J Francho

1 and 2: To me it means that bass are efficient crepuscular hunters. That's all. Kieth Jones already noted that bass are able to adjust the rods and cones faster than most of their prey, creating a window of opportunity at dusk and dawn (crepuscular). Match the Hatch? Man, I hate that phrase. Probably because I learned it from fly fishing for trout, not bass fishing. When there is a hatch, food is so abundant, and fish so tuned in to that food source, your offering better look EXACTLY like that food source. I think all fish are opportunists. If it fits in their mouth, tastes like food, then down the hatch it goes. When does that happen in bass fishing? Not too often. Trout stockings. Shad runs. Alewife migrations. I tend to agree with you, Frank, that something in the zip code should get bit. And what is up with the sunfish thing? Bass are a sunfish. Look up Stephen Spotte, and try to find a copy of his studies on sun fish. You'll probably need to go to a college library. He's got some lateral line theories that will open your eyes. Big fish, big bait? I'm sold on big baits catching big fish. But I'm also convinced that effort plays a part. Low effort meals are what got that fish big.

I don't wait very long at all to stick them. There is a gap, but that's just the time it takes for my eyes to see that the frog is gone. If it looks like this, you're doing it right:

It doesn't really matter where they were made, the internal design is the same. Old Lew's reels were made by Shimano, in case anyone was wondering. They were the some of the finest reels of the time.

For pitching, I use my thumb. I leave my brakes set fairly high on my Daiwas, 6 or 7. The spool tension is wide open. The key is practice. The more you do it, the better you get. Every spring is mess, the first few weeks, then it comes back to me.

6'2" MXF. Same rod I use for topwaters.

These run about $10. I am literally at 100% success for countless snags. Pays for itself after just one save!

You gotta love that guy. :

Try a different popper, like a Chug Bug, I'm sure it will catch.

Lunch, a spare set of keys, a garden gnome, and bottle of orange Gatorade.

Sorry Chris. I see this has run its course. C-ya!

I love it so much, I have two (one of them caught the fish to left), and the MXF version as well.

Without kids, who would do the dishes and where would I get my tax writeoffs? :D :D

Actually, it's used more than you think. If you go out steelheading outside of the classic spring runs, you'll see a lot less of the spin-fisher types, and more fly, pinners, and casters out there. Casting gear makes more sense for drift fishing, if you think about - its easier to hit the thumbar and feed line than flip the bail.

Many, many thanks to all that have served this country. A couple of programs out there deserve attention. My good friend Burnie Haney works hard every year to put on an event at Oneida Lake with the Take a Soldier Fishing program. I'll be part of the shore crew this year. http://www.takeasoldierfishing.org/ Another program I work VERY closely with is Heroes on the Water. My friend Jim has started something that has really started to take off at a grass roots level, with many new chapters starting, and more to come. This is a REALLY cool program. http://heroesonthewater.org/home

I don't like them, but they don't suit my style of cranking. They are for guys that like to swing hard on a crankbait bite. I swap them out for VMC Vanadium Inlines or Owner ST-36 hooks.

My buddy Jim (CASTMASTER on the NY site) called me last night to tell me how much he LOVES his production pot. He said he did up 300 drop shot weights for me in about an hour.

You can do this a lot easier by simply marking 1/2 the spool.

I've noticed some patterns. Its mostly time of year, and light penetration, and how much sunlight they get. The sun, the darker they are. I think. :-/ Shallow weeds resident, probably gets a lot of sun: Fish from deep, moving shallow to feed: Deep, clear lake: Deep, tannin stained lake:

Three words you'll rarely see on the interwebz: Canyon Plastics Kietech :-X

LOL, don't you know it....man do I HATE Quantum PT's :-X Shimano Calais is another that comes to mind.

I wouldn't throw anything in a tournament that I didn't already have lots of time and success with. Stick to what you know. Don't let what the boater throws dictate what you're throwing. But learn from it. Use baits you know that work well at the speed the boater is moving. Stay simple and focused on putting fish in the well.

;D Francho, you need an extra boat to pull around just to haul your gear in. Actually, that's coming next week, LOL.

Your move from salt to fresh is progressing nicely! Good work, man!

It happens when you have a lot of slack. Try to keep that to a minimum, or you can use a heavy fluoro or copoly leader.

99% of the time, I don't use snaps with spinnerbaits. If I do, I'm fishing for Esox (northern pike or musky), and that's because I'm using a pretied leader. And most of those spinnerbaits use an enclosed loop, instead of an R-bend.