Garry2Rs

Glad to hear Sheri is okay. My next door neighbour is the visiting Nurse up here. She drives thousands of km. on back roads every month. Usually she hits one deer a year. Last year she had a "Bush Bar" installed hoping to reduce the damage her truck sustains. Garry

There is a story kicking around the Internet that Tinted Fluorocarbon is "weaker" than Clear Fluorocarbon. My question is; "If a Fluorocarbon line tests 100 pounds and is pink, how is it weaker than a clear line also labeled 100 pound test?" I found this on Seaguar's Website: "Actually adding color to 100% fluorocarbon makes it weaker, as the dye pigments mix with the fluorocarbon resins." So it appears that the source of this "tinted is weaker story" is Seaguar...A company who is a direct competitor of Yo-Zuri, who is the manufacturer of a pink tinted Fluorocarbon line. Here is Yo-Zuri's version of the Tint vs. Clear issue: "Fluorocarbon is only invisible until it gets nicked or scraped up. If this happens, that section of the leader actually lights up from the sunlight. The color pink added to the line helps reduce this problem keeping an anglers invisibility intact. Ultimately the combination of fluorocarbon and the color pink will double your invisibility advantage and increase your chance for hookups!" Personally, I think all of this is just the opposing views of two advertising departments...GRIN. Obviously if there were any great advantages, either company could make tinted or clear line! If Seaguar is right, about the dye, then this might be where another opinion, that I have seen, was born. That opinion suggests that tinted 100 pound might really only 90 or 95 pound test while 100 pound clear could actually be 105 or 110 pound test. I reject this on the grounds that all lines are intentionally under-rated. (Except for special Saltwater lines where World Records are based on "pound-test line classes.") Perhaps this is because it would be sudden death, for any line company, to have their line exposed as not meeting their stated strength. Therefore if the 100 pound pink is 105 or 108 vs clear's 108 or110 so what?! I contracted for 100 pound test and got more than what I paid for either way! If we can agree that all lines are under-rated isn't this stronger - weaker issue irrelevant? Please tell me, what you think? Garry2R's

In my opinion, as a first time serious bass fisher you need: A medium or medium Lt. spinning rod with 15 or 20# braid for Senkos, flukes and drop-shots. Use a short fluoro leader on the drop-shot. A medium baitcaster for toads, square bill and medium depth cranks. A medium heavy baitcaster for everything else. For line on the baitcasters I like 40 pound braid, but if you want to use Fluoro or Mono that's up to you. I generally use either a Fluoro or mono leader, but on reaction baits, like spinnerbaits, crankbaits, toad's and frogs I don't think you really need it. For surface baits, I used 20 pound mono last year. Mono floats and the 20# is stiff enough that things like Zara Spook's don't run it over and foul the line in the hooks. This year I will use 40 pound braid behind a 25 foot knotless wind-on leader, that I have down sized from West-coast saltwater anglers, but that is not part of Bass 101. Some may disagree, but I doubt that you will need a Flippin- stick at least until you know how to pitch and flip quite well. Even then you might not need one. Flipping is best for shallow heavy cover, IN MURKY WATER, where you can stand 20 feet from the fish without spooking it. That's not the case in most of the very clear water lakes that I fish in Ontario. As a non-boater you will be fishing from the back of the boat. You are better off making long casts with a Carolina rig, than trying to find shallow fish, close to the boat, that the guy up front missed. Garry2rs

I was also thinking about having the guides on an old rod replaced with Mini guides. However a rod builder in Texas who has been doing custom made mini guide rods for a few years told me that if I simply put mini's on where the standard guides had been they wouldn't work. He said the proper placement of the mini guides is quite different from standard guides and that if you put them on an old rod, the rod will still show the "scars" from where the old guides have been removed.

