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I simply hop it off hard bottom like I would a Lil John or Dart on a jighead. Its nice to be able to customize my length and color to match the match. Way more colors available in freshwater stuff than manufacturers use for inshore.

You don't necessarily have to work it like the finesser's do for it to work. I use it for landlocked snook in ultra clear water. They get fixated on a small almost clear minnow called a glass minnow. The terd jig head and a cut off white back/clear belly tiki stick was the closest I could get to the bait they were targeting. It allowed me to use a little heavier tackle that I needed to get them in.

No matter what kind of topwater I'm using, an orange belly always out performs others. My waters are stuffed with Mayan Cichlid's that look like their bellies are on fire. I believe in matching the hatch, or at least that it helps. No expert documentation, just personal experience. As always using what you have the most confidence in, trumps everything.

4 years! Does the canal its on connect to a lot of other canals? I found the ramp you are talking about on google earth but I don't think its the one I saw. It was closer into Collier County and had a huge parking lot. The ramp was on the west side of the canal, the mm51 ramp looks to be different.

Ultra Light certainly is finesse but for the Ned Rig it wouldn't be a choice. Even though the head weight is light, the hook size and diameter is still rather big. Also the submerged conditions play into it too be it weeds or wood. Med. light in some brands is o.k. but I stick to med. for the most part.

On the way back from Miami the other day all the west bound recreation areas were closed. All the FWC notices on the boards were gone, sort of like the rec areas were abandoned. I then saw closer to the west nearer to Golden Gate there was a huge parking lot and a newish boat ramp built on a connecting canal. When did all this happen? Does anybody know if the old rec areas will be dozed over or be reopened?

Yes braid does cause premature wear to reels. But its the users fault. 99% use it with drags set too tight, with rods too stiff, without using COMMON SENSE angling technique. All because you use braid doesn't mean you should use it in test ratings above what your reel was designed to be used with. Even if a "pro" tells you you should for a technique. All that lack of give is going to come out somewhere. But hey........it doesn't matter because we are a disposable society. When next year the reel is an ounce lighter and has pink accents instead of last years blue, everyone is going to want to buy the new one and the effects wont even be noticed.

I use both sizes and work them just as I do a fluke on a EWG hook.

It has been crazy windy down here! I love finesse fishing, the ned rig, I even use it in ultra clear salt water. Charlie Brewer's Slider too.

I've been Jones'ing for this thread for days and had to check it even if I was in the middle of the Caribbean Sea! It is sad Joel, that Pure Fishing ignores the old Ambassadeur crowd in lieu for their Revo "future". I often wonder if they would be foolish enough to sell the old Abu Museum to some Swedish land developer.

True that. I just wondered about the performance of the guides as they pertained to tangle management.

Those are knuckle busters aren't they? They are a beautiful reel, I see so few in good or better condition.

They are beautiful craftmen over there, I love the smaller fore grips and use of carbon. Always the best most thought out guides too. Do you use braid on the 2500's?

Done

If you haven't purchased it yet - you MUST purchase the book "Small Ambassadeurs - The Legendary Light-Line Fishing Reels". I've only been dabbling in the small Ambassadeurs for 3 or 4 years now so my acquired knowledge was meager compared to you guys. However, the book is simply an outstanding work that covers EVERYTHING that you would want to know about these reels. Who would have known there were more than 60 Abu-produced variants of these reels! I wrote a review of this book on Amazon. Ironically It just came in the mail this week and I haven't opened it up yet. I'm heading out on a 8 day cruise tomorrow and told myself I wouldn't look at it until I was ready to read it sitting on a lounge chair with a drink in my hand! I've been playing with all Ambassadeurs for a couple decades but never heard of the plus name being used. I suspected it was like the other plus models or the BASS models and had graphite frame or something. Of all things in my life I regret none I regret as much as selling a matched pair of 1600CIAR and 2600CIAR 's. What a dumb move..... The small Abu's remind me of the first baitcaster I yearned to own, the Penn Levelmatic 920. If Pure Fishing had even the slightest eye and ear open to the real, non bass tournament angler, market that keeps them afloat, they would bring back the 2500/1500/1600/2600 models, they would make a killing even if only off the small but spendy Ambassadeur fan niche. Next up I start collecting some 3500c's.....

