Tokyo Tony

Yeah all of the fishing games I've ever played have been really poor quality. I wish one of these bigshot game companies would put out a really awesome fishing game with the same types of graphics and quality that some of these violent games have. Probably because they make more money on the violent ones, but they could still turn a nice profit, I think, from a high quality fishing game. Sigh.

Thanks for the info, I'll see if I can do that. Back to the question though ssaB_ - I'd spend as much as you can afford on waders (within reason of course). You don't want a cheapo pair because they will not last long and they'll leak. You'll actually save money by spending more now instead of having to replace them soon down the road.

Thanks - yeah I need to find that old kit that came with the waders. It's definitely somewhere... As for finding the leak - how would you do that? I do know that now when I get off the water after a long day float-tubing, it looks like I peed my pants. Do you think it's a leak in the waders or in my bladder? ;D

Great question! I would also love to know the answer... (sorry I don't have the answer)

I have a pair of Cabela's brand breathable waders that are really nice. The material is very breathable and great for summer or fall/spring. When the water is cold I just wear fleece pants under them. I have the ones with boots attached and the boots have a felt bottom and really grip the rocks well. The only problem is that after a year of using them, they're starting to leak just a tiny bit (I have spent many full days on the water in my float tube with these waders). I highly recommend them, but I have a related question for everyone: Is there any kind of fix for general light leakage for waders? Is there some kind of substance you can smear on them to restore the waterproofness?

It's definitely easier to unhook a gut-hooked fish when the barb is down. It's noticeably easier to remove any barbless hook from a fish, and I find it does do less damage when removing the hook from a fish (you don't tear the flesh as much), but from the above replies, I will continue not to bend the barb down unless I'm catching a bunch of dinks.

So I placed an order on there, and like they said, it looks like they charged me for all the bags of plastics too. They said they'd zero out the price, so I'm hoping they do so, otherwise I wouldn't have made the purchase. Avalon, have you seen that they zeroed out the price of the plastics for you?

thanks for that link Avalon - I'm gonna place a fat order as well. Very good deal, especially because I love chatter-type baits. How do these gambler ones compare to Chatterbaits and Booyah Boogiebaits? Anyone?

Headlamps are indispensible for night fishing. I would highly recommend getting a quality one if you'll be doing a lot of night fishing. I bought a 15 dollar one at Dicks and it crapped out. May have been defective, but the batteries (3 AAAs) lasted all of an hour, and the thing heated up pretty badly. I bought one for 40 bucks and the thing is amazing. In 5 outings the batteries are still running strong, it has red and led lights, as well as a fade between the two, and it has a lever for adjusting the intensity of the light. This thing will last a long time. The red light is helpful when it's dark and you don't need too much light. It doesn't take your eyes any time to adjust back to the darkness after using the red light, but after using the white light, your eyes have to adjust back to the darnkess. I just realized that I got a deal at Dicks - it's $20 cheaper than at Cabelas! I never would have thought that... http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=perf&id=0047984517627a&navCount=0&podId=0047984&parentId=cat20160&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=QW&rid=0180101070502&parentType=index&indexId=cat20160&hasJS=true

I've heard of this place. Shore fishing only right? It looks really cool on Google Earth I'd love to give it a shot, it's about 1.5 hours from me, so I'd be interested in any info that anyone has on this place. Granadethrow - do you know off the top of your head how much a MA non-resident fishing license is?

First of all, you shouldn't mention that you're fishing this place illegally. There have been some heated debates on this subject, so let's leave that alone please. And I would check your local trespassing laws. I know MA is so F'd up I wouldn't doubt jail time if you were caught. I didn't think it was a huge deal when I was fishing a similar place to what you mentioned until I researched the laws and actually realized there's possible jail time for this action in CT (not that anyone's ever been given jailtime, but it's possible). The moderators are understandably vehemently opposed to trespassing for fishing, but I would definitely check out your state laws before doing it again. Anyway, wherever you're fishing, if the water is clear, throw a white suspending jerkbait around rocks and you WILL catch smallies.

These are my favorite deep cranks for smallies: http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?id=0048138122289a&navCount=1&podId=0048138&parentId=cat20388&masterpathid=&navAction=jump&cmCat=MainCatcat20166-cat20388&catalogCode=XH&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat20388&hasJS=true If you haven't tried them you're missing out.

Yeah that's been the best topwater bait on the lake, but the fish in the shallower water where I throw topwaters are usually under a pound, or around a pound, so they've been hitting the lure but missing half the time. I like messing with them for a while on my UL setup, but think I could hookup more with an even smaller bait. I guess I could try a big Sammy in the deeper water. How far do you think they would come up? 20 feet?

Also gonna try floating jerkbaits - never really dabbled with bulging them, but it sounds like it would work. RW - suspending jerkbaits are by far my #1 smallie bait. They just can't say no to them.

