Dabluz

I get a real kick out of guys when they see muddy water, say that the water is polluted and then when they see nice clear water, that it is not polluted.

Early spring trout fishing....I mean real early and very cold with rain and snow. Fishing with a guy who makes fishing films for TV. He insisted on using a fly rod and dry fly early in the morning and then late in the afternoon. Would not go fishing at midday when there were a few flies. Had the line coming out from behind the fly reel (line was spooled backwards too) and called himself a pro. There were 4 of us and if I hadn't used a black Panther Martin, we would not have caught any fish.

I call that the "double Palomar" and it's the one I use....especially when using fine fused or braided line. It does not slip at all. Pull hard on a single Palomar to see if it slips. I did a few times and was surprised to see it slip so I went to the double Palomar.

Yes....suckers do change colours during spawning. Dark stripe and often lots of red on each side of the dark stripe. They also do a lot of jumping during the spawning run. I guess it's to loosen the eggs inside their bodies.

Yes....braids and fused lines are notorious for having weak knot strength and that's why 20 lb braids and fused lines have a breaking strength way over 20 lbs. The strongest of the lot is Fireline. 20 lb test Fireline breaks at around 47 lbs. So even if the knot diminishes the line strength by 50%, you are still using 20 lb test line. There have been a couple of independent strength tests carried out over the years and you can find them on the internet. I think I read that the Palomar knot only loses about 20 to 30% of the rated breaking strength of braids and fused lines.

I had a Minn Kota 15 (9 lbs of thrust) for close to 30 years. When I sold it 2 years ago, it was as strong as the day I bought it. I could get about 10 km/h in high when I used it on my canoe. However, 3 years ago I got a 36 lb thrust bowmount made in 1999. It worked a couple of minutes and slowly came to a stop. I just took it apart today and the inner bearing is damaged. The shaft has not been damaged though. Anyway, taking the motor apart only takes about 2 minutes. You may just need new brushes and bearing (bearings?) There is a site on the internet where you can ask a pro questions about these kinds of things but it costs too much for the info.

Anyway....I'm in the process of wanting to buy a good baitcaster for casting 1/4 ounce lures and Shimano really is making things difficult for me to find something in the 150 dollar range. I was hoping to buy an E series Shimano on special when the next series of baitcasters came on the market. I may buy a Quantum Smoke now for 200 dollars and put an end to my search.

There are a lot of variables that you have not mentioned. Do you usually fish alone? If not, how many will usually fish with you? Small lakes with a maximum of 5 km in length? Can you backup right into the water or do you have to drag your boat to get to water? I have a 14 foot Espadon Cartopper (Princecraft). I guess if I really had to, I could carry it on my back. I can put it on the roof of my van if I have to however, I have a small homemade trailer and I don't even need to use a winch to get it on the trailer even if the trailer is not in the water. I usually fish alone and with my 7.5 h.p. Evinrude, it goes on plane and travels at 30 km/h with all of my equipment on board including big battery and electric motor. It's stable enough to fish standing but I have a good high back seat so I am already high enough for comfortable fishing. I fish a some lakes where I cannot back the trailer into the water but it's just a short drag to the water's edge. I often carry the Evinrude inside my van but on short trips where there are ramps, I leave the motor on the transom. As you can see, a 14 cartopper is just fine for me. I also have a 9.9 Chrysler that I will be trying out this year to see if it is better when I have a 2 nd person with me. I never travel very far on the water anyway. I guess I use up no more than 60 to 100 liters of gas and I do a lot of fishing during a year. If I did not fish alone so often, I would probably buy a 15 foot boat or a 14 foot jumbo and use a larger motor and then use my 14 foot Sportspal for the small lakes without boat ramps. If I was sure to always have 2 or 3 fishermen, I would get a 16 foot jumbo with a 25 to 40 h.p.

I've been doing a lot of reading about the new versus the old Curados and Citicas. The only positive thing that I have heard about the G series is that they are not as noisy when reeling under pressure. This means to me that there is plastic in there somewhere to reduce the noise. Metal to metal is always noisier because metal transfers vibrations better than plastic. Good lubrification will reduce the noise. Those reels that are used in long distance casting really whine loud but they still manage close to 300 yards.

Steel don't get kinks if it's handled right. I've used steel (monel) line and even copper line for many years and never had that problem. I prefer steel line over lead core because you can get more depth without all the weight.

