The Rooster

I'm torn between Yatesville Lake and Grayson Lake. Grayson has way better cover with all the rocks under water. Ledges everywhere, coves with stumps in them, drop offs, laydowns, just tons of things to fish. But I really do like Yatesville's Greenbrier area with all the shallow water stumps it has in it. It's the only lake I can fish from the bank and consistantly catch fish. But usually I'm in my boat so that's not a huge issue. If I was pressed to pick one, I'd probably say Grayson just cause it has many more types of cover and structures, whereas I feel Yatesville is pretty much the same all over it with a few exceptions here and there. But I love them both really. Just stay away from Greenbo Lake.......if there ever was a DEAD SEA, that's IT!!

I read recently that Mike Iaconelli says that cranking a spinning reel bail closed contributes to line twist. He says you should always flip it closed manually by hand instead of using the crank to shut it. Is this a proven fact or is it open to debate?? Cause I have line twist sometimes and I crank mine shut. After reading that I'm wondering if that's some of the reason why.

I fished with my reels today and they did well. I noticed the President has a very very slight roughness to it though. I thought I felt it even in the store while I was buying it and they were putting line on it, but didn't look too closely, and today I can feel it ever so slightly while I fished with it. Seems the Trion is just a bit slicker feeling but by rights it shouldn't be cause it has less bearings and is the cheaper one of the two. Still feels like a very solid reel though. I just wish it was COMPLETELY slick feeling though. Wonder why it's like that?? Am I being too picky maybe?? EDIT--I think I figured it out. I feel it in both reels but the President is moreso. It's the oscillation gearing in it. I feel the roughness at the top and at the bottom of the spool oscillation, as it begins the movement back in the opposite direction again. The Trion does this too, but not as much. Wonder if the size difference would explain the reason why one does it more than the other?? The President is a larger size than the Trion is. I guess I can live with it, it's not bad at all. Now that I know what it is anyway, just made me think something was wrong with them, cause I have a Shakespeare that does this same thing only much much more severely. I don't want it to get worse over time is all. I can't hardly feel the grind with no load on the reel, but cranking it against a lure's resistance in the water I can feel it a little moreso, and even if I have a lure on the line and am reeling it up and down here at home I can feel it some. But if I remove the weight and then crank it, it's virtually gone. I was wanting a reel where there was completely no feeling at all except slickness as you crank it. Like it's rolling on glass. Not glass with sandpaper on it.

Man this looks like a Shimano club in here. ;D I'm gonna have to go with the Pflueger guy here though. Just bought two new Pfluegers today myself and can't wait to try them out tomorrow morning. Seem to be very smooooth. I only spent $100 for both of mine though, the Trion ($40) and the President ($60). The Pflueger Medalist is nice though for $80 and is an all aluminum frame to boot. And I have a Shimano Sedona right now by the way, and I despise that reel. It's smooth enough, but it's too free spinning, everytime I open the bail it rolls forward on me making it hard to crank closed again. Have to flip it by hand. Then the line is constantly letting loops get in it on the reel. Thought it was the rod for a while causing it with small line guides but tried another reel on that rod and the problem was solved, so it must be the reel's operation. Also, I saw after I bought it that it has only one bearing on the crank handle shaft, and the other side, the one I like the handle to be on, has a nylon bushing instead, which will wear out after a while. If you get one of these, either upgrade to one that has more bearings like the Symetre, or get something else cause nylon bushings will be smooth for a while but eventually will wear down and need replaced. It will let the handle crank develop some slap in it that you don't want. I gave mine to my wife who hardly ever fishes so it should last her a long time, but me, I'd wear it out much too soon for me to feel it was worth $50. Wish I'd known more about that reel before I bought it.

