NYWayfarer

I have been using the bottom half of an egg carton since then. Best of all it's free.

That's my prediction as well.

My wife saw me "borrowing" one of her muffin pans for this purpose. I almost got a frying pan applied to the head instead. I learned my reflexes are still quite good at my age.

NOoooooooooooooooooo!!! don't force it together. That gap is meant to be there. This pic is from Amazon about the Perigee II rod connection. BTW both rods are still going strong and I will be taking them to Florida next month on vacation.

The Capital Region of NY has some decently stocked DSG/F&S stores. Thank goodness, with no Bass Pro, Cabelas or Academy's near by they are the only game in town.

High hopes. Sometimes that little old ant thinks it can move that rubber tree plant...

You might have just talked us both into getting this combo I have to get my Mach Crush combo wet before I do that.

A mild winter in the Northern Capital region of NY. I actually saw my lawn up until January. It has snowed here the last two nights for total of 6 inches of snow. It then rained today to make it a soupy mess. It's Going to snow again tonight. Nothing like getting up at 4am to clear the driveway before getting ready for work.

The rod looks real nice. I am thinking about eventually purchasing one and pairing it up with a Tournament MB or LFS. This is the first casting combo from Lew's with an aluminum framed reel.

WP are magical baits for river Smallmouth. It outperforms all my other prop and buzzbaits combined. I especially like the 90 size. It sits nose up in the water when still unlike my 75.

Safety pins or paper clips. They keep the hooks together and prevent them from wandering while in the tray.

I could, but don't want to.

Nice work!

I went fishing Saturday on open water. 40 degree air temps. I caught nothing. Seen some creek chubs, a pickerel and a carp trapped in my local canal. Tried like hell to catch them. If I did I would have relocated them to the main river so they wouldn't starve to death. Snow and ice here over the last few days have pushed me back into hibernation mode. Bright side is I have a Florida trip planned for next month. I hope to ctach my first fish of 2019 then and more.

Here are some items I received or purchased with gift money over the holiday season. K-mart is closing in my area. 20% off all fishing tackle. Got a nice little haul.

I like the following inline spinners: Mepps Dressed Aglia Mepps Dressed Black Fury Mepps Aglia Long Mepps XD And my favorite: Panther Martin Classic Regular Gold Got a special place in my heart for the Panther Martin's since they are based in New York.

Got a couple of War Eagle spinnerbaits for the 2019 season. Spinnerbaits were never one of my confidence baits. Looking to change that this year.

I don't mind different color rods or reel. What I do mind is when the rod colors and reel colors don't match when I put them together. I won't be putting a green reel on a red rod, except if I am fishing at Christmas. The neon color rods have grown on me. They are visible from a distance which is a plus when they are in my kayak rod holders. Helps boaters see me.

Out of the Lew's I have used I really like the Mach Crush series. They have the American Tackle Airwave system guide. I like how they cast and feel. They are part of the Crush combo and unfortunately I have not seen them on sale individually. I use the Mach 1 rods the most last season. a workhorse of a rod. Got mine on sale for $35 at DSG. If I knew how much I was going to like it I would have bought a few more at that price. The second one I got was when the combo went on sale for $80

Great information. I am half way through and have loved the insight into Smallmouth Bass fishing. Thanks for posting and sharing.

I have and used the following Lew's Speed Stick rods: Mach MH Mach 1 (I have 2 casting versions of these) MH Mach Crush (Both spinning and casting) M and MH Carbon Fire (DSG exclusive) ML Decent rods all around. The Mach 1's have seen some heavy use in the 2018 season. They held up to everything I threw at them. That includes casting in some tight spots where they came in contact with some branches. Also some savage hook sets on the bottom. My only complaints would be the graphite reel seats Lew's uses. They tend to flex and become loose after awhile. I have to tighten them up periodically during a session.

my biggest Smallmouth of 2018 was caught on a size 90 Whopper Plopper in Bluegill color Horrible pic of the scale but she weighed in at 4.01

I hope you have a speedy recovery. Glad you are home.

Get a Lew’s Tournament MB on sale for $100 or lower and don’t look back. That reel fits in the palm nicely and has some bells and whistles of much more expensive reels.

ML to L rod all the way. I have caught 3-6lb Channel Cats on my old Ned Rig/dropshot rig which consisted of a size 100 reel and a ML fast action rod. My Trout set up is a size 100 reel with a light action rod. 4-6# line.