Rods in the rod racks on the basement ceiling, and reels in a hard case. Plano boxes, mostly 3600s, in baskets from a chest freezer. I've got three baskets on one shelf. They function pretty much like filing cabinet drawers. Miscellaneous on another shelf and the floor of the closet. The kayaks live...

I knock off the bulk of the old grease with an old toothbrush, then put the parts in my ultrasonic cleaner in a Simple Green solution and make sure to turn on the heater. Heating the solution cleans the parts a lot better for me.

Wiley X does prescription sunglasses.

Mine look cleaner when using lighter lines. 6lb fluoro onto 10lb Fireline gives me a nicer looking knot than 12lb fluoro onto 20lb or 40lb braid. I haven't been tying the FG very long though.

Anything you can fish slow. I got two bass last Saturday on a spoon fishing the trout opener in a snow storm.

I put my hands on one at a tackle swap Saturday. It felt pretty comparable to my 50E. I had to put it down quickly before I made a bad decision.

I had a similar issue with my HSTA when reassembling after cleaning. I accidentally swapped two bearings. One was about 1mm thicker than the other.

How is excess grease on a spinning reel a bad thing? I can understand cleaning out the spool bearings on a caster, but bearings in a spinner don't hurt performance, except maybe the line roller. I just finished cleaning my reels for the year. I pack the spinner bearings (non-spool casting bearings t...

I have a Helix 5 SI on my Big Rig and it works just fine. You gotta learn to use it and tune it to the boat.

1. Look up "eddy current braking".

I had the same issue with one of my Advantage HSTAs. A little filing took care of it.

I have the larger Harbor Freight model and it's been doing the job for a few years now. I use Simple Green for most parts and lacquer thinner in a baby food jar for bearings.

I also spoke with the Daiwa reps at the Schaumburg show. They told me there will still be different JDM and USDM reels.

I have a Helix 5 SI on my kayak. It's a nice unit and a huge upgrade from the Piranhamax 190c I had previously. It takes a bit of dialing in at first, but, once I got it how I want it, it's pretty easy to use. The detail is wonderful on the hi-res screen. The side imaging is the feature that sold me...

It sounds like you just have the transducer sitting inside the pool noodle. Try filling the hole in the noodle with water before putting the transducer in. If that solves the problem, fill the hole with some marine adhesive and push the transducer in.