J Francho

Thanks. Yeah, they had full tummies, but not "fat" yet.

7" Power Worm, black, or black and some other color.

WNY Team Pro Snagger hit the water early today. Quality, not quantity was the theme of the day. I started things off with a dink on deep crank working the "back side" while Kase and Cam threw slashbaits toward the bank. A little while later, doing the same thing, I got another dink. Then Cam gets on the board with a drop shot fish. We're marking suspended fish everywhere, but no takers. Later, working a main point again, this time Cam's jerkbait gets whaled on the pause. "Get the net!!!" I go into the storage, and Cam's net isn't even CLOSE to big enough for this fish! Looked like a bait net, LOL. I get her into the net, Kase is squealing like a little girl, and Cam's like "get the scale!" 6-0. Meanwhile, things are pretty slow. Cam drummed up another on the dropshot. Kase is busy breaking off cranks, feeding the lake gods, and fishing for squirrels, LOL. Kase finally managed a couple of the typical dinks this lake is loaded with. As the day came to an end, we decided to fish a bit around the ramp. No sooner was I telling Cam that I rarely catch fish by the launch, that I get a thump on my Flash Minnow. A decent fish, so I take my time with it. Nothing like Cam's monster, but a very respectable fish, for this particular lake. All in all, a great day, and thanks to Cam for the hospitality! We'll make a trailer queen out of Kase yet ;D The pics:

ITO Alphas Ai

I use two for cranks: AVC70MM/Sol/8# CXX AVC70MHM/Sol/10# CXX For hard jerk/slash baits: AVC62MXF/Alphas Ito Ai/8# CXX

6/0 Owner Beast for 4". 8/0 Owner Beast for 6".

12# CXX for hard swimbaits <1.5 oz. I'm considering 40# braid for soft hollow belly swimbaits.

See if you can name this water, Paul - should be familiar. From a day out in Cam's boat:

I can just picture his face, LOL. Yes, lots of Milfoil in close. One the one point (where I primarily fish) there is a very healthy bed of coontail only about 20' from shore. There is more in that trench on the west side, between shore and the island. To tell you the truth, I was VERY skeptical about this pond, but after my first lunchtime trip, my friend caught a 3-2, and I was sold. Two trips later, showing John how to use a baitcaster that I loaned him for a few weeks, and I had that fish above. It looks pretty delicate, but there have been days that I cannot buy a bite, so I suspect there is a deep hole or trench I can't get to from shore (backside of the island, maybe?) during high pressure times. I don't see any signs prohibiting a kayak, so I might have to spend a day mapping the joint

(free bump to see if anyone has other options ;D)

I'd think answering within the parameters of keeping the fish alive was inferred, LOL.

Like your business mind, Raul. I've always held on to the "Evolve, Do Nothing, or Leave" as your three choices. I choose #1.

I use a lot of backing, and just about 50 yards of braid.

Yeah Paul, the ol' NPP. Sadly, I think the dead fish I saw was this guy (below) from a lunch break last fall. There are still good fish in there, though. it was nice to see them fattening up already, too. BTW, a friend of mine (Marty here on BR) put up a VERY nice pictorial of Mendon Ponds: http://picasaweb.google.com/Marty915/MendonPondsWinterSpring2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCI_Ijo7skd-bpgE&feat=directlink

Me neither

x1000. Had a pelican save about 14K in Hasselblad gear that went into the drink many years ago. I think I saw a Hassie go on eBay for about $100, LOL. Just kidding, man. I never handled one. Used to have a Mamiya, but let her go for more Canon glass with red stripes

The best you will find are Pelican. Not fishing specific, but if you want to protect the contents, get a Pelican. http://www.pelican.com/

Awesome, man! Glad it worked!

I have two as well, one on a St. Croix AVC70MM, the other on a AVC70MHM. Great little reels.

Met up with fishing buddy for "lunch" at the local hole. I meant to check out some work I did on my cranking reels, and realized I never put them back on the rods! So much for that plan. I immediately resigned not to fish, and threw a wacky rigged Senko, to no avail. Tried changing it up with a small Table Rock Shad color Pointer 78. Loooong pauses and subtle twitches looked really good from shore, but not to the fish I guess. Even though I forgot my cranking gear, I decided to put a LC SSR crank on. About three casts in, fish on! This fish was just peeling drag and not giving in. That is until I realized I had not set my drag. I loosen my drags after every trip, and never checked, LOL. I did manage to land the 8 oz. dink. A few more casts, and I missed one. Missed another. Either I suck, or these fish are really small. A few more casts, and fish on! Yep, they are really small. Was starting to think that the dead 4# fish on the shoreline as walked to the spot was a bad sign. John left to go tie a crank on after witnessing the 20 minute dinkfest, and I'm feeling a thump. Fish on! Its a better one. This guy was legitimately pulling a bit of drag! I got it in, a cookie cutter for local big water standards, but I was pleased to go back to work with a bit of bass rash on my thumb.

The kid sounds like a poseur. I would encourage his foolishness....might be entertaining. He needs 26" Sprewells.

Well...he didn't get rich by overpaying, LOL. You just sound jealous to me, and I know that ain't you. You know what I'm saying?

I agree, an H2 with 26" rims for a kid is overboard. BUT! its his business, his money, his kid. Saying he's a brat just because you have to change his wheels for him or sit in your bay and pass judgment is pretty silly, if you ask me. I mean, its your job, man! Just get it done. My work output goes to people that make three times as much as me, and can't add single digits in their head. Am I jealous? No.

For a definitive work on finesse drop shot, Google "Rich Zaleski Drop Shot."

Some would say the same about no trolling.