WRB-2.0

Berkley Vanish poison the brand with the original and never recovered. Berkley came out with 100% FC ( larger diameter per lb test) to recover their reputation. BPS XPS changes suppliers could be OK or not? Go with Sunline Sniper good value and reliable. Tom

2 speed big game salt reels with lever drags are standard today. Fresh water just buy 2 reels with different gear ratio. Tom

Today a 6’6” crank bait rod is considered short length. What type of “crank baits” do use? Crank bait like lipless or shallow divers like square bills the reel gear ratio/IPT is less important. Deep diving crank baits with larger longer bills create a lot water resistance to overcome. Deep divers lower gear ratio/ lower IPT are easier to use; 5.1:2 to 6.3:1 ratio/ 24-26 IPT. Tom

The original Zoom lizard was black and the 1st creature bait I used. Making a sideways slit in the belly and inserting a piece of Alka Seltzer to create bubbles was a killer bed bait. Colors today are almost unlimited! Black with yellow spots was Sally Salamander. Tom

The boom and bust cycle happens everywhere bass live. A year class that had exceptional recruitment along with abundant prey source combined with good water conditions starts the growth cycle of healthy young bass. Anglers don’t target these young bass but other predators do. About 5 to 8 years after this exceptional year class hatched they are big adults that anglers target and catch reducing the population numbers another few years until this year class passes starting the bust cycle. A good ecosystem can sustain several exception recruitment year classes, Usually large well managed fisheries. We in SoCal suffer from poor to no fishery management and drought cycles with boom and bust cycles being common. Tom

Coach may be the wrong term needed for learning fishing skills. Using some who is skilled at catching bass could be a mentor or instructor. Relying on self taught can easily develop into poor skill sets like improper casting technique, unable to determine where the bass are located, how effectively use specific lures or presentations and when to use them. Pro golfers constantly have issues with their swing and use a swing coach to watch, study the golfer hit balls to determine what they are doing to cause the problem and correct it. Pro bass anglers may have developed hitches in the casting technique but never heard of a casting coach! Watching others often ends up in duplicating poor skills unless the angler your watching has perfect skills. Tom

High speed for Abu Ambassasdor reels between 1960 to 1980 was 4.7.1as I recall the IPT was unknown. How many DD bass were caught using jigs and worms over that 20 year proton mono line? Thousands, I caught my 1 st 100 DD by 1973 using 4:7.1 Abu Ambassadors with mono line on jigs and worms. Today I use 8.1 SLX MGL reels with FC line for Jigs and Worns. The new reels 7:1 are about equal to the older 4.7.1 regarding IPT or line recovered per handle turn. Tom

Gear ratio is 1 factor to consider as it doesn’t change. IPT constantly changes with line diameter, line capacity, spool size diameter and width. The reel mfr list IPT at maximum filled spool with unknown line diameter, unreliable data. The BFS reels with very shallow spools filled with small diameter braid line have more reliable IPT the a standard 100 size reel with deeper spool filled with larger diameter line. For example 100 size reel with XYZ gear ratio the IPT using .012 diameter line drop off about 40% after casting 35-40 yards. 8:1 ration will recover line faster then 7:1 therefore when casting lures 35-40+ yards the higher gear ration helps to control bass and recover line faster. Tom

I have if you consider the late Aaron Martens an Elite bass pro. Aaron had the ability to sense bass being nearby, amazing ability. He asked me to teach him how I fish a bass jig fish because it was the only lure he had trouble with consistently catching bass with. Aaron was deadly with finesse dart jigs but the bigger ones he wanted help with Showed Aaron at the boat ramp how I retrieved the jig and he could watch it move stop and go. That’s all Aaron needed to see and caught bass on that outing, fast learner as he already knew strike detection and hook setting, it was the movement he needed to learn. Tom

