NEKvt

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. It bothers me so much that I can't fish some water because people can't take responsibility for their actions. "oh I was fishing a steep bank next to a pond after some rain and slipped and broke my arm... someone else should pay for this... why don't I sue that way I can't come back here and do this again." You let him fish it the first time by himself. Bringing a friend in a second truck is the end of the line. He is not even trying to be sneaky about fishing your private stash, plus hes bringing friends. You could go really passive aggressive and leave a note on his truck. See the truck again call police.

Certainly more of a trout thing but I like thinking of it on the bass pond as well. As a fly fisherman I never really put much faith in it. Fish may be keyed on small olive mayflies that you can't perfectly match. Tie on a similar sized red and peacock royal wulff and you can still catch fish. It looks like nothing they are after, or would see in nature. I think they key a lot more on size and silhouette than perfect coloration. You mention fishing at sundown, how well do you think the bass see the color of the bait with little light? They are probably keying on other triggers.

Makes sense. I need to learn to cast better.

Aside from lip size what are you doing to get these baits down deep?

Very cool. That would kill in VT

If you are on shore and it is not your pond please do not cut the limb. That just gets the ball rolling on privatizing and locking fisherman out. It is as bad as leaving trash. I depend on access as much as the next guy but the way I see some areas trashed by fisherman I would seriously contemplate putting up posted signs.

Very good looking stuff. So consistent

I will try that technique to get the old one out. I just put a new one in ahead of it but havent removed the old one yet. I am putting a bit more weight in as well, want it to fall really slow. The floating is not working for me. I am also messing up an already ugly paint job doing all this. I wanted a black bait. Painting it was definately getting ahead of myself.

I like it. Probably fish well too.

No pics because Big M was right. Moving the line tie. Now I have to hope I don't dissapoint.

This I have noticed. I am doing a spray paint job tonight with the only colors I had in the basement. Will post pics when I finish. Anyone else that has tried any of these have tips?

Thanks for the advice. I loaded all the weight up there because I was looking for that position in the water, but I didn't think about making sure the line tie was as far forward as possible. Good to have a possible fix in mind if it doesn't swim well.

So the story behind this is basically that it is my first attempt, I don't have lip material on hand, or line ties, or lead (cant get lead sinkers in VT), but I do have some wood. I carved this up, hollowed out the belly, packed 5 bb size tin shot in there twisted some line ties and hook holders following daves post and checked to see if it would float. It floats with the water line just over the edge of the lip. I think the epoxy should add a little more weight and get me a nice shallow running bait. I am hoping to finish and have it fishable by this weekend.

I think it may just be a dicks thing also. It seems like the one in Williston stocks the shelves in the spring just before fishing season and then just lets things run out and never restocks. Each time I go in there is less stuff. I asked a friend who works there, he didn't say that was the policy but he did say something along the lines of "fishing season is over" and this was in early August when I asked. It probably is true that people buy most of their fishing equipment early in the season but c'mon some of us have a monkey. Mine doesn't go away after the first weekend in May.

Give it a chance, every tacklemaker lets a few mistakes slip out. Maybe this is one and it will function perfectly

Something that hasn't been said is to try and test cast anything you are thinking about buying. Rods vary a lot and what some find a joy to cast you won't like the feel of. Good fly shops will let you test cast rods, if they won't move on.

For what you describe I would go with a 4wt. It really all depends on what type of flies you want to be casting. The small nymph type of stuff, and little poppers you toss at gills and trout will be fine on a 4 weight. When you want to start throwing bigger heavier stuff at smallies you will want a six. Then you will want to start throwing bigger more wind resistant flies and get an 8, then you can hit the salt. Pretty soon you will have a basement full of fly rods and be building a 10wt in the hopes that it will force you to book a trip to tarpon country. ;D

Not only mice, I caught a smallie last may off a rip-rap dam that looked like it had a mold growing in it's mouth. Turns out it was a mole. This thing wasn't even close to down yet and this fish was still moving on a new meal. I have seen mice swim but I can't for the life of me figure out how this mole made it over the lake.

Tired of them? You inspired me to buy some basswood and balsa this evening. Now to get the circuit board and hardware. Good stuff

beauty

Just a heads up to anyone thinking of using the button bay launch. It is in really bad shape. I was able to back a tacoma down with a 14' jon but a trailer with a bigger footprint probably would have wound up in a 2 foot eroded ditch. On a good note the fishing Saturday evening was great. Thanks to all who sent some advice.

I made my first rod with a tape measure, a round rasp for the reel seat, a box for turning the rod on, some books for tensioning the thread and some epoxy. Plus the rod components It is still my favorite rod. I would definately suggest reading about how things are done, but you don't need to go out and buy a lot of expensive tools. I poked around rodbuiliding.org a lot before jumping in.

agreed Mike I always wonder how people that enjoy a resource can do something so thoughtless that has the potential to so damage it. As someone who hates pickerel so much I can't believe you didn't freak out on your buddy for putting it back.

Seems like a good option for him if the frog turning over is a big deal to him. Don't see any issue with offering them up, he may not have thought of them before. That said, I have only tried the toads that *** sent in my freebie pack but I like them a lot. They do turn over but on either side put out a lot of noise and really churn up the water.

Check out the TFOs and the Echo rods. Buy a 6 if you plan on doing more smallie fishing than trout fishing. Get a reel that you can palm and you won't have to spend a ton for a drag system that rarely gets used.