J Francho

^^^Yep!^^^

Nice fish Chez Chez!

I think every fish finder I've owned had a clock, save for the Dragonfly.

A Sammy 115 is a really good lure to use when you're looking to see how far you can cast.

Too much $$$

Baitcasters or knucklebusters?

My bet is he spooled up with no backer, and the braid is slipping on the spool. Solution: Unspool, add a few yards of mono, and spool the braid on top of that.

Ummmm....wow. Just wow.

Sure you do, to reel the fish in, lol.

When you get her fixed, come on up to Oneida, and I'll show you where to wreck her good. Just kidding, glad you're ok. Stinks when it comes to repairs. They always take too long.

Specifically, recently molted or "softshell crabs" as they are called up here. Used to be the premier smallie bait up here. Not unusual for two or three guys to go through a gross of craws in a day. Now, not so much.

I really dislike all of you.

http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/skirts-material/088456030048.aspx

The last time I used a split shot rig, I was using live crawfish, sometime in the early 90s. The closest thing I've used recently is a mojo rig. Any straight tail worm or fluke style bait will work with this.

I merged the two topics. For pitching and flipping to heavy cover, you want a reel with a metal frame and a strong drag.

When I trolled, I preferred to have the rod in hand, with the other hand on the tiller. I could feel subtle changes in the bait, detect short strikes, followers, and when the bait became tangled or fouled. A tiller style boat works great for this, as you can control speed and direction with one hand, and have the rod in another.

I like the swim jigs with the spinner.

Another benefit I didn't mention is when dropping baits deep, like 20+ FOW. Sometimes a fish will pick up the bait on the way down, and you'll never notice as the line just keeps uncoiling from the spool. By having your fingers on the line, you can detect these "drop strikes" better.

It's a no brainer. Definitely worth it.

One look at a contour map of Erie, and you would see stuff you'd want to try. I had help from wnybassman my first time out alone, but spots you want to hit aren't too hard to find.

LOL, customs, yeah that's the place. I have Sprint. Calling anywhere is a pain.

A wet rubber not will not rub slime off as much as a carpet or clothing. One tip I leaned from wnybassman was to leave the net on the deck. This gives you a place to set a fish onto if you need to perform surgery. Slime coat protection is one reason I advocate the use of Catch and Release, if you are keeping the fish in a livewell for photos or tournament weigh in. It contains electrolytes that promote slime coat production.

No, just the one. It was around 6 lbs. - not pic worthy. Unusual, but can happen with farm raised fish.

This ugly mutt of a brown trout put up a good fight. BTW, that's laying flat, lol.

Without seeing, best I can describe it is cupping the spool, and actually letting the line flow through you're thumb and fore finger. It's great for controlling the bait when skipping.