Yeah they really seem like it. You're probably going to laugh when you read this, but the reason I got one of each instead of two of the same was purely cause of color. I thought the President would look better on a rod I have that is the same color as it, an older Quantum Dance Class rod with Bill Dance's signature on it, but the other rod I have would look better with the Trion instead so it got that one. I'm funny that way, my equipment has to look good together. Can't just put a color of a reel on a rod that it won't match well. Anybody else that way?? Only differences I could see between the two I got were 7 bearings vs. 10. I could actually feel a very slight difference when looking at the displays, or so I thought, but not enough to worry about it. Both are very nice and were only $20 apart in price. I think I unleashed a baitmonkey today though cause now I'm RUINED. From here on it I'll have to have reels that are as nice as these or better. Can't go back to $25 spinning reels anymore. I'm really amazed at the quality difference I got when I paid a little more. I'd say the Trion is underpriced at $40. I gave $50 for a Shimano last year, the Sedona, and HATED IT after a little while of using it. I then thought paying that much money was pointless. I got it at a store where I couldn't see a display of the reel before purchasing it. Had to buy it in the package and open it after I bought it. Should have took it back, but I bought it during cold weather and didn't get to use it before a couple months had gone by. I'm gonna have to stop doing that and buy reels when I can use them the next day to see if it's really what I wanted. ;D

Anybody here own, ever fished, or even seen a Cabela's Tourney Trail rod?? In looking at these online and in the catalog it looks like a rod I would like. Just wondering how nice they are quality wise and all. Oh, and if you have had them, in particular the 6' spinning rod......what size is the bottom line guide?? I'm funny when it comes to buying a spinning rod. If I can't put my thumb through the bottom line guide then I won't buy it cause I think it will cause line friction during the cast and restrict the length of the cast I can make. Just for reference, Shimano Convergence and Shimano Clarus 6' spinning rods have a line guide that's too small in my opinion, but the 6'6" size is just right. I want a 6' rod that has one the size of the line guide on the 6'6" Shimano rods.....and I know they make them cause I've had them in the past. Thanks for replies in advance.

Well, the search is over. Today I decided to move up just a bit in the quality of spinning reels I was purchasing in the past. Went into the local tackle shop here and looked at the Mitchell Avocet which I already have 2 of but was looking at maybe getting a third one. Then I compared it to the Pflueger Trion and Pflueger President. After feeling those two I was no longer interested in the Avocet anymore. I ended up leaving with a Pflueger Trion 4730GX......AND......a Pflueger President 6735. I originally only needed one more reel for a rod I already had, but after seeing how much better these are I decided to go ahead and get one more to replace one of the Avocets I already have, and later I'll get another one to replace the other Avocet I still have left. I had them spooled with line while there too, I use Stren clear/blue mono, 8 pound test line. I wanted fluorocarbon line actually but since I spent so much money on two reels at one time, I thought I'd just wait a while before laying down that much more again. They spooled the regular line cheaply but the fluorocarbon was gonna be a bit more expensive so I'll get it next time. Also as it turns out they can spool my reels cheaper than I can buy line and do it myself for. So from now on I'm gonna take my reels to them to get spooled up each time I need new line. I only live about 10 minutes from the store where I got them from. I'm going fishing tomorrow to try out these new reels but so far they feel as smooooooth as silk.

Thank you so much for that information. I've also been looking at a couple of Mitchell reels, and noticed that they too are owned by Pure Fishing. I have a couple of Mitchell Avocets already and they're fairly nice. Got one as a gift and got the other from Ebay for $10 total shipping and all, brand new. They're not bad for what they are, but Wal-Mart sells them for $20 so I'm wondering just how well they're built inside. Bass Pro Shops has the new Avocet II Gold for $30 and it has double the number of bearings, 8 compared to 4, so it's one I'm looking at. Not sure about Abu Garcia anymore. Years ago I bought a couple of the Cardinals, a C3R and a 303R. Both turned out to be good reels. I wore them both out actually over a number of years. The 303R actually developed gear grind issues after a while, but I caught a lot of fish on it so I figured it just gave up finally. Last year I got a Cardinal 303R reel, one of the mid 90's models that the shop owner just happened to have still laying around cause he'd never sold it. It was brand new, still in the box, and was a model I had previously owned so I thought this one would last just as long as the other one did so I bought it. It took it exactly 3 fish reeled in to start having gear grind issues also. I also had two of their round baitcasters that did this too, the 5600C4 and the 5600HPSS (Hank Parker Sig Series). 4 Abu Garcia reels that all did this to me, all developed gear grind anywhere from immediately out of the box to a few years later. I know I got a few years out of the 5600C4 and one of the 303R reels, but the other two were brand new, hardly ever caught a fish and done that. Then I heard they had weak gears in them from a local tackle shop, so I switched brands from them permanently. Otherwise, I'd be seriously interested in the new Cardinal C102 reel for under $40. I'm interested in the Pflueger Trions and the Mitchell Avocets though, so I'll check them out further.

