Started striper fishing the Saco river 3 years ago. Have learned a lot from watching your videos. Now have 3 setups ,1 for bait and 2 for surf and river. Have the Penn 4500bls on a Tsunami Airwave Elite 9'6" works great and a Daiwa BG4000 on a St. Croix Mojo Surf 8'. Spro 1-2 1/4 oz. white bucktails with trailer were very good to me this past season. 2 weekend outings, about 16 hrs total, caught 109 between 18 and 27 inches. (24 were caught on a popper) would have increased my catch if I'd switched to the bucktail sooner. Anyway, thanks for the educating videos. Tim
The 70/30 split is my preference, like how the tsunami trophy II and airwave elite are made. It’s also a no brainer for portability. Automatic trip bails are at fault for bad casts and even missed lures! Manual bails or bailless is awesome. I’m glad most surf reels can be converted.
Good stuff. I’ve been converting my surf reels to bail-less for years - even those without a kit. Manual bails can work OK, but even those can get tripped accidentally, and they still trap sand as you mentioned.
I was really frustrated with the smoothness of this reel meaning it would keep spinning and kept catching the line until I watched this video. Now I'm going to pack it up with grease as you mentioned and hopefully it would stop spinning. Never happened with the earlier models. Thanks for the much needed tip and now I don'[t have to get a Van Staal out of frustration.
@@JohnSkinnerFishing Thanks for the vids. I really like this reel but I've been having this issue as well. Sorry, I'm a newbie, when you say pack it with grease, where and how much? Is there a grease you recommend?
I really enjoyed your take on the 70/30 split, never really knew the benefit of it and alway thought it was slightly a pain in the ass compared to a 50/50 split, definitely going to go into my next rod purchase with a different way of thinking, thank you for the explanation and another phenomenal video mr skinner, tight lines and I hope u have yourself a safe, happy and healthy off season
I have a ST. Croix Ben Doer reel with a 70/30 split & that baby cast a country mile. If you have a small car it can be a pain but, the cast makes up for it.
Have that reel in your link. Haven't put it n a rd yet. Was looking for the 5500 but the tackle shop said it wasn't made in that size. I'll have to look into it. After loosing $30.00 of lures in 20 minutes from the bail closing on the cast a couple a years ago(shimano stradic) I'm starting to switch all my non boat saltwater gear reels to bailless. As always , great vid.
Forty years ago my friend Bruce who was a Montauk pin hooker told me about bail less reels. Still have my 704 Pen set up that way. Not sure if Pen still sells the kits. Definitely save a lot of break offs
I heard a report on local radio last week, might have been WLNG, that the blue fish were down close to 70% this year and that there are plans to great amend the catch guidelines.
Hey John I’m thinking of paring one of these spinfisher 4500 vi with your new dark matter 9’2 rod any insight ? Fishing from the south Jersey surf and sod banks this would be my first striper setup thanks
I'd rather see a 5500 on the 9'2''. If you're just fishing sod banks, the 8-footer would be a good match to the 4500. If you're also going to fish the ocean, then the 9'2'' is a better choice. here's the 8'. bit.ly/3Guuvu3
Thanks John for the bailess reel run through. I have not seen one in store or in use here, I guess no one bought in the reel with the missing part and stores don't stock them. Merry XMas to all.
John I just buy me pann bailess reel 6500 an d my line got cut in the roller I going to do what u just said in ur video put some heavy grease in it to slow down the roller . Thank u , happy father's day John. 🦈🐠🐟
So in cases with rocky bottoms you should not bounce the bucktail off the bottom? I thought the idea was to have it at the bottom regardless of sand/rock
Have a 8'6 Trophy 2 with a 4500 Fierce 3 reel and its been a great combo! I'm looking to pick up the 10' MH model to toss some larger plugs/chunks do you think the 6500 bailess model would be a good match? or would the 4500 model be a better fit. Looking to try a bailess reel but don't have a need or budget for the VanStaal.
