J Francho

I'd be throwing to the outside edges of the bait ball, not directly into it. My thinking is that I'm not trying to tempt the fish that are in there already feeding, but going for the fish lying in wait just outside the bait ball. My lure then represents a wayward, or injured baitfish, an easier meal. I also go large, and follow up with small after a miss.

How so? You drop a point there, make it your destination, plug in your home address, and get driving directions. You can also use http://maps.live.com/. Or just get a Navionics chip for your graph

The answer is to set the drag properly with a scale, using the rod's upper line rating.

Line the arrow up with the lower unit. Going all the way fw or bw with pedal usually gives you an almost 180° rotation from middle, or dead ahead. Bottom line, your moving the pedal too far and the arrow is misaligned.

It does. Just put the name of the lake, and the state in the search field.

That's hilarious!

Thanks for that, Natural. They look great.

I leave it off. As long as your transducer is properly installed and you gain adjusted properly, you will be able to see clear arches where there are fish.

Wacky, weedless, weightless or weighted, classic t-rig.

So many wannabe fisheries managers out there, LOL. Pike and bass together? A sure recipe for a few very large bass. The biggest no-no most commit is adding crappie to a pond with bass. A few northern will prevent over population, and the bigger fish can get even bigger. Pike are not the gluttons most make them out to be.

Natural's jigs look like Outcast footballs with a VERY NICE hand tied skirt.

Interesting article I found while surfing on fish melanoma: http://www.news-medical.net/?id=40771

Its melanoma.

Multiple hooks not attached to a singular bait are not allowed in some states.

X-raps, Pointers, Flukes, smaller plastics, smaller jigs.

Cheezus Christmas, some guy misses a "the" in the sentence, and some KIA is all over it. It's not like Mr. Thorn used "Textlish" in his reply! I think their commitment to our men and women trumps any errors anyway. Sears has always felt like the least evil mega chain stores I've been in. This paints a picture of a corporate giant actually trying to do good - very unusual in this day in age. Thumb's up to them.

Here's Lake O. beach on a calm day in January, LOL: back to the original question, I sometimes do this as a frame of reference, especially since I may think I have the answer to their question, but upon seeing that they are in Georgia, my "winter bassing" answer (get an auger) doesn't really apply.

Unfortunately, it was a giant bug zapper ;D

Genny River, 10 minutes from my house

Character? Real life salmon man

Muddy, fish from a nearby pond while on lunch break Friday. Taken with a cheap camera phone, probably from Wal Mart, LOL:

Bad reviews? It got a 4.2 out of 5 in 22 reviews. That's pretty good, since most reviews only crop up when someone wants to ***** about it. Two guys had defective products, and another guy was using it for steelhead, LOL. I have the Daiwa version (they are made for Cabela's by Daiwa, was the 153HST), and a Black Widow version, and can tell you that this is one of the best budget reels Daiwa has made. The Daiwa Tierra is what they now sell in that similar price point, so check teh reviews on that as well. A LOT of guys are using them. My fishing buddies have both the STX and SX, and while they like them, in my opinion, they suck. Especially that STX - WORST brakes I've ever used in a modern lopro reel. Sorry Abu.

I find that lures that don't produce well is usually a result of me not fishing them in the best way, during the best times, or in the best places. I used to feel frogs were useless. Same for jigs, lipless cranks, and shaky heads. Once I was armed with better information and better technique, these tools became top rated weapons along with the rest of the arsenal. My goal lately is to see if I can add chatterbaits to the list. I had decent success with them a few years ago, but now I don't even bother. I'd like to see if I can't change that. So, to summarize, I guess there isn't anything I think is really "overrated." Maybe Senkos, but I still catch a lot fish on them too.

Great catch! Definitely get a good scale when you can afford it. I caught this one at lunchtime today on a jig. It weighed 4 lbs. 5 oz.

I use a palomar to a duoloc snap for cranks. I remove the split rings. The only thing I use an improved cinch for are spinnerbaits on 12-15# P-Line CXX. With that line there is no knot failure. Palomar or Uni for everything else.