The Pond King

Hi everyone, I'm familiar with breaking down reels and cleaning them. However, when I was looking to simply oil up the bearings on my Daiwa baitcasters, I noticed that some Daiwa baitcasters have some kind of brace that's blocking the bearings on the handle side. I'm sure this is part of the zero adjuster feature. How do I remove this brace to access the handle side bearings to apply oil? I'm not looking to tear down the entire reel, I simply want to expose the handle side bearings to put in a drop of oil. I tried researching YouTube videos, googling online, and researching forums, but I couldn't find anything. I've attached a picture to show what I mean.

I have one. A 7' MHF. Chinese made or not, it's a good rod period and an excellent value for the money. It balances better than an Avid 7' MHF and is slightly more sensitive, too. It also has Fuji guides and decent cork. Plus, it's only a third of the price of an Avid. I like buying American made, but you can't deny that this rod punches wayyy above its weight. I also handled a $80 Falcon Evo 7' MF spinning rod at Walmart and was shocked at how light and sensitive it was. Again, it beat out an equivalent St. Croix Avid 7' MF spinning in terms balance and sensitivity. They're cheap in terms of price, but they are good quality.

I wasted too much money on heavier swim jigs. I don't really fish 1/2oz swim jigs much. There's never a need to fish 3/4 or 1oz swim jigs on my home waters. I fish 1/4oz almost exclusively, and every now and again a 3/8oz. For spinnerbaits and chatterbaits, I prefer a 1/2oz, but definitely not for swim jigs. There's lot of good ones on the market. However, you can't go wrong with Dirty Jigs or Sieberts. The ones by 6th sense also look good, and I have one on the way. However, my favorite swim jig, overall, is a JDM Keitech Swing Swimmer. It's not really well known because it's a JDM bait, but it's probably the nicest swim jig I've ever seen. The quality and attention to detail is outstanding. Look at how beautiful it is. Pics don't really do it justice. It looks even better in real life.

I have a lot of these jigs because I bought them during the blowout sale where I got them for a $1 each. There are two versions. Once uses a regular j-bend hook Gamakatsu #604, and the EWG version just uses a Gammy EWG hook. Neither of these hooks are stout, but it works as designed since it's a football jig. It's not designed for close quarters pitchin' with heavy braid. I'm huge braid fan, but for the Dobyn's football jigs, I recommend using 15 - 20lb fluorocarbon to add some stretch so as to not bend the hooks out.

Threads like these make me feel glad that I'm not the only one. I've been buying so much tackle lately it's not even funny. Too much money has been squandered on tackle lol. Lately, I've been obsessed with the chatterbait, so now, I have a boatload full of them. Buying tackle when you already have more than enough is not a financially sound decision because you're just incurring liabilities and depreciating assets, but life's too short not to have fun. There's much worse things to waste money on.

If it were me, I'd go with a St. Croix Triumph 7' MLF (TRS70MLF), and I'd buy the newly released Shimano Sahara FJ 3000 spinning reel.

There are different schools of thought on hook setting technique. Some say to not set the hook right away and wind down until you feel pressure and then use a sweeping hook set especially when fishing with fluorocarbon for football jigs in situations where you're casting out far and deep but even also for flippin/pitchin. Others say that you should set the hook right away as soon as you feel a bite i.e. soon after you feel a bite, lower the rod as you reel up the slack as quick as possible and set the hook immediately. I've experimented with both, and regardless of the scenario, setting the hook as soon as you have a bite has resulted in higher percentage of hook ups in my experience. I believe that as quick as a bass can hit a lure, he can also spit it out just as quickly. Sure, there's cases where a bass could hit a jig and hold onto to it for a while, giving you the leeway to take your time, but I'd rather not take my chances. Senkos are another story. Senkos are so soft and full of salt that a bass will hold onto that thing and swallow it every single time if you wait too long, but I think a bass can detect that a jig is unnatural and spit it out. You should also check the weed guard. Depending on the manufacturer, some weed guards are really stiff and some are really limber. You can clip off some strands to make it less stiff or you can fan out the guard or do a combination of both. You should always trim the length of the weed guard so that it does extend passed the barb of the hook. There are times where I don't shorten the trailer to get the largest possible profile, but to make the lure more compact, you can cut off some of the trailer. I've seen a bass strike just hit the tail of the trailer before. With a more compact profile, there's less of a chance that he'll miss the hook. Your set up should work fine, but I feel that a Dobyn's heavy is like other manufacturers MH. Flipping jigs have thick wire hooks and often times, stiff guards. Perhaps, a Dobyn's XH, 50lb braid, and bone jarring hook set might help, too.

