Tokyo Tony

Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely check it out. Isn't Wachussett shore fishing only also?

I'll be going to Wachussett Res ;D

Bass fishing starts as soon as the ice starts to disappear.

Yeah man, and you could fish all the way around the shoreline in less than an hour. It was a great way to spend an hour after work :-/ Oh well, I'll find more. And tin, if you fish Amos, you should hit up Wyassup too, right near Foxwood's. It's got some smallies, although not too many. There's an abundance of dinks, but if you fish deep with a jig you can catch some nice LMB's. I know of a guy who caught a 7 lber in there the beginning of last summer, so they're in there for sure. If you beat the banks you can pound out 50 dinks in no time, if that interests you. I usually go there on my way to the casino and just hang out on my float tube for a couple hours.

The bite usually occurs on the cheek against which your wallet is lodged. The venom is not physically harmful, but it is sometimes emotionally damaging, with a common side effect of buyer's remorse. However, it may have different effects on different people, as some experience mild euphoria. Contact your local Cabela's or BPS representative for more information.

Absolutely (unless you're a spammer) - let's hear it.

The key is getting the size that will unravel below the pound test of your line, but above the pound test at which your drag is set. That way a fish won't unravel it during the fight, but would pull drag out. This all just seems like a big hassle to me, especially considering the fact that there are lure retrievers out there that you can slide down your line so you don't have to get close to the bait.

It sounds like you'd be best off with braid if you're fishing jigs deep, line visibility is not an issue, and you're concerned about sensitivity and keeping contact with the bait. Braid won't stretch at all, and it's more sensitive than any flouro out there....oh, and I also use Power Pro. .02

The idea of the "bait monkey," and the term itself, are too deeply ingrained in all of us to change anything at this point. There's no way to prevent posts about or references to him, so I think we'd better just accept our fate :-X

Well as with any fishing product, there are hundreds of choices, and sometimes other people can tell you about what they have learned about, in this case, tackle boxes/bags, and that information would never have occurred to you on your own. It's kind of the whole point of this site, no?

I know it's not too popular of a bait on this forum, but I'd also recommend a chatterbait. It has great attracting qualities, especially since the water is stained, and you can work it anywhere in the water column, or even work it like a jig off the bottom. You can try a black/blue color and if that doesn't work, a white or white/red should work. Give it a shot

Your ex-wife got your fishing stuff!!??? What? What a witch >

My one encounter with a warden was Jan 7th 2007, the day I caught my PB. It totally slipped my mind that it was 2007, so I hadn't bought a license yet, and as I was leaving one spot, I was gonna throw a few casts at another spot. I pulled right up behind a cop car (I thought it was strange that a cop was hanging out there), took my rod out, and threw a few casts. In the cop car was the warden, a nice woman who chatted for a while about the lake, then she asked for my license. I handed it to her, and she asked if I had a 2007 license. I said "holy crap I totally forgot to get one this year!" and it was pretty obvious that it was an innocent mistake, so she let me go with a warning. She said if I had realized that my license wasn't current, I probably would not have pulled up right behind her and started fishing, which is definitely true ;D. But she was a nice lady, and right after I left I bought my 2007 license.

1. Does any company sell 1/16th to 1/4 oz tungsten jigheads with no weedguard? 2. If so, where's the best place to find them? Thanks!

Oh, and another thing: with a regular lure retriever, usually you'll get the hooks back intact. With that unraveling split ring, you lose the hook AND the split ring, which can become expensive. Plus, you'll have to retie or rehook after you unravel a hook. Sounds like a terrible idea when you think of all the factors

I wouldn't trust those things. They're split rings designed to unravel at a certain pressure point. Even if you were able to get the correct size ring (getting the size that would unbend at a pound test less than your line pound test, but greater than the pound test at which your drag is set), you are putting a lot of trust in the fact that the ring would not unbend at a pound test less than its rating. I'd stick with regular split rings and a lure retriever.

Lol that's awesome ;D Imagine how humiliated that fish must have been though - that's a pretty small boat

I think it was at Amistad that Ike was killing 'em on a "Tilapia" pattern swimbait (greyish/bluish with orangish belly and his patented huge treble), so if there are Tilapia, I'd say use it. I know Tilapia are great eating for humans, and the bass may feel the same way if they're able to catch one, so I think it's a good idea.

The first thing I think of is the type of cover or structure I'll be fishing. I don't want to fish an X-Rap around timber or pads, and I don't want to fish a jig 'n pig on a vast rocky flat (usually). Then I'd say time of year and weather conditions come into play, which should indicate how active the fish are, so how I should work the lure. Then water clarity, forage base, and size of the target fish should dictate size, profile, action, and color of the lure. There are other factors such as wind, sunlight, and confidence in certain lures, too.

I like this bait a lot, though I admit I don't use it too often. I watched an episode of Lindner's Angling Edge, and they were absolutely hammering smallies on that bait in the Great Lakes region, they didn't say where. One of the guys pointed out that the Skitter Prop is a special bait because when you jerk it, it actually goes subsurface and leaves a bubble trail that is easy to see even on windy days. So I'd say that that's a good application for the bait: choppy days. You can walk it, pause it, etc. Really whatever you want to do. As for tarpon and bass being in the same waters, it's pretty common in southern Florida, and probably other parts of FL also. Last summer I was fishing in the Everglades, near Flamingo, and my bro and I rented a canoe to do some bass fishing in Nine Mile Pond. We only caught a couple dinks, but the highlight was hooking into baby tarpon on the same lures we were using for bass. They would smash the lure, then just go totally crazy jumping everywhere. They were all less than 10 lbs, but a load of fun - one actually jumped over the canoe ;D

Yes, this is huge. No matter how good you are, you can't catch 8 5 pounders and bigger every trip out with any lure if you go to a "normal" lake.

I would not use a paddle/paddles with a float tube. Just use the flippers.

And just to vent some more, a manmade pond I used to fish a lot was drained to make way for a parking lot for a new Sam's Club. I went there one day, and there was no water and just dead carp and bass in the mud. Unbelievable. They were supposed to move all the fish to the neighboring pond, but they didn't get them all. There used to be bass in the 4 pound class in it, and it was about 1.5 acres.

When it's light out late enough and the ponds aren't frozen, I do a lot of shore fishing after work, so I have some good spots if you're interested. And if you want to know some bigger lakes in the area I know of some good ones also, just send me a PM. Of course if I give you some little ponds, make sure you C&R because taking a few fish from tiny ponds will kill them. One that I used to fish a lot went to crap, and one day I realized why. A group of guys would go there and fill a bucket with bass and just take off. Freakin' depressing. I hope they got sick from them. What part of CT are you from?

Wow, I'm surprised by your experience - you must have gotten really unlucky...I used a pair of Carbomaxes when I used to fish inshore in the Miami, FL area, and they lasted for years before I lost them in the move to CT. I thought they were great...