Retro Bass Fishing

[greentrout]

Back in the day, Bassmasters such as Larry Nixon used a pistol grip casting rod and used it well. I use a 5'6" pistol grip using my baitcaster and spincast reels. A pistol grip rod is not easy to find these days. I'm a recreational and enthusiast fisherman.

 

Any of you use Retro gear and tackle?

[softwateronly]

Does this count?

 

 

scott

[flatcreek]

I keep a 5-6 pistol grip bait caster rigged for narrow creeks and dock areas. Much easier casting in tight areas

[WRB]

Soft plastic straight tail worm rigged weedless with a bullet weight dates back into the 60’s, hair jigs with pork trailers into the 40’s, 2 lures I use every outing.

Tom

[bowhunter63]

Still throw a grub and a lot of hair jigs 

[TnRiver46]

At this point I don’t think I do anything except retro 

[TLHSS]

I still use my dad's old metal tackle box from the 1950's. 

 

I saltwater fish with a Mitchell 409 reel. 

 

When I travel by plane, I bring a vintage Orvis Spin Fly rod. 

 

 

 

[Fishing_Rod]

Greetings All,

Another recreational angler here too. Just doing what I can to taunt fish. I keep it simple as that is what seems to help me go from casting to catching. I use curly tailed grubs on light jig heads along with the 3 - 4 inch weedless worms with a light bullet weight too. 

 

The pistol grip rods are in my beloved collection of Daiwa Mini-Cast travel rods. I've recently managed to get one of the Bait Finesse System reels adapted to it. 

 

Only issue is the polymer grips even after all these decades (one is from the 70s and the other from late 80s), still have quite the chemical odor. Otherwise they are a hoot to toss about and work the shorelines with. The segmented fibreglass (?) rods have a nice moderate action and work well as a ultra lite fun.

 

Contemporary or legacy gear is all good as long as you get on-line when using them. Be well, cheers!

[DaubsNU1]

Does a 1960 Rich Line with 1974 Merc count as "retro"? Granted, lots of upgrades...

 

 

And have since upgraded to a newer boat. 

 

But I'm still fishing my 1990's Cabela's branded rods and Shimano reels : ) 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Technically retro means older than 25 years, if that's the accepted definition, than I have a number of rods, and a one TD-X reel that is still used weekly.   That's mainly because I'm thrifty, in a perfect world I'd replace them all with Zillions and Alpha Angler/P5 Destroyer rods.    

 

I'm kind of the opposite on baits though, I really enjoy learning the latest and greatest technique/bait as long as it's a power fishing one.    

 

In Alabama, almost every Bass has seen just about every common lure under the sun.  It seems to pay big time to stay ahead of the curve with bait selection.  

 

The evolution of Bass fishing tech is one of my favorite parts of the sport, so I'm not really a romantic when it comes to tackle.  

[greentrout]

9 minutes ago, DaubsNU1 said:

Does a 1960 Rich Line with 1974 Merc count as "retro"? Granted, lots of upgrades...

 

 

And have since upgraded to a newer boat. 

 

But I'm still fishing my 1990's Cabela's branded rods and Shimano reels : ) 

In my book, yep. I use a Cabela's Fish Eagle 6' Med. casting rod with CX2 graphite. Sensitive and light.

[the reel ess]

19 minutes ago, greentrout said:

Back in the day, Bassmasters such as Larry Nixon used a pistol grip casting rod and used it well. I use a 5'6" pistol grip using my baitcaster and spincast reels. A pistol grip rod is not easy to find these days. I'm a recreational and enthusiast fisherman.

 

Any of you use Retro gear and tackle?

I went through my dad's stuff after he died and used some of it just to feel close to him. He was not into spending a lot of money on fishing so most of it was nothing fancy. There were some good lures and a nice, but oversized, old Shimano Bantam reel. He also had a 5500C Abu reel that I kicked myself for selling. I offered to pay more to get it back but the guy already bartered something else with it.

[Captain Phil]

44 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Technically retro means older than 25 years, if that's the accepted definition, than I have a number of rods, and a one TD-X reel that is still used weekly. 