You have to be really careful when it comes to stressing fluorocarbon. If it gets over stressed, it does not rebound back like mono but remains damaged. I'm interested in why such a large diameter line. Does the lure still move from side to side with such a huge diameter line in front of it? Is it to prevent a fish's teeth from cutting it? If so, why not use a much smaller diameter wire leader? Does the large diameter fluorocarbon send off vibrations when it is moving through the water? I know that fish can sense very tiny differences in water pressure.....that's how they can stick so close together in schools even though the school can suddenly change directions. Can you tie a knot in line so large? Can your outfit (rod and reel) pull 80 lbs? Is the line for the anchor?

Then if you no longer want to use it.....you can sell it for 250 dollars...lol.

Then the outfit dates from the early to mid 80's.

There is still a lot of fishing action that can be done with that outfit. Especially if you are new to fly fishing. The answers you have already received have been good. The dry flies in the 7th photo are "still-water flies", they lay on the surface of the water. They imitate "spent" mayflies after they have laid their eggs. The trick is to cast them out and let them sit or barely move them. The other flies are wet flies, a couple of streamers and floating bugs. The leaders are probably still ok because they look unused. Give the tippets (thin part) a tug to see if they are still at around their rated strength. The line looks like it is nice and clean. Since it is yellow, it's almost certainly a full floating double taper. Floating fly lines are most often very light in colour. The reel is very nice and will work very well with that outfit. The rod is a fiberglass rod and you will find that the action is just slow enough to easily learn how to fly cast. If you really enjoy fly fishing, you can buy more modern, lighter, faster fly fishing equipment later. For now, you can consider that you have a nice gift that dates back to the mid 70's. It would have even been a perfect beginner's (serious beginner) in those days. Yes....it's for trout, bass and even walleye and panfish.

I've never had trouble with line binding into the line already on the spool. I use a very light drag. I pump the rod otherwise, only the reel handle turns. I use 18 lb test Mason Tiger braid on 2 baitcasters and have never had problems with line digging into the spool. The strongest braid I use for softwater fishing is 30 lb test and this line is rarely used.

I don't need any more Fireline. Still using the first spool I ever bought when it first came out over 10 years ago. I have bought other spools since then too. The ice fishing stuff.....there was nothing that I needed. I was hoping that the Rapala jigging minnows were on sale. However, the store I went to also had a big bin full of lures on liquidation. I bought a 14 cm Huskey Jerk in silver, blue with orange belly for 6 dollars and a 11 cm Rapala Deep Tail Dancer in a similar colour for 7.99

I guess we will have to resign to the fact that good cork handles will become rarer over the years. Yes, there is a cork shortage...especially good quality cork. There are some great new materials for rod handles and they are great to use. I hated the first generations of foam handles and if I ever have to buy a rod with a synthetic handle, I sure will look it over real careful before buying it.

Try to tell that to my wife. She is always washing my old cast iron skillets with soap. She says that just wiping it down is not hygienic. I try to tell her that the heat kills all the bacteria. Anyway, I now keep my skillets with my camping equipment...lol.

Those were independant tests carried out by Tackle Tour people about 10 years ago. They did 5 or 6 tests on each line they had at the time and yes, Fireline was way stronger than the other lines. They also tested abrasion resistance in those tests. Mason Tiger braid won the abrasion tests. Fireline on the whole behaved very well in those tests. So, even if Fireline does not have a strong knot test, from what I have read, the knots do test out stronger than the rated breaking strength of the line. Pretty well all the braided and fused lines have a knot strength around the rated strength of the line itself. I'm sure that somebody will eventually make some new tests because most fishing lines have improved over the past 10 years. I would bet my money on the fact that there are no really bad lines anymore. It's now just a choice on whether or not you want a coated line or not, how well coated the line is, how the line is braided, how silent or slick it is etc.

I have been fishing for close to 60 years for brook trout. I hate all of those short wimpy ultra light rods. They do not have the backbone for larger brookies over 12 inches long and they do not have the speed to set the hook. You don't want a soft rod for sticking a hook into a trout. Especially a trout that is 6 to 18 inches long. Those cute short rods are just that.....cute. You need a longer rod for more distance when casting. Since the rod should have very fast action, you need the extra length for casting distance. There are lots of decent trout rods. Even the 7 foot Daiwa Spinmatic ultra light that costs next to nothing is a decent rod. I use 2 to 4 lb mono and I fish for brook trout at least 3 times per week. The original 6 1/2 foot Lightning rod was one of the best I have ever used for brook trout. Anyway, there are lots of nice fast action rods other than those ultra light noodles that clutter the rod stands in many fishing stores. I guess you could also point the rod at the fish if you decide to buy a wimpy rod.

