For a fisherman, there can be few nightmares worse than arriving at your fishing spot and discovering that your favorite reel desperately needs repair or maintenance.  Even though reel repair and maintenance is better left to the experts, you can do it yourself if you are willing to take the risk.  Remember: this type of work requires caution and care, and should only be undertaken by someone who understands the working of the reel!

Preparation

How the project is begun is one of the most critical steps to any job that requires care, so you should prepare accordingly.  Set aside a workspace that is suitable for the job, and make sure you leave plenty of elbowroom.  Make sure that there is space for all of the delicate reel parts.  It’s smart to add a detailed photo of the reel piece-by-piece so that it can be put back together after the maintenance/repair is complete, or utilize a hand-drawn diagram.

Take it apart

Nearly all reels come apart in the same manner, since they are put together in a comparable way (although some reels may vary somewhat).  This step is the most imperative time to photograph or map each section as it is removed, so that you can assure that you will be able reassemble the reel later.  Make sure that you cautiously detach each piece and place it in some type of order (or bag in a labeled Ziploc bag).  Be sure to be particularly careful with very tiny pieces, like screws, springs, and like objects.  Each piece has a valuable purpose, and every one has a specific place in your reel.

The Tools

The tools that you use for repairing or maintaining your reel are crucial to your success.  Make sure that before you get started you have all of them close at hand so you do not need to start looking for something you missed.  The tools that you need include assorted sized screwdrivers (both Philips and regular), pliers, ratchet (and appropriate heads), clean and absorbent rags, reel grease and reel oil.  The final piece of your equipment will be a small brush – most find that a small toothbrush works just fine.

Starting The Disassembly

Your first step is to take the reel apart slowly, taking great care with each piece, to decrease the likelihood of losing or breaking important parts.  Next, you can proceed carefully with cleaning the reel case.  Locate the nut that holds the reel handle in place and remove it.  Turn the drag star counterclockwise and place it to the side.  Carefully remove the side plate, and make sure to keep the four screws holding it on in a safe place.  Separate the main gear assembly.  Remove the spool from the reel case.  Use a rag to remove sand, dirt, and/or old grease.  Grease the whole mechanism.  If the reel uses a worm gear, you have to turn the level wind (inside the left plate) to make sure this gear is greased properly.  Next, you should use a small amount of reel grease to grease all teeth.  Clean the spool.  Oil the endpins.  Finally, you can replace the spool in the end case.

Main Drive Gear Assembly

This is perhaps one of the most critical parts of your cleaning and maintenance routine.  Failure to follow these steps could result in problems down the line.  Make sure to carefully remove the screws that join your main gear assembly. Some of these will be attached to a mounting plate while others will be able to simply be lifted out. Once you have freed the main gear assembly remove any old grease, dirt and sand from the gear assembly. Make sure that you are removing all old soil for best results. Once you’ve completed the cleaning, thoroughly grease the gear assembly.

The next portion of your cleaning and maintenance will involve the main drive gear assembly.  Each step must be followed precisely to avoid problems.

The small parts

Because of the small parts that are involved in this part of maintenance and cleaning, make sure when you place them down you are putting them down in the order you remove them. This will enable you to put them back where they belong and help make sure that your reel is functional.  Diagrams or photographs will be indispensable in this part of the process. The top of your main gear will have washers.

When you remove them place them down carefully (noting the order or removal) and once you have them all removed, clean them, and place clean grease on them and gently massage it into each washer.  Once you’re done, remove any excess grease with a clean rag.  Each washer should be dry to the touch and replaced back into the main gear in the proper order

Seized bearings can be a major problem for some reels, so you need to be sure to thoroughly grease each bearing along all sides or replace the bearing.  Do not attempt to take the bearing apart, or you will wind up cleaning up BBs from your workspace!

Putting it all together

You start by positioning the spool back in the reel casing.  Set the right side plate and gear assembly above the endpin.  Align the screw holes, watching that each side is lined up correctly.  Attach each screw into the side plate.  Reattach the drag star.  Next, you should attach your reel’s handle.

Testing

You can test your work by ensuring that all parts are well anchored and also back where they were removed from.  Using your digital photos (or hand drawn diagram) will help you make sure that everything has gone back to the proper place.

Summary

Most people are not patient enough to repair or maintain a reel.  It’s time consuming and you need not only great eye-sight but an extremely steady hand.  Regardless of the type of reel you’re using – conventional or bait-casting – this set of simple steps can help.

