First fishing, first bass

Not so big, but the first bass is special every year. It was a warm morning today, and I got up very early to leave home at 04:30. The Gilmore Hoodler worked well, and this nice bass broke the water surface. The smell of bass fully reminded me of old good memories of my fishing.

Today's tackle:
ABU Royal Plus (4600FL), Fenwick 2053, Stren 14lb (gold), Gilmore Hoodler

Too windy

I tried to go out today, but it was so windy and stormy that I spend almost whole day at home. This year, I'd like to use some ABU Royal-series reels. Below are three of them, 'Royal Plus', 'Royal' and 'Royal Gold LE' (from the left). Royal Plus originally comes with magnet-controlling system, but I have removed it and attached conventional centrifugal breaking shoes. This reel is very light, and the plastic body may keep my left hand warm even during the early fishing season. Royal is very similar to 4600CB, but I removed the self-centering device, so it is now similar to 4600C. I guess this reel is another version of ABU Ambassadeur Record sold in Japan. Royal Gold LE is the newest among these reels, and works very smoothly. I also replaced their handles to shorter ones (ABU genuine shorter power handle for 1500C or 2500C), because I believe they're good for zippy reeling. Oh, I can't wait to get the lines wet.

Groomed

He may look very old, but has just become one year old. Today, we took him to a grooming parlor near our place (though, he did not want to go). It was the third time for him to be groomed.

ABU Droppen

I found a very nice ABU Droppen spinner out of an old catalog. Its color code is FG, fluorescent-red/gold, and the logo of ABU is printed on the blade. I guess it was sold before the early 1990s, and it may be difficult to find one now (but I'd like to try).

Foot sizes (just for my personal record)

Today, I visited a New Balance footwear shop and had them measure the sizes of my feet. I had bought many pairs of shoes in 27cm/4E or 27.5cm/EE to fit myself, but had never known the true sizes of mine. According to them, my bare sizes are 265mm in length with 255mm width (right) and 266mm in length with 240 mm width (left), suggesting that I should choose 27.0cm/EE or 27.5cm/EE, if I fit the larger right foot.
The shoe-fitter in the shop was so kind I bought three pairs, two (M965 and MR966) for my long-distance running and one (sneakers) for daily use. The M965 and MR966 are subsequent models of M964 (I also have one pair) which was famous for LSD training or Ultra marathon. They all share good cushioned sole and high ventilation ability.

Another reel (Ultracast Design)

This is another reel with ABU Ultracast Design, in which the center shaft is separated from the spool for freer rotation. This device works extremely smoothly, but I like older ones better, cause I don't cast light-weight lures so often. Ultracast Design is very good, but you may not be able to handle it properly, if you oil it too much.

So Smooth!

I finally finished cleaning my reels which I'm planning to use during next fishing season. Most of them are very old products made about 30-40 years ago, but they work very smoothly, maybe more smoooothly than you expect, after you clean up and overhaul all the parts properly.

The way I do is...at first, I carefully wash the gears, screws, washers, and other parts one by one with a brush and kitchen detergent in hot water, and then wipe to clean them with waste cloth. Next, I remove old sticky oil and grease using solvents. And at last, I put them up using ABU Garcia Silicote Reel Oil and Lube. I also often use Shimano Reel Oil Spray for the bearings. I know of recent high-precision ball bearing and high-tech oils such as IOS-01, but have never so far tried them, though I'm interested in them very much.

Now, how long do you think the spool turns around?