In shopping around for a spinning reel I've noticed some companies have spinning reels made on the identical same body/frame as others, just the colors, trim, number of bearings, handle crank, and other minor details are all that's different. These reels would include Shakespeare spinning reels and Pflueger spinning reels, some Cabela's brand reels, and even one Penn reel. There may be more that I just haven't seen yet too. A couple of years ago I bought 2 Shakespeare reels on clearance at Wal-Mart. I took one back cause it had issues straight out of the package, but kept the other one. I didn't use it for over 3 months though cause of cold weather, and by time I did use it and found problems with it too, it was too late to return it. So I kept it and used it. In doing so I have come to like very much the way it fishes and would like to have another one but I want one that won't have the issues this one did, such as developing gear grind over a period of time even though I oiled and greased it yearly as recommended. Also it makes noises, pops and cracks as you crank it, and I cannot find any reason why, it just does. It's annoying as it can be. Over the passed couple years I've shopped around looking at them and every single Shakespeare I've seen, without exception, has made noises and even had some problems you could physically feel while you crank it. Like something inside the bail housing was dragging against something else as it went around, or hitting it slightly as it passed a certain point in the rotation. Sort of making a tick tick tick sound as it went round. It seems this company cannot make a reel that doesn't do this. I've looked at dozens of different ones in the $20 to $35 range by Shakespeare and they ALL do this. Tonight I actually bought 2 of the Tempest models from K-mart, and one of them straight out of the package was doing this exact same thing......tick tick tick tick as you crank it, and you could feel it too.....so I immediately returned both of them, the other one unopened still. I just do not want another reel that is going to start grinding again over time, or make constant noises and pecking feelings in my hand as I crank it to distract me from fishing. Even the handle crank grip on the one I already have has loosened up and has some slap in it now. It's like the more you use it, the worse it gets. Last weekend it started making a whole new noise that was never there before. Now I'm looking to buy the Pflueger Trion, which is made identically to the Shakespeare reel, built on the exact same frame (which is a design I like), but just has more bearings, a rosewood handle grip, and a very slight body shape difference along the bottom side of it. But otherwise, it's the same bail and internal mechanics design and all. I'm wondering if I can expect a similar performance to the Shakespeare reels from the Trion though. I was thinking cause it comes from a more reputable company, and costs more also, that it might be better made. All I know is I'M DONE WITH SHAKESPEARE REELS of any kind from now on. I just cannot believe this company cannot make a reel any better than that. I know they are cheap though, so I should have known. Hopefully paying a bit more will help that. I'm trying to hold it down to $50 or less though. Not a lot, but it'll have to do.

My brother-in-law has 4 of these reels. When I saw that and realized what he paid for them all (each one on a Shimano Compre rod too) I said to myself "never will I spend that kind of money on a single rod and reel". I know some people are gonna disagree with this, but I don't see that the Curado D is any better than the BPS Extreme I bought. I honestly wouldn't trade him mine for his either.

