Garry2Rs

There is in fact very little to choose in spinning reels. They don't help you cast! They are there to hold and retrieve your line. Better quality reels use better parts and are worth repairing... Cheap reels have plastic parts and when they break, they become paper weights. All rod blanks start as a Xmas tree shaped piece of cloth. They are then coated with resin and rolled up on a mandrel (a tapered steel rod)and baked. The mandrel is removed and the rod is sanded to remove the outside ridge. That means that one side of the rod is stiffer than the other... A rod that doesn't cast straight might not have the guides aligned with the spine. This is part of what you are paying for on better quality rods.

If there is a better family dog than a Golden Retriever I don't know what it is. Loving, gentle, smart and easy to live with...They only want to please. They have a long coat that wants lots of brushing, and they shed, but they are 100% worth the trouble. Garry2R's

It is interesting to recall that in the 50's 5ft rods were average, they grew through five-six and by the turn of the century 6.5 was average. Now 7ft is average and longer rods are common. With large swimbaits, there is an excuse, just as with Musky rods...but for an all-around rod??? I don't see it! We have lost an important advantage...Accuracy! Case in point...A couple of years ago I bought a 6ft Loomis IMX from a guy who had received it as a gift and wanted to"up-size." The first day I used it I was amazed how much more accurate the "short" rod was than my 7ft rods. We get our information from the States. In the USA guys are fishing a lot of reservoirs, often there is very little bank cover because water levels fluctuate drastically. Long rods do have more reach, and on bare banks this is fine, but is that important in the Kawarthas etc. with lots of over hanging brush, accuracy seems to me to be much more important. I have always said that an accurate 50-60 ft cast will out fish a 90 foot one every day. Another hobby horse of mine is split grips...I don't like them! The knob catches in my pocket or on my cloths. I'm not alone here...Pro-rod builders, like Gary Dobyns, admits that any weight reduction advantage comes with the disadvantages of making the rod tip-heavy, and with the extra cost of putt-sing around trying to re-balance the darned things. Do you think that mass producers are worrying about balance? The switch, at I-Cast this year, to EVA grips on top-end rods, the move to plastic side plates on high-end reels like the Stradic and the Chronarch...These are all cost cutting moves that are a step backward in my opinion. The talking heads are telling us we need a 3/8 oz. savings on the reel, then suggesting we use 2 oz. Punch weights on our baits!!! What's wrong with this picture? Want another one? Graphite rods...I am using composite rods for most of my casting. Why? Because I am throwing crankbaits! I don't need super sensitivity, what I need is a strong butt and a soft tip that doesn't pull the hooks out on the hook-set or a jump. For Walleye guys and on finesse techniques the graphite makes sense, but not for everything. The bottom line is that we, the angling pubic, are being force feed a diet of manure by the fishing industry. Their pet Pro-Anglers and the Media are promoting the latest, lightest and longest but in actual fact most of the claimed benefits are imaginary, or limited to a couple of situations. Amen...Stepping down from soap-box now...End of Rant...GRIN. Garry2R's

I have been using Automatic Transmission fluid for a couple of years now. It's very light and seems to work okay. Best of all I always have it in the garage.

I'm arranging to get Buck a playmate this weekend...grin.

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Monster Bait has a special Senko that is sort of a grey colour with gold flakes. It's supposed to be Shad pattern. You can find them on their web site.

At I-Cast a year or two ago there was a line of lures shown that had special UV paint. The colours and paint jobs were quite ugly, to me, but the theory was that these paints appeared quite differently to the fishes eye, than to human eyes. Since we know that successful lures are the ones that catch fishermen, these lures have never made a big splash. It could be that we missed a big break through...

