Crankbait hooks
Straight out of the box most of the hooks that come stock on crankbait’s leave something to be desired. I’ve tried sharpening my hooks in the past and I’ve just never been good at it. Maybe I need to have a sit down with a friend who is experienced with sharpening hooks and have him school me because I know there have been times that I’ve been on the water and dulled a hook on a rock or tree and didnt have a replacement hook with me and it would have been nice if I could have just touched up the hook a little.
Several companies make quality replacement hook, from my personal experience, so this is just my opinion, while Gamakatsu hooks used to be one of the very best, I feel that over the years their quality control has gone down some. I have found that one pack will be great while the next pack, lets just say, leaves something to be desired.
In my opinion the Daiichi Death Trap Trebles are some of the finest made, yes they are a sponsor of but after using them I can honestly say that I would not hesitate to pay full price for them, in my opinion, they are that good! As to which size hook to use just match up the size of the hook that came originally on the lure. Some people like to go either smaller or bigger but I believe the lure companies used a specific size after tons of research to be sure the lure runs true and it achieves the best action and the hooks don’t get tangled with each other.
After replacing the hooks, and me being me, I can’t leave well enough alone and have to make what I consider are improvements. Years back I remember buying an Excalibur Fat Free 
Shad crankbait that had what was called a Rotating Treble Hook which according to the company featured a 6-degree counter rotating shaft in each hook bend. All this meant was that the points of the hooks shafts are slightly bent so the points are not lined up with the shaft. According to the company “This gives them a counter rotating angle in each hook bend, each of the 2 free points of the rotating treble hook travels counter clockwise once contact is made. This movement of the hook points results in at least one other point coming into contact with the fish! This unique treble hook can increase your hook ups by 30%!” From my personal experiences, this little modification has helped me hook and land more crankbait bass. The biggest down side that I have found to modifying the hooks in this manner is they seem to grab everything, sticks, trees, rocks, etc. To perform this modification is very simple. All I do is use a pair of pliers, grab the hook close to the bend and bend them slightly so the point is not in line with the shaft.
I have been intrigued by the new Basstar SpinTech Treble hooks with the built in “Swivel” but have yet to give them a try. In my opinion the ideal of a treble hook that spins freely should mean less bass lost because as the fish throws his head back and forth he will not be able to use the hook as leverage against the lure to shake the hook because the hook spins instead of holding still.
Try changing out or just sharpening and modifying your stock hooks and I can pretty much promise that you will land more fish.
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon.
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
Upgrading the Drag and Servicing an Abu Revo
Today I thought I would explain how to upgrade the drag on a Abu Revo Skeet and seeing how I’ll be tearing it down I figured I might as well service it at the same time.
I’m going to try something a little different, this post will be a video post, hopefully this will work. By the way, just a warning, the video is almost 30 minutes long so it might take a few minutes to load up so please be patient. Also, if you double click the video you can view it in full screen mode.
Disclaimer: Any servicing you do to your reel you do so at your own risk and I will not be held responsible for any damage caused.
One trick I thought of after making the video is after you remove the cover take a few pictures of the internals with your digital camera. That way, in the event that parts fall out you can compare your pictures with the schematic and you should be good to go.
Well, what did you think?
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
Sunglasses, which ones are right for me?
That’s a question that I’m sure each and everyone of has asked more than once. With all the choices it can all be very confusing so I will attempt to break it down some, at least from my personal experiences.
Before I go any further let me say that in my opinion, there is no one perfect pair for everyone. We all have different facial features and different needs so you need to find ones that fit your face as well as your application and of course if they don’t make you look like a dork, that’s another plus, HA!
From my personal experiences first and foremost, you must try them on in person. I live in a small town with very limited choices so it made it pretty difficult to find the right pair for me. Lets just say that the BassnMan has a larger than average melon. I also don’t have much of a nose bridge so it is very difficult to find a pair that I am happy with.
I needed ones that were wider than average as well as having larger lenses and they had to have longer nose pieces so the lenses would be further off of my face so they didn’t ride on my cheeks.
I have more than once ordered them pairs thinking they would fit my face right but was sadly mistaken when they arrived. Yes, I was able to return them but it was kind of a pain in the back side.
OK, now onto the actual post.
Brands: Lets see, you’ve got Oakley, Ray Ban, Maui Jim, Solar Bast, Costa Del Mar, Wiley-X and countless more brands, both inexpensive as well as expensive. Speaking from personal experience, buy the best you can afford, you won’t regret it. I know the more expensive ones tend to have better quality optics which are better for your eyes and are usually offer prescription lenses so that’s a plus for people that need them. You can also purchase the ones that just go over your prescription glasses like the Cocoon brand.
Frames, Metal or Plastic: Back in the day metal frames were heavier that plastic ones. Now days the metal is considerably lighter so weight is no longer an issue. One thing to note is that during the summer metal frames tend to get hot quick and tend to hold heat longer, that’s why I prefer the plastic frames.
