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  • Sasquatch

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    Apr 20, 2020
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    Magnolia
    One of the things I'm excited for about moving down to Texas this year is the better bass angling opportunities ya'll enjoy. We have alright bass fishing up here - in fact what I consider my "Home" lake is home to both large and smallmouth bass, some which get double digit size.

    A "big" bass up this way is 3-5lbs, with average fish being half pounders to pounders. Short growing season thanks to 7 months of cool to cold weather and water temps.

    I was out on Saturday with my son fishing our home lake, we managed to find a little spot to ourselves among the holiday weekend crowd. Fishing was tough, as water temps are still below 60 degrees. I had two bites all day - one on a wacky rigged Senko that I missed, and then this guy:

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    I had to hold him next to the kid as a yard stick. My boy is 4'4 - which would make this guy about 18-19 inches. Nicest fish of the year, and bigger than most of the bass I caught up here last year.

    Caught him on a Texas rigged Bandito Bug.

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    I'm liking that bait so far, nice action from the appendages, certainly better action than the Berkley Havoc baits I'd been fishing as my usual creature / beaver style baits before.

    I'm also getting dialed in with a new reel I recently picked up - a Shimano SLX DC. My first "digital control" reel, and with my wifey's discount thru her employer, it ran $144 vs the $190 retail. I've had it out half a dozen times now since picking it up, and so far I'm really liking it. I'd say it performs better than the old Curado 201 I had, smoother and more accurate. The thing I like most is that I'm able to throw a little lighter bait with it over other reels I've used. You can certainly backlash with the DC reels, I've picked out about a dozen now trying to figure out the settings for each lure I've tried, a couple where I thought I was going to have to cut all the line off and start over (but didn't).

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    F350-6

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    May 25, 2009
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    I sold my boat and stopped going fishing when my little girl had tubes in her ears and couldn't go underwater, so the lake became off limits.

    She's 31 now so I'm a bit behind on what's current. Tell me more about the digital control reel? I don't see anything digital just by looking at it. (I'm too lazy to google it).
     

    Sasquatch

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    Apr 20, 2020
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    Magnolia
    I sold my boat and stopped going fishing when my little girl had tubes in her ears and couldn't go underwater, so the lake became off limits.

    She's 31 now so I'm a bit behind on what's current. Tell me more about the digital control reel? I don't see anything digital just by looking at it. (I'm too lazy to google it).

    Its all hidden. The DC reels have a chip in them that is supposed to adjust braking pressure on the spool 1000 times per second - the idea is that you get smoother operation and less likelihood of a backlash. Great in theory. If you ever watch a fishing video and you hear a "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeem" noise as they cast, its probably a DC reel.

    The controls on this reel are much simpler than on my Curado or the Abu Garcia Revo's I have had in the past where you had to open a side plate and adjust the tension manually. There's the tension adjustment on one side, and then a simple click wheel on the other to set how much braking pressure to apply. Once I got it dialed in, I did notice my casts going a bit further, especially with lighter baits. That's what got me interested in them, as casting weightless or light weight baits on a baitcaster has been a challenge for me. With this one I haven't had issues casting unweighted 4" Senkos or Dingers yet. I hit up our neighborhood pond for a couple hours after work today and was throwing a hollow body frog quite a bit further than my old reels let me. Part of that is probably that the old reels were getting worn, but I think the newer reels are just better built and much smoother in general.
     

    F350-6

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    Cool. So no more thumb lightly on the reel to prevent backlash while casting. I guess it takes batteries of some sort? Or is it like the self winding watches where reeling the lure in charges it up?
     

    Sasquatch

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    3   0   0
    Apr 20, 2020
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    Magnolia
    Cool. So no more thumb lightly on the reel to prevent backlash while casting. I guess it takes batteries of some sort? Or is it like the self winding watches where reeling the lure in charges it up?

    No batteries, I was told they have a built in capacitor that recharges on each cast. The promo videos for Shimano's DC reels show "effortless" casting without using thumb control on the spool thanks to a properly adjusted reel. I have to admit I'm not ballsy enough to try that yet, but I use a lighter touch, still have to thumb the spool stopped if you're trying to pinpoint cast, but if you're just lobbing out a cast to fish blind, or going for distance I can see it working as advertised
     

    F350-6

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    Wow. So just one step away from the Jetsons where you just push a button and it shoots the lure out for you.

    It actually looks very intersting. I wonder if there are any issues with it if it sits too long or gets dusty?
     

    Sasquatch

    TGT Addict
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    3   0   0
    Apr 20, 2020
    6,590
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    Magnolia
    Wow. So just one step away from the Jetsons where you just push a button and it shoots the lure out for you.

    It actually looks very intersting. I wonder if there are any issues with it if it sits too long or gets dusty?

    Dunno about the sitting too long bit - I don't think dust would really be an issue. Even the cheap bait casters these days are pretty well sealed up. Most have a vented spool to reduce weight, but once you line it up, should be A-Ok to stop any dust intrusion.
     

    Sasquatch

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    Apr 20, 2020
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    Magnolia
    Hit the water more this week than I have in months - we went out four times between weekends and weekdays after work. Been crazy with all the people still not back to work, mid week it was bring your own rock to stand on, and bring your own parking spot. Crazy!

    Managed to get two crappie today - one decent eater size, one dink.

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    A little black & glitter blue tube was what the crappies seemed to want. I had a few more strikes that I missed.

    Struck out on bass. Started the day bad - the butt section of my bait caster broke before I made a single cast. I fished with it anyway, but making a double handed cast was more difficult. Only bass I even saw today followed the larger of the two crappies I caught in - looked like a 3+ lb bass, and it seemed like it wanted to try eating my crappie.

    Replaced the broken rod after wifey got off work, upgrading from my Made in China rod to a Made in the USA G Loomis. Thank god wifey works for a sporting goods retailer, the $220 rod only set me back $128. Going to be picking a couple more of those up while she still works there before we move! Might be speeding up the timeline - original plans were to be down there by Thanksgiving, but there's a possibility we'll be down there by September now.
     

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