Fishing pressure is a very real thing. Once a bass has been caught, with a hook through it's face, fighting for its life, it's gonna take some time for that bass to recover and become unconditioned to lures again. This is why finesse fishing is becoming very important now due to the increased pressure, but if everyone else is finesse fishing, then what?

Hey guys, I’m looking for a dedicated 3/4oz to 1oz football jig rod. I will be using this rod to cast long distances and drag football jigs in various water depths. Now, I do have a GLX 844C MBR, Dobyns Champion Extreme 745HP, and even a GLX 954 FPR. I find that the 844C and DX 745 are fantastic rods. However, I feel like they are slightly underpowered for 3/4oz and 1oz football jigs, in my opinion, but they can get the job done without any problems. For instance, the DX 745 isn’t as powerful as you are led on to believe from reading the specs. As for the GLX 954 FPR, I’m aware that it wasn’t designed for dragging footballs but have tried fishing football jigs with it, anyways, and it’s a tip heavy pool cue, so I can’t fish with it comfortably all day. It’s simply just too powerful and too long. Anyways, I’m looking for a rod that is between 7’ – 7’ 6” that can handle 3/4oz football jigs and the occasional 1oz. I’m looking for a rod that is perhaps a half power stronger than DX 745 but don’t want a pool cue. The GLX 855 JWR has piqued my interest, but there are not many reviews on this rod. Anyways, I don’t want to be one track minded and be able to make the best choice. As you know, reading specs isn’t always reliable as each manufacturer has their own ratings, so I need your guys’ help from your guys’ experience. I’m looking for a rod with enough power to be capable of handling heavy football jigs that are dragging across bottom but can also effectively deflect the jigs off of rocks while simultaneously not being a broomstick. In addition, I’d like this rod to be super sensitive to detect what my jig is making contact with on the bottom and to easily distinguish it from a fish bite. Which rod would you recommend for a high end 3/4oz and 1oz football jig?

I'm beyond impressed with the new Shimano Nexave FI spinning reel. It's only $50, but it performs like a $250 reel. The 2500 is 8.8oz which may be slightly heavier than other 2500 class reels, but I don't notice it. For reference, I've owned a Twin Power ($420 retail) and Stradic FL ($220 retail), and I own a Ci4+ ($240 retail). I kid you not, it feels smoother than those spinning reels. The Nexave is really all you need for spinning.

I'd recommend the Avid X 6' 6" MF, but it's been discontinued, unfortunately. It's an excellent rod. You might be able to find it on the used market.

Mike, why'd you have to post this? I've been spending too much on tackle lately, but I can't resist this sale! Honestly, your jigs are the best.

Bass Pro has a sale on Strike King Ochos. 30 pack for only $6.99. This is a great deal! On TackleWarehouse, you'd pay $4.59 for an 8 pack, so $6.99 for 30 is a steal. If you include tax, it's 25 cents per bait vs 62 cents. I checked out the Ocho's underwater action on YouTube, and they've got a nice shimmy. It's very close to a senko. Strike King KVD Perfect Plastics Ocho 30-Pack | Bass Pro Shops

Thanks for the replies y'all. I guess there really isn't a consensus on this matter and probably comes down to personal preference.

Hi y'all! I recently purchased a bunch of Dobyn's Extreme Football Jigs that were on a blowout sales for a $1 each. These jigs look great. However, they use an EWG hook vs a J bend hook that I'm used to. Anyways, I wanted to get your guys' opinion on EWG hooks on jigs. Based on your experience, how's the hook-up ratio on jigs with EWG hooks? Does it matter?