Lens: There is more than one aspect to consider concerning lenses so I’ll try and break down the basics.
Glass vs polycarbonate. For clarity it’s difficult to beat glass lenses and if I could afford 2 pairs of quality shades then I would own one of each pair. The glass ones for driving and casual wear and poly carbonate for fishing. I personally went with the Poly Carbonate ones. The main reason I made this choice is because more than once I have been hung up on some sort of structure, a shallow rock or tree limb and while attempting to free my jig, it abruptly came free and flying back at me like a bullet. Two times I have been hit right on the lens. If I had glass lenses chances are they would have shattered from the impact.
Polarized or not: For fishermen this question is a no-brainer, Get Polarized, I can promise you that you won’t regret it. Their ability to cut through the glare and being able to see through the water better makes them a valuable asset. About the only down side I have experiences is when at the gas pump. I noticed on some gas pumps you cant see the numbers when wearing polarized shades.
Lens colors: Here again there are several hues to choose from. I’m just going to go over the basic 3 color even though there are others to choose from.
First we have gray or smoke. Gray lenses usually come in light or dark and will reduce the light intensity without changing the color of objects. Therefore they will provide the most natural color vision. Statistics show that gray is far and away the most popular color lens in America. Gray lenses are best for bright clear days.
Next we have brown lenses. They enhance contrast by blocking more of the blue light than gray lenses do. Brown lenses tend to provide a warmer appearance to all colors and have been known to make greens look greener. These work well in medium to bright light and are considered good all around lenses.
Finally I’ll discuss amber which block almost all blue light and provide superior contrast. Remember the Blue Blocker sunglasses? They have amber lenses as do shooter’s sunglasses. While amber does enhance contrast, they tend to distort colors and may not be the right choice for activities that require accurate color recognition. They work well in flat to medium light as well as shallow water applications.
I have a pair of goggles that have an amber lens. I especially like them when I’m going across the water at high speeds in low light conditions because they make objects, tree stumps and rocks, really stand out.
From the sounds of things a person actually needs several different pairs of sunglasses. For me, I went with a pair that has interchangeable lenses so I’m able to change out different lenses as conditions dictate. Purchasing extra lenses is considerably more cost effective than buying the entire setup.
Hopefully I didn’t confuse you even more and gave you some things to consider. To summarize, shop around, try them on, consider your specific application and buy the best you can afford.
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
Revo, Low Profile Baitcasters:
Ever since I can remember I have been a Round Abu Garcia Reel man, I loved the tried and true design of the reels. Now don’t take that statement wrong. I still love and use my round Abu reels, especially my Abu Morrum’s but this is not about them, its about the new Abu Revo low profile baitcasters.
Not to long back, I believe it was around 2006 Abu Garcia introduced its new line of low profile baitcast reels. There is the Revo S, Revo SX, Revo STX, Revo Winch, Revo Skeet, Revo Premier, Revo Inshore and Revo Toro.
I personally think that Revo reels are kind of cool looking, and the specifications on them are pretty impressive as well. They all come with the following, an oversized main drive gear and X-CrafticTM aluminum alloy frame that provides corrosion resistance, which Abu says will stand up to salt water use. High Precision Corrosion Resistant ball bearings for smooth casting and retrieving and world renowned Carbon MatrixTM drag system which they claim will generates up to 24 lbs. of drag, precision machined DuragearTM brass gears for torque, and a six-pin centrifugal braking system. The STX series also adds a Linear Magnetic BrakeTM system. Most Revo models are available in either right or left hand retrieve depending on your needs. The High Precision Corrosion Resistant Stainless Steel ball bearings range from 6 in the Premier series up to 11 in several other series.
Another thing I love about the Revo reels is the way Abu stayed with its simplistic design making it easy to service yourself. Basic cleaning oiling and greasing is very straight forward if your even just slightly mechanically inclined. If you want to upgrade the ball bearings to say an ABEC 5 if your not comfortable doing it yourself you might want to consider having it professionally done.
I can only write a review on the Revo series reels that I currently own. As of the writing of this I have the STX, Skeet, Winch and Inshore versions, all of which I love. They all cast effortlessly, are smooth as silk in their cast ability as well as retrieve. The STX series reel which is silver and its close cousin the Skeet version, which is basically an STX in Yellow and Black with a few slight differences are a couple of my favorites. One very noticeable aspect of these reels is the ported gold spool which is kinda cool looking in my opinion. They added an oversized handle as well. Abu basically kept the same design of the tension knob and star drag, they just upgraded them somewhat. The STX is available in two different gear ratios, 6.4:1 and 7.1:1 whereas the Skeet is only available in a 6.4:1 ratio.
