arthurspooner13

Me and you both. I'm a big fan of what Belleville has to offer, but the boat pressure gets too high at times. I'm also a big fan of Ford lake. I normally fish for largemouths, but i've had some success with Smallies there. I'm interested in giving the Detroit River a shot this year. I've always shyed away from it in the past, but i'm really wanting to go after the Smallies it has to offer this season. I'm also looking forward to seeing how Iaconelli did on it - City Limits Fishing has their Detroit episode airing March 20th.

Spinnerbait

The most universal blade combo is the tandem - big willow/little colorado... However, as an avid spinnerbait fisherman(who fishes them more than any other lure), if i could only carry one lure it would be a double willow. As a matter of fact, the tandem combo is one of the last blade combos that i personally look for. Whenever i'm spinnerbait shopping, i first and foremost look for the double willow, then followed by a single or double oklahoma/colorado. AFter those, then i'll look for the tandem blade combo. So if you can only carry one bait, i'd highly recommend carrying a 3/8 oz double willow. The 3/8 oz is light enough to burn near the surface, and heavy enough to fish a little deeper. I'd also recommend buying some extra skirts. I've got an entire Plano dedicated to nothing but skirts. You can make that 1 lure very veristle by quickly switching skirts. In general, carry a white, chartreuse, and a dark color(purple/blue/black) skirt. This would be a good enough place to start. I once fished the same spinnerbait for almost an entire summer(a Terminator). I caught over 100 bass and pike on it before it eventually broke. But that $7 was well worth those 100+ fish... I actually kept a journal that summer so i had an actual count on the fish and it was indeed over 100. But if you can only carry one spinnerbait, and nothing more - i would recommend buying a 3/8 oz double willow Terminator T-1 in a chartreuse/white shad skirt. P.s. Trailers are usually to your advantage too. A lot of people would recommend a trailer hook, but i personally use a soft plastic trailer such as a 3-4 inch grub or twin/split-tail. Many times the difference between fish short striking and hanging on for that extra second is that soft plastic trailer. I can attest to this from a lot of experience. The trailer will also give the bait some extra action.

Absoultely not. I have had a ton of success on them in many different conditions - including water that is so still that it looks like glass.

I live in Michigan, and i'll probably start throwing one in two weeks(the first time i get out). The temperature is just starting to warm here - i think last week was the first time that all of the snow had melted. I've had success early in the season(beg of April) fishing them in very shallow water - basically throwing them along a shoreline with any kind of cover. And don't be affraid to fish them either. One of the my most successful early season trips ever involved me fishing a spinnerbait near the surface in shallow water - so i was basically burning it.

I just bought a pack of the watermelon w/ red flake at BSP last week. Haven't hit the water yet though...

Mustad makes "Big Mouth Tube" hooks, or something like that. I've used them on tubes ranging from 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 inches in length with no complaints.

Lol me and you both... I got there 5 minutes after 9, and there was about 8 or 9 spinnerbaits remaining - so i got the last 5 for 10 (although they were ringing up individually at $2). It worked out good for me because i wanted to get 2 double willows, 1 single colorado, 1 tandem oklahoma/colorado, and 1 tandem willow/colorado... And somehow of the 8 or 9 remaining spinnerbaits, i was able to get that exact variety in the blades. I could have cared less about about the skirt color as i've got an entire plano dedicated to skirts (thanks to Terminator and Northland). So needless to say i was fortunate.

I hope you have enough to money to eat for the rest of the week.

Crankbaits. My strongest is by far a spinnerbait, so basically i'll throw it in a lot of areas where others might throw a crank.

I've got a couple of ScrumFrogs and a few packs of Mann's hardnose swim toad. I really like the Mann's.

I leave them in the original bags, and store them in Plano 3730, which is different than the above mentioned. The above mentioned is simply a one compartment box. With the 3730, there are 3 dividers that run horizontally, so there's automatically 4 different compartments. Then you are given the opportunity to split it up into more compartments. I turn it into 6 compartments and store between 15-18 bags of soft plastics. I have two of these boxes: one dedicated to creatures, tubes, etc.. and the other dedicated to worms and plastics used as spinnerbait trailers. I'd highly recommend this method. Very well organized and any time you can keep your plastics in their original bags it's a good thing. http://www.planomolding.com/images/cmt/2-3730_m.jpg

I haven't had too much trouble with my Berkley. I'm the type of guy who won't even weigh a bass unless it's pushing 4 lbs... and i live in Michigan.

I just bought my first spool of it yesterday at BPS. (XPS Fluorocarbon - the stuff KVD uses). He said that he uses Fluorocarbon for 75% of his fishing applications. The only time he doesn't is when he's fishing spinnerbaits/topwater, because he uses mono. And when he's fishing the heavy, heavy stuff he'll use braid.

I've also basically been using nothing but EWG hooks the past couple of seasons. I use both Mustad and Gamakatsu in the 3/0 and 4/0... There sizes do seem to vary though.