Mr.Skinner the roller on mine is loose and I don’t know how to fix it, I’ve tried tightening the screw but that didn’t work, do you know what can help fix it
@@JohnSkinnerFishing the part that you place the line back onto so you can reel the lure back in. It’s able to move side to side and I don’t know if that is normal
When the John Skinner rods first came out 2 years ago, I asked the rep if there were plans for a 2-piece version. Well, here it is, but at $329.99, I'll stick with the Tsunami Trophy II rods for a whole lot less.
Hey John Skinner another great video I have question about the waders i see you like the frog togs alot wasa wondering what do you prefer the stocking foot or Boot foot what would you say are the pros and cons in your option.
If you're fishing sand, you really need to go bootfoot else the sand works in between the wading shoe and stockingfoot and wears out the foot prematurely. Bootfoot is generally the best choice, unless you need traction, in which case stockingfoot and something like spiked felt wading shoes are what I'd go for.
So mid November still has bass from the surf on the North Shore? Obviously. Been concentrating on the western South Shore this first year of surf fishing. Been pretty good but sometimes I don’t feel like being pounded by waves and would really like to learn the subtleties of using the bucktail in calmer water, but still have a shot at catching fish. Would you say you were mid Island or pretty far east? I’m assuming you don’t venture too far west.
the better I get with bucktails and jig heads the more I believe it’s the weight of the lure that matters most to me. If I have the right weight I can control everything else. retrieve speed, action, profile. All follow suite. I can, most of the time lol, zero right in on fish in many different spots and situations if the weight of my lure is correct for the application I’m fishing and fish are around chances are I’m getting one.
In my experience with bailess reels, I've lost a few plugs on the cast because the line gets caught in the roller.....Should the roller be in any specific position before the cast?
That should only happen if the rotor comes around on its own when you wind up to cast. If that's happening, try packing the gearcase with heavy grease.
John, you mentioned rigged eels. Could you do a video of you rigging and using eels? I think it would be an awesome and different video than you usually put out. Also, I’ve had a lot of success with the smiling bill jigs this year down in south jersey.
look at his older videos with eels. he has many of them th-cam.com/video/N0hAPT_4dh4/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/VE9Vh27bIw8/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/gKomV_fmfNk/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/QGxJ-qPjaNc/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/HKKDy2I8LAw/w-d-xo.html
hey Tim, John's got both of those videos up and running. google his name and rigged eel and you'll find it! I used his video to make my own riggies. It's a great tutorial! -Tim
Could it be possible fishing striped bass off a jetty using the same type of bucktails would it work to catch striped bass off a jetty I live in Oregon and we get striped bass coming in our bays and rivers like February and March Spring Run then we get a full run like october-november on the Oregon coast
Hey John, As always, a wonderfully informative video. I recently picked up a Tsunami Trophy II 10' rod. Would you recommend cutting the butt down on this rod the same way you did with the Lamiglas? Or would there be a reason to not do that on this rod? Thanks in advance!
Which grease do you use? I filled gearbox with Penn blue grease and it turns black and oozes out main shaft hole in rotor under spool. Also is the 4500 or 6500 a better match for ocean surf with 9 foot rod? Thank you John great videos
Good if the lines tight,but if you fish a slack line in a wind and your not watching! Half a spool of line off the reel and knotted,that's why you have a bail arm,in any case don't you think this idea was thought about before you were born by all reel makers ? Wonder why they never took it up then 😂😂😂😂
John Skinner make it look so easy, 12 out of 10 you're not going to catch any fish. You have to have a spot already that you know for sure there's fish in that place other than that it's not going to work!
Just tape that index finger.. the rest will come with a little practice. The bail is the weakest link on all reels.. doing away with it and you will never want one again.