The Revo Winch has 11 ball bearings and is geared lower than other Revos, 5.4:1 which Abu says is designed for retrieving deep diving crankbaits as well as pulling big fish out of heavy cover. I like to flip jigs and Senkos with mine as well as throw crankbaits or slow roll spinnerbaits
Next is my In Shore version, it comes with 7 ball bearings and a 6.4:1 gear ratio and additional power handle for use in salt water applications. It also holds more line than the other Revos, I’m guessing this is for the times when you need more line because you hook into a big hard fighting fish that will pull the 24 pounds of drag pressure without much trouble. I like to use mine primarily when I go striped bass fishing and I’m doing the bait and wait thing with anchovies or throwing Hawg Raiser jigs at them.
The only negative things I have noticed about them is number 1, Abu seems to not oil and grease them very well when you buy them new, this is not really a big deal seeing how all you need to do is un-screw one thumb screw to remove the side cover and add some oil to the bearings and grease to the gears, which only takes a few minutes. Number 2 is the fact that they are no longer made in Sweden. While I have not personally noticed that they are an inferior product now that they are made in Korea instead of Sweden, I know that the older Swedish made Abu’s last forever, only time will tell with the Revos but I can say that I use mine a lot and they have shown no sigh of being inferior.
As I mentioned earlier I do like my Revo reels and I would recommend them to anyone looking to get a nice low profile reel.
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
Fishing Reels, more in-depth, Part 2:
Ok, let’s see where did I leave off?? Oh, that’s right, I talked about the spin cast and spinning reels now I’ll talk about the bait casting variety of fishing reels.
Bait casting reels. There are a few different type’s of reels that fall into the realm of bait casting reels. There are the ones with level winds, which I feel are much better than the ones without a level wind, I’ll explain more later. You also have the 2 speed type, which are primarily in salt water applications, I wont go into too much detail but the 2 speed reels have a high speed setting for a fast retrieve and a lower gear ratio for hauling in that big ole fish.
To spool up a bait casting reel is very simple. You don’t need any specialized equipment, as a matter of fact a regular ball point pen works fine. Take your pen, poke it through the middle of the spool, attach the line to your reel, place the pen between your toes with the spool in the middle and reel the line onto the reel with the line exiting off the top of the spool, so the spool is actually rolling towards you. When the line is within about ½ to ¼ of an inch from the top its full. Another tip, follow the manufactures suggestions.
One tip with spooling up any reel was handed down to me by my father. While he loved to fish we were by no means rich and even though dad didn’t have the luxury of having a sponsor he would only purchase quality brand line. To save money we would leave some backing on the spool when we replaced line. All this means is when replacing line just remove about half the old line and fill it up with new line. Think about it for a second, no matter how long of a cast you make, the line half way down the spool will not ever see the water so its basically wasted.
When your spooling up is one of the times when having the level wind makes it really nice but in my opinion when your fighting a fish is the time your most thankful for that level wind because you don’t have to concentrate on moving the line back and forth with your finger so it lays on the spool evenly instead of bunching up on one side or the other. As far as I know all of today’s bait casting reels designed for bass fishing do have the built in level wind.
Bait casting reels have come along ways, even since I started using them. The basic ideal of them is a spool that spins on an axis with sealed ball bearings located at least on both sides of the axis. Back in the old days they had bushings instead of bearings, heavier parts and older technology so the reels were not nearly as light and smooth as today’s high tech reels.
One thing I always tell people who want to get one of these reels is to be sure to get a quality one because the cheaper ones are allot more difficult to learn with because they just are not as well built as the cheaper ones. I have more than once had people tell me that bait casters suck and then I’ll let them try one of mine and then they are amazed at the difference between the 2. Its then that they realize quality does make a difference.
Some people think that a spinning reel can out cast a bait casting reel. Maybe this was true back in the older days but it is no longer the case. Today’s reels are capable of casting very light lures along distance. Bait casting reels are however a little more difficult to master but with the advancement of technology of today’s reels it’s a whole lot easier than it used to be however, even with all the updates the term backlash is still a common term with bait casting reels, especially when you try casting into the wind. You must train your thumb to know when to apply pressure onto the spool to slow it down or even stop it when need be.
The technique to cast a bait casting reel is basically the same way as with any other rig. You push and hold the button, bring the rod back over your shoulder and swing forward. Just like other rigs you swing your arm forward and release the line at about the 2:00 position. Now comes the tricky part.
You attempt to make a 50 yard cast however something happens that makes the cast fall considerably short of your intended distance, wind, you released the line to late, whatever. The spool is spinning like mad and you must stop it from continuing to spin or you get what’s called a back lash, or in fishermen’s terms, a professional over run. This is when the spool keeps spinning but the line is no longer going out the end of your rod tip. Trust me, this is not a good thing. You look down at your reel and it’s a mess. This mess is often referred to as a birds nest. Yes, it tends to resemble a birds nest.
