Rich Tehan

Hello all, I would like to know about fishing darter heads. Please give me the details. What setup do you use? Weight, bait, rod, reel, line. How do you present them and when are they most successful? Thanks. Rich

It's at the NE end of the lake, 1000 Islands area

I had a blaaaast today fishing Lake Ontario out of Chaumont, NY. Fish were hitting lipless cranks and plastic worms. The cranks were especially fun because they hit like a truck! The smallies were feeding heavily. Their bellies were so fat they were bursting at the seams! Thought I'd share some pics:

What are good rod covers to get for my casting and spinning 7' and 7'6"?

I've been getting them on a drop-shot and lipless cranks. What part of the lake are you fishing?

Will be fishing mostly 3/4 oz in thick stuff. So I suppose I'll go with the 766FLIP. Thanks for the advice

I want to get a 7'6" Heavy rod for flippin a jig and I'm debating between a Dobyns 766FLIP - a champion series rod or a SS766FLIP, a savvy series, though I'm open to other suggestions. It's a $70 difference between those 2 rods, but I'm willing to spend it if it will make a big difference. Any thoughts? is either lighter?

that's all for the info

Would anyone recommend this? What sizes?

I always do well flippin the mats at the north end of Otisco. A sure bet is to fish the main lake side of the breakwall

We kicked off the U.S. Angler's Choice 'Seaway Trail' with a slugfest! A 17 boat field embarked on the St. Lawrence for our first tournament. Launching out of Clayton, NY, we were greeted by the St. Lawrence River with beautiful weather, calm water, and BIG FISH! Dean Meckes and Chris Brown claimed first place and a prize of $1,210 with a whopping 25.8 lb bag of smallmouth anchored with a 5.99 lb lunker! Dick Garlock and Bob Marceau took second place with 22.7 lbs of smallies. $520 was their reward. Merle Wells Jr. and Jerry Knier were awarded $300 for third place, earned with a mixed bag weighing 19.89 lbs. The full results will be posted on the Angler's Choice website soon. It was fun day, a lot of big fish were brought to the scales and everyone had a good time. Congratulations to Dean and Chris on their win! We hope to see everyone back on the trail. Our next event is a month away on the St. Lawrence again, launching in Ogdensburg. Here are some pics from the tournament: 1st Place: Dean Meckes and Chris Brown 2nd Place: Bob Marceau and Dick Garlock 3rd Place: Merle Wells Jr and Jerry Knier Thanks for reading, Rich Tehan

There is a sale on 25# suffix elite on TW so I'm going to get that. Well, thanks all for your input! I shall post pics of all the monsters I catch on this big fish rig! I'm going to put a lot of hours on it in the 1000 Islands hunting trophy bass and muskie! AHH! I can't wait!

Okay, I shall go with a Cardiff 401. Don't think I'll spend enough to get a curado 300, not if I can get away with a cheaper reel. The 5.2:1 ratio of a Cardiff 401 won't be too slow will it? Also, do you find 25# fluoro easy to cast with a 4-5 oz swimbait, or is CXX or Mono more manageable in this size?

Okay thanks, I'll trust you... will get a Cardiff 201. Why such heavy line though, for hooksets?

I probably won't throw anything over 6 oz., Think I'll go with an 806. Don't have the money for a Daiwa Pluton. I probably should trust you but I'm going to see how my wide spool trion does throwin these big baits. If that doesn't work out, I may get a cardiff... Thanks for the help all. Also, what's a good #20 mono for this outfit?

I'm going to throw baits over 5 oz. I was actually lookin at the Dobyns 806, good rod for throwing big trout swimbaits and also muskie baits?

Hello All, looking to buy a swimbait rod. I may spend up to $250. What's a good rod for throwing heavy swimbaits? Will a Pflueger Trion fit in the reel seat?

Ha! 'Was thinking the same thing.

wow, thanks for sharing, that's huge! Looks like it's straight out of the sci fi movie 'snakehead'

Watermelon Sweet Beaver, and a 1/2 oz or 3/8 oz Dirty Jigs' Flippin Jig:

Thanks guys

I think he did, I saw it again when he was advertising makelure.com; "See these lures, I made them!". Regardless, are there any good large soft jerkbaits for catching pike and muskie?

I saw Larry Dahlberg throwing like a huge soft plastic jerkbait, I thought he called it a Big Wiggly or wiggly senior or something like that but my google images search does not show what I saw. It was a fat headed tapered soft bait with some awesome action. Does anyone know this lure or anything like it?

Perhaps spooks are better for open water, but the money hound is weedless, the alternative is topwater frog, toad, or rat.

No, not if the substance that corroded the reel wasn't corrosive to the line.