Kevin at Pro reel Service in Wichita KS told me that the ARB bearings, once they have been tuned, are the best stainlees bearings you can buy. The best ceramic bearings are the Boca Orange seal. Both of these bearings coat about $14.00 each installed. You would need two. Since a new Curado comes with ARB, don't change the bearings. Box the reel up and mail it to; PROFESSIONAL REEL SERVICE 2103 N Teal Brook CT Wichita KS 67235 Ask them for their Pro Tuning. It costs less than $20 per reel. It includes cleaning and some machining to smooth the work surfaces and tuning of the bearings. This will make a bigger difference to your reel than just swapping out the bearings and it will cost less. Garry2R's.

I think that you will wind up toasting your Deep Cycle if you hook up both side of the charger to the one battery. I have three batteries and a three bank charger. One bank is clearly labeled as being for the cranking battery. Therefore, I can only assume that the charging profile is different.

I haven't lived in the Hammer for 10 years, but this is what I recall. First you have the all the Conservation areas. They are listed in the Telephone Book. Second you have the Bay...Behind Hutch's on Bay Street etc. and anywhere on the Burlington side, off of King's Road, like behind the Cemetery or around the Boat Club. Next you have Cootes Paradise in and around Dundas or Longwood Road or near the High Level Bridge... Finally you have the Canal on the Beach Strip around the Lift Bridge. Go Fish!!!

IMO Pike are very good eating. I actually prefer them to Walleye. With small Pike the easiest thing to do is slice off the triangle fillet from the vent to the tail on each side, then cut down behind the head and slice off the meat on top of the spine. This piece will have the tips of the spine bones in a straight line down the centre. These bones are easily removed by splitting this fillet in half. This method avoids the troublesome "Y" bones. On small fish you aren't really losing any meat because if you remove the "Y" bones the flanks are so thin that they crisp-up to nothing anyway. Garry2rs

There are some stun-bunnies in the warehouse at Peterborough who are sometimes allowed to answer the phone... The last time I dealt with this, Shimano has a young lady in their Peterborough office, who I believe handled all Loomis affairs. That was two years ago. I suggest that you call back and ask who looks after Loomis, and then ask to speak to that person. I have had a couple of Loomis rods replaced since they closed the Mount Hope plant. In one case I paid a small fee, and the new rod was shipped from the USA to me. In the other, I picked up the replacement rod a week or so later...No Charge. In the latter case, some bonehead in the warehouse told me that I wasn't covered by the warranty. Just be polite and ask for the person in charge...grin. Garry2rs

Hi Lew; In Apsley I am using a "stick" type internet connection. Firefox seems to work faster with that hook-up. When I first changed over, it took awhile to get used to things. I still use IE for the library's audio book selections, which don't seem to load on Firefox. There's no problem having both on your machine. Garry

oops...

Wow! Very nice looking. Everything seems to work on my screen... Good job! Garry2R's

In the boat at times, Buck's impetuosity might be a little trying. But John, you have to love his level of enthusiasm! HAHAHA.

