Tim Kelly

Likewise, plus tides here at home. Ontario next week, been eyeballing the weather forecast for that at least twice a day! ?

A 200 300 or even 400 would be more suitable for chucking big lures. I have an older 101 and it's a tiny little reel.

Miserable. So sorry you both have to endure this. Cherish every hour.

Brother of the 3am club. ❤️

Can't imagine how you could make a buying decision based on what raw materials the manufacturer says they're using. No way you can compare rods without holding them and using them. I kind of know what you mean though. I've used and built a lot of St Croix rods, so know what they're likely to be like. Never understood the Loomis range and never owned or used a Loomis, so have no idea what I'd be buying if I couldn't put it in my hand.

That is cool. I think Evinrude used to have something like that, you could switch between the foot control and hand control, so could go through idle zones with the hand control, then switch to the foot pedal when you were running, for example. Best of both worlds, like an ultrex.

The idea is that the second, counter rotating prop counters the turbulence the front prop causes, so the water leaving the propellers is moving in a straight line, not swirling. Makes it more efficient. There's an electric hydroplaning boat built in Sweden that uses a twin prop electric outboard and despite a tiny prop diameter it's incredibly efficient. Just don't bang them into rocks! BTW My 20hp Suzuki doesn't need twin props either.

Not on the one in the picture. That twin prop 350 has been out a few years now. I suppose the blacked out cosmetics are impressive, maybe? ?

What, specifically?

If the spool's turning it won't, obviously. Often people see the braid turning and assume the spool's turning, but it isn't, hence the mono backing to stop the line slipping on the spool.

Take the spool out and see if there's anything jammed between the frame and the spool, or the spool axle. Anything further will require some knowledge and mechanical acumen, which your question suggests might be better bought than learnt.

I had a similar issue with Sufix advanced mono in 6lb. Coiled hopelessly when pulled through the tip ring under tension. Others seem to like the line, but it absolutely didn't work for me. I just use a different brand and have no issues now. I don't have the answer why, just the solution.

So glad you're feeling better. Hope you get back to full power again quickly.

Totally agree, great looking series of boats. I would really fancy the 18ft version for the open cockpit, so anyone fishing with me has space for their bag, but the 17 has a lot of storage, way more than the 178. They deserve to be more popular, but they are definitely premium priced.

Miserable for you. Horrible when the day comes. Tank has some big boots to fill.

On my recent trip to Smith Mountain lake I noticed that some of the largemouth, as well as some of the smallmouth had red eyes. I've noticed smallmouth occasionally having them, but never largemouth before. Have I just not noticed before? Is it a spawning thing? Just one of those things?

Finally, after a two year gap due to pesky covid, I finally managed to go bass fishing again! My dear friend Tim invited me over to stay with him at his house on Smith Mountain Lake in VA for a week and we had an absolute blast. We timed it pretty perfectly as the weather warmed through the week and the fish were going from spawn to post spawn depending on where on the lake we fished. We didn't have a bad day, and by the end of the week we had it pretty dialled in. Absolutely fantastic to be whizzing about in a bassboat with Tim again. We also fished a club tournament on Lake Moomaw, which was a fascinating change of pace, somehow I even sneaked a third place finish! I got lucky with the heaviest fish of the week, with largemouth of 4-03, 4-15 and 5-04 plus the biggest striper at over 10lb. We also spent a morning chasing crappie, which were harder to find than they should have been, but I just love a meal of crappie. Caught enough for a lunch for the two of us with a white perch and a yellow perch to bulk out the meat. Can't tell you how much I love our adventures, and after the 2 year winter that has been covid, it was especially sweet.

Check that the cast control (spool tension) knob isn't cranked down stupid tight.

Mr Kehde is fishing for numbers of fish, mainly largemouth and mainly smaller. I expect if he's lived in smallmouth country and been fishing for 5 plussers he might have had to pay more attention to his gear. ?

Jellied of course, or with pie and mash.

Everything you're using looks fine, maybe a better reel with a better drag? I have no experience with smallmouth that size, but after using $80-200 reels I bought a certate last year in a moment of madness. Thought I'd been completely daft when I first fished it, but the first time I hooked anything big enough to pull drag I got it. Amazing drag, just ticks away in a way my other reels never have. Kind of one of those have to experience it things. I remember Matt Pangrac saying he'd borrowed a couple of Stellas off someone when he fished the St Lawrence open, just for the drag. Might be something in it?

Just thought I'd circle back to this thread and report that I managed to get hold of a couple of packs of flatworms in late September and have used them quite a lot since on the perch and zander here. The results seem almost unbelievable, but they definitely catch less for me than any of my normal plastisol drop shot lures. Reins bubbling shakers and Jackal ishads are still top of the tree. Crushing disappointment, but hard to get any other result.

I'm looking forward to getting hold of a couple of these, the 2/0 hook is more appropriate for the species we have here in the UK, other than Pike. Hopefully with the smaller blade the 1/2oz one should run a little deeper too.

Lews is just a brand name. The reels come out of the same factory as a lot of other brands, just with minor tweaks to differentiate the brands. The technology? Who knows who actually designs it? It's not exactly nuclear tech, just a bit of mechanical engineering.