When you get one of these you basically have just a few options. If its not all that bad you might be able to pick it out. This can be quite a pain and depending on if the line came to an abrupt halt you might have damaged the line and even though it might appear the line is Ok, by the way, what I’m about to say is from personal experience, you can make a cast, hook a nice fish and the line breaks. Of course this seems to happen most when your in a tournament and that fish that just broke your line with your favorite Lucky Craft crank bait in his lip would have won you the tournament. That is when you wished you had taken the other option to dealing with the bird nest.
The other option I’m talking about is if you have a few rods available to place it into the rod locker, wait until you get home and replace the line then or if you don’t have an arsenal of rigs at your disposal then replace the line right away. Yes, it is can get a little expensive but trust me when I say that the price is more than worth the frustration of breaking a fish off, especially if it’s the fish of a lifetime.
There are a few other ways of using bait casting reels, these are a little more specialized ways of utilizing your reels. Flipping, pitching are 2 techniques that come to mind. Both of these techniques are similar yet different. In flipping you using a set amount of line and fishing pretty close to your targeted spot. Basically you peel off all the line you need, click your reel to engage the spool, and flip your offering into the spot underhanded with a low trajectory so it enters the water quietly.
Pitching on the other hand you do with the line free spooling so you can toss it a little further than flipping but not a real far distance like a normal cast. This is still considered a stealthy technique because it is executed underhanded with a low trajectory just like flipping. In order to utilize this style of fishing you need to have a decent quality reel or you will be picking out back lash’s all day long. Another trick to pitching is to peel off about 20-30 feet of line, maybe a little more depending on the distance you will be pitching, and place a piece of tape on your line. This will only allow so much line to come off the spool therefore if you do get a backlash you will only have to cut off the pre-determined amount of line.
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
Fishing Reels, more in-depth, Part 1:
Spin Cast reels, Spinning reels, Bait Casting reels, Level Wind reels, AHHHHH! It can all be so confusing for some people. Why so many choices? Which one is right for me? I went over the basics of reels in another post now its time to dig a little deeper.
Seeing how I’ll be going considerably more in-depth into reels I’m going to break this up into 2 different posts. I’ll start out talking about the good old Spin Cast Reels. Chances are this is the type of reel a lot of us first started fishing with. The spin cast reels are very simplistic in design thereby making them very easy to use. Basically you push and hold the push button, bring your arm back, swing it forward, release the button when the rod tip is at about the 2:00 position and out goes the line. That is one of the big reasons kids love spin cast reels, they can be cast a long distance, which kids really enjoy and at the same time they are very easy to use
I know my first reel was a Zebco 202, which I already mentioned. This reel is ok if your doing basic stream type trout fishing or sunfish but it will not stand up to the rigors of big trout or bass fishing but the bottom line is that it was not designed for that. In my opinion, it’s just a great starter reel. There are other spin cast reels that are of a higher quality that will stand up to any fishing situations. Once again, in my opinion the Zebco 33 falls into that category.
Now let’s move onto the spinning reel. Also known as open faced reels because unlike the spin cast reels the spool and line is exposed. With a little practice these reels are quite easy to master and like the spin cast reels you can cast light stuff, lures, baits etc., a long ways. Basically the only difference in casting between these reels and the spin cast reel is your finger. You grab and hold the line with your index finger, flip open the bail, the little metal hoop that holds the line and cast the same way as describer above releasing the line at right about the 2:00 position.
I remember quite a few years back when dad and I went fishing on San Carlos Reservoir, located on the San Carlos Indian Reservation in Arizona. I watched the locals catching fish with line wrapped around a tin can. They would make side armed casts and were able to cast quite the distance and then fight the fish by winding the line back onto the can. Me of course forever seeking knowledge, I questioned him because I was very curious. He explained that he could not afford the fancy rod and reel setup I had but he made due with what he had. It was then that I discovered that the Spinning reel design is very similar in design to the basic rig he was using. It also made me realize that one does not need the latest and greatest tackle to be a good fisherman, but it sure is nice and makes fighting fish much easier when you at the very least have a rod to assist in fighting the fish.
Spinning reels are available in a wide variety of sizes and actions. Everything from ultra light models designed for 2-4 pound test line to extra large models that are made for deep sea fishing with heavy line. I prefer to use a spinning reel when trout fishing, finesse bass fishing with small baits and light lines. A couple techniques that fall into this catagory are split shotting and drop shotting, which I discussed in other posts. Spinning reels are also an excellent choice when the crappie bite is on. While I primarily fish with a bait casting reel I do have a few spinning reels in my arsenal.
Whew, I hope I didn’t bore you too much and you actually gained some knowledge concerning the reels I talked about. Be sure to check back soon when I’ll discuss the bait casting type reels.
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
Rods and Reels 101:
Rods and reels, can a person have too many?
I don’t think so but then again I’m not your normal person. I probably think about fishing at least 100 times a day, even while at my normal 9-5 I constantly think about ways to compare work subjects with fishing ones.
In this post I’ll talk about the basics of rods and reels, their general uses and applications. I’ll start out with the reels then move onto the rods.
