ICAST is the vehicle for participating manufacturers to release news and information regarding planned products for the upcoming year. Many of the representatives of these manufacturers are also affiliated with other companies who have something in the works but weren’t quite ready in time to participate in the big event.
Many of these individuals have befriended us and can’t wait to see us at this or any other show so that they can give us a peak at what’s in the works. 90% of these peaks are off the record so we can’t share them with all of you until it is safe for the manufacturer in question to release said information.
This past year, we got a peak at a couple of items that we are free to share…
Coming soon from Bass Patrol - a swiveling hook jighead
This head will be released in multiple colors
Progress is quick with this new Bass Patrol offering. Just days before ICAST, we received a spy-cam image of the prototype for this jighead – unfinished and with a generic brand hook. At ICAST we were shown these intricate, finished colors and the heads featured what looked to be hooks by Gamakatsu. The last detail is still under negotiations, but that’s how quickly things are progressing. There’s no official release date but at this rate, we expect to see this product very soon on tackle store shelves and pegboards…. stay tuned.
For this next item, all we are allowed to share is the photo… no explanation of what to expect, and no explanation of when. Just look and develop your own conclusions:
what makes this product exciting? we know, but we can't tell you.
Stay tuned as we sift through more photos in an effort to bring you the unofficial word from this year’s ICAST.
TackleTour is in full ICAST mode as we are set to depart in just four short days to Las Vegas where we’ll be be pounding the showroom floor and our keyboards enroute to bringing you the best coverage we possibly can. Even with North America’s biggest tackle show of the year less than a week away, product continues to appear at TT headquarters as manufacturers compete for our time and attention.
Less than a month ago, we brought you our review of Paycheck Bait’s versatile Punch Skirt and just this morning, we received a box of new product from this aggressive young company, but are any of these items as exciting as their debut product?
Repo Man: It’s no secret that PayCheck Baits has garnered the rights to most all of the former Reaction Innovations non-soft bait products. First it was the flipping hook, now it’s the topwater bait. That’s right, the Vixen is back, but it’s undergone a gender change and is now known as the Repo Man. Packed with VMC hooks and available in six different colors, the Repo Man is shipping to retailers now with an MSRP of $16.99.
Baby Blue
Dead Man Walking
Blow Up
Sweaty Betty
Bone Crusher
Drag Stripper
Punch Stop: Finally, the punch stops are ready. These stops are larger than those Bub Tosh showed us during our on the water introduction to his product last July, and they appear significant enough to where you will not need to double stop your tungsten weight. If it ever warms up enough here in Northern California, we’ll be sure to verify, but it looks like the production version of the Punch Stop can handle stopping duties solo. The Punch Stop is shipping to stores immediately and retails for $3.99 per pack of 10 individual stops.
The Punch Stops Are Ready
And will retail for 3.99 per pack
Rubber Skirts: The answer to our first question of whether or not there was anything in the box as exciting as their debut product can be answered with a “yes!”. Although technically this last item is merely an enhancement of the original Punch Skirt, the fact that the Punch Skirt is now available in living rubber is pretty exciting. There are two colors, Nasty Nate (black), and Dirty Money (brown) and right out of the package, these skirts flare much more actively than their silicone counterparts -- a prelude to the same added bulk and pulsing action jigs made out of this same material have over the same silicone skirt counterparts. The new Round Rubber Punch Skirts are also shipping to stores now and will sell for $3.99 per two pack.
Rubber Punch Skirts!
These are a lot livelier than the silicone version
And just a tad larger too
But hang on, there is “One” more bait coming… Bub promises to show us this bait at ICAST. In fact, when we announced our “Search For One” theme this year, Bub must have been paying attention because this new bait is appropriately named “The One”. Any guesses as to what it might be? Well, if you paid attention to last year’s preview, you’ll remember there was one prototype bait Zander was throwing and got mugged with. Do you remember? Well, here’s a reminder:
At about 4:15pm Pacific Daylight Time, a little over six hours ago, what most people anywhere near Clear Lake already knew became official: Byron Velvick had won the 2010 Golden State Shootout on Clear Lake. The California Native brought the trophy home in exciting wire-to-wire fashion. Of course, what our readers care about most may not necessarily be the fact that Velvick took home the prize, but rather, what new and yet to be released tackle was he using?
Already reported last night on TackleTour.com was the bait Velvick was using to build on his lead, the brand new Rago BV (Byron Velvick) 3D hitch bait designed specifically for Clear Lake by Velvick and Jerry Rago. In fact, we previewed this bait back in October of 2009: http://www.tackletour.com/previewragobassjam.html
Today, we caught up with Velvick after he signed his last autograph and the crowds had cleared for an up close look at his new rods, the Duckett Fishing Micro Magic sticks. Here now is an exclusive first peak at what’s brewing over at Duckett Fishing!
Introducing Duckett Fishing's Micro Magic Sticks
Each stick will feature an exposed blank reel seat, no foregrip, and split rear grip
Speculation was for a split reel seat similar to Duckett's former rod sponsor, e21, but instead, Duckett's new sticks will feature a standard, exposed blank seat
Cork is the material of choice for the split rear grip
Custom accent rings adorn the rod as well
But of course the big news comes in a very small package ...
Micro Guides
Congratulations Byron Velvick on an incredible job swinging for the fences and delivering!
The talk of the weigh-in by all the pros was the swimbait bite, but what will interest our readers the most is what we just showed you, Velvick’s new magic wand built by Boyd Duckett and Ken Whiting, founders of Duckett Fishing. He may not have been using these sticks exclusively, afterall, the new Micro Magic swimbait sticks are still in prototype stages, but Velvick tells us the rods are very close to completion.
It’s good that I had my latest Pixzilla project or I would have been another victim of the winter doldrums. You got it, a long-cold spell …the water froze early last year but the ice hasn’t been suitable for any serious fishing. I’ve read all the books that I can stand, and surfing the net doesn’t help either.
At times, it almost seems like I spend more time shoveling snow than in my workshop, regardless of what my wife says about it. I’ve already got most of my rods, reels and other tackle ready for the new season; but it’s still too cold to get serious about the boats. I’m chomping at the bit to hit the water with my latest addition to the arsenal.
So, lets spend some time looking at my new custom +R tuned Pixy. Along the way we’ll cover some things like getting a reel painted, doing a smoothdrag.com drag kit upgrade, +R tuning a Pixy spool, and a few other goodies. Of course, there will be plenty of pictures, tips and lots of detail for those considering similar upgrades. An Aside: Little did I know when I started planning in November that the Pixy project would end up being my answer to the new Daiwa PX68. It’s expected to hit the shelves in a few more weeks!
Oh By The Way: Yes, that’s snow and ice in the background of some pictures, it was just starting to flurry when I took them. You didn’t think I’d let you get away without sharing some of it?
Background
Come-on, get real;how can you make a Pixzilla any better?!? It already approaches perfection for lighter presentations, and excels at pitching and casting a wide-range of lure weights. It’s no wonder that I have many of them now; they are fun to use, don’t hardly weigh anything, and the profile is easy for my crippled old hands to palm. If you’re a modder, there’s plenty to tinker with too! A Note: A stock Pixy is no slouch, many users outside of TackleTour have never heard of a Pixzilla! Just try buying a NIB LH Pixy – they don’t come up that often. However, if you are patient you can snag a used one! That’s exactly what I did, so read on…
I love pitching, roll casting and side-arming a Zoom Lil-Crit for smallmouth and can never seem to get enough of it! Most of the time I use them weightless on a light #1 bass hook rigged weed less. But sometimes I’ll put a 1/64 to 1/16 oz bullet sinker above the hook when in a little deeper water, pitching to specific weed openings in the wind, or as the smallmouth just begin to move in for the coming spawn. In early winter, I’ll even use them on sharper drop-offs near deep water; for some reason a smallmouth can’t resist that super-slow natural fall! Unfortunately, if you’ve ever pitched or cast a Zoom Lil-Crit this way you already know what I’m talking about – everything together doesn’t weigh more than 1/8 oz., and has about the same aerodynamic characteristics as a cotton ball!A Note: Although the Pixzilla does a fair job with the right rod, line and reel adjustment; I still wanted a little more. Remember my previous blog about always wanting to crank everything I can out of a reel? Well, here’s another example! Enough said for now.
~3” green pumpkin Zoom Lil-Crit TR with 1/32 oz bullet weight.
