Holliday's World Famous Fishing Thread - 2023 Version

[oldslowandugly]

I have never understood the Garcia numbering system. Here is a pic of one of the smaller Ambassadeurs. I have quite a few of these too. The requirement is the Flipping switch. This is the only pic I found with something to reference the size.

These pics are from Fleabay. I only grab new or spotless examples. The 1021 is bigger than the LITE, and the 1022 is the same as the 1021, but much wider. It holds a lot of line. For inshore bottom fishing I usually use 20 lb on the 1021 and 1022 but will go as low as 12 or 14lb on the LITE if I am after Fluke.

 

[oldslowandugly]

This is a Garcia Black Max on an old Daiwa Samurai pistol grip. It is short and stiff, very handy to use with lead heads. But when I nailed a 21" Fluke, it was a chore getting it up. Not enough leverage for a big fish. But a blast on smaller stuff. [crap- can't post the pic. I wonder why?]

 

[oldslowandugly]

Maybe a link?

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Yes, the link works. This is a Black Max I got cheaply. I was very proud of myself until while cleaning it I managed to drop it on the floor. It landed right on the flipping switch, busting it off. I was able to open it up and find a way to fix it.

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The switch had a tiny tit that pivoted in a hole. I found a machine screw that fit the hole so I drilled the switch so it could pivot on the screw. Works fine now. What a clumsy schmuck I am sometimes!

 

[oldslowandugly]

Nope. That site won't allow the link. Rats!!

 

[The New Holliday]

Nope. That site won't allow the link. Rats!!

 

[The New Holliday]

@oldslowandugly dawg

I can not tell you how right you are...and you are.

When the time has come that we actually think of the 80s as back when things were good...
. well... that's when you know how bad things are.

I'm in a mad hunt for let's say even two 200 size spinning reels that don't suck.

To that end I am ordering used pieces off ebay because no one can make a reasonably priced, basic reel that isn't shit. That includes Abu's Revo x3 which is a piece of crap (read my reviews everywhere reviews are posted), and which they will not stand behind (one assumes for all the bullets foward).
.You got it OSU - stick to the vintage hardware.

 

[oldslowandugly]

^^^^1980- Radio City- Dead Ahead tour- Halloween. ^^^^ Mind bending!

Holiday, I can't believe we are referring to the 80's as the 'good 'ol days'. YIKES!! Back then we were lamenting that the 60's and 70's fishing was so much better. We use to drag several potato sacks of big Blues off the Brooklyn party boats. I could fish Deb's Inlet at dawn, load up on cocktail Blues, then stick around and catch Fluke that were picking up the pieces of baitfish. I could take my kids to any pier, and they had an excellent chance of catching a big Flounder or Porgy. Today, ANY fish is a score.

Many moons go I was at the Englishtown swap meet, and someone had a nice surf fishing pole for sale. There was some cheap looking reel on it I thought was a Jap reel. But it was a Penn 250GR. At the tackle shows we asked the Penn rep why they had not come out with any graphite stuff. His answer was that 'the wheels turn slowly at Penn'. This 250GR was the very first Penn graphite spinning reel and it was sub-contracted to Japan for manufacture. Remember JAPAN INC. when it seemed like the whole world was made in Japan? Now look. Anyway, the reel was phenomenal. I loved it, still use it, and I scrounge every one I can off Fleabay. I keep two 7' Penn Spinfisher graphite rods with 250GR's on the boat at all times ready to go. When the Blues show up, they are not waiting for you to rig up. Fleabay pic, not mine:

 

[The New Holliday]

Okay - so I think I have my 200 size spinning reel woes solved.
I found a Abu Garcia Revo S, used ( the previous iteration - I own one which has a damaged anti-reverse mechanism gotta have fixed). It's an excellent reel - not like the new ones which suck (I bought a new X - trouble).
Then I found a new in the box Abu Elite Max (got one a those too) - also previous iteration - super smooth for the dollars.
...and I got a used, basically new, Pfleuger President XT - got a little bail trip issue but who cares.

Kind of interested to see how the Pfleuger performs. Ain't so smooth, but I'm gonna start it as dedicated topwater reel so the bail issue won't matter much. In fiddling I found turn it too hard, bail no flip...to soft, no flip
...juuuust right and silk. (58$) Half new price. Okay with that.
Who can explain it? I had the bail off and oiled it up...no change. Eh...

Folks - Do not buy the new Abu spinning Revo models with the tapered spools.
/ Sad, because aside from the uneven wind and the spoon design allowing line to slip under the spool and wrap on the shaft, it's aces. Abu C's customer service sucks it. Totally useless.

Tomorrow....I fish.

 

[oldslowandugly]

Try a new bail spring. They do go after a while.
The Grandson got Baptised yesterday. A big Blue grabbed the lure right at the boat. It ran him ragged but we got it netted. Thirty inches of dynamite!!

