Fishing_Rod

Greetings All, Fantastic information helpful to many of all ages. These tips and tools improve the overall experience. I fish for recreation. Good to have information that preserves that recreational focus while taking care of all the other vital aspects of safety and well being! Bravo to each of you for adding to the body of knowledge. I'm taking note and using what I can. THXs! Be well, Cheers!

Greetings All, It was pretty cool to see a big thick catalog sitting on the coffee table when I returned from work the other week. Yes, it brought back many fond memories of my youth spent musing about stuff that I could dream about. Funny growing up in rural areas the retailers had very limited in store offerings so most items required ordering to obtain. These days most things are a mere click away. The nearest BP shop is over 200 miles from me. On occasions I'll venture all the way up to the metro area just to physically shop. I find merit in being able to handle, inspect, before buying certain things. I will also work in some casting during those trips up there too. It wasn't till the other day when I was curious about the catalog since it had been quite some time since I did a BP purchase. Even longer since doing one on-line. So I flipped the catalog over to look at the customer ID used to deliver it. It was addressed to my wife! 😆 Hah! Be well, Cheers!

Greetings All, Great stuff! Frankly speaking, I'm still casting like a madman trying to win that lottery! The recent warm trend does make it more comfortable to be out there casting like a madman. OK, all kidding aside, I do all right when it comes to catching. I do concur with the observed cycles of fish populations associated to the quality of fish caught. One of the regional lakes here is going through a time where finding a significantly larger than typical bass is a real challenge. Getting bit is not. I'm catching a lot of bass but they are mainly yearlings or adolescent sized. Fortunately, all of them appear healthy and seem to be thriving. So it supports the population cycle theme. I am grateful for every fish that is "on-line" so I'll simply keep casting. I'm still trying for that lottery win! Be well, Cheers!

Greetings All, Bravo @papajoe222 well said! Those characterizations parallel much of what I've experienced through the years of taunting fish. OK much of that was simply casting practice, hee...hee... Through information I'm doing what I can to change that towards the trend of more catching fish than simply casting at fish. I will add that as an angler, my mood definitely changes depending whether or not I'm at the water taunting fish. Heck if I'm out goofing off my mood has already improved. My family will occasionally suggest I need to go fishing because I'm frumpy. OK, why argue, right? I'm grateful to you for sharing insights and observations. Appreciate your time and effort to annotate it, then being willing to share it. Be well, Cheers!

Greetings Katie, and et al., What a wonderful find! Thanks for sharing as we can join in the fun of an era gone by. Growing up in rural America, catalogs were extremely significant. That was the principle way to shop. Many of the local retailers just didn't have the inventory. Ordering what you wanted / needed was a big part of life back then. It was the material dreams were made of! Those were also the foundations of learning much of the English language and fostering an interest for technology. The specifications and details provided helped me to learn about the world through the catalogs. Even in adult life as a professional, I'm still reading through catalogs to shop well. It is via a high resolution screen these days. Thankfully there is the ability to zoom to see those all important details. Tools helpful for those aging eyes! The photography and art work of that era was impressive. It all comes together to help tell the story or promote the theme and product. I appreciate the narratives that fostered the utility of why you needed to use these products. The timing of this thread along with recently receiving a large physical fishing catalog in the mail bring me back to those youthful times of late evening sessions sitting on the floor with my hound at my side musing through the pages and thinking about "what if?" Over the decades I've managed to realize many of those ambitions. There is always room for more adventure, right? So appreciative of this conversation, it has been fun! Be well, Cheers!

Greetings All, The thought of repeat catches is interesting for sure. My personal experience this topic is limited but I'll share. When the regional weather is too windy to be on the water I'll seek alternate angling destinations such as the urban lakes / ponds where shore fishing is the alternative. At one of the urban lakes there are rock features that typically hold bass and a properly presented soft plastic will do the job at this popular location. I recall catching a young adult bass with a unique busted right side jaw. During the three consecutive weekends I managed to find this fish in a 10 meter area. While not deliberately seeking it out, I was gratified to find it for each of those times. The second time I caught it encouraged me to realize why it is important to respect and handle with care. Be well, Cheers!

Greetings All, @WRB Thank You for sharing your experience and wisdom! I and others are grateful for your efforts to improve understanding with knowledge! It is a new year and I've got my new annual fishing license. I've even actually managed to catch a few bass too! OK, nothing of size but all have been fun. I hope to someday fish where the water is clear enough. For now, I'll emphasize the awareness aspect and how helpful that is to taunting bass. It is important to take inventory of what is before you and make the most of it along with the indicators. When in my small kayak or even when approaching from shore, a modest survey before casting can be very telling to make the most of those initial casts. Wishing all well for 2025, Cheers!