Started striper fishing the Saco river 3 years ago. Have learned a lot from watching your videos. Now have 3 setups ,1 for bait and 2 for surf and river. Have the Penn 4500bls on a Tsunami Airwave Elite 9'6" works great and a Daiwa BG4000 on a St. Croix Mojo Surf 8'. Spro 1-2 1/4 oz. white bucktails with trailer were very good to me this past season. 2 weekend outings, about 16 hrs total, caught 109 between 18 and 27 inches. (24 were caught on a popper) would have increased my catch if I'd switched to the bucktail sooner. Anyway, thanks for the educating videos. Tim
Nice action! Sounds like a good fishery up there.
how do you like the tsunami airwave elite 9'6 with the penn 4500bls- i was bouncing between the 5500 and 4500 for that rod
The 70/30 split is my preference, like how the tsunami trophy II and airwave elite are made. It’s also a no brainer for portability.
Automatic trip bails are at fault for bad casts and even missed lures! Manual bails or bailless is awesome. I’m glad most surf reels can be converted.
Good stuff. I’ve been converting my surf reels to bail-less for years - even those without a kit. Manual bails can work OK, but even those can get tripped accidentally, and they still trap sand as you mentioned.
I was really frustrated with the smoothness of this reel meaning it would keep spinning and kept catching the line until I watched this video. Now I'm going to pack it up with grease as you mentioned and hopefully it would stop spinning. Never happened with the earlier models. Thanks for the much needed tip and now I don'[t have to get a Van Staal out of frustration.
Agreed on that issue with the latest version. Another reel you might consider is the Tsunami SaltX. They come with an easy manual conversion kit.
@@JohnSkinnerFishing Thanks for the vids. I really like this reel but I've been having this issue as well. Sorry, I'm a newbie, when you say pack it with grease, where and how much? Is there a grease you recommend?
@@geekbitsTube Trailer bearing grease.
at 7:57 a fish swam by , how did you not see that! lol
I really enjoyed your take on the 70/30 split, never really knew the benefit of it and alway thought it was slightly a pain in the ass compared to a 50/50 split, definitely going to go into my next rod purchase with a different way of thinking, thank you for the explanation and another phenomenal video mr skinner, tight lines and I hope u have yourself a safe, happy and healthy off season
I have a ST. Croix Ben Doer reel with a 70/30 split & that baby cast a country mile. If you have a small car it can be a pain but, the cast makes up for it.
Have that reel in your link. Haven't put it n a rd yet. Was looking for the 5500 but the tackle shop said it wasn't made in that size. I'll have to look into it. After loosing $30.00 of lures in 20 minutes from the bail closing on the cast a couple a years ago(shimano stradic) I'm starting to switch all my non boat saltwater gear reels to bailless. As always , great vid.
Cannot express how much I love your videos they are very educational
Forty years ago my friend Bruce who was a Montauk pin hooker told me about bail less reels. Still have my 704 Pen set up that way.
Not sure if Pen still sells the kits. Definitely save a lot of break offs
7:57 that bunker is like john please save me
I heard a report on local radio last week, might have been WLNG, that the blue fish were down close to 70% this year and that there are plans to great amend the catch guidelines.
John at 13:48 on the bottom left is the fish swimming to shore maybe a small bass ?
adult bunker
Just ordered the 4500 bailess from J&H
Hey John. I was wondering which 10’ Lamiglass blank you had originally before it broke into the legendary “skinner rod”?
GSB1201L
Can you do a reel grease and cleaning video if you havent?
Have you ever been to the Lamiglas factory in Woodland?
Big John, you’re the man!!!
Hey John I’m thinking of paring one of these spinfisher 4500 vi with your new dark matter 9’2 rod any insight ? Fishing from the south Jersey surf and sod banks this would be my first striper setup thanks
I'd rather see a 5500 on the 9'2''. If you're just fishing sod banks, the 8-footer would be a good match to the 4500. If you're also going to fish the ocean, then the 9'2'' is a better choice. here's the 8'. bit.ly/3Guuvu3
Im guessing with this bailless reel we are not suppose to get any slack? Or you'll be forced to put the line on the roller while fighting the fish?
I've fished bail-less all my life and the line has never come off the roller accidentally while fishing. I can see why you might think that though.