The weather has been unstable for the last week. We have had high winds and even some rain. Temperatures dropped from the hi-70's to the mid-60's This week we are in the 80's, but again we have the wind...gusts to 30mph. Yesterday morning it was calm... I quickly headed out to "water test" my new knotless leaders and the Hollow Ace line. These leaders were in two styles. The first was a 15 pound test piece of fluorocarbon threaded straight into the space inside the hollow core braided line. Using a hollow needle, I pushed the fluorocarbon line 3 feet up inside the hollow braid. The fluoro leader is held in place by the braid clamping down on it like a "Finger Trap." To keep the raw end of the braid from unraveling, I tied a small nail knot and added a drop of glue to the joint. The second style differed only in that instead of the leader being part of the line on the reel, the leader was attached to the running line with a loop. This required that I create a loop at the end of my line and another at the end of my 12 foot leader. The loops are formed in the middle of a section of line by pulling a loop of line inside of the running line, using a reverse-latch needle. This is hard to imagine and harder for me to explain, grin, without pictures. The photo essay will have to wait for another post, so just trust me for now. The loops are smooth have 100% line strength and there are no knots. This loop-to-loop attachment would allow for quick leader changes, and is the way I think I will wind up going in the end. The joint where the two loops met would go through the guides smoothly in the backyard, but I needed to actually fish with it to know how it worked when it counted. These changing weather conditions are effecting the start of the spawn. Some fish are moving into the shallows, but each time it cools down again they disappear. There were several boats fishing the spawning flats at 8AM, when I got to the reservoir. I opted to do my testing along the deeper canals and in the pools where two canals meet. We caught three small bass on crankbaits, all males. Two on a Spro Little John in Rootbeer Chartreuse and one on a Strike King Sexy Chrome Redeye Shad rattle bait. I broke one leader trying to pull the rattle bait off of a snag. The line was over a root protruding from the bank. During the retrieve, the lure came out of the water, part way over the roots, and snagged in the wood. The line broke at the lure not at the joint and I was able to retrieve the lure. Both styles of the new leaders were a complete success. When they are wet they are even slicker than in the backyard. The 40 pound Hollow Ace is a very smooth line. It's a 16 strand braid so I guess that's not a surprise. The fluorocarbon that I am using isn't leader material. I will acquire a spool of actual leader type fluoro asap. I suspect that the real leader material will be a little stiffer and have a harder outside finish. What I have now works fine, but the real thing can't hurt especially when fishing around Zebra Mussels and all the rocks we have in my part of the Kawarthas. Garry2R's

No problem. I will be home before the First of May. I have some company coming on several weekends in May, but through the week or the weekend of May 8th look okay. Let me know ASAP Garry

I went fishing today with the new leaders shown in the original pictures. All the leaders went through the guides as if they weren't even there! I could not tell it was not a single piece of line. I also remember loop to loop from back in my fly fishing days... This is not the same animal. Perhaps you will have to try it to believe it, but you can trust me...This is the real deal!!!.

First of all you can only do these tricks with hollow core braid, so there is no 10 or 20 pound lines. So far the lightest is 40 pound test and that has only started hitting the store shelves this month. Second the smallest needles needed to make the splices, loops and insertions is called a #20, this indicates that it's inside diameter is about the size of average 20 pound test mono. it is not a production model yet, but should be soon. Let me give you a feel for this,...When I was putting 15# Seaguar .013 into the needle, it was so loose that I had to put hard crimps in the line to create enough friction to keep the line from being pulled out as it traveled inside the braid. However if I cut the fluoro with dull scissors, I had to dress the end, to remove the burr before I could get it into the needle next time. On these small lines the tolerances are tight! This is what I know about other line sizes so far: 60 pound hollow braid works best with 30 pound fluoro or mono. 80 pound works with 50 pound and 150 pound braid works with 130 mono or fluoro. Threading needles are readily available with ID's of .026, .032, .038, .0042, .047, .053 and .060, which correspond to 50, 60, 80, 100, 130, 150 and 200 pound test leader material. There are over size needles for up to 500 pound test mono. As far as the drudgery of making the loops and leaders, I guess that's why most guys use loop-to-loop and buy there leaders ready made. Saltwater tackle shops sell generic ones, but there are lots of small custom tiers who will build whatever you want...Google Wind-on Leaders. How far the lines need to over lap ... I was told 3 feet was plenty of overlap. I went four because once you're started it's easy. On a splice of two braided lines in the 130 -150 pound class, they said in a video that two feet was probably okay, but three feet in each direction was better and someone might go four feet if they were ultra conservative. It's nice to think about tiny braids with knotless leaders but if someone did make a 20# hollow braid, think how small the OD of the threading needle would be. The ID would be so small you would need the eyes of an eagle to thread it!!! If I let myself daydream... A more likely scenario would be end loops woven into 15 or 20 pound lines during production. Then the line company could sell us factory built loop-to-loop leaders with the fluoro already woven in. However that is all real science fiction for now. Of coarse if KVD won next years Classic using a prototype, they would be in Bass Pro Shop by Xmas!!! HAHAHA!