Reels
Spinning Reels, vary in size from the TinyLite up to the Big Saltwater Saltiga BlastReel. Hold the line, open the bail, as your casting let loose of the line.
These are easy reels to master and are widely used in a variety of applications. They work very well any time a light line presentation is needed, be it for trout fishing as well as split shotting for bass the spinning reel is the go to reel for these applications.
Baitcasters are designed for small light weight finesse type lures to the big ocean reels. These are the most difficult to master.
Professional Over run, aka backlash, this is when the spool continues to spin but your lure stops and it causes a big Birds Nest in your line that can be a real bear to try and pick out. Most of the time if you do manage to pick it out because the line had been kinked it will weaken the line.
A Baitcast Reel is generally used for heavier type lures or baits but with technology today they make them where you can cast ultra light lures into the wind with out any backlash, you will however pay a premium price for these reels.
BaitCasters are used mostly for bass fishing as well as inshore applications. If your deep sea fishing I would recommend getting a level wind reel, which is similar in looks to a baitcaster.
Spincast Reels are basically trouble free. With a spincast you push and hold the button, swing your arm and release the button, just don’t release the rod!
These reels are probably the easiest ones for kids just learning to fish to use. Chances are that a lot of you started out with this type of reel.
I remember when I was a kid the little black Zebco 202 was my first reel. Actually my first 2 reels were the 202’s followed quickly by the Zebco 33. Let me explain.
When I first got the 202 I went fishing at a pond in a city park, Randolph Park in Tucson Arizona to be exact. In this pond they had some bass and big ones at that.
I remember catching several nice bass one that weighed over 6 pounds. The 6 pound bass just gutted my drag gears, they were plastic.
Anyhow, I returned the reel to Kmart and they gave me another one just like it. The following weekend the exact same thing happened with a bass that weighed over 7 pounds.
When I returned that one they gave me a refund and I moved up to the Zebco 33.This reel is a great reel that will last many years with just minor service. I know mine served me well for quite a few years.
If you take kids fishing and give them a spincast reel to use chances are that you will be able to fish as well. The kids will enjoy fishing because like I said, these reels are pretty much trouble free. Think about it for a second, almost all of the kid novelty type rod and reel setups are the spin cast reels.
Then you’ve got your Fly Cast Reels. These outfits are used primarily for casting hand tied bug and minnow imitations.
Of course these lures basically consist of a hook covered with some kind of dressing so they tend to be very light. Therefore you actually use the weight of the line to cast your offering.
In the past these outfits were basically exclusive to trout fishermen but now days they are commonly used by bass fishermen as well as deep sea fishermen.
Rods
Of course for each different type of reel there is a different type of rod. Well, that’s not 100% true …
The Bait Cast and Spin cast rods are pretty much interchangeable, the only real difference being that the Spin Cast Rods usually have just a pistol grip whereas the Bait Cast Rods do have a pistol grip they also have quite a wide variety of different handle lengths.
Bottom line, the longer the handle the more leverage it will provide On these type of rods the line eye guide are all small. From the closest to the reel to the rod tip they are all small, or at least allot smaller than the ones you will find on a Spinning Rod The reason for this is because the line comes off the reel in pretty much a straight line. The reel seat on these type of rods differs from those on a spinning rod.
Next you have your Spinning Rods. These will usually have a straight handle. The line eye guides will start out big and progressively work down to small at the tip. The reasoning behind this is because on a spinning reel the line comes off in a loop so the first eye guide it meets should be bigger allowing less friction which in turn allows for longer casts. As the guides get progressively smaller it is straightening out the line.
Fly Rods are very long with a very light action. Because your using light line or leader with these rigs your rod plays a very important part in fighting out the fish. You will never be able to horse a fish with these rigs because of their light action.
As far as how long of a rod do you need, that all personal preference. There are several factors to take into consideration, what type of fishing are you going to be doing, what kind of lures are you going to be using and of course what feels comfortable to you personally. This would hold true for any type of rod you are considering.
As far as which action rod you need, again, it depends on what your fishing with and for. Of course you wouldn’t want to use an Ultra Light rod when flipping jigs into cat tails and by the same rule you wouldn’t want to use a heavy action Flipping stick for trout fishing. Look at the rod and the line and lure weight ratings listed on it and purchase accordingly.
Sure, there are a bunch of specialty rods on the market, just in the bass market alone, a person could easily go to the poor house. There are everything from Drop shot, spinner bait, crank bait, flipping, the list is endless. If you don’t have a lot of cash or just don’t want to have a whole mess of rods a good general purpose rod would probably be a 6-6.6 foot medium action one. With that action rod you can fish for just about all species of fish, from trout and pan fish to bass and bigger.
As far as the price goes, you can buy your basic discount store brand or get into the custom made rods. Custom made rods usually are a better quality rod in how they are made as well as the supplies used, they do come at a premium price though.Then again you can build your own. I won’t go into much detail here because there is a lot of information needed to perfect this. Ican say that I don’t have much knowledge in this department. If however your interested in building your own rods a must read is Tom Kirkman’s Rod Building Guide: Fly, Spinning, Casting, Trolling . This book is widely accepted as one of the authorities, covering all the basics of rod building.