I’ve grown addicted to swept 4-bearing handles; they seem to be so much easier on my wrist, although I really don’t have a preference in carbon vs. aluminum. I also like the feel of Reel Grips and have them on all of my reels, especially since the profile seems to work better with my fingers. (O.K. you guys can laugh, I even use them on handles that have cork knobs!) Then you have the level wind upgrade; swapping the bushing for a new bearing and a small spacer sleeve, for better level wind performance and line lay. Of course, how could you ever have a Pixzilla without a Carbontex drag upgrade? And what about upgraded spool bearings and polishing a few key components in the reel; you already know where I stand on them if you’ve followed my blogs. Last but not least, I like a stealthy look. An Aside: Maybe I’m getting a little finicky in my old age, but I occasionally get wild with a bit of bling at times. O.K. I admit it, red shad has always been one of my favorite color schemes; and if there is black/green/white sparkles’ mixed in with the black it really catches my attention. Hey, red shad is kinda-sorta stealthy, isn’t it?A Note: I decided not to do the standard TD-Z level wind line guide mod as I was reassembling the reel. I’ve never really noticed much difference with or without it – so I stayed with the standard Pixy guide. (I admit that I typically use lighter and more-supple types of line, and suspect that is probably why the longer line opening hasn’t been much of a factor.) So, I’ve slowly started to migrate back to a stock guide in my Pixies anyway.
So there you have it, my specifications for the make-over. A Blog Note: I don’t intend to cover much of the “hands-on” side of the reel make-over, except for the drag upgrade. Instead, I’ll focus on things from a higher level – besides I’ve got other blogs that get into much of the actual detail. There’s even more information in the Maintenance Section of the TackleTour forum.
Custom Paint Preps
Although the Pixy I purchased had a little boat rash on each side plate and the frame, it was lightly used and in excellent mechanical condition. So, how could I have a new “Super Pixzilla”, without a custom paint job? Fortunately, if you’ve been around TackleTour, it doesn’t take long before you hear and see the reels that Calfish has painted! I drool all over my keyboard every time I see them.
Red shad color in winter sunlight!
Let me start by saying that Calfish did an excellent job on painting the reel, it exceeded my expectations:
All different parts of the reel are the same shade, depth and glossy finish. Nothing that was painted appears abnormal or out of place and everything looks better than any stock reel I’ve seen. It was obvious that plenty of time, attention to detail, etc. was put in to the painting.
The finish cured extremely hard and really shines! Smudges and fingerprints, wipe off easily with a very light spray of Eagle One Nanowax and a micro-fiber rag. There were no chips or scratches after I reassembled the reel.
You could tell that he put a lot of effort into controlling overspray, taping and ensuring that excess paint did not affect how the spool fits in the frame and mounting of other components.
There were no runs or missed spots, or hint of blemishes from the original boat rash.
Periodic communications throughout the process kept me up to date on the status.
An Aside: The pictures of the reel just don’t do his work justice, the dark red plates and contrasting black frame are hard to capture with a camera, and especially during a cold and snowy winter day. They become very vibrant in direct light and you can see tiny sparkles and depth within the paint. However, the colors gradually change to a deeper and darker shade in reduced light – almost becoming dark maroon and stunning black in the process. Both the red shad and stealth look I was hoping for!
Indirect light gives a stealthy-red look!
You’ll need to disassemble the entire reel before you send the parts to Calfish. Everything! So in the case of a Pixy, don’t forget to: remove the clutch lever plates from the frame; the A/R bearing, tension o-ring and white spring plate from the handle plate; and the adjustment knob when you remove the other magnetic braking components from the palm plate. I only point this out because these components seldom get removed in normal situations. (You’ll also want to store them in a safe location after you remove them, along with the rest of the reel parts!)
A Tip: If you’ve never removed an A/R bearing from a Daiwa handle plate, stand-by! Sometimes they will just slide out of the socket in the plate with little effort, and it isn’t a big deal. However, most of the time they are pressed-in and getting them out is more challenging. Occasionally they are pressed-in along with epoxy – and things can be a major challenge. Search the Maintenance Section of the TackleTour forum if you encounter the last two cases and need help!
A Big Note: If you don’t have the skills, tools or desire to completely disassemble and reassemble the reel, you can have it done by a reel tech. Review the posts on TackleTour to find techs that have worked closely with Calfish in delivering a completed reel. (You’ll find them mentioned in the Show and Tell or the Maintenance Section of the forum.) It’s a great way to get to the same point, and there’s nothing wrong with this approach (although it costs a bit more). Another Note: When you send the parts you’ll also need to include the spool and the spool bearing that is pinned to it. Calfish will ensure that the sides of the spool are not affected by any paint on the frame!
You’ll probably want to clean and inspect the parts before you send them for painting. I used a small tooth brush and a 20:1 dilute solution of Simple Green to scrub the parts, warm tap water for periodic soaks, and finished by rinsing them off with distilled water. Once the front plate, both side plates and frame were dry I wrapped them in bubble wrap before boxing them up.
Stealth and red shad in mixed light!
I knew Calfish was going to be busy painting reels for other forum members this time of year; something I’ve followed on TackleTour for a couple seasons now. I was a little surprised that the parts came back about 6 weeks after sending them to him. There was still plenty of time to get a new handle, prepare other parts, etc., and even modify/test a Pixy spool with +R tuned braking components. There was always something to tinker with, and getting things ready was a good distraction during the blizzards that left us snowbound in part of January!
Custom Paint Reassembly
Swept IZE 4-bearing 80mm handle.
I had planned on dealing with the effects of paint long before I ever sent the parts to Calfish for painting. Let’s face it, the spray and thickness of paint can be enough to affect the fit, mating, precision and even performance of reel components. [Also one of the reasons you need to be careful when painting a reel!] For example, the thickness of a coating can affect how one part matches and mounts with another. A run or little bit of paint in the wrong location can affect alignment or precision. In the case of threaded holes, overspray can affect how fasteners travel and torque components together. Bearing sockets present a unique situation; in extreme cases paint might prevent the bearing from even being mounted, or could adversely affect the bearings radial clearance if it can.
On the other hand, how can you really ensure adequate coverage and that chipping/ cracking won’t occur around an opening, unless you actually overspray a small part of it? An interesting dilemma and an age old problem involving two extremes, and one that coating and manufacturing engineers address all the time! So, I planned on dealing with the affects of paint ahead of time, simply because it should be expected.A Tip: I discussed removing excess paint with Calfish and he suggested that Acetone or other similar solvents not be used to remove any paint or paint residue near/in screw holes, etc.
A small bit of paint needed to be removed from the inside wall of
the bearing socket. The paint runs between the arrow tips.
When I got the parts back I checked them for paint that had to be removed before reassembling the reel. Calfish did a great job of taping and controlling excess overspray, so there wasn’t much I had to do in that regard. Thanks Calfish for making my project so much easier:
The previous picture shows a small amount of extra paint between the arrow tips, on the inside wall of the drive shaft outer bearing socket. It obviously affected installing the bearing and was relatively thick. So, I lightly scraped it off the wall with a dull knife tip, blew the chips out with a little compressed air and wiped the socket out with a q-tip dampened in a little water. A Note: The rest of the paint on the front of the bearing socket should not be removed; it has no affect on alignment, the bearing or other components, and is not visible when the reel is reassembled.
The bottom red arrow in the picture below shows the hole where the level wind guard mounts in the palm plate side of frame. The paint was just a little too thick on the inside edge to allow the guard to pass through the hole. So I wrapped a small strip of 600 Wet and Dry sand paper around a ¼” dowel and lightly removed a small amount of paint on the inside edge – just enough to allow the guard to pass through. I don’t think it took more than a half-dozen light strokes with the paper to get what I needed.
The remaining arrows in the picture below show threaded holes in the frame for the handle plate, level wind stabilizing bar, etc. When I checked them with the screw that goes in each hole, I found two that needed to be cleared. I used a very small pick to carefully remove paint in the threads, then blew the holes with compressed air and rinsed them out with fresh water. I also found that the threaded hole for the palm plate locking screw had a little paint in the threads that also needed to be removed. So, I used the same method to clean up that hole. I finished by running a spare palm plate locking screw coated with a very thin film of oil in-and-out several times, to ensure travel was smooth and not impeded (see the previous picture).
Frame openings where paint might affect reassembly. Most are
threaded holes for plates and the level wind stabilizer bar.
I really didn’t have any surprises while reassembling the reel and everything went together the way I expected. I did put a very-light film of grease on the threads of screws that tighten in the frame; something that I typically do anyway during an annual clean/inspect to preclude fretting. You might want to consider doing the same after having a frame painted, but there’s no need to get carried away with the grease when you do it.
Level Wind Upgrade
Stock bushing shown on Pixy level wind worm (bottom),
has been replaced with a small collar and bearing (top).
The Daiwa level wind upgrade has been around for several years now and I automatically do it on a new reel when required. I recently touched on it, about half-way through my Level Wind Fundamentals blog.
Some Daiwa low profile reels have a bushing under the level wind gear as shown in the bottom of the previous picture, and it’s possible to replace the bushing with a 4×8x2.5 mm bearing and a 5×6x2 mm collar (top of the picture). You’ll need ball bearing (part 39) F05-5601 from the TD-Z103H/105H and worm shaft collar (part 40) G01-0701 from the TD-Z 103, to complete the modification and improve level wind performance.