Hi JP. At this time it appears that 40# Hollow Ace is the lightest line that can be looped and threaded. There are other brands of hollow 40#, but they are too tight inside to get the smallest available needle through them. DaHo, is one of the major manufactures of the hardware. They made some special ordered extra small needles that don't appear on there website or price list and that's what I am using. With Hollow Ace I can thread a fluoro leader 4+ feet into the running line in a couple of minutes, perhaps less when I get my chops down...grin. However, although this could be done on the water, but it isn't something I picture myself doing in the boat. The salt water guys have solved all these problens for us. We should probably avoid trying to reinvent the wheel. They say to use knotless loop-to-loop connections. That way you can carry spare leaders and, when necessary, do a quick change. I understand that most people have a loop turned in their line by a bait shop or Charter service etc. They then purchase ready made leaders. When I heard loop-to-loop all I could picture was two bulky loops of line banging their way through the guides. Brett, at Westcoast Topshots sent me the white leader in my pictures. He said I needed to try them before I "cast them aside"...pun intended...grin. He was right! These loops are knotless, the line connection is so small that it flies out of the guides without you even feeling it. After trying the sample "wind-on" leader, which was a relatively heavy 60# braid with a 30# fluoro working end, I ordered additional materials and tools to make some of my own in 40 to 15 pound test and in 150 to 130 pound Musky weight. I will continue to water test the straight "topshot" leaders, but suspect that I will be fishing loop-to-loop wind-on's this Summer. As far as minimum leader weights go, Brett told me that he had put 12 pound fluoro inside his samples of 40# Hollow Ace. I don't have any 12# on hand, but even my 15 pound has to be bent into a zig-zag to create enough friction to keep it from slipping out of the threading needle. I might try lighter leaders in the future, but if fluoro is invisible underwater anyway, I am just as happy with 15 pound test for now. Garry2rs

If you don't get any info. soon, PM Curtis. He lives down that way. Garry

I saw the video too, but Blackwater wants $82.00 for 100 yards of 50# test!!! What you see here was done without the jig that was used in the video. That jig is really for applying the "serve." That's a winding that is put on the joint of heavy leaders. It's like the winding on a bowstring in the area where the arrow is nocked. Your correct in saying that the leader is held in place by the finger trap action of the braid. The knot or the serve are just insurance against anything slipping in the millisecond before the two lines draw tight...IE... when bait fishing. With tuna etc. there is also a concern that the fluoro might stretch and become smaller in diameter...I hope I catch one big enough to do that...HAHAHA! In the past only hollow lines above about 80 pound test could be used this way. Saltwater guys have done this going back to braided Dacron line. But over in fresh water, no one seemed to be interested Maybe because there were no small lines. Plus there were no small tools, because there were no small lines....grin. Power Pro is now releasing a new line called Hollow Ace in 40, 60, 80, 100, 130 and 200# test. I paid US$100.00 to obtain one of the first 500 yard spools of 40 pound test from a dealer in San Diego. That's $25.00 for 125 yards, so it's a bit more than the old stuff. The new line is 16 strands and very silky and was very easy to work with. In the pictures, it's the yellow line. The white line is hollow 60# Tuff Line, the blue/green is 60# Jerry Brown Hollow One Line. In truth I paid the price to get a 40 pound line that I could, form knotless loops in and that I could thread a leader into. This new hollow Power Pro is the first 40# that you can thread. I did get a leader in the 60# JB but it was hard work. I had to buy a few tools, a hollow needle to insert the leader and a reverse latch needle, to form the loops, they were only about $18.00 each. The rest I did with my fingers. I now have placed an order for musky weight line and 130 lb fluoro. Don't forget these lines are spliceable. When the reel get's low, or if you have a chunk left over, you can join pieces seamlessly! No more spools with pieces that are too short too use, but too good to throw away!!! HAHAHA!

