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Don't worry about adjusting them, they're built that way. It's caused by the torque of the blade and the direction of spin. To get rid of it completely you need to use a double blade configuration with counter-rotating blades, either on the same arm or on two independent arms. Instead. use what you have to your advantage to do things like run under docks and overhanginig trees, or even walk partway around stumps. If you really get serious, look around until you find another brand that will torque the opposite way, then keep two rods rigged with buzzbaits going in both directions. That way no matter the angle or direction of boat or cover, you'll always have the right retrieve path available to you. -T9

Friendly tournament with my kid and his buddies. We killed them offshore and his buddies struggled beating the bank

Flush and relube the bearings. Use a Q-tip to put a thin layer of oil inside the brake drum before you put it back together and you should be good to go. Mine make a little noise from time to time and it's a pretty well known issue. The oil on the brake side of the reel fixes it quickly.

Quick session yesterday. They were crushing this bait and they weren't even big. Lots of fun.

I wouldn't suggest learning crankbaits at night!

Your wife is right. No matter what the facts are, she's right. You should have figured that one out by now...

Here's some from past couple weeks. Been posting down in the "IL" or "FIB" thread if you will. It's been fun but mainly fishing for a BIG bite that seems to be eluding me.

I was able to get out on the local lake and nearby pond the other day. Fishing was decent, a little slow at first but it picked up. I mainly caught my fish on Chatterbaits and Yum Dingers!

I am not sure about a site that does this but lets fill in some blanks What type of fish do you want to catch? Do you fish from a boat, kayak, or shore? Do you fish rivers, lakes, ponds or tidal water? Are you looking for a spinning rod or baitcaster? What type of lures do you want to throw? And do you own any tackle now that would work for catching these fish? Lastly what is your budget for a rod and what is your budget for a reel?

Well that's hideous.

Spent some time with dough bait over in Monticello on the Tippi river with my pops. Wasn't really a carp/cat fan until we hooked into some fatties lol. Good times and my pops ended up bringing in a 20+ pounder.

Microwave guides and Winn grips are the new rage apparently as several companies are now offering them. I love lews stuff but man they are expanding the lineup to a point where even a guy who is ocd is having trouble with keeping up. Factor in all the store exclusive versions and it's even crazier. My tackle shop has 79.99 platinum speed sticks which are awesome but aren't even on the website and wre the same price as the new Mach 2 rods. That and now they have serious overlap on several reels and rods. The Tournament Lite, Super Duty and New custom speed spool are all $179.99. The Mach 1 speed spool is more than regular speed spool but has a graphite frame as opposed to aluminum. Now they have the Mach 2 which is just a different frame. Confused much

dobyns fury 735 lews tournament mb 8.3.1 or what ever the 8 speed reel is. this is my setup. i used to run all mojo and am slowly replacing them with dobyns due to its just a better all around rod and at a better price with a better warranty. if you fish frogs like i do that betterwarranty is worth its weight in gold for your throw back rod. im not sure how many i have broken due to it being under anchor cleats

Nothing more manly than a police officer, no matter what he's doing. God bless you and all your fellow officers Bluebasser. Hootie

I've caught some nice bass on a Top Walker fishing for muskie. Similar concept but with a bucktail instead of a solid body.

Just get the tatula then upgrade the worm gear bushings to bearings and add two bearings to the knobs and bam you are in business!!!! Hedgehog has a bunch of colored duralumin parts for these reels. I have a tatula with lime green screws, worm gear shaft etc it matches my fury perfect lol

The Diawa Tatula Hd is just a deeper spooled version of the regular Tatula, The Tactical I believe is just a house branded reel for Tackle Warehouse . it claims an improved lighter spool holding more line but the reel specs are exactly the same as a standard Tatula no lighter, no more bearings, no more line capacity. As for the Zillion the weight is reduced by like .4 ounces and claims two more bearings which I believe they put in the knobs on the handle (the Tatulas have 2 bushings and two bearings in them) All of the Tatula, Tatula Type Rs, Tatula CT and Tatula CT Type R, as well as the Zillion retail within $50 of each other. If I want to save a bit of money i would choose between the regular Tatula 100 and the Tatula CT. If I did not mind spending a little more I would chose between the Tatula Type R and the Tatula CT type R. If you like a bit smaller reel choose the CT version if you do not mind the size of the original Tatulas pick a100 or Type R. I fish a total of 5 Diawas, some Tatula 100s and some Tatula type rs. I love them all and they all perform the same. To me the only good reason to pay extra for the type R is to get an 8-1 gear ratio like for my froggiing.

