basser89

Welcome to the boards! I'm a Quantum fan, but I don't think I'd give that one a shot. If it doesn't say Accurist, Energy, Tour or Kinetic, I leave those alone. I have a Quantum Profile and it works ok but it's just not the same. Reelmech makes a good point as well with the service support. That's another reason I'd stay away from it.

Thanks, that hasn't happened since summer! I was fishing one of my musky holes and had a 15-16" smallie take a Top Raider. It had the whole hook in its mouth. I'm still trying to figure out how that happened! :-?

Gave up trout fishing quite some time ago. Never caught one of those when I did. That is one amazing looking trout!

When it gets cold here in MD, I tend to cheat. ;D There are two warm water discharge areas I hit from time to time that keeps the cabin fever to a minimum. I can use more active baits like cranks and floating jerkbaits. If the water isn't hard and I need my largemouth fix. I usually throw 4" tubes in various colors, depending on the water color.

Well, I got out this morning for another go on the upper Potomac. I was supposed to meet up with MskSlyr but something came up so he couldn't make it. I put on around 6:30 this morning (MAN was that COLD! LOL!). I was hoping to get into some smallies and maybe a walleye. Water temps ranged from 41.6-42.7. In the deeper holes I was throwing bucktail jigs and in the shallower areas jerkbaits and crankbaits. This little toothy critter decided to take a shot at the jerkbait I was throwing! Thank goodness for my Suffix braid! Surprisingly, it was another short fight. Total battle may have lasted about a minute. Here's a pic.

I'm still running my boat but I had made plans already to hit the Potomac with my fishing partner. There are a few other anglers on here that fish there too. You may be in luck yet if one of them can meet up with you! The lake is closed to boats on Dec. 15th through Feb. but you can fish from shore all year long (as long as there's no ice obviously). I didn't get a chance to fish it on the boat this year so in the spring, you're more than welcome to join me as well (or maybe we could try a group outing). If you make it this weekend, good luck!

I have one similar to the BPS e-z lure retriever and it's saved me countless times! Sounds like I should pick up a pole retriever as well.

I've met Jimmy a couple of times now and he is genuinely a nice guy! His shows and seminars are entertaining but the last time I saw him in a seminar he talked about everything except fishing the majority of the time. I was really disappointed with that seminar. :-/

Hey is this gathering exclusively for PA'ers? : I grew up in PA but live just south of the border now. Can I get in on that merit? LOL! If the one fishing expo I go to down here isn't the same date (I'll see about the date for that), I'd be interested!

99% of the time I have a trailer hook on both my spinnerbaits and my buzzbaits. I always rig my trailer hooks to swing free. Gamakatsu trailer hooks are all I use.

mayassa, it definitely warmed me up some on that COLD day! The fight was over extremely quick (especially since it was on bass gear)! Props to my net man (MuskSlyr)! If the fight lasted a minute, it was lucky! He barely had the net out and that musky was at the boat! Thanks rondef!

Primarily 4" tubes here in MD for me, unless I'm fishing the warm water discharge areas near me. Then I can get away with more active baits.

Hey Ron, I work 10 minutes from the lake so I usually hit the lake at lunch time from shore. Not sure what the guy had told you about the lake so I'll start you with some of the basics. The lake is 505 acre, electric only (if you have a boat) reservior that provides water for DC. The lake is filled with hydrilla and some timber in some of the coves. Deepest part that I have graphed on the fish finder was around 65'. The visitor's center in the park does (or at least used to) have maps of the lake. The are largemouths and tiger musky but it also holds crappie, bluegill, carp and catfish. The best bass I've landed from there this year is the 5lb 5oz largemouth in my avatar, but I have seen a 6lb 1oz caught and have seen a few in the 7-8lb range. The spawn is usually in full swing right around the beginning of May. It can be a tough place to fish, the water can get pretty clear (I've seen visibility down to about 12-13'). I'd give the lake about an 8 out of 10. How's that for starters? It's just a little bit off the top of my head. If you have any specific questions, let us know.

That makes sense Boett. The levels were on the rise saturday. I think that's why you had luck there. They're starting to drop again. If they go back down, I wouldn't bother going back til they come up. Thanks Angler! I was fishing in about 5' when it hit.

