Planning another type of fishing

I'm planning to go out for trout fishing this year. Today, I custom-tuned some of my old spoons with abalone sheets. Such sheets were very expensive about 10 years ago, but nowadays it's getting more and more easy to get them at cheaper price in fishing tackle shops here. I bought a couple of sheets for squid lures, but they're very thin and good for spoons, too. They come with double-stick sheets on one side, so all you have to do is to cut the sheet, put it on the spoon, and coat the surface by an instant glue. They're very attractive and productive in the water.

New?? rods

During this past off-season, I custom-built three rods using old Fenwick rod blanks. The top is made of a Fenglass SP634, the middle is SP621, and the bottom is HMG GSP661. I can't wait to use them.

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.