Thanks a lot. I fish Greenbrier a lot with my boat, that's about the only ramp I use now. Haven't fished the launch area though, usually pass it up to go straight back into the no wake zone of Greenbrier, way back passed the campgrounds of Lawrence County Park. I catch a lot of bass in there too, just no keepers though. They all seem to be 14 inches or less. Had one keeper on last year that likely would have went 16 or better but I lost it at the boat after fighting it in. Wasn't hooked very well. I have a few of those lures you suggested and can get a few more of the ones you said that I don't have. I also have noticed that the left bank up Greenbrier creek is the better side too, so maybe I'm on the right track after all, just need to keep at it. I appreciate any information you want to share on this lake since I fish it a lot........Yatesville and Grayson both is where I spend my summer mostly. Occasionally Paintsville too, but Yatesville about 85% of the time. Thanks a lot for this info.

OK, first things first. This weekend several of us went bank fishing (cause gas is too expensive to take the boat!) and we did decent. Dad and I both caught keeper bass at the bank, me using a Bandit 100 series Taco Salad colored crankbait, and Dad using a plastic frog with a spinnner he had rigged onto the front of it. This made for an odd looking lure but his bass was larger than mine at 16" where mine was just barely over 15", so it worked well for him. Here's the pics. Me with my fish... Dad with his fish... Now my REAL question is.....sometime soon I plan to come back to this area with a boat and I'd like to know a little about how YOU would fish this place. What lures, what techniques to use?? I'm fairly experienced in catching bass but nowhere near as much as I'd like and this keeper is the first one I've caught in over 8 years....honestly. The water is always very stained in this part of the lake, almost muddy at times, and there are stumps and stickups EVERYWHERE, many are 6 feet tall or more. They're all in water anywhere from 6' deep to less than 1' deep on average. There is a creek channel running roughly right through the middle of it that should be about another 8 to 10 feet deep on top of the 6 foot depth of the lake at summer pool in that area. There is a bridge that crosses over it with pilings that go right down into the water. The water is less than 30 feet wide at that point but then it opens up again on the other side of the bridge. There is also an underwater bridge that used to serve a road that the lake now covers back in this area. Small, but is large enough to hold bass under it I think. The bottom is just a mucky muddy surface but there are some pretty large rocks near one shoreline, put in when they made the lake. Otherwise the shoreline is all dirt with grass that grows right out into the water from it, a few feet out into it in some places. The lake is about 17 years old roughly and should be well established by now for having whatever fish population it's going to have. I know all this detail because every year when the lake is at winterpool, we used to walk on the lake bottom to the creek channel and catch crappie out of it and all of this is visible then. But I've never bass fished it in a boat, and only a couple times on the bank and this time is the only time I've ever done any good. Here are a few photos of what it looks like to give you an idea. There's just so much structure and cover in this area that I have no idea where to start, but this place just looks like it would hold fish. I do know there are a LOT of carp rolling around back in there though. Will that effect anything??

I don't think that it is. I live on the area of the river between Ohio and Kentucky and HERE I know I can fish on either side with a Kentucky license, but I think that's the only state that is that way. I can't find my copy of the 2008 game laws right now to check for sure but you can pick one up for free at any Wal-Mart in their sporting goods department and it will have the information in it to tell you for sure.

Got the rare opportunity to do some pond fishing today. A man we worked for building his porch roof has a pond and he invited me to bring a fishing rod to work with me today since it was the last day we would be there. I only fished it for about 20 minutes but in that time I caught 5 fish, 4 bass and one pumpkinseed panfish. Largest bass was only about 15 inches long but for some reason it seemed to fight much harder than they do at the lake when they're that size. So it felt much larger than it was while I was fighting it. It was an enjoyable experience though, and he said I could fish longer if I wanted to but this pond has a reputation for producing several fish quickly and then drying up for several hours after that. No more bites at all. Seems they go tell their buddies not to bite after being released. I think it has something to do with hormones released into the water from scared or stressed fish myself.

:-? :-X

Well the next time I get that Quantum out and use it, I'll send ya a picture of one. ;D But if it's the Extreme I'm using, ya might have to wait a while.

