Mike L

Staring down at a screen all day, holding a spinning rod with 6# line, wiggling a 3” piece of plastic waiting for a 1# fish to swim by. Mike

Thats where your thumb comes in. Mine doesn’t leave the spool throughout the entire motion It takes awhile to master but eventually it becomes easier Mike

Using a heavier lure will help somewhat but it’s not always the right answer especially if your spot isn’t 10 ft away. With a centrifugal brake system which all my reels are except for one, the first thing I do is to increase the spool tension a bit in small increments. If that doesn’t do enough then I’ll add a brake and fine tune with the knob. The trick and most important of all is to keep your lure low to the water using a roll cast with a side arm motion. Mike

Mrs Mike hates when I shop with her as I’ll just grab what I want/need put it in the cart or just hand it to her, leave and meet her at the car. After 55yrs together she doesn’t even question me anymore. Mike

I took my youngest grandson to a local golf course to continue to ween him into bait casters. It also gave me another opportunity to try and test Seaguar’s Smackdown braid as I’ve only used Power Pro and thier new Pounce leader material which I never use. I wanted to get him used to using finesse baits and presentations so I brought the most sensitive rod I own, a Loomis 843C with a Chronarch 100sf spooled with 30# Smackdown and added the 12# Pounce leader. Both were tied with a uni to uni knot. I rigged a Senko wacky, a VMC Ned weight and finally weightless. He got 3 dinks but didn’t care. He got hung up at least once on each but I was able to get free by using a dowel. The Pounce and Smackdown held up perfectly through all that without a nick or fray for 4 hours. Now he doesn’t want to use anything else. Mike

@gim You still remember that thread! Still, every time I enter a blind draw tournament one of the first questions I ask my boater is what kind of boat he has. When he says a Bullet I tell him about that day and everyone, to a man just looks at me and smiles. When they don’t strap on a goalie mask and slaps me on the shoulder to tell me to hold on, I breathe a little easier Mike

Yes, it IS all about performance, toughness, longevity and the overall build. Nostalgia has nothing to do with it. All the new and improved materials, fancy innards, precision this or that is great, but none of that is reason enough to sacrifice the tried and true. But that’s me Mike

Personally I don’t mess with rusted hooks, snaps etc. I try to take every precaution, but if I notice rust on any metal I just toss and replace Mike

Usually they have better components… Guides, Cork (AAA or AAAA) Fit and finish are also usually better. Thier biggest selling point’s are lighter overall weight and sensitivity. But those are relative to the individual person Mike

Curado 200E7 Mike

I’ve found that If you really “Deep Dive” into it and really look at the detail it has to offer and what you can see and learn it’s really impressive. There are some things that as a co angler I really can’t take advantage of, but with a boater on unfamiliar waters or with changing conditions on his home waters it can be beneficial. Mike

The only way a bass won’t move is if you Drop a lure on her head or in front of her nose and hope she reacts or hungry Whatever, if you’re throwing a moving bait she’s gonna have to move to get it. Mike

Dean It does help on the higher end of the 4 carrier I use. I use 80# when punching though the heaviest and thickest of cover. It’s proven to be the best option for me in especially blooming Hyacinth in the summer and through the thickest Hydrilla mats we see. Most of the time I use the 60# or 20# Shooter Mike

Looks Great Too!!

I wanted to do a follow up report of my new GXR flipping stick In my previous one I gave my initial impressions of it on the water after putting it though it’s paces for that purpose. It’s advertised as a Frog & Flip combo. As a co angler I’m sometimes restricted on the amount of combos I can bring for any given outing and sometimes I even have to down size my bag, fortunately that doesn’t happen as often. Anyway, the action of 7’4” is perfect for me in every regard The Seviin reel matches up perfectly when flipping and pitching for hours. There is virtually no muscle fatigue as I have in my older 200 size reels I’ve been using for both #60# and 80# braid I have spooled on my other flippin sticks. This time I wanted to throw a frog with it and see how that goes. I use almost exclusively the Scum line of frogs which are smaller and lighter than other national brands. Given the much faster action of the GXR, I didn’t get the distance of my dedicated frog rig but not by much. It kinda surprised how much I did get tho. I hooked up with about a 2lb LMB which I really wanted to do as the faster action of the GXR compared to what I’m used to would give me a better gage of its casting, hook up and retrieving ability on a smaller fish. When I set the hook I knew it, there was no doubt which is a confidence thing for me. It got her head up and out immediately as I’m not one who plays with them. All in all it’s now my dual purpose flipping/ frog combo. Mike

Steve There are 2 open threads on here all about them. Do a search as they were started not too long ago. Mike

It does help when you get up in the higher strengths especially with the 4 carrier original Power Pro I use. Not so much on the lower end with an 8 carrier Mike

It happens Mike

It’s not always a good idea grabbing the line. I agree with Tom. There’s a trick to using the line to bring a bass in. You have to be able to judge the weight and stress to your line and hook and using your fingers as the drag. Mike

I continue to wish you the absolute best!! Never underestimate the power of prayer. More comin to ya for a full remission and recovery Mike

I only use it on those heavier lines (only time I use braid) which are all Original Power Pro It helps with casting distance on the #50 which is only for frogs (recently changed to Smackdown) I use it on the 2 others (which are solely for flipping and pitching) as it helps the line come off much smoother which gives me an extra few feet when pitching. A very minor benefit is it helps retain the lines color Mike

Happy Birthday! No better way to celebrate Mike

Yeah, we saw that from our driveway as it went right across the front of the house. Most go up and angle either east or NE and only a bright spot and contrail is visible. This one went due South. The engine’s exhaust and flame were clearly visible this time Mike

KVD for years. Including on heavier braids (#50, #60 and #80) I also use it on all skirts. I helps to keep them pliable and separated Mike

If they are males you’re gonna have to work to get him to bite. Just dropping anything in the bed isn’t gonna do anything. Pitch past the bed at different angles to get his attention. Once you do then try different presentations and bait sizes to get him to react. If he does that fish is catchable, if not then he’s not, move on. Mike