Cgolf

Sounds like my Daiwa Regals. I have 3 of them and had to make 3 calls to Daiwa to get complimentary bail springs.

I like the look of the reel. It has a really cool shape. That shape with today's spool design would be pretty awesome looking..

Nice, and held up just fine against some very nice bass! I really wish they made stuff like they used to, we have become such a throwaway society. I have some older Quantum Accurists too that still work great.

I have talked about my 20ish year old 20 buck Shakespeare Excursion over time as why I don’t spend a lot on spinning reels. This thing has sat in my truck during the summer while at work and caught more fish than I can remember. It has given me zero issues over the years and is still catching fish today. While it is getting a little sloppy, and as you can see from the pictures, it is the one with the plastic spool, the finish is worn, I just can’t stop using the thing. I do use Daiwa Regals and Pflueger presidents on my Dobyns an St Croix rods. The second one is the same vintage but very lightly used. While it is heavier than my better spinning reels, the anti reverse is as good and so is smoothness while reeling. The drag has been adequate for brown and green bass. Am I saying go out and buy up excursions now, heck no! I am guessing the quality back then was far superior to now. I wouldn’t hesitate to use these on my better sticks if one of the other reels gave out.

You used the smaller ones at all? I was going to use some 3” ones around reeds for green bass. Slow is the name of the game there so hopefully they run true.

I have done good with a lot of different colors in N WI on a clear water lake. Orange Craw, Bluegill (strike king version), yellow perch, Purple pearl, sexy shad, etc. The one color that I have found to work in both clear and dirty water in WI is firetiger. This pattern has it all in one. There are some perch, bluegill, and pumpkinseed colors in that bait. I think that is why it gets bit so often because it matches all the forage just enough to fool the bass into biting.

I run a 16 ft deep v that I modified to have a nice casting deck and have turned it into a decent little bass boat. That said it seems like the bass and musky guys must not see me as a serious fisherman, because I have been cut off by those shiny rigs that think they own the water way to often. The only satisfaction I get is 9 times out of 10 I catch more than they do and they give up and leave. I do make sure to grip and grin a lot more emphatically than normal when they do this;) The biggest issue I have is boaters. On our vacation lake there is a spot that is about a foot deep, that I have ran a few times, but it is much safer to just pull the motor up and go slow through to avoid a random rock and munch your lower unit or prop. I have seen two boats in this narrow channel going slowly have a boat run on plane through cutting it 10-15 feet away from either boat, including one day we had 2-4 feet swells, doesn't sound like much, but they are only spaced 5-6 feet apart so it is really choppy. Someday there is going to be a collision at that spot and I really hope I don't witness it. Also the pleasure boaters that will buzz the area you are fishing and run closer than they should to you, and then wave like they are doing nothing wrong;) Thankfully though most boaters are respectful.

Small river system I fish, a 17-18" smallie is a quality fish. Fishing the northwoods of WI a largie or smallie in the 17-18" range is also a quality fish. Over a lot of years, the 20+" fish have been very few. I have lost a smallie that likely would have gone 6+ easy at the net when the RES popped out. 2 people got a good look at the size so we know the toads are there, it just takes them so long to grow. My first 20" smallie on the river was caught 8-10 years after I caught her as my first fish on the fly, she was about 14" then. She had very specific markings and a jaw deformity so I recognized her right away. Really cool to get 2 firsts with one fish years apart.

Fished one of those lakes once, didn't catch anything. Eventually need to get the retirement home up there, wife doesn't buy that we need it in our mid 40s;) Yeh other than a local with a ski doo jet boat that has no concept of others on the lake, even when we have been up there over the 4th of July hardly any boats. The only downside is some of the locals are a little territorial. Was night fishing for walleye once, saw what I thought was a boat a ways down with no lights and sure enough 20 minutes later they dropped the trolling motor and moved a couple 100 yards away before turning on their lights. They then sat there watching to make sure we didn't go to their spot for 30 minutes before heading out. We have gone enough years to essentially be locals;) and fish spots for walleyes that even locals don't hit. Really liked lake Chetek the one time we tried it, just not a water sports friendly lake, and Lake Mccormick before that, not much other than crappies there.