However, in the case of my Pixy project, I recognized that the new collar dimensions could be affected by the painting. Simply put, the added thickness of the new paint on the frame would likely require that I customize the collar under the level wind gear. So I decided to modify the original stock Pixy bushing to make it work, and would adjust its thickness for precise fit. A Note: Little did I know at the time, that Daiwa US didn’t have any collars in stock, so that was probably a good choice anyway! An Aside: Unfortunately a lot of forum members are still looking for collars and have level wind upgrades on hold. Oh By The Way: I’ve never had a problem getting a replacement bushing collar from Daiwa, like the one found in a stock Sol, Fuego, Viento, Pixy, etc. For instance, worm shaft holder (part 40) G41-7801 from a Sol never seems to be out of stock when I’ve ordered them. So, the information in the next couple of paragraphs may be an option…
Making Your Own Collar
Most of the 4x8mm end of the stock Pixy bushing collar needs to be removed to make the new collar. The good news is that the material is not that hard or brittle, and is very easy to work.
I’ve cut them almost all the way down (~2.5mm), with a razor-sharp contractor’s knife and even a Dremel wheel in the past, and filed them the rest of the way to square them up and get the correct thickness. DR on the forum has even used a belt sander to sand them down, and he’s made a jig to hold them while doing it. I even recall one forum member who filed the whole thing down to make a new collar! So, there are several ways to do it.
You can square and finish them up to the correct thickness with a piece of 600# Wet and Dry sandpaper, fine file, or even an Emory board borrowed for your significant other. A replacement collar from Daiwa is 2mm thick, but you can even leave it .1 or .2 mm longer for a custom fit – to remove the last bit of axial play from the worm gear as the pinion switches tapers.
A Test: In the case of my Pixy Project, the exact thickness of the collar ended up being 1.89mm, a little smaller than the standard 2mm because of the paint. It only required 42 passes on a sheet of 400 and 6 passes on a sheet of 600 Wet and Dry to make make the new collar — and took all of 3-1/2 minutes to do it (including the 2 checks with the level wind worm and bearing in the frame)! So stop waiting for Daiwa to get them back in stock and make your own — chances are you’ll spend 10x that long on the phone ordering one.
Tuning a New IZE Handle
One of the first things I did was to fine-tune the new IZE 80mm carbon handle that I got from Plat. The knobs I used were from a brand new TD-Advantage-153HSTA. Unfortunately, I didn’t like the fit when you mounted them with the usual washer(s) beneath the bottom bearing on each post. One washer was not thick enough, and the ~.13mm axial slop in the knob resulted in a noticeable click when you cranked a reel. Yet 2 washers were too thick, and the knob would bind depending on how far you tightened the knob screw. So I sanded one of the washers under each knob to achieve just the right fit, using 600 then and 1200 Wet and Dry paper. I lubricated all knob bearings with Xtreme Reel+, a dry lubricant that I’m testing again this season.
A Big Tip: If you are faced with the same situation, resist the urge to reduce the length of the handle post in an attempt to get a better fit with your knobs. Not only will you kill the resale value of the handle, it can create other problems down the road. For instance, you probably won’t be able to use it with any other type of knobs, and the debris that gets inside the post is almost impossible to remove and might cause a knob screw to seize!
Polishing and Tuning
I also did a little polishing and tuning on a few key parts. Something I’ve done on all of my low profile Daiwas now. I’ll even do it on a new reel, once I’ve checked it out. It feels so good afterward!
You can use my Polishing the Sol article to improve the way the reel disengages/reengages, provide a little better spool tension adjustment, and even reduce some spool noise that might otherwise occur while casting or retrieving.
A Tip: There’s no need to get carried away with the polishing!
Pixy Drag Kit Mod
Background
The stock Pixy has a drag stack that consists of a heavy top key washer, thick composite friction washer and an eared stainless steel washer that fits in the bottom of the drive gear. When new, the stock drag delivers about 3 to 4# of break-away pull, but running pull can be up to 1# less (especially after use). In addition, should the stack get contaminated with oil, grease or water; the running pull can become erratic and the stack may even stutter, and/or break-away pull can become non-repeatable from pull-to-pull. You’ll find more information about break-away and running drag in my previous Reel Drag Basics blog.
About 4 years ago, some TackleTour forum members began testing various Pixy drag upgrades using multiple Carbontex and metal drag washers. If you are curious, you can find posts about them in the Maintenance Section of the old TackleTour forum; just go there and use “Pixy drag” for search terms. However, you can find a summary of the designs in the Sticky Post at the top of the forum. Most of the drag mods were somewhat complicated; requiring parts from other reels, specific reel measurements and even cutting a new drive shaft collar. However, they worked very well and eliminated the previously described problems.
Smoothdrag.com began supplying a drag kit that includes polished stainless steel and Carbontex washers that drop right into the Pixy. Everything you need to do a drag upgrade is included in the kit, except maybe a little Cal’s Grease (I’ll get to it in a few paragraphs). A Pixy drag upgrade became so much simpler and easier after that!
Details
I get a lot of PM’s and email from Pixy owners who are interested in a Pixy drag upgrade or have questions about the smoothdrag.com kit. It’s also a common topic in the Maintenance Section of the forum. So, I thought I’d provide a little more detail about it, since I used the kit for my custom Pixzilla – and suggest you do the same. Thanks Dawn!
A Note and Tip: Many reel techs will also install the kit when they work on your reel, it has become that popular! Most can do it during an annual clean and inspect -- Hint, hint!
When you use the kit you will still need to use the stock eared washer that fits in the bottom of the drive gear. However, you won’t use the stock top key washer and Teflon composite washer shown above.
Smoothdrag.com Pixy Drag Kit showing the new configuration.
When you get the kit you’ll notice that there are different polished metal washers and Carbontex washers, they will need to be installed in a specific order to complete the modification. The previous picture shows the correct arrangement, starting from the drive gear and working upward:
The stock ear washer that was in the Pixy, gets re-used,
One of the new larger i.d. Carbontex washers goes above it,
One of the new metal key washers goes above that,
The other new larger i.d. Carbontex washers goes above that,
The new eared metal key washer goes about that,
The new smaller i.d. Carbontex washer goes above that, and
The other new key washer goes on top of the stack, directly under the drive shaft collar.
You’ll want to clean the new metal and Carbontex washers before you install them, to remove any residue, lubricant, etc. I suggest using a little Lighter Fluid (Naphtha), in a sealed glass jar to do the cleaning. Just drop them in ~1/4” of the fluid and put the lid on the jar. Periodically swirl them and let them soak for a total of 10 minutes or so, to loosen and lift carbon residue from the woven fiber washers.
A Safety Note: Be sure to exercise appropriate precautions for handling and using a solvent (adequate ventilation, fire hazard, no sparks or open flame in the area, etc.). You’ll find more on safety precautions in my Tool Time blog.
A Tip: You can clean the washers the same during the annual clean/inspect at the end of the season. However, it might take a little longer, especially if you’ve used drag grease on the washers.
Remove the washers and allow them to dry after cleaning. I like to lay them out on a clean lint-free terry cloth towel to dry in the air. A Tip: The solvent on the Carbontex washers may appear to evaporate sooner than on the metal washers. Unfortunately, the weave inside the washer can still hold a lot of solvent in it. So don’t get in too big a hurry applying drag grease on them; if you intend to use drag grease on your Carbontex washers. [You’ll work drag grease into the fiber, and any solvent still within the fiber can immediately break it down. YIKES!]
Drag Grease
“To use drag grease or not to use drag grease?” a question I get a lot on the forum. I prefer to use it because break-away drag seems to be closer to running drag and pull tends to be more consistent from pull to pull. In addition, the drag doesn’t seem to be nearly affected by “a good dunking” (yes accidents do occasionally happen), or a major “gully washer.” If you are a salt water anger or fish in brackish water the grease might help mitigate fouling of the stack.
On the other hand, top-end drag may be slightly less with drag grease (maybe ¼# or so, depending on the reel), and there is a little initial cost to get the grease.
So, some prefer the advantages of drag grease (called a wet drag), and others prefer to run them dry (called a dry drag). In the end, the choice is entirely yours.
Drag grease is different than the other grease used in a reel, although it still contains filler and lubricants:
The filler holds and disperses the lubricant like in conventional reel grease. However, drag grease filler doesn’t break down until very high temperature, when compared to other grease fillers. In addition, the filler tends to insulate and protect lubricant molecules more than other fillers, from the heat developed by friction.
The most important part of the lubricant consists of macro-molecules [or micro-particles] of a PTFE (Teflon). The macro-molecules are extremely long, chemically neutral and very strong – they will not breakdown or be penetrated like film lubricant molecules. In addition, the molecules form layers which move against each other, so shear becomes more directly related to the compression force on them (a very desirable characteristic for a drag brake).
The rest of the lubricant typically contains a synthetic oil for carrying the PTFE molecules. It also often includes anti-oxidants, protectants and anti-coagulants; which improve the stability of the filler, and helps disperse and replenish PTFE molecules as they expend.