That's a decent smallie Boett. When did you catch it? Thanks LBH!

The best I can give you on my musky spots is in Washington county. I have a deal with a friend of mine when it comes to the musky areas we have. Largemouth and smallies, I can help you when I can but I just can't with the muskies. Sorry. I wish I could help you on Cunningham Falls. Sadly, I haven't been there this year at all. :'( I believe someone on the NE boards had said they have already drawn the lake WAY down for the winter.

I have the most confidence with the Zoom Brush Hogs. I rig them with a 4/0 EWG Gamakatsu.

Hey Big T, Washington county is the county just west of Frederick county. I'm outside of Hagerstown. Thanks T-rig! It's been a tough year for me so this helped make the year a little better.

I loaded it from my fishing pictures.com. Let's see what happens this way..........

Sorry LBH! Should have been a little clearer. I bought two a while back and on an outing, I tied one on (first time with the clicker style). Made several casts with it (with no luck which was NBD), made another cast and realized it wasn't running right. When I pulled it in, the back half of the bait was missing. I thought it was a fluke so I tied the other one and the same thing happened. With the success I had in the past, I bought a new standard jointed one to regain some confidence in them. After every cast I would inspect the bait. After a period of time (in that outing), I noticed the back half was "unscrewing" itself from the front half. I had never tried to tune it before hand. When I tried to resecure it to the front half, it just made it worse. Sadly, I haven't used one since. :'(

Black is the only one I've ever thrown but only in low-light conditions or at night. I've used jointed (which I prefer) and the solid bodied ones in the 3/8oz size, the jointed seem to work better for me. HOWEVER, am I the only one that has had bad experiences with them lately?????? The last couple I've bought (5/8oz jointed) haven't even lasted an outing! No, they weren't taken by a bass (or any other fish for that matter), I've lost the back ends of them. The quality of them over the past couple of years is no where near what it once was (IMO)!!!! Unfortunately, they're off my list of baits to buy and not even the Bait Monkey can talk me into that purchase. :'(

No, not the Bait Monkey. ;D MskSlyr and I hit the upper Potomac this morning. Thankfully, it wasn't as cold as it was supposed be! We hit an area that holds smallies, walleye and an occasional musky. Water temps were right around 46-47 so I was expecting a slow day. We were out about two hours or so with no even a sign of a fish and I started throwing a jerkbait for smallies. I was working it rather slow (as the temps suggested) when on a pause the line went tight and the fight was on! Wasn't a smallie, nope, not a walleye either. I was surprised to see a musky on the end of my line! Not a big one, but a musky none the less. Thanks to MskSlyr for the heads up skills with the net!!!! Not sure if I would have landed it by myself on spinning tackle (or at least not as quickly as we did)! Here's a pic.

I've been throwing Bandits for a little while now (mostly for smallies). I only have a few in the 100 series but will be adding more (colors and other series) in the future. Smallies (on the upper Potomac) really seem to like them as well as walleye and an occasional musky too. Isn't that right MskSlyr?

Boyds is the small town just outside of Black Hills regional park. I believe the proper name of the lake is Little Seneca Creek Lake (funny name for a 505 acre lake eh? ). Hotspots? Hmmm, well I can tell you where I've fished! LOL! None have really been hot for me lately. I fish the pond in Middletown on occasion (its REALLY low right now too), Cunningham Falls (up by Thurmont) and Greenbrier (out off 40 towards Hagerstown) and of course Dickerson (PEPCO). The Monacacy is supposed to have some decent spots (I've never found any on the very limited times I've hit it and that's been years ago!). Your last question is an easy one! "Weapon of choice? Give me a spinnerbait!" 4 out of my top 5 bass have all been caught on spinnerbaits! My second largest was on a Zoom Brush Hog and she came out of Cunningham Falls.

I had someone make a livewell for me for my jon boat. It's made out of aluminum. I put decks on my boat as well and had the livewell made to fit inside the middle bench. The dimensions (if memory serves me right) are 20"Wx15"Hx36"L. I've kept a limit of bass in mine for several hours with no losses! Mine is set up so it has fresh water all the time (through the bottom of the boat). That had to be one of the hardest things I've ever done! Drilling the hole through the bottom of the boat.