Preytorien

Call me a newb but I never knew there was a technical annotation to reeling up the slack then using the rod to set the hook. I've done this many times, especially with using Senkos and such.....reel set....that's cool. Glad to know I seem to be on the right track with things. Anyways, I've noticed as well that using braid seems to alleviate the long-cast issues I've had with flouro having just that little bit of stretch. I'm a 90%-of-the-time bank fisherman, and I often like to use a soft-bodied topwater popping frog for open water, especially if I can hit the open water and drag it through weeds later on in the retrieve, close to the bank, but I noticed that too many times I lost fish when using flouro and being so far out there. Now, I am not certain which, but it could be attributed to 1) the slight line stretch that is in the flouro, 2) the distance of the line out there just taking a split second to tense itself when sweeping the rod, 3) the slick-ness of the flouro digging in, adding just those few millimeters of slack, allowing the fish to throw it 4) of course the inevitable poor hookset Maybe it could be all, a couple, or none of these issues, but I've noticed a lot more consistent long-cast hookups using braid and a heavy action rod. I recently bought a BPS Carbonlite rod, 7ft XF Heavy rod, and I've noticed an instant difference in these situations.

Well hey that's more than I have found! Thanks!

Yep, I got in touch with them yesterday. I haven't heard anything back, and like you say it's a long shot. But we'll see. I am opening every avenue I can think of to see if anyone has this, so that's why I posted here. Maybe someone's got a stack of the old issues laying somewhere.

Hey guys, The father of a friend of mine was a professional fisherman back in the 70's and 80's. During that time he wrote at least one article in Bassmaster magazine. The man's name was MJ Lee, and I believe he was from around the Memphis, TN area. He had kept several copies of the Bassmaster issue that his article was posted in around his house, he then passed away in 2005. The family held dear and proud to the article he had written, but unfortunately the family home burned down, taking all of his tackle, trophies, mounts, and the issues of Bassmaster with it. The only thing left were a couple rods and Abu 5500 reels in the garage. I'd really like to get my hands on a copy of this magazine, digitally or hard-copy. I don't know many details about the article, but it had to do with sonic or audio waves moving through the water. He seemed to notice trends in fishing when he had the radio on his boat tuned to something with deep resonating bass. I'm not sure much more about the article than that. Any help or direction you could offer would be a great help. I'd love to see the look on my friend's face if I were able to produce a copy of this to her for Christmas. Thanks guys.

Maybe a big blob of oil??

Agreed! Honey is all natural and seems to help a variety of things. I deal at work with often very hot equipment, so burns aren't uncommon. If you take a dab of honey, put it on the burn, cover it with a small square of saran wrap, then a band-aid, it'll be gone in hours. Nice to know the same can be applied to cuts/punctures. You bet i'll try it next time! But I agree with the above posts......better safe than sorry. Get a tetanus shot, it'll ease your mind. Then keep an eye on the wound and let the dr. know if it changes in size, starts hurting more, or red streaks shoot out from it (like blood vessels)

I feel your pain Piscandi. Heck, I even fished in the pond in front of Home Depot by my house. There were no signs, and the wife went into Kohls, so I tried it out. Caught a couple little dinks, but hey, I'll take what I can get. I'm seriously looking into getting an inflatable kayak for next season (I'm not a winter fisherman). So maybe that'll open up some opportunities. I can't put a kayak on the top of my vehicle, so it'll have to be the kind that can compact. Meanwhile, I have aboue 3-5 places I can fish, none of which are all that great. Like you my problem is they don't sustain a very good population of fish, although they look like they would. We'll just keep at it and look at those Z-9's with ***

Like moguy1973 I don't have a boat, and I only carry 2 rods max. I don't use a swivel per say, but I use this kind here..... http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-FastLock-Bass-Snap/product/7816/ ....and I've never had any kind of issue whatsoever. I've never even had one remotely bent. I use 50lb braid on my baitcaster and once when snagging "something immoveable" underwater (I think the old housing from a water fountain), it actually broke my wide gap Gamakatsu senko hook before it broke my line, knot, or snap. No lie. It was shocking. It popped and sounded like a .40cal going off. I've heard the same arguement that fish can "see" the snap. My guess is that if you're using a spinnerbait with all its flash, vibration, and color, or a crank that makes more vibration than a imbalanced washing machine.... some little ole' snap isn't going to be what turns off the bite. The only thing I have witnessed is that it does in-fact cause some cranks to have different action. But I'm not a big crankbait guy, so it doesn't influence my decision all that much. Being able to switch a bait at a moment's notice (and not having 9 rods lined out in front of me) is worth more to me than the perceived negatives. In some rare cases, when I know a frog is the ONLY thing I'll be throwing, I'll tie directly to the line. But that's the only case I ever do that.

