J Francho

This is something that I examine very closely, and when something fails, I try to zero in on the cause of the failure. 9/10 times, the root cause is wither a poorly tied knot, or some abrasion of the leader. The former issue can be easily resolved, just follow what Chris says above! The latter can also be easily resolved, by inspecting your line every few casts when your bait has made contact, or retying after EVERY FISH!!! The second bit of advice bites me in the butt EVERY TIME I don't follow it! Great post, and great advice, especially now when big girls are within easy reach.

Well, thanks for pointing out our stupidity and blindness, rubba bubba. At this rate, you'll be a moderator in no time. You actually missed his most recent question, which I can answer. : Keep a sharp eye out in the Flea Market here, and you can come up with some good deals, though coming up with something durable, and quality for < $60 is a tall order, unless someone cuts you great deal. If you can save up to the $100 point, there are some good deals on combos, and used gear. As always, if you buy a used reel, have it cleaned, serviced, and inspected by a good reel mechanic. Shouldn't cost you more than $20, but well worth the investment.

I know how to vent sex larger Cichlids, but I do not know if this translates to the sunfish family. http://www.fishhead.com/articles/ventsex.htm

And just like that, I caught a male off a bed this past week that did just this. I must have had "the touch" since no squeezing was required!

Daiwa on a Kistler.

Actually, he had a day last year with three of my buddies, and he totally schooled us with the drop shot. He outfished us like 5:1 combined, and had a nice 3# kicker fish.

Call G. Loomis, and find out what size and model tip top is used, and see if they can sent you one, for a small fee, or you can order it elsewhere. The same thing has happened to my St. Croix, and they actually have an online form for this. Replacement tip, glue, and instructions were overnighted to me for $5!

No.

Thanks man. Here's a tone mapped HDRI version I just finished. Its a different look.

Al's baseball game got rained out, well not exactly. The field they were going to play on was underwater. So we headed to my lunchtime spot to see if some fish would play. The spawn had been on since this past Friday, but it looked like many of the beds were quiet, and the great bite from the past two days was not there. He still caught a fish, and I got some nice pictures of him at work. Enjoy! Working on a bed that I couldn't get to bite all week. He actually got the male to commit, but muffed the hookset. Note the rod: he couldn't hit the target I was pointing out, so I threw my bait in there, and handed him the rod. Ten seconds later, a dink Thought the sunset would be more dramatic, but it was pretty nonetheless.

That was pretty close to my pattern list for Sunday. All our fish were on ledges that transitioned from 10-12 to 35 feet. Started with a Fat Free Shad then got them on a Drop-shot and shakey head. I can't say that I have enough confidence to just throw one bait. It's gonna be a series of baits, then stick with what works until it doesn't and then change My fish were closely associated with main lake points. They only hit cranks that were cast perpendicular to the point, therefore the bait was only "in the zone" for a short time. Once I caught a few fish at depth, I plied that depth with the shaky. Incidentally, I have probably over used the DS in many situations, where a shaky would actually be more efficient in covering ground. This year, I've been more aware of this if I am getting most bites while at rest at the bottom. The DS is still my "go to" finesse rig.

I use Duo-Locs and no split ring.

Not really. I like to put together a "package deal" for the fish on a given day, using a primary, secondary, and follow up pattern. Today, that package was spinnerbaits, followed by Senkos. Yesterday, it was a black jig, and then a white jig. Sunday it was shallow cranks, mid cranks and shaky heads. Its good to see you moving on, and learning to use new baits. Don't forget about the old ones though, some days they work better

Really the only way I can tell is when I catch a female off a bed, and her ovipositor (egg tube) is distended.

Any carbonated soda will do, though actual soda water works best.

You need to find a new spot, or fish that spot with smaller baits, if it bothers you that much.

Not the same hook, but Owner Rigging Hooks have a similar offset hook point for big body baits. Owners are better than anything else out there.

Yes, and no. The rig we use is a float rig, and the braid or mono is simply for the mainline, which technically SHOULDN'T even touch the water. The business end of the rig is tied with fluoro leader material, anywhere from 4# to 10#. Here is the float rig: mainline----([FLOAT[[[>---shot line---O--O--0--0--0--o--o--o--swivel---fluoro leader---bait. Some guys use a second and/or third micro swivel (Raven 20# are preferred) before and after the float. When I use mono mainline, there is only one swivel, before the leader, and use the mainline as my shot line. When using braid, I like to use 8-10# mono as a shot line, and run a 2nd swivel just below the float. There are MANY variations on this rig, and it takes learning to read the flow to know what works when. Here is a good PDF on the float rig: http://www.raventackle.com/Shotting%20Patterns.pdf

Thanks Snook. Had another fun day at lunch today - 13 fish in 45 minutes. 3 were 4+, 3 more at 3+, and the rest were ranging from dinks to 2. One-two spinnerbait-Senko punch was the ordinance.

I tie a 6-8' leader (P-Line CFX in 6 to 12# ratings) to the mainline, and then simply tie the dropshot rig. For knots, look here: http://www.animatedknots.com/

I use another hook. The "jig busters" are alright, but sometimes chafe the metal - not good for the knot.

Eyes on a jig are for the angler, not the fish. Don't bother, as it won't matter. I've caught fish on both sighted and blind jigs. Really.

Dorsal and anal fin spines probably prevented proper gill movement. As the pickerel struggled, lactic acid builds up in the pic's muscle, so much so, that it actually dies of suffocation. BTW, that is a Grass Pickerel (Esox americanus vermiculatus), not a Chain Pickerel (Esox niger). That bluegill looks like a Mattlures now, LOL.

I use two Daiwa Sols for all my cranking. 5.8:1 works fine for me. I tried my buddy's Zillion Crazy Cranker, and I felt that it was just too slow. I guess its because I'm used to all the old 5:1 "high speed" reels from the late 80s and 90s, LOL.

I use red or gold for line visibility, and green in vegetation. In either case, I swipe the spool with a black marker, and color the last 2' feet black. in extremely clear water, I'll use a FC leader.