Whether you’re not willing to spend the money or wait the time needed for a professional to repair it, you’ll have sufficient information to repair or maintain your reel yourself. It’s difficult to find a fisherman who does not prefer to have their reel maintained professionally.

There are simply too many things that can go wrong, and there are many things that a professional can quickly and easily identify that are not familiar to you.  Regardless of whether you prefer to do it yourself or have a professional do it, a well maintained reel will ensure that you enjoy your fishing without problems.

There are many great reels out on the market, some of the most popular include: Shimano Reels and Penn Fishing Reel.

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When mentioned largemouth bass fishing among dedicated anglers can engender levels of excitement that only those who regularly cast a line can appreciate. You have to understand some of the basic principle of largemouth bass fishing if you want to increase your chance of having a satisfying outing and have a good catch.

Tips for Largemouth Bass Fishing

Fishing bait live or artificial bait is a question often asked but fish will let you know what they prefer by how often they are biting. Plastic worms come in variety of colors, stick with one of them if you are getting good result or you can mix them up. You can switch from one color to another.

Always keep your live bait fresh and do not allowed to go off. It is recommended to split them up into air tight containers if you buy worm in a large quantity.

Always have a plan B having a plan before fishing for largemouth will give you the best result but you also must have back up plan to fall back on. A good and preferred area for largemouth fish is an area with the low level of noise activity.

largemouth bass fishing spot like rocks and weed are the place where the fish forgather and these fish are expert at ambushing their intended prey. Be prepared to move to another spot if you don’t get result in the first spot.

Birds can be a good indication of fish being present or ascertain signs of life around your fishing are. Birds are feeding when there is baitfish around and largemouth bass won’t be far away from the baitfish area.

Largemouth bass very comfortable in shallow or deep water level, but they are commonly like staying out of a current flow. You have to prepared your fishing gear for both level of water and always have selection for deep water and surface lures. When there is water current present, you have to look at the covered fishing area.

Always try different thing, try reaction lure if the live or plastic bait are not bite. When fishing in murky water color you have to try at a clearer area and when you exhausted all bait option in deep water level you can try at shallow depths.

To have and success in largemouth bass fishing, angler must have ability and patience, if one method not working be prepared to change it.

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The Chain Pickerel is very addictive to fish and everyone I have ever introduced to chain pickerel fishing have become almost fanatical about it, even to the point where most other fishing gets put to the side for a year or two. I did it myself and still find the draw of the pickerel hard to resist long enough to fish for anything else.

If you want to make your pickerel fishing even more exciting, try using your fly rod from a float tube. So cool, so very cool.

What you don’t know what a chain pickerel is? Sorry about that, let me tell you what I know about them. It won’t take but a minute.

Who is the Chain Pickerel?

The chain pickerel is a fresh water fish related to the pike and distinguishable because of their chain like colouring where the pike is more dotted.

I am not completely sure of all the places in the world the pickerel lives but from my experience and from reading other people’s blogs I know that they live along our North American coast.

I fish them here in New Brunswick but when I lived in Ontario they called walleye by the name pickerel. Which really confused me when I moved down here.

I was just reading something the other on a forum where I guy was saying he fishing chain pickerel North Carolina. I also read on Wikipedia that they range all the way down into Florida. I always thought they only lived in northern climates, guess I learned something new.

The image above is a close up shot on the side of a chain pickerel. Forgive the quality, err lack of quality. I get a bit shakey when I am excited and believe me I get excited pickerel fishing.

The chain pickerel has a distinctive dark chain-like pattern on its greenish sides. It tends to be very dark along the top side and fades down the side to a white belly.

When I first caught a pickerel it’s head and body shape really reminded me of the pike I used to catch in Ontario.

The largest I have landed is 24″ but my buddy in the other end of my boat landed a 26″ one. Well he brought it to the boat, but made me land it. It was his first every pickerel and he wasn’t about to go near that mouth.

I have heard from others that I fish with that they can exceed 40″. Wouldn’t mind hooking into that ole girl.

What Do They Eat? Or maybe what won’t they eat?

Pickerel like to ambush smaller fish. That is what they are waiting for when I cast to them. They will also clean out of the water for a flying insect and will eat leeches, frogs and I wouldn’t want to be a small bird hitting the water to close to a pickerel.

Anything that gets in that toothy grin isn’t likely to get out. I don’t even like to clean my hands after just releasing one. I like my fingers just the way they are, all of them.

I have watched them turn and grab a bait hanging over the water immediately after releasing them. They are as fast as lightning. Scary stuff, exciting stuff.