I just finished up completely tearing down, degreasing, re-lubing, and reassembling the reel. HUGE difference, and in fact I'm pretty sure it's smoother than it was when I first got it. Thanks for the help

That's probably the culprit. When I wiped off the excess, I didn't totally remove the old, I just added a few drops here and there. I was too nervous about taking pieces out then not being able to get them back in. One thing I noticed......so many people on here emphasize using the oil sparingly, but from the manufacturer, it's pretty well doused with not oil, but grease. It's not a super thick grease, but it's definitely not oil. Oddly enough, it came with oil for re-lubing maintenance though. Wondering if I should use grease or oil when I re-lubricate?

Hey guys, at the advice of another fisherman, I needed to clean my spinning reel. I have a Shimano Sahara 2500FD. I recall that when I first bough this reel it was butter smooth, and of course got a little worse over the next year and a half of use, so it appeared it needed a cleaning. So yesterday evening I took it apart, made careful sure not to remove any parts that didn't need it. Wiped a bit of the excess lube off of it, and lubricated where the user manual said to apply......just a drop or two. I heard that if you don't think you've applied much oil then you've applied TOO much and to back it off even more, so I don't believe I over-lubricated anything....however. After I put it together, I get a sort of grinding sound when I reel. Not hugely noticable, but there nonetheless. I was very careful to make sure I put everything back together just as it was. My question is why on earth I get this sound? Literally in all simplicity I took it apart, dropped a couple drops of oil on it, and reassembled it.....now it grinds. When I first bought it I remember showing a friend of mine that without line on it, when you gave the handle a quick spin, the bail would make 13 rotations before it stopped.....now it goes about 6. Any ideas from the expert reel cleaners out there?

Mike and I agree.......AWESOME rods. I've had great sensitivity with this rod. Feels great in hand too. The microguides seem to do their job and let me cast a pretty good distance......looks great too.

Believe me I'm looking forward to it! My memories aren't of my father, but of my grandfather. Those will never go away, he's responsible for getting me hooked on fishing. I can still hear him tell me "....wind's out of the west, fishin's best" I like to take her for walks through the woods, she perks her little head up and looks around when she hears the birds calling. Hopefully she's the outdoorsy type, I know those kinds of girls are getting fewer, but my guess is she's going to be like her momma and like camping and fishing and such. Darned it, I always seem to get dust in my eye when I watch this video.....must be the ceiling fan in my living room.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IheODRwalEw

Hah, Hootie, you're right. It's less about a boat, and more about places to fish, or say the lack therof. I did however last night have a pretty nice conversation with an HOA president. He actually "caught" me picking up some trash from some kids that left just after I got there. He thanked me. He asked where I lived and I admitted I wasn't from the neighborhood, but that it was very close to home and was a nice place to throw a quick line in the water. He said that as long as I wasn't damaging anything and continued to do my part to keep things cleaned up he didn't see a problem with it and if anyone questioned it to have them talk to him, but insisted I was the ONLY exception to the rule. Of course I thanked him profusely. That guy might get a Christmas card this year.

Excellent....thanks for the info. I remember now it's got the carbon handle so you're right, I wouldn't gain much. I may look into bearings sometime. Looks like my spool knock is common if I've got the reel brake too loose, I'll just keep it tightened up and keep using it. I've had great luck with it so far.

Yea I'm looking forward to taking her out fishing. She may be too little yet, but I think I caught her eyeing the Snow White fishing pole kit at Wal-mart the other day.

Mark I've done that a few times here and there. He insisted that I not have to pay for launch, gas, or breakfast, but I noticed that he keeps inviting me back It must be my homemade (Hardee's) sausage buscuits.

This post isn't about me being upset I can't buy a $60K Stratos, nor having problems finding time to fish, it's about the fact that little can be done about diminished areas to bank fish.....let's keep on topic

Great advice thanks for the help. I'll start setting up this way. Thanks for the info papjoe. I'll be attempting my first cleaning sometime this week. The casting distance has diminished, so as you suggest, it's probably time to clean.