Greetings and Happy Holidays All, @Tim Kelly I have experience with what you describe regarding the Shimano spinning reels. Some details of my situation. First, the reels I use are generally the ones at the very low cost end of the Shimano product line. These are the Sienna or lower cost models. I will add that I have only experienced this situation on the larger reel sizes. I mainly use the 500 series and those have not exhibited this. I suspect a couple of things. The spring tension based on the mass of the bail for the smaller reels is sufficient to keep it in place even with a spirited cast. Less inertia and more spring tension. The 1000 and larger have more bail mass and probably not as much spring holding tension. It doesn't happen frequently, but it is always annoying when it does happen. I have simply taken to palming the larger reels during the cast to aid in preventing the bail from tripping. Usually just a light application of holding near the lower hinge point is all that is needed. It seems there is more of a tendency with an over head cast motion. I don't recall much of the lateral casting to cause it. So just $ 0.02 USD tossed in for consideration on the matter. Be well, and Cheers!

Greetings and Happy Holidays All, I'm gratified to review all the information presented. It is interesting that the chart presented in the original post, there is mention of a jig that is common to all conditions. I use a jig frequently and find it successful throughout the year. While there is not much deliberate change to the jig configuration I use, there are presentation considerations, adaptations, based on environment. The general water temperature is a significant factor for the character of my presentation. During the colder times a much relaxed pace with more pause than movement is helpful. This is just a general pattern that has been successful. Mainly to make the jig (bait) a convenient, easy, target for a strike. Wishing all much angling success. Also, Happy Holidays! Be well, and Cheers!

Greetings and Happy Holidays All, @Scherbacj Hi from Southern AZ! I'll be taunting fish in your part of AZ soon enough. I'm counting on this warming trend to facilitate success. The old phrase, "your mileage may vary" does come to mind and applies to seasonal, regional, and local influences. Much like with cooking recipes as a guide towards a successful outcome, there are adaptations involved. The various water impoundments on the Salt river provide a different fishing experience than at other locations about AZ for many different reasons. Most are due to the conditions and environments. Down here the differences at Patagonia, Pena Blanca, and Arivaca make things interesting. Sure, dragging a ball and chain contraption is often a good approach. Finding the better places to put that ball and chain can be the difference between simply just casting vs catching. Those lakes don't have the flows like those mentioned on the Salt river. Thus, the fish holding areas appear to be more consistent because of the different environment. My casual recreational style, no electronics, compels me to focus more on what I can see and what is recommended by the volumes of information shared by folks on BassResource and other publications. All that is a guide to facilitate the search. However, there are those times where you find things in places where you didn't expect. I have a short article regarding a LMB found during trout taunting and general goofing off with a spin cast reel. (not a configuration I use frequently, but it was fun to return back to how I started fishing all those many years ago) With that data point I'll expand my understanding and hope to find more colder weather bass. My recent antics have found many small, sub 8 inch bass that were willing to play in the cool waters. I've not found too many of the larger ones that have been motivated. The high desert lakes are on the colder side and then there is the distraction with the recent trout stockings too. The cloud of trout passing by tends to capture my attention from the methodical low and slow pursuit of bass. I end up grabbing the other fishing rig and swimming a soft plastic to hookup on a few trout. Being distracted prevents me finding those bigger bass. I hope to make a focused effort in the days to come, without that work thing getting in the way! Several of the AZ anglers have recent on-line posting, to include YouTube, on their experiences at Alamo, Roosevelt, and Bartlett. Others are simply shifting focus to stripped bass at places like Lake Pleasant. Those are always fun to hookup. I'm a UL angler so any on line is fun! Best fishes to ya in the Holiday season. Enjoy the warm weather while we have it. Be well, and Cheers!

Greetings and Happy Holidays All, The morning brew is typically Pete’s Major Dickason’s using a french press. Simply good and rather simple too! Yes, just a proper brew time and enjoy as it is. A great way to prepare for a angling adventure! Be well and cheers!

