Capt.Bob

I use it from 6# to 60# on all my reels for main line, all tipped with fluoro leaders of appropriate weight. It is by far the best braid I've used for strength verses size over others smooth through guide performance rounder than others abrasion resistance in rocky fast water it's proven better than others best casting braid I ever used It just plain outperforms all the others, and is a bargain for the price, but since I always use fluoro leaders, the color or no color does not enter the ability of its uses for me.

First off were only talking $200.00 rods, not $500! The Fenwick HMG in the same weight and length is not as well balanced with the lighter reels, much heavier, and not as sensitive as the Avid, the Avid-X I have no experience with, I just don't see buying any rod at any price with half a handle! I will say before someone calls me, I do own 2 Legend Extremes but they were less than 1/2 price and came with the same guides I use on my custom rods, Recoil Guides, lightest, most durable, and most sensitive guides available, but the 50 bucks to get the handles fixed made them a steel! My Avids all 7 of them have Fuji guides. I don't own any Avid X and never entertained them just because I want full one piece cork handles, the X version turns me off with the 2 piece handle.

I started using St. Croix rods 30 years ago, as the years have gone by I find they are better and better and continue to lead the industry. I have had a couple replaced but only after over 15 years of use, and in the case of those rods ( pitching flipping and Salmon and Pike fishing) more abuse than use! I have tried a few quality rods from other manufacturers over those years, some I was happy with at first, but all are closet queens today and the only thing I will spend my money on is St. Croix! Today I pick rod blanks, and have them built. My suggestion would be St. Croix, no doubt! But they offer dollar for dollar rods in all categories. They also offer both quality American made rods,,,, that I would highly recommend, they have Premier in your price range or for a little more their Avid series, probably their best bang on a budget for a high quality rod. The Premier is also a very nice rod, light with great sensitivity and durable, with some models on your price range. But for a quality rod assemble overseas with their American made blanks, the Mojo Bas, Eyecon, and Triumph all fal in your price range. My money says if your leary and not sure what to spend, these rods will make a believer out of you, and sure to lead to stepping up to their finner quality blanks such as I mentioned. Bite the bullet and splurge for an Avid, if you want unbelievable,,, the Legend series are unbelievable, till I started fishing them I never knew you could feel fish breathing before they hit!

Gill's moved off the beds now, but still had a good day to start my grandsons summer vacation, he's primed for the summer now. Supper over a campfire after hammering out a limit of big O'le gill's has em always want'n to go back to fish camp with grampa,, I love spoil'n em,,,,

Well off the beds but took the grandson to our fish camp fer a couple days, after 17 Wednesday we found them more receptive Thursday morning. He get's his choice of what, when, and how, and let's me choose where, the way it needs to be when you spoil em the right way! Wednsday night he said can we get up at 4:30 and get around to go get em, so I suggested 5:30, and have some juice and go fishing before sunup then come in before it starts cooking us and have a Big Man Breakfast, (mashed fresh blueberries I freeze in pancake batter, served with butter and local honey instead of syrup, sausage links, and eggs) spool em right! He scored, we came off the water for the big breakfast at 9:30 with mostly 8" to 9" gills, but over a dozen of the 35 up to 10 1/2". I have always told him the early guy gets the best bite, and love it when they choose what and when they want to go, and get results at the dock like this! Nothing like get'n em into nature, he is one grand-kid that will never choose big fancy lakes with ski jumps and sandy beaches over one with lillypad and cattail's lined with wild flower shorelines, and nothing but the sounds of cranes, swans, and songbird's to breakup the background noise of tree and bull frog's! Then supper over the campfire instead of hot dog stands and Mickey-D's,,, truly spoiled right, and what makes me smile! This is what it's all about today and what really makes me me smile!

