desmobob

It's the "in between" season here in upstate NY. Wrapped the boat up for the winter back at the end of November and I'm still waiting for the big lakes to freeze up good so I can go ice fishing. Tight lines, Bob

I fish in very greenish-colored water. I've had excellent luck with Firetiger and Chartruese Crawdad. Tight lines, Bob

I didn't think there was such an animal. Sounds pretty cool! What is the lure weight range for this rod? If I had that rod, I'd be thinking about what I had that I could sell so I could buy another pixy. But you already have a pixy to put on it! You're in fat city! I'd be stocking up on some mini-crankbaits, small jigs, small plastics, Beetle Spins, etc., and having a ball catching smallmouths on it. Tight lines, Bob

I'm going to go down the workbench later to take apart my new PXL-R and see what she has inside. My two Tatulas were fairly heavily greased and the bearings seemed to be lubed with some pretty heavy oil. A clean and re-lube really loosened them up. One of my Lew's Tournament Pros had spots that were lacking grease, making the clutch bar action feel hard and the re-engagement feel really bad. That reel benefitted greatly from some TLC at the bench. The Pixy feels pretty darn nice already. Who knows what a clean/re-lube will do! Tight lines, Bob

Oh yeah! Forgot all about that! That could explain a lot. I wonder what percentage of the rotating mass the line represents? And how much weight of line is thrown on an average cast? Anyone happen to know the weight-per-foot of various lines? Tight lines, Bob

I think Gierach has said he was a philosophy major in college. I've read several of his books over the years, each time worrying it will be similar to a previous one; a "patterned" piece of work like some authors crank out. Not the case... they continue to be entertaining and thought-provoking. He's one of my favorite outdoor authors, for sure. Tight lines, Bob

That, and the fact that a lot of the owners will never lube/maintain them properly, so they'll be plenty of extra grease inside to hopefully last for the long haul.... Tight lines, Bob

I love the looks of that thing, and I hope the fish do, too! I would add that if it was my lure, I'd put at least one hook on it somewhere... ;-) Tight lines, bob

Medium-Heavy for me. Tight lines, Bob

I'm just finishing Cormac McCarthy's Suttree. I don't have TV (this fall will mark 20 years TV-free) and do a lot of reading. McCarthy is one of my all-time favorites... I've read Blood Meridian twice, as well as Child of God, The Road, and No Country For Old Men. I second Rhino's recommendation of American Sniper. Another good one in that sort of genre is Erik Prince's book, Civilian Warriors. I also enjoyed Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell. There's a long reading season here in the Northeast! Tight lines, Bob

Stick it out! You're part of a team. We all lose our passion for things sometimes, but it's the dedicated folks that still give it their all who succeed! Best of luck, Bob

I use the inexpensive Scum Frogs as I lose a good number of frogs to the big pike where I fish. They seem to work well and I've enjoyed some outrageously fun times throwing them. The only drawback I find is that they are quite a bit lighter than other frogs and you need the right rod to throw them accurately or long distances. I have them in yellow, chartreuse, green, white and black. They all seem to work well and I haven't enjoyed enough good frogging days to really develop a sense for color preferences. Tight lines, Bob

The observations I have about centrifugal vs. magnetic brakes were made with dual-braking reels (Lew's TP). I noticed that when I attempt to go below two centrifugal brakes engaged, I get fluffing during the beginning and middle of the cast with heavy lures. So I leave it set with two brakes engaged and can usually keep the magnetic brake setting very low. When setting the magnetic half of the braking, I notice that with it set light, I only get fluffing/backlash at the end of the cast with light lures. This led me to be believe that centrifugal brakes do most of their work during the early parts of the cast and the magnetic brakes do most of their work at the end of the cast. The only all-magnetic reels I have use the Magforce Z, which has what I guess I'd say have a "centrifugally enhanced" effect. That would bolster my belief that the magnetic braking is more effective at the end of the cast, and Magforce Z uses the centrifugal enhancement to increase the magnetic braking effect during the early part of the cast where it might otherwise be lacking. I always set the spool tension to allow each lure to free fall from a horizontal rod with just a few loose coils appearing on the spool when the lure hits the deck. I was surprised to see the instruction manual for my new Daiwa PXL-R advises to set the spool tension loose; just tight enough to eliminate side-to-side spool slop, and to use the Magforce Z adjustment to prevent backlashing when casting various lure weights. There was no suggestion or recommendation to further adjust the spool tension for different lure weights. I know I've seen several posts here where guys say they always keep their spool tension loose. I always figured setting proper spool tension was an important part of backlash-free casting. Do most guys leave it loose, or set it for each lure weight? Tight lines, Bob

Ahh... you younger guys don't know how good you have it with the Interwebs and all. In "the old days," the catalogs were where you saw everything that was out there; especially if you lived in a rural area with no big sporting good stores nearby. You might read about new products in the outdoor magazines, but when the big catalogs came out, you could look at the detailed descriptions, color choices, etc. Most of the companies put out a big spring fishing catalog and a big fall hunting catalog listing ALL the stuff they offered. I guess that wouldn't be very practical these days. You kept these big catalogs in a safe place and referred to them frequently, dog-earing the pages of the items you planned to get on your next order. Way, WAY back when, you even MAILED in your order!!! I'm not really that old at all, but this has been one huge change to the way outdoorsmen purchase their gear that I've seen in my lifetime. Tight lines, Bob

