Cals Light

[Alto Mare]

Hey Oldcatcher:  At least you don't have to worry about the beer getting warm. .  Dominick

During late fall/start of winter here I'm pretty much a hot coffee guy, often bring two stanley thermos bottles.

Love to toss a few back as much as anybody, but when I'm fishing...... I'm fishing 

I've ordered some cal's light, tsi301 & tsi322 plus corrosionx hd, still need to get some carbontex drag washers from smoothdrag.

Here is a nice late season fall fattie muskie from this year.



-Dave

That's a big boy. Nice!

[oldcatcher]

Thanks fellas........... yeah, she was a real beauty, made all the long hours on the water worthwhile.

Apologize for posting a fish pic and getting off topic, still learning the lay of the land here, see you have another place for fish reports/pics.   

And our beer will freeze here too in no time during the late fall. 

-Dave

[John Tanner]

Hi Folks,

I'm a friend of Dave's (Oldcatcher) from another musky fishing forum (www.muskytooth.com) and I actually directed Dave to this site for Alan's advice and particularly his tutorials.  Amazing stuff here. 

I am a reel do-it-yourselfer and have been for years.  I've taken all sorts of reels apart, cleaning them, replacing parts and very often to swap in a new drag such as the carbontex or HT100 drags.  I have never greased them before with anything and I have witnessed the debate on several forums as to "grease, or not to grease".  Dry, they are smooth but everyone seems to agree that they are even smoother greased with Cal's or Shimano reel grease.  Here's where it gets interesting for Dave and I....we're pulling 10-18" baits up to 5, 6, even 7 mph at times, that simply "pound"....they pull HARD.  And with weaker drags and over time, the drag starts to slip on the troll. Carbontex washers in a Tekota 700 (even a 600) generally won't slip but if we grease them, will they "slip easier"?  I love a smooth drag (pun intended) but we also need that holding power during the actual troll itself which is where I am concerned.

Thanks!

John

[Keta]

Apologize for posting a fish pic and getting off topic, still learning the lay of the land here, see you have another place for fish reports/pics.  

Photos of nice fish are always ok as far as I'm concerned.

John, I troll diving planners on a Penn 50SW and a Penn 70 with greased drags and have no problem with very high drag.  Grease is almost mandatory for saltwater but not so much fresh water but Alan and my playing around has me greasing every one of my reels drags.  I even tested Cal's lite on two reels by leaving them in my freezer over night.

[dogdad1]

Jeez. 10-15F.  Had to open my freezer door to remember what that's like.  More power to ya, my friend.  I lived in E Aurora for a couple years as a kid.


Your comment about a thermos reminds me of an early-morning fishing-trip I was invited on years ago.  About a 16' Carolina Skiff, IIRC, and not much room in it.  On the way back in, my lost thermos rolled out from under the seat still full of piping-hot coffee, and the other guy exclaimed: "Hey, what the heck is that?".  I explained it was a Thermos Bottle, and is used to keep hot things hot and cold things cold.  We both had a good jolt from it and the day suddenly got better.

About a week or so later, I asked him out on a run and in my boat this time.  He was so proud of his new shiny Thermos, and he couldn't wait to show me.  Being about 4:30 am, I asked what he'd brought in it.  His response: "Tomato soup, and chocolate ice cream!  Want some?"     


Yeah, I know,  Off-topic.  Sorry.

[Jimmer]

Got up to 82 degrees here last week and my cal's light (purple) seperated. I think I'll go back to superlube, never seen it seperate.

[Keta]

Rub it in, it got up to 40°F here today with an icy wind, snow on the way.

[Dominick]

John if your drags are slipping at 7 mph, you are setting them too loose.  Dominick

[John Tanner]

Some great feedback, thanks. 

Dominick, I had a Tekota 600LC with carbontex washers and with certain baits that we typically run, it would be slowly, "click.......click...", slipping.  I'd have to lock it down to the point where it was not as smooth on a strike as it should be.  I'm going with a Tekota 700LC so that the start up drag power is hopefully greater because of the drag and the spool diameter with more range i.e. I don't have to lock it down!  I was and am concerned that if I grease the carbontex washers with Cal's, the start up drag will be reduced though smoother overall.  Frankly, I've been running fiber drags dry for a long time and never had an issue with smoothness of the drag but I'm willing to grease them if I'm wrong in my assumption.

Thanks again.

[oldcatcher]

Been away for awhile..... ordered all my reel cleaning/lubricating and smoothdrag carbontex drag washers.

Performed the cleaning/lubricating and drag washer replacement on two shimano 600LC's and one shimano 700LC earlier this week.

TSI301 on the bearings, CorrosionxHD and Cals Light on everything but the bearings, I did not lube the drag washers after communicating with John who has personal experience with similar climate, lures and boat speeds.

John is right, the large trolling baits with aggressive diving lips really pull hard on the drags at trolling speeds and will start slipping at times.

Tightening the drag too much may cause lost fish due to the bait being literally ripped out of the fishes mouth during the strike I would think.

Whether grease on the drag washers would contribute to drag washers slipping in our application is an interesting discussion. 

I'm thinking of putting Cal's Light on just one of my Shimano 600LC's as a test and check the drag performance just for sh!t$ & grins.

Appreciate all the help I've received here, really learning alot.

-Dave

[wallacewt]

if you are using treble hooks on your lures try switching to single hooks for a better hook up and holding.cheers

[Keta]

if you are using treble hooks on your lures try switching to single hooks for a better hook up and holding.cheers

X2, and it's much safer when you don't have several hooks flopping around on the deck.