Well, it's not that I haven't ever looked at more expensive reels in the stores. Even the Curado at Bass Pro Shops and local tackle shops also. But it's hard to tell enough difference by just....um......"dry cranking??" them in the store cause a lot of them feel pretty slick that way. No real way to test the drag or power of them either if there's no line on them. I think I'd have to actually buy one and use it to know, and maybe return it if I didn't like it, which would be a lot of hassle to find out. But looking at them at the counter there, I just couldn't see enough difference to be worth the extra money anyway so I just never have had one to try.

I probably won't ever fish with reels that cost so much because they cost so much.......but they say ignorance is bliss so if I don't know how much better those reels are than my Extreme then I'll be happy using it. I can't imagine one any better than the Extreme though. For me, I've reached the top with this line of reels. Now if they will JUST LEAVE IT ALONE instead of redoing the whole line or discontinuing some or all of them FOR A FEW YEARS at least, then I'll be happy. ;D

Thanks Alpster, I'll read that right now. And I heard also that a softer rod is what I need for crankbaits cause of the trebles. Since I've missed so many fish already this year, I think that must be true. I'll start using the Ugly Stik Lite Pro spinning rod I have to cast them on until I can get a better baitcast rod for them. It's softer than the casting rods I have. Might help out some. Next trip out, which will likely be this weekend if it doesn't rain, I'll try it. Also, thanks for the tips on the type of rods that you use jbdaiwafan. Seems to all make sense to me when you describe it like that. But you said you use a MH rod for topwaters. Don't those have treble hooks also?? I usually use the Ugly Stik Lite Pro rod I have for that too.

I always buy fishing rods based on how comfortable they feel to me while I would be fishing with them. Sometimes how limber or stiff they might be depending on what kind of lures I think I'd be casting with them, but usually what I go with is a medium power range with fast tip actions in a 6 foot length......for everything I'd fish on them :-/ and now I'm wondering if I should have something different for different lure types or techniques. I'm wondering if sometimes I miss fish from having a rod too stiff when fishing a crankbait, or too soft when it should have been stiffer for some other technique. I'm seeing them in Bass Pro and Cabela's catalogs with descriptions for what each one is supposed to be used for, like a worm rod, or spinnerbait, or crankbait....and on and on. Personally, I'm comfortable with 6' and sometimes 6'6" rods, but not longer than that, so 7' I always consider too long. Any reason why someone would need a rod that long?? And if I see one say for crankbaits that 6'6", but I'd rather have 6' only, how important is that going to be losing that extra 6 inches?? Also, what reason could there be for making odd sized rods like 7'3" or 6'4" and stuff like that?? 6'6" is so close to 6'4" that I can't see enough difference to be worth it. I guess I just need someone to help me understand what I should look for in a rod for certain types of lure fishing, and whether or not a 6' or 6'6" rod length should work for ANY type of bass fishing.

Yeah, I know!!!! Can't believe they're so cheap. I hope the sale lasts a while cause I don't have the money at the moment to get one. Too many other things to buy......LIKE GASOLINE. It's $4 per gallon here!!! My truck gets 13 MPG. > 350 V-8.

I'm totally agreeing with this. My brother-in-law has 4 of the Shimano Curado D reels, paid nearly $200 for each of them, and I'd put this Extreme up against any one of them. It's just so smooth and I love everything about it. And I have nothing against Shimano but I can't see myself paying that much for a reel. Especially not when I can have 3 of these Extremes at the current price for less than he paid for one Curado. When I first saw the Extreme in the catalog, I knew it would be good from what all it said about it, and the price seemed too good for a reel of that quality. But I'm a believer now. And I also heard bad things about them, even read a lot of bad reviews on Bass Pro's website about them, but I attribute a lot of that to misuse of the reel, or simply some bad stock, cause after all, it's a product that is mass produced and in any product like that you will occasionally get some duds. I guess mine was a good one, I love it. No problems so far. Knock on wood. I'm definitely gonna get more of these though. Can't make up my mind if I want the flippin' switch or not though. I don't pitch and flip, no call for it on the water I fish most of the time, not that I could do it anyway, I've tried and I'm either not understanding how to do it correctly, doing it wrong, or just can't master it. I use the flippin' switch I have now on the Quantum just to make casts with spinnerbaits or other lures and have the reel instantly engage to catch bass that strike when the lure impacts the water, and that's all I use it for.