Agreed, we have water that is so green, that the boat spray is even green to waters you can see bottom in over 20 feet. Rivers are generally murky except the trout streams that are very clear. I grew up near a clear water lake so I am at home on that type of water and love fishing it. I know it can be intimidating for some. In general I have found clear water doesn't necessarily mean you have to finesse fish with cobweb test line and micro baits to get a lot of bites. Just wish all of our lakes had reeds to fish, that would be a perfect world.

Not sure if we are North enough, but fishing in N WI, Eagle river area, the bass must not see a lot of pressure. I fish my standard baits for largies and do very well in moderately clear water where you can see bottom in 12-13 feet if calm. Standard baits for me though are generally a menace or ugly otter on a 1/4 oz slider head so I am not a knock them out with your weight kind of guy before hooking them. One thing I will agree with is those stupid chatterbaits, they just don't seem to work up here, while spinnerbaits can crush them if the bass are chasing. No idea why, just hope I can bust that theory this year on vacation when I will try them yet again. Think I have caught less than 5 bass on them and 1 40"ish musky.

One thing to with the gel scents like liquid mayhem, atlas mikes, and megastrike is that they stay on longer and unlike liquids or sprays only make a mess if you lay the bait on the boat deck. The liquid stuff sprays all over when you cast and apply it. My first scent product was probably berkley crappie nibbles a good 20 years ago.

Yes it makes a big difference during a tough bite, cold fronts etc, but some people don't believe. Which for me is fine because it leaves the fish there for me:) My worn out story is first hour of vaca fishing I landed 5 nice bass and father in law had zero hits. Got him to try scent on the same bait he had tied on and he had a hit in 5 casts, and landed his first fish shortly after that. If you try it on an active bite, it likely won't make a difference because the bass will hit the kitchen sink. If they have lockjaw I have found and seen it make a difference. I only use gel scents like liquid mayhem or atlas mike's before that.

That was my thought too. The way the lid was designed does keep terminal tackle in place, but since I only use slider heads, doesn't do me much good. Was just curious if someone had it and thought differently.

These boxes look pretty cool with the modular concept, but a little pricey. Curious if anyone has tried them out. Would take a lot to replace my 12$ Plano 4700 boxes. They showed up as a promoted post on FB today. https://buzbe.com

I believe that folks have gotten deals at Kittery Trading post on them. I haven't tried though because the baits are out of my price range.

So maybe Black Friday, unless they skip that one too;)

All of my baitcasters are right handed except one that got sent to me in error that was left handed. They gave me even more off the sale price for the mistake so I kept it. After a couple of casts getting used to holding a casting rod in my right hand, it was business as usual. The hardest part was holding the rod, not reeling.

Huh? I just keep moderate pressure, roughly 14" bass fight pressure, and reel the line on. Trying to figure out what tight means? Is it lock down the drag and hold on to the line as tight as you can? Or somewhere inbetween. This was the first I ever heard of anything different than what I have done for years.

All bass. I have rage swimmers, smash tech smash shads, etc. But I have these lying around thought I should use them instead of throwing out plastics I have never used. Also thought being smaller they may work well too with the tiny baitfish that are available that time of year. Crappie slider plastics have caught nice bass in years past.

Is the Bass Pro Sale what is showing now? Looking to get a few must haves from them and would hate to order today and learn I could have saved some more money.

Starting to think about packing for my week long fishing trip this summer and wondering if I should take a small box of sassy shads with to try? Anyone still use them and do they work? Mostly fish vertical cover like docks and reeds. Also who am I kidding, I started my packing list for this year the day after my trip last year and have thought about it the majority of the days since then;)

I have used braid for many years and never had any issues with it digging in. I always use mono backing and when I spool on the braid I use light pressure to spool it up and never had any issues. Not sure why you would spool it on super tight? I use 30 lb 832 and 50lb power pro.

I disagree, they have done well for me, anglers for some reason didn’t buy into it. Only bummer is they can’t be reeled too fast. Will be curious to see if the 6th sense bait has the same issue. I will definitely pick some up at some point. Didn’t read far enough as I guess I just repeated info on the Raps

Really good video and I like how he did the whole thing without catching a fish. Most folks like to show off by landing a lunker, which wastes time.