 

[oldslowandugly]

I don't know why I can't post personal pics. Oh well.

I noticed my NOCO battery charger was not keeping the boat battery healthy. The quick-connectors are OK for cars but not a marine environment. I tried changing connectors again to no avail. Then I just disconnected the entire charging set-up and took it home to look at. The quick-connects were getting green corrosion, that increased resistance, and the 'smart charger' took that as a problem. I cut out all the quick-connects and found that the charger was just fine. I needed to get some kind of better quick-connects. I found on Fleabay a set of two wire trailer connectors. I refer to them as Ford connectors as Ford used them a lot on the older cars. So old they are made in USA! Some Lanocoat will seal them up good.

We are getting drenching rains from the Ernesto hurricane so I had to temporarily hard-wire the charger to the battery. Just one night of downpours activating the bilge pump weakened the battery a lot. Now it is wired up and charging. Good thing because the rain last night was biblical. More coming tonight. I used some bullet connectors to connect the main charging line to the battery connection. Some Lanocoat and shrink wrap will keep it dry. Once the trailer connectors get here I can wire up another battery harness, and bullet-connect it to the main line.
I discovered the Lanocoat at the NY Boat show many moons go. It is made from the lanolin in sheep wool. It displaces moisture, dissolves corrosion, and assures disassembly later. Great stuff. I can't use the boat because it is hard wired to the charger. I especially like to fish in the rain because there is no boat traffic and the big boys come out to hunt. The fish don't care if it is raining- they are already wet.

 

[oldslowandugly]

Wait- I think I have a way. Here is the Black Max on the Daiwa Samurai pistol grip.

 

[oldslowandugly]

YAY!! Now maybe the Bluefish?!? A convoluted process, but it works. SHEESH!

 

[The New Holliday]

Wait- I think I have a way. here is the Black Max.

Hey - I still have an old Magnumlite XL Shimano rod that is similar. It being a spinning version.

 

[oldslowandugly]

Yup- you can see the graphite fibers. That stuff was pretty expensive back then. Now everything is graphite/fiberglass blend. Pure graphite rods are way out of control price wise.

Back in the 80's [again?] when graphite was new, my buddy George was on a light tackle mission. We were after Winter Flounder and he was going as light tackle as he could. Daiwa, Shimano, didn't matter, he just wanted the lightest most sensitive stuff. He got that Samurai in both trigger grip bait caster and spinning versions. You could feel a Flounder fart next to the hook. Eight pound line was as low as we could go due to snags. I even nailed an eight pound Fluke on eight pound line during a pending thunderstorm.

Even my PENN Spinfisher graphite surf rods are not available any more. Now all are the blend. Bass Pro still offers the Graphite Series which I love. I can still get the seven foot, medium heavy, casting and spinning models for $40 which is still reasonable. On the spinning I use a Penn 4400SS reel, 14lb line, and I have taken some pretty big Stripers with that. Once I was able to afford PENN, I understood that the quality is well worth the price. My Grandkids will get these handed down.

 

[The New Holliday]

Yup- you can see the graphite fibers. That stuff was pretty expensive back then. Now everything is graphite/fiberglass blend. Pure graphite rods are way out of control price wise.

Back in the 80's [again?] when graphite was new, my buddy George was on a light tackle mission. We were after Winter Flounder and he was going as light tackle as he could. Daiwa, Shimano, didn't matter, he just wanted the lightest most sensitive stuff. He got that Samurai in both trigger grip bait caster and spinning versions. You could feel a Flounder fart next to the hook. Eight pound line was as low as we could go due to snags. I even nailed an eight pound Fluke on eight pound line during a pending thunderstorm.

Even my PENN Spinfisher graphite surf rods are not available any more. Now all are the blend. Bass Pro still offers the Graphite Series which I love. I can still get the seven foot, medium heavy, casting and spinning models for $40 which is still reasonable. On the spinning I use a Penn 4400SS reel, 14lb line, and I have taken some pretty big Stripers with that. Once I was able to afford PENN, I understood that the quality is well worth the price. My Grandkids will get these handed down.

I also had one of the casting versions at one time - 5' 6" pistol grip and the reels of the time.
I know I gave one to a co-worker - the one with fighting drag. and another I think I may have even trashed in a heavy burgundy wine stupor. (bowsheadinsadness smiley)

Just received a set of 8" scoundrel worms in Plum, Purple and Watermellon/Red Flake.

Can't wait to get them out there.

They should pair well with some old 3/0 or 4/0 trueturn .45s I got.
Can't get those no more.

Checked out the Penn Battle iii lately. Looks good but a bit heavy.