A Note: Strange things can happen if drag grease gets mixed with conventional reel grease and exposed to the conditions under the handle plate. Simply put, the results are unpredictable; it can glob like the curds in cottage cheese, can turn the surface of metals black, and even affect the ability of the conventional grease to adhere on gear teeth. If fresh water or saltwater gets thrown in with the mix, it can even turn dry and crusty when things finally dry out, or may retain moisture so algae will grow on/in the mix. Lastly, it may just do nothing but turn a little different color. Yep, that sounds like unpredictable….
Drag Grease Summary: So, the way the Teflon lubricant molecules shear in layers, how they behave under compression and the characteristics of the filler are what really distinguish drag grease from conventional reel grease. A Tip: I don’t necessarily recommend trying to use conventional reel grease in lieu of drag grease in a drag stack. It usually doesn’t last nearly as long and the drag stack can get sticky and inconsistent during use. Just my take after trying it a couple times; they were an emergency, honest!
A Side Note: The processes involved with PTFE types of solid lubricants and woven carbon fiber are very complicated, and I’ve taken the liberty of being brief.
Cal’s Grease, Shimano drag grease (ACE grease) and a few others can be used on your Carbontex washers (or other wet drag washers). I prefer Cal’s because it’s a little cheaper and easier to obtain, but have found that they all generally perform about the same. The color and consistency of Cal’s reminds me of smooth peanut butter; you can get it from smoothdrag.com and it comes in a 1 oz. or 1# container. [A 1 oz container will last most anglers a lifetime!]
Once the washers are dry after cleaning, I just work a small dab of Cal’s Grease into the surface with a finger and thumb. I like to ensure the grease actually gets inside the weave on both sides of the fiber because performance seems to last longer – but there is no need to get carried away with the grease. More is not necessarily better …read on!
Excess grease will get compressed out of the stack and can splatter under the handle plate, find its way to the teeth on the drive gear and mix with other grease (BAD!), etc. So, I typically squeeze the washer between my finger and thumb and rotate it to remove excess grease.
A Tip: A good rule of thumb for a bass reel is to only leave enough grease on the washers; so that if you touch them, you leave a finger print on them. (See the previous picture.) A Note: If you do decide to go with a lot more drag grease, make sure you know there won’t be undesired results should it find its way to the other grease in the reel. Some anglers might actually do this, to mitigate the effects of saltwater intrusion on the stack.
+R Tuned Pixy Spool
Background
I briefly mentioned the possibility of a +R tuned Pixy spool, toward the end of my Inside The Daiwa Spool blog back in November. That’s about the time that I started planning my Pixy project, so it was a teaser for what was to come. However, I seriously thought about not even posting anything about it in this blog, figuring there just wasn’t a lot of interest. However, I admit you need to be a hard-core spool modder to want to go this route, and maybe it’s a bit much for most or involves more risk than they want to assume.
I’ve been running a couple TD-X’s and S’s without any braking components on the spool for a few years now, primarily using my thumb to control overrun. I still have them; just don’t use them as much anymore, because I don’t cast/pitch/flip the heavier stuff that often.
I also learned long ago, that trying to do the same with very light presentations like a Zoom Lil-Crit, just won’t work – even with the lightest of spools like the Pixy and my Presso rod. There just isn’t enough momentum from the lure and spool to handle much feathering on the spool, and when you do, things get extremely critical. [A Confession: O.K. I admit it, my thumb just isn’t nimble enough to pitch a 1/8 oz piece of popcorn tied onto the end of my line, while only using my thumb to control overrun! Whew, I feel a lot better now that that’s out in the open.] When you try, distance and accuracy are all over the spectrum, overrun is just too hard to control, and any wind turns a bad situation into “worser-than-worse.”
So it didn’t take me long to realize that I had reached the point where man and his “well trained thumb” could no longer perform as well or as quickly as machine…. I would need a little bit of variable magnetic braking for my latest Pixy project!
You can go back and review my earlier blogs for more insight:
It’s possible to swap the +R tuned Magforce V braking components from another spool, over to the Pixy spool for improved pitching performance. In fact, there are other changes you can make to +R components to fine-tune the spool braking response even more – if that’s what you want to do. (Maybe I’ll get into them someday.) I decided to use most of the braking components from a TD-Z +R spool. An Aside: Yes, you’ve seen this spool before in a couple of my previous blogs!
I already covered how to remove and reinstall Daiwa Magforce V and Z braking components in my Inside the Daiwa Spool blog. You can use the process, tools and tips from the blog; just be careful and pay attention to what you are doing, since you can damage a spool in the process!
To make a long story short, you’ll want to use the +R inductor and tabs, but the stock Pixy braking spring. A Note: It’s hard to make out in the previous picture; but the Pixy spring is a little longer, yet it doesn’t take quite as much compression force to compress it and the compression rate is not the same as the +R spring. So, you’ll just have to take my word for it; you’ll get a little bit better +R performance for the lighter presentations, with the longer spring. An Aside: Again, maybe I’ll blog about this sometime later.
+R modified Pixy spool (left) and stock Pixy spool (right). Notice
the difference in inductors, and how the stock inductor fits into the magnets a bit further, when compared to the +R.
It’s easy to see the difference between the +R inductor and the stock Pixy inductor in the previous picture. But also note how much further the stock inductor sticks into the braking magnets at spool start-up. (Use the collar on the left spool shaft to see the ~.8mm difference on the right.) Less braking would occur at spool start-up with the +R spool for both reasons. Remember that braking torque increases when more of the inductor is exposed to magnetic lines of force and the closer the inductor is to the magnets? See my Exploring Magnetic Brakes blog for more information.
Trivia: The braking tabs also have a little different mass and length; so the effect from different momentum and distance they travel, will also affect the rate at which braking is applied as the spool accelerates and decelerates. Sound complicated? Trust me it is….
I actually went through a couple different iterations to get the exact braking response I was looking for with my Lil-Crits. I tested braking response after each change by making numerous pitches and casts, and even did a some bench testing. You may have seen this already, since I posted it on the forum; Prototyping Tuned Pixy Spool. But here’s a video of a Magforce V braking system in action, the red light on the bottom of the spool is from a laser tachometer. It’s one of the tools I use to collect data when prototyping a spool. Notice how the braking inductor responds with varying spool speed – similar to what would occur during a cast.
By the Way: In case you were going to ask; no, you can not put a Magforce Z braking system into a Pixy spool. You need to stay with Magforce V because the tabs run on the side of the tapered spool and there isn’t enough room.
Wrap-Up
I wrapped things up by dropping a set of higher precision spool bearings into the reel. I’ll have more about them later… and that’s all I’m saying for now! But as far as casting and pitching crits, I’ll just say SWEET!!!
So there you have it… my winter +R Tuned Pixy Project. Hopefully you’ll find the information useful, much of it will apply to other reel models!
It was a good project for fighting off cabin fever, but now that it’s done I’m itching to get it on the water!
Like Always: I’m not associated with anyone or any products mentioned in this blog.
Penn® International® Big Game Series reels own the blue water. From the 2-speed Penn International VS and VSX series, to the single speed VW series, Penn produces the most recognizable and popular saltwater reels on today’s market.
Just like the International reels themselves, anglers like to have a look all their own. Penn has heard the calls and beginning January 1, 2010 Penn will offer select International reels that are customized for each angler or fishing vessel.
Personalization of the Penn International reels begins with 7 custom-tailored colors including tournament pink, American blue, American red, solid black, gun smoke, International silver and International gold. Anglers can choose these colors to decorate their entire reel or mix it up by adding a second custom color to the reel. (International Gold isn’t really a custom color)
All Penn International V Series Big Game reels consist of four separate parts consisting of the sideplates, frame, drag lever knob, and spool that can be anodized different colors to match any style. Finally, anglers now have the option to customize Penn International reels to match any boat style.
Color coordination is not the only option an angler may choose. Now each Penn International reel may be engraved to truly tailor the reel. As a result Penn is proud to offer four popular gamefish and the American flag as custom engraving options and add a boat name or any other text to the sideplate. Each engraving will be sized proportionally for the left sideplate depending on the model purchased.
To place an order for a customized Penn International reel, anglers must contact one of the Penn Custom Shop retailers listed on www.PennCustomShop.com. When visiting these locations, anglers can make all the choices to have the reel customized by simply completing one form. The dealer will provide all the details for engravings, colors and word options, or feel free to browse the website to explore all the options. An angler’s retailer will also be able to give pricing for each option.
Models available for custom colors and custom engraving include the following Penn International Big Game reel series: International Two-speed reels, International Single-speed reels and International VSX series reels.
You may already be aware that the annual Southern California event held by Angler’s Marine, the Bass-A-Thon, is not being held this year. Last year was TackleTour’s first trip to that event and we were all prepped and ready to go again when we were informed in late August that it had been cancelled. Needless to say, we were disappointed.
