Chuck7

One big mistake a lot of folks make setting the drag..is by pulling out line straight from the reel....however; a big fish doubling up the rod blank still may not have enough stuff to pull the drag and instead break the line...when I get hung up I will practice setting the drag to see what a safe fighting drag feels like...after practice I got it down pretty good..my son thinks my drag is a little loose but from recent battles it's been right on..

I did lose 2 this year on line...once I was fooling around catching panfish..I tied on a rubber worm 6 pound test ..just for the heck of it and lost a good one at the boat...the other was a story I told about 3 months ago..I was casting and had an extra rod out dead sticking...all of a sudden the dead sticking rod began to leave the boat..I grabbed the rod reared back and the power house fish slammed the rod forward and snapped the line at the speed of sound.

Phil from Maine

I think that problem is solved now.. I changed the reel so I will be seeing if the gears in it will hold up now.. I should be posting at least a couple of lunker smallmouths tomorrow if the fish will bite that is. I am heading right back to the same location in the early am.. I am taking frogs and a couple of bigger rapalas. I wished I had tied up a few more of those red and white streamers. Then I would be taking the flyrod with me as well. I still may though because that is the way to troll for a fish.. Also no choice but to play them out..

Chuck7

The bite may be a little slower as the new moon was last Sat. However; the morning bite is generally good and live bait normally gets results. I sincerely hope you get some monsters.

In choosing a decent baitcaster I look for 4 things...

1. Backlash...if I've done all I can do and it still free rolls and causes backlashes..I take it back. My favorite moderate priced baitcaster is the Garcia Revo s ..it's the 109.00 model...can still be bought new in the box on eBay.

2. Needs to cast a mile...this reel cast awesome..with no backlashes. I would estimate my crankbaits go about 30-40 yds.

3. Drag...needs to be smooth and kick in when needed..many tend to stick between fishing trips..I fool with my drag about every 20 or so cast..pulling my line out with a quick jerk to make sure it's ready. FL bass tend to run big.

4 must be metal, sound with lots of bearings.. And the spool is kind of shallow so it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to respool.

I fill them with Trilene 10 pound test XL. ...good stretch and great casting ability. 7.00 for 330 yds. That will fill up 4 reels easy.

Gangly

Great job Chuck, nice CHUNKY fish!