News Anglers caught in Canada's border crackdown Lake Erie B.A.S.S. For U.S. anglers, what is required when fishing Canadian waters on Lake Erie remains unclear. By Frank Sargeant Jun 29, 2011 On May 30, 22-year-old Roy Andersen of Baldwinsville, N.Y., motored to his favorite fishing spot in the Gananoque Narrows of the Thousand Islands area in the St. Lawrence River — as he had done dozens of times before — and proceeded to fish for pike and perch. But in short order, two officers from the Canadian Border Services Agency boarded his boat and informed him he was in violation of customs procedures. He had failed to report in to Canadian customs when he crossed the international border at midriver. This amazed Andersen, since not only he but hundreds of other U.S. anglers routinely cross the border to fish. The norm has been that so long as no one attempted to anchor or land on Canadian soil, reporting in was de-facto not required. But the CBSA officers understood the rules differently, and they informed Andersen that if he did not pay a $1,000 fine, on the spot, his boat would be confiscated! Andersen managed to pay with a credit card, but the incident, which seemed to mark a dramatic change in Canadian policy on border enforcement for boaters and fishermen, has ruffled feathers all the way to Washington. Andersen is appealing the fine, and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and Congressman Bill Owens, both of New York, have sent letters to the head of CBSA requesting an explanation of the change in policy. The outcome of the incident could have an impact on tournament anglers as well as casual fishermen throughout the border region, since anglers routinely pass back and forth across the unmarked open-water border during fishing trips throughout the Great Lakes and the connecting rivers. The possibility of fines and confiscation of property threatens anglers competing in the upcoming Bass Pro Shops Northern Open on Lake Erie out of Sandusky, Ohio, as well as B.A.S.S. Federation Nation events on border waters. There’s been a lot of confusion over what’s required, with different offices and officers of the CBSA interpreting the rule differently now that the question has come to a head. Here’s what Chris Kealey, spokesperson for Canadian Border Services Agency’s Northern Ontario Region, told Bassmaster.com: “These rules have not changed. If you are entering Canadian waters by boat and you drop anchor or go to shore to refuel, lunch or shop, you must report to Canada border services. It’s the same for Canadians going into U.S. waters. “However, there is an exception that states if you are in transit from one location in U.S. waters to another in U.S. waters and pass through Canadian waters temporarily, that is permitted without reporting in to CBSA. And we also recognize that, in some areas, navigation into Canadian waters may be necessary for safe passage. In the Thousand Islands, for example, you might travel into Canada to avoid islands and shoals in many areas on the U.S. side, and that’s no problem.” Captain Rick Unger, president of the Lake Erie Charterboat Association, said that he had never had an issue in many decades of taking anglers into Canadian waters to fish for walleyes, nor had he heard of any other skippers who had run afoul of CBSA — until the Andersen case. “This is a big issue for us, naturally, so I tried to run it down,” Unger said. “I called the CBSA’s CANPASS remote reporting number and got hold of the Windsor office, and the officer in charge there told me flat out that word had come down from the top last week that they were not going to require U.S. boaters and fishermen to report unless they anchor or go ashore, period. I called back the next day, got another officer, and got the same answer. So, the members of our association are proceeding on that, (and we’re) fishing as we always have without reporting on trips that go straight out and straight back to U.S. ports.” Chris Kealey of CBSA agrees: “We understand that boaters may not even know when they cross the border at times; in general, our enforcement people are not going to arrest and fine fishermen who do not attempt to anchor or land. However, if you have doubts, you can call 888-226-7277 anywhere along the Canadian/U.S. border to report in,” Kealey told BASS Times. Chris Bowes, tournament manager for the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Opens, said that based on what is known at this point, anglers in the Lake Erie event (scheduled for Aug. 25-27) will be permitted to cross over and fish the Canadian side of the lake, but they will be advised to check in by phone with a Canadian customs office

Good stuff Albert. Thanks for posting it.

Your idea should work, but you can still drop shot from shore as well. Rig as usual, but leave extra line length between the hook and the sinker to compensate for the angle from the bottom to shore... In the USA lots of guys fish the drop-shot in rivers. They use 24 to 36 inches of drop, between hook and sinker. Because of the angle-of-the-dangle, that length is reduced to 8" to 12" of actual drop.

