Mark K

That's true and the river dropped probably close to a foot- easy 10" from when we got there. I found 4 big hellgramites flipping a few rocks. Did not have a float and stuff to rig them. If they did not catch fish nothing would.

Chris' 20" Chris 20” Smallmouth. by Mark Kasick, on Flickr Chris 20” Smallmouth by Mark Kasick, on Flickr me Mennominie River smallmouth. by Mark Kasick, on Flickr

Been meaning to dig out a bunch of old lures like them and jointed Rapalas which for what ever reason, you don't see people fishing a lot anymore. Or maybe they are just not talked about much on the web etc. I was pleasantly suprised last year at what a good job the old Rebel craw was doing. There is another you don't hear about. Good Lord I have so many lures that I don't use.

I used to fish them on the Kank, particullarly a the #4. Don't recall losing fish on them, but they got stuck a lot and I lost them.

I looked this up because I saw the sign for the factory in Antigo, on the way back from Sylvania. Who remembers the Mepps catalog? I sent away for it every year when I was a kid. It's amazing that they still assemble these things by hand in the USA ...if they still do, video is '09. This guy is being a bit of a creepster, but this is a good overview of their operation. pretty cool.

carp as in "Asian carp"?

I picked up one of these at Christmas with kinda meh expectations. Only had it for half a year. I only own one other higher end baitcaster, a Revo something or other- silver about $200 something dollars about 10 years ago. I have it on a really nice St Croix Legend Tournament 6'8" "topwater special" with 30lb Suffix braid. It casts really, really nice. Silky smooth. I have the main drag almost all open and the magnetic brake doing all the work. It's ...like shocking how nice it casts. My Abu Garcia is so used it's not a fair comparison, but right now it does not cast nearly as well....but still totally useable. The original PQ has a good reputation. I was told by a source who bought I have no reason to disbelieve, said he took apart the two side by side and said the only difference was one part which was plastic. Those guys take them apart right away, install boca bearings, carbon drags and fancy grease. They told me they cast like a really expensive reel when you do that. That said, the first one I bought I was in hurry and did not inspect. One of the bolts was missing, which BPS or maybe Cabelas happily exchanged. "QC" and "QA" are the trade off. I would fondle the reel in person to make sure it's okay. It's on sale again for 60 bucks. https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-pro-qualifier-2-limited-edition-baitcast-reel

Happened to me. A magnetic work pad would be the ticket.

Fixed a second identical 2000FE Stradic. This one the antireverse did not work at all and that little thing in the video was grody. Just see if it would work i took it off and cleaned it without disassembly There is one screw that will hold it all together. I soaked it in mineral spirits, agitating it really well, then simple green and really hot water. Then i blasted it under the facucet with hot water. Then a dunk in alcohol to dry it out. Seems to be working for now pretty well. This reel got disassembled and cleaned also. Took me about an hour again.

I haven't done another brand of reel yet, so I don't know how other anti reverses work, and if Shimano continued with this design, but based on the way this works you should not expect one of these to work right if it gets dunked. That whole mechanism was not expected to be taken apart and cleaned either. It's a whole separate part. I am going to do my Daiwa Whisker SS, which has an anti-reverse that is pretty far from "infinite". But that reel never fails. Curious what that one looks like inside.

It's distortion from being closer to the lens, but it does seem a bit oversize. Same handle on the 2000.

It works! That's a vintage G Loomis rod too! Probably my all time fave! 🙂 Untitled by Mark Kasick, on Flickr

Retro is cool these days, right? I hate the idea that I am old enough now that I bought brand new, what is consider now- vintage. I have three "vintage" Shimano Stradic - mid to late 90's when reels first started have a anti reverse with no slop. They all failed with the anti-reverse slipping. All in about a year or two, which pissed me off because it was a hundred dollar reel back then. I thought i trashed them from slingshotting jigs out of rocks. But after I took it apart I was like...there is nothing here to break. The reason they slip is becaiuse grease and oil get in the mechanism and the way it works is friction. So in short I disassembled the first of the three reels and followed this tutorial on how to repair the anti-reverse mechanism. What did we ever do before You Tube !!?? I also flushed out the body with simple green and a brush so it was spotless. Then I rinsed the bejesus out of it with hot water. All the gunk and crap got flushed out. Lastly I doused it in 99% rubbing alcohol- the stuff with no glycerin- pure alcohol. Drug store grade. So alcohol is miscible in water- where acetone, acetate, MEK are not. Plus all those can attack plastic. The only reason I used the alcohol is that it mixes with water- I think it forms an azeotrope, then everything evaporates off fast. I LIGHTLY lubed everything with "Reel Butter", which according to the internet is the best stuff out there. Reassembled- amazingly no parts left over. The reel is VERY smooth now and pretty tight. Not as tight as a 60 dollar reel today. LOL. The anti-reverse was the trickiest part. I don't think I would have fixed it without this awesome tutorial. It all took about 2 hours but I think I could do it in about an hour now. Taking it out for a try now.

Hey no worries. That's just my opinion on the matter. I stopped at Rock Run Rookery talked some guys with yaks. They said they were doing pretty good on LM. I do an after work thing sometime this week

We just set a record for rainfall for May. Duh. These are questions that should not be on any forums anywhere. "How safe?" Answer: Safe enough so you don't have to ask. This is why everyone should do jury duty, especially in a civil case.

I talked to the guy who runs the resort/motel we stay at and as of yesterday he had one small remaining pile of snow. He is right on the border in Lac view desert. two people I talked to said fishing has been very slow.

Cool. I'll just buy a Michigan annual for Sylvania then.

Did someone say a Michigan license is all we need?

Keep an eye out Sierra Trading Post also.

This was in the news today. At least on public radio. https://www.chicagoriver.org/blog/2019/4/mill-creek-southwest-suburban-project-fixes-100-year-old-mistake This is a very pretty little creek and I've seen bass boats in the Cal Sag channel. I presume there are bass in there. I've fished this creek with my kids when they were little but all we caught were creek chubs. On the radio today they talked about hooking up to Tinley Creek also.

Here is a list of the DNR cops by county. Just call and ask. https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/LawEnforcement/Documents/DistrictCPOPhonesAndEmails.pdf

See this thread. Where I actually called a DNR cop assigned to the area in question.

if the landowner owns both sides of the bank they own the stream bed below, and yes you are trespassing even if in a boat. Not in theory you are trespassing. I believe that bridges are considered easements, but parking next to it might be private.

Trump Administration Moves Forward With Proposal To Re-Define Waterway Protections https://www.npr.org/2019/04/15/713616827/trump-administration-moves-forward-with-proposal-to-re-define-waterway-protectio

Thanks for taking the time to sign in and respond Wade. If you ever find yourself in headed to the Windy City or Illinois, please give us a shout.