Garry2Rs

In the past I've stated that I am a long time Shimano fan. Both because of their service and the fact they have a Canadian office, just down the road in Peterborough. However, I do own several Quantum's baitcaster's. With their external controls, beginners seem find them quite easy to use. This morning Cabela's sent out a new e-mail flier. They are advertising a $50.00 savings on the Quantum Catalyst casting reel. (reg.$149.99 for $99.99US.) This is a nice savings, but the purchaser also qualifies for a KVD, Strike King, six lure bonus pack from Quantum. The bonus pack is a $29.95US value for $7.95 in shipping and handling. According to the coupon this offer is valid in both the USA and Canada. If I were buying my first baitcaster, this would be a tempting offer. Garry2Rs

As the others said, that's a good all around outfit. You might want to think about adding a M or MH baitcaster next. The level-wind reel will handle heavier line better, when you head out for those Pike. It will also be nicer for any bass-baits that are heavier than 3/8 of an ounce. If you ever go fish up toward Stoney Lake in the Kawarthas PM me and I will let you try baitcasting with one of my outfits. Garry2R's

I used the Courtland stuff about 6 or 7 years ago... It was okay, but I felt it was more for fly fishers than plug casters. As I recall, I wasn't really able to tie a proper knot. I did sort of a haywire-twist, then "set" it by heating it with a match.

For musky baits, reel size matters but so does gear ratio. I once made the mistake of taking a Shimano Chronarch to the Moon River for Musky. I had two St.Croix's with Calcutta's but thought it might make a good Bucktail reel on a heavy bass rod. The 6.3 to 1 gears wore my wrist out! These double bladed Cowgirls etc. also block a lot of water even 4 to 1 might be good with them. Abu C3, C4 or C5 are all good reels at a low price. They need to be oiled often as the worm gear and pawl on the level wind tend to wear out fast if you don't do the routine maintenance. 7000's are okay, but they are never sold in saltwater stores. That tells me that despite their size, they aren't really built for heavy duty. For cost efficiency, since you already have the Revo, I would again suggest sending it to Professional Reel Service. Get the spool bearings upgraded $28.00US and have it super-tuned $14.00US. The reel will then be much better than any Revo or Corado etc. and the cost will be under $50.00CDN.

No sign of spawners in the shallows yet, but the 3.3 we caught had a very big belly. All winter we have caught what I assume are skinny males. This was the first obvious female and she was packed with eggs. Another couple of weeks should see some "bed" action. Glad you like to hear about the soft water fishing... X2 about the end of June. The season seems so short in Ontario... G2r's

Hi All; An old work buddy, Larry is down for a month and we are doing some fishing as well as hitting Mexico for cheap Senorita's drugs and booze...Well cheap booze anyway...HAHAHA. The temperature for the last week has been been stuck at a boring 70F. Tuesday it was sunny so we crossed the border at San Luis. Yesterday , it was supposed to rain but all it did was get cloudy. I guess the fish are starting the pre-spawn because we caught two small bass on a Lil' John crankbait. Buck assisted on one...grin. Today it was clear and sunny. We got back on the water for another 3 hours and Lil' John caught two more fish. One was a 3.3 lb. The other was small. Still... I guess it's better than sitting on a block of ice...grin. See you in May. Garry2R's

You might want to send your Revo to Professional Reel Service in Wichita Kansas. www.proreelservice.com For about $20.00 they will clear lube and Pro-tune your old reel so that it casts like a $300.00 model. For an extra 25.00 they will also install the best bearings that money can buy.

It the days when the crank handle was always in gear, the handle would spin backward at high speed, during the cast. This was a very good reason to put it on the right side of the frame out of the way of body and sleeves etc. Casting right, switching hands and reeling right is easy and feels quite natural after a few minutes. Ask anyone who does it and they will tell you that they generally change hands while the bait is still in the air. Now it's none of my business if someone wants to become a Refty. However, it's doubtful that they will reach their full potential bait casting with a wrong sided reel. The reason is simply the design of the reel. It's too hard to use the proper grip and get the proper casting stroke. Refties teach themselves to cast with the reel on top of the rod and never get the power that could be generated with a better grip. If you're curious about what I'm talking about, look up bait casting on line, or get a book from the Library. It will show you proper form and the correct grip etc. None of this means that a Refty won't have an enjoyable day on the water, so let them do it their own way.

