BobP

If you learn a good consistent, compact casting stroke that uses your body and good timing more than your arm(s) and wrist, it's surprising how far you can get a lure with accuracy. I gave up trying to wildly fling a baitcaster for distance. Too often, that's just a recipe for disaster no matter how "expert" you think you have become.

Magnesium framed reels can be coated and treated so the metal does not come into contact with salt water. However, normal use and wear will eventually expose the magnesium to corrosion from salt water, so most guys would rather just not go there. Shimano marketing says some of their magnesium reels are "saltwater rated". I don't care. I never use my magnesium reels on the coast. Honestly, when I want a finesse reel to use in salt water, I go with a spinning reel because there is less drama with that format in windy coastal conditions.

I use braid or other superline with a 3/4 oz brass or lead weight and 12-15 lb mono leader (not fluoro). Personally, I prefer a swivel and a glass bead after the weight because it lets the fish run without feeling the weight before you can set the hook. My leader is 24-30" long. I think the braid is important because it makes for longer casts, which is really half the deal on a C-rig. I like a creature bait or a Zoom lizard on a 3/0 offset hook, but big worms work well too. I'll fish it in anything over 15' of water. For shallower, I prefer other stuff. Pretty much the classic C-rig but it catches'em even in clear water.

In some states, NC for example, a title is required only if the boat is financed. Otherwise, you only need a notarized bill of sale to transfer ownership and apply for a new registration. NC includes a blank bill of sale with their registration certificates for the registered owner to use when selling the boat onward. Check with your state's DNR or whatever agency registers boats for the rules in your case.

Yeah, Glenn made a mistake. It was corrected in the initial comments appended to the video. 'Nuff said.

In cedar or any of the woods mentioned except balsa, I like 1" or longer screw eyes. I prefer the open type that you crimp shut after inserting the split rings for the hooks. Lurepartsonline.com has a good selection. I would drill a pilot hole a little smaller than the shank of the screw shank and apply some super glue to it before screwing it in.

I think using single hooks on moving baits like crankbaits will inevitably result in fewer hookups. Have you considered just crimping down the barbs on your trebles? In my experience, barbless trebles work about 95% as well as barbed do.

I tried Fluoroclear, it worked OK in 12 lb test. Then I read a lot of posts about breakage and dropped it. Their CXX copolymer line is very tough but I never liked its "greasy" exterior texture or its spool memory compared to other copolymers. It just didn't seem to cast well for me. I do like the PLine 100% fluorocarbon and think it's one of the better medium priced fluoros.

I don't know from "gen X" but about six years ago I got a CRS-DX68M medium power xtra fast action dropshot rod based on the recommendations of several early west coast dropshot experts. It has what they termed a "hinged" action - a light power xtra fast tip section paired with a medium power butt section. Cork handle, Fuji Alconites guides, lifetime warranty. I've tried other rods but this is the one for me.

Well, you want a wood that floats and which wood depends on several things: how high you want it to float and how easy it is to cast (weight), how much hardware you plan to add to the bait, how durable you want it to be, and what tools you use to build it. Woods most often used for bait building in ascending order of buoyancy are pine, basswood, cedar, paulownia, and balsa. The lighter and more buoyant the wood, the easier and faster it is to shape and sand. You can build durable baits with any of these woods but balsa requires more finish reinforcement to make it durable. Personally, I would try balsa or paulownia because I could ballast the bait to ride upright after casting it, but any of them might work for you depending on exactly how you build it.

Lubrication is lubrication. But one problem is that oil tends to migrate away from where you put it while grease tends to stay where you put it. So parts like the gears that undergo a lot of rotation and force will sling off an oil pretty quickly but will stay lubricated and smooth longer with a sparing coating of grease. I think whoever cleans the reel properly next time will have a lot of cleaning to do before lubricating the reel. Just shooting lots of lubricant into the reel is not the best way to optimize its performance. It leaves dirty lubricant containing metal particles to eventually gum things up and increase wear. But that's better than no lubrication.

A few years ago on another forum, a material scientist ran tests on a number of popular reel oils. Quantum Hot Sauce came out very well in the test because it maintains its low viscosity and lubricty in a wide range of temperatures, unlike many oils. That's great if you can stand its red dye which migrates with the oil all over the inside of your reel. I can't so hate the stuff. Rem Oil was also good but has very low viscosity which means it will migrate more quickly out of a bearing than many other oils, requiring more frequent oiling. 3 In One was also very good but also has low viscosity. It's a trade off between viscosity and how often you will need to oil a bearing. The thinner the oil, the faster a bearing will spin but the quicker you will need to re-oil the bearing.

