Basseditor

Only thing I can add — take lots of money or a zero balance credit card. last one I went to, I spent $1000

Kistler is launching (relaunching) the Argon series. Retail will be about $200 but watch for their occasional sales. Go to their website and sign up for email list. You’ll get sales offers from them. I sold my old Argons to buy their Feel N Reel rods, now I regret that. Argon is a nice rod in the price range. I think you’ll see the rods on the website in early March.

I’m going to Conroe on Thursday to check it out first hand.

I went to Decker (Walter E Long) (Austin area) the last two Saturdays. Last week water temp was 51-53. We caught a half dozen or so including two around 6 pounds. Yesterday water temp was 46-47 at launch. It was cold (low 30s) and rainy with a north wind. My hands were pretty cold until the rain stopped. The fishing was great. Not for numbers but for bigs. Using a paper length to weight chart, my son gave us a lesson on catching. He won the tournament with 27 pounds. His three biggest were 20, 21 and 23 inches. I believe on a scale, he would have had more than 30 pounds. They were very chunky. Most were caught on lipless cranks. They are full bellied ready to spawn soon.

I was on the Kistler site just before jumping on here. I had one in my cart, but decided to wait until next week. It would be my second one. I like it a lot. I have a medium Zbone too and I think the Helium is a great value. I saw the 21% off sale so that’s why I was shopping.

I have several S-glass rods. but now I prefer the Kistler KLX Feel N Reel models. They’re lighter and more sensitive. IMO, they’re the perfect rod for moving baits.

Try emailing it to yourself. You should get an option to reduce file size. Open photos, select photo to email, resize option should pop up. once it shows up in your email, save it again to photos, use that version. I’m not sure if you get the option to rename it then. You don’t want to overwrite your original. These are iphone instructions, btw

I needed to pack the bearings so it requires taking the hub off. I took the whole assembly to a trailer repair shop who also stocked the parts for sale. You’ll probably have to replace the rear seal when you do that so buy that and a whole kit. I changed to Lucas Oil marine grease because it is rated for high speed/heat applications. Tractor Supply near me had some of the parts, but not all. once you know what you need, you can find parts online too.

Usually one thinks the lightest weight you can get away with. Conditions dictate though. (Wind, depth) Having said that, I catch more big bass with a half ounce tungsten. Shallow or deep, it works. I think it triggers a reaction.

Bearing buddies help keep grease in the front bearing but not the rear bearings. (Remember, there is a big washer between bearing and bearing buddy.) As was mentioned, I too changed to Vortex hubs. You grease from the back of the hub and it pushes grease out the front bearing. some axles have a threaded hole in the end of the spindle. You’re going have to find a zerk you can screw in to add grease through the spindle but it would need to be removed to let the bearing buddy fit properly. I carry a complete spare hub with bearings and all ready to go. If you have a problem in the middle of the night on the highway, it makes it easy to replace the assembly and get going faster. (unless the axle has brakes, of course)

I know it applies to boat manufacturers and I assume engine manufacturers — can you imagine what liability insurance costs a manufacturer?

Here are some clubs in Texas Bass Club Map

I’ve owned 8-9 boats since my late 20s. Would I be better off now if I put the payment into a savings account, of course. Would I regret not buying it, yes. I look at all the happy times I’ve had with my children who are adults now. Plus, I have 7 grandsons now. It is our bonding place. We talk life lessons and learn successes and failures together. That is worth every thing to me. I’m close to retirement. But my body is wearing out. Too many unexpected illnesses and surgeries so if I waited until now to get a boat for my retirement years, I’d have missed so much quality time with family and friends. I guess I have 3-4 years before I won’t be able to go out anymore. It would have been a shame to have missed the last 40 years on the water. I can’t fathom how much I’ve spent on tackle and boats. But nor can I put a price on all of my experiences.

For warmer weather, I like the Paclite GoreTex rain gear. The other day at my local Cabelas, I saw the Cabelas Guide Wear and BassPro 100 MPH Bibs and Jackets next to each other on display. I have the Guide Wear and like them for cold weather. I haven’t used the BPS 100 MPH though.