I like braking. Centrifugal. Magnetic. Dual. Even the magic kind. My thumb was held back two grades, was caught smoking in the boys room several times, and eventually dropped out of school. If it wasn't for braking, my thumb would have probably grown up to be a burglar, con-man, arsonist, or U.S. Senator. Tight lines, Bob

Partying on New Year's Eve has lost its appeal to me, I guess. Especially since I'm single this year... it's kind of uncomfortable standing there by yourself at a party when the clock strikes midnight! So I stayed home and had a quiet evening. When I got up this morning (feeling just fine!), I got out my new brand new Daiwa PXL-R and Kistler KLX Finesse rod, tied on a Z-man 1/15oz. Ned head with half a Senko on it and tried some lawn fishing. I can say that's the first time I've ever done THAT on New Year's morning. It's 21* out and there's not much snow left, and all I caught was a small pine tree. Beats the heck out of a hangover. :-) Tight lines in the new year, Bob

I made the switch this spring when my PC died. After 19 years of using PCs, I struggled a bit with my new Macbook Pro Retina but now, I wouldn't have anything else! I can't see myself EVER going back. I highly recommend the appropriate David Pogue "Missing Manual" series book for your operating system. A great resource.... Tight lines and Happy New Year, Bob

My new PXL-R arrived from Tackle Warehouse today. I spooled it up with 15 lb. Power Pro and a six foot, 6 lb. fluorocarbon leader and mounted it on my Kistler KLX 6'9" Finesse Worm, Tube and Jig rod. The combo is LIGHT. I put on a 1/4 oz. practice casting plug and gave it a few throws out in the yard, in the dark. The first toss went across the yard and into the trees. I can't wait to try again tomorrow in the daylight, with a 1/8 oz. weight. I can tell I already love this reel. And I already hate winter and it just started.... Tight lines and Happy New Year, Bob

That cracks me up! I am a fly guy, but have never been a pure fly guy. Every style has its strengths and weaknesses. I think one of the reasons I haven't been in that much of a hurry to do more fly fishing for bass is that bass casting gear seems to be by far the most suitable gear for the job that needs to be done. Could you imagine trying to catch wary browns in a limestone creek using bass casting gear? I look forward to having lots of fun fishing for largemouths with my fly fishing tackle, but there's a reason I just invested so much of my hard-earned money in bass casting gear! Tight lines and Happy New Year, Bob

My new Daiwa PXL-R came in from TW today. I'm getting a woody. And only four or five months until fishing season gets here again... :-( Tight lines, Bob

Thank you. Funny thing is, I haven't really got around to the fly fishing part yet! When I bought my little bass boat, I figured I'd try using my spinning gear "until I got things figured out" and got some bass flies and bugs tied. Well, one thing led to another, I found Bassresource.com, then someone let the bait monkey out of his cage, and now I have a Daiwa PXL-R, two Lew's Tournament Pros, two Daiwa Tatulas, four Kistler rods, a St. Croix Rod, and a stack of tackle-filled Plano 3700's that I can hardly see over. Holy cow... how the heck did that happen? I promised myself I'd hit the fly tying bench hard this winter and prepare for a season of bass fishing with the fly rods. But I'd be a bald-faced liar if I said I didn't have an incredibly enjoyable season and a ton of fun chucking all this hardware and plastic for a change. The fly fishing will always be there, so I'll let this little diversion run its course. :-) Tight lines and Happy New Year, Bob

I swear that all the fly fishermen I know are the nicest, most polite, courteous folks you'd ever want to fish with. I mean it. And I swear I have met the biggest pain-in-the-neck, most rude, arrogant, and horrible people while wading on the popular fly fishing rivers. The sport does have some real a-holes, but so does every sport. As a life-long fly fisherman coming into warm-water bass fishing this season, my experience so far tells me the ratio is about the same in both disciplines. Tight lines, Bob

In my younger days I did all my smallmouth bass fishing with ultralight gear. In the crystal clear waters of the lake I used to fish, the light 4 lb. and 2 lb. mono seemed to offer a noticeable advantage over heavier mono... I thought I caught more fish on the lighter lines. I don't know if it's that big of an advantage these days with the fluorocarbon lines available. In the muddy, week-choked lake I fish for largemouths, I don't think ultralight would be a practical choice. But I do carry an ultralight rig in the boat for panfish. And I have caught at least one 4+ lb. largemouth and managed to land some pickerel and small pike on that rig. And it was a load of fun. And there is luck involved. :-) If I fished a clear, open water lake or pond without a lot of weeds or timber, I'd definitely be throwing an ultralight rig at least some of the time. Tight lines, Bob

I took the boat out of the water at the end of November and have since received three orders from Outlet Bait and Tackle and two from Tackle Warehouse, including the shipment that arrived today containing my new Daiwa PXL-R. (That thing is NICE!) I don't know how my bank account will make it through the winter at this rate. Maybe I'll try A-Jay's trick.... Tight lines, Bob

You're going to buy fly rod blanks and convert them to spinning reels? Using a longer rod will keep your boat cleaner? OOOOOOO K.... Tight lines, Bob