What I Use To Get Their Attention

After fishing pickerel for more than a decade or two I have a few confidence baits but I do try all kinds of things. I usually start out with a confidence bait and when I see there is action I try the new things.

When I am in open water, or very sparse weeds I like Rapala baits.

I do use my spinning rod most of the time, again sticking to the weeds.

When using my spinning gear I still stick to the weeds most of time. I cast to bother the weeds and the open water but stay close to the edges.

As for the baits well everyone has their favorite confidence baits that seem to work most of the time year after year. I can’t give out the name of that particular bait but I can tell you it’s soft plastic.

Jamie, keep tight lipped on this one, okay?

I like using frogs but have only caught a few. I asked about this on a forum and they were saying that I hadn’t purchased the right kind of frog.

I know they like frogs and have had hundreds of hits and explosions, just only ever hooked a very few of them. I still had a blast throwing it out there and watching the action. It never gets old.

Jamie had the right frogs this year but I didn’t have the right hook length for that one. I will have some of them thar frogs and appropriate hooks for next season.

As for other lures, well if you have bass lures, then you have what it takes to catch pickerel, just be aware that pickerel have teeth that will slice and dice baits. Think about pinching down the barbs as pickerel can get the lures pretty far back into their throats. Barbless hooks are easy to remove.

It’s wise to use steel leaders as their teeth are like razor blades.

Tip I Learned From Kerry Jones: If you use the head cement used for tying flies you can make the steel lead ends smoother so they pull through the weeds better.

I have watched pickerel come clear right out of the water and smash down on baits just like a big ole bass does. Those are the times I wish I had a head cam. And is your buddy ever looking when that happens. Nope, he’s busy starring at his own line.

I like to use my fly rod and I like getting into the weeds. For that I have to use big hairy bass bugs and frogs. It’s heart stopping.

When the weeds are sparse or it’s early spring I will use a Mickey Finn or any bright coloured streamer. I like running it just an inch or two below the surface so I can still see the fly. I really love to see the strike.

I tend to get worn out much quicker using my fly rod, so I always bring my spinning gear with me so I can continue even when I am beat.

Chain Pickerel Scientific Detail on Wikipedia

This is a biased post to say the least. Rapala is most seen name in my tackle box.

Rapala fishing lures were first produced in Finland. Lauri Rapala, the one who founded the business, was born in Finland in 1905 in a poor family, later in life making a buck by working on farms and fishing. The creation of improved lures came from the practical necessity of improving productivity. In 1936 Lauri Rapala finally created a carved rough-looking lure which would produce an off-center and entice wobbling action. This initial model is still the basis for a lot of the Rapala fishing lures.

Rapala company won most of its fame after the Second World War. After the war Rapala revived his small lure making enterprise. Lauri Rapala made the fishing lures himself at first, but in time, the craft was also learned by some other family members. Lauri always wanted to test each and every lure to make sure it worked properly. Even at present all Rapala fishing lures are first tested and only afterwards packed.

After the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952, foreign visitors were among the first who took Rapala fishing lures beyond the country’s borders to other countries. From this moment, exports started, initially toNorway and Sweden and then to the USA. In 1957 the business changed its official name into Rapala and Sons or Rapala-Uistin. Further business exposure was achieved with the publication of a complex article in the pages of Life Magazine in 1962. It was perhaps because the same magazine issue wrote about Marlyn Monroe’s death that Rapala fishing lures increased their popularity in America, even if the quality of the products contributed most to the market impression.

The rest of the international market opened a lot more easily after success of Rapala products in the United States, but there appeared lots of imitators too. Legal actions have been taken against unauthorized copying, yet, forged versions still exist; yet, the quality provided by Rapala still remains a good criterion of appreciation that is surely unsurpassed.

Holy crap, I would like to congratulate Casey on his first ever Muskie.

I asked Casey to tell me about it.

It was Sun 18 Oct and the last muskie outing for the St. John River chapter in Fredericton called the “Ironman”.

It was a frosty morning around 2 C. We arrived just as most boats were departing the launch area at 8 am and were advised to pay our fees at lunchtime which was a mandatory break for all participants. We donned a couple of more layers of clothes and gloves and headed out.

We began trolling right away as it is the preferred method when the water is cold. I put on a 10″ Jake and my partner used a 10″ Believer.

We trolled for about an hour and had caught many loads of weeds but no hits. I hate catching weeds so I put on a 6″jointed perch lure, which is probably the cheapest one in my box.

