New Gear, Big Fish!

BoyoBoyle · 07-23-09, 01:22 AM

Ok, so today I went up to Gander Mountain with my buddy in search of a new reel. I was looking around the price range of about 40-50$. This is my first decent reel I'm buying. For a while I used the reel that came with a my combo, and when that one broke my friend gave me an old reel of his, but it was still of bad quality, so after about 4 years im finally gonna buy a nice reel. I looked around and ended up settling for the Gander Mountain Pro Select 35 series for 40$. Nice reel, seemed really smooth and strong, I think it should give me a good couple years of reliable use, I really like it. I also bought some 10" Black and Blue fleck PowerWorms.

My friend bought a white top water weedless mouse.

We got back and decided to try out some of our new equipment.

We went to the pond across my friends house where we can usually catch a few average sized bass. First off, I loved my new reel, my old one skipped so much and was always really loose... it was pretty much shot. But I managed to catch about 7-8 bass in an hour and a half. I was very pleased.

My friend was using his new Mouse, using it top-water over a bunch of vegetation.... he was having some trouble. On his first cast he got a huge hit... but he couldn't set the hook. After that, he pulled out one bass. He was starting to get a bit frusturated, and my friend is a long time fisher, hes the best among my group of friends and has the most knowledge and experience.

I was fishing one side of the pond, when I started hearing a bunch of commotion. I turn to look and see my friend with his rod bent and a massive tail flopping in the air with water flying everywhere! This thing had to be HUGE! He says "Its a big one!!!" and I start jogging to where he is to watch the fight... Once I start jogging he yells "CATFISH!" I get over there and watch him fight this big cat. He eventually gets the cat up on the shore, and as hes dragging him in, his rod snaps in half! He then reaches down and grabs his line (14 lb. fireline) and the cat, then his line breaks! The cat starts flopping towards the pond, when I yell "grab him!" and my buddy leaps on the fish and pulls it into shore. We took a few pics and released the big fish. He was proud, it was a great day fishing.

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Yes he caught it with a topwater mouse, strange huh? Well, this is the only catfish in this pond.... how? my friend put it in there 3 years ago, and it's been growing since, and it's the first time it's been caught.

cassidyta · 07-23-09, 02:00 AM

Nice looking Cat. It is funny how those pond cats will go against everything we thing that we know about them.

BigBassin144 · 07-23-09, 09:24 AM

Watch out for those gander mtn, reel, I bought the tournament series last June because I needed a reel before the Guntersville get together and I didn't have the money to get a better one. Well this summer it broke on me. It would freespool, even after the reel was engaged, and it would even do it during hooksets, which I found is not good for setting hook and very good for making backlashes.

I woulda went with an Abu or a Daiwa.

BB

Bassboss · 07-23-09, 09:49 AM

Nice cat! Bummer his rod must though. Now what would a cat fish be eating a mouse fer?!?!?

What kinda cat if it? Looks kinda like a blue.... but, it ain't blue!

BoyoBoyle · 07-23-09, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigBassin144

Watch out for those gander mtn, reel, I bought the tournament series last June because I needed a reel before the Guntersville get together and I didn't have the money to get a better one. Well this summer it broke on me. It would freespool, even after the reel was engaged, and it would even do it during hooksets, which I found is not good for setting hook and very good for making backlashes.

I woulda went with an Abu or a Daiwa.

BB

oh jeez, that sounds bad... I hope this holds up, Im not a very competitive fisher, Im more of a beginner. But when you say freespool?... whats that? Im a little worried, it seems like a nice reel. And you bought the tournament reel which is 20$ more than mine and obviously much better.

catch2288 · 07-26-09, 06:16 AM

Aye caramba thats one ugly fish. Nothing even close to catfish way up here in Upper Michigan. I bet it put up quite a fight.

nofearengineer · 07-26-09, 09:55 AM

144,

I'm not too sure about how that particular reel is built, or how the anit-reverse systems work these days, but on all of my old spinning reels, it was usually just a simple lever-type spring that had been slightly bent. A few minutes with the case apart, and some tweaking of the spring, and it is usually good as new. That being said, it isn't exactly a vote of confidence in a newer reel. I usually only had that problem in a very old reel, or one that I had snagged while trolling, and switched off the anti-reverse under strain instead of loosening the drag (newbie mistake).

BigBassin144 · 07-26-09, 07:09 PM

boyo, I didn't realize you bought a spinning reel. no need to worry then, I find even most cheap spinning reels hold up decent.