 

Twenty five years old is retro?  Yikes!  I have socks older than that!  My favorite retro rod is a 5' 6" pistol grip casting rod I bought from Bass Pro Shop.  The reel is a Shimano Chronach Bantam 100 which I consider one of the best bass reels ever made.  I use this outfit for fishing anything I want to jerk repeatedly, like top water baits, jerk baits and flukes.  The grip and the short length keep the bait moving without tiring me down.  The Ambassador 5500C was the reel everyone wanted 40 years ago.  The early ones were great reels.  The were cheapened up later and weren't worth having.  I don't fish with them these days.  My best round reel is a Shimano Calcutta.  I still have lures that I bought in the 70s.   Many of them have been discontinued, but they still catch fish.   

[Mobasser]

I still fish a Creme Scoundrel worm, and I like  a shorter grip rod for top water spook fishing.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

"Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 years ago.^[1]

[Catt]

2 hours ago, greentrout said:

Any of you use Retro gear and tackle?

 

I still throw Mr Twister Phenom worms, Johnson Spoons, Snagless Sally, Jitterbug, Rattlin Rogue, alphabet crankbaits...if they work why y'all wanna stop throwing em!

 

Never was a fan of pistol grip rods, I come from a saltwater background, Bull Reds will take that right out your hands. 

 

 

[TnRiver46]

Love the 5000 and 5500s

[gim]

One of my co-workers who just retired recently still has a black and white Eagle sonar unit on his 16 foot Smokercraft.  It does not have GPS and he cannot tilt or turn it.  I give him crap for it regularly.  He even got lost on the river near La Crosse at night one time because he didn't have a GPS.  He is one stubborn mule, I'll tell you.

 

I offered to sell him my Gen 3 Lowrance HDS 7 a couple years ago when I upgraded to a Carbon and he said "can't do it.  My wife controls the bank account."

 

To that I responded with "Some men run their house, and some men run AROUND their house."

 

- end of conversation

[WRB]

When Abu reels were made in Sweden before 2000 they were decent reels. Personally I owned 1 black 5000C and several 2500C & 4500C Super turned reels until Shimano came out with Bantam 100& 1000 followed by Daiwa HTIA 103 &105 in the early 90’s. Instant anti reverse, smaller light reels fast free spools and never looked back.

Pistol grip rods I gave up in the late 70’s  when Fenwick came out with their Trigger Stick handle design. 

My 1st reels are now antique Langley* 330 & 340 made in 40’s , Ashaway 10# Dacron braid line and Connolin Feather Lite 5’3” tubular glass rods. The old reels could easily cast 50 yards using Hawaiian Whiggeler #3 spoon with the short rods but no anti reverse.

A friend and I would go out once a year using our antique rods and reels until Covid time period, Ron’s health ended that tradition.

I prefer today’s light weight rods, reels and line, but use a lot of retro lures because they still catch bass.

Tom

* reels weighed 4 oz, all aluminum drilled spools. Jason Lucas recommended rod & reel combo in the 50’s.

[Catt]

[FrnkNsteen]

I kind of went down a bit of a rabbit hole with older used reels recently. I've got a pair of old Calcutta 101 5.7:1 reels on vibrating jig rods. They are bullet proof and smooth as can be.

 

My main buzzbait rod currently has an older Metanium Scorpion MG7 on it, and Ive got a handful of TD Z and TD X 103 and 105, 103HL and 105HL (pitching reels) and a few TD Fuego reels on various setups. Just something kind of fun about those older  Team Daiwa reels, plus they are relatively light and palm great!

 

Sadly. Most of these are now falling into that 20-30 year old window!!

[bulldog1935]

hmm, 

 

inshore, too (ok, another bass rod in the middle)

[Hulkster]

I still use modern (Sufix) monofilament line..does that count?

[PaulVE64]

In 1979 I went up into Algonquin Park with a buddy of mine for a 14 day trip. On day three at the end of a portage we found 2 spinning combos and a box of tackle and lures.

Was my first fishing trip and I still use the rod. 

 

 

Ps - fresh lake trout are excellent in garlic and butter

[Bankc]

I've got a lot of old rods, reels, and especially baits that I'll continue to use.  My theory is, if they worked back then, they'll still work today.  Evolution is a slow process.  

 

Technology has definitely improved the performance of most things. Maybe not the durability...  But I typically reach for the old stuff just to relive old memories or try something different.  And as an added bonus, it serves to remind me that the reason I'm a terrible fisherman is that I spend too much time buying gear learning new techniques online and not enough time actually fishing.  When you can catch just as many fish on an early fiberglass rod and baitcaster with no brakes, it's pretty obvious the problem is you and not your gear.