But where one event is cancelled, the opportunity for another to rise and perhaps take its place arises, and that is exactly what is happening. That’s right, the folks at MonsterFishingTackle.com and Marine Unlimited have gotten together to create the inaugural Northern California equivelant of the Bass-A-Thon and have dubbed it, Bass Jam ‘09!
Following in the tradition of the former Southern California event, Bass Jam ‘09 already has confirmed several big bait manufacturers including Black Dog Baits, JSJ Baits, Rago Baits, Mattlures, AC Plugs, Tylure, and many more yet to be announced. Confirmed seminars will be held by the likes of Brent Ehrler, Ish Monroe, Cody Meyer, Jerry Rago, Bub Tosh, and Aaron Coleman, and this list is also not yet complete.
The event will be held at the future home of Outdoor Pro Shop and Monster Fishing Tackle at 412 Houser Street, Cotati, CA 94931. The dates are November 14-15, 2009. For more information on this event, visit http://www.bassjam09.com/.
In the meantime, you can be sure the TT boys are packing their bags in preparation to cover the event. See you there!
It’s official… one of these “fish” I’m holding up is now available for purchase at a special introductory price. Can you guess which one?
They are available in 4 different colors with three different sink rates. Normally a bait this detailed and this carefully built would retail for at least $80 if not over $100. But not this bait.
Any guesses as to the insane price of this lure? How about half a c-note?!?
Part 2 closed with the camera fully assembled and working.
Now its time for camouflage.Even though the case I purchased is camouflaged already, I typically build with black cases and camo them myself.I also don’t really like the camo patterns on cases since the cam is against a tree.It needs to look more like tree bark and not the woods in my opinion. I mask off the lens, PIR and flash holes with painters tape.Using Liquid Nails construction adhesive I create a 3D camo pattern on the case trying to mimic bark somewhat.Mostly I’m just trying to get a really irregular surface.Just goop it on and manipulate it with a small spatula.I also create smaller eyebrows out of Liquid Nails over the PIR and flash holes to help channel water away from the openings.I know some guys that go to the trouble of actually making a mold of real bark and then casting a skin of bark that they apply to the case.You can also drill holes for fake leaves, etc. I don’t get that carried away.
Ready for camo
Texturing
Texturing completed
The final step is the paint.I first start out by painting just my 3D camo in flat black.If it’s a black case I paint the entire case so that it becomes a non reflective surface.I build up layers of paint over the black so getting paint into the cracks of the 3D surface is important for depth.Using cardboard strips as maskers I will also paint on some random lines with tan paint.After the lines are on I mist tan, olive and brown paints over the surface.I also make sure I do several shots where I slowly and carefully push the nozzle down and make it spit.You get some nice specs of paint that way.I also try to concentrate mists in certain areas so the colors are on the blotchy side.Depending on if I feel the colors are too light or not, I may or may not mist more black over the surface to darken it.The camo pattern on this case was particularly light in my opinion so I also made sure to mist the edges to tone down the overall color.Finally, I spray flat gray paint onto a cardboard sheet and using a wide brush get the tips of the bristles wet with paint.I don’t want the bristles loaded, just wet.I then brush over the top of the 3D surface to get the paint to come off on all the high spots.The black saturates the lowest areas, the colors are visible in the majority of the surface, and the high spots of the 3D camo and case parts are a light gray.
Black base coat
Time to tone it down
Olive and brown mists
Gray highlights
All that is left to do is to get it to the woods.
All done
I hope you enjoyed the series. I have two more builds planned. An infrared cam and a radio frequency controlled cam. I’d like to get at least one of them built before October. So, keep your eyes peeled…
Part 1 ended with the gluing of fabricated items to the inside of the case.A camera shelf, a battery shelf, the control board mount, etc. Now for the next steps…
Using foam I pad the inside of the case that will contact the Sony.Not really for protection of the camera or anything like that but to get a seal around the lens and flash holes.With a camera inside a case, the flash can bounce around inside the case creating spots and lines across the photos.Keeping those two sealed from each other is very important.I also use an ordinary rubber band to hold the camera on the shelf.There is a hole drilled in the shelf and some eye bolts that have been bent open at the top of the case.Rubber bands are cheap, plentiful and easily replaced. Its an easy and effective way to hold the camera in place.
Camera foam
The next step I move on to is the wiring of the components in the case.I soldered two lengths of wire to the leads on the switch and covered them with shrink tube.With the switch installed I soldered my positive wire from the battery pack to the switch wire and the other switch wire to the positive lead on the control board.The negative leads from the board and battery pack were soldered together.A quick flip of the switch showed I had power.I also wired together my C-cell battery packs.And, since a 4-pack can not feed a 2-AA camera due to increased voltage, the wiring of the packs needed to be modified to effectively create four 2-packs.These were all wired in parallel and had one set of leads coming off for connection to the Sony.
Switch wiringExternal battery packs
Now its time for the tough part…hacking the Sony camera.Actually it isn’t all that difficult but the wires are small, the spaces are tight and a wrong move can ruin a camera.I needed to run five wires out of the camera to a servo connector.Three of the wires allow the circuit board to control the camera and two of the wires feed the rechargeable AA batteries inside the camera more juice.The camera is taken apart and wires are soldered to the internal battery contacts.On the opposite face of the camera guts a ribbon cable is soldered to the end of the other three wires.This ribbon cable will be inserted sandwiched with the factory ribbon cable into the plug that controls the camera.This allows the camera to be powered on and off and to activate the shutter remotely.The five wires were run to the outside of the case thru the DC power port.There was no need for that port so I chopped a hole thru it on the inside of the camera and ran all 5 of my wires out thru the port.The other thing I did while the camera was open was to disable the lens cover door of the camera.This does make some noise and after viewing thousands of photos and videos, I know that it is frequently heard by most animals.This is as simple as just pulling the shutter door motor plug out of its socket.Prior to cracking the case of the camera it needs to be powered up and the lens cover will open.Remove the batteries and the cover will remain open. After it is unplugged, it will stay open.The method I chose to use to connect the controller board to the camera was by using telephone line.A jack on the board accepts standard phone cable and the necessary wires from the phone cable were soldered to the servo connector.And finally my battery packs were soldered to the servo connector wires.
Power connections
Phone and power cables
All done...just tidy it up
After a trial run to ensure that everything was working properly, I stuffed the DC port with Marine Goop to act as a wire hold.I cleaned up all my wiring with small black zip ties.And I fabricated an “eyebrow” for the lens opening.I like having a hood over the lens as it acts like a sun shield to keep glare off the glass and it is of some help during rain and snow.
Lens and eyebrow
Just a few more steps to go and it will be ready for the woods.
It’s been a long time coming but as promised, I will chronicle my latest trail cam build.I’ll have to do this in a couple of segments.
This is a cam I’ve wanted to build for a couple of years now.I did my research and ordered all of my components quite some time ago.I typically don’t have a lot of time to do a build so good planning up front allows me to get the build done in just a couple days.I had a recent hole in my schedule and immediately filled it with doing this next cam.
I coined this cam my long term cam.This is the cam I can leave a long distance away from the road in the winter so I don’t have to check it every week in knee deep snow when its over a mile away.It’s the cam I can leave in the woods for the couple of summer months I hate being out there because of the heat, mosquitoes and deer flies.This cam will have an external set of batteries wired to the camera inside to provide enough juice that I think this could shoot three or four thousand flash photos over the course of a year without needing new batteries.
I chose to build this cam using the Sony P41 digital camera as its heart and sole.This is my favorite point and shoot camera for trail cams as it shutters its initial photo quite quickly, doesn’t have an extending lens, and has an excellent flash.The Pelican 1060 Micro Case is what I will use as the housing for everything.I normally use the 1040 but the extra batteries needed for this build require some more room than the 1040 offers.PixController’s Universal board is the board I chose.Regrettably, Pix no longer sells components to builders and only sells finished trail cams.I purchased a few boards before they ceased components sales.And for external camera power I decided on C-cell batteries as they just fit the case better.I honestly only need a few months worth of power so rather than jump up to a larger case for D-cells, I opted for the C’s and decided to use as many as would fit.
This battery set up is also a kind of “best of both worlds” scenario.NiMH rechargeable batteries have a quick recovery time so flash photos can be taken at a much quicker rate.They also hold their amps at a higher level and then suddenly dump so their life in digital devices can be much longer than alkaline batteries.Their drawback is that they loose roughly 1% of their charge daily, even without having a drain on them like photo taking.Alkaline batteries are slow to recover from flashes and slowly drop their amps and can quickly not have enough juice to power a camera, but still be fine for something less demanding like a remote control.The plus side of alkaline batteries is that they hold their charge for a long time when they aren’t being used and don’t drain away.This set up of having two AA NiMH batteries in the Sony and a bank of alkaline C-cells wired to them allows the quick recovery and high amps of NiMH and the longevity of alkaline.The alkaline batteries will keep the NiMH rechargeable batteries fully topped off with power.
