J Francho

Perfect description. I'll add dragging works when you're working a crank through wood or brush. You can feel and react to the contact better then when reeling.

They do, it's called reciprocity.

I'm talking about the same gears as Jedi is. Chances are that's the issue. No bearing will fix it.

I have so many great fishing lakes within a 90 minute drive or less I rarely go further. The closest is five minutes from house.

Try a coffee cup in cover. That's my routine for getting into pitching shape.

A top end bearing replacement won't fix a binding worm gear. There is something else not quite right. That should operate smoothly when turned by hand.

I have a few 1/8, but mostly 3/8, 1, and 1.5 oz.

Since temperature can drastically affect egg development into fry, it stands to argue that reaching optimal temperature conditions plays a large part in the timing. I know up here during cooler springs, the spawn can be delayed. I've also noticed that it starts in smaller, shallower waters earlier. This holds true for prespawn activity as well.

You can spend all the time you want watching videos, but nothing beats time on the water. I didn't develop my techniques by watching videos. They were borne out of necessity. I did learn to pitch watching another local angler that was an artist. For the most part though, it's all through doing.

This is why so many baits that sit lower in the water work after a missed top water strike, in my opinion.

Wife fishing? Never been. What do you use for bait?

Then the same first question applies...does starting to junk fish net bigger fish, or are you wasting your time catching all the fish when you might already be on the big fish pattern? That's a game time decision based on what you are catching and what you know is there.

Are you cleaning up, or targeting fish in a completely different mode? I guess my decision to switch might be more based on figuring out what bigger fish are interested in, rather than catching every fish from a spot. And even if you're doing the latter, aren't you just scratching the surface of junk fishing - switching baits to see what they'll bite, if anything at all, without regard to pattern? Interesting to think about when you're not on the water. I think follow ups to missed fish are a more important part of my fishing. I already know I got a biter, now I want to catch it. Think unweighted senko or fluke after a missed strike on a top water. If that's what you mean, then there is one example.

Look at IPT. In some cases smaller diameter spools are similar to those 5:1 reels despite the higher gear ratio.

Yep, dozens and dozens of threads about copies...and that's just Senkos, lol. Unless it's an OG floater, Rapala doesn't make much that turns my screws. BTW, I'm retired from moderating.

Subtle evolution/variation vs. something entirely new is a fun debate.

9 out of 10 dentists recommend it! I'm one that wouldn't recommend toothpaste on your gears. I'm thinking you either have too much or too little crease on the main/pinion gears. Worst case, you can send it to DVT for a service and checkup.

You're definitely going to need to pay attention to capacity. Figure in you're weight fully dressed along with anything else you're bringing, like tackle, combos, anchor, cooler, etc. You want be sure you are below the stated capacity as not only is it unsafe, performance will be reduced by a lot if you go over.

You got good answers here already. Just stopping to say those were really cool little boats that could handle all sorts of water well.

Nothing to fix. If you reread my post, you can replace the yoke springs, but if the spool tension is loose, it will do the same thing anyway. It's literally designed to do this to prevent wear on the pinion.

Just get tieable leader and stop whining, lol.

That will suck if you ever sell. It is very difficult to unblur it if you don't want it blurred

From where? New or used? Warranty or As-Is?

That behavior sounds more like a male.

First of all, males aren't going to make their bed in current. They're not like trout or salmon who scatter their eggs. They find a secluded, calm place for that. Females may stay on the bed with the male briefly, or leave after the spawning event. Sometimes they seek out other suitable males to spawn with. Non spawning females are usually not far off the spawning areas. Perhaps waiting to spawn or recover from spawning.