tholmes

External cleaning - Simple Green followed by a coat of car wax. Internal cleaning - Simple Green, acetone or naphtha for soaking bearings. An old toothbrush for scrubbing stubborn gunk. Oil - Any good quality light oil will work. I use Tri-Flow or turbine oil. Rem Oil works well, also. Grease - Abu reel grease or Yamaha blue marine grease on gears and sliding metal parts and Cal's on the drag washers. Tom

Central Kansas. ~15 mile SW of the geographical center of Kansas and ~135 miles S of the geographical center of the 48 contiguous States. Tom

Cast with my left, retrieve with my right. Tom

I've been using the round Abu Ambassadeurs for most of my bass fishing for more than 40 years. I currently have about 20 of them. My current "starting line-up" includes a Record 40, a Record 50, (2) 5600 C4 Mag-X, a 4600CI, a 5600 C4 and a 5600 CL Rocket. I also have (2) 4600C3, (3) 4600C USA Bass, a Royal Express, a 5500C, a 5500C3, a 5600WS, a Black Max 3600C, a Pro Max 3600C, an old 5000C and a 5000 that I use for catfishing and a 5000 35th Anniversary model. I've added dual ball bearing levelwind and cog wheels and carbontex drags to several of them. I like the simple, rugged design, the fact that parts are readily available for any of them, and I can do most of my own service and repair. Tom

^ This is a good idea. You can prolong the life of the levelwind parts by putting a few drops of oil (not grease) on the worm gear often. Tom

TOXIC beat me to it^ You probbably need to replace the line guide pawl and possibly the worm gear. Tom

Lots of great suggestions here. I'll add one of my favorite bluegill/sunfish lures to the mix. The Rebel Teeny Wee Crawfish, both the shallow and deep versions. Also, a Panther Martin 1/16th oz. spinner, black w/gold blade. Tom

This^! I've tried to love the stick worms, but I've never caught a bass over 2 lbs. on one. I've fished 'em wacky, T-rigged, weightless, etc. Nothing but dinks. Oh well, I can cut 'em up for Ned rigs and catch more dinks per worm. Tom

LMB, SMB, spotted bass, rock bass, green sunfish, bluegill, redear, white perch, white bass, wiper, striper, walleye, northern pike, bullhead, channel cat, blue cat, flathead, carp, buffalo, drum, white crappie, black crappie, rainbow trout, cutthroat trout, brown trout, brook trout,...that's 26, and I'm sure that I'm forgetting a few. Tom

The spool might be released by pushing a button in the center of the drag adjustment knob. Just like the old Mitchell reels. Tom

Lew's service and parts: https://www.lews.com/service.php Tom

Dead bait works very well. Every bait that I cast for bass is very, very dead. Plastic worms, jigs, crankbaits, spinnerbairs, etc., all as dead as a rock. Tom

X2^ Tom

I've had the same experience and I have a theory as to why this is. Smaller fish don't hsve the body mass to create enough resistance for a solid hookset. When you set the hook on a small fish, you start to move him through the water before the hook penetrates enough to solidly button up the fish, so he comes off the hook, especially if the fish jumps. Just a crazy flatlander's opinion. Tom

Yep!^ I've used live bluegill under a slip bobber to catch stripers, too. Tom

It's pretty simple...I use jigs when plastics aren't getting bit, and plastics when jigs aren't getting bit. Tom

Welcome to the "Golden Years" Tom

Culprit Fat Max 9" in black, black or black. Especially at night. Tom

^ this. Plus a #4 Black Fury. Tom

I use Trilene BigGame on most of my casting reels. I change the first 100 yards or so at least once per season. I see no point in changing the whole spool. Tom

I'm pretty well satisfied wth the gear I have now. I've got all the bases covered and more, fancier wouldn't catch me any more fish. I guess I'd opt for a new truck. Tom

First confidence bait was the lure I caught my first good bass with. Lazy Ike. Next was the old Snagless Sally. I caught a LOT of bass on these. I was convinced that I could catch a bass anywhere, anytime with these. These days, it's a 7.5" ribbon-tail worm in tequila sunrise or red shad and a black/blue jig with a chunk trailer. Tom

Proper technique also plays an important role. IMO, casting distance is not as important as accuracy. Distance is for show, accuracy catches fish. Tom

First thing....tighten the drag. Tom

The LR Shock is a great choice in your price range. I'd also look at the Abu Vengeance rods. I own a couple of them and like them a lot. Tom