Paul Roberts

Awesome video. Love it. You are a lucky man. Great water in Central NY. I used to live there. Hey, what kind of yak is that?

Nice catch. I miss those pickeral. NJ sure has pretty water. Despite the jokes that go around, NJ is a VERY pretty state. Not to mention the fact that it grows some nice fish.

Forward speed increases.

Well... you can see right quick that the definition of "the ultimate tacklebox" (UTB) depends on some things. Like... where you fish (water type, prey base, cover types), when you fish (seasons, conditions, day, night), how you like to fish (aggressive, sedentary, horizontal, vertical), outfits you own or will need (UL, L, M, MH, H), ... My suggestion is always, start where you are and don't try to look too far ahead. Get stuff when you see the need, or when you are ready to try something new. It's easy to spend a bunch of money on wishful thinking, only to find you actually needed something else. The true UTB is focused, and develops over time. I know this doesn't sound like as much fun as filling the gaps in your new bag. I always used to joke that empty slots in a tackle box beg to be filled. But after you fill them you have to buy a new box. And then there are gaps! .... I recently reorganized my 35yr old UTB ,an UMCO "possum belly" (which had spilled over long ago), into tackle bags for an impending long distance move. I've honed it down to two extra-large bags (nine 3700's in each). My old possum belly has a lot of gaps now. Sad, sad, state it's in. Trust me, if you stay into fishing you'll amass plenty of GoTo's. No rush. Get what you need. And you won't really know what all that is by asking such a general question.

Beautiful, beautiful fish. Not to mention BIG! Congrats.

I can see various limited tourney's being a cool thing: low tech, one-lure, no practice, kayak, float tube, etc... But, there also has to be a no holds circuit too -just like there presently is. I see sonar as certainly not cheating. Sonar opens up the underwater world. I'm all for learning more when I'm out and the loss of sonar would simply leave ignorance in its wake. I can see sour grapes for those that do not have, or cannot interpret, it. As to the A-rig...here's what I like a about it. It offers access to open water suspended shad chasers a single lure simply can't do. Maybe it's (presently) too effective in a tournament setting. But I'm not a tournament guy and appreciate knowing I have another tool in my bag, whether I choose to use it or not.

I keep two journal types -hand-written and in MS Word. The hand-written ones are kept in bound acid-free sketch books, written in prose, with small tables of pertinent data, and some sketches and maps. I’ve kept these up since 1976, with nearly a shelf full of volumes. The problem with these is I cannot search as you could in a computer. However, I can usually find things pretty quickly as I tend to refer back to them on a seasonal basis –“What was happening in mid-May on such-n-such pond”. Things I have no date recollection of take some time to find. Searchable documents are better in this regard. I now also write up many fishing days in Word files, written in narrative form. Some of these I also post on-line as fishing reports, some on BR. Here are some of my "word processed" journal entries: http://www.troutnut.com/topic/6849/High-Country-Hoofing-A-Photo-Essay http://www.troutnut.com/topic/6667/Turbulence-and-Trout-Heaven-and-Hell-in-One-Location http://www.troutnut.com/topic/2413/In-the-Willow-Jungle http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/116606-searching-out-those-zones-of-carnage/ http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/115075-boom-spring-or-is-it/

I've gone to a pocket voice recorder clipped to a retractor. Too much going on for notepads. I do bring a pocket-sized notepad for sketches/maps.

Not all techniques are appropriate everywhere. Just bc you want to fish a certain lure type or technique doesn't mean it's appropriate. Great advice above. Slider's and other finesse stuff are great fish catchers in a variety of circumstances. Great place to start. Don't be in a rush to invite the bait monkey in! Base more on need than want. The monkey will catch up to you soon enough . I'd suggest, since your new to this, starting to add to your arsenal from the ground up. Instead of focusing on lures/techniques, look at rod/reel outfits. Sounds like you are using light to med spinning tackle. Add a MH spinning or casting rig next. The need for such a rig will become apparent as the season wears on, or you fish different waters. You then might likely find that an even heavier rig will be needed in some places. As to lures/techniques, they can be roughly grouped by water type (cover present, water clarity), and lure hook size, lure weight: Your lt/med spinning rig will handle finesse jigs, jerkbaits, small crankbaits, and small-med topwaters, and in-line spinners. Your MH spinning/casting rig will handle heavier jigs, T-Rigged plastics, crankbaits, topwater. (IME spinnerbaits, at least retrieved rapidly(as in buzzing,bulging) require a casting reel.) Your H rig will handle heavy cover jigging, plastics, deep cranks, A-Rig, and swimbaits. But to realize all this with the success you are used to, you need the right waters and conditions.

Awesome! I like the T-rigged trailer idea. Really pretty fish in your avatar too.