BB

Cavs1123 · 07-27-09, 04:22 PM

I think its a flathead bass boss

07-23-09, 01:22 AM	#1
BoyoBoyle BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 92	New Gear, Big Fish! Ok, so today I went up to Gander Mountain with my buddy in search of a new reel. I was looking around the price range of about 40-50$. This is my first decent reel I'm buying. For a while I used the reel that came with a my combo, and when that one broke my friend gave me an old reel of his, but it was still of bad quality, so after about 4 years im finally gonna buy a nice reel. I looked around and ended up settling for the Gander Mountain Pro Select 35 series for 40$. Nice reel, seemed really smooth and strong, I think it should give me a good couple years of reliable use, I really like it. I also bought some 10" Black and Blue fleck PowerWorms. My friend bought a white top water weedless mouse. We got back and decided to try out some of our new equipment. We went to the pond across my friends house where we can usually catch a few average sized bass. First off, I loved my new reel, my old one skipped so much and was always really loose... it was pretty much shot. But I managed to catch about 7-8 bass in an hour and a half. I was very pleased. My friend was using his new Mouse, using it top-water over a bunch of vegetation.... he was having some trouble. On his first cast he got a huge hit... but he couldn't set the hook. After that, he pulled out one bass. He was starting to get a bit frusturated, and my friend is a long time fisher, hes the best among my group of friends and has the most knowledge and experience. I was fishing one side of the pond, when I started hearing a bunch of commotion. I turn to look and see my friend with his rod bent and a massive tail flopping in the air with water flying everywhere! This thing had to be HUGE! He says "Its a big one!!!" and I start jogging to where he is to watch the fight... Once I start jogging he yells "CATFISH!" I get over there and watch him fight this big cat. He eventually gets the cat up on the shore, and as hes dragging him in, his rod snaps in half! He then reaches down and grabs his line (14 lb. fireline) and the cat, then his line breaks! The cat starts flopping towards the pond, when I yell "grab him!" and my buddy leaps on the fish and pulls it into shore. We took a few pics and released the big fish. He was proud, it was a great day fishing. Yes he caught it with a topwater mouse, strange huh? Well, this is the only catfish in this pond.... how? my friend put it in there 3 years ago, and it's been growing since, and it's the first time it's been caught.

07-23-09, 02:00 AM	#2
cassidyta BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 2,928	Nice looking Cat. It is funny how those pond cats will go against everything we thing that we know about them. __________________ If you have ever wondered if you should retie, the answer is yes.

07-23-09, 09:24 AM	#3
BigBassin144 BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Toledo, Ohio Posts: 9,463	Watch out for those gander mtn, reel, I bought the tournament series last June because I needed a reel before the Guntersville get together and I didn't have the money to get a better one. Well this summer it broke on me. It would freespool, even after the reel was engaged, and it would even do it during hooksets, which I found is not good for setting hook and very good for making backlashes. I woulda went with an Abu or a Daiwa. BB __________________ As of June 14, 2014 the members of the BF.com forum have moved to basschat.yuku.com!

07-23-09, 09:49 AM	#4
Bassboss BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Shawano, WI Posts: 7,761	Nice cat! Bummer his rod must though. Now what would a cat fish be eating a mouse fer?!?!? What kinda cat if it? Looks kinda like a blue.... but, it ain't blue! __________________ If you can't fix it with heavy squats or fish oil, you're probably going to die.

07-26-09, 09:55 AM	#7
nofearengineer BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Southwest IN Posts: 5,630	144, I'm not too sure about how that particular reel is built, or how the anit-reverse systems work these days, but on all of my old spinning reels, it was usually just a simple lever-type spring that had been slightly bent. A few minutes with the case apart, and some tweaking of the spring, and it is usually good as new. That being said, it isn't exactly a vote of confidence in a newer reel. I usually only had that problem in a very old reel, or one that I had snagged while trolling, and switched off the anti-reverse under strain instead of loosening the drag (newbie mistake). __________________ Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after.

07-26-09, 06:16 AM	#6
catch2288 BassFishin.Com Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Ironwood, MI Posts: 44	Aye caramba thats one ugly fish. Nothing even close to catfish way up here in Upper Michigan. I bet it put up quite a fight.

07-26-09, 07:09 PM	#8
BigBassin144 BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Toledo, Ohio Posts: 9,463	boyo, I didn't realize you bought a spinning reel. no need to worry then, I find even most cheap spinning reels hold up decent. BB __________________ As of June 14, 2014 the members of the BF.com forum have moved to basschat.yuku.com!

07-27-09, 04:22 PM	#9
Cavs1123 BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Bellevue, Ohio Posts: 1,398	I think its a flathead bass boss __________________ Tom

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