Like those meaty Revo type knobs. I get the 2bb cogs from hookless for 15 and the bearings are ceramic hybrid.

Been saying that for years! They keep making low profiles, lower and lower but wider and wider. To a point there is less to hold on to and the palming plate is farther from the rod. Goose, can I ask where you got a carbon handle that has the recess cut to allow you to use it on older Abu's? Japan Tackle told me I couldn't use theres on 2500's and I think Hawtechs are to thick too....

I use the same tackle for both. We don't have a "surf" like you are thinking. The Gulf is a shallow stagnant saucer for the most part. Wading is a good way to fish here in SW fl.. The beach itself really isnt a fishing spot except when snook are there pre and post spawn in summer. Aim for mangrove shoreline the few jetties we have and 'hole' of sand in the flats that still have grass in them. Flounder and seatrout on the flats, snook in the mangroves. A good bet is to always fish a bridge, the bigger the better. Look for deeper channels under them and snaggy pilings that attract bait. Fresh live shrimp weightless on a med spinning gear is fine, your baitcaster around the bridges. Spooks and jerkbaits from your bass tackle, jig heads with shrimp tails you can get at walmart and your good to go. Don't hose or spray your reel it'll only make the salt go deeper. Slosh a almost soaking wet rag over your reel dont forget your rod guides. Then do the same with a oily rag.

There is. No exotic species can be put back into the water period in Florida.

I stick to a medium action rod for 1/4 and 3/8 jigs. I find you need a sensitive rod for jigs that size too. I'd try to get the most for your buck.

Wow, now oil and grease conversations spur insults. So I hold my 6 reels a little higher than you do your 8 or 10 reels. So I enjoy trying different oils when I don't find the one I was using to be up to par. OverANALyzing, no just enjoying my hobby.

Why. Just because it was evil mono?

Sticky doesn't even describe it. Dissolve even with their own brand oil! Do you offer any older style straight handles in narrower sizes with nice big fat 2nd Generation Revo style Eva paddles? Never mind I found them. Those Winn grips look very interesting, especially as I'm suffering from a right hand injury that causes me pain holding on to a small grip.

I have had nothing but great luck with Revo Spinning. Much better luck than with a Stradic I cannot open without voiding its core protect or a Ballistic which cannot be opened without killing its mag oil seal.

I'm not Mike but I'll chime in.... It depends on you, the reel and the conditions. Your in Iowa. You don't need a marine grease that is per say waterproof. But it is very economical to get a tube or jar of Quicksilver or Yamalube. It doesn't breakdown as fast as Penn or Abu grease. Do you catfish on those Iowa streams/rivers? If so you might appreciate a thin viscosity oil on you levelwind and bearings for long distance casting from the bank. 3 in 1 oil dries up and leaves a varnish that will cause you to soak bearings more often. Rem Oil is very low viscosity too. Somewhere on the net there is a list of all kinds of reel oils with their viscosities, you can google for it if you need. Spinning reels don't need anything special and higher viscosity works best since bearings have nothing to do with casting and everything to do with smoothness. When I got into souping up reels I started using souped up oil, its just part of the hobby. Surely not needed. The best oil performs, period. But performance calls for lighter oil which means continuous maintenance. Rocket Fuel can really help in distance casting but has to be added every trip. Met Oil too. A hardly known oil in the USA is INOX. It is food grade so its harmless and leaves no residue what so ever. Reel X is at BPS and works great. Really good grease has always been a problem for me. Yamalube because I'm using my stuff in saltwater has always made sense. But all reel grease seems to travel off the gears and pinion, glob up just out of the way of the gears teeth and become useless after just a very short period of use. Then it migrates to the drag washers and ruins drag performance fast. Marine grease sticks to the gears teeth better. So does Rocket Fuel Liquid Grease.