS units, then you need to study maps and learn how to use your electronics. You can save a lot of time by hiring a skilled bass guide who teaches using sonar units. Like everything else in bass fishing time on the water is the best teacher. Bottom structure elements, abrupt depth changes and baitfish presence are things that can be found using simple sonar in combination with a map. The easiest structure element to find is a point of land that runs under water out into the lake, you simply follow the point ridge and fish the top and sides until you find bass. Depth where the bass are active feeding becomes very important because you can fish that same depth anywhere a point is located on the lake. Be aware of there are other factors at that depth like rocks, brush, aquatic vegetation, wind direction etc. If you go to a swimming pool that has 8 to 10 feet of water, stand at the shallow end and cast your C-rig or a jig to the deep end and count down the seconds it take to hit bottom, the line going slack. Do this several times until you have it memorized. This will help you know how deep the water is when a bass strikes, without having a sonar unit. Tom

Be aware of the lake bottom terrain,it doesn't change because it is covered with water. Tom

While I agree with Roger regarding change in pressure on the bass being minimal, the changes to the ecosystem, light, wind, terrestrial critters and bait fish is a major change. Why bass tend to be very negative during a transition from low pressure rainy weather to bright sky clearing windy weather may not be clearly understood, it does occur. The shallow bass are more affected than bass conditioned to deeper water and that is the key to fishing success during these periods. The shallow bass respond first to low pressure and high pressure, deeper bass remain more unaffected. Tom

Really depends on a lot of factors like water temperature, air temperature and length of time in your tank.The pump tends to warm up the water, warm air warms the water, night air cools it and changes that exceed the herring's tolerance will kill them just as fast as low DO levels. You need a cover with a low watt light at night to keep the bait swimming the right direction and keep out predators. Your 55 gallon tank weighs over 400 lbs with 50 gallons of water, difficult to manage. Tom

Your 5000 reel is what is known today as a round reel with a wide large diameter spool that holds a lot of line. Your gear ratio was deigned to recover a specific amount of line with each turn of the handle, IPT, when the spool is about full of line. You measured about 22"-23" with your reel spool near full. Now pull out 30 yards/90 feet of line and measure the IPT, it should be around 20"-21", didn't change much. That is the advantage with round reels with large spools, the IPT doesn't vary much. Today's low profile reels with narrow small spools are affected greatly when the line is out 30 yards/ 90 feet of more. The 6.4:1 ratio maybe 23"-24" IPT when full of line and drop to 16"-17" at 30 yards....big difference. For this reason the gear ratios have increased to 7 or 8.1:1 to over come this. Your older 5000 series reels have good quality gears, however no instant anti reverse. If you like the 5000 round reel, the Shimano Cardiff 300 is a good upgrade for you with modern performance, good gears, drag and instant anti reverse and 5.8:1 ratio. Tom

Some folks would rather fish than catch bass. T-rigs and jigs take a lot more concentration to detect strikes, some anglers are good at strike detection, others not so good. Given a choice a top water bite is very exciting, just doesn't happen a high percentage of the time. I tend to use what the bass prefer most of the time. Tom

Slip the tube over a grub, use attractant for lubricant and T-rig, it's called a cap & grown. Tom

With 10 to 20 lb braid you don't need a leader other than breaking off snagged lures as bass are rarely line shy. When I use braid it's Daiwa Samurai 30 lb, (.010 dia) casts without any noise, softer and better knot strength with FC leaders. 130 yd spool, use tape and the entire spool, you can reverse it whenever needed. Tom