Josey Wales

My wife says that I am a compulsive tackle hoarder. She says that I own way to much stuff to go fishing with, and Im looking for verification that I am not the only one. PROVE TO ME THAT IM NOT THAT BAD! what follows is what I have off the top of my head. 2 extra large double sided BPS worm binders that look like they are pregnant. 2 Falcon FTO spinnerbait boxes stuffed full with 12 or more spinnerbaits yet to be opened. 2 FTO rattletrap boxes full. 1 370 box dedicated to just Big O crankbaits. 370's with the following. 2 crankbaits. 2 topwater 1 dropshot worms 3 spoons ( I do salmon too) 1 hooks and terminal hookups 1 weights and bobbers 1 swimbaits 3 jerbaits and about 15 rod and reel combonations. tell me if im normal or need help. Thx good fishing

Now I dont feel so bad... I always listen to the Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald before I go out... Even tho im 300 miles from there. And usually when I tie on a new Big-O I flick it to wake it up. And my wife says I compulsivly buy tackle.

Those are all great options. I live in White Lake, so I guess its metro detroit in a way. In my opinion I would rank our Michigan inland lake smallmouth waters in the Lower Penninsula as follows. (granted its what ive fished as well... if I havent fished it try not to hold it against me) #1 St. Clair ( yes I consider it inland and not a great lake) #2 Burt and Mullet #3 Lake Angelus (although its private, I bet ive pulled 15 4-5+ pounders out of here in the last 2 years.) Plus its like 2 and a half minutes from the Bass Pro here. #4 Houghton Lake #5 Gun Lake.. lots of pressure, but there are some biguns in there. #6 Higgins There are other lakes that have smallies, but not in significant numbers that I have fished... FLetchers is great for Largemouths, and there are some smallies in there but not alot. Pontiac Lake has some smallmouth, but not very big yet. Also I hate to say this, but ive never fished Kent, so I cant tell ya on that one. ( I plan of fishing it this year.) Good fishing

lets see here... Dinger for price.. But not by much Senko for quality... Ditto

My outlook on smallies. First things first on tube selection. Keep it natural. There are TONS of companies out there who make tubes, but you have to find what works best. what tubes work best for me? [ftp]http://www.combat-bassfishing.com/[/ftp] Met this guy at a fishing show, and I really believe in his product. Tubes are obviously #1 Get some tube heads with rattles. Whether it be the Mark Zona models or the ones offered from northland tackle, they are good to have. Owner makes the phantom tube weight that works well too. The Stand up jigs are good too, but if they are the chompers stand ups ya need to shave em a tiny bit. On the retrieves, its a matter of what they want... hop em, rip em, drag em.... on the stand up set up try popping em. Roadwarriors suggestion on ledgebusters is right on, these are great on smallies. especially on the deeper Lakes. they also have a longer arm that holds the blade, and although it changes the way they run, ive added willow blades to make it a gaudy large version of the quad shad. Crankbaits for me its simple.. Big-O... its what they hit for me out here. I know there are more expensive better running and better designed cranks, but for some reason I just keep coming back to it. Now if you go for em at night there are 2 lures I use for em 85% of the time. 1. Zara Spook 2. Zorro Aggrevator... (THEY HATE THE AGGREVATOR) btw... what MI lakes you plan on fishin for smallies? good fishing.

I do not think that it was one incedent that hooked me on fishing, but rather a series of events that pushed me to where I am today and continues to move me towards becoming a better angler. My father grew up with hunting instead of fishing for most of his life. It wasnt that my grandfather did not fish, or did not take my dad fishing. My grandfather was the eldest of 8 children, and during the depression it was he who would go fishing for food as opposed to sport or pleasure. It was this reason that my grandfather rarely took my father fishing, for he had come to think of it as a chore. Naturally as a child growing up I was raised on hunting the Michigan woods as opposed to fishing her waters. My cousins however did fish and I was introduced at a young age to a zebco push button setup with a bobber and the greatest bait that every little boy knows about. Worms. Never caught any bass out of ole Johns pond, just gills and bullheads. The excitement of watching the bobber submerge kept me coming back for more. I messed with the smalltime stuff as a kid, but when I started to grow my fishing got pushed behind my baseball which consumed my time year round it seemed. I of course had a break from it in the winter, but I didnt really like the idea of freezing over a foot of ice to catch fish either. In college I found that between baseball and school you get pockets of time where there is nothing to do. Granted good students find the time to consume these interludes with study, but ive never confessed to beeing a "good student" especially when it comes to prerequisite english. A friend of mine from GA asked me what I was doing one afternoon, and when I said nothing he proceeded to tell me about this bass he saw spawning at the campus pond. In a southern accent I could never hope to repeat he flatly said. "Im gonna go rip some lips" you wanna come? I didnt have a pole, but that hardly mattered when he produced an "extra" from his dorm room. The setup was as simple as I can think of now, tho at the time I thought it would never work. Just a wide gap worm hook with a pumpkinseed berkley power ribbontail worm. With the hook exposed he said just toss er in there an reel it in. Swimmin this worm I think I caught about 15 bass in this little channel. They werent big, but they were bass and I fell in love all over again. Another rambling I know. But thats basically how it happened. To tell the story from then to now would take WAY to much time. Good fishing