Well off the beds but took the grandson to our fish camp fer a couple days, after 17 Wednesday we found them more receptive Thursday morning. He get's his choice of what, when, and how, and let's me choose where, the way it needs to be when you spoil em the right way! Wednesday night he said can we get up at 4:30 and get around to go get em, so I suggested 5:30, and have some juice and go fishing before sunup then come in before it starts cooking us and have a Big Man Breakfast, (mashed fresh blueberries I freeze in pancake batter, served with butter and local honey instead of syrup, sausage links, and eggs) spool em right!

This why when it comes to round reels I kept my Calcutta's, no other reel will do what they do, but on my lightest, most sensitive finesse outfits are where the Calcutta's get left home. This is a fact and no other round reel has ever offered the quality of the Calcutta, to bad they don't put this much effort into the other baitcasters. Their spinning reels I feel in the 1000 and 2500 size are unequaled, but you again pay for it, which I don't mind when it truely is as good as I can find. But when I want the smoothest lightest reels with outstanding drag performance, I can have anything other companies offer for less than their compatible offering in the Lew's line. I would never say other reels can't match them, but for the price Shimano demands, and to not back them as well, and offer nothing better,, it's all about fan base!

You got to know Catt, sorry but I have an old 100B and there are some parts that are NOT AVAILABLE. I like that though, ain't changed a thing and the handle knobs ain't even wore, or the paint in the etching, no with all those years of rough use I gotta say that is impressive, you gotta use em a little to need parts as they do wear! I have no sword to carry against Shimano, but like I say, I have better options today that are less money!

This was one of the things that made me change several years ago Darren, would it be to much to ask to use a 50 cent stamp and eat the .005 cent envelope it would take to send it? Oh ya, there ain't enough money in the mark ip of the part,, so well charge 100X than we need to get it to ya? I figured if they can't think any more efficient than that about shipping something, how can think to engineer the best reels.......

If anyone thinks custom rods for any purpose are a waste, don't put much thought in what custom rods offer! I think big panfish are a very good reason to have a rod made for exactly that purpose. I have a 6' and 5' avid in Ultra light, I had a 6'6' and much prefer the 6'. But I do a lot of panfishingm from Redears to Perch, and when you get a big gill, (over 1.5#) on in the environment where they are likely to be,, around weeds! Control can be an isue with to wimpy of a rod, and trust me I've lost enough on 2 & 4# test line to know. I think one thing grub man said is especially important not only for weight to balance a longer rod with a smaller lighter reel, but also to add the most sensativity as possible. I Built my big gill and perch rod on a, Avid blank, but I wanted the 6' light Fast tip, with a bit more length, so had it built with 3" graphite extension in the handle. I wanted a small contoured grip, and chose different colored cork rings to be snded down and contoured to my liking to the same length the 6' factory Avid UL had, this hid the extension, but kept the sensativity, and the tip and backbone I wanted. Then to account for the 1000 CI4+ and help take weight off the rod at the tip and farther out the blank, I went with Recoil Guides! I have 5 custom rods built with these guides and today will never build another rod with anything but, lightest, most sensitive guides made, and indestructible, from Pike to bluegill, and 4# test line to 65# 832, they are bullet proof and show no abuse to the line. This rod blank is not what I would have chosen for a dedicated custom Crappie rod, but for Bluegill,,,, or Perch, they have a tough enough mouth to take the slightly less forgiving tip, and you can be sure I have more often than not when I wrestle the bigger gills around and out of weeds, been happy chose this blank over using the UL blank. These are just a few reasons I have for building a custom rod, it is perfectly balanced with a short handle and super light real, with enough backbone to wrestle fish outa weeds and still lighter than any rod you can buy factory made close to this length, and sensitive beyond belief to feel the lightest of bights when tight lining, and great for casting weightless baited hooks and tiny jigs. Go for it, but take everything into your decision, from what reel you choose, to where it may be used, and don't cut corners, a few dollars today may be what it takes to still be a favorite in 15 or 20 years!