Of course there are a lot more books out there but this one is a great starting point. One of the nicest things about building your own rod is just knowing that you made it yourself puts a smile on your face. |
Well, I believe that I have at least touched on the basics of rods and reels. Hopefully you gained some knowledge reading this.
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon!
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
[tags]Rods and Reels, Baitcast Reels, Spinning Reels, Fly Cast Reels[/tags]
Bass Fishing 101 Part 1
In this post I figure I’d share some tips for the novice fisher-person, basic Bass Fishing 101, hence the title. In Part 1 I’ll share just the basic information concerning the different styles and rigging techniques and in Part 2 I will go into more detail concerning them.
First off let’s start with the knots I like to use. Along time ago as I was watching a popular fishing show the host did a scientific test on which knot was the best by using a machine that measured break strength of some knots. Consistently the Palomar knot out performed all others. The line never broke at the knot so this told me that the knot did not weaken the line at all. The biggest trick was to wet the line before pulling it tight to reduce abrasion.
Since that day the Palomar knot is the knot I use about 90% of the time. It’s very easy to tie, even in the dark. One tip, its easier to run the line through the hook eye, point side first then run it back through instead of attempting to push the line doubled up through the eye. This is the knot to use on a drop shot rig, just leave a long, 8-24 inch “Tag” end to attach the weight. I’ll cover the details a little later.
Another good knot is the Trilene knot, also known in some circles as a modified clinch knot This is the knot that my dad taught me when I was very young, he however just called “The Fishing Knot”
There are several other good knots one can use but the 2 I mentioned above are the ones I personally use. Quick, easy and efficient.
Line: There are a lot of good lines out there, I personally like Maxima. Not just because they are a sponsor of mine but their line has never failed me. As far as how heavy line? My rule is to always use the lightest line you can get away with. About the only time that rule does not apply is when fishing top water lures. When fishing top water lures I use a heavy line because the line floats better and helps keep the nose of your lure up.
Now I’ll discuss some different terms of techniques as well as some information on each.
Plastics. Talk about a whole big can of worms. You’ve got worms, these come in a very wide range of sizes and styles. You’ve got little finesse type lures, reapers, gobies and allot of others. Next there are Lizards, Crawfish imitations, Creature Type baits, Senko type do nothing baits, Sluggo’s, Tubes…………….. I could go on and on, the list is so vast.
For fishing plastic’s you’ve got your several different styles of fishing. There is the Carolina Rig, Split Shot Rig, Texas Rig, Drop Shot Rig, Darter Head, Slider Head and Shakey Heads. Where terms like Dragging, Long Lining, Shaking, Doodling and Dead Sticking are used commonly
1. Carolina Rig:
This is a rig generally used to cover allot of water semi quickly. It consists of. A “Barrel” type weight, one that line can slide freely through, a swivel, a glass or plastic bead, a 12-48 leader and of course the hook.
There is no right size weight to use. You want to be able to get the bait down to the bottom and be able to stay in contact with your offering as well as the bottom. To rig it, insert the line from your rod into and through the weight. Place your glass or plastic bead on the line, the bead is mainly used to protect your knot from the sinker banging on it. It also provides sound, especially effective in off colored water. Tie your swivel on, then your leader, the length of the leader depends on how far you want your bait to be off the bottom. Tie on your hook, the size depends on the size of your lure. Finally, rig up your bait weedless.
2. Split Shot Rig: This rig is pretty much used the same as the Carolina rig only slower. Its just a modified finesse version of the Carolina rig on light line. The difference being, no swivel, no bead, no extra leader and you use a different weight. To rig this one simply tie on your hook and pinch a round split shot, 8-24 inches up your line, of course don’t forget to add your lure, rigged weedless.
3. Texas Rig: This is one of the most common techniques for fishing plastic worms when the fish are feeding off the bottom. Get yourself a bullet style sinker and hook. Slide the sinker on your line with the “pointy” side facing upwards and tie your hook on. If you add a bead between the weight and hook you convert the basic Texas rig to a Doodling rig. You can also “Peg” the weight to keep it from sliding. This “pegging of the weight” technique is used when your fishing in weeds or sticks and you don’t want the weight and worm to separate.
4. Drop Shot Rig: This rig is effective when bass are feeding up off the bottom. To rig this one tie your hook on with the Palomer knot and leave a 6-18 inch tag end. After tying the knot on take the tag end and run it through the eye of the hook, point side up and pull it tight. What this does is causes your hook to stand out straight allowing your bait to sit level. I like to tie a snap swivel on then attach a “Bell Style” also known as a casting sinker, weight to the snap. This helps to avoid line twist. Then attach your bait to the nook. Either nose hook it with the hook exposed or rig it weedless, whichever way the situation dictates.