 

[oldslowandugly]

My daughter got me a Penn Battle 2 for my birthday a while ago. It is a 4000 series, great size, not too big, not too small. It is an aluminum frame so not as light as a graphite Pursuit. I even found a matching graphite Battle 2 spinning rod on Fleabay. The Pursuit is a very nice reel too. Much lighter. I have a 6000 I use on a 9' surf rod but I prefer the 4000 series for inshore work.

 

[The New Holliday]

.. And the cold front which brought the rains had me decide to leave off the Bass angling and take a little trip down the mighty missisi...., oh no, actually to a favorite trout river.. Had no expectation of catching anything what with it being August, and the waterr a bit turbid. Beautify mostly sunny day with bluster clouds, and early fall sun angle - so nice. A little nifty piece of fishing and I got a keeper on a Rapala #7 in Rainbow Trout color. Donated it to my fishing pard of the day. A couple of big Fallfish too that had me fooled into thinking I had nice Brownies on. Lovely hiking along the river.

Got my Pflueger President delivered today. Very nice reel - the older all metal one I think, no box - $40 bucks, used only once. Gonna spool 'er up and throw some neds for them river smallies.

.Yesterday took delivery on 4 bags of 20 Creme 8" Scoundrel worms. Can't wait to get those in front of some Largemouth later in the week as the weather warms back up.

 

[oldslowandugly]

Yeah, the water is a mess here. Dirty brown, weeds, yuck. It will take a few tides to clear it all out.

I grabbed a deal on Fleabay for some 8" Berkley Juice Worms. I mostly use ones that are colored like sand worms. Not only do the Fluke inhale them, but Stripers like them too. Rigged on a small lead head, cast around structure, they get results.

 

[Breakfall]

Yeah, the water is a mess here. Dirty brown, weeds, yuck. It will take a few tides to clear it all out.

I grabbed a deal on Fleabay for some 8" Berkley Juice Worms. I mostly use ones that are colored like sand worms. Not only do the Fluke inhale them, but Stripers like them too. Rigged on a small lead head, cast around structure, they get results.

As an avid fisherman…and your water is dirty? I’ll give you a bit of advice mate…natural bait! Sounds simple doesn’t it? It is…

Note: natural to the area you’re fishing. Do the work and get rewarded…that’s what fishing’s really about.

 

[Breakfall]

@The New Holliday how come you don’t rate natural bait?

 

[Seamajor]

@The New Holliday how come you don’t rate natural bait?

Tilapia makes great bait. Bad for humans

 

[oldslowandugly]

"natural bait!" Are you kidding?!? We net baby bunker right at the dock when they are close. We use killie traps [minnows]. We dig sand and blood worms. We cut squid strips, salt them down, and freeze them. Natural bait is big medicine here.

But when the water is very dirty, the fish move on. That is the difference between fresh and salt water. The fish are mobile. Too hot, too cold, filthy water, they can move to a better location. They especially hate silty/sandy water which irritates their gills. Big storms cause that and it takes a while for it to clear up.

Just last evening I was tossing a 2 oz spoon that perfectly mimics a baby bunker. Normally deadly, but yesterday, nothing doing. Then I switched to a floating popper. BANGO!! It was like they hadn't eaten all day. You gotta figure it out every day what they want. I have seen many days where on my jig-rig, the jig produced while the bait was ignored. A jig-rig is a standard Fluke rig with a 3-way swivel, a 1' dropper for the sinker, and a 3' leader for the hook. But instead of a sinker just doing nothing, we use a lead-head jig for a sinker. Quite often the jig gets all the hits, while live bait on the hook gets ignored. Go figure.

 

[oldslowandugly]

And after I was all proud of myself for fixing the battery charger, I go down to the boat and the charger is not working. AAAAARG!!! Today I will make a jumper with alligator clips and see where the problem is. Always something.

 

[Breakfall]

"natural bait!" Are you kidding?!? We net baby bunker right at the dock when they are close. We use killie traps [minnows]. We dig sand and blood worms. We cut squid strips, salt them down, and freeze them. Natural bait is big medicine here.

But when the water is very dirty, the fish move on. That is the difference between fresh and salt water. The fish are mobile. Too hot, too cold, filthy water, they can move to a better location. They especially hate silty/sandy water which irritates their gills. Big storms cause that and it takes a while for it to clear up.

Just last evening I was tossing a 2 oz spoon that perfectly mimics a baby bunker. Normally deadly, but yesterday, nothing doing. Then I switched to a floating popper. BANGO!! It was like they hadn't eaten all day. You gotta figure it out every day what they want. I have seen many days where on my jig-rig, the jig produced while the bait was ignored. A jig-rig is a standard Fluke rig with a 3-way swivel, a 1' dropper for the sinker, and a 3' leader for the hook. But instead of a sinker just doing nothing, we use a lead-head jig for a sinker. Quite often the jig gets all the hits, while live bait on the hook gets ignored. Go figure.