Eight and ten pound braid is so fine I honestly question the value of up sizing to an 8 pound Fluoro leader. I used green or red 10#PP for many years in the North Kawarthas where the were the water is super clear, with no leader. I used it to Wacky worm so it's not like the Bass weren't getting a good look at the line. Honeywell Spectra and the Dutch equivalent Dyneema, are the fibers used for braided line. It will not hold dye. That is why all braids, to this point, are either painted or waxed to produce coloured lines. Eazy: Berkley makes two Firelines. The original is fused, the new one is an eight strand braid. Both are still on the market.

In a recent article an expert said that scent or flavor etc, didn't effect hits, but they did encourage fish to hang onto the bait.

That was the Pike opener last May. You know Spring time in Ontario. When you can peal-off down to a down filled ski Jacket...Hahaha. I do have a vest on...

Thanks guys, I was hoping to give you a laugh. Fear not! Spring will come again and we will all get out on soft water. Albert: Good One! I can picture that...HAHAHA. Fang: My boat is a late 80's 350V Ranger. It's old but it's a great ride. I extended the decks and created storage lockers under them a couple of years ago.

As far as brands are concerned, I like the new Fireline. I have had good luck with Powerpro and Tuf Line XP They are all wound under tention and have a slick finish. All braids are super limp after the finish wears off. The finish used to generally just be wax, but now some brands advertise teflon coatings etc. I didn't like Spiderwire Ultracast Invisi-braid. It has a very loose weave and hooks snagged in it easily. I did use Spiderwire Stealth, and liked it fine. I also like the old Fireline Fused, it starts looks crappy after the finish washes off, but it's still strong and still works fine even when it starts to de-laminate. Your question about leaders is unclear. IMO 10 to 20 pound braid works best on bass size spinning reels and 30 to 50 on casting reels I spool my musky reels with 80 pound braid. In theory, you could tie any weight leader to any weight braid if you can tie a Uni to Uni knot.

Buck and I are still in Arizona. January is the worst month of the winter. In the last week we have had two days of rain, one with high winds. As you can see in the following photos it has been overcast and quite cool... We are trying to ignore the bad weather and make the best of it, until Spring arrives in a couple of weeks. Garry2rs

I tie bucktails and make a few spinnerbaits

A non-fishing friend recently asked me, "What motivates you to waste time and money on fishing, when you don't even keep the fish you catch?" I mumbled something about communing with nature, the challenge, relaxation and recreation, but knew that I was talking to the fishing equivalent of a Troglodyte... This got me thinking about the Evolution of Fishermen (or Fisher-persons) and the dangers that lurk on the Dark Side. I suppose most people start with a rod and some worms, perhaps at a family outing or vacation. Sometimes you catch fish and sometimes you just go wading...In the worst case you are "taken fishing" and made to sit still and be quiet...Boring. As a youth, my friends and I rode bicycles to this Creek or that Pond...But, this ended when as teens we forget all about fishing, and everything else when we discovered Girls! Having survived the hormone explosion, some went back to fishing and some didn't. Today most of those friends still own a fishing rod, but many only own that one, old first rod that they bought or where given. These folks might still buy a license, to wet a line while on their summer holiday, but seldom if ever, actually go fishing. Others, came back to fishing as a hobby. By now we were working and raising families and a fishing trip meant taking time away from the family, so there wasn't much evolutionary progress. Still, over time most folks become proficient with the basic tools and how to find fish on there home waters. Some begin picking up more advanced concepts and techniques. At the same point most of us learned a little about fish habits and habitat. But for many that's where evolution stopped. A few fishermen take the next step. Curiosity, or competitiveness might be the trigger, but something in their nature drives them to refine things a little further. This next step, is to search for outside knowledge. The philosopher George Santayana once remarked "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." In my time, evolving fishermen could be found hanging around the .799 aisle in the Public Library, and swapping dog eared copies of In-Fisherman magazine with other victims. Today, this generation might be found sitting stupefied, in front of computer monitors or swapping Internet addresses to fishing web-sites. Regardless of the source, I think our continued evolution requires influential, outside stimulus. A strange fact is that as most fishermen evolve, the original goal of catching fish, becomes less important. The focus shifts more to how they caught them. In fact the fish are often thrown back to justify continued fishing! The evolving angler is constantly learning new techniques and nuances on old ones. Other than in competition, days on the water are often spent fishing for fishing's sake. The actual fish simply providing an indicator as to whether or not the new technique has been mastered. And now a word about the Dark Side... Knowledge and the pursuit of knowledge is wonderful, but be warned! There is a dark side to the " Fishing Sub-Culture." The truth is there is a slippery slope attached to fishing knowledge. Various forms of insanity often seize the unwary. Some fishermen become dogmatic and can be heard ranting about the "purity" of their favourite technique verses all others. Others become so monomaniacal that they disrespect anyone who isn't also fishing for their personal Holy Grail. In advanced stages these maladies include a snobbery toward others who use their technique or seek their desired species, but are deemed to be unworthy, for some obscure reason. At the height of their madness many will speak only in tongues, using argot and and idiom that only the initiated can understand. Fishing Evolutionary Disease is ramped within the Fishing Sub-Culture and has other manifestations, especially amongst aquatically challenged individuals who don't get out fishing often enough. Many of these folks become hopeless tackle junkies. In less severe cases perhaps fondling the hardware releases some of the anxiety caused by water depredation. In extreme cases the hardware might completely replace fishing! These poor souls have slid around a corner into a place where they aren't so much fishermen as they are collectors of fishing memorabilia! On the street, all of these gear oriented degenerates would be known as a "Lure W hore." I hope this brief sketch will help you gauge your own state of evolution and serve as a warning of the potential dangers. Forewarned is after all Forearmed!. Hahaha. Garry2R's Fishing is my favorite form of loafing.