Cool, thanks for the responses guys. GMAN - I do have a Zara Pooch but have trouble getting decent action with it. Haven't used it in years, but that may be the ticket. I totally forgot about that bait. And RW - I will try a small-sized buzzbait for them. My PB smallie actually came on a mini Strike King buzzbait before I knew too much about fishing. I was out in Cape Cod night fishing with a couple friends in a canoe, getting no bites on top. My friend suggested I slow-roll it, and first cast, WHAM. Right off the bottom with a buzzbait - pretty cool deal. You can slow-roll a buzzbait REALLY slowly along the bottom. I'm gonna look out for a small-sized Sammy too. I think if I could find a Sammy, or a Sammy-shaped lure 2-3" it would be easier to work than the Zara Pooch. When I do end up going up there I'll post a report.

Thanks Ronnie - I'm in CT but if I find myself down that way I'll look you up. Winter's on the way, and the only way I think I'll get through the hardwater season is by buying a ridiculous amount of fishing equipment, including a Loomis rod. Then of course I'll have to go somewhere warmer to try the stuff out. My only reservation about buying a $250+ rod is if I break it. I would probably freak out, so I'll just have to be uber careful.

Thanks for the replies - yeah, that was just me trying to convince myself that it couldn't get any better. Now I'll have to go try out a Loomis, and nothing else will compare. Ignorance is bliss, but I can't wait to see what those rods are like. Like I was saying, I can't imagine it getting any better, but apparently it does...

So my favorite casting setup includes a St. Croix Avid rod, and I just can't imagine that it gets any better. It's incredibly light, and the sensitivity is amazing. With vibrating lures I can feel each oscillation, and I can almost hear the vibrations. My question is whether a G. Loomis rod is really significantly better than the St. Croix Avid, say a Loomis rod in the 250 dollar range. Is it worth the extra $150? I can't imagine that it is...

If subtlety of presentation is not a priority then you can cast overhand - that's more accurate, but most of the time you're not going to want that big splash, so sidearm or underhand will be better. Accuracy with these methods, once you've got the basics down, which it sounds like you do, is, like you said, only going to come with practice (nice sentence huh??? ;D) Good luck!

I think your main problem may be that when you're getting ready to cast and you're holding the line with your index finger, the line is in the first crease at your first knuckle. Releasing it from that bend in your finger can be inaccurate, so try moving the line to the tip of your finger. I even bend my index finger upwards towards the rod and hold the line with the very tip of my finger, so I can get a little flex. Does that make sense? I can try doing a diagram if that would help... Basically, get the line out of the crease in your finger and hold it on the tip of your finger. That should help a lot. Also, make sure you don't have too much or too little line out between your bait and the rod tip. I usually have about a foot space there, but when I'm trying to really wing it out there, I'll let a little more line out. And lastly, like the others were saying, if your rod action is too fast/stiff, you'll have trouble throwing light baits, and if it's too soft you'll have trouble with the heavier ones. Try experimenting to find a comfort zone.

You can try the pork with a little jig, they bass may like it, but I usually don't use those unless the jig is 3/8 or more, also depending on the size of the pork. I almost always use plastic trailers anyway with some MegaStrike smeared on. With the Booyah Bitsy jig, which is a jig I really like, try a little plastic craw or a little plastic chunk trailer. Yum makes, in my opinion, the best plastic jig trailers. Good luck with your jigs - once you get a little confidence in them, they're a lot of fun to use. I love getting bit with a jig cuz I'm always thinking it's a lunker.

My favorite little smallie pond to fish is in NH, it's a small lake probably about 25-30 acres (could be 40, I'm not too good at estimating lake size) with tons of boulders, rocks, grass, weeds and stumps. Water is crystal clear (can see the bottom in 15+ feet). I always catch a ton of smallies there (I fish it in my float tube), but have never caught one there over 2 lbs. Most of the fish are right around a pound or less. I'm wondering what you guys think the best option for topwater would be, in general. There's always a good bite on pretty much any lure (it's a great place to build confidence with unfamiliar techniques), and I can get lots of hits on a Zara Puppy, but probably 50 percent of the time they miss. I've caught fish that are regurgitating hundreds of little bugs, so I know a flyrod would be key, but I'd rather catch them on my ultralight spinning setup. What topwater would you say is best for small smallies? Also, what type of general tips would you recommend for targeting the bigger fish when I get tired of the little guys, if that happens? I've averaged bigger fish with a deep crank, but still nothing over 2 lbs, and I've had 70-plus fish days on this lake, literally. I've tried C-rigs on deep rocky points with GYCB hula grubs, but still no hawgs. Is it possible that in a lake like this there are no smallies over 3 or 4 lbs? Any help is appreciated - I'm probably heading up that way in two weeks. Thanks.

Average Largemouth: 2.4 oz PB: 9.76 oz # fish over 7oz: 5 # fish in 2007 in 100+ outings: 23 Seriously though, I'd have to say right around 1.5 lbs for my average like the rest of the mortals in here 8-)

Kreatures are also my favorite creature bait. One thing I love about them other than all previously mentioned traits is the fact that they're the best skipping baits I've ever used. So easy to skip, and when doing so, they're much more subtle (less skip-skip-pop-skip, more pppffssshhhhhh.. if you know what I mean ;D), and you can really skip them FAR.

Wow T-Rig - I need one of those. Those look pretty freakin' sweet.