VABasser

Price Drop: $70 shipped to your door!

I’ve got 5 discontinued XCalibur lures I’m selling. All are used but still in good condition, minimal to none paint blemishes depending on the lure. All the rattles sound like they should. $80 shipped to your door. I’ve got two XR50’s in Rayburn Red, one XRK50, XR25 and an XZ3 popper. I don’t remember the color names for anything but the Rayburn Red. Let me know if you’ve got any questions or want a higher resolution picture sent to you. The site only allows me low res

Hey guys, got a question for the mechanically minded. A few weeks ago I had a pinion gear break while running on my 2005 60hp Mercury 2-stroke. The mechanic I took it to said it was a freak accident and he couldn't trace any reason why the part failed. We were unsuccessful finding a replacement lower unit, so he went into the lower unit and replaced the part, resealed everything and put it back on. I got the boat back yesterday. Here's what I'm noticing and what my concern is. When the outboard is hooked up to a hose and idling in neutral, the prop spins fairly quickly (at least compared to how it used to). There's no power behind it, I can stop the prop from spinning with my foot, it's not in gear. When I put the motor in forward, there's a momentary series of clicking sounds, best way I could describe it is it sounds like one of those New Years noisemakers. The mechanic said the prop spinning in neutral is called static spin, and the noise that I'm hearing when shifting it is because I'm dry shifting it out of the water. With the prop spinning, the clutch is engaging something that is spinning (the prop), hence the noise until the teeth click in and engage the prop. He said this is normal and nothing to be concerned about, that once its in water the resistance from the water will slow that spin down, and the parts I hear clicking are hard steel and meant to take that kind of wear and tear. My concern is why there is more static spin to the prop than prior to this work being done? I've hooked this outboard up to a hose countless times and know for a fact the prop used to only slowly rotate when idling in neutral, and I never got the sound when shifting it, in water or out of water. For the record, I haven't had a chance to test the boat/outboard in water yet, I will this weekend. The mechanic says he doesn't know why I would be getting more static spin, that nothing he did with the lower unit or pinion gear should affect that. His theory was that because he put fresh, heavy weight oil in the lower unit that could be causing the increased static spin. Is increased static spin and the noise I hear when shifting anything to be concerned about?

Anyone have recommendations for a good mechanic in the VA Beach area? Before I go searching on Google figured I'd check here. I hit something today on Back Bay and need to get my lower unit/prop looked at. Tight Lines

Sizes? Colors?

I've gotta get a gift for my girlfriend's brother in law for Christmas. He's a casual fisherman, I don't know a lot about what/if he targets anything specifically. My guess is no. But he lives near Tampa, mostly fishes from shore or occasionally a boat. I was thinking I'd get him a few lures, but although I know the bass realm pretty good, saltwater not so much. Can anyone help me out with a few of the most popular lures to throw down there? Thanks in advance

Good advice thanks guys. Would using some steel wool be ok? I don't have a whet stone

When the water was low I hit something awhile back that dinged my stainless steel prop. I think it was a concrete block, luckily I was going at an idle speed and besides some mild scrapes in the prop, there was no other damage. However as time has passed rust has developed in the three places the prop was dinged. It's still surface level but is this a concern? Is there something I need to do to protect it and prevent more rust? Thanks guys, here are some pics below

I decided to spend for a nice pair of shades this year. I currently use a pair of $50 Sunclouds, which I think are pretty solid for the money. I tried a bunch of Costa frames on, and the only one that felt pretty good and fit my face well was the Jose's. I really liked them so I bought a pair, they just didn't feel right so I sent them back and got another pair. After wearing them for any amount of time (10+ minutes) I noticed a headache developing. I tried them out on the water for a few hours and had a constant headache. I tried heating the frames with a hairdryer to reshape them, no luck. I eventually sent those back too because I got a headache each time I put them on. Unfortunately I think that rules Costa out for me because that was the frame that felt best in store. So now I'm looking at other options, not because I want to but I don't have a choice. Anybody out there wear Maui Jim's? I haven't tried any of those frames on, but learned through some research that they only manufacture certain lens colors with certain frame colors. That seems so stupid to me because the bronze lens color, which I assume is best for fishing, often only comes with a tortoise frame. No offense, but who wants a tortoise frame color? Anybody out there want to offer me some personal advice regarding their experience with Maui's for freshwater fishing? Another option I may have to look into are the new Oakley Prizm fishing lenses, I think that's what KVD promotes. Anybody try those?

DVT you are the man. To do this would I just fill the space between the two tabs with grease?

I'm servicing all my reels, had a problem the other day that y'all helped me troubleshoot immediately, so hopefully same results this time. I've got a Citica 200E that has seen a lot of use. After cleaning it and putting it back together I noticed there is a slight ticking noise when reeling. The sound is consistent, it doesn't fade in or out. It's subtle, and causes no resistance I can tell when reeling, but it's still there nonetheless. If I flip the reel upside down it goes away. I noticed some small gray/black splotches on the drive gear and pinion gear that Reel Cleaner could not get rid of. I've never seen corrosion in a fishing reel before but perhaps this is the early stages of it and has compromised the integrity of those two pieces, hence the clicking sound? Another suspicion is a little anti reverse tab that rests against the gears on the drive shaft. I've never seen that before, it seems like an unnecessary piece with an anti reverse bearing. Anybody have an idea what this could be?

Not an authorized dealer, to my knowledge there is no such thing on eBay. I paid $150 for them, which is a great price. I contacted Costa directly and they said it doesn't matter if you buy them from an authorized dealer or not, they will recognize the warranty as long as they're Costas

I've tried probably 20 pairs of Costas on before buying these, so I know that Jose is the frame I want. Return shipping is free. I'm interested if anyone has a response to my specific questions?