Great. Video .. going to try the bail less reel I just bought the tsunami shield it was like $104.00 love the reel
Thanks John for the bailess reel run through. I have not seen one in store or in use here, I guess no one bought in the reel with the missing part and stores don't stock them. Merry XMas to all.
John I just buy me pann bailess reel 6500 an d my line got cut in the roller I going to do what u just said in ur video put some heavy grease in it to slow down the roller . Thank u , happy father's day John. 🦈🐠🐟
Really pack it with something like trailer bearing grease.
So in cases with rocky bottoms you should not bounce the bucktail off the bottom? I thought the idea was to have it at the bottom regardless of sand/rock
I never in any situation intentionally bounce a bucktail on the bottom. I swim or glide it close to the bottom.
Just bought a new rod and reel.. Can't wait to try it.
Have a 8'6 Trophy 2 with a 4500 Fierce 3 reel and its been a great combo! I'm looking to pick up the 10' MH model to toss some larger plugs/chunks do you think the 6500 bailess model would be a good match? or would the 4500 model be a better fit. Looking to try a bailess reel but don't have a need or budget for the VanStaal.
I absolutely love my penn bailess 450 spinfisher 6
Mr.Skinner the roller on mine is loose and I don’t know how to fix it, I’ve tried tightening the screw but that didn’t work, do you know what can help fix it
I'm not sure what you mean by loose. It's supposed to spin.
@@JohnSkinnerFishing the part that you place the line back onto so you can reel the lure back in. It’s able to move side to side and I don’t know if that is normal
When the John Skinner rods first came out 2 years ago, I asked the rep if there were plans for a 2-piece version. Well, here it is, but at $329.99, I'll stick with the Tsunami Trophy II rods for a whole lot less.
Lamiglass rods are alot of things but they are not cheap.
$399!
If you found it for $329, that's a good price. Lamiglas GSBs run something like $380-$450ish.
What size line and leader you using John ?
Is it possible to change my one piece 9foot lamiglas rod into a 2 piece?
Hey John Skinner another great video I have question about the waders i see you like the frog togs alot wasa wondering what do you prefer the stocking foot or Boot foot what would you say are the pros and cons in your option.
If you're fishing sand, you really need to go bootfoot else the sand works in between the wading shoe and stockingfoot and wears out the foot prematurely. Bootfoot is generally the best choice, unless you need traction, in which case stockingfoot and something like spiked felt wading shoes are what I'd go for.
So mid November still has bass from the surf on the North Shore? Obviously. Been concentrating on the western South Shore this first year of surf fishing. Been pretty good but sometimes I don’t feel like being pounded by waves and would really like to learn the subtleties of using the bucktail in calmer water, but still have a shot at catching fish. Would you say you were mid Island or pretty far east? I’m assuming you don’t venture too far west.
Yes, but the mid to eastern South Shore was better than the North Shore in mid-November.
John, why the 6k and not the 4k on the Salt X? Hmmmm....
What reel is that?
Very nice nice video and informative.thanx
the better I get with bucktails and jig heads the more I believe it’s the weight of the lure that matters most to me. If I have the right weight I can control everything else. retrieve speed, action, profile. All follow suite. I can, most of the time lol, zero right in on fish in many different spots and situations if the weight of my lure is correct for the application I’m fishing and fish are around chances are I’m getting one.
So what’s the best weight to go with? I had luck with 2oz. Is that too heavy? Any particular color? Can you give some advice? Lol
@@ZampostOk for me here in south jersey 1/2oz is the perfect size is 90% of the applications. And as far as color white is the only color that matters
Is that a fish swimming at your side at the 8 minute mark? Or is it some seaweed with good action? Lol
Nevermind. Just heard ur explanation lol
Also John been wondering if you have any experience with the long cast models of the Spinfisher.
no experience
John Skinner Fishing Lucky 🍀 U! Lol 😂
In my experience with bailess reels, I've lost a few plugs on the cast because the line gets caught in the roller.....Should the roller be in any specific position before the cast?
