A-Jay

What ? What he say . ? . ? . ? . ? A-Jay

That is Very Cool ~ Thank you for sharing it. A-Jay

OK - I like your choice of winner but can we ease up on the OT's ? ! ? ! ? ! A-Jay

Nice ~ But now I'm gong to be singing that foolish song all day . . . . . Thanks a lot ! A-Jay

Game 2 was Wild ~ I hope the B's learned from that dismal first period and don't repeat that 20 minute performance again. It was pure survival mode. But it seemed like once the Bruins were able to get a bit of the physical game going, they were able to generate some positive energy. Coach Julien's move to put Tyler Seguin on the third line with Chris Kelly and Daniel Paille was brilliant and the turning point in the game. Can't wait for Monday night and game three - should be a good one. Go Bruins ~ A-Jay

Doesn't sound like the line was the problem Stitch. A-Jay

Only 5 fishing days left ~ Who's planning to catch that Hawg of a Bass that would help them pull off the last minute victory ? I'll be out there trying to make it happen. Anyone else ? A-Jay

Put the odds in your favor. Fish At Night ~ A-Jay

I am a braid / mono leader user and abuser for every application. However, when throwing a Swimbait like a Huddleston, it's mono all day. Big Game or Maixima are my leaders of choice. A-Jay

Hi Stitch - glad to hear you're out on the water. Which size Rap was it and what type / pound test line were you throwing ? Sometimes the smaller rattle baits run a little funky when thrown on a heavier line. A-Jay

That's something to think about. And there's really only one way to find out. Fish the two baits and see what happens. Of course, the Rage tail baits are so convenient since they come with their own live well and all . . . . . A-Jay

Most excellent Boats ~ ! Lynn & I are both wishing you a rapid and full recovery. A-Jay

A Ham Sandwich , really slone ? I thought everybody knew that 95% of trophy bass surveyed prefer B o l o g n a. A-Jay

No apology necessary shinny. It's all on topic and a very stimulating discussion. Thank you very much for helping make my decision. Mud Bugs it is . . . . . A-Jay

As a long time Pats fan, I like the move. I would say that whatever role the man is asked to do, he will give it his best. Whether or not that ends up being productive in some way, remains to be seen. I do not believe that he can or will hurt the teams chances of winning in any way. If nothing else, when he's inserted into the line up in some capacity, I'm hoping it will become a bit of a big deal; ~ Especially if it puts more Pats games on my Big Screen. A-Jay

That third period and the entire over time was B R U T A L ~ ! As a Boston fan - just sayin' A-Jay

A good majority of the bass I do catch here, cough up crayfish on the way to the net. Definitely not looking to spark the dreaded live bait debate. This all started after reading (and thoroughly enjoying) Bill Murphy's book. My decision to take this journey In Pursuit of Giant Bass was not entered into lightly and will hopefully continue well past the post of any initial success. My path is largely uncharted. By taking full advantage of the hard work and experience of a man who was willing to do so leaves me no choice but to utilize all the tools he found useful. I am not in a position to randomly discard any technique that could point me in the right direction. If it will make you feel any better shimmy I would be happy to include any courageous crawdad with moves like Jagger in the photo. A-Jay

You're right and I apologize for the somewhat negative presentation. That's not what this is about nor should it be placed in that light. Thank you for your post. I needed that. I did some supplemental reading in the chapter that covers the stitching technique. It appears as though I have been using this in areas that it is not at it's best. Mr. Murphy indicated that smooth bottoms are not places where stitching routinely excels. The bait does best in spots that have a bit of cover on the structure that allow for the bait to hang and drop and bump along. I'm feeling a little bit like a knucklehead for not picking up on this detail initially as at least half of the deep area's I'd plan to fish on this lake have a smoother bottom. A major oversight on my part and I'm glad I went back and looked. I'll blame it on the long winter here numbing what's left of my brain. The author goes on to say that his experience showed that big bass do use these spots quite often but he was unable to get bit stitching a worm. His solution, stitching a live crayfish. Something about the bait struggling along that open bottom turned these fish into biters. He passed on that it could be "devastating at times". I like the sound of that. Of course there is an entire chapter on the subject and like most of this reading, something I'm entering into right at the bottom floor. I don't believe I have access to a local commercial supply of crayfish so I'd have to learn to catch and keep them myself. Still haven't totally decided if this is something I want to get into. I have nothing against fishing live bait and a good majority of the bass I do catch here, cough up crayfish on the way to the net. Perhaps this is the technique that could unlock some of the mystery that this journey has been so full of thus far. Before I say that I am going to commit to it, some ground work and investigation will need to be conducted to see it it's even possible. Immediate thoughts that come to mind are, where, when and how to I catch, and keep them. If I can make this happen with in reason, I might actually entertain the idea. The information in the book is fairly explicit and appears to cover what one would need to know to get started. But like most everything we venture into, there always a bit more to it . . . . . . . . A-Jay

