MNGeorge

I only fish stick worms wacky rigged and I use a Gammie 4X wire saltwater octopus hook in size 4/0. The extra thick wire adds some weight which is desired in the river to help get the bait down in the current. For tubes, craws, beavers etc., I fish them on a Fin-tech Titleshot jig rigged weedless and Tex-posed. Everyone in the clubs I belong to who has tried the Titleshot jig has converted over to it...give it a try. Available in the Twin Cities at Thorne Bros., Fleet Farm or you can order direct from Fin-Tech. They are in Ellsworth, WI so service is very quick for us in MN.

Would a 4 rod model with only rods in it fit into a Bazuka?

Stumbled across them yesterday...they have the Netbait Kickin' B baits.

I got some samples from Netbait in all 3 sizes. The full size one is a viable alternative to beaver style baits offering more claw action. The mini and the chunk look like good jig trailers. Netbait has thickened the centerline of the bait so it should last a bit longer. Also read on line and saw a video from TW where the full size Kickin' B can be fished like a buzz frog. Wrote TW yesterday...they have not received their inventory from Netbait yet. If you Google it though, some other sources will come up if you want some right away.

Soft plastics of one type or another, craws, creatures, tubes, flukes and stick worms, about 80%...the remaining 20% split among various hard baits, cranks, jerk baits and buzzers.

Thanks for the heads up...I just got 2 REVO's that need grips.

Spinnerbaits for me...many of my fishing buddies do well with them, I can't catch a cold on one. I plan to make a concerted effort to add them to my list of productive baits. Also plan to mess around a lot with odd colors of soft plastics, especially when the water is murky or downright dirty. You might want to buy some JJ's Magic stock...it will definitely rise in value this spring. ;D

30# braid, 12# fluoro...4 wraps with the braid, 3 wraps with the fluoro and lots of saliva when you tighten it up.

I've been playing with the Alberto after viewing the video. I can see how it is a strong knot, but go back to my original premise that the uni to uni is much easier to tie. I'm sure with practice my proficiency with the Alberto would improve, but don't see how it will ever be as easy to tie as the uni to uni. Also, the Alberto is definitely a bigger knot than the uni to uni. One thing I do like about the Alberto is the ease with which it draws up and even with no saliva does not appear to damage the fluoro. With the uni to uni, for me anyway, a lot of saliva is mandatory to prevent damage to the fluoro.

Thanks, Franco, for the video. It looks much easier to tie on the video than I envisioned from static drawings of how to tie it. I will try it a few times over the winter to see if I like it better than the uni to uni.

10-12 up, and 10-12 back????? Seems like a lot of wraps to try to manage, especially on a windy day while trying to stay on the trolling motor. I use 30# braid w/12# fluoro and join them with uni to uni...4 wraps on the braid, 3 on the fluoro, lots of saliva. Works great for me.

Had good success with the 4.5" Food Chain tube this past Fall...Black w/ red flake blue swirl. They worked well on Mississippi River Smallies and with the hard nose, they held up very well. Just bought some in the Green Pumpkin light blue swirl to try next year. I also bought some of their other baits but haven't had the chance to use them yet.

4" tube Sweet Beaver Swimjig w/ Ragetail chunk trailer

I also feel you'll lose virtually none of your sensitivity with a fluoro leader. I use one for 2 reasons; abrasion resistance and for breakage if I get hung up...30# braid is hard to break, but the fluoro leader will break if necessary.

I had one I bought in 2009. It worked just fine but seemed a bit on the heavy side so I sold it. The 2010 models are supposed to be lighter.

I have 7.1 to 1 REVO STX's on most of my setups because most of my fishing involves a cast, working the bait in a fairly narrow strike zone and then quickly retrieving to make another cast. The only non 7.1 to 1 reel I use regularly for this type of presentation is a REVO Skeet Reese which is a 6.4 to 1. The only reason I use it regularly is that it is such a smooth reel it's hard to put down despite its somewhat slower retrieve speed.

Not much for spinning tackle so, for the fishing I do, my choice would be a Loomis MBR 843 GLX. Teamed with REVO STX-HS, 30# braid, 12# fluoro leader I could throw most anything I use on a regular basis for Mississippi River Smallmouth.

At one time, I would have whole heartedly agreed, but of late I've had more Bombers that needed tuning right out of the box than one's that ran true. The only brand I've never had to tune is Rapala. Once you've tuned a crank or two however, it's not that big a deal...it certainly wouldn't be a reason for me not to buy a bait.

Nick, That stretch has been somewhat of a mystery to me and all my fishing buddies...those weeds do make it tough to get around for sure. 2010 was worse than normal due to low water and warm temps in the Spring. Many places I've never seen weeds in 30 years of fishing the upper Mississippi had vast stretches of weeds. It was bad enough when the weeds were just growing everywhere, but when the water rose so dramatically mid to late Summer, many of those weeds tore loose and we had floating and suspended weeds in the water for almost the remainder of the season. Many Summer/Fall presentations were not an option at all...anything with a blade or a treble hook would foul almost immediately upon hitting the water. Instead of beating your head against a wall on that Little Falls stretch, I suggest you drop down to the stretch below the Royalton dam and try that. If you have to stay on the Little Falls stretch, the 2 best options we've found are a swim jig fished along the edges of the weed beds or over the top of them and a soft plastic jerk shad fished along the sides and/or just downstream of the weedbeds. Keep your fingers crossed for high dirty water and a cool Spring. ;D

Do you have any rivers near you? You won't understand the true meaning of being addicted to Smallies until you're addicted to river Smallies. Fortunately, I live within a few miles of some excellent river Smallie fishing.

Form is filled out...be in tomorrow's mail.

Does anyone know whether or not the spools for these models are interchangeable? I called Shimano and they said I could interchange the spools so long as I also interchanged the drag knob...sounded a bit strange to me, hence my question here.

WIND...without a doubt. I can handle just about anything else, but winds over 20 mph really dampen my enthusiasm.

WIND...without a doubt. I can handle just about anything else, but winds over 20 mph really dampen my enthusiasm.

WIND...without a doubt. I can handle just about anything else, but winds over 20 mph really dampen my enthusiasm.