Well, I hope nobody views this as spam, cause I have nothing to gain at all by posting this. I just want to let you all know what a good reel is to use by my own personal experience, having bought one myself. It's a Bass Pro Shops Extreme baitcast reel. I bought one of the 5 bearing models early last year as they were clearancing them out to make way for the new 7 bearing models that replaced them. I've had it for over a year now and it's been good so far, but I was really impressed with mine the other day when dad and I went fishing and we had 30 MPH winds, sometimes more, the whole time we were there. I started out using a 12 year old Quantum EX250 with a magnetic brake, casting a Bandit model 100 crankbait, maybe 1/4 or 5/16 ounce?? It was hard to cast a crankbait in that wind we were having, and you can totally forget it if you have to cast right into the wind. I had backlash after backlash and the final straw came when I casted it out, backlashed it yet again, and a bass hit the bait as soon as it hit the water. I couldn't set the hook, or even fight the fish, so I lost it due to fighting with the line instead. I knew I had that Extreme in the bed of the truck on another rod that I was not using at the time. I went and got it, thinking it's got to be better cause it's so much nicer overall. Boy was I ever right. That inertia brake they have is amazing!!! I was able to cast that little lightweight crankbait without a single backlash the rest of the day. Even STRAIGHT INTO the wind, with it blowing hard. I was hitting 30 to maybe 60 foot casts with it too, the wind was having no effect on the bait except maybe messing up my aim just a teeny bit, but otherwise it was a pure pleasure to use when fishing in the wind. Unfortunately though, I was never able to raise another strike in the couple of hours we stayed there after I swapped reels. But I'll know next time to start out using that Extreme. So if you haven't checked into the reels they have with the inertia brakes, you probably will want to now, my experience has been awesome with it, so much so that I'm about to replace the Quantum with another Extreme, and then get at least one more for another rod I have. Don't really need 3, but I just want it is all.

Well, I still have yet to recieve the May issue also, and now by my count it's really passed due cause I usually receive the magazine 2 weeks early before the month it's for. So this problem was resolved today when I called and cancelled my membership. They're sending me a refund for the remaining year that I still had coming, plus the three previous months' magazines that I never received. I'm still even waiting on those "used" copies they were supposed to send out to me last Friday (from the call I made last Tuesday). I told them it doesn't take a week to mail something anywhere in the lower 48 states and I'm just tired of the issue of this so refund me and cancel me out.

Yeah everytime I call I get that same attitude. Like they're just doing their job and that's all. Monotone, wish I was somewhere else, sounding voice on the other end of the line. I don't think they're getting stolen from my box though cause it's a P.O. box and it's locked. Only people who could do that would be the postal employees. Not that that can't ever happen. Just that the Postmaster has assured me that it's not even remotely likely cause it's a felony if they get caught stealing mail. And since several other people have had the same problem with the same magazine then I'm thinking that it's BM's fault somehow. Another problem I have with them though is that they waited until I threatened to cancel before even offering to send me some copies they had in their office. They'd rather let me wait 4 weeks on each issue from the time they tell the printers to reissue it again until I get it. And if I have to call each month then I'll be getting that month's issue at the end of the following month. Just too much hassle to have to deal with this. I don't even get all that much enjoyment out of the magazine. It's not the magazine I remember from 10 years ago......too much focus on tournaments and stuff. I like Bassin' much better so I'm just gonna switch and be done with it. There's several other magazines out there for bass fishing also. Field and Stream, In-Fisherman, and so on. I could get a few subscriptions, not a lot of money involved really, probably $50 per year for 4 different ones, and have plenty to read.