shorefisher

Dick's also has a Daiwa Capricorn 2500 spinning reel matched with a St. Croix 6'6" MF Triumph rod for $99.

Take a look at these articles from TackleTour for some options: http://www.tackletour.com/reviewcheapfloat.html And the new Twin Troller (looks pretty cool): http://www.tackletour.com/reviewicast08twintroller.html -Good luck, shorefisher

Many species gulp air to supplement low oxygen levels but I didn't know that bluegills did.

My name is Stuart Smalley and I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggoneit, people like me.

use the technique in the link that was posted but with one addition. If the barb has trouble coming out of the gullet after you have turned the hook around, slide needlenose or forceps down the shaft towards the tip which will give the barb enough room to easily pop out

ha ha great story. welcome to the madness

I got my first northern pike this weekend while fishing for bass. I was using 6# YoZuri Ultra Soft and fishing with weightless watermelon/pearl laminate senkos on 3/0 ewg red gammy hooks. We were just about to leave and i cast it alongside a floating log, let it drop and my line just took off. I set it and the drag started to whizzzz as he made a run for it. Good thing I had the drag set properly. I got him up to the boat and he ran a few more times but I grabbed him with both hands. I knew you aren't supposed to play them because it can cause their deaths, so I did the best I could with the line I had. I know you can grab them under the gills but I also know about the gill rakers so I was nervous. He opened his mouth wide and started thrashing and I had to drop him, we were in a canoe. Well as you can imagine after a minute of trying to figure out the proper grip my line was cut by his teeth. I know you can't play with them in those situations on that type of tackle but I just couldn't figure it out in time. I was so disappointed....the hook was hooked perfectly halfway down the side of his mouth in the lower jaw which I suppose is the only reason I could land him in the first place. I have a couple of questions: Judging by the photos how big, weight/length, do you think he is? My uneducated guess was 36", 12lbs. Do you think the hook remaining will cause his death? Maybe I can catch him again soon and take care of it, I've read up more on how to grab them through the gill covers. Thanks as always, Eric

Thanks guys for all the information. But, how do you fish a senko? I like to slack line and watch it, obviously that's not possible at night, so how do you guys fish senkos at night?

For what it's worth all the HP restricted lakes I've come across up here in upstate NY just don't seem appropriate for a big boat with a big motor. It seems to me they passed the 10hp law to really restrict the size of boat more than anything but along with that you get all the other benefits such as reduced wake, erosion...etc. Then again, we have a water authority reservoir that should be electric only (it's tap water after all) but allows <10hp. On top of that you cannot swim there (I learned that the hard way ). There are plenty of lakes to take your big bass boat to, if you want to fish the smaller ones, buy a smaller boat.

I've been fishing an ore bed that is springfed, long and narrow and pretty deep in the middle. Last month my thumb was almost down to the meat from lipping fish but recently the weather has changed and I've been skunked repeatedly. d**n I need a boat.

For those of you that fish at night I was wanted to ask a few questions. I've never gotten so much as a single bite at night time. One night I put on a mask and snorkle, threw a cheap flashlight in a ziploc bag and went for a swim. I located some smallies and rock bass in 4 ft. of water but they seemed asleep or extremely lethargic. They were suspending a foot from the bottom and not moving at all. I had to literally grab them before they would swim away, and even then they didn't swim very far. So that alone kind of crushed my faith in night fishing. But I did see LBH's video and I've heard some of you that actually prefer to fish overnight. One of the main things I've heard is to use black bait as it shows up easier against the night sky. I have to say I don't really understand that logic. In the absence of light all colors turn black so I can't see the color making any difference but anyways... Do you fish with a lantern? What do you use for light? Is it always on? If not how do you tell if you get a minor overrun? :-? What is your preferred night-time bait? What color? Do your presentations change at night? Thanks

i've had good luck with their color "dirty sanchez" which is watermelonseed/chartreuse laminate

"what brand are you using?" -reaction innovations created the sweet beaver and some other uniquely named but very effective baits. "how do you use them?" -i rig them texas weightless with a 3/0 EWG or 4/0 offset worm or EWG hook and fish them like a fat ika or senko: when you cast (spinning or baitcasting), slow the line before it lands so the bait enters the water softly then let it fall to the bottom. work it through the strike zone with a light double jerk to pull it off the bottom and let it fall again. repeat until out of the strike zone and then throw again. watch your line carefully throughout because it will show even the softest strike.

I finally was able to try out the sweet beavers and man what a great bait. these plastics have produced better than fat ikas up here for me. their action is incredible and the bass just can't help themselves. if any of you guys haven't tried them i would recommend you do.

i bought the plano soft bag with the hard bottom. i holds 4 medium containers and has pockets setup for everything from glasses to a holster for pliers. i love my bag

Those are incredible. When I make my swim baits, that's what I'm going to use.

Shimano Calais DC...maybe next year I will have enough saved...also I have a feeling it might make me lazy and not improve my baitcasting skills.

good deal but wouldn't it go bad before you could use it all? BTW thanks on the line tip RW, i have it on my spinning rig and love it

It's interesting you asked that, it was weird but when i was feeling the hook, and found 2 points of the treble buried to the knuckle, i expected a lot of blood. most head wounds tend to bleed a lot. but i would keep on feeling where the hooks entered and my fingers kept on coming back dry. I did the same thing after he tore the hook out but i only found a little drop. it must have bled i would have thought but i never really found any. go figure :-? agh ripping apart nerves? that's what i've been afraid of. 2 weeks ago i caught my pb smallie (3.5) dogwalkin' a super spook and he had all three trebles in him just like that perch. i was looking at the fish for a bit trying to figure out how i was going to prevent myself from getting stuck and eventually he shook himself free which was a relief. to prevent that in the future, i'm gonna buy this with my next paycheck: http://www.evolutionproductsinc.com/landingtool.php the lip26s (not the econo) the guys over at TackleTour rated it very highly http://www.tackletour.com/reviewlippertoolslipper.html, said it was better than a boga in many ways. :-? Anyways it's $40 cheaper and for now comes with a free leather holster.

dude i saw the photos of your finger and even though i had basically the same thing except with two, i still think yours is much worse. the finger's are one of the most sensitive places on the body and i don't think there are a ton of nerve endings in that part of the head. i had my skull to stop it from going too deep ... Not to say that it didn't hurt getting ripped out with needle-nose pliers... Also those katsuage hooks have the barb on the outside...haha it sucked but i think i'd much rather have it there than my finger... *raises glass* here's to no more sticking anything but fish lips!

I'm sure this is a stupid question but why are outboard motors preferred for bass fishing? Why do large fiberglass bass boats have outboards instead of I/Os or inboards? It sure seems like a volvo or mercury V6 would be easier to work on (course i used to be an auto-mechanic).

At my favorite pond I'm not sure exactly what the bass' main forage is, all I know is my thumb is chewed to pieces. LBH I feel your pain...literally

I am very sorry for your loss.

X2 Also IMHO dremel's (w/ wand) are great for certain tasks but I find them mainly a pain in the butt. I'm not sure how much experience you have with a dremel but you may find that a lot of your work is easier and better accomplished by hand. Rasps, sand-paper, hand drills, and hand scroll saws give me FAR more control over my piece. And you could buy all of the those tools and more for less money. Just my 2 cents. Have fun

I know what you mean http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1217385063