Davis

Lol if your honest with yourself I'm sure there is more to this story than we all know. Getting a dog to keep her occupied? Come on man. There is more to life than fishing. IMO having a partner in my life like my wife that doesn't have EVERYTHING in common with me is a good thing. We can share in some things that we love and than we have our totally opposite hobbies that we can chill out on our own (like RW was basically saying lol). My point is that your asking a bunch of guys on a fishing site that LOVE to fish. Most of these responses are laughable and "manly" ;D. Your not married now so if you don't think that you can compromise yourself than maybe it is best to cut ties. But if you think a marriage is going to be all "I'm the man and I rule the roost" and expect the relationship to be happy than your mistaken IMO. Relationships are about communication and compromise. I had to learn the hard way....believe me. She was doing the talking but I wasn't doing the listening. Thankfully I woke up and she took me back after a stupid stupid stupid mistake. My wife and I are now very very happy.

Not true at all man.... Speaking from experience. Communication and more of it can change a lot of things.

I'd agree. I would recommend upping your hook size and trimming off an inch or two off your worm. That should help. I'm gonna assume you've been keeping your line tight and all that too I don't agree. The 7" power worm is my favorite creek bait for smallies....almost to a fault where I don't change up to something else when there not biting....anyway..... A 3/0 hook is the hook you want for this bait. Its a very skinny bait and a 6/0 is just way too big. But different things work for different people.

Trick Stick or Spinnerbait......(can't make up my mind!) Spinnerbaits you can cover a lot of water, hop it, jerk it, straight burn it in, slow roll...... The trick stick/senko is just as versatile....hop it, jerk it like a jerkbait, drag em, wacky rig em.... Guess I'll go with a trickstick/senko for the waters that I fish.

I have a Lowrider but have only used it for a month. Really like it though. Pretty much my dedicated spinnerbait rig but it's hauled in some nice 3lbers. So far so good....but again I haven't used it long enough to comment on the durability.

Welcome! Or even buy a 6 person Coleman raft. That is what I have for a few spots that I fish. Cost me 70 bucks and is tough as nails (took it down my local creek that is filled with rocks). If the wind kicks up than invest in an anchor and some line for about 20 bucks. Boom...your in business.

cha-ching.... deadly...

Could you have possibly cut the hook itself ? The wire cutters that I had on my tool were not strong enough.

My buddy got a 2lb smallie on Saturday and she was hooked on the side of her tongue. Tried all I could to get the hook out with pliers and bending down the barb but it still wouldn't dislodge. So I cut the line from the hook and released her. She same off fine but I don't like her chances with that 2/0 EWG in there. There tongues are so tough. Tried and did everything I could.

What up Burger....... This place has some great info. Definately sucks you in. Hopefully next week the weather can help us and we can get on some smallies. It's been a while brother. Too long! Where was that crappie that you caught? Dylan grabbed a nice one up at Holcomb Pond a couple weeks ago. Caught it on a thin senko.

Nothing beats real worms. Either garden worms or night crawlers ripped in half. As soon as they hit the water your going to have a fish on.

I'm the same as you in a way. Just started using baitcasters for the first time this year. Bought three citicas in the right handed models. People were warning me that it was going to be tough to train my hands coming from a left handed spinning user. Actually I didn't have any troubles and I switch back and forth a lot during a day of fishing and I don't have any issues. But if it feels weird to you with the walmart one than the more expensive one will still feel the same. Go to a sporting goods store and mess around with the left handed one yourself to see if it feels better.

Agreed. I remember the first time I tied up a 4/0 wide gap hook. Thought it was HUGE and I really wasn't comfortable with it. That was until I hooked my first IKA fish. Like the poster on the second page has shown.....even dinks will hit an IKA rigged with a larger hook. Don't let that 4/0 or 5/0 scare you off.

Will it work? Yes....I actually caught my personal best smallie on a shakey head setup with a Gulp worm. But that was the only thing I have ever caught on GULP. I believe the Berkley original formula worms and plastics are far superior in bringing fish to shore. My results anyway. Others will differ.

I nabbed a nice 4 lber last night (PB of 08) on......you guessed it....Fat Ika. They never fail me.

Like others have said there is no BEST spinnerbait out there really. My top producers for this year so far have been War Eagle Screamin Eagles and KVD Strike Kings in a shad color.

Try some Berkley Chigger Craws weightless. I was dealing with some cruisers last week. Wouldn't hit anything. Than I rigged up some of the Powerbait Craws and did what Zel said....tossed them parallel to shore but far enough where they couldn't see me. Pulled a couple fish out. Probably wasn't the powerbait scent but when in doubt the powerbait comes through a good amount of the time for me. Just keep throwing lines if you have the time to mess with em.

Rule #1 that I always tell my son.........give your fellow fisherman space. He is only nine years old so he always asks when people are fishing our favorite spots if we can go down and fish next to them. I always remind him to not crowd fellow anglers and that spot will be open another day. Than we move on to another area where no one is around. We still catch fish. One thing that bugs me.....people crowding me and casting over me. Just don't understand it.

Also when it's windy and the water is clear go back to your double willow spinnerbait. But don't just chuck it and reel it in. Work that sucker! Give it some jerks and pops while you retrieve. Heck once in a while stop reeling and let it sink and than give it some hops. Last weekend it was windy with clear water and nothing was really biting. I was just tossing a spinnerbait out and burning it back. No bites. Through out the plastics for a while....no bites. Than I went back to my spinnerbait since it was too windy for plastics. Went to a jerking retrieve with some pauses and hops in there and I pulled out 5 fish in the next hour with this retrieve. The fish were all caught shallow in less than 8 foot of water as well. Maybe give this a go?

Love fishing flukes weightless. I fish the smaller ones though on a 2/0 - 3/0 offset round bend Gammy hook. Definately want smaller line and a lighter rated rod for this style. I go with 6-8 lb test line with a 6'8" extra fast tip medium action Avid. Fished with Medium fast 7 foot rods and it didn't go as well (I like a faster tip). Like others have said....don't fight the wind (toss a spinnerbait in those situations), and go with your lighter rated rod. To mix it up....maybe throw a split shot about 8-10 inches up your line and drag em. Some of my biggest fish last year came on fishing a fluke jr. This was my most productive fluke bait and color last year. You can get them from *.com which is a sponsor here on the board. http://www.*.com/description.php?id=646

Up here in NY you can find a lot of ponds on Google Earth.....but it's on posted property most of the time and half the guys that own the land don't even live close to it (city dwellers). I have a new pond to try out when this cold weather passes. A friend has a farm pond right down the road from my house that I never even knew was there. 8-)

I do the purchasing for my local hospital. Before shipping was free in our contracts. Now companies are charging 15-20 dollar fuel surcharges per delivery because diesal is out of this world. $4.59 as of this weekend for diesel. CRAZY!!! I usually don't buy into the depression talks but if something doesn't happen fast than it will happen no doubt about it. Jobs are being lost left and right. Especially in NY. Good amount of people haven't seen a raise in years but prices are all going up.

How much is enough? Who gets to set such a limit? What is greed? When you can't spend it all lol. That's when its enough. Seriously.....it's putting a beatin on our economy.

Look at #2 on the first part of the form. It's there.

I like my 100 but I adore my 200s.