Been there before myself. The moment I knew I wasn't coming back It was a huge burden off me. 18 years in the same building is not a good thing. Change is a good thing sometimes even if you didn't realize you needed it. People/management forget what you did for them it's a all about what can you do for me now. I've seen it first hand. And as long as they can keep piling it on you and you keep selling like mad it just proves they were not getting all they could from you. Seems in their mind it justifies their move even more. So at this point you get to make the choice basically be quiet and be a number receiving a check each week. Looks like what they want. Or find new employment before you either get fired or ruin your stay enough you are forced out with bad marks on your records.

Thanks an Italian Horney Toad. The big girls love those.

A bass will eat anything they feel is worth the energy to eat. If you plop a 3" grub right in front of the nose of a 15lber, all it has to do is open it's mouth and bam! Instant calories. Meanwhile you could catch the same fish on a 10" trout swimbait and have it chase it 100 feet to get it. Because the meal is worth the chase. I think what it comes down to is bigger baits appeal to the bigger bass, but a big bass can be caught on any bait. But what really matters is whether you are putting your bait, no matter the size, in the areas that larger fish are hanging out. You can throw Hudds all day long, but if you are in the wrong spots, you might be dissapointed. Or you could fish a 4" senko for an hour in the right spot and beat your PB.

And why do you fish g loomis? It doesn't make a difference right?

If you fish, you will kill some fish. This is a blood sport. Relax.

everyone should know this

I pre-ordered the small duck. I will post pictures of all the pounders that eat it.

use the hook removal link above. it works pretty much every time I have ever used it. Also, don't fret over killing a fish every now and then. Its going to happen and does not make you a serial killer lol

How experienced are you at removing hooks from yourself. Seriously. Inexperience with them in addition to using them at night is asking for trouble. Even when using a headlamp or some other lighting in the boat or on shore, any bait can come flying back at you from the water, not to mention handling a fish with one in their mouth.

This fish weighed 1 oz shy of 8lbs. Jeff

I must be the only person who thinks that thing looks dumb af. Two whopper ploppers and a partridge in a pear tree lol.

Inexperienced! At night! A lure with at least 6 hook points! We have a dodged crankbaits in daylight!

Around 5 probably. Still nice, nevertheless. Reminds me of a couple weekends back, when I had just parked my truck and trailer at Raystown early in the morning, and was walking down to my waiting boat, eager to get to my down lake spots while the topwater bite was still on, and catch some fish before the 4th of July whacko crowd showed up. Sure enough, a guy in a VW beetle pulled up, and started telling me how he was fishing live shiners from shore the night before, and caught two bass over 12 pounds. I started saying "Wow really? Sounds real nice" just trying to get him to end the conversation so I could start my day. In my mind, I'm thinking "either youre full of BS, your scale is majorly malfunctioning, or you need to call up the fish warden ASAP, since you just may have tied or broke the state record twice in one night."

Once you weigh 'em, they stop growing.

I fish 6-8 times a month so I change line every other trip, sometimes every third trip if I anit fished heavy cover. I've found the more often I fish the less "coil" Big Game has & the longer it sets the more "coil".

Several new canoe/kayak offerings this year from all the major brands. We shot a bunch of videos today on all of them, and will get them posted asap. Lots of other new products that aren't getting as much press that we'll bring to you shortly. The new Savage Gear baits....WOW! You're not going to believe your eyes when you see the video! Stay tuned!

Berkley Trilene Big Game Line mono 15lb TW gets 900 yds for $9 or $1.00 per 100 yds If you by 1lb or 3lb bulk spools it's often even more cost effective. In comparison Seaguar InvizX Fluorocarbon Line 15lb - 200yds $ 25 or $ $12.50 per 100 yds Useing 2 shots of KVD line & lure conditioner before each trip helps all mono out. Best bet is to Change out the top shot BEFORE you think you need to - for $0.50 cents (or less) it's a good piece of mind. A-Jay

My experience is on a baitcaster and I don't have a issue with memory. It's so inexpensive I will respool all my reels before the heavy fishing of spring each year. I would think if it was a heavy line like a 20+ lb test memory could be worse but I only use 12lb and it works pretty much for a season kept indoors when not in use. Again it's such a inexpensive line it's not a issue if you wanted to change it say 2 or 3 times a year. Sometimes mine gets changed when I feel like it has taken a beating more than normal. I recommend it as it is a very good mono especially for the $.