That should only happen if the rotor comes around on its own when you wind up to cast. If that's happening, try packing the gearcase with heavy grease.
@@JohnSkinnerFishing Thanks.....
John, you mentioned rigged eels. Could you do a video of you rigging and using eels? I think it would be an awesome and different video than you usually put out.
Also, I’ve had a lot of success with the smiling bill jigs this year down in south jersey.
look at his older videos with eels. he has many of them
th-cam.com/video/N0hAPT_4dh4/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/VE9Vh27bIw8/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/gKomV_fmfNk/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/QGxJ-qPjaNc/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/HKKDy2I8LAw/w-d-xo.html
hey Tim, John's got both of those videos up and running. google his name and rigged eel and you'll find it! I used his video to make my own riggies. It's a great tutorial!
-Tim
South Fork Salt awesome thanks man! Tight lines
Could it be possible fishing striped bass off a jetty using the same type of bucktails would it work to catch striped bass off a jetty I live in Oregon and we get striped bass coming in our bays and rivers like February and March Spring Run then we get a full run like october-november on the Oregon coast
Cool. I didn't know they were in Oregon. Yes - definitely bucktails will work for stripers in any situation.
Hey John, As always, a wonderfully informative video. I recently picked up a Tsunami Trophy II 10' rod. Would you recommend cutting the butt down on this rod the same way you did with the Lamiglas? Or would there be a reason to not do that on this rod? Thanks in advance!
I did not cut a lamiglas rod, I cut a blank and built a rod on that. This rod is great as-is. Definitely do not cut.
@@JohnSkinnerFishing Ah, understood. Thanks!
@Samuel Howe, what reel and size of the reel did you pair with the Trophy II 10’?
@@RLFore Van Staal VS200 bailess I inherited from my father
I dont understand why the other GSB rods are still 50/50,I'm thinking about having a builder turn a one peice in to a 70/30.
They tried that with this one, but I rejected it. It just didn't feel the way this rod should. I told them to try 70/30 on it and they got it right.
@@JohnSkinnerFishing Thanks for the reply,you saved me from ruining a rod!
John, FYI, your link to wading shoes leads to 404 page not found on J and H. Still going after my first Striper from surf.
Thanks. Fixed.
👍 This is GrumpyChickenHeart. I use this ID for fishing. Glad to see your reply on my first post here. :) Thank you for all of you videos.
“reel in the perfect pic
and email me a file
so i can respond to it
to make you a cinephile”
- cel
What lb braid u use
20 and 30.
@@JohnSkinnerFishing is fifteen still good on the 4500 vi
With the right skill level and drag setting.
Which grease do you use? I filled gearbox with Penn blue grease and it turns black and oozes out main shaft hole in rotor under spool.
Also is the 4500 or 6500 a better match for ocean surf with 9 foot rod?
Thank you John great videos
Ocean surf and a 9-footer I'd use a 6500, especially the gsbskinner. The ideal size is probably a 5500. I use trailer axel grease.
Horton's Point ?
great vid
I catch one striper a year......
Man I gotta get another penn spinfisher. I’m done with this tsunami salt x
Good if the lines tight,but if you fish a slack line in a wind and your not watching! Half a spool of line off the reel and knotted,that's why you have a bail arm,in any case don't you think this idea was thought about before you were born by all reel makers ? Wonder why they never took it up then 😂😂😂😂
John Skinner make it look so easy, 12 out of 10 you're not going to catch any fish. You have to have a spot already that you know for sure there's fish in that place other than that it's not going to work!
The one and only time I fished this spot this season. I fished it once last season under similar conditions and did well too.
Just tape that index finger.. the rest will come with a little practice. The bail is the weakest link on all reels.. doing away with it and you will never want one again.
You'd think bailess reels would be less expensive.
Yes agreed
Imagine getting a fish literally every cast
I would never go bailess !
where in long island
In case of immature bail trip or bail fails on you
I would literally invent the bail to correct this....lol
sorry!! I did not know