As indicated above, we don't know the exact configuration of your hub. One tip I have is, when you add grease to your hub, don't pump it in there too fast or you may blow the real seal out, especially if you are pumping in high viscosity marine grease. Also, you can buy grease seals that have double sealing surfaces. Not a bad idea. On my trailer, when full, a ring around the zirc fitting begins to pop out of the hub to tell me it's full of grease.

When my 1310 needed parts, I just called Quantum and the sent them right out. When you buy parts from an independent, you often have to pay a premium. Btw, you can easily change out the brass spool bushings on a 1310 for standard 3x10x4 spool bearings for smoother operation. Just saying.

The best grease I've found is Superlube, which is a PTFE fortified wheel bearing grease sold in 400 gram cans at NAPA auto stores. A can is virtually a lifetime supply for greasing gears and other internal parts of baitcasters. It's white, has no dye, has medium viscosity for a grease, is very slick, and lasts a long time. But you need to use a dedicated drag grease on drag disks (not all drags use grease, of course) and not regular grease. I use Shimano ACE2 drag grease but there are others. Drag greases need to be thicker and stickier, and are usually based on cosmoline. Penn Muscle grease is another brand.

Yes, if it's a special color scheme that is known to be "hot" on a particular body of water. I've been making, painting and fishing crankbaits for 16 years. My own view is that depth, action, visibility, and size are usually more important to bass than is the color scheme - which is an attractant to fishermen more than it is to bass. But color scheme can be important if it instils a sense of confidence in the fisherman.

I don't think it's a matter of depth. It's more about whether you have a good idea of where bass are holding, at whatever depth, and whether they are in a "finesse mood" or a "reaction bait" mood. That said, I strongly prefer to work a drop shot vertically whenever possible and when depth is greater than 30', I like to try other vertical presentations like a jigging spoon, etc.

LC makes some nice lures and I own a lot of them. But if you are talking specifically about bank fishing ponds, I'd go with less expensive brands like Strike King, etc.. I fish from a boat and can go and retrieve a LC when I snag it on something. I'd be a little leery of throwing a $15 LC if I couldn't get it back when that happened. And you must be willing to throw hard baits into gnarly cover if you want the best results. When I bought my first LC's, I had a period when I hesitated to cast them into dangerous places. It took me awhile to get over that, until I realized that you have to put crankbaits where the bass are hiding if you want them to work for you. Just because it's a pretty Japanese crankbait doesn't mean bass will swim a mile to bite it. And less expensive brands will get bit just as well in 90% of fishing circumstances.

A medium heavy power fast action 7' rod is probably the most useful rod for bass fishing since it encompasses the most kinds of bait presentations. Not the best for EVERYTHING, but good for most baits and the best for many. Brand and price are up to you and your pocketbook but generally speaking, the higher the cost, the more sensitive the rod will be. Personally, I think a good rod in the $150-200 range is the sweet spot. Spend less and you will notice less sensitivity. Spend more and you get into the range where rod companies are charging a premium price for less and less gain in fishing quality. JMHO.

I use a 7 1/2' St. Croix SCII MM rod for most inshore fishing and never saw a need to go lighter.

Since you didn't use the reel and it's only exterior dust, I'd just rinse it off with tap water in the sink. It'll be fine.

I use a Shimano 200B5, green Curado reel from circa early 2000's. Alternatively, you can get 5:1 ratio gear set for any 200 model Curado. They cast well, hold a good amount of line, and this gear set actually has a smoother retrieve than the standard 6.2:1 gears of the 200 standard Curado of that period.

Personally, I've never been a fan of glass blanks and have found graphite blanks with suitable actions for any presentation. However, if you want a glass blank for rattle baits and bladed jigs, one that's hard to beat is the Seeker BS706 S glass. It is a fast action MH and very light for it's rating, almost as light as a graphite. Stiff enough to pop lures out of grass but still has a little of that "glass give" action. It comes in both E glass and S glass variants. You definitely want the S glass. I'm sure there are plenty of all-glass, composite, and graphite blanks that will work well for this but the Seeker is a great classic choice.

Don't know about the hook, but it isn't best to rig it parallel to the bait. To make the hook perpindicular to a wacky rigged bait, try using 2 O rings and crossing them in an X pattern before you insert the hook so it will stay perpindicular. Or lose the O ring and just put the hook through the bait. You'll lose more baits but your hookup percentage will go up.

Except for the spawn period when they key in on full moon periods, and for tidal waters where the moon phase controls the strength and timing of tides, my experience is that fishing during the daytime during a full moon period is worse than other times. My best times are usually during the new moon period. I believe the darkest nights curtail bass success in finding forage, which makes for hungrier bass during the daytime. Same for overcast weather at night. That said, like most, I go fishing when I can, not when the witch doctor says the time is right.