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I'm not sure if my reels are old or not. They are custom made from new old stock from the 70's. So yeah I guess they are old just not put together and jazzed up until recently.

Mine too. That's was a real steal, I'm kicking myself for not seeing it listed.

If its anything like the Lexa spinner it should be a real workhorse. Would've been my favorite spinner if it wasn't for the stupid hard plastic grips they put on them being so sharp edged and slick.

Topwaters but my water is much different than yours I guess. The rain has made the water murky. They have been on fire in pre spawn even biting in cold mornings. Haven't seen a bed yet. All fish have been plump even if small.

Then from that all I can say is, interesting. Walmart created the smaller stores in their words as "Guerilla stores" to attack Publix by placing them close to Publix stores and using their buying power to hurt them. It must not have worked and it is truly thrilling to see the mighty stumble if not fall.

I collect Jitterbugs. I have 2 with white plastic lips in the original boxes with papers. Collecting them started when I rediscovered one of my fathers he used on smallmouth on trips to Canada. Fished on a Pfleuger Akron on a True Temper metal rod.

All my biggest fish have come from a white ice colored super fluke fished weightless. Especially snook. Last year I got 2 bass just over 10# on it. 3 weeks ago the bass were hitting only it as they were staging for the spawn when a snook surprised me on it, she went over 40". Thank God I had a leader on. Bigger swimbaits have only worked for me on bass in Lake Istokpoga. Local fish are just too pressured to take big stuff.

I maintain all my reels and those of my friends. Your question about frequency of maintenance really depends on a lot of things. Saltwater use, if ever, means frequent takedowns for bass tackle. I've found that transporting my gear in the rod rack in the bed of my truck causes more frequent maintenance since road dust gets into and into the levelwind worm gear. The kayak and wading makes for more frequent maintenance too.

I went through every brand and every price point all the way up to the Calais. I was never happy until I went to and stayed with what I lusted for when I was younger. You could do a lot worse than a Calcutta. Round reels have a lot of plus' like all metal construction, ease of maintenance and an intrinsic feel of being more solid when using baits that retrieve with a lot of resistance. Either way, I was never content until I was using what I always dreamed of using.

I just went on to their site again and it says sink no deeper than 12".....

I'd say 99% of the water I fish is so thick with angel hair algae that its pretty rare I use a sinking bait other than a weedless fluke, Jerky J, or soft swimbait. I used to use the tru-tungsten small segmented swimbait in tilapia in some bowl shaped barren neighborhood ponds devoid to any growth.

I just bought 4 floating rattletraps. Their web site says they don't float and only sink about 12" which is why I bought them.

254 walmarts are closing they said. Sear,Target,Kohl's and Macy's are also closing store. Pure Fishings mother company also was bought by Rubbermaid after they unsuccessfully tried to by Rubbermaid. Their CEO given a huge pay out. Bass Pro tried to buy Cabela's recently. Lots of things happening.

So does everyone else too! Neighborhood ponds are a thing all into themselves. Bowl shaped, little structure, they can be a tough nut to crack. I find down sizing a must as prey species are usually very small especially here in s. fl. like released aquarium fish and stunted bream. I think they have to prey on their own young a lot too.

You cant buy the Weibe seats anymore. He holds the patent and he doesnt let anyone have them other than on his rods. The Boron rods I handled many many years ago were light and stiff much like todays graphite in a fast or ex-fast action.

Gambler EZ Swimmers are my favorite but they are very fussy about keeping them at just the right retrieve speed or they lay over on their side. Everyone here is using Spoolteks but they look to gimmicky to me and I haven't seen a color I'd use. I just got some Berkeley Ripple Shads and Ripple Mullets on closeout. They are much less susceptable to rolling over.

That old Loomis has the old Weibe reel seat. For a time pre shimano, Loomis put them on all his average sized casting rods. Much sought after it is extremely comfortable especially in casting round reels. I spoke to Mr. Loomis at a show a year ago and he told me he still holds the patent for it and puts them on his new Edge rods.

Hi Dave, thank you very much kind sir. I miss the river forum a lot. What a nice guy the general was. Good fishing to you...

