papajoe222

Mine has to be my first Daiwa ProCaster. I only purchased one round baitcaster for bass fishing after that first Daiwa and it didn't take long to fall in love with low profile reels. I still have it, but rarely use it, but it still brings a smile to my face every time I hold it.

Showing yur best side? That's my arm, honest and trust me the fish is much better looking than I am.

I fish a tourney on Balsam lake every July. The entry fee is steep, but the prizes, including a Ranger boat, and the chance of finishing in the money are fairly decent. If nothing else you have a good chance of at least recouping your entry fee. It's a two day, week-end tournament held on either the second or third week-end in July. The reason I say you have a good chance of finishing in the money is that a lot of pure amatures enter in hopes of getting lucky and winning the boat. In nine years, I've only seen one angler that was new to tournament fishing finish in the top 25. That narrows down the field On the flip side is the fact that it also draws a lot of expert anglers and fishing in the heat of summer on a big natural lake against some of the best anglers in the area really limits your chances of finishing in the money. If you fish club tournaments, think of fishing against 50 or so area club AOY. The best I've done was 17th. and only because I picked up some really nice fish the first day. The best advice I can give you is to check into local clubs, I know there are a few that target Petenwell and Castle Rock a few times a year, but don't ask me where they're based. Membership is affordable and even if you don't fish every tourney, it is a fun and learning experience.

I have good results using three basic colors. Bone, White with red head, and the G finish. There was a time when the only color I threw was bone as I'd worn the finish off part of the lure and removed it off the remainder leaving it 'naked' Now be honest, what female in her right mind can resist a naked, cigar shaped thingy dancing around? Notice I didn't even mention the red head.

I too, am chomping at the bit and have been for the last couple of weeks. All my reels are cleaned and respooled, rods are finished building or getting cleaned up, hooks on my baits have been switched out, tackle boxes organized and relabeled, hook box has been replenished, new prop, t/m plug and recepticle replaced, new depth finder on order............now it's sit on my hands and hide the charge card for the next four weeks. )

Sometimes they share info and sometimes we just don't listen.

Early spring is about the only time that color plays and important part in my decision of what to throw. Around here, an orange belly on a crank will out produce most any color. I even color the underside of a white spinnerbait's skirt and head orange. Can't figure out why as the crawfish are still burried when I start catching anything after ice-out. I don't really care why as long as it produces. ;-)

There are a number of ways you can fish the grass, but if the fish aren't active and are burried in the grass, your options are narrowed to either penetrating the weeds, or fishing the edges (that includes the top of the grass). You can't beat a jig for getting into the grass and either a Senko, or a drop-shot will get your bait on top or on the edge. With the grass only growing two feet off the bottom, you might try a drop shot setup using a jig as your weight with your Senko or whatever two or two and a half feet above it. You have the option of changing speeds and still staying in the productive zone with these setups that you don't with a spinnerbait or crank. If you're working it slow and not getting any love, try either dead sticking it or working it fast. BTW, just because you're not marking fish on your electronics does not mean an area or some form of cover is not holding fish. If you have confidence in a particular piece of structure or cover, it's never a waste of time to fish it.

You'll love that reel. I have mine mounted on a 7'2" St.Croix med/mod that I finished making earlier this winter specifically for that reel and smaller/ lighter cranks and top-water baits. If you really want to take advantage of the Sol's ability to cast lighter baits, you're going to need a rod that will load fairly easily and there aren't a lot of M/H rods with a moderate action out there. Prior to this rod, it was mounted on a Browning rod that, although wasn't rated for action, was a med. power and what I considered a moderate action.

The last step of my pre-spring Cleaning and Organization Ritual is cleaning the cork grips on my rods prior to mounting the reels on them. For more years than I care to remember I've used kitchen cleanser with bleach and an old tooth brush to get them looking good again. I was just wondering what you guys do, if anything, to get them looking 'top shelf' again?

Okay, now I get it. Like Daiwa produces a $500 reel and still offers a Quality product in the $150 range. Yea, and I don't think it'd take Lomis off the pedestal some have them on, except for maybe those that have them there.

Okay, correct me if I'm getting this wrong. You'd like to see G. Loomis and other high priced rod companies to get with the program and offer a line in the $100 range. Why? If you don't want to spend $200 on a rod, there are plenty of good quality rods out there, just like there are plenty of vehicles out there for under $30K. Should Mercedes or BMW offer you something in that price range? I'm not attempting to be antagonistic, just wondering why you'd want something you're not willing to pay the price of.

Thanks guys. I have an advantage 150H and it sounds like the Tierra when compared to the 153HST

I'm looking for another work horse reel and was wondering how the Tierra TD-TR153H compares to the Advantage 153HST. I know the Advantage is 'Super Tuned', but other than that, is there any major difference that would sway me toward the Tierra other than price?

I've used them in the past with moderate success, but am unsure about one thing. The ones I own have three holes in the top side of the bait and use a snap to allow for changing the 'line tie' location. I'm unsure which hole is for shallow running and which is for deep running, so I only use the center hole and attempt to adjust the running depth by varying my retrieve speed. Can anyone shed light on this? Also, my best results have been using a pumping type of retrieve, letting the bait fall on a semi-tight line. The other thing I was wondering is if this style bait is productive during the summer months?