Individual boxes are the way i like to go too... For all of my soft plastics, i have two large Plano boxes that allow me to keep them in the original packages and well organized. Just make sure the box you choose is deep enough and that the compartments are changeable to fit bag sizes. These boxes are rather big, but it sounds like you're already on top of that and they'd fit in your dry storage. I too only have so many cranks, jerks, and topwaters(particularly hard and frogs), so i store all of them in one box. So i basically have all of my baits with trebels, plus a couple of frogs in one box. Once again, just make sure the box you pick has adjusting compartments. For spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, i personally like using a binder. I feel that they are best secured here, plus it is pretty compact. I'm not a big fan of the spinnerbait type boxes, as i don't like all of the blades bumping into each other every time you move. I find that storing these baits is the most difficult for me - i'm always questioning and looking for better ways. In fact, i won't even take them out of the package until i'm ready to use them. I also have another box soley dedicated to spinnerbait skirts, but i fish spinnerbaits probably more so than any other lure so you might not need that. I have another box for which i keep all of my hooks, weights, and carolina rigging accessories. And finally i carry another Plano utility box(you can buy one with no compartment or adjustable compartments) to carry all of my other accessories - plyers, toe-nail clippers, scales/tape measurer, line, etc If you want to leave these in the dry storage of your boat, i'm sure that would work good and give you your desired deck space and organization. I carry all of my boxes in a duffle bag. Soft tackle boxes don't come large enough to carry the containers which i use for soft plastics. I also have an extra(or two) boxes, in case i'm going somewhere on somebody elses boat and no i won't need all of my stuff. If i know what type of fishing we'll be doing, i'll usually carry everything in a backpack. P.S. Brad Paisley fan?

Oh, it's night and day then compared to here (Michigan - at least where i catch them at). Like i said in my previous post, i'd put the bowfin(here in Michigan) up against any other species as far as their fighting ability goes. Once they are hooked, they pull extremely hard and are relentless. They literally do not stop moving, to the point where unhooking them becomes a hassel. The main area i fish is also loaded with pike and bass, and as soon as a bowfin hits i immediatlely know that it's a bowfin. Bowfin and "no fight" simply don't go together here.

For sure i'll be headed to Burt/Mullet - i'm not sure i'm going to have time to fish both but i'll defently be on one of them for the day. Houghton Lake(the shallow weedy lake i was referring to) and if i have time i might try out Higgins lake which is its neighbor. Two totally different lakes and i hate fishing deep water so if i only can fish one i'll be on Houghton. Belleville(i'll probably be here on a few occasions) and possibly Ford lakes. And i might just try Erie... I know Erie would hands down be the best option, but i really am not a fan of huge waters at all. And I know that some of the lakes i named are among the largest inland lakes in Michigan, but at least i can still see shorline all around me. Big lakes just freak me out a little - get "sea sick." Have you ever fished any of these? Is there any other smaller inland lakes that you would recommend for smallies in southeast Michigan? I'm actually from Metro Detroit. And BTW, thanks a ton to everyone who has replied. I've defently taken notes and will put it to use.

Alright i know this is way off topic, but it connected with the C-rig and i don't really want to make a new thread for it... (and i know there's a C-rig sticky thread, but it's very long and i'm not sure this will even be in there) But... what is the difference between a ball bearing swivel with split rings vs a ball bearing swivel with solid rings? And which one is recommended for the carolina rig?

What type of replacement hooks to yoy guys recommend for cranks?

The funny thing is, and i forgot to add this in my previous post, the largest smallmouth that i've ever caught(3 lber) was taken on a hotdog while fishing for carp/catfish. Note that i rarley fish for smallies(primarily largemouth). But yep, a smallmouth ate a hotdog on the bottom of the lake.

Yeah i agree that it's somewhere around the 7 lb range. Nice fish. And i absolutely love those terminator chartruse/white skirts. Hands down my favorite skirt for spinnerbaits.

What do you guys think about that SK Pro Model, particular in "Sexy Shad?" I thought that'd still be the hot crank after what KVD did with it.

There are some 30 pound carp in the small neighborhood lake I fish all the time. I see them lumber by while I fish from the shore. I am going to try your hotdog bait on them this spring. I will be sure to leave the bail open! http://image.basspro.com/images/images2/64500/64534o.jpg http://image.basspro.com/images/images2/400-000/493-642-21.jpg That was basically our setup right there. That's the Mustad wide gap bait hook. Just as long as it's got a pretty good gap it should be just fune - we even used wide gap worm hooks when we ran out of the bait hooks. You really don't need that heavy of a sinker, just as long as it can cast it out there smoothly and get the bait to the bottom... And actually, depending on the bottom of the lake you're fishing, you might even want to suspend the bait - so using a bobber will work too. Experiment with both and see what happens. As for the hot dogs, just slice them like you would a cucumber for a salad or a banana for cereal... I'd recommend cutting them 1/2 inch - 3/4 inch in width. Remember that carp have pretty small mouths. So you probably won't want to got any bigger than that. Don't discard the end slices of the hotdogs. Due to the way they are packed, they are often times the best slices for staying on the hook. But the entire hot dog is good to use... Just pay close attention when you cast out to make sure it didn't fly off... And i'd probably check and re-bait every hour. But at the same time be patient, the bait has to be out there because in most cases you ain't going to get a bite as soon as you cast it out. Bringing a net can make landing them a lot easier and a pair of needle nose plyers can be useful at time to fit into their small mouths. Good luck!

Me and you both. A lot of soft plastics that are scent injected are probably best served to remain in their original bags, as those bags often have a lot of the excess scent in them.