Man, I hate floats on my rods and leashes are worse. What's worse than that though is losing your favorite spinning rig when you dump your yak. Lost an Okuma Citrix with an RTX on it. On the Buffalo River just downstream of hwy 14, if your local. Every rod in my kayak gets a float from now on. At least we caught fish and I caught a new PB 16" Smallmouth. The $200 fish:

My wife and I got into a friendly discussion tonight about lure size (after she saw my Tackle Warehouse package of a 130 and 90 Whopper Plopper) equating to fish size. I know that I have seen many YouTube videos, read many articles and spoken to tackle store gurus that say a bass is a lot more inclined to exert energy for a potentially bigger meal (i.e.- bigger lures) than a smaller one. A lot of people also have told me that bigger lures catch higher quality fish (bigger) while smaller lures may catch more fish overall. My wife says she's read where a bigger lure doesn't necessarily translate into or is necessary to catch bigger fish. Which side are you guys on and why?

Hey guys, First time posting in this section of the forum but was hoping some of you might share some thoughts on a photograph I've recently made. As a full time photographer, making the decision to focus 100% of my efforts on fishing-related photo & video was one I made with a little apprehension. Luckily however, I've been blessed to have found enough work to keep me busy. Prior to making the switch to fishing-photo only, I shot mostly commercial/advertising stuff. As a result, it's become a lot harder to call what I do "photography" as it's in fact "digital art". Referring to myself as a "photographer" isn't a fair, or accurate title, it's just... easier than explaining the specifics of my workflow I guess. In any case, my hope is to depict the world of fishing with the same visual integrity seen in other sports. I'm fond of the way other sports are represented, and there are in fact some incredible images floating around in fishing. My personal opinion however, is that fishing isn't (always) getting it's fair shake on the visual end of the spectrum. I'd really love to play some kind of roll in changing that. Perhaps that's pathetically naive, but I'm going to try. The image shown below is my latest and was made as a personal project in a print/web ad style, not as a product or catalog photo. I'd like to know what you think of it. What did I do wrong? - (outside of opting to leave line off the splitring as I found it to be very distracting when I tried). What could I improve? And would you like to see more of this style of work featured in and throughout the fishing world? I've attached a "before/after" of the image for reference. After the lure was extracted from it's background it was added to a composite with 36 other photos to create the finished scene. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Before/After:

The Alaskan crab guys used one of these trying to catch a monster in a cove up there. It's something out of the dinosaur era. The hooked it using a 55 gallon drum for a bobber. It straightened out a 1/2" thick stainless hook. I think they need bigger equipment.

an old gent told me this years ago; 95% of all 5 pound bass aren't.

These response cover how I also select my weight type. Additionally, when presenting a bottom bait to a soft or grass bottom, I usually use small lead. Hard bottom or penetrating cover - it's tungsten. Tungsten is very hard - lead is soft - the extra sensitivity tungsten offers can be applied advantageously. The size to weight comparison between lead & tungsten is significant. In most cases Tungsten is 40% smaller than the same weight in lead. When combined with braided line, tungsten's size & sensitivity differential has helped improve many of my presentations especially deep & / or in heavy cover. A-Jay

fish deep near structure. i went out last night got half dozen all 2lbsers! mix bag of smallies and largies

$20 dollars sounds good to me and it should be a great match with your incoming 4500. Post a photo of your combo when you get the reel in. I've bought several late 60s/early 70s vintage Garcia Conolon fiberglass rods to use with my small Ambassadeurs and have been paying around $25 plus shipping for them (used). The one in the photo, after cleaning a LOT of nicotine off the blank and cleaning the cork, ended up looking very nice for a 45-50 year old rod...

I've done some commercial photography in the past - it helps to get feedback. Sometimes your client isn't 100% sure of what they want. He may also be building a portfolio.

Exactly. There is no greater memory than the first time you see a bass that size surface, mouth wide open, shaking their head to try & spit out your lure. I tell people that I take out fishing that I am looking forward to seeing the look on their face when they see that. It will make even the most soft-spoken, church goer let out a "Holy S*** !!"

Here out west it seems like everyone has fallen into two categories; "tournament" and "swim baits." There are guys that aim for 100 fish days and guys that aim for one fish days. I've been doing a lot of both the last few years and here is my educated answer. Throwing big baits, which I define as 6" and over and weighing 2oz or more will make you a better fisherman. It will make you a lot better fisherman actually. When you go to break down water you look for the areas that realistically will hold large fish and you usually only get one cast to make that fish bite so cast and boat placement are extremely critical. With all that said I haven't noticed a difference in fish size in the last two years. Then again our state record would barely get you into a lunker club. I have caught way more 5lb (which is considered a big bass here) and up fish in the last three years than any other period and it's from throwing large baits, but most of them weren't on large baits. I guess what I'm getting at is target bigger fish and you'll catch bigger fish, no matter the bait size.

Good video...I often use a fly fishing net to scoop the fish up, get it under control and un-hooked. Then back in the H2O it goes, having never been touched. Better for the fish, better for me...

Wow. Yep just don't watch. It will bring your blood pressure down and you will have a happier life.