Good luck with the new power plant A-Jay! I think this sounds like a well thought out plan, and only makes sence, as the current motor will take a big hit off warranty cash wise, and with 6 years not worrying about maintenance cost's, if a gut can afford it it sounds like the is=deal thing to do, as well as the 4 stroke with same weight, win win! But like you I would not care about top end speed, hell it is going to be more than I would use, but what I do care about more than speed, is fuel economy! That alone is worth 5 or 6 mph to me. Enjoy the upgrade!!

I got slammed on this exact same topic 45 or 6 years ago! Eveb though I do this and have done reel repair and maintenance for dedcades as part of my Charter service for customers and other guides I worked around. Just like today when DVC says YES IT IS REAL! some think they know more. This is usually because they have limited experience with different models, most can't even tell you how many models of the Stradic there were, or Curado, Calcutta's etc et'c, those models have all been made for over 30 years, and have over a dozen models and year changes. The new Shimanos are smoother, but in my experience less durrable as some earlier models, as some earlier models were less durrable etc, etc. There seemed top be a time when their reels got better and more robust, then they seemed to get more rfined feeling but that didn't seem to last as long. I had over 15 Shimano baitcaster at one time, from Bantams to Calcutta's and spinners from Super Speed masters to Sustains. I used to call Shimano and at times just for a screw or friction ring I would get a whats your address and N/C, today a $0.30 screw will cost 6 to 8 dollars after shipping, that is if they even have it! Today I own 2 Calcutta's and 8 Lew's. I sold the shimaos when it became obvious to me I could by a smoother, better casting reel for less money and buy just as good as the best shimano if not better in the Lew's line. I have and still do have times I call Lew's and if it is a lost screw, a brake shoe spring, a pin, etc, I usually get a we'll just send you a couple, other parts that are more than a few cents I have never been told we don't have them anymore. But to all those who had all the answers and all those that told me I'd see in 3 or 4 years,, well it's been well over 3 or 4 year, and the Team Gold's, and MG's and BB1's, even my favorite Pike reel the Super Duty, are still going just as strong and smooth as the day I bought em, some over 7 years ago. For the same money, I will still expect better performance, and durability from Lew's! I will stick with my Stradics, but can see a day like with my Mgfb's that parts wont be their, and if I can't make em, they will be what american's has shown they want with everything, throw aways instead of something that will last, and be serviceable. Kinda like my old 1999 Suburban,, today,, sorry chevy a station wagon SUV combo, should not were the name SUBURBAN! So go's with ShimaNO,,,,, Until several years ago, Shimanos decades old had parts available to keep em going, but they have brain washed Americans into believing a decade old reel won't do what a new one will today, sadly manufacturers have done this with about everything.