5. Darter, Slider and Shakey Heads: These techniques are deadly on suspended fish. All these rigs consist of are just a lead head on a hook. The way they are rigged is just insert the hook into the worm and in most cases you leave the hook exposed but rig it weedless if the situation dictates.
From plastics we now go to reaction baits. The name Reaction Baits cover a whole plethora of baits. They are basically any bait where your looking for a reaction type bite.
The bass sees it and then he reacts to, be it out of hunger, anger or just plain orneriness. Here you’ve got, Surface baits, Rip baits, Jerk baits, Crank baits, Spinner baits, Chatter baits and Swim baits, which I discussed earlier. As you can see the list is quite large and I’m sure I left quite a few off of my list. Terms like, Walk the Dog, Popping, Waking, Burning, Jerking, Twitching, Cranking, And Slow Rolling are common with these techniques.
Then you’ve got jigs. These are one of my favorite techniques for catching quality bass. I will be dedicating a whole article to these in the future. Basically they are a lead head with a skirt and a trailer. They are generally thought to resemble a crayfish, which just in case you didn’t know, is a fresh water lobster. I don’t know about you but I sure have a tough time passing up lobster and the bass seem to share my weakness.
There are also drop style baits. In this category you have Spoons and Ice Jigs. The Drop Shot and Shakey Head techniques also fit into here. These techniques excel during the colder months but are also effective when the bass are suspending or sitting on structure to deep to get a crank bait down to.
Well readers, that should give you some information to absorb. Like I said, I’ll go into more details on these techniques in part 2.
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
Winter Time Blues Part 2
Old man winter is still here, the temperatures are still low and the wind is blowing so I guess I wont be hooking up the boat today. I talked about rod and reel maintenance earlier now lets talk about some lure “Tweaks” that at least in my opinion have helped me get more bites. Always remember, if you have confidence in what your doing on the water you will take the time to present your offering correctly and it will produce fish. If you don’t believe your going to catch fish then you wont take the time to present your bait right and more often than not you go home empty handed.
Some of my favorite lure modifications are as follows. Replacing the hooks on your crank baits with sharp red hooks. Red hooks resemble a blood trail, like a bleeding fish and if you understand bass they will always pick the easiest, injured prey first. Me personally, I just replace the front hook because I want to present the image that my poor little fish is bleeding from the gills and is just asking to be attacked. I also replace the rear hooks with some good quality super sharp hooks, just not in red. I personally like the X-Point and Diachhi hooks, super sharp right out of the package and great quality, available at Bass Pro Shops. Gamakatsu also makes a good hook also available at Bass Pro Shops. These hooks are a little on the pricey side but well worth the money. If you cant afford these expensive ones get yourself a file and sharpen your hooks to a sticky sharp. It will make a difference in your hook up ratio.
On a side note, I also like to use red hooks when fishing soft plastics. I have been doing this long before it was “The In Thing” and I had many people laugh at me. Let me explain. At the time I was dating this lady who had a son and he got hold of my tackle and proceeded to paint some of my worm hooks red with finger nail polish. At first I was a little upset at him and then he asked me to promise him I would try them at my upcoming tournament, I reluctantly said yes. I got teased for about the first 2 hours of the tournament by my boater, I didn’t own a boat at the time. He stopped teasing me about 3 hours in because I had my limit and was culling fish and he was still working on getting his second fish. It was my turn to laugh at him when I collected my money for winning the tournament.
Anyways, back to the hooks. Another trick is to take the hooks and bend the point shank slightly, where it is a little off center from the center shaft, remember the Excaliber rotating Trebel Hooks? I take pliers and grab the hook at the bottom of the bend and just kind of lean the tip to the left a little. Do this to all 3 points. What this does is makes it where the hooks get contact with the bass’s jaws a little better, the down side, it makes it a lot more difficult to fish around structure because they do get hung up more. Another up side is when the bass is jumping they can’t use the center shaft as leverage to get the hook loose. In my opinion the good points out weigh the bad.
Another lure modification worth doing is painting your own lures. Yes, you can spend high dollar and get lure with great finishes right out of the box but you can also get some lures out of the bargin Box and you local sporting goods counter and transform them into fish catching monsters.
Raid your wife’s fingernail polish, yeah I know, WHAT?? My wife has or should I say had this fingernail polish with fine hologram glitter in it. I looked closely at it one day as I was “reading the paper” in the rest room and noticed that it had glitter with allot of colors you would see on the expensive lures so I confiscated it and tried it out. On a side note, if your not experienced in applying this stuff make sure you try it out on something first because it can be a bear getting it off of a plastic or wood lure once you put it on. Go as thin as possible because you don’t want to put to much on one side and throw the lure’s balance off, making it run sideways in the water. Most of the time you want your lure to run true, I’ll go into when you don’t want it to in another article.