What if you could fish with braided line, and attach a leader of mono or Fluoro without a knot? Would it look something like this? Supposing that you tied a nail knot on top of the splice for safety's sake, could it still be smaller than any line to line knot? Suppose that you could make a loop at the end of your line...without a knot Now if you also made a knotless leader, that also had a loop on the rod end, could you join them together loop-to-loop for quick changes out on the water? What if under tension the connection almost disappeared? What if after a break-off etc. your line could have a new section spliced on? Now what if all of these these connections were at 100% line strength? Is this just science-fiction or could it really be the next "Big Thing"

Although no one could ever accuse me of being mute, this is will be my Swansong. My last few fishing/tackle posts have had over 150 hits each, but no reply's Perhaps instead of a fishing reports or product reviews I should have asked a question... Something mundane, like "What's the best line"... or ..."What's length rod should I use?" Maybe a wild opinion like "I think my CTC rods are just as good as G.Loomis anyday!!!" would have stimulated the masses. I have decided that this will be my last post to OFC and so in an attempt to leave you with something of value, I will offer you one final input, that I hope will be of interest. In my constant search and research of fishing topics, I found a man in Wichita Kansas who does reels repairs, cleaning and tuning. The comments I saw on US boards were all quite positive, so I contacted him and ultimately sent him six bait caster's to tune for me. What can I tell you? After he worked on my Calcutta's, Chronarch's, and Ardent 1000's, which are among the best reels on the market, they are even better than new. His prices are low, less than $20 per reel, and his work is outstanding. Why should you care? Well the simple facts are these: The main difference between a $180 reel like a Curado and a $300 model like a Chronarch is in the smoothness attained by the polishing of the working surfaces. This is hand work, so you will pay dearly for it. As part of his Pro-tune, Kevin smooths all of these working surfaces. The net result is that you gain yards on your casts and your anti-backlash controls work better than ever before. Check out: www.proreelservice.com Good Luck and Goodbye. Garry2R's [email protected] Fishing is still my favorite form of loafing.

It was 59 degrees this morning at 9AM. I had already hooked up the boat and loaded Buck into the truck when my neighbour strolled over with his fishing rods... "Good Timing" he observed. "Excellent timing!" I agreed. The back half of our reservoir has been closed for the last three months, as a bird sanctuary. We were anxious to give this area a try now that it has reopened. A local guy I know from Yuma Bass Masters, told me that dark red is a hot colour in the spring because it resembles the local Crayfish. I have been doing well on my Spro Little John, Last week I added a semi-transparent Red one to my collection. I caught a fish on it my last time out, so I started with it again this morning. The water temperature was 60 degrees and the air was 65 at ten o'clock. Around eleven, it was up to 70 degrees, and there was a solid bump on the line. We were in a canal about fifty feet wide with palm, bamboo, cattails and reeds along both edges. The boat was near the middle so that we could each work a bank. The sky was cloudless and the sun was very bright...the water had a heavy stain, but it wasn't deep. We suspected the bass would be under the heavy overhanging. I though this guy would weigh more, but the scale said he was only three pounds. He must have liked that red bait, because it was completely inside his mouth! At lunch time it was 75...We had switched baits, and I caught one more little one on the Chartreuse Little John. As two o'clock approached the sun was beating down and the slight breeze we had in the morning was gone. It was now 77 degrees and still rising. We were starting to feel a little roasted, so we called it a day. Garry2R's-- Fishing is my favorite form of loafing.

Cabela's told me tonight that they charge $14.95 to ship that reel anywhere inside the USA. To ship to Canada they charge $15.95. Mike: The Catalyst reel doesn't have a flippin' switch, but if you want the one with the switch, I have a spare Quantum Accurist that I don't think has ever been used.