Berkley Cherrywoods are inexpensive, light and are even a decent fish catching rod.

I see in the foreseeable future, groups of grumpy old men wandering the streets causing damage to cars with mags and very low profile tires, cars with heavily shaded windows, breaking the windows to hip hop clubs, beating up people who wear their baseball caps backwards or those with pants so low that the crotch is between their knees, stealing cell phones from youngsters while they are texting, intimidating young people who drink energy drinks, punching anyone who says "yo", etc etc.

There are many reasons why many baitcasters have the handle on the right side. It started long ago with level wind reels. A level wind reel with the handle on the right means that the main bearing that supports the spool is on the left side. When casting in the old days, we always have a casting motion like pitching a baseball and most fishermen were right handed. At the end of the cast, the reel ended up with the handles on top and the spool would pivot on the main bearing. Bearings in those days were mostly hard semi-precious gems on which the spool would pivot. Just like the jewel movements in a watch. Since most fishermen were right handed, many more reels were made for them. There were some companies who made level wind reels for lefties but as you can imagine, the cost of making them was increased to. Level wind reels evolved over time and the main bearing actually became a roller ball bearing. When the button was pushed to disengage the spool so that casting could be accomplished, the same casting motion was used (like pitching a baseball) and the handle of the reel would end up on top with the spool vertical and spinning on the main bearing. If the handle was on the left side, the rod which is in the right hand could not be easily twisted so that the handles on the reel were on top and the spool was vertical. The side without the handle allowed easy access for cleaning and lubricating the bearing. I see lots of baitcasters casting and not many of them twist their wrist a little bit to let the spool spin on the main bearing. For these anglers, the weight of the spool is on both bearings (left and right side) because the spool is horizontal. If these fishermen would turn the reel so that the spool was vertical, they would suddenly realize that casting distance will increase quite a bit. Yes, modern reels now have great bearings on each end of the spool and the gearing mechanism that cranks the spool now disengages completely in mode (free spooling), there is still the fact that 2 bearings create more friction than 1 bearing. Another reason why the handle is more often on the right hand side of the reel and the reel is called a right handed reel is due to the fact that a right handed person can turn the handle of a reel much faster with his right hand than with his left hand. For a pro, this means that his lure can come back to the boat much faster and therefore he can accomplish a few more casts by the end of the day. Casting with one hand means that you have to hold the rod on the handle behind the reel. After the cast, you have to move your hand further up the rod to get to the balance point where the tip of the rod and the end of the handle are about the same weight. The reel is now in the palm of the hand and you can feel every little tic at the end of the line. If a fish bites, you can immediately yank back hard with the handle under your arm or stuck in the pit of your stomach. You can even add your reeling hand to strike even harder. If you hand is on the handle behind the reel, you lose a bit of power in your strike. Imagine a whole day of casting with the right arm, holding the rod against the resistance of the lure with the right arm and then casting again. Your right arm gets tired....especially when their is more weight at the tip of the rod than at the end of the handle. If that is not a problem for you....then I see no reason for having the handles on the right. You can even palm the reel in your right hand and cast with 2 hands. I can't do this anymore. My right elbow has taken too much punishment over the years. I now cast with both arms, I palm the reel in my left hand and reel with the right hand. I can reel much faster with my right hand. However for a spinning outfit, it's the reverse. For very deep saltwater ice fishing, I even had to switch the handle on my big spinning reel so that I could hold the rod with my left arm. I have just as many baitcasters with handles on the left as those on the right. The left handed ones are getting almost no fishing time even though there was a time when I preferred them.

20 h.p.

I guess, it can be done. You can reverse the head so that the handle points to the rear. You will have to make a bracket to mount the motor. If you have a bit of electrical know-how, you could install a remote pedal for turning the motor on and off and maybe even change speeds. To steer it, you will have to hold the handle. I don't think all that work is worth doing. You would be much better off buying a bowmount electric motor.