Greetings All, Wishing each of you well and Happy Thanksgiving. This past weekend brought some gusty winds to the region so I decided to find a place to fish from the shore easily. Because we are in the cooler months they have begun trout stocking. So I've shifted focus and have simply been determined to taunt trout as they are also great fun on-line and for a meal too. OK, so many of the nearby angling destinations are pretty steep and not suited to shore fish. So I decided to travel to the Gila River Valley and have my angling adventure there. I had a simple objective and that was simply to do a bunch of catch and release. While doing so I would investigate the handling characteristics of several fishing rigs under real use conditions. Hey, these are stocker sized trout so just how much stress can come from an 8 - 12 inch trout, right? Yeah, none of the rigs were intended for larger fish. One of the reels I was going to put to good use was my recently refurbished now smoother Zebco Omega Pro Z02. It got cleaned and lubricated so things are pretty nice. As an alternative to my BFS reel I did not struggle with any backlash in the gusty conditions. The premium Zebco reel was mounted on a basic Zebco fiberglass rod, both ends of the Zebco product line. It was a great time casting, catching and releasing trout like an exuberant angler. As I was doing so I decided to probe the deeper water areas. I made a long bomb cast, as far as I could with the 1/48 oz jig head with a small soft plastic worm segment. Nothing happened as the bait settled to the bottom. OK, the water is a bit cool so I'll give it a few seconds before beginning the slow crawl back. A few slow winds and I feel a slight tap, then another tap, then nothing. Much like trout as they either try to kill it or sample it without committing. Ok, no real action resulting so we are moving again. A few more cranks and this time there is a TAP! Wow, that didn't feel like a trout. Let me see what is going to happen, I simply hold still to monitor for anything. Nothing...OK, that was fun while it lasted. So I cautiously began to reel in. This time there was a heavy but mushy resistance felt. Much like when you hang a plant versus a rock. There was some give to it. Odd, then it responded. Much like a train locomotive it starts slow but strong and gains speed gradually. There was not much slack to begin with, so the new cleaned drag responded quickly and loudly. I raced to lower the drag setting. The thing about spin cast reels is the line pickup pin is usually a very small diameter so the line has to bend about this pin and that bend puts a focused amount of stress there. 4 pound mono can only handle so much stress. The fish makes a direct line towards deeper water and is not deterred much by the line resistance. Golly! Not knowing what I just connected with, I was thinking I hooked into some catfish as those are stocked frequently too. Regardless I've got to do what I need to and stay connected so lower the drag tension setting should buy me some forgiveness. I'm simply holding on and letting the line peel out for some time. Eventually the fish showed signs of getting tired. I managed to work in a bit of line before the next surge. Over time I did manage to work the fish in slowly and I simply kept things at a modest tension level. I didn't feel any head shakes so I was still of the opinion it was a catfish. Eventually it got in close and eventually came up towards the surface where it made a roll over and I finally got to the bass profile. Not huge, but also not what I expected to tie into either. Great fun and it made the day just that bit more special. Rather fun on the hybrid Zebco rig. Also good to know that I can target nicer sized fish in that location. Whaaahoo, Whoopee! Please enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday. Be well and Cheers!

Greetings All, I pretty much use those curly tailed grubs on a jig all year long for multi-species success. The jig size is a bit smaller as 1/8 oz is typically as large as I use. Most of the time it is 1/48, 1/32, or 1/16 oz. I swim the 1/8 oz jig, grub combo when using the BFS reel when I need a dynamic presentation. Otherwise it is generally a low and slow approach with spinning gear. The curly tailed grub on a jig works great in the various lakes, ponds, streams (rivers), and canals. The only modification I do to customize is to mash down the barb on the jig. It presents a smaller cross section for the hook, and it appears to help with staying connected when I need it to, and it really helps when I need to release too. I do find that curly tail down does tend to work better for me as I don't get as much of the hook tail binding on those long bomb casts. Be well, and Cheers!

Greetings All, All the equipment that i've caught fish with have been and continue to be significant to me. I continue to use legacy equipment along with my newer gear. Many of the historic pieces remain very functional as I've maintained them over the many decades of fish catching fun. Many have intrinsic value to me as they are associated with dear family members. Many were gifts from special individuals throughout my life and each is important to me. Yes, these days we do have better options and I also use those too. Those historic pieces continue to bring joy to me and are a tribute to honor those special people associated to the history of each piece. Many of those special people helped foster my passion for angling and by using the old gear I am reminded of their gift and kindness. As I approach retirement I'm encouraged by the prospect of using each piece even more frequently! Enjoy all those special moments with good gear and wonderful people. Be well and Cheers!

Greetings All, Oh lots of Zebco love in my angling history. My first reel was a Zebco 202 combo. Many fond memories from using that beloved gift. Years later a dear uncle who realized my passion for angling gifted me an upgrade to a Zebco 33. Even more history using that upgraded reel on the original fiberglass rod with the off set and angled cork grip. Both reel and rod still get occasionally used as a tribute to my dear uncles who helped foster my angling passion. That fishing rig continues to be a wonderful fish catching tool. Yes, I've got even better upgrades since then. My current Zebco is the Z02 Omega Pro which is impressive in performance and value. Yes, for my style of angling the investment of this premium reel is worth the enjoyment of use. Yes, this top tier reel brings my angling enjoyment to a very high level. The build quality does not disappoint as it works flawlessly. The line management system controls the line lay so well that I've not experienced line bind at all with this particular reel. The same goes for the next lower tier Zebco Omega Z02 which also uses the same inter-changeable spools. I've got a fleet of historic Zebcos that are all part of my angling history. At the smaller end I've got the Zebco 11, and also the trigger underspin version. Also the more recent 33 Micro Gold and trigger spin version. Moving to the mid-sized 33, 33 platinum which is well built too. My rather old larger Zebco Omega 191 which was a catfish catching tool. So smooth with ample torque to fight both the river current and those large flatheads, and channel cats. Plenty of happy memories when talking about and using my Zebcos. I always have a grin on when pushing that button! The sound of that drag is also something to grin about too. I hope you get to fully enjoy any investment in Zebco products. They have been good to me and good for me. Be well, and Cheers!