Good stuff. We used to trap the potty-mullet in 2 litre milk bottles or net them. Little black crabs under logs were an excellent bait. Blood worms from the sand etc.

When the fish were finicky, I would change my rig. Light line with a single hook at the end. No swivels or weight. Just the hook and a fresh prawn…magic!

I actually don’t like fishing in too muddy water as it affects the taste of the fish.

 

[The New Holliday]

Tilapia makes great bait. Bad for humans

Who knew how controversial fishing could be ayyy?

 

[Breakfall]

Who knew how controversial fishing could be ayyy?

Go figure…

Is Tilapia popular in the US?

Tilapia has become one of the most popular and common whitefishes in the United States. In fact, on average, we each eat about a pound of tilapia every year! Environmentally sustainable tilapia can be tough to come by, but tilapia lovers should not despair!

Tilapia is an inexpensive, mild-flavored fish. It is the fourth most commonly consumed type of seafood in the United States. Many people love tilapia because it is relatively affordable and doesn't taste very fishy.

 

[Breakfall]

Can you keep/breed tilapia in NSW, Australia?


Tilapia were historically imported to be kept as aquarium fish. Due to the significant risk these fish pose to native fish and the environment they are now listed as a notifiable pest under NSW legislation meaning it is illegal to possess, sell or move tilapia.

 

[The New Holliday]

Okay, Fishing Fans (which I capitalize in reverence)
It was a very tough test of Bassing prowess.

First days of September, that transitional time between Summer and Autumn when fish are scattered.
..but not only....this behind a cold front, high skies, very high barometric pressure up to 30.43 mm hg. Stay home read good book weather,
but where was I, intrepid camptarded bassmaster? Camping on a Bass lake...no trailer - freezing my ass off.

Arrived - set up camp..
Two hits on the frog...no hookups. Second one a good sized Largemouth Bass...DAMN!
moved 50 yards left - WHAMO!~ brought that nice 2+ pounder through the water shield pro style.
Preserved my string of Bass fishing days with a catch.
Cold cold night ... good morning camp coffee (7AM per Catbird).

Bluebird skies, monster baropressure. Nothin doin

I'm waiting out 3PM when the water is warming
Make my way around the far side on the lake...more nuthins

Walk up to spot with a deeper hole near the shore, a 2 ponder swirls out of a clearing between the pads.
I toss the PadCrasher just beyond and easy er back through - BAMM!
Clean miss - but I know that baby is there and hungry fer frog.
Toss er back - WHAMO ! Feel the weight and set the hook hard.

10 seconds later that Bass is being admired and released.

Streak alive at 123 days without skunking back to mid May '23.

BassMaster stuff, peeple.

 

[The New Holliday]

Go figure…

Is Tilapia popular in the US?

Tilapia has become one of the most popular and common whitefishes in the United States. In fact, on average, we each eat about a pound of tilapia every year! Environmentally sustainable tilapia can be tough to come by, but tilapia lovers should not despair!

Tilapia is an inexpensive, mild-flavored fish. It is the fourth most commonly consumed type of seafood in the United States. Many people love tilapia because it is relatively affordable and doesn't taste very fishy.

Also a verified toxic waste bin which is why health conscious pescatarians won't touch it.

 

[Breakfall]

Okay, Fishing Fans (which I capitalize in reverence)
It was a very tough test of Bassing prowess.

First days of September, that transitional time between Summer and Autumn when fish are scattered.
..but not only....this behind a cold front, high skies, very high barometric pressure up to 30.43 mm hg. Stay home read good book weather,
but where was I, intrepid camptarded bassmaster? Camping on a Bass lake...no trailer - freezing my ass off.

Arrived - set up camp..
Two hits on the frog...no hookups. Second one a good sized Largemouth Bass...DAMN!
moved 50 yards left - WHAMO!~ brought that nice 2+ pounder through the water shield pro style.
Preserved my string of Bass fishing days with a catch.
Cold cold night ... good morning camp coffee (7AM per Catbird).

Bluebird skies, monster baropressure. Nothin doin

I'm waiting out 3PM when the water is warming
Make my way around the far side on the lake...more nuthins

Walk up to spot with a deeper hole near the shore, a 2 ponder swirls out of a clearing between the pads.
I toss the PadCrasher just beyond and easy er back through - BAMM!
Clean miss - but I know that baby is there and hungry fer frog.
Toss er back - WHAMO ! Feel the weight and set the hook hard.

10 seconds later that Bass is being admired and released.

Streak alive at 123 days without skunking back to mid May '23.

BassMaster stuff, peeple.

When all else fails…this is still the #1 bait for bass!