For me, initial layout is critical.I’m not the kind of guy that can just start tossing stuff together and hope it turns out.I place all of my components into the case in the way I’d like to lay everything out.Then I sit and stare at it.I try to find fault and potential problems with my layout.There are things I really wound up disliking about my first couple of builds after I got them to the woods and I want to avoid those types of issues on anything I build now so looking for faults has become the best way to wind up happy when the cam hits the woods.I place everything in the case and try closing the lid, try changing batteries, try to pull the camera out of the case, etc.When a fault is found I do my best to find a solution or a better resolution.Often times completely redoing my layout.
I prefer a vertical format for a cam this large.Meaning the long dimension of the case will run up and down.It fits on trees and fence posts so much better.Due to the depth of the 1060, I felt it would be best if I mounted the camera to the lid of the case.To avoid the potential for a sniffing deer or a climbing squirrel to flip my external on/off switch, I decided to locate that on the bottom of the case.The controller board battery pack fit very nicely opposite the Sony.And I liked the eight C-cell batteries to the lower portion of the case so that the cam didn’t become top heavy.This layout just seemed to work best.
My first steps are usually to get all of the case modification chores done.I drill all the necessary holes for switches, eye bolts, mounting brackets, lens/flash/PIR holes.I also fabricate any shelves or brackets that will be needed.I have a supply of acrylic sheet from a previous life and I really favor using that material to create my shelves and other fixtures when ever possible.But it’s available at hobby stores and even some hardware stores.
Holes and mouting channel
Switch hole
Flash, lens and sensor holes
Control board
My next step is to start gluing all of those fabricated items in the case and to install any other hardware.Any penetration of the case is sealed with Marine Goop to provide a long lasting water tight seal.Many of my cameras stay in the woods 365 days a year.They endure 95° degree summer temps and -40° winter temps.Rain, hail, sleet, snow, etc.The cams see it all and being water tight is important.I glue down the lenses for the motion sensor (PIR) and the flash enhancer.I like to put UV filters over my lenses so I purchase a 25mm to 30mm step ring and glue that into the hole over the camera lens.I use eye bolts on the sides of my camera so that I can run a Python cable lock around the tree and thru the eye bolts to keep any potential trespassers from stealing my cam or even opening it to erase “evidence”.I also mount half of a sliding bracket to the back side of the case for mounting the cam to trees and posts.And for this build I fabricated shelves for the Sony to sit on, the C-cell battery packs to sit on and the control board.All of which got installed at this point.
Just a few short weeks ago I vacationed with my wife and kids in Disneyworld. This was our second time there and anyone who’s ever been there, or really, to any of the Disney theme parks knows about the Disney experience. They waste no expense to ensure you feel the magic during your stay and they do a darn good job of it too.
It’s not just about the attractions, the park, the characters, shows, etc.. But everything from the cleanliness of the parks, to the landscaping, to the attention to detail in each of the themed buildings and sections of the park, to the availability of snacks and drinks, to keeping you interested and entertained while you’re waiting in line for a ride.
If you can put aside the cost of getting into the park, and the relative expense of the snacks, food, and drink once you are inside, it’s difficult not to have a good time at a Disney park and it can all be encapsulated by one of their theme songs, “When You Wish Upon A Star”.
Just yesterday, we spent the day at a local theme park to celebrate the 4th of July and having just come back from our immersive experience at Disneyworld a couple of weeks ago, it was difficult not to draw comparisons with what we were experiencing… drab looking buildings, rides that rose out of the landscape with little to no decor built around them, un-motivated employees, very slow moving lines from inefficient workflows loading and unloading patrons, barely audible music from poor quality speakers, half the food vendors were closed… What’s more, there were a couple of attractions at the park that you had to pay EXTRA for in order to ride. What’s up with that? My $50 entry fee was supposed to cover all rides and attractions wasn’t enough? (Yes, I remember the days when even at Disneyland, you had to buy a book of tickets after paying to get into the park that granted you access to the rides. That’s where the whole term “an E-ticket” ride spawned from, but we are well past those days) I mean, don’t get me wrong, the kids still had a good time, but it just wasn’t Disney, you know?
Certainly there are those who could really care less for the Disney experience. “Just give me the rides without the lines and added expense,” they say. And for those people, parks like those we visited yesterday suit just fine. Certainly not I. I prefer the escape from the everyday routine and the immersive experience Disney works so hard at affording us and I really appreciate their efforts.
Is it any wonder then, my affinity for enthusiast tackle? Sure I can fish with a standard, no frills rod and reel combo devoid of the decorative highlights, fancy handles, and high end components, but why?
That’s just not how I dream, and it’s just not Disney.
I don’t know what it is about wood cranks, but they’ve always held a certain favor with me over their plastic counterparts. Sure you get more consistency from bait to bait and better casting performance with plastic baits – and a lot of times you can save some money with them too, but the idea of fishing something someone has hand carved and painted for you just holds a different appeal. It’s similar to my affinity for the finely detailed and crafted JDM fishing rods I suppose.
In the midst of our Year of the Crank coverage on TackleTour, we have quite a list of baits we hope to write up this year. Among those baits is a custom made wood crank out of North Carolina crafted by a fellow by the name of Kelly Barefoot. Custom Lures Unlimited is the name of his company and among his collection of products is a new crank, the Ikon, something that has been in development for over five years.
The detailing of this crank is extraordinary and those who appreciate this kind of craftsmanship will be drawn in quite easily. Barefoot follows up this intricately carved blank with equally intricate and intriguing finishes – finishes that the customer is afforded the opportunity to custom tweak and specify. Try that with Lucky Craft.
The baits aren’t cheap, but considering the labor involved, they’re not outrageous either. With a list price of $25 for a standard color and just $5 more for a custom finish, the Ikon is a bait worth some serious consideration.
I’ve been waiting to get back on a shallow crank bite out on the Delta or up at Clear Lake so I can put these baits through the wringer, but the weather has been crazily inconsistent this Spring in Northern California, so success has been somewhat difficult to come by not to mention time on the water. And guess what? Summer is just around the corner.
For now, it’s back in the test bait box for my collection of Ikons, but I thought I’d get the word out sooner for a bait that’s showing a lot of promise so far. Wood cranks will continue to hold a special place with me and the Ikon is going to get an extended opportunity to stay on my good side.
Okay now that you have decided you want to test your bait it’s important that you seal the wood before getting it wet. You can use a variety of clear coats among the most popular would be thinned back epoxy or proponiate. Personally I like to use a product by Smith & Co called the Clear Penetrating Epoxy System (CPES). This product has a slower cure time and is meant to saturate and penetrate your wood which will slow down moisture absorption down the road. Once you have cleared your bait let it sit for 24 hours to fully dry. After the clear has dried you can either start testing the bait or you can start the finish process. In the event that you are going to finish the bait you will notice the grain will be raised from the CPES. Take a few different grades of sandpaper and sand the bait smooth going with the grain. Once you have smoothed out the bait either wipe it down with denatured alcohol or paint thinner and make sure the bait is dust free. Although it is not necessary to prime the CPES I like to so I can see any imperfections and start leveling them out. For this I like to use a good automotive primer and apply a few light coats. Once the primer has dried go over the bait with fine sandpaper and again wipe it clean. Depending on how many imperfections you have you may want to spray a few more light primer coats to help level the bait out or you may need to use a little filler (two part sandable epoxy) in which case you would patch the bait,sand,and prime again. One thing worth noting the more patch you use the more you risk your bait coming apart.
After getting your bait ready for finish paint it’s time to decide on a few things. Do you want to use a paint brush and rattle cans,or do you want to invest in an airbrush? If your on a budget there are quite a few things you can do with brushes and rattle cans. Although you can’t control the air pressure or volume of paint with rattle cans you can easily shoot your base coats and then dress up the finishing touches by shielding areas or by using a variety of brushes. You would be surprised at what you can do if you step back and think about how you can layer different colors. Also spend a little extra money for good spray cans and artist brushes that won’t shed or blow out easy.
Getting into airbrushing is somewhat costly but worth it if you have the drive to see your projects through. There are many good airbrushes on the market but it is important to get one that has been proven and has replacement parts available. You can spend anywhere from $20-$400 on a brush ranging from single to dual action,siphon to gravity fed,changeable tips to one single all purpose tip etc…. Most airbrush artists will tell you they have a variety of brushes to do certain things whether it’s laying base coats or spraying fine detail. All brushes have their place however to get started you don’t need multiple brushes. My first brush was a single action Paasche H that I got very familiar with and still use quite often. I’ve since acquired a few more brushes and would say that double action is the way to go but by no means is a must. Getting your mix ratios right is probably the most important aspect of spraying consistently with any gun. For around $75 you can pick up a Paasche VL set which is a great brush that many custom painters still use today.