The 9"+ are why I put my gill's up this time of year, and as most know in this area, far from rare, unless you don't know what waters to fish? I don't keep them the rest of the year, 7.5" up to 9" are what I keep after the gill's leave the bed's, but I am only fishing the lake I am on for them after that, I quit traveling to other lakes, and am no longer stocking the freezer for the next 12 months variety! I only fish the beds for the "BULLGILLS" but I don't fish waters that are in danger of being over fished either! After 64 years and the last 27 doing this full time 5 to 7 days a week, being retired, and because of health reasons having to sell my Lake Erie charter service 12 years ago and quit guiding, I have a pretty fair knowledge of what waters to hit for freezer meat and which ones to avoid. Most lake's are no wake lakes or have limited speed limits, and a few are electric motors only, thus see very little pressure, as most think you need a big boat and a lotta HP to be successful these day's. . I also own 3 small rigged boats instead of the 16' or larger bass boats or deep V's to be able to access most of the lakes I fish. But Panfish, Pike, and Walleye are all I fish in three different states year round. I am not one to fish for junk fish like Bass or trout, except my annual couple trips north for Salmon, which are also for canning not releasing! But Walleye are kept during the spring spawning runs, bluegills for me and the wife during the bedding season, and Pike pre spawn through the ice. after that I am only keeping fish for camp meals, and a few summertime perch trips for a little more variety! This trow em back crap is good advice only on some waters, as you get older you learn to understand that, it is like thinking a hunter should only take 2 or 3 deer a year? That morality is only correct in some places, some places I hunt they need more of the hunters that are hunting some areas, killing more than 4 or 5 to keep a healthy heard, or more hunters on or the other, and fishing is no different! To many of any species is not healthy, any waters can be overpopulated with any species to a point there is not enough food source for different species. I know some Lakes that need Bass caught and their throats cut like dog fish since they are not worth eating, and this would help make bigger fish and more available baitfish to produce a better healthier fishery! Sorry to sound so heartless to some that think they know what they are talking about but just because it is legal, a responsible fisherman knows if it is ethical as well,, but on some waters I agree, just because it is legal doesn't make it very responsible! As for Flyroding and what flies, I quit using what everyone else thinks is good years ago! My best gill fly depending on the lake is either a grey cricket pattern, or a black cricket pattern, and as I said in that first post, over 1/2 of these gills come on a fly, but at 64 years of age with a crushed shoulder and broken pinned and plated neck with a total of 11 busted vertebra in my spine from a 42 foot fall ending my steel erection carrier, I can only take so much before I start getting stingers and numbness running through my hands, that means stop now if you want to hit it tomorrow! Lastly I just came home of three days at our lake, had limits everyday over 7.5" and a couple 9.5"ers but on our lake I don't keep em unless I am eating them there, and it is one lake that has some big gills but caution has to be used on how many you take, I usually only take 7.5 up to 9" gills from this lake. It is like anything else as you age in life and become more in touch with your surrounding, you have to their limitations!! Good Fishing!

If the axle rotates it can change the load on the bearing that nut was set at. You have to hold one, and tighten the castle nut, I am guessing both ends of the axle have a castle nut? This only makes sense anyways as it is the only way to control bearing load on what I am seeing here. So you may need a thin jaw open end wrench to hold the inside, they do make them but you may not need it? but while tightening the outer, the bearing nut will need to be heldgood luck.

They will be turn'n on there any day now, and the shoe will soon be on the other foot!

Hit Monday late morning after the rain then about the time they started firing up, here come the rain again and shut em down, but got 17 anyway's, 5 of which were perch! This 11 3/4"r was the big boy of the week! a few 9 and 10" but none under 8". 117 this week with limits every day after the 2 weeks of rain ended Monday night. I don't mean a little but we been getting hammered with heavy rains fer 2 weeks, this was my scene at 5:45am Tuesday morning,,, But after thinking this may be a waste of time,, two hours later a I was well on my way of limit. All males Tuesday, with 3 or 4 females that were only about 6" anyways so they went back. What a week, with about 1/2 my limit everyday coming on the fly rod,, what a ball! I think next week or the week after are going to be killer, with the big girls showing up, in good numbers! But out of 3 different lakes this week all are just turning on, with males being the main course,,,, no pun intended, That was the scene after 2 or 3 hours all week, next week they are going to be getting bigger. All week by the time I got home and cleaned fish I didn't have time to mag em till tonight, but after a week fishing and one Lake here in Ohio just south of the Mi line here is what we worked for 9.8# scaled and filleted, (it is a sacrilege here to skin a bluegill!) but we did have 1.5# skinned in the bag behind the strainer. Man this is hard on an old man, I'm glad the holiday weekend is here,, I need a break,,,, But I'll be back on em come Tuesday, and like I say, it should only get better the next week or two! Good luck to all over the weekend, be careful and, stay safe!