Does anyone know where I can get the crimps for leaders and the crimping tool? I got a lure idea to try =)

The Name is Larry Walsingham

I have the very rod you speak of, and I love it... Skips tubes great too. for me it would be the 2500 Stella on a 7'1 mag bass GLX.

Keep the Code. Nice gal ya got there IMO.

My dad had a sick sense of humor... JK... its just my all time fav movie. when he spits on the salesman and asks him how his Elixir is on stains... Priceless.

yay!

I catch these things all the time. And while they are widely considered a "garbage" fish, they are still fun to catch. Unhooking them can be tricky but then again so can Pike. I plan on bowfishing for some this year as I am going to give that a try. Ive had them hit everything from Spinnerbaits to Tubes. Its all in your point of view I guess... There was an article in IN FISHERMAN about 2-3 years ago about some musky fisherman who were getting nice smallmouths to hit their Giant musky baits. When they would get a smallie, they would call it a "garbage fish" and toss it back. All in your point of view I guess.

No need to apologize, I will surely try what you are suggesting... I got some tricks to throw at em... Ill work it all fast like you suggested. As for the guide I will ask him tommorow, then let ya know. Thanks again

awesome information guys... I really appreciate it. I talked with my father on wed, and he said that he had contacted a guide through the local tackle shop where he lives. Stripers sound like a ton of fun, and I hope that is an option. I have seen pics he has sent of his bay, and the water IS way down. Regardless I hope to have some good pics to share soon weather permitting. Ill try and get the guide information he is going to use, maybe you guys know of the guide. hopefully that cold front is out of there by Fri, and that water warms up for that topwater bite. What do you suggest over those humps? Spooks? Pop-R's? Spitnimage? Buzzbaits or all the above? Thanks again.

perhaps its not the point of "my drag can excert more force then yours..." Perhaps its just a simple matter of a company delivering as advertised. I dont own a revo, but if the tests support the claims, then I am inclined to believe that the product will hold up in other areas as well.

what the heck is Samurai braid, and where can you get it... In my experience you get what you pay for.

I hear a humming on one of mine, but I wouldnt call it grinding. Perhaps some line or dirt got under the spool? or in circle that the bail spins on... I keep up on mine in terms of oiling the port and aside from the noise, its performed wonderfully for 3 years or so.

all the stradics I have ever bought have come with that oil... Ive never had any grease included in the box.

Get a part time job at like a gander mtn or something during the winter. I applied at one when I lived in Kalamazoo for a time and the manager said that they recieved close to 60% off G-Loomis rods. I dont know how much truth there is to it, cause I got a job over in the Detroit area and moved shortly after. But here in michigan where the weather stops ya in winter it would make sense if possible to make money and get sick discounts. I didnt see any Loomis deals at our fishing show, but then again I wasnt looking that hard either. Good luck

I seen the commercial for it and was excited to watch it, but then never did. I think the fact that there are peacocks in FL is awesome and I hope that as long as they dont push out the native fish, they continue to grow so I can plan a trip to FL as opposed to the amazon basin.

*sigh*

I have some but are yet to use them... Michbass have you checked out Wayne Carpenters tubes? He runs combat fishing out of clawson, and they are excellent. He has done some facinating research on crawfish in the St. Clair, and Lake Erie region. I used some last year and had sweet results on Lake Angelus... caught 3-4 Smallies in the 4-5 lb range in a week.

Ive been hooked on the Bronzebacks lately. SMR823C-SB I have 7 Loomis rods myself everything from a GL-3 to a GLX, Obiously the GLX is my fav, but the bronzebacks are excellent as well.

X2 I have a 7'4 G-loomis Bronzeback paired with a 2500 stradic for senkos, and tube skipping. I really like the Bronzeback rods. It looks like you already have a crankin setup, so that is what I would suggest.