BrianMDTX

Got one more. One through the hook. But I lost what I know would have been my new PB. That’s a thread unto itself.

This morning started off hot but the breeze blew all the pond scum up my end of the pond and haven’t gotten a strike in 90 minutes. Caught two decent (not nice lol) bass early on a watermelon Senko wacky style on my new finesse rig.

Caught four bass maybe 8”-10”, but did catch one that was a little bigger. Not huge, but it was the first time out with my new finesse rig so I was happy to land it. But one took my hook and the Senko. It was substantially bigger. I should have retied the hook after getting snagged. Lesson learned!

Welcome to the forum and back to Texas! Just moved here last year. Great bass fishing for sure!

So may I ask, do you use some sort of pull gage to set your drag? Or tie it to a known weight? To be honest, I’ve always set it by the “pull” method. A little effort but not really pulling it with gusto and adjust until line starts coming off the spool.

So far, great. I think I may have put a little too much braid on (I have a couple instances of the braid falling off the spool, but I caught that before I got wind knots). I had a nice bass run off with a 1/0 circle hook and a Senko, but the knot may have been weakened on a snag earlier. So far my first leader knot is doing the trick. No memory and instant reaction to a strike is nice! I looked at a lot of knots. Someone posted a video of the Lefty Kreh knot. It’s simple, and having known about Lefty pretty much all my life (met him several times), if he used it, I trust it!

I try not to waste $$$ on junk (as my buddy’s now 90 year-old father told me 50 years ago, “you buy junk, you get junk”), but just getting back into fishing, I see no reason to start off with $500 rod and reel combos. It’s like buying a $1500 compound bow when starting out bowhunting. You ain’t good enough to utilize what a top-shelf bow (or rod and reel) gives you over a decent but not as techy rod and reel. So far I’m liking this combo. Very easy to cast weightless Senkos and the fast tip gives the bait some action. It looks good and seems to be a decent rod. For $53.00, it’s a steal!

Not a bad start. 2.2 lbs. Gave a good battle in some sunken timber!

Getting ready to head to the pond and try it out. Man, that is a smooth reel.

Got my new Fenwick HMX66M-FS rod and put the new Daiwa Revros LT2500 on it. Spoiled with 20# Sufix 832 and a 7’ 8# copolymer leader. Got a 5” Senko wacky rig all ready to go. This is my first time using braid and tying leaders. Army, not Navy, so I stink at knots lol. But it seems very tight. We’ll see how it goes. Sprayed it well with KVD. First time using that as well.

Last week I caught a 2-3/4 lb. bass on a 40-45 year old plastic worm. Jus’ sayin’!

I think you are dead on about snap swivels. Everybody used them 30-40 years ago. Even to attach Eagle Claw snelled hooks with nightcrawlers!

Yours is older than mine. Your reel has the “boomerang-style” anti-reverse lever. It looks like it’s in new shape! Here’s mine on a early 70s Eagle Claw fiberglass rod. With real Coors ceramic guides!

I believe a 1/4” ID is what is “called for” as far as Senkos, but I’ve been using 5/16” ID with zero issues, no lost baits, no lost fish and they roll on easy (no tool required) and it’s a breeze to slip the hook between the O ring and the Senko.

They have UL, medium, MH and heavy action purses. In multiple colors and actions lol.

My wife is a purse junkie. That’s her “thing”. It’s as stupid as fishing tackle lol. We all have our passions. I don’t get the need for a new $$$ purse every two months, but if it makes her happy, I’m good with it. The next purse will be my fishing kayak lol.

My bail spring is original (knock on wood) and still works flawlessly when required, although I close the bail manually now. That Shakespeare won’t readily allow that, so I still crank the handle to close the bail. Funny. Automatic bail closing was a popular feature “back in the day”. Now everyone closes it manually to prevent line twist.

To be honest, I have probably had line get trapped under a skirted spool on other spinning reels more than I ever have on that Mitchell. Plus...it has that “classic” sound when you reel it lol.

True story. My dad was a letter carrier. He found a Garcia Mitchell 300 and a 304 attached to two broken rods in someone’s trash can. Maybe they got skunked lol. He brought them home, cleaned them up and gave the 304 to my older brother and I got the 300. I’ll be 60 in September. Been catching fish with it ever since. Unless I run it over with my truck, it will likely outlast me lol.

I have a Garcia Mitchell 300 from the 60’s and a mid-70’s Daiwa Millionaire 3H that still work flawlessly and catch fish. Built like tanks!

I use 5/16” ID O-rings on a 5” Senko. 5/16” is 7.9 mm. The 5/16” is not a tight fit, so I’d go with the 7mm size.

Right now I’d say a 4” green or watermelon weightless Senko rigged wacky-style. Flipping or pitching close (10’-15’) to structure and letting it land with little to no splash.

That’s a nice bass! Congrats to her!

Reminds me a lot of hunting. You could carry a .30-06 and kill anything in North America from prairie dogs with 110 grain bullets, to deer-sized game with 150-165 grain bullets, elk and moose with 180 grainers and 200-220 grain bullets for the great bears. Or...you can have a dedicated varmint rifle in .223 or .22-.250, a .243 for deer, .308 for black bear, and on and on and on. I don’t think anyone actually needs 20 rods to be a successful angler. But ones set up for specific methods of fishing likely gives the experienced angler an edge. A newbie should focus on two, maybe three set-ups. Having a dedicating set-up for flipping or punching makes little sense when just getting started.

I usually take 3 rods bank fishing. An UL spinning, a medium-fast spinning for finesse/wacky and a medium heavy-fast for Texas rigs and some crankbaits. At a minimum I’ll take two. I’d rather carry at least two rods vs constantly changing tackle on one.