WRB-2.0

Get the 5” wide/3” middle 3 piece roller. Helps loading in the wind with the outside wider roller ears. Color, they come in several take your choice. My last trailer had the roller for 15 years when I sold it and it was in good condition. Tom T-H Marine Super Roller.

Beauty is in the eye of the holder. Black w/blue anodized accents.....ugly? Tom

Inquire about adding both crawdads, Bluegill and bass. Your work area pond has a aeration system for good DO levels. Tom

Did you tell Mike you are a BR member? Tom

Shimano SLX 70 MGL will do everything Curado reel can do for less money within your budget. Tom

Fenwick EAG60L, 6’ ,1 pc, power Light, 1/16-3/8 oz lures, 2-8 lb line. Tom

Siebert Outdoors gives BR members a discount, offer custom jigs and uses premium hooks, why look elsewhere? Tom

I will not knowingly buy anything made in China! It’s isn’t easy as all lithium batteries are made in China. Lots of rods are made in S. Korea in lieu of China, just do your research. Some Shimano rods are made in China and clearly labeled. Don’t know about Daiwa rods, some reels are made in Taiwan. St. Croix, Edge, Lamiglas, G. Loomis, ALX and Kistler are USA rod builders. ALX offers some excellent rods at various price points. Tom

Our cold water/winter seasonal period occurs when the water column turns over and normalizes to 55 degrees or colder. Bass can be anywhere from near surface to 80’ deep. Crawdads tend to be up in water less then 25’ but baitfish like Threadfin Shad tend to be where phytoplankton is located it’s their food source. Locating shad schools by looking for birds* that feed on them and sonar unit to determine how deep the schools are. Effective lures include structure spoons, ice jigs, under and tail spins, drop shot, small swimbaits and jigs. If the Shad are shallow enough a crankbait can work. jerk baits don’t work that good for me until early pre spawn as the water column warms up. Bass feeding on crawdads a jig works best. Tom * Grebes

Hmmmm...hair jig w/pork trailer. Tom

13 Fishing has a higher end shallow light weight spool reel BOSS in 8:1 ratio. Tom

SC Victory VTS73MXF, 3/16-1/2 oz lures. Softer tip is preferred for finesse drop shot or slip shot rigs and accurate casting weightless wacky rigged Senko's or Neko/nail weight etc. This rod loads up quickly for solid hook sets. Tom

Type of line affects spinning rod performance along with average casting distance. Soft plastics indicates bottom contact lures or small swimbaits? Tom

Several threads that discuss power vs action and a visual chart may help you more then a written discussion. The basics Power is the rods lifting strength, action is the rods bending rate from tip down. No standards exist making comparisons between rod builder very subjective. For general use* discussion think of power in pounds of dead weight the can lift before fully loaded. Light or 1 power , 1 # Medium Light or 2 power 2# Medium-3, 3# Medium Heavy-4, 4# Heavy-5, 5# Extra Heavy-6, 6#. Action is how the upper rod bends tip down with line through the guides under light pressure or lure weight. Extra fast, upper 12” or 1/8th Fast, 18” or 1/4th Moderate, Upper 36” or 1/2 parabolic entire rod length. *Different specific rods like Swimbait or Crankbait the power rating changes. Confusing....you bet! Tom

Definitely someone’s pride and joy, lots of TLC! The Honda doesn’t appears not to have hydrologic trim judging from the tilt pin holes? Apparently you do have electric start and some control switch’s mount next to the back seat. Enjoy? To,

When you rig a smaller diameter soft plastic worm like 5”-6” Roboworms, Skin hook the worm. Suggest inserting the hook point-bend going through 1 side in lieu of the center. This rigging allows the hook point to pop out easily with less hook setting force. Tom Rvf

The #4107 Owner Cover Shot 3/0 has .045 D forged hook bend is made for T-rig soft plastics with mono loop keeper. Not familiar with G-Finesse hooks. Hook size wasn’t mentioned? Tackle should be OK. Set your drag accurately at 2 lbs for ML and 3 lbs for M with the line you are using. Tom

Tennessee is a Mecca for balsa crank baits, flatsides started there. I believe those lures pictured are custom made, the eye are not painted on like Black Label etc. Tom

They may be Vintage, not Antique that are 1940’s or earlier. Suggest you change the hooks if planning to use them. Tom

Most Dobyns rods balance in the center of the reel seat without a reel. Adding a reel doesn’t affect the balance with the pivot point at the reel seat. Adding a lure at the rod tip impacts balance. Spinning rods you can adjust balance by how you hold the reel stem, between 2 fingers, 1 finger forward, 3 finger forward etc. Tom

Reel Magic turns some lubricant into a sticky substance, WD-40 is a solvent, not a lubricant. Tom

Never caught a bass in air temperature, always in the water. Tom

To me the least expensive terminal tackle you can use are hooks and the most important. why save a few pennies on hooks made who knows where with Quality Control unknown? Tom

Any time you see or hear surface activity, cast beyond the swirls and retrieve the buzzer where the activity occurs. Tom

The lower unit looks in tact. Something marginal with the jack plate design imo. Tom