FYI the ABEC is a bearing tolerance standard not a brand name. Tom

When Garcia-ABU amabassador reels were made in Sweden they owned the bass reel market from the 1960 to around mid 1990’s, I used 2500C, 4500C and 5000C during that time period. Shimano made the 1st low profile Lews BB1 reel before going into the bass reel market in the mid 80’s challenging ABU’s dominance. Daiwa refined their bass reels introducing HT series taking away another share of the market. For me ABU Ambassador reel died when Garcia corp started having reels made in China around 2000. Put away my Ambassador’s and bought Daiwa HTiA’s 103’s & 105’s early 90’s and never looked back. I tried a few Shimano early Bantam’s 100 & 1000, BB1’s and Roybi reels in the 80’s but it was Daiwa that came out with the fast free spinning spool that won me over. Shimano Calcutta became my go to swimbait reel. No more ABU’s all Daiwa and Shimano for me👍. Tom

Clinch knot (2-3 turns) or Uni knot. Tom

In the late 70’s BPS sold tagging kits it was popular then. The tags were numbered with a barbed straight pin to insert into the basses back by the dorsal fin. You could register the kit number with BPS for anglers register the catch. This program died out in a few years. I caught a 6 lb class bass at lake Sherwood several times over a 3 year period at the same location. This bass didn’t grow any heavier during that time. This was a very aggressive bass I am sure someone caught and killed. I did catch 2 other bass twice after tagging 25 bass at lake Sherwood, 3 out of 25 without any notices from BPS. Not worth the effort! Tom

Don Iovino has been on the water instructor teaching local pro’s how to use their new sonar units to get the most out of them for decades. A good local guide can be a good coach instructor if you ask them teach in lieu of just catching bass. When demonstrate various presentations to friends I take the time to show how to rig, tie and present the lure by the launch ramp clear water to see the movements. Tom

AFW Surflin Micro Ultra leader wire knottabke 17 lb. Tom

Being an engineer most of my life looked at things logical or black & white solutions. my other side as a race driver for example superstitions tend to sway my logic towards luck and faith. So see nothing negative about feeling lucky and believing something brings you good luck including fishing tackle. You can call them you pet lures that you have confidence using. You would be amazed how much better a lure works tied on being fished in lieu of stored in the tackle box. Tom

Cayuga lake NY is your best bet for Northern LMB over 8 lbs. Tom

How the game animal is taken care of after killing it makes a big difference of the condition of the meat quality. Tom

Elk tenderloin👍 Tom PS, record Elk taken by Washington bow hunter Casey Brooks.

Having lived through this with my son I can tell you go to Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN, nearest top hospital for you. You get 1 chance and remember you have the right to choose any trials now. Everyday is precious make the best of them with your family. Your BR family will be here and pray for you and your family🙏🏻. Tom

Sweden stand corrected again! I gave all my 2500C, 4500C 70’s vintage to Don Iovino for his reel business 25 years ago. Tom

My last giant bass over 15 lbs (15.4) was caught at lake Casitas February 2008 on a swimbait, nearly 17 years ago. I was fishing near the off limit buoy line the separates Aires creek from the main lake using a big Black Dog Tail Wagger Trout lure. I heard a splash behind me and made a long cast to the swirl spot and the bass struck the lure immediately when it hit the water. Never would have made that cast without hearing the splash. What are odds dividing 17 years into 1 bass….,(.003 % ) very low and lower today! Tom

Percentages should be based on bass population size. You can’t catch big bass if they aren’t where you fish. When our SoCal Lakes had high population of big bass in the 80’s-90’s DD bass made up a good percentage of the lakes population. Today the DD bass are rare making a very low % of the population well under 1%. A big bass today is 7 lbs a good size bass 4 lbs. catching bass between 4 lbs to 7 lbs doesn’t happen more the 25% of 8 hrs time on the water. Tom

Rubber nets high water resistance. Knot less nets that don’t tangle hooks are what you want. Tom

Contact the source in the UK and purchase a replacement net head. The thread maybe metric. Another option is buy a new net. Tom