Dances with Bass

I have a 7' 6" Crucial that I use for flipping with a left handed BC, its a med/hvy rod and is very light. I don't remember how much I paid for it, but I believe it was well under $200. I haven't done much piggin/jiggin this year, but it sure doubles well for redfish and drum.

Thanks Reel Mechanic. I will do that when speckled trout start hitting inland. I really don't want to tie the reel up right now, because its great for throwing weightless trick worms into the wind. It's working almost okay, the tension knob has gotten real critical to set (just a minute adjustment goes from to tight to too loose). It wasn't like that when I first started using it

I clean my other reels, but I'm a little leary about taking this one apart, without some do's and don't.

I have both the Medalist and the President Pflueger reels. The Medalist is a little more corrosion resistant (stainless steel parts, I forget which parts). I find the President is just as smooth, if not smoother than the medalist, but I use them in salt water so most of my spinning reels are Medalists.

I use powder paint for my jig heads. I preheat them in an oven to 350 F. and dip them in powder, after I've done a few, I put them back in the oven for 15 or 20 minutes to cure. The cured powder paint is very durable. I recently ordered a fluid bed and awaiting its arrival as the fluid bed should put the paint on more evenly.

When I melt wheel weights, I usually use a very large Iron pot and a propane burner. after the wheel weights have melted to a liquid state I flux them. To Flux I use Beeswax. I just toss in small piece and stir with very large spoon. This will bring all of the dross and pieces of metal to the surface to be removed. If you remove the metal and the dross from the surface without fluxing you will remove some of the tin and antimony. and if you continue scooping the shiny stuff off the top you are removing tin, a needed ingredient for hardness, and it makes pouring a lot smoother. I have several tons of the stuff all mixed with tin (from 95/5 solder). I was using it when I was making bullets for myself and my shooting buddies. I use the same lead/tin mixture for making lead jig heads and catfish weights. When melting wheel weights or any lead mixture, be sure that there is no moisture present, if there is and you put some in the mixture you will remember doing so for a long time. I know, I put a wet ladle in melted bullet metal back in the early '60's. I was lucky to only get a few scars! I didn't once think that that little bit moisture would hurt anything.

I bought 2 and got 2 free. they are okay..Nothing special They have two grades of rods I bought one in 7 foot in each grade. The Premier rods (to get the action I wanted) came in two pieces, so I glued them together with Devon 5 minute epoxy. They compared them to the St.Croix rod. so I held the matching St. Croix and their Premier rod in hand and placed tips on a chair, both bends looked the same. My opinion is that their cheaper rod compares to the Berkley, except it has better guides than the Berkley. and it has a much larger diameter at the base. The Premier model is a much slimmer rod, and the difference in price shows up in the overall feel of it. I wasn't disappointed in my purchases. I selected Identical rods on the freebies as I gave one to a family member, he fishes with it regularly and seems to like it. Hope this helps.

Thanks I am on my third retirement I was called to go on a job the beginning of July, but my will to fish was more powerful than my lust for $$$$

Thanks I fish Lake Cataouchie, Lake Desallemands and the Gibson/Bayou Black area. Its been a while, but I like to fish the Lake Beouf and its contributing waterways.

I have been curious about line visibility for some time. Yesterday I took the time to try a little experiment. We were fishing in crystal clear water with Bass lurking in hydrilla using Green Pumpkin and Watermelon Red Trick worms. We were getting lots of action, but mostly 1 lb and 1 1/4 pounders, The day ended with twenty Bass all between 2 and 2 3/4 pounds. My number 1 BC had Trilene xl on it and my number 2 BC had suffix Hi-Vis yellow. The number 1 had a flouro leader and the number 2 had a Cabelas camo leader. I would switch back and forth from my number 1 to my number 2 and I never noticed a difference in strikes. Go figure! I probably increased my catch ration with the Hi-Vis, because when the bass would make a run with the worm, I could see the line better. In this case it line visibility didn't matter, but presentation sure did!

Hooked my transducer to my laptop and I found this place. Glad I did! I'm retired and I fish! The Bass seem to be plentiful down here in south Louisiana, so I guess I am a happy fisherman. I just can't wait until they grow-up. I tie flies, and cast my own jigs, and In the past I made my own topwater plugs, which I will probably start doing again soon. Nothing like catching a Bass on a lure you made yourself