J Francho

Wait until you catch a big one. http://plan-b.smugmug.com/Family/Fishing-Journal/i-97mh7Dz/0/M/20101113-ErieWithNoel-07-M.jpg

They have long since been replaced by other models. You can probably find them occasionally on auction sites and our Flea Market.

It's a smallie. Congrats!

Someone referred to us in this picture as a "handsome couple." I told my girlfriend it was a weird, old timey compliment, and laughed.

Speak for yourselves, I prefer to think of myself more of the Norman Thin N variety.

But Tom, you had no financial interest in your beliefs, then and now....

I've had a few casting rigs capable of throwing the light stuff, but honestly, I didn't enjoy using it. I've kept the reels, and my tuned Alphas and Sols are some of my most oft used. If I am serious about FISHING with baits that light, I'm using a well balanced, light weight, nimble spinning rig. That's just my preference, and through that preference I've become much more proficient at FISHING with them. The catching has gotten pretty good too, heh.

So, I close this thread, and someone complains about heavy handed moderation. I let it run, and someone else complains about rude membership. That puts us between a rock and a hard place. I guess I'll be the bad guy this time. Either learn to accept that not everyone will have the same opinion as you - if you can realize that it's only an opinion about fishing for goodness sakes, or it's going to be a long winter. Let's find another topic to jump on, and let's keep it positive and constructive. Ripping eachother because you don't have the same opinions doesn't help anyone, and helping is what this site is about. See ya!

The original lure was named Zara Gossa, which I thought meant "little dancer," but I could be wrong there. When Heddon came out with a different lure, based on the ZG, it was named Zara Spook, and made of plastic. I'm pretty sure the rest of the plastic versions had the name "spook" attached. There's nothing there, that I know of, that could be misconstrued as racist, sexist, misogynistic, or otherwise.

I prefer no trailer on a hair jig. Anything on the hook interferes with the natural breathing action of hair.

If he's breaking the law, report him. If not, it's really none of your business what he does with his catch.

I generally try to post as a member, not a "mod," as I believe I'm a member first, then an administrator, and only a moderator as last resort. Bot I'll give my input, from a mod/admin perspective: In a general sense, I don't like to merge similar topics. Many times the OP has a specific set of circumstances that takes some prodding to get to. It is this type of "friendly interrogation" that makes new members better topic starters. A senko thread may end up being about hook choice, line selection, fishing location, or who knows how many directions it could take. That all said, I do merge new or breaking topics, as I did with the three concurrent spybaiting threads, since they all basically contained the same info and questions, and it made for a one stop and shop thread. My advice, if you're sick of redundant threads, don't post in them. The most popular threads sift to the top simply via post activity.

Didn't they introduce grass carp there to control the weeds? Or am I thinking of Mahopac? No weeds....very few largemouth.

Tiger Musky are sterile hybrids that get big fast, but don't reproduce - hence their popularity for use to control panfish populations. They eat everything they can fit in their mouth, though, and they are somewhat territorial, so the best structures in the lake may not hold the best bass. I fish a small lake that has them, and can tell you the bass are pretty big, though it isn't a numbers lake. I also fish a larger lake tat has stocked them, and that place is a bass factory. Most of the tigers I've caught though aren't very big. Yet.

Larry Dahlberg catches huge fish on little baitcasters in just about every episode of his show.

The ONLY 100% fool proof way to remove any population of a particular species would be to remove all live fish from the lake, and restock.

Basically the same process as with a printer.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQvr-bbOow8

Well, it's as simple as typing in a topic into the search box. There are advanced features, but it's mostly self explanatory. The issue is steering people to the tool in the first place - never an easy task. Another issue is relevance. Sometimes topics need to be revisited, either to gain new info, or input from newer members. Lastly, the search isn't going to help for all the "what should I get" topics, though I really think they can get better info reading articles that pertain to their fishing styles.

The water snakes on Erie have made a comeback due to the abundance of the goby.

The feeling is that they decimate nests. That's the common argument for many invasive spp.

I haven't seen where they are bad. Unless ":bad" like alewife that feed the fish, zebra mussels that cleaned up the water, or milfoil that provides cover...

That makes sense to me. I know they are eating them....heck, I jig up a couple dozen on a spoon and kill them to create a "chum line." I see smallies gobbling them up.

I know they must be eating them, but I never see any gobies (or sculpins) puked up. It's weird. Alewife, little white perch, and crabs are what I see. Yet, the Goby imitator baits do get bit, so I don't see why these wouldn't select for larger fish.

Short answer, not really. If I was going to use 10# fluoro on a spinning reel, I'd be looking for the largest spool diameter possible, on a light weight reel. A Daiwa 4000 or Shimano 5000 series or better would work.

Fish with bigger baits. I haven't caught a white perch in years. When I do, it's early spring. Otherwise, their preferred habitat doesn't seem to intersect largemouth bass'. We used to call them "silver bass" when I was a kid.