I grew up in Punta Gorda and fish North Port every week at least 2 or 3 times. We are not bass territory really. ANy small pond or lake around here is private access only and posted. Most fresh waters here have salt intrusion and all freshwaters have saltwater fish in them of many kinds. Punta Gorda was basically destroyed by Charlie and has been rebuilt into a destination place for rather affluent people with a downtown cafe kind of atmosphere. Home prices have gone from low 50's to several hundred thousands. In the city is a mix of affluent and "the other side of the tracks". Nice neighborhoods have deed restrictions that prohibit boats visible on private property. It doesnt blend in with the golf courses. The little cow town I grew up in is gone like all of old florida is now thanks to so much migration from the north, no offense meant to you. Port Charlotte across the river is still in blight from Charlie really, never paid much attention by local government. It is very low rent and very expensive waterfront combined. Frankly it is wrought with crime no matter what the press says. Lots of racial trouble too. When I retired from the Sheriffs Office 10 years ago there were over 60 known gangs in the school system, I don't imagine that has decreased. North Port has a lot of racial tension too and its share of crime. My wife is the police dept.'s CSI and she is kept plenty busy. North Port has better bass fishing and city government is much more in touch with keeping amenities available to everyone. Nine mile canal a.k.a. Cocoplum Waterway runs through North Port and Port Charlotte but is sub divided by weirs so it prevents a lot of through way travel by boat. All no wake zone, it is small boat territory even though no one obeys the no wake speed laws. Port Charlotte's freshwater is confined to access only at public parks. No fishing is allowed at county/state bridges. Punta Gorda's canals are saltwater. It has Cecil Webb WMA lakes that offers bass fishing at fee but no solid fish are caught there often. North to Sarasota you have recently replenished Myakka Lake in the state park. Its a sleeper. An hour north you have Lake Manatee, good bass water. 2 hours south, Alligator Alley and Lake Trafford in Naples. Real good bass water sits east at Lake Istokpoga about 2 hours away. Bass fishing here is limited, pressured and the waters heavily polluted by runoff so don't eat your catch. The worst is local shops have nearly no freshwater tackle, not even the walmarts have much as 99.9% of anglers are saltwater fishing. On the plus side you are just as likely to catch a snook, red or tarpon as you are to catch a bass in our freshwater. Fish the weekdays out of snowbird season and you'll have the water to yourself. Oh I forgot, Punta Gorda has the Peace River. go north just out of our county and it is fresh and has excellent bass fishing. Extremely shallow it has a lot of airboat traffic on weekends. You need a light boat with little draft to travel in it in dry season. Also there is Prairie Creek and Shell Creek. Top notch bass water and old Florida atmosphere. Always always always lock you truck at the ramp. Never leave anything visible. Don't be so afraid of the gators, watch the people.

I imagine everybody throws it on braid. I don't but I don't use braid for any application at any cost. I use 17lb. mono.

I'm more afraid of people than I am the gators. Especially the ones who blow by full throttle only feet away pretending they don't see me.

Pompadour Jr. has been tearing them up these last couple weeks as they are suspending just off of bedding areas just about to bed. Vicious strikes at all times of the day. Sunny or cloudy too but they are absolute gator attractors.

Yeah they do but it's only good when you are standing. Those of us in small boats are kinda ignored by the manufacturers who only make products like we are all tournament anglers standing on a big deck and fishing a tva reservoir.

I use a pistol grip rod every fishing trip I take. I prefer small waters. Even when fishing big lakes like Istokpoga I work the shoreline under cypress trees. I'm always skipping under mangroves or Brazilian Pepper with them. People think they are useless today but everything is made for bass boat fishing. If you fish a Jon boat or canoe it has lots of uses.

All my reels are pre C3 Ambassadeur's. I catch bass and inshore fishing including cobia, baby tarpon and small sharks with them. They are jazzed up with 7 b.b.'s but I prefer not having an infinite anti reverse and there isn't any repair I can't do to them. With the right rod they will toss quarter ounce plugs but I don't make it a habit. I buy expensive low profiles every now and then but they always disappoint me and I go back to the 4500C's.