Now that you have your brush you need to think about getting air to it. Compressors tend to be the most expensive part of airbrushing if you have a compressor in the garage you can save some money and use it with just a few extra parts. If you don’t you can either look at standard compressors or specific airbrush compressors. Standard compressors tend to be loud but run less because of the bigger tanks which results in less moisture build up. Airbrush compressors typically are quieter and sometimes have built in moisture traps and pressure regulators. Either way you go you need to look into getting both a pressure regulator,atleast one moisture trap,and 10′ of hose. The longer the hose the more the air can cool down and the less moisture you will get in your gun.
So now you have everything ready to go and need paint. There are lots of options to consider here. Starting out I would suggest water based paints. They are easier to manage and are less toxic. If you get comfortable with what your doing I would then experiment with solvent based paints. Water based paints such as Createx and Golden are two popular brands. Make sure you use paint made for airbrushes the pigments are ground down fine specifically for airbrushing other paints will clog your gun. Ideally you want to stick with one brand that way you can rule out any inconsistencies or adhesion problems. Once you’ve picked out a line don’t go and buy every color under the sun when you first start out. Pick up a color wheel and see what primary colors mix with what so you can limit the amount of money you spend.
Once your setup experiment with different ideas. To create scale patterns you can use everything from mesh bags from the produce aisle to dip nets used for fish tanks. To create various templates to paint fins and gills pencil in your shapes on regular or stencil paper and use an exacto knife to cut them out. Remember airbrushing is about controlling the paint I’ve found a variety of things work low tack tape,printer paper,and even a finger. Again the real trick in understanding airbrushing is getting your paint to flow right and understanding how to layer colors. Because of the different changes in air temperature,humidity,condensation from the compressor,and different styles of paint airbrushing is not an exact science and it takes time behind the gun to figure out.
Once you’ve painted your bait you need to think about a clear coat. Like paint there are many options here. For a high build clear coat you cannot get any thicker than a two part epoxy. You can either use a two part glue such as Devcon or a thinner bar top epoxy like Environtex Lite. One thing to note is you will want a motorized drying rack when using heavier epoxy coats because of their slow cure self leveling properties. Clear coats you can spray include polyurethane’s,moisture cured lacquers, and high end automotive clears. Polyurethane’s can be purchased in an aerosol can and will do a decent job,but over time will degrade or amber. Moisture cured lacquer’s are great when you don’t want weight to play a factor,but they can be a bit temperamental and can spoil if not handled correctly. For a good lasting thin high gloss coat automotive urethane’s are great. For this you will need a gun that can handle the right amount of pressure and volume to atomize the urethane. Because automotive urethane’s are mixed with a catalyst urethane has a short shelf life and should normally be used in a months time. This can become expensive if your not going through the paces with the clear coat gun.Other clear coats such as shellac,lacquer,varnish either degrade too fast or amber too much to recommend.
One thing to note is automotive urethane’s are also the most flammable and toxic so make sure you really know what your doing before you make your purchase. I suggest you meet with either a trained automotive painter or automotive paint supplier and tell them what your environment consists of. Precautions such as turning off your gas pilot light,ventilation,and working around lights that can get hot are all things you really need to think about.
here’s a list of common items you might consider to finish your bait
By the end of this year, custom rod builders and customers throughout the world will lose one of the most highly regarded blanks in the industry. In a news release dated April 23, 2009, G.Loomis, long considered the industry benchmark for rods in North America, announced their decision to exit the custom rod blank business so they can focus on expanding their finished rods business globally.
It was just a few short years ago, where I was quite excited over the fact G.Loomis made the decision to re-release a small selection of their GLX blanks and was hoping they’d expand the selection someday to include the BCR blanks as well as the MBR842 (one of my absolute favorite rods in their lineup). But instead, today we find out quite the opposite is true
In the press release, Bruce Holt, executive director at G.Loomis made the following statement:
“This is a very difficult decision for all of us here at G.Loomis, especially since making custom rod blanks for steelhead anglers was how we got our start as a fishing tackle company back in the ‘80’s. While we realize there’s an avid following among custom rod makers for our blanks, the growth we’ve experienced on a worldwide basis for our finished rods – and especially our fly rods with both fly tackle dealers in the U.S. and abroad – makes this the right decision and direction for our business success in the future.”
The company has invested in upgrades to their Woodland, WA facility and in training for current staff in an effort to make improvements in all areas of the company. Holt continued in his statement by adding, “Our production plans include manufacturing custom rod blanks through the end of 2009, and then our complete focus will be on finished rods. Our efforts at the plant over the past few months and this decision to exit the custom blank business prepares us well for when the global economy rebounds.”
So where does that leave the custom rod builder and customer? St. Croix, Phenix Rods, Lamiglas, among a select few others will hopefully continue to offer their blanks to those who prefer to roll their own, but the loss of G.Loomis in this market segment will be significant. Personally, I’m more than just a little disappointed. Considering how conservative G.Loomis has remained with their finished rod designs, the custom wrapping route was the next best alternative to having a very stylish rod built on one of their blanks. Now that they are abandoning this segment, and removing this option, it may be time I abandon their product all together until they update some of their designs – at the very least, remove the foregrips on their bass rods.
Well, if in the past G.Loomis can re-release their GLX blanks, maybe at some point in the future, they’ll find the resources to back up on this decision as well and reopen the doors to the custom market. For now, it’s on to other resources.
Another sub zero morning in the north.It was the first day of March and it opened up to a -9° morning.
At least this time I got to wait until the sun warmed things up to 11° before I headed out to check my cams.We received several inches of new snow a few days prior so just to be safe, I packed my snow shoes in my truck.With a couple mile walk ahead of me, and a bunch of new snow, I could really regret leaving them behind.
I can drive to within 30 yards of two of my six cams and as I pulled up to my 1st cam there was a noticeable lack of tracks in the snow.Even though we had a fairly nice week, outside of the 5” of snow, there just wasn’t much sign of activity.This cam is on the edge of the woods and looks over a heavily trafficked route between the harvested soybean field across the road and the safety of the woods. I opened up the protective case and pulled out the Sony camera, turned it on and saw that there were 229 photos on it!I didn’t feel like thumbing thru them all right there so I just switched out my memory stick and put a fresh set of AA’s in the camera, closed the case and moved on.
I pulled up to within 40 yards of my 2nd set up.This is a digital video recorder unit made from a security cam with an 80 bulb infrared LED light so it can shoot color video by day and IR video by night.The camera is hooked to a Neuros DVR.The only thing that really drives me wild about this set up is that I never know how many videos are on the memory stick.Or if it’s even recorded anything at all. I never know until I get to a computer.That can drive a man insane at times.I’ve got this cam along the edge of the woods in a low area where I plant some forage.It’s a mixture of a lot of different food sources but during the winter months the primary thing that the deer are looking for are turnips.These turnips will remain untouched throughout the summer and fall months but shortly after the first snow the deer go after these with gusto.They will eat both the greens and the bulb right out of the ground.It’s funny to see little empty holes in the ground where the deer nibble turnips right out of the frozen dirt.
My 3rd set up is a still cam, again on the edge of the woods.There is a little opening in the trees, sheltered by a hill, that provides a secluded warm spot for deer to mingle.I can’t drive to it during the winter so it was on with the snowshoes for the rest of the way.When I walked up to the camera I noticed that I didn’t get my picture taken.This cam is built with a model of Sony camera with an extending lens and it didn’t move an inch as I approached.I opened the case and put fresh batteries in the camera and flipped the switch to view the photos.360 photos.And it had stopped taking photos two days prior!
My 4rd set up is another still cam over looking an automatic feeder I have.The walk up the hill into the woods seems to take forever with all the snow. The feeder holds 350 pounds of feed and every day at noon a motor turns a little spinner that broadcasts feed (shell corn) for 15 seconds.This is always where the majority of the photos come from.The feeder is frequented daily by deer, turkey and squirrels.The bulk of the photos start being taken about an hour before the feeder goes off and it tapers off a few hours after the feeder has done its job.Due to all the activity here I have this cam set to take a photo when the motion sensor is tripped, wait 30 seconds and take another photo, power down, and not be triggered again for at least 5 minutes where the cycle will repeat itself.As I opened up the case of the cam I noticed that it wasn’t taking a photo.I powered the Sony camera up and the last photo was taken about an hour ago and the memory card was full.547 photos.A 1GB card filled.
The 5th cam is in a lonely spot in the woods that for some reason seemed to really produce a lot of photos for me this year. I set up there over a buck scrape on a whim and have been getting photos there ever since. I don’t think there is really any particular draw to the place.I think more than anything its just a spot between here and there and a number of animals wander thru.Again, the camera didn’t turn on as I approached.A fresh set of batteries told me why.Another full memory stick.694 photos.This is a lower resolution camera so it can take quite few more photos.
My 6th and final set up over looks the first feeder I had ever put up.I haven’t used it in years.It was designed to be a turkey only feeder and I never once saw a turkey there, much less using the feeder. Although turkey are newly introduced to my region at the time. This spot in the woods is an area that seems to draw deer.I’ve even gotten a bear photo there.This cam turned on as I squatted in front of it.I flipped the switch to view and noticed 516 photos on the memory stick.I thumbed thru a few of them and noticed a lot of turkey photos. A lot of turkey photos.It might be time to resurrect this feeder.
