TBT# My 1st Baitcasting Reel

Throwback Thursday-I bought this Shimano Bantam Mag Plus 250SG XHS reel at Little Jim's in Annandale MN in probably  1982 or 1983 for $69.99 plus tax.  I can't remember anymore if I bought it in the old store or at the one they have now.  I think it was the old store, but memory isn't the greatest.

Dad only fished with spinning gear, so learning how to cast this thing was solely up to me.  I read the instructions from cover to cover and there was nothing telling me how to properly adjust the reel for casting.  I promptly went out and backlashed it so bad the reel was unusable.  When I got back home, I got new line to put on it and I learned to cast in my back yard.  Many more backlashes followed, but eventually I figured it out.

 The reel has a magnetic brake.  I have never been able to get comfortable throwing a reel with centrifugal brakes no matter how hard I tried with them.  Probably the biggest reason why I am such a Daiwa fan now, magnetic brakes.

 
5:1 was considered Extra High Speed.  My how things have changed.  As I recall the big selling point for me at the time was Quickfire Free Spool, aka the thumb bar.  I didn't want one that had a mettle push button and this one didn't.  The reel served me well for many years and still is in usable condition.  I have had it on an ice fishing rod since the early years of this century.  Seeing as how I have stopped ice fishing, I don't use it anymore.

#TBT: The Topwater Lure I Made In 8th Grade

Throwback Thursday-  I believe I made this for a class project in 8th Grade at Oak Grove Jr. High, but it might have been 9th grade.  It had 3 treble hooks and a screw in eye when it was finished, but they were long since cannibalized to other lures.  I'm not sure what I was going for with the crimson and yellow color pattern.  Never caught a fish on it,  but I did try it at least a couple of times.

#TBT: My First Bass Jig

#TBT stands for Throwback Thursday.

One of my earliest memories of catching a bass was from when I was probably 4 or 5 years old and my dad gave me a little yellow hair jig that he called a "Crappie Killer" to use.  I went down to the "back bay," our cabin on West Sylvia had water we could fish on the front and back of the property, hoping to catch a crappie.  Instead of a crappie I got a largemouth instead.  Puzzled I went up and showed dad the bass I had caught.  He explained to me that just because it was called a "Crappie Killer" didn't mean that it would only catch crappies.  Satisfied with that explanation I threw back the bass, which weren't in season yet, and went back to try and get me crappie.   All I could ever seem to catch on these "Crappie Killers" were bass. No matter how much I tried, I don't think I ever caught a crappie on these jigs. As you can see from the picture, I still have a few of them. Judging from the pound test still tied on to the one jig I can see why I didn't get any crappies with them.