Delaware Valley Tackle

The Kirkman book is very good. Flex Coat's "How we do it" is very, very basic but gets you started. Also, Kevin has a series or video tutorials on the Mud-Hole site that are ver good. I'd say check them out to see what's involved, then decide how deep you want to get and how fast. Enjoy & good luck. Mike

Post spawn for LMB, Fall for SMB

Welcome.... great site here.

Welcome.... great bunch here sharing info! Check some of the articles too.

Welcome...

Welcome Travis!

Welcome... love the introducement!

I live just 50 miles +/- west off I84. I just joined the Orange County Bassmasters club. seem like a good bunch.

Welcome. Great bunch here sharing tons of info!

Welcome Mike! Great bunch here sharing tons of info. Don't overlook the articles and videos too, there's some good ones.

Cliping them in place near the spool shaft should be the off position

Just work a dab of grease onto both sides between your finger and thumb. Don't gob it on and be sure to use a specific drag grease (shimano, cals...)

If you'd like to send it in, I'll clean, inspect and diagnose the problem. BassResource.com members get a 10% disc. http://www.delawarevalleytackle.com/ Mike

What really matters is what you think of the reel. It appears to be a decent entry level BC. You can find conflicting opinions of even the highest priced top of the line reels on the market. Fish it, enjoy it, and take note of what you like or don't like, and then look for models with those characteristics when you upgrade ( if you do).

I think the rain will actually warm the lakes this time of year but the front and high dark water will slow the bite. Once things settle down again, fishing should be better than before the rain. I' really bummin' since the only open water near by the house is the Delaware and that wont be fishable for a while now.

I fish the Delaware and tribs for smallies. Look for seams in the current and eddies from boulders. The upstream ends of islands, bridge pilings and rip-rap can be good spots. At other times I target shoreline cover and overhangs. Good luck!

An alcohol lamp is a nice alternative to a lighter. I use the rubber band method to remove tips. To remove epoxy, try warming with a hair and scrape with the edge of an old credit card from the outer edge toward the middle. I can usually get enough off that I can touch up with 600 or 1500 grit and barely tell where the old wrap was on a matte finish.

It's not unheard of for a manufacturer to print one set of instructions to cover more than one model. You should be fine removing the spool the way you are.

You'll probably want a 2500 size reel for that, but I suggest bringing the rod when shopping so can see how it feels. Vice-versa when rod shopping.

Manufacturers of all types are notorious for over-lubing for the stated reason of shelf life and for speed of processing. It should be cleaned out, but can wait until the first regular cleaning. If it's brand new and under warranty, use it as it comes. If it's not exactly right, exchange it.

Unless you're familiar with a certain blank, you need to check it. Even when you do get a mfg. rating, there is no industry wide standard, one's Fast might equal another ModFast for example. Fury's examples are accurate.

Tip tops are sized by Ring/Tube. Fuji BMCAT is a 4.5 ring and available in sizes 4-6. The tube size is measured in 64ths of an inch. As stated, the manufacturer can give you a size or you can put a micrometer on it. If you have a Mud Hole catalog, they have a chart that you can lay the tip on to size it. If you go with the listed spec, you might want to also order 1 size larger and smaller due to slight variances in the manufacturing.

Here is a great spinner-bait video by Glenn: http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/spinnerbaits-bass-fishing.html

In the most general terms longer = more distance shorter = more accurate. This only applies when all else is equal. I prefer 6'6" rods for tip down presentations (Jerk baits, spooks), 6' for spinner-baits thrown to targets and 7' for cranking.

Update: That model had centrifugal brakes.