kenmitch

I always put mine on before I even get into my yak. Mine is self inflating so as a added bonus it makes me more alert and aware of my surroundings.....Those darn rearm kits can be costly if you don't catch them on sale. Went with the auto just in case I get hit or sideswiped by some boater not paying attention to his/her surroundings. I wanted to go with the standard pull to inflate model but figured it's not something a person could do if one is knocked out or even dazed and confused.

How small is a small weight? The lighter the weight the harder it'll be to learn how to cast. Something around 1/2oz would probably work better if you lack experience and are trying to learn.

Without knowing your experience level with baitcasters it's hard to say if it's the reel, or just the way you have the reel adjusted. How heavy a lure are you trying to cast and learn on?

How did the bass get there?

He might not be so lucky next time....Not that I condone violence. Good luck with the wife!

Dang that looks really bad. Full disclosure in his ad would be best I'd imagine. I hope you didn't have to waste too much time and effort to see the boat.

It sounds like the braking system is working as intended. No bird nesting means a successful cast so I doubt I'd really worry about it. I've never really watched my spool while casting as my thumb is usually blocking the view.

Same here. I don't even give a jumping fish a second glance anymore unless it's on the end of my line.

There's not a whole lot of stuff in there. Search youtube for a teardown video or two that you can watch step by step to see if you can figure it out. It's probably a simple fix anyways.

Ranking CA #1 as it has the largemouth and the spotted bass going for it. TX and FL as others have already said look best compared to most states. I want to Yak a few TX lakes sometime in the future. The issue with best is what best means in the end. Largest fish, highest average size, numbers of fish caught, variety of species, etc could all be called best depending on how you define best. I think in the end it doesn't really matter were you fish as at any time, in any lake, in a lot of different states you too could catch that fish of a lifetime!

I don't think there are any that are that short and would handle 3oz. I'm kind of looking at and debating on picking up a SB rod so I've looked at a lot of them in the last couple of days. Looks like 7'6" taps out around 1.5-2oz for most rod lines. You might have to go custom for locker friendly size? Not sure if possible or practical but maybe mod longer one by shortening the butt end? No way to mod the locker?

I'm thinking it's a combo of the reel, what your trying to throw, and your lack of thumb training that is causing the noise. It could be the gears are worn out, but you said you haven't used the reel much so I'm leaning towards my initial conclusion. I'd imagine your reel can handle throwing what you said your throwing without issues. Cranking down the tension knob puts a lot of stress on the internals of the reel. More cost effective reels aren't built to the tighter tolerances nor have the higher quality components of their more expensive counterparts. I'm guessing the amount of tension your applying is in the end effecting how the gears are lining up which is causing the noise. I'm leaning towards you need more practice and will have to train your thumb in order to prevent an early demise of the reel. I'm not really a tension knob adjusting kind of guy. I just adjust mine so there is no side to side spool play and go a click or two beyond that. I just use my thumb to control the backlash which seems to work best for me. I doubt I'm the only one who can feel a difference in the way the reel feels when doing it this way vs the slow falling lure way. Training your thumb to minimize backlash while slowly backing off on the tension knob would most likely give you a better baitcasting experience in the end.

Cost effective for somebody just dabbling in baitcasting is probably more fitting. There are many cheaper reels out there. If you clean the spool shaft you should put a drop of oil on it before putting it back together. Might want to take a look down inside the tension cap to make sure it's also clean. Maybe you need to lay off the tension and learn to use your thumb? You might be applying too much tension to make your lure fall very slowly and not let the spool spin after it hits the ground if that's the way you have it set up. Sounded more like gears grinding than the bearing your thinking of. What does it sound like when your casting? I'd imagine it's the time when the bearing would make the most noise as the spool is spinning way faster than when you crank.

Was that noise while cranking or casting? How tight are you tightening the knob? Are you sure the noise is coming from the bearing at the tension knob? Tightening the knob would put more tension on the other side of the spool so it's possible that there may be an issue on the other side. Have you taken out your spool and made sure that the edges are clean and the bearing are lubed?