One guy I learned a lot about rods from was a trout guy who caught 20-30 pound browns on Flaming Gorge. He was hard to be around but I watched him catch so many big fish using Browning Boron Rods. I hadn’t heard about sponsorships until then (1970s). As far as bass fishing, I’d say Bobby Garland and Dee Thomas.

I finally broke down and bought a wood Lunker Punker.

I’ve spent about 10 years buying mostly Kistler Rods. The new 2019 Zbone rod is really their best achievement to date. I have a variety of rods, but Kistlers are my favorites. Two years ago, I began buying all Daiwa reels. But I have Daiwa reels from the mid-1990s too. Also, I have about 10 Cabela’s Arachnid reels (designed by Daiwa) that I really like. I use those on my 20-25 lb. line set ups with heavy action rods. I first read about those on this forum. Thank you guys. I have 5-6 Steez (bought my first Steez through this forum) on my lightweight rods (Kistler 3 power LMH ZBones). If I could get away with fishing those all the time, I would. But, many times I need the power rods. I have almost 40 Kistlers now and with my two sons, we’re at about 80 Kistlers. But I’m done buying for awhile. (Although I really want to try a rod made with graphene. Just curious.)

I’ve found top water action best in the lower 70s (water temp) on Powell. But I bet those fish will be moving a lot. They’re going to follow the Shad. during practice, try top water off and on all day. In between, I’d toss a small to medium swimbait. Get close to the walls and chuck it way out in front, paralleling the bank until you find them. location? Two schools of thought now. Main lake to a third way in. Then back of cuts to a third way out. if it gets really cold, jig/craw in deeper water. (20-40 feet deep). That’s how the better ones are often caught there. But expect only a handful of bites/day.

Steez and Kistler Zbone rod. I have several set ups now, 7’ and 7’3” and 3 of the 7’6” Rods and all have Steez reels. $5,000 plus retail. Luckily, I didn’t pay that much, but almost.

If you use a long leader, it will catch / hang up sometimes. I use heavy line so it hangs up most of the time.

We (my two adult sons and I) have 75 Kistler Rods. 60% of my reels are Daiwa. After I converted all my rods (over 10 years span), I’m slowly replacing the reels to Daiwa. Ebay is my friend for Daiwa reels.

For the guys who haven’t caught a DD, the only thing I can offer is you have to go to the lakes where they live and be there at the right time. In my mind, it happens when the weather is extreme (at least for us in TX). My best have come when it’s cold, which is relative of course, or extremely hot. Jan. to Mar. or August/September. I’ve caught two DDs in 100+ degree temperatures.

I’ve spent the last couple hours looking at Hedge Hog and Office ZPI parts to change colors on my Daiwas to match some of my rods. I still don’t understand why I need to change my SV spool to the ZPI spool, which was recommended to me. does anyone have a comparison of the HH and ZPI bearing oil? I don’t know what to get? but I can see where I could “upgrade” parts and be in it as much as or more than the cost of the original reel? Spools 140, handle 100+, bearings, nuts, special drag star handle, etc. like the original poster, my head is spinning.

I had caught quite a few in the 8 to high 9s several years ago. Next trip my son caught a 13.35 Texas ShareLunker. It made the 8 we had in the other livewell look like a dink. (Fish were biting good on a ledge and we didn’t want to release them yet, but all were eventually released.) my first 10 came a few months later. That one jumped and fought hard, my last DD was 11.3. It tried to jump but could barely get its head out of the water. It went back deep and pulled hard. Unfortunately it was a tournament practice day. Two days later would have made a good paycheck. But Lake level came up a lot. The 28’ deep spot was 40’ deep in the tournament. A couple of weeks ago I caught a 8-9 pounder that wrapped in a tree. That one was more thrilling because we had to work to get it out. the aforementioned 11 is my profile picture. I grew up musky fishing so I have the same mentality for bass. I’ll take one giant over 20 “keepers”. My goal every time I go out is to get at least one 7 or above. Too bad it only comes around once or twice a year (unless I go to Falcon). picture here was my last 8 a couple of week’s ago

I want to try eighth ounce next time I go out. I’ve been using it on my heavy Kistler Zbone with three eighths ounce weight and 20lb flouro