MNGeorge

This could possibly be the worst advice I have ever seen. Following this course of action could lead to a real disaster. Take it from a guy who's been married for 41 years, if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

If your stream has decent visibility, fluke type baits work very well for Smallies also. We fish rivers much more than lakes and have found tubes and flukes to be our two most productive soft plastics for Smallies. Because of the many recommendations on this and another site, we plan to fish various types of worm baits this year also. Good luck with your stream fishing, but be careful, it can be very addictive.

The clearance bin at the Gander in Baxter, MN had from 2# to 15# yesterday. They no longer have any 6#, I got the last of it. There is plenty of 10# and a few spools each of 2, 4, 8, 12 and 15#. If you ask your local Gander, they will have it shipped from MN to you or you can call the Baxter store yourself to have it shipped to your house. I have done this before, so I know they will do it. Baxter store phone number is: 218-828-1736. Be sure to specify the Ultra-Soft, because there is a lot of the regular Yozuri in the clearance bin too.

Never fished a Cabela's rod mostly because I never found one I liked the feel of. I have several BPS Extreme rods and love them all. If you buy them on sale or in a combo deal, I think they are hard to beat for the money.

Just wondering how deep one can effectively fish weightless soft plastics such as any sinking worm, sinking creature bait or Fat IKA type baits. Seems to me, there must be a depth beyond which weightless plusses get outweighed by the minuses, such as loss of contact with the bait, time involved getting bait down to or near the bottom etc. Is there kind of a rule of thumb on this subject? Thanks.

We have 7 of these reels in our family and we all love them. I would suggest you return it to BPS for an exchange.

Does it have to be a regular oven or can this be done in a Microwave? If so, how long do you set the MW for and at approximately what power setting?

There are certainly colors that will catch fish under nearly all conditions, but that being said, there are often times other colors that will catch more and/or bigger fish. That is why you will find very few baits in our tackle bags/boxes that don't have a number of color options to choose from. Often times color doesn't matter very much, if at all, but when it does matter, it usually matters a lot. Not to mention the desire to stay on the baitmonkey's "best friends" list. ;D

With the current in the upper Mississippi, getting the fluke down in the water column is a real issue. We have gone to 5/0 and even 6/0 EWG Gammie Superline hooks because they are a bit heavier wire and add some weight to the fluke. We've never had "hook-up" problems using these hooks, but river Smallies are very aggressive fish.

It wouldn't have been misleading if you had spelled it right in the original post. Joobee/Jobee. Easy mistake to make.

We pay close attention to the solunar tables, but don't let them dictate whether or not we go fishing. We use them to try to be on known big fish spots during the peak activity periods.

River Smallies are very aggressive fish and there is just no way to avoid gut hooking a few over the course of a season, especially fishing tubes. We have pretty much given up trying to remove those hooks. We just cut the line and hope for the best. Judging by the number of fish we catch with hooks already in their mouths, I'm thinking many of them live to fight another day. We certainly hope so.

We experiment until we find what's working that day, but pauses, if any, are short in duration. Started throwing a Rapala Skitterwalk last year and found it to be very effective on river Smallies. We also like the Spittin' Image and the Rebel Jumpin Minnow.

A recent episode of Bass Pros had one of their guys doing exactly what you are intending to do. He was throwing a Hopkins Spoon.

Whenever we're fishing buzzbaits, we have a "throwback" rig ready for just those occasions you're describing. Usually a fluke or a hard jerkbait. As soon as you miss a fish on the buzzer, set the buzzer rod down and cast your throwback bait to the spot where you missed. You might also try a different color buzzer.

DT06 and DT04 are all we need for the upper Mississippi. Baby Bass and whatever Rapala calls the one with a blue back, chartreuse sides and an orange lower front. Caught a lot of smallies on these baits.

OK, I'll bite. What's a joobee rig?

I'm sure his wife will be glad to hear that description of her. NOT!

We have been using 10/2 PowerPro on our crankbait rods for several years now and love it. We switched from 10# Trilene XL. The added sensitivity, increased casting distance, increased running depth of the crankbaits and the hook setting capability, especially at the end of a long cast, all make this line "THE" choice for us.

Couldn't agree more. My favorite search bait in the summer time, especially when the water is low, is the above mentioned popper. I focus on the fastest, nastiest chutes and riffles, the ones you wouldn't want wade in (be carfeul!) from morning until evening. Many big fish hang in these well oxygenated, "fast food conveyor belts." You gotta set your drag a little loose though. Big fish, FAST water, you get the idea. Add a fast moving buzzbait to your arsenal when fishing that fast water, but be sure you're holding on to your rod because the strikes will not be tentative. We especially like a double buzzer because it will stay upright in the fast water even at the fastest retrieves and a lot of times the fastest retrieves produce the best results.

Trilene knot for mono and flourocarbon Palomar for Fireline Uni-knot with two wraps under it for braid.

Can't say from experience with the Sufix, but I have several different Berkley monofilament lines that are 20+ years old and still are just fine. So long as it has not been subjected to prolonged sunlight, excessive heat or cold or any chemicals/fumes, I would use it without hesitation. It's easy enough to test it if you have any doubts.

Cabela's website is showing the clear. Check the closeout bins at your Gander Mountains. I picked up 4 spools the other day at the Brainerd, MN Gander.

We've been using Cajun red lines with very good results. They are very manageable on both baitcast and spinning reels, hold up pretty well and are inexpensive. They're also easier for us to see which, at our age, is an important consideration.

Yes, but the salt water one's come packed 5 to a bag and the freshwater one's come packed 10 to a bag. The price on the Cabela's website for these is a good one if they have the colors you want.