I agree I agree. I have the XF version. I read some good things about the micro guides, so I went with those. I have been very pleased. It's a very sensitive rod.

I have the Johnny Morris combo. I've not had any problems yet, other than the slight knocking. Like I said, it only happens when the reel brake is totally off, so my guess is that it's got something to do with that. I've never cleaned it, so I'm not even sure how to do it, although I have the paperwork that came with it and the instructions on how to do so. I'll give it a shot. I keep my spinning reel VERY clean, but I have yet to clean a baitcaster. Wish me luck!

Just wondering a few things...... 1. I have a BPS Carbonlite reel, and so far it's been awesome. Paired with their Carbonlite rod, I've come to pat myself on the back for this purchase. But I'm wondering if it's normal for the reel to have a slight bit of play when the spool brake is completely/nearly off. When I loosen it almost completely, there is a tiny tiny bit of knock. Not enough for me to deem this reel as junk and look elsewhere, but I just wondered if this is somewhat common, and if there's a fix, what do you do? 2. Is there anyplace that sells reel upgrades for the BPS reels? I haven't been able to find any aftermarket handles, spools, or bearings for this. 3. I've had this reel since June, but I've never cleaned and lubed it. I use it about 3-4 times a week for about 2 - 4 hours each. Should I do a cleaning/lube yet? I've not noticed any problems with function or anything

Yea, I've floated the idea of a kayak or inflatable watercraft of some kind. It's plausible, but I think for the time being I'll have to stick to bank fishing. I think one of my best avenues will be to find a couple of honey holes and just keep them secret to myself. A couple of you mentioned finding some of-the-beaten-path types of places, and using Google Earth I've scouted a few. I'm going to keep them to myself, that way I'll have some sembilance of privacy and a place to "call my own" until the boat option will allow me to break out even more. Thanks for all the suggestions, the best thing to know is that I'm not giving up anytime soon. I still have a couple of places that I can still visit, so at least I'm not totally out of options. Thanks for hearing me out and all the advice guys! :Victory: :Victory:

So here's my rant. Maybe I'm justified, but I've noted that most people seeking justification actually aren't. I don't own a boat. Unfortunately. My wife and I just had a child, and she stopped working. I don't make any kind of major salary. I say that to make the point that I won't be getting a boat anytime soon. Between the cost of the boat, the fact I'd have to get another vehicle to tow it, and the launch fees......I'm not in any position to make that decision anytime in the next several years. The closest lakes to me are both reservoirs on the smaller side, but have some incredibly nice homes around. Basically, the nicest homes in a 150 mile radius are all within driving distance of me on these reservoirs. The reservoirs have pretty limited access since they are almost completely surrounded by homes, which of course don't take well to fishermen walking through their perfectly manicured yards to fish the bank. Other than about 20 docks, there's no easy or feasible way to get on these lakes to fish with the exception of hoping a kind fellow fisherman with a boat will allow me to tag along. The only major river, which is pretty small, in our area is not only incredibly dirty, but gets a very heavy amount of boating traffic due to a local canoe/tubing company that rents out from April to October. The number of wild and crazy people that float down it all day every day makes fishing there out of the question. Then to make matters worse, most of the local neighborhoods in my area which have retention ponds have asked me to leave. I'm not a confrontational person, and I understand I have to obey the HOA kingpins so I leave without a problem. I could lie and say I live there, but I'm not that kind of guy. Even with permission in 3 of these neighborhoods from acquaintences that live there, the HOA is insisting I not fish there. So, I'm increasingly more frusturated. I am watching my favorite sport disintegrating before my eyes because of more and more limited areas to fish. I can't afford a boat, my local bodies of water aren't bank-fishing-friendly, and I'm not allowed to fish neighborhoods. What's a guy to do?

I fish them pretty much every time I fish. Up until last year I was skeptical of them, then bought one and took it out during a miserable drizzling afternoon......caught my personal best 5 straight fish on it. It was a super cheap one and they tore the thing to pieces. I can usually catch SOMETHING on them when nothing else seems to work. After that I became a lifetime member of the "Cavitron Club" By far the best I've used, and easy to pull at whatever speed you want. Another good one to trigger a bite when most won't is the Booyah Clackin' Buzzbait. Not quite as good of a track record for me as the Cavitron, but pretty darn close. AJMichigan......do yourself a favor and get ahold of a Cavitron.....consensus from us all would probably suggest a black skirt/black blade combo. They're killer. I've found them at Dick's Sporting Goods.