Last August after a month trying, I got in on three Private lakes,, all with less than 15 homes or cottages on all three total. No ski jets, no wake and 2 plenty big enough to ski on. No public, or commercial access, and not visible from any road. This is over a mile from the closest paved road, and I/2 mile down the drive off the gravel! I'm in heaven! This has been like going to Canada every week, just 45 mile from home in NW Ohio! This fall it proved great Blue Gill and Perch fishing, as well as Crappie. I new all year there were plenty of good bass, as I could hear them feeding in the shallows, when I was fishing for Gill's to fill the freezer! But this winter, being told it is was very good Northern Pike fishing I was skeptical. I only fish for Northerns on hard water anymore with my injuries and health at my age, those 1 oz to 6 oz. lures are just much to throw for hours anymore. But live bait and jigging while on hard water is still doable. This was my best hard water season ever,, and the freezer has plenty of Pike in it to break the monotony of Walleye Perch Gills and Crappie till the we get that great time of year again next December. With no fish caught under 29" this winter, and 5 landed over 38" for around here thats hard to imagine today. And never seen more than 3 other people on the water any day I was their. Staying 2 to 3 days at a time every week or two, it was total tranquility.

Hit Monday late morning after the rain then about the time they started firing up, here come the rain again and shut em down, but got 17 anyway's, 5 of which were perch! This 11 3/4"r was the big boy of the week! a few 9 and 10" but none under 8". But they are on the beds heavy, I put up 117 this week with limits every day after the 2 weeks of rain ended Monday night. this weeks efforts, 9.8# scaled and filleted, finally last night ready to bag & freeze. They were all males but 6 or 8, so it's just starting!

Them big pretty rigg's are sure pretty,, but don't do me much good where I need to go and get,, half the time don't even have a ramp, and many times there is only the bank and plenty of current, sometimes I gotta anchor over the bank to fish the holes???? She aint pretty, but she sure is capable of getting to where the best fishing is, and that aint where the speed boats and ski jets play! Saddled and dressed her yesterday in gill hopper mode, ready to take off Monday morning fer the Lake, my base camp fer the next month, I'll be lake hpp'n the next 4 to 6 weeks nailing them pan sized Gill's on the bed's, at least 4 or 5 days a week,, I let the weekend cowboy's do their thing Sat. and Sun.

Almost forgot, the Deck Hand can be operated by the person in the front seat when the skipper is trying to hold in a line with boats already anchored as the skipper controls the throttle and keeps the boat in single file, or if I run solo I have a a hard wired remote switch on the side of the starboard rod locker next to my seat. This allows me to pull up behind boats, while holding the proper throttle speed while staying in single file order while dropping the anchor, and then once it hits bottom pay out rope by backing off the throttle, and allowing the fast current to overtake the motor till I am sure I have a solid anchor. This was another reason for not using the much cheaper ATV winch, controlling anchor payout speed and motor throttle speed to eliminate paying out to much rope while drifting out enough line, usually about one shot. With the Minn Kota Deck Hand 45, the winch requires a 20# minimum anchor just to pay out anchor line. What this does is allows you to drop the anchor and if you are not letting the current push you back as fast as the the drum can run, the winch stall's until there is at least 20# of pressure pulling on the drum. This keeps the winch tightly spooled eliminating any backlash and tangles on the rope on the drum, once you have payed out enough line, toggle the switch to neutral position and the drum is locked. Speed, drum over runs eliminated, dual operation options, and much lower battery draw. While taking up to 45# anchors made for holding in heavy currents make this the right option for me. If I only used it a half dozen times a year, I may have went the cheaper route, the winch frame could have been adapted to either. But I use this rig a half dozen times on a weekly basis for these two months of March and April every year. Low profile, compact, plenty of power, and faster winching speed both in and out, giving total boat control in difficult currents, all made this higher cost much more palatable this season. Plus, no licensed Captain allows himself to be less than professional in the operation of his vessel, and always demands total boat control, regardless the size of the vessel he is operating,,,,,