I fish a lot at night during the dog days and occasionally from shore. What applies to fishing from a boat also applies to fishing from shore, but being shorebound has it's advantages. First and foremost, know the area you're fishing, especially the terrain you'll be standing/walking on. Second, slow down. This is no time to be in a hurry. If you only have a couple of hours to fish, get your mindset on concentrating on the details and you'll be forced to slow down. I'm not implying slow presentations, just being deliberate. Third, keep your equipment to a minimum. Clutter is not only a hassle to deal with in the dark, it can be dangerous. This is one area where being shorebound has an advantage as you are likely just bringing the essentials with. If you're fishing anywhere there is lighting, keep it in your face, not to your back. At the very least don't stand directly under shoreline lighting. Carry a landing net, more than one flashlight or a combination of cap light and flashlight. The advantage you'll have when it comes to using them is you can turn your back to the water when you turn them on. As far as lure selection goes, use the same ones you'd use during the day. If you have them in dark colors, so much the better, but remember that baitfish don't get darker in color at night, so color selection is at the very bottom of my priorities. Unlike fishing during the day, however, steady retrieves seem to work better at night. One last note. If you can, by all means bring a friend. At the very least, tell someone where you're going and how long you intend to stay.

I have one 'burner' and it's mounted on my jig rod. It's all about line recovery to me. The faster I can pick up the slack and get that fish moving away from cover, the better. Check the line recovery stat on the reel first. Gear ration can fool you into believing it's a fast reel, line recovery proves it.

For me, it's reels. I'll dump $200 on a reel, but wouldn't consider looking at, let alone spending that much on a rod. Don't get me wrong, I have more rods (21) than reels (14), but the least expensive reel that I actually use cost me more than the majority of rods I use.

I've upgraded the spool bearings on four of my Daiwas. Two to ABEC 5 ceramic and two to ABEC 7 and I did notice a difference two of the reels, but not on the other two. The two that I didn't notice any difference were on the two that, pricewise, are in the same ballpark as the chronarch. New bearings on a used reel will likely improve it's performance. New bearings on a new reel???? How would you compare any difference? Decide which reel you like and use it for a while, like a full season. Once you get a good feel for it and the bearings are broken in, you can always upgrade. BTW, the spool bearings are the only ones I'd consider upgrading. None of the other bearings spin fast enough or have a heavy enough load on them to make it cost effective to upgrade.

YES. This is the kind of information you don't get from reading articles or watching the tube. Although I have read about your favorite lakes, I never saw any information like this. Fifty plus years fishing and I still love learning new things about my favorite fish.

Sam, I believe the stocking that was done with expectations of the two strains reproducing would produce offspring with the best of both. Larger fish than the northern strain and more aggressive and less prone to 'lockjaw' than the Florida strain. Don't get me wrong, the bass up here react to cold fronts and such, but they don't seem to totaly shut down and will respond quickly to a change for the better. The perfect cross species, IMO, would be a smalmouth/northern largemouth/Florida largemouth. What a fish that'd be! I don't give up on bass fishing during cold fronts, which normally will have eastward winds. I do realize that the fish will be less aggressive and hold much tighter to cover and make adjustments. I also don't expect to load the boat in a few hours. I think I know my bass, but there's always more to learn.

I have a hard time finding them anymore at my local stores, but I still like the old offset worm hook for a couple of reasons. I feel the bait reacts more irratically and the hook's point is farther back than on an EWG. I also have never nose hooked a Fluke, but I will be now. That's what I love about fishing forums, there's always something to learn and what better place to learn it.

A buddy and I have gone to Florida in early March for the past few years to catch the college spring baseball tournaments. Of course we bring our fishing gear. The first time we were on the water he asked me this question: Why do you fish differently down here than you do back home, you always say a bass is a bass no matter where it lives? I attempted to explain to him that Florida bass are a different strain than their northern brothers and although they are both bass, the Florida bass' reactions to weather changes is more drastic and unlike the bass by us, they are at the top of the food chain down there and behave as such . So, in an effort to get to know other's bass, What differences do you notice in what you've heard, read, or experienced vs. what you experience on your home waters. Are they really differences or just the way the fish in your lake are really doing the same thing? I'll start off by saying that most of the information I read and gather over the internet is geared toward fishing impoundments (man made lakes) and I fish mostly natural lakes. We don't have creek channels or main lake and secondary points (to an extent), or some of the other structure that they have? Applying that information to the water I fish would seem like a wasted effort except I do live by what I always told my buddy; a bass is a bass etc. No shad here, but they still follow the bait. No creek arms to follow in their seasonal movements, but they still make those movements, No bluff walls or ridges, but they still use vertical structure in the same way.

If that Sol is a baitcaster and you ever need to unload it, contact me. I love mine and would find the money even if it meant going without groceries for a couple of weeks. Who needs food anyway?

April 3, 2009 Water temp 39 Air temp 45 on a black single bladed buzz bait. 2lb. 13oz. Larger of two I caught that day on that bait. The latest was on Dec. 3 2010 unkown water temp (fishing from shore, but guessing it was down in low 40's) Air temp 52 on a Super Spook 3lb. 7oz