I have lost my mind. fishing

[vash]

I hang out in bass-fishing forums. none of them are as cool as this forum, but at least those people are speaking my love language.

I did what I said I would NEVER do. just goes to show, "never say never"

I bought my first Boojie rod/reel combo. this is real money, and my wife is annoyed. haha. I am screwed because have quite literally "flown first class" and will now have a hard time sitting in "coach". I reached out to Japan and put together a set up that is head and shoulder above the rest of my gear.

introducing the Megabass X-bites and Daiwa Zillion Baitcast reel.



I have been busy. this past winter storms changed the fishing landscape...not all for the better. I have had to go to different lakes and rivers.

[Scott Douglas]

So educate this ol' guy as to what exactly makes this rod/reel so different from the rest.
Is it the precision of the machined gears in the reel?
The winding of the fiberglass, assuming it's fiberglass, in the rod?
From the looks of those fish it would appear to catch bigger than normal fish.

[Evans, Marv]

i'm jealous. We don't have any fishing around here, & I'm too old for a weeks long hike into the sierras, where I know some great lakes for fishing. Nothing wrong with nice equipment, especially since it's a one timer investment that doesn't lead to the black hole of gear.

[Rusty Heap]

Hell in the Caribbean they just hand line fish, with a discarded plastic pop bottle wrapped with Monofilament, bolt for weight, and just hand huck in out for "casting".

[rwest]

I’m a firm believer that you should have at least a few top quality tools/gear/parts/ingredients/etc. for your hobby or passion- it makes it so much more enjoyable than using cut rate stuff and then having to use work arounds.

You so often hear people say something along the lines of ”if I did this for a living, I would buy that top quality thing, but it is just a hobby.”

I’m the opposite, my hobby is supposed to bring me joy, so I want great gear.

I fully support your new fishing gear and if you want to have your wife call me so
I can let her know that it was a good purchase, that will be fine!

[Seahawk]

That is great. I can have my wife send you her old Southern Mary stuffed sea bass recipe. Insanely good.

Although you couldn't get me fish at the point of a spear, I get it: My Dad was and my Son is a fanatic about fishing. Thank goodness I had had a neighbor who matched their ardor for fishing...call Dean, he's headed out.

BTW, I just spent my second three hour stint on the new guy:

[porsche tech]

I knew nothing about fishing (still don’t know much) when I retired to Hilton Head but am now addicted. Don’t do any fresh water fishing in lagoons (which are catch and release) but a lot of salt water fishing from my buddy’s boat and from a bridge over a tidal creek in our hood. Like to catch redfish (also known as spot tails) and fillet them. Best piece of equipment lately was Rapala electric filet knife!



January catch off the bridge


Little bitty creek under the bridge but lots of reds…




Would love to start kayak fishing in these tidal creeks.

[pavulon]

Sweet!

Am seeing jet-kayaks for fishing around. Any insight or experience?

[dmcummins]

Very nice, I have also gone the route of better rods and reels. I keep the others for loaners.

[dmcummins]

And since I blew one of my engines and having them both replaced for mid $50’s my wife is not to thrilled with my fishing hobby either.

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by vash

and my wife is annoyed. haha.

I don't think she understands that the fish are choosing you instead of the other guy now that you have the better gear.

[pwd72s]

The trick outfit to have...

[masraum]

The real question is if you've had the opportunity to shoot any of those "This shark followed and attacked my kayak" videos.

Glad you've still around, Cliff. Enjoy your fishing! YOLO. (which always reminds me of "cholo")

[vash]

Originally Posted by Scott Douglas

So educate this ol' guy as to what exactly makes this rod/reel so different from the rest.
Is it the precision of the machined gears in the reel?
The winding of the fiberglass, assuming it's fiberglass, in the rod?
From the looks of those fish it would appear to catch bigger than normal fish.

multi-direction carbon fibers. a regular rod has fibers running longitudinal, and fiber running around the circumference. they control the action of the rod by going from the thick end and getting thinner and thinner to the tip.

my rod. same taper rod. thick to thin, but the fibers are 5 layers and some of interwoven diagonal. they can custom make the fiber layers to control where on the rod they want it to bend and how much.

for instance a carbon arrow has a stiff side (spine). so does a regular rod. thats where they put the fishing guides. along the spine. not my rod. no spine. it flexes the same in any axis direction. it can cast light lures and still have the backbone to fight big fish.

the reel has a variable drag depending on how fast the spool is spinning. nuts.

[Scott Douglas]

Nice, I can see why that would cost more than your regular run-of-the-mill rod. I've reviewed more than a fair amount of carbon fiber strut drawings in my day as a mfg eng building satellites.
I bet the machine work on that reel is really nice.
Congrats on going 'whole hog'.
I kind of did that with my camera equipment not long ago and it's such a joy to use.

[porsche tech]

We have gators in the salt water on occasion but I’m told they don’t mess with kayakers. I was once standing in pluff mud up to my ankles next to a creek in the marsh. Caught a big red and when I got it on the surface flopping around a gator showed up out of nowhere. I backed up but eventually he got my fish, line, hooks, sinkers, the whole nine yards. This is him waiting for me to bring it back to the surface the second time right before he had lunch. Not sure how it would be if I was in a kayak.

[TimT]

this is real money, and my wife is annoyed.

Dude you need to find a rod builder and get some custom rods made..

I had a good friend that had a shop here.. he made a pretty good living building custom rods.. He moved down south a few years ago and we lost touch..

Anyway you can chose your action, material, windings.. etc... My rods are graphite/carbon with black/silver wraps.. The blanks are either Sage or Loomis..

This one has a Calcutta 200, which is like a Rolex of reels...



Same guy wound all the rods.. he never did get the wraps identical on the rods, but he gave me a break so I let it go.

Reels are the Calcutta, Shimano TR and TLD, and a Valentine Fly reel...



And I guarantee if you want to get your wifes nervous tic blasting leave this page open on your PC


Van Staal

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by porsche tech

This is him waiting for me to bring it back to the surface the second time right before he had lunch.

Are you allowed to shoot them and make them into a belt?

[WPOZZZ]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

Are you allowed to shoot them and make them into a belt?

Shoes and a wallet would be nice. Don't forget the meat. Deep fried gator is pretty tasty.

[KFC911]

We're all losing our minds .....

Cliff's way is good

.....Fotoshoppin'mofo

Ya need at least SIX rods on yer kayak .... themz the rulez!

Nice bass!