CP - I really do appreciate your support. I have to say that your set as listed above doesn't really fit into the stitching category. As you mentioned, it's a little on the heavy side; more like a light Carolina rig. It will certainly get bit though - and I expect pictures for sure . . . A-Jay

First off ~ Welcome to BR ~ ! Perhaps it was your line size. Did you consider using a lighter / thinner, less visible line for the fluke ? A-Jay

**** Trip Log **** Tuesday 11 June / Fished 6:30am – 3pm / Air temp low 70's / Water Temp 64 / Winds NW Light and Variable / Barometer 1013 & steady. A typically gorgeous morning on the water in the north woods. Sunrise was obscured by an Eden-like foggy mist without much wind to speak of. I anchored up in the same area I left off with last trip. After thinking about a couple of the recent discussions a few posts back regarding depth and still looking for the magic, I switched it up by anchoring shallow and fishing deep to shallow. Additionally, I change my stitching weight from a 1/8 tungsten which I'd used most every trip so far, to a 1/16 lead weight. Though it was very calm, it still took a good while for the rig to initially settle on the bottom. To have any contact at all with the bait, I really had to just barely inch it along very slowly. I went with a 6.5 inch Zoom trick worm and then a Berkley Powerbait 7" Power Shaky Worm in black and green pumpkin. No bites by 10am, so I moved to the other side of the drop off and reversed the whole deal to set up deep and worked shallow to deep. No Biters again. By noon the sun was beaming and it was time to make a move, A move to what, I didn't exactly know. With the water temp now squarely in the "hey lets spawn" zone, I took a spin through areas that you'd expect to see beds. Oh, there were beds all right and small bass every where I looked. It was encouraging to see. Most were little guys, a few were in the 2.5 - 3.5 lb class and I spied 2 or 3 little fat girls that could have gone 5lb. It's hard to tell and so often those 5lb free swimmers end up shrinking down to 4's once they're hanging on a scale. Either way, there was plenty of life in 10ft of water and most of it was around wood or weed cover. Forecast is calling for some stability this week so we'll see how that plays out. On a final note regarding the repeated lowering and hauling up of the double anchors over and over, Ron Burgundy has got nothing on me; for I am The Anchor Man ~ Stay Classy BR ~ A-Jay

Good Stuff right there guys Thanks you for your thoughts. I do believe that I'm fishing for the smallest potion of the bass population. And where ever they are spending the majority of their time, it's not someplace I have visited routinely in the past. The super clear water and lack of shallow shoreline structure puts these fish deeper than some of the other lakes in this area. I can see the bottom here in 20 ft almost every trip. Except for low light conditions and when there is a wind, when fishing in 10 feet here you can see you bait throughout the entire cast. So there is rarely a big fish bite there. The depths I'm mining are just a product of this environment and we may all be thinking and saying the same thing. There are a few docks, log jams and laydowns scatter around the lake and they hold fish when you'd expext them to but the big girls are like ghosts. Also this is a multi-species habitat and lmb are not the biggest or baddest kids on the block which may play a role in who gets the prime habitat. It looks like a killer morning - I'm heading out . . . . . . . .

I think you may be right - I know my heart won't be able to take it but it might be Seven games all with a 1-0 score ~ A-Jay

A very valid point and one that I do not dispute. In fact my largest MI bass came shallow and was right before the spawn. In the book, Mr. Murphy details how he believed that the largest bass only remained shallow for the briefest of times during spawn. So by fishing the deeper holding area / spots, he got his bait in front of more large fish. His results speak for themselves. It was also his contention that by fishing the area right through all 3 stages of the spawn, (pre, spawn and post) you could catch them coming and going. Your assertion may very well be right on and I hope you are. But for now, since I've caught a few decent fish shallow this time of year in the past, I'm going to keep poking around out deep and try a few different approaches and see if I can bump into something close to the kind of results Old Bill managed to get into. A-Jay

As a Long Time Bruins Fan, I am a happy man. Following the team this brief by action pack season has been quite a ride. The playoffs have been one heart attack after another. This Original Six match up is cool and the Blackhawks have been very good all season. But then again, so were the Penguins . . . . . . . . . . . A-Jay