You have mail...

Congrats on your new ride Albert!

Sounds like you found some good bargains. If you stop by for some Crappie fishing at the end of April, we can spend a couple of minutes dialing that new Calcutta in. If you want to sell your silver Calcutta I will buy it from you...

Personally, for some reason I am not comfortable cranking right with a spinning reel! I always convert my fly reels to left hand crank...it just seems logical and easier that way. I own both left and right handed baitcasters, but find the right hand reels more convenient. I have said this before, but this is the season for rerun's so why not repeat it? Back in the olden days, there was no free spool option on most baitcast reels. This meant that the handle was always in gear and spun backwards as the line went out. This is the reason that level wind reels for right hand casters always cranked with the right hand. With the crank on the right, it was safely away from the body during the cast. If you also twisted your wrist slightly to the left, and gripped the rod handle the way you would grip a tennis racket, you gained more flex in the wrist, and thus more power. This also changed the plane of the reel handle from horizontal to an angle of about 45 degrees up and away. A location where it was even less likely to snag anything. Is this still a concern? For maximum distance perhaps, for short casting, not so much... I see many pro's using left hand reels to flip and pitch. Since none of the backward wrist flex issues come into play with these casts it makes sense, if you're comfortable doing it.

Great stuff! You are living the dream.

I am sure that most of us will make some quiet New Years resolutions about learning new baits or techniques next season. Mine will involve large swimbaits, of the type most often used for monster Bass in California...BBZ-1 etc. What kind of baits or techniques will you be trying to learn over the next 12 months? Garry2R's

Although we were atheists, my wife loved the idea of Christmas. The giving of gifts, reconnecting with old friends and distant family members...Plus and the whole Spirit of Good Will that one feels at this time of year. The month of December was a big deal at my house. We had huge storage boxes of linens, pictures, wall hangings, special rugs and mats, table and kitchen decorations and nick-knacks that were all winter and Santa Claus related, but nothing religious. All the regular decorations came down at the beginning of December and the house was redecorated for the holiday season. Even after the kids were grown-up and gone, we still redecorated for the Holidays. When I lost my wife, almost ten years ago, I stopped celebrating. Since she's been gone, I haven't sent a card or put up a tree. When my kids were young, we attended Xmas pageants and concerts etc. My two favourite songs of the season are Bing Crosby's White Christmas and Elvis' Blue Christmas. I have no favourite Xmas TV show unless I can count A Christmas Carol ( Alastair Sim, 1951 ) TV was where I saw it every year. That was back in the days before VCR and DVD...also before colour...As a movie, as in something we first saw in a theater , my favourite is Jean Shepherd's A Christmas Story. Everything about it reminds me of being a kid in the 50's.

We have been off the water for about two weeks while entertaining my daughter, who came for a quick pre-Xmas visit. This morning I hooked-up with Kelly, my neighbour, for a day of fishing. It was cool, windy and bright when we hit the water, but a few clouds blew in later in the day. Kelly was throwing a Live Target Bluegill crankbait and caught a nice Bass of 2+ pounds. I was tossing a 78 series Lucky Craft Pointer, in Ayu pattern, which I used as a jerkbait. Buck, acting as a neutral observer, inspected both fish and decided mine was a little bigger. The water was in the low 50's. The air temperature reached 70 by mid-afternoon. Both fish were quite skinny. In another month the Bass should start fattening up as the more active pre-spawn period begins. In the mean time, I guess we will just have to put up with the slow bite and winter weather...HAHAHA. Garry2R's

Set-up a Photo Bucket account. Up load your pictures. Copy IMG code for the photo you want to post. Paste the code into the message at the place you want the picture to appear. You might want to put an empty line above and below the picture so that no text is wrapped.