At about 09:30 I had a strong hit in about 10′ of water, it turned out to be a 16′ bass but got the adrenalin flowing. Ten minutes later I got a real tug on the line. I set the hook twice and could feel the fish fighting. I knew it wasnt a bass.

My 8′ Okuma rod was bent big time when we finally saw the fish. It was a muskie and looked half as long as the boat.

My partner did an excellent net job and we had it. That’s when the shaking started. I couldnt believe the size of this fish, the biggest I have ever caught.

After about 5 min my partner removed the lure and lifted the fish from the net. We were both pretty nervous about handling this monster as it had a huge head and large teeth.

I was still trembling like a leaf but got a good grip for a few pics.

It took about 15 mins in the water before the muskie headed for the deep water on his own.

What a rush!!!

15 muskies were caught at this tournament and all were safely released.

The largest was 48″ x 23″

I was in 4th place and the prizes only went to 3rd.

Maybe next year.

For  beginner fishing, trout fishing tips truly make a difference. First of all, it would be a good thing to know that trout are fish whose metabolism depends on the temperature of water. Their metabolism accelerates with temperature increase. When in cold deeper waters, they are less active and need to eat less.

Moreover, at the beginning of every year those interested in catching trout start to be directed to warmer and warmer waters as trout tend to leave cold deep waters for environments more favorable to spawning. Also, this migration takes place the other way round in autumn, when the trout prepare for winter in cold deep waters. Yet fishermen should not expect them to cover distances very fast. The cycles of moving from one place to another follow the seasons and last for several months.

Also good to know when trout fishing is that these animals live in large groups. They tend to stick together in schools, especially the ones of the same size. Therefore, should you get lucky and get a capture, be sure that there is more trout in the area to catch as long as you do not throw the dead caught fish in the water to scare away the rest of the school.

In addition, trout fishing locations are not difficult to find. trout prey on smaller fish, but they are not great hunters due to their slow motion features. They rather wait for the prey to come along and then strike. They very often go for injured or less energetic game even though this kind of food might not be part of their regular menu. Their regular menu consists of craw-fish, minnows, worms, insects, frogs and so on. For an experienced fisherman, knowledge of the eating habits and the mating peculiarities is no secret.

On the other hand, these fish are prey themselves so they need cover as well. That is why trout fishing gets carried out in areas where they could find safety like small or big rocks, weeds and other shady or sunny well-lit areas where the eye makes it difficult for them to be spotted.

Successful trout fishing may also depend on the type of bait that is chosen by the anglers. Bait should vary according to both the season – spring, summer, autumn or winter – and the spawning cycle of this fish species. Hence, those new to trout fishing should pay attention to more experienced anglers to learn the basic steps.

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Jamie and I managed to get out for one more day on the water before fishing season ended for 2009. Well ended in the areas we fish. Thanks for the great fun this Jamie, let’s do it again some time.

The spots we fishing in at Chipman have some the best scenery and has to be one of our favorite places to fish pickerel. It’s fun to get there right at the end of the season as some times we get the biggest and badest pickerel of the year at that time.

I got up at about 5am and we planned on leaving about 6 so we would get there before day break. I was hoping to get a few images of mist on the water but all we got was rain on the water.

There was a low pressure system moving through which tends to shut the fishing down and that seemed to be the case for the day.

The temperature was perfect and the rain stopped after an hour or so and the wind stayed away. I started to feel a little better about the fishing as the water was becoming like glass.

It wasn’t until after I got home and saw some of the pictures we took. I am sure my apparel had them in stitches or maybe they were just blinded by it.

When I finally landed a pickerel I am sure I heard it laughing and saying something like ‘Hey, your mamma dresses you funny.‘

Well it could have been Jamie saying that under his breath though.

It took a long while before they started to move, perhaps it had something to do with the water temperature being so low. They probably didn’t want to get out from under their blanket of weeds.

By about 9 am I started to get a little action but they were avoiding Jamie. I had a few turn for the offering but that’s about all.

I had slowed the retreive to almost a crawl hoping they would get some life but nothing was happening. Then I decided to pull the plastic worm at high speed.

It was pretty cool. I saw a huge mouth coming straight at me but it was too far away and the bait was too close to the canoe before he arrived.

Instantly we were pulling the baits through the water much faster and starting to see a bit more movement.

I guess they just had to stop laughing long enough to start chasing our baits.

Any day on the water is better than a day away from the water so I am already looking forward to opening day 2010.