Take the red fingernail polish and paint little red gills on your lure, where the gills would normally be, again, be careful not to glob it on. My wife didn’t have black so I had to buy some but I use black to paint that little round dot that shad have on their sides on my shad colored lures.
Dress your treble hooks. Make them look like little tails. You can buy them pre made or you can make them for considerably less. Make sure you start out with good quality hooks. Hold off on bending the points like I described above, this will make the wrapping process so much easier. Trust me, I speak from experience here. Get some mylar strips cut very thin and wrap them with red thread just under the hook eye and put a dab of clear finger nail polish to hold the end down. You would be amazed how this looks in the water.
Do all of these things help? As long as you believe they will work then they will work. Just remember, there is no magic bullet, there is no such thing. All those late night info-mercials are a joke. Let me rephrase that, there is a magic lure, It’s the one you truly believe will catch fish. The one you have confidence in. The one that you know in your mind will catch em because you will take the time and effort to figure out just how to present it to get them to bite that day.
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
Winter Time Blues Part 1
Ah winter, snow on the ground and a chill in the air. As a “Weekend Warrior” bass fishermen I tend to have a love hate relationship with this time of the year. Yes the fishing can be great this time of the year but with the “Moody” weather that usually happens this time of the year it makes it difficult. It seems that during the work week the weather is nice but when the weekend rolls around and the winter storms roll in. I personally consider taking leave during the week but I would rather save the leave for the upcoming late winter/early spring bite.This discussion I’ll talk about what I do if I don’t take leave during the week. In winter time blues part 2 I’ll share some tackle modification tips and in part 3 I’ll share some tactics I use when I decide to pull the trigger and go ahead and take leave this time of the year.
So, here it is Saturday, the clouds are rolling in, the weatherman says the snow level will be down to 3000 feet and in order to get to my local lake I have to go over the mountains where the elevation tops out at 5553 feet so I’m pretty much stuck at home just wishing I was fishing so what’s a fisherman to do?
Now would be a great time to service your fishing tackle, service your reels, change out your line and make some modifications to my fishing tackle.
First and foremost MAKE SURE you have or get schematics for your reels before disassembling them. 
It’s a bad thing to take apart your reels and not remember where all the parts go. Anyhow, clean out all the old grease, I use cotton tipped swabs myself for this. I then use them dipped in rubbing alcohol to completely clean out the grease and oil. Make sure you use a good quality lube and oil to service your reels, this will make a world of difference when you use it next. Me personally, I prefer Garcia lube and Remington Rem-Oil gun oil. Yes, there are allot of other excellent choices but these are the ones I personally prefer. Clean the reel externally, just to make it look nice and spool up with new line. The last thing you want to happen is to hook into the fish of a life time and loose it because your old line broke.
On your rods, clean the handle, it you have cork grips DO NOT use rubbing alcohol, this will ruin the cork. Simple Green works very well, just don’t saturate it! If the cork is heavily soiled you can use some extra fine sand paper and sand lightly, don’t remove to much cork. Wipe out the line guides, here again I use cotton tipped swabs dipped in Simple Green. Finally, wipe down the blank, again, I use Simple Greed and a micro fiber cloth to clean off the accumulated residue from the previous fishing season.If your lucky enough to have a garage where you can park your boat, trust me, I am jealous of you. I am fortunate enough to have RV access on the side of my house where the wind does not normally blow. I’m hoping soon to install a car port type cover. Until then I have to cover and uncover my boat whenever I need to access it. Even during the winter you cam perform maintenance on it. One very important things to do is if you don’t take your boat out very often this time of year you need to make sure you flush the system with the “Rabbit Ears” and garden hose at least once a month. This keeps your impeller from getting to dry and brittle therefore it does not flow water like it used to and in turn it does not cool your motor like it used to so its pretty important to avoid very expensive damage.
As for the impeller, changing it out at least once every 2 years is very good practice and cheap insurance. You can either do it yourself which is not all that difficult as long as you have a Mercury manual and the right tools or take it to your mechanic. Usually they will charge considerably less during the winter because they want the business. During the hotter months they can raise the rates because they know allot of people will be needing their services, basic supply and demand laws here.
While your in there make sure to change out your lower end oil as well as clean out any fishing line on the shaft. Look for any signs of water in the oil, this means that the seal is damaged and needs replacing.
Check the 2 stroke oil level in the oil reservoir, if you have a 2 stroke motor. Remove the propeller on your trolling motor and check for line. If you have trailer breaks check the fluid level of the master cylinder. Another big thing to remember is to make sure your bearing buddies have plenty of grease. That’s the last thing you want to happen, hook up the boat, get going down the road and having a wheel bearing go out because its dry. Make sure your tires are properly inflated to the correct pressure. This helps them wear evenly as well as improves your gas mileage.
I hope this helps alleviate some boredom we all experience when we cant get out and do some fishing. Be sure to check back soon for part 2 and 3 of Winter Time Blues.
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
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