I just received in the mail a pair of new green mirror 580G Jose Costas that I bought off a well reputed seller on Ebay. In the initial try on and examination I noticed a few things that bothered me. I don't know if I'm being OCD (my first pair of > $50 glasses) or if I have legitimate cause to be concerned. There is a 14 day return policy so I can return them if needed. 1. The stamp on the upper left corner of the lens just says 580, not 580G like I expected. Is that normal? Even though it's a high rated seller, since I bought these off Ebay I want to be extra careful they are authentic. 2. The Jose's have a unique spring hinge on the ear pieces. A sales rep told me only some pairs of Costas have this hinge. I noticed one of the screws is tightened further down than the other one. Aesthetically there's no problem, but it seems like the side that is tightened more doesn't flex as easy at the hinge as the other side. It's not a drastic difference, but nonetheless bothers me for a $260 retail pair of sunglasses. Can I fix this with a little flat head jewelers screwdriver? 3. Lastly, and my biggest concern. When I tried them on and wore them around for a bit, it seemed like they wanted to sit slightly cockeyed on my face. I couldn't tell if this was my imagination, I had a crooked face, or the frame itself was bent in some subtle way. I laid them unfolded on a flat surface and noticed that the back of one ear piece rested on the counter like you would expect, however the other one was about 1/8 inch off the counter. It's too hard for my naked eye to tell what isn't symmetrical in the frame, but the fact both ear pieces don't rest on a flat surface seem to prove there is something going on. Would you agree, or is a slight variation like this not out of the ordinary? If you don't mind checking your pair and seeing, I don't know if the crooked feeling is in my mind, or if frame is off. Thanks for any help, considering I want these to last me numerous years of hard fishing, I want to be sure I'm getting a perfect pair.

I've got another question. Looking more closely at a "Lubrication Guide" that came with the BPS reel, it says to lightly grease the ends of the spool shaft. I watched an official Shimano maintenance video and they emphasized you want nothing on your spool shaft. So which is it?

Problem solved, thanks guys! You learn something new every day

Roger that, will try it. The guy who taught me told me only to put grease in the anti-reverse bearing. Is that what everyone does/is that correct? I've always done it that way

Hey guys, I need some help for those of you who understand reel mechanics. I just broke down an old bass pro shops extreme baitcaster today, cleaned it, and put it back together. Everything seemed smooth until I was playing around with the handle and realized that the anti-reverse sometimes isn't working. It'll backpedal for a bit and eventually catch, and stop like it should. Can anybody help me troubleshoot this? I've never had this problem after cleaning a reel

I fish a lot of weedy areas, and one bait I've gotten away from throwing as much is a buzz frog (Horny Toad, Rage Toad, etc.). Having to run the trolling motor to cut through the grass in shallow water, I feel like it's important to take long casts to reach fish that aren't spooked by the noise you're making cutting through everything. I never get a lot of distance with a toad, and so my confidence in it is diminished. I know you can use a keel weighted hook to add more weight. It definitely works but sometimes it causes me to have to retrieve the frog faster than I normally would to keep it on top. Anybody have recommendations for a brand of toad that is naturally heavier, or floats, or any other tricks to getting more casting distance from a buzz frog?

Another site to check is bass jons, you can google them. They are based in hampton roads. They are a 9.9HP or under bass club so there's a good chance you could find a solid Jon boat converted to bass boat on that site

That's good to know Wayne, you're the man. So if I move it down to that first step I should be good to go? Do you just level it with the main transom area to be sure it's installed straight? By hull strake do you mean the ridges underneath the hull? Any tips or good videos for installing the transducer? My dad doesn't live near me anymore, and I don't know if I trust myself drilling holes in my hull

I've got a Humminbird 798c SI installed on my 2004 Bass Tracker 185. My dad installed the whole thing (he's pretty good with that stuff), but from the beginning we've had trouble with the Side Imaging on the left side, particularly in shallow water. In shallow water (<5 feet), the left side imaging is basically worthless, it's mostly just a black screen on that side. In water over 5-6ft, there's varying degrees of clarity. Sometimes it shows a pretty solid picture on par with the right side, other times about half the screen will be black (for instance, say I have SI set to 100feet, the first 50 feet from the boat will be a normal SI picture, but the 2nd 50ft is black or very dim and unclear. And no I'm not 50 feet from shore). If I am running the trolling motor and not the outboard, it seems to give a better picture. All of this leads me to believe I am getting some kind of blockage or interference from the outboard? But what do I know? We moved the transducer to see if that would fix it, but its the same, if not slightly worse. I don't have pictures of what the screen looks like, I keep forgetting to take some. However I have attached two pictures of where the transducer is. The triangle of old holes you can see to the right of the transducer is where we first had it installed. I'm at the end of my knowledge, can anyone help me figure out what's going on?

Ahh now that is an important fact I missed

I live pretty close to a BPS and was thinking about taking a few reels to them this winter for a cleaning. I was wondering if anyone has ever used their cleaning services, and if so were you satisfied? I know there's guys that do a great job here on the boards (and i have used them before), but by the time you pay shipping and insurance on 6+ reels it gets expensive quick. I'm looking for more local options. I'm in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia if anyone has local suggestions

Do you have any experience with the two Magnesium TS cranking models TW has for sale right now? At first I was leaning heavily towards the 7' MH one, but began to have second thoughts after someone earlier in this thread said he thought the sensitivity on the Kistler MH crankbait rods wasn't so good with lighter cranks. It also seems there are mixed reviews on customer service with Kistler. The Dobyns Fury 705CB is definitely one I'm interested in too