Jolly Green

Looks like a Boo-Yah Pond Magic spinnerbait.

Sure you can count it, but you have to tag it with an asterisk.

Quart Zip-Lock bag. They aren't what you'd call organized, but that bag can fit anywhere a bag of plastics can.

I give away plastics and/or hooks to kids who ask what I'm using, tell them to work it like they're teasing a cat with a string.

Yeah, just wait till you get a couple of squirrel follows and you start targeting them with tubes full of peanut butter...

Cotton Cordell Super Spot, 3/16 oz. in Fire Tiger, is the one lipless crank that every species around me can agree upon. Don't know about specifically targeting perch, but crappie and bluegill routinely take a swing at it.

As far as line capacity goes, the 5500 size is plenty for your purposes. The 6500 has a bait clicker, which is nice if you're ever going to use it for trolling or if you ever take up catfishing, but otherwise it's a useless switch that makes palming the reel a little uncomfortable. If you don't need a clicker, save yourself a couple bucks and go with the 5500.

The Pitzen knot has become my favorite. Easy to tie well and once you get the hang of it you will only leave an inch or two of tag.

I mentioned the specifics of my setup more to illustrate the point that you don't need anything super special to chase pike; you should have no problem finding a suitable rod with cork handles in your budget, and as has been mentioned, your bass tackle may be just fine for pike. If you do decide to buy a rod, get one that's as long as is practical for you (for casting range and fish control) and be careful that you don't buy a "boat rod", one that's designed mainly for trolling and is not optimal for casting. Rat-L-Traps are lipless crankbaits, and bass love them too. Search the site for countless threads and articles on the subject; they are a versatile bait and a lot of fun to fish.

That was cold, lol.

I'm primarily a shore fisherman as well, and the "big stick" I carry when specifically targeting pike is an Abu Vendetta, 7' MH/F spinning rod with a 35 sized Pflueger President strung with 20# braid with a 6" wire leader. I've not hooked into anything over 30" but I wouldn't worry if I did, there's plenty of rod power in reserve, and even though the reel's drag isn't the greatest it does the job fine. The whole setup cost me $100 brand new thanks to my local Walmart's aggressive approach to clearance. Rod just needs to be sturdy, the reel you're after has a decent drag and a retrieve on the speedy side; pike are often suckers for fast-moving bait. Speaking of which, it's no real secret but I'll say it anyway: a chrome Rat-L-Trap is so effective for pike it almost isn't fair. Spinnerbaits, inline spinners, and buzzbaits work well too. Throw big ol' Jakes and Bulldawgs if you wish, but be careful... muskie fever is usually a life-long affliction. Good luck!

Worse than cottonwood fluff?

The flip side being that anything with Jennifer Connelly in it ain't all bad...

This is what I did, with a 3/8 oz. weight. Use a weight that feels like it's in the sweet spot of that rod's range and let the rod throw it. Personally I wouldn't screw around with pitching if you've never done it before, just start by making a good fluid cast and make sure you thumb the reel to a stop before your weight hits grass/water; don't worry about where or how far it goes. Realize that the whole trick to a baitcaster is that you want the spool feeding line no faster than the lure is carrying it away, and to that end the brakes, cast control, and thumb are all just tools to limit the speed of the spool. Practice, practice, practice, and try to learn from every overrun. If you want to limit the depth of the backlash you can use masking tape to tape your line off so that only the top 30 yards or so are free. When you've gotten the knack of it, yank 60 yards of the mono off and replace it with braid. Good luck!

During last year's bout of cabin fever I managed to make a bottle cap lipless crank. I didn't catch anything with it but it did wobble... sometimes. I'll have to find a picture, believe I used an Optimator cap, thinking red and white was a solid classic color scheme, lol.

Thanks guys! I had searched ereplacementparts.com with probably half a dozen different terms, didn't think to just shorten it to "Abu Garcia Ring" and whaddya know, here's something very similar looking: The part I lost looks exactly like this and fits into a groove inside the arbor of the oscillation gear, spanning about 5/16". Size seems critical, the clip traps the bearing inside the gear but it only contacts the outer race; too small and it won't hold, too big and it will rub on the inner race. Guess I'll actually have to get on the phone and see if I can get someone to measure the part. Thanks again for your help, guys!

Haha, a true classic!

I blew it. Breaking down a spinning reel for cleaning I let a small retaining clip spring off into the great unknown, gone forever. The part is shown in the diagram and described in the parts list as a "C" retainer but the part I lost is not really a "C" shape but rather a pentagon with one side partially missing, sort of a "C" but with five corners, I guess. I ordered a replacement anyway and got exactly what the diagram shows, a round "C" retainer that won't do the job. (The retainer keeps the oscillation gear riding atop its bearing.) I can't even find a picture of anything similar anywhere online for reference, but I'm hoping someone knows what I'm talking about and can point me in the right direction. The reel is an Abu Garcia Cardinal c802 and it is dead useless without this little clip.

In the small Norwegian town in which I live there are hundreds of people who absolutely love lutefisk, basically cod or other whitefish that has been soaked in water for a few days, then a bath of water and lye --yep, lye-- for days until the flesh has the consistency of fish Jell-O, then soaked in water for a couple more days to bring the pH back down below the level of chemical burn. It is then carefully steamed and messily devoured by all these lutefisk fanatics who insist that if you dip it in melted butter it tastes just like lobster. I've never eaten it, but you can smell it a block away, a singularly awful smell that's akin to a pile of carp and sauerkraut rotting in the sun.

Boy, did my parents ever hate that guy. R.I.P.

Did you clean the bearings? They may have been smoother and quieter before with the stock grease.

I tried Perfect Solution this year based on your recommendation and I agree that it does great job; I just want to add that I found the rinse to be critical. Before trying it on reel bearings I did a test clean on a bearing I robbed from a computer cooling fan and found that after rinsing and drying, the bearing was reluctant to move and when I did get it turning it felt extremely rough. I removed the shields (I am someone who prefers not to mess with the shields, even though cleaning is faster without them) and found that there was a gummy film on all the bearing innards. It rinsed away with hot water and after that the bearing was, as advertised, Perfect. I went through the whole process again with the same bearing and found that again, after rinsing and drying, the bearing was again semi-seized, and opening it up revealed the same gummy film. After rinsing it out I went through the whole process a third time but after rinsing it off I immediately put it in a jar of plain old hot water and let it soak for fifteen minutes, agitating gently a couple times. I changed the water and soaked it a second time, dried it with a hair dryer, and finally had a free-spinning bearing. So, to anyone who hasn't tried it, I concur that Perfect Solution is a nice, effective alternative to solvents, but don't skimp on the rinse! I'm

I'm in. And hey, only a month to go til the season opener! I need to move south...

Thanks for the tip!

Just looking around the room I'm in... there's a pair of dumbbells, the handles of which are too small in diameter so I wrapped them with an old washcloth and then electrical tape, hit 'em with a hairdryer. Much more comfortable grip and no sticky/messy edge. Also a packing tube with a light muskie rod in it, the end caps are secured with Gorilla tape. (All other duct tape is garbage.) I wouldn't trust electrical tape to do the job. Each has its time and place to shine, fellas. And watch out, reusable cable ties are quietly gaining a significant share of this market.