I wound up with a staggering 2,346 photos and 175 videos for the week of 2/22 – 3/1.Just two weeks ago I wasn’t even getting half that many photos. Rarely breaking 1,000 photos for all five still cams.Some weeks I would only have 30 or 40 photos on a cam.I set all my cams to not take photos continuously, but to wait for a few minutes between triggers.That’s just too many photos to go thru.
Even though the weather still feels like January, the increased sun and the increased strength of the sun is drastically changing the activity level of the animals.It’s amazing what a difference a couple of weeks can make.It seems as though everyone knows its time to wake up.Expectant mothers need to bulk up for their babies.The sun feels good and its just time to get out. Shortly the grouse will start drumming and the turkey will start gobbling.
It’s much the same for the fish right now.The ice will begin to rot shortly.Light levels are increasing due to the snow cover being melted away.The spawn is immanent.Its time to get the feedbag on and start bulking up.
Lucky Craft Redemption Spinnerbait
Size: 3/8 oz
Color: MS American Shad and Laser Clear Ghost (Most fish came on the MS American Shad)
Skirt: A custom white/translucent skirt, with black specs (very similar to skirt that comes on Laser Clear Ghost)
Front Blade: Small Nickel colorado blade (not sure of the exact size)
Rear Blade: #4 Nickel Willow
Equipment used while fishing the Lucky Craft spinnerbait
Rod: Lamiglas XC704J – 7″medium action
Reel: Abu Garcia Revo Winch – Gear Ratio 5 to 1
Line: 50lb Spiderwire Ultra Cast (braid)
Technnique
Retrieve: Skeet was slow rolling this bait the entire time
Depth: He was fishing his spinnerbait anywhere from 1-1/2-feet to 4-feet deep
Key: The combination of lily pad stems near or around stumps
Many big named professional anglers have their sponsors design custom tackle to their specifics and those items aren’t sold to the public. That’s to change with Quantum’s PT Custom Shop. Now when you see one of their pro-staff sporting a new rod, you MIGHT be able to get your hands on them.
Quantum is building a limited amount of these rods and perhaps reels, so they are only sold on their website and while supplies last.
————————————
THE NEXT BEST THING TO HAVING SOME OF THEIR DNA.
Armed with the bright red prototypes for his not-yet-released Tour cranking series, KVD stole the show at the Bassmaster Elite Series Bluegrass Brawl in 2008 and launched a new era of rod-making at Quantum.
Dean Rojas was the first to call. “What are those red rods Kevin’s using? Think you could build me something special for slinging a frog? I have some ideas.” The calls and e-mails poured in, and we soon found that many of our pros had special requests — from the action, length and blank material to the guides and grip style.
(Source: Quantum)
The Quantum Custom Shop was born.
We assembled our designers and spent months in the lab fine-tuning these rods to the exact specifications of each pro angler. What they have in their boats today are more than technique-specific, they are the-man-and-his-technique-specific — every aspect optimized for absolute mastery of their bread-and-butter applications. That being said, these rods are not for everyone. They are built specifically for those who demand highly specialized equipment, custom-matched to the elevated skills of the world’s best. And now, on a limited basis, these Custom Rods are available, ordered directly through our web site only.
fishorcutbait | 07/14/2010 10:37 pm | news's page Wondering if anyone has a great fishing or boating photo they might want to enter into a contest??
more
rolltidefishing | 07/14/2010 6:19 pm | cal's page "One word, Smoke" Exactly!! I can't wait for a writeup on these reels and rods. Are the Smoke PT rod more
It’s good that I had my latest Pixzilla project or I would have been another victim of the winter doldrums. You got it, a long-cold spell …the water froze early last year but the ice hasn’t been suitable for any serious fishing. I’ve read all the books that I can stand, and surfing the net doesn’t help either.
Come-on, get real; how can you make a Pixzilla any better?!? It already approaches perfection for lighter presentations, and excels at pitching and casting a wide-range of lure weights. It’s no wonder that I have many of them now; they are fun to use, don’t hardly weigh anything, and the profile is easy for my crippled old hands to palm. If you’re a modder, there’s plenty to tinker with too! A Note: A stock Pixy is no slouch, many users outside of TackleTour have never heard of a Pixzilla! Just try buying a NIB LH Pixy – they don’t come up that often. However, if you are patient you can snag a used one! That’s exactly what I did, so read on…
The bottom red arrow in the picture below shows the hole where the level wind guard mounts in the palm plate side of frame. The paint was just a little too thick on the inside edge to allow the guard to pass through the hole. So I wrapped a small strip of 600 Wet and Dry sand paper around a ¼” dowel and lightly removed a small amount of paint on the inside edge – just enough to allow the guard to pass through. I don’t think it took more than a half-dozen light strokes with the paper to get what I needed.
Most of the 4x8mm end of the stock Pixy bushing collar needs to be removed to make the new collar. The good news is that the material is not that hard or brittle, and is very easy to work.
One of the first things I did was to fine-tune the new IZE 80mm carbon handle that I got from Plat. The knobs I used were from a brand new TD-Advantage-153HSTA. Unfortunately, I didn’t like the fit when you mounted them with the usual washer(s) beneath the bottom bearing on each post. One washer was not thick enough, and the ~.13mm axial slop in the knob resulted in a noticeable click when you cranked a reel. Yet 2 washers were too thick, and the knob would bind depending on how far you tightened the knob screw. So I sanded one of the washers under each knob to achieve just the right fit, using 600 then and 1200 Wet and Dry paper. I lubricated all knob bearings with Xtreme Reel+, a dry lubricant that I’m testing again this season.
I also did a little polishing and tuning on a few key parts. Something I’ve done on all of my low profile Daiwas now. I’ll even do it on a new reel, once I’ve checked it out. It feels so good afterward!
The stock Pixy has a drag stack that consists of a heavy top key washer, thick composite friction washer and an eared stainless steel washer that fits in the bottom of the drive gear. When new, the stock drag delivers about 3 to 4# of break-away pull, but running pull can be up to 1# less (especially after use). In addition, should the stack get contaminated with oil, grease or water; the running pull can become erratic and the stack may even stutter, and/or break-away pull can become non-repeatable from pull-to-pull. You’ll find more information about break-away and running drag in my previous 
I get a lot of PM’s and email from Pixy owners who are interested in a Pixy drag upgrade or have questions about the smoothdrag.com kit. It’s also a common topic in the Maintenance Section of the forum. So, I thought I’d provide a little more detail about it, since I used the kit for my custom Pixzilla – and suggest you do the same. Thanks Dawn!
You’ll want to clean the new metal 
“To use drag grease or not to use drag grease?” a question I get a lot on the forum. I prefer to use it because break-away drag seems to be closer to running drag and pull tends to be more consistent from pull to pull. In addition, the drag doesn’t seem to be nearly affected by “a good dunking” (yes accidents do occasionally happen), or a major “gully washer.” If you are a salt water anger or fish in brackish water the grease might help mitigate fouling of the stack.
Drag Grease Summary: So, the way the Teflon lubricant molecules shear in layers, how they behave under compression and the characteristics of the filler are what really distinguish drag grease from conventional reel grease. A Tip: I don’t necessarily recommend trying to use conventional reel grease in lieu of drag grease in a drag stack. It usually doesn’t last nearly as long and the drag stack can get sticky and inconsistent during use. Just my take after trying it a couple times; they were an emergency, honest!
Once the washers are dry after cleaning, I just work a small dab of Cal’s Grease into the surface with a finger and thumb. I like to ensure the grease actually gets inside the weave on both sides of the fiber because performance seems to last longer – but there is no need to get carried away with the grease. More is not necessarily better …read on!
I briefly mentioned the possibility of a +R tuned Pixy spool, toward the end of my 
So it didn’t take me long to realize that I had reached the point where man and his “well trained thumb” could no longer perform as well or as quickly as machine…. I would need a little bit of variable magnetic braking for my latest Pixy project!
I wrapped things up by dropping a set of higher precision spool bearings into the reel. I’ll have more about them later… and that’s all I’m saying for now! But as far as casting and pitching crits, I’ll just say 
So now you have everything ready to go and need paint. There are lots of options to consider here. Starting out I would suggest water based paints. They are easier to manage and are less toxic. If you get comfortable with what your doing I would then experiment with solvent based paints. Water based paints such as Createx and Golden are two popular brands. Make sure you use paint made for airbrushes the pigments are ground down fine specifically for airbrushing other paints will clog your gun. Ideally you want to stick with one brand that way you can rule out any inconsistencies or adhesion problems. Once you’ve picked out a line don’t go and buy every color under the sun when you first start out. Pick up a color wheel and see what primary colors mix with what so you can limit the amount of money you spend.