When no one is watching me I use barrel sinkers and jamb the line with a round toothpick... With light line I tie an overhand knot in the end of the line to make sliding the sinker off a little harder.

I like 3/0 EWG hooks for wacky rigging, providing that the water isn't too weedy. If there are a lot of weeds I use a cheap red Mustad weedless hook. The ones I buy are red and have a ewg bend. I buy the 1/0 or 2/0 size at Wal-Mart or CTC. In my opinion, most people miss a lot of hits with small "wacky" type hooks. If we catch bass on EWG when the worm is hooked north-south, why do we want a smaller hook when it's hooked east-west? Wacky hooks and drop-shot sinkers are two examples of the tackle makers trying to get a piece of the action by bring out special, technique-specific, hooks and sinkers. Sometimes these items are helpful, but mostly they are just another way of picking the anglers pocket.

Good point about the plastic vs. Balsa baits. I have a blue and white Husky Jerk that most of the paint fell off of right away. It looks diseased, but it still catches fish...I have a Ghost Minnow HJ, where the paint (what little there is) is still perfect after three seasons of heavy use...However there was a foil strip glued to the spine of the bait, inside the body. This strip has fallen off and now sort of floats around in the cavity. This isn't the quality that I expect from Rapala, but that said, this bait also still catches fish.

A youngman named Tait sought to make his fortune building compasses. But they were so unreliable that they gave rise to the expression... "He who has a Tait's is lost!"

I caught tons of SMBass on brown 3 inch worms in the Kawarthas.

Old Compre's don't have the lifetime warranty. That warranty started with the second generation, around 2003 or 2004.

I think you have it backwards...If a shock absorber works by cushioning the bump there-by reducing the impact and making it less noticeable, then a soft rod hides the bump where as a stiffer rod will transmit more of the bump, making a stiffer rod more sensitive.

On the opening I like to fish a weedy bay with solid body toad/frogs. I fish them fast, like a buzz-bait. I will also have some Senko style worms on board and some shallow crankbaits, just in case the toads don't do it.

Maybe you have a taller boat than me...Or shorter arms! I like 7ft rods, but I have to watch the tip all the time when working a jerk-bait from my Bass boat.

Rods of 7 ft and over are great for extra casting distance, but their not much good for jerk baits or any other tip-down technique. Unless you are seven feet tall, it's hard to keep the rod tip from hitting the water. In my opinion, if you are limited to two combo's 6'6" is a better all around length for the rod that will handle crankbaits.

I would bring a G.Loomis MagBass 784 IMX with a Shimano Chronarch as my casting outfit. The 784 is a med.heavy 6'6" rod and will handle baits from 1/4 to 1 ounce. This range will cover anything in the Kawarthas. An alternate choice would be a MB823, which is the 7 ft. medium weight version of the same rod. The longer, softer rod isn't quite as versatile, but I use mine a lot. If money were an object, I would drop down a grade or two on the Loomis rod or switch to a Shimano Crucial in the same weight range. To save another few dollars I could also go with a Curado. My second rod will be a St.Croix Avid AS69MLXF spinning rod with a Shimano Stradic 1000. The rod is 6'9" and will handle baits from 1/8 to a 1/2 ounce. As you can see, anything that is too light for the casting rod will work on the spinning outfit. This has been my Senko and Fluke rod for about 8 years and has landed Bass of over five pounds.

What's wrong with those old Abu's? First of all they were designed for dog-leg rod handles, so they sit too high on the reel seat of a modern rod. Second the centrifugal drag is prehistoric...2 pins! Third, if you don't oil the worm gear on the level wind after every trip you will wear out the pawl in no time flat... Still I have, and use, couple. Despite their short comings they are great basic reels...But they are not to be confused with modern efforts like Revo's or Chronarch's

The power just came back on here in Apsley. It was off for twenty three hours this time. I have learned to keep a few cans of sardines on hand...grin.