Hey Todd. Good to hear you are getting out some. LM spawn when water temps stabilize around 60F. My present understanding is that this is the case throughout the country (including Florida strain). Whether this is due to the widespread stocking of bass narrowing genetic diversity or an older deeper seated requirement I dunno. (That floridanus is similar makes me think this is deep seated.) The critical factor seems to be that egg mortality goes through the roof around 55F. The problem in small waters is that water temps can fluctuate more drastically than bigger waters do. In smaller shallower waters the bass generally spawn earlier than those in bigger deeper (more voluminous) waters do. On some years, some really shallow ponds can warm to spawning temps well prior to the normal spawn window, but the bass do not spawn. Egg maturation is still required and I don’t think it’s entirely temperature dependent. Endogenous (internal) rhythm, entrained and likely mediated by photoperiod, plays a big role. So there is a spawn window, heavily influenced by temperature at the final stage, with the actual timing varying a bit –a week or two dependent on temperature. What happens during “unseasonable” weather on our little shallow ponds is those eggs already laid, die. The result is part of the “boom-n-bust” cycles common in small waters. Larger waters can usually absorb such turns in the weather. Most of our ponds, with any depth, absorb it pretty well too. First, water holds heat well. Second, the sun is high enough at this time of year that its ability to warm, esp dark colored areas -like ponds- is powerful. Just bc there’s snow on the bank doesn’t mean the water is as cold. Realize that cold water sinks too, so it ends up at the bottom of the pond, and the sun heats the shallows pretty quickly. Water temperature drops do affect bass though, but this late in the year things rebound very quickly. One things for sure –it is NOT winter. If bass are held at bay from spawning due to ill-timed weather (and it usually has to be pretty extreme –like we’ve been having!) the females can wait for a period as their ovaries are active and producing for a period of time. In some waters, esp in the south, with plenty of food and warm temperatures, individual females can participate in more than one egg-laying wave. Up here I believe our fish lay once, but I am not certain of this. If they are indeed dashed, they can resorb some or all (pretty rare) of their eggs. Here's some more on the subject of spawn timing: http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/81078-triggers-for-pre-spawnspawn/

There is no one "pattern". You haven't given enough info to establish any patterns. Patterns are collections of data that cluster. You need more data. The usual things are calendar period, prey availability, weather trend, depth, structure, cover, water conditions, surface conditions, fishing pressure, etc... From there you make educated / informed guesses. Lures are tools you apply based on the info you have. Don't think anyone can do the kind of work that's necessary from such a distance. I'd suggest you tool around observing, with your eyes, sonar, thermometer, and a lure or two you are confident in. Don't expect the fish to come to your lures, you have to take it to them. Find some first, then fine tune. Hope I don't come off as being short with you. I'm not -just getting to the point. Hope this gives you some direction in your exploits. Can't think of much that's more fun than spending time on the water trying to figure things out.

Godzilla was something of a techno marvel in its day. And it was developed in Japan. It's become a pop culture icon since. I can see why he'd have chosen it, if he had.

By guide quality and blank thickness, it probably doesn't need to be ID'd. No offense intended. It looks like a cheapy. Doesn't mean it won't fish.

Scales MUST be calibrated, and checked often. Otherwise they are useless. I use small weight-lifting disc weights put in a plastic grocery sack and hung on my scales. I have 2-1/2lb and 5lb weights, which can allow me to check my scales at 2-1/2, 5, 7-1/2, 10, and 12-1/2lbs.

Well, this time of year things warm quickly. And that can make for awesome fishing.

Ponds will go sooner. Lakes later. It's the temperature differential between water body sizes (volume) mostly. Maybe your fish are spawning deeper? Have you observed spawning there in previous years? Check the same locations. Often it's a good idea to walk the pond and observe before you fish. It's easy to miss things you aren't looking for. Just some thoughts.

Just control the rotor with the fingers of your rod hand and you'd be fine. And as Mitch says, good drags work fine. But I just wouldn't know, I've never used it. I just lock it down and am done with it. Just can't imagine turning the control over to a "setting".

Yes. Fish operate within a temp range. The roughest designations are coldwater, coolwater, and warmwater.

We got 10" on May 1st. I keep saying, "This'll be the last one". Beginning to wear thin it is.

Well good luck with it.

They aren't going to be retired though. Never understood owning a gun you're afraid to get a scratch on. Use 'em! Shame to do otherwise.

Yeah, do you buy one or three, or more, to try out? I'd like to say "Let 'em go. There are lots of good lures out there." But... I have some favorites I'd hate to lose. One is a favorite early season crankbait, an old Tom Seward "Natural Ike" square-bill shad style with a nice wobble, slow rise, and great finish. I have 2 left out of 5 I had bought in the mid 80's! Lost #3 to some wood last spring. I also like the Sebile FlattShad lipless, and have adorned one hunk of submerged timber with 2 of 'em. That's over 30 bucks! I have one left in that size. Do I order another?

If you have no idea what you're doing, then yes it can feel insane. I think that's basically the definition of insanity.

It is possible that the "practice lure" is not appropriate, often for reasons we don't really know. Or the GoTo is the best in those circumstances. Guess that's why we experiment. The payoff over time is real versatility.