The bearing should spin. Did you pop it out yet and see if it'll spin by hand? The bearing supports the end of the spool shaft and should spin freely. Never tried to see if mine spins without the tension knob on but my reels don't really make any noises anyways.

Welcome aboard. It's a nice place to lurk as well as learning a lot about the world of fishing! The baits you listed sound more like a multiple rod solution too me from what I've been reading around here at least. Cabelas has the St Croix split handle Premier casting series on sale currently. The 7' MH Fast is in stock for $110 which is worth a look and see at least. Looks like a nice rod for the sale price at least.

There's nothing wrong with jumping into the sport sporting a Ugly Stik. I kind of look at it as it's a good place to start when deciding if it's a passing fad or if you develop a passion for fishing in the end. The only downside I see to the Ugly Stik is it's almost indestructible and if one treats higher end rods like a Ugly Stik most likely they'll break. I figured it's worth pointing out as it may save some heartache in the future. Fishing can be fun or it can be more stressful than your job in the end. It's best to go for the fun aspect of it and make the best of the current situation. If the fish are biting your golden, if not then you can always practice casting, techniques, other lures, etc to make the best of the slower times. Just remember that your not on the crew of a wicked tuna boat or a tournament fisherman and you'll do fine.....Unless your hungry and are fishing for food.

Search eBay if you can narrow it down to a choice or two. They have the 20% code (PRIMO) code available that may apply to your choice. The code is valid thru today it looks like. Not a whole lot of time to decide but the if you can find one your happy with and the code is valid on it you should have no issues keeping to or going below your budget.

Welcome aboard. It's a fun place to hang out and brush up on your fishing skills. I'm on the hunt for a spinning rod as I picked up a Lews TSS200 the other day on sale. I've been looking around at the offerings and debating back and forth between choices in my budget. No rush as I just need to find the one before my September vacation. I'm looking to get into the finesse style fishing so I'm kind of teeter totting back and forth between ML and M with xf or f myself. What's the lightest/heaviest baits you plan on throwing with your rig? 1pc or 2pc? Length? Have you looked at the Dobyns Fury FR 703sf yet? MF 7' (8-17 lb line, 3/16-5/8 oz) looks to be highly recommended and it's budget friendly @ $109 retail priced. Here's a short list of some of the budget friendly series of rods that look to have good quality and bang for the buck that I've come across while researching my choices. There's probably a couple more lines that I haven't come across yet. St Croix Triumph St Croix BassX Lew's Speed Stick TP-1 Falcon BuCoo Dobyns Fury BPS Carbonlite 2.0 I'm forever tainted on this as I picked up the $120 BC combo deal in Feb. Wouldn't buy at retail. Not sure if a 2pc MF would work for you. If you think it would then Cabelas has the St Croix split handle Premier series on sale for $99 available for backorder currently. Good bang for the buck if your in no hurry to try out your new toy. Good luck on your quest! I wound up going for the Dobyns Fury FR 703sf. Picked it up on eBay today with the 20% code (PRIMO) and free shipping. I wound up paying $88 for it.

Figured out what the videos were called. Old school as far as video quality goes but it's content is enlightening.

....Big bass will inhale and spit out baits rather quickly. There was a video linked here somewhere showing it. Don't remember the names but it was a guy fishing while he had a diver filming the action. Could be panfish like others have stated. Maybe somebody could link it? Worth watching none the less.

I went with the 7' MH fast combo and haven't tried anything less than a 1/2 so far. The rod is rated 3/8-1oz so probably won't ever know.

After using the combo and getting used to it I do like it. When I first tried it out I didn't really care for it too much. I had to force myself to even use it at first. I would use it a little then go back to my Revo MGX combo. I contemplated even buying it at the crazy sale price as I'm not really into white rods and reels so maybe it tainted my first impression. It's a nice combo and I'm glad I bought it. Would probably pick up another on a similar sale.

The Carbonlite 2.0 baitcaster combo deal in Feb for $120 I got forever spoils the rod at retail pricing for me. The rods are nice and I have no complaints otherwise.