J Francho

Yes, but it would be a swimbait rod or a jig and worm rod. Those would be the only two things I could commit to all season. I'd sure miss drop shotting smallies, though.

If you are going to make your own, I recommend the Gamakatsu Superline EWG with Ring. (http://www.gamakatsu.com/fishing-hooks.php?pid=1159) Attach the split ring and sinker to the welded ring. Tie off to the ring as well. Skinny drop shot weights work well, and penetrate weeds best - which is the main point of the rig. Having a free swinging hook allows the best bait action, too.

We ate them this way as a kids. My father also would simply gut the fish, fill the cavity up with herbs, butter, and garden veggies. Wrap it in tinfoil, and throw it on the charcoal grill. Then all us kids would pick the meat from the bones, and dip it in butter. So yummy!

Absolutely not cheating, unless it's a tournament and against the rules. I wish my boat didn't idle to fast for it, or I'd be doing a bit of it myself. We used to troll diving cranks and stickbaits on Lake Ontario to locate schools of smallmouth. Get three hits on a pass, and we'd drop a waypoint, anchor up and start tossing plastics. Another trick I use is to toss out a big, floating swimbait, either a Mattlures Hardgill or MS Slammer, and let it trail behind me while kayak fishing. I wasn't really "trolling" but the random movements of the boat catch quite a few fish on the secondary rod. Again, two rods are legal in NY, but not usually in tournaments, so follow your regs.

I've caught some pretty big trout on a spincast, though 15 lbs. might be a stretch. It doesn't sound like the reel's anti reverse is kicking in. I'm not sure what model (there's been a "33" model since the 60's) you have, so maybe a picture of both sides would help. There might be a switch to turn the AR on and off. The drag should be set to about 3-4 lbs. of resistance. Use a scale, or a known weight to set this. It should slip at that weight. The rest is playing out the fish. If the reel is paying out drag, then do not reel! That will only twist the line, and it will snap. Move bigger fish with the rod, and reel up as you drop the rod back down. You'll see this "pumping" style a lot on saltwater setups, and it works great with light gear. A note on braid: It will ruin your reel. Braid isn't the solution. The reel comes with 10# Cajun line, which isn't too bad. After 30 hours of fishing, you will want to replace it. I'd suggest Sufix Elite in 10#, Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft in 8#, or P-Line CXX in 8#. I recommend smaller sizes in the last two, since their break strength is much higher than stated. If you get a lot out of fishing, and want to advance in your skills, I recommend getting a decent spinning rig and/or a baicasting rig. There will be a learning curve, but fishing with sensitive, reliable tackle will greatly improve the experience. We're always here to help you learn the new stuff too.

Pee Wee Wart or Daiwa Peanut.

I actually went to a 30" dropper. That kept them off.

Not much to see, lol...It's not anything like Erie:

Finally got some time to try some different locations while on my hunt for smallies. The south shore of Lake Ontario has been the source of much frustration from anglers. Used to be you dropped a tube, and it barely hit the botom, and you had a fish on. 50 to 100 fish days in August were not unheard of. Now it's a ghost land. There would be 50+ boats in the hot spots, and now, no one fishes for them anymore. They've just disappeared. There are tons of theories as to why, from VHS to largemouth virus, gobies eating the eggs and low recruitment, die offs in 2004, but no real data supporting anything. I put in over 30 hours fishing various places - new spots - looking for them, with little success to show for it. Last night, I decided to look at the spots I had success as a kid, but look at the structure, and fish deeper. Turns out, we were fishing on top of huge, 1/2 mile long underwater points. I decided to fish much deeper, 30-40 FOW instead of the usual 12-20. My work came up aces. It's interesting to note, I did mark a single fish, until I hooked up, so the fish must have been holding tight to the bottom. Since I fished pretty deep, I didn't take the time to get great pictures, rather release them quickly. The first fish I caught had to be fizzed, since I tried to livewell him, for a better photo later, but he rolled over. Fizzed him, and he sat upright in the well, so I released him. I think he was okay, and immediately swam straight down. The only other pic I took was a quickie of the 4+ fish, which was also released. I'll be duplicating this effort tonight, and in the future to see if this holds up. Some pics: Darn gobies! Mr Fizz: Lunker: They were all really fat:

Summerville Pier and I-Bay outlet would be two easy spots that come to mind. Kings should accessible from Summerville very soon, so make sure you have a long handled net, and some heavy gear. There are smallies out there as well. Dawn and dusk are the best times.

I use the 5 steak method, and then use the carcass to make fish stock. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM3wAgBmeNU

Burbot, eelpout, lawyer.... Lota lota http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burbot They can get pretty big.

This is something I feel VERY strongly about. Get the hook out. Period. If you kill it doing so, then take it and eat it. Otherwise, any thought that it will dissolve, pass through their system, or somehow miraculously fix itself is myth. Remove the hook. The ONLY time I leave a hook in is when I am keeping them in the live well and they are hooked in the tongue. In that case, I leave it there, and remove it just before weigh in. I usually end up eating those rare fish as well.

False, false false. Get the hook out. I've caught several bass over the years with a hook lodged in their throat. Food cannot pass through, and they were very skinny. Always remove the hook! Be prepared. Here is how to do it: http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/12981-how-do-i-remove-a-hook-a-bass-has-swallowed/page-2

Catch and Release, Northstar, Siebert, Megastrike, PMBB, Hawgtech, and DVT are all family run businesses, and they support this great forum. They also happen to sell the best in class products in the industry, which makes supporting them even easier.

Take a toothbrush and some spray detergent like 409 or something similar, and clean them.

Same thing I use for senkos, a medium/fast spinning rod. 20# braid. Sometimes I use a leader, sometimes not. I rarely rig them weedless, preferring to nose hook them on a wide gap finesse hook.

I don't use tungsten for drop shot AT ALL. We pour our own. I go through a couple hundred a year.

His paid for it all. Geico - they were an absolute pleasure to deal with, if you what I mean.

The best is the one you never make a claim to.

I get my trout fishing stuff at Fat Nancy's in Pulaski, NY. Otherwise, very few small bait shops have what I need, aside from the odd bag of hooks or plastics.

I have the drag on my heavy cover rod set to about 9 lbs. Not enough to break the rod, reel, or line. I've opened hooks on jigs. I think it's simply the initial shock from a slack line hook set - you know the one, you see the line jiggle, and whack it. It's isn't a ton of pressure, either. Not enough to pull drag. Stepping up to a jig with an Owner 3X hook will go a long way.

On a used boat, I'd change it immediately. Every 2 years is my schedule, with heavy use. Since I run a Merc Racing outboard, I don't wait for water pressure to drop to react.

Relatively inexpensive fluoro? In this order: 1. Seaguar Invisx 2. Trilene 100% (only in 10#+and on casting) 3. BPS XPS 100%

I've only had one issue with fishing gear shipped, and I ship and received a lot. That was a poorly packed reel and UPS was the culprit. Only issue I had with USPS was trying to express a reel to Roadwarrior. That cost me over $50, and took two months to get it to him. Otherwise, they've never lost, broken, or misdelivered anything.