New and hopefully final upgrade fer the Custom Ouchita, one man river anchor system, was going to go with an ATV winch but seeing the down speed decided it was not feasible for the crowds in the fast water at times I would be depending on it for. So I went with the MinnKota Deck Hand which is not only much faster feet per minute, but nearly silent in operation. I built the mount and anchored it through the deck into the heavy aluminum I used to frame the deck with, and came out better than I expected, actually the frame was a little overkill if there is such a thing? I'll get around to painting the anchor mount this summer, but since I used the quick release plate will be taking the electric winch off for the summer and mounting an anchor mate manual winch to a plate that will bolt to the channel frame on top when the Deck Hand is removed, and with a lighter 10# anchor be used for lake fishing shedding about 70# in the bow! But it worked great even if we didn't always have to anchor as here where we are tied to bushes in 2' of water over the river bank, it truly gets around in less than 12" of water, and runs without struggling in the fastest water, even with two oversize old farts aboard. With boat guides for loading her in fast water, by myself or with others. Finally the Guides bade it easy in fast water to keep it centered on the rails, and the rollers made it easy even when the river was to low to get the rails in the water to dry load and unload even by myself. But in the high fast water it made it possible to control the boat safely while loading in this boat in the freezing fast water. As seen above with the boat tied to the brush in areas most cant get to because of rifles littered with bolder's to get to, this made it easy this first Walleye season on the new rig to get us anywhere fish were, that others weren't! It has proven to be ideal, not as comfortable as a bigger rig, but definitely gets you where the bigger rigs won't,, especially when water levels start getting very low. As it would be impossible to get a boat in and out areas that can't be accessed because of riffles that don't allow navigation from accessible access points with ramps, I literally backed right in off the bank and with the boat not even being the water pushed it of and went fishing in the pools others could only access with Kayak or Canoe. That is not an option for me anymore at my age and with my disabilities.

Time for a break again, been pounding the Walleye on the big river tun for the last 6 week's, culling limits daily. Some day's catching 20 to 30 fish, everything from sucker quilback and buffalo and drum, to walleye small mouth and white bass, even one day when several healthy channels and blue cats lit it up, jig fishing at it's best! I finally called it a year last Friday. But the freezer is full. 4 and 5 days a week with limits usually averaging 20" and running from 18" to 26" this year. Not big ones running to spots on the rivers not known for hogs, but with the new river rig I built last summer it sure made it nice getting away from the big crowds even though the fish ran smaller, heck were freezer filling not hunt'n fer trophy's, we wanted eaters! We usually had spots to our self, or maybe 2 or 3 others that were there to fish, not party! I now can say this was my 46th year fishing this big Walleye migration off Lake Erie, and I only pray I can continue doing it for years to come, no better way to spend March and April in these parts! We caught plenty and best of all had a great season!

That is peak of the run in that picture, if your willing to learn any river system, it can be as peaceful as you want it. It's all in how much your willing to put into it. Plus it's the only time of year you can catch 20 to 60 fish a morning, and these are worth eating, the rest of the year about all you can catch are catfish and bass, with a carp or sucker thrown in here and there. I don't drive over an hour one way to catch junk fish and throw em back. I'm filling the freezer, with the tastiest fish that swims. Plus most don't do it because they can't stand watching others catch all the fish, and won't take the time to learn to fish it around others. This is totally different than the Lake, or any other river fishing. Anybody can catch em in the warm water periods, ice out is a whole other story. Putting a new anchor system in the boat, got everything fabbed up and going to weld it up and install the mounting system today. Spent 3 days designing it just to get more away from the crowds in high water days. Then starting Wednesday it's fish on,, this is where my mail should go the next 6 to 8 weeks, the fish are starting in, and I wouldn't be anywhere else! I just can't change after 44 years spending most days in this river this time of year! Oh ya, and this why,,,

Oh I know,, but they sure are fun,, aint bad with a good canning recipe, or smoked. But anything that break 65# 832 is FUN FUN FUN!

They are not river Walleye, they are fresh out Erie, and don't stick around when they are done. This river gets schools all the way from Lake Saint Clair, to Hutton Ohio or a little further east. But seldom a resident fish.