Tuckman

Take a guess at the weight of this NY chunker!...I'll tell you that she is just a tad over 20" but as you can see she was packin the girth of a small Rosie O'Donnell. This is my current PB smallie. I got her last october while practicing for the Chautauqua Bassmasters fall open on Chautauqua Lake...A small New York lake where you need a bag of 5 smallies over 25lbs to even raise an eyebrow in October. :-? Sorry about the poor quality of the pic, all we had was my old 1.3mpx camera phone, but thats def. better then not having any pic at all!!! So what does she weigh? :-X

Dresden is awesome as well...Ive never hit it after ice out but i bet its better then the WG Cargill plant with all those wood pilings in around the outflow...It is also one of the few places on seneca that holds largemouth year round, we've done good pretty there in the summer before...I havent been up to Dresden in a few years, but my buddy hit some huge bass in there on the beds last May, including a 5.5 largie, which is moby dick as far as seneca is concerned...we get a few of these warm days they are callin for an I might have to get the boat out of hibernation tho 8-)

Power Pro for sure...I tried stealth and almost gave up on braid because of it-(frays,breaks,loses color,digs into spool...etc)... but that was a few years ago so maybe its better now

Ike actually fished the entire 2008 stren northern division, and dominated, then finished 8th in the stren championship, and in the in the interveiw after he said he wanted to do it to qualify for the 2009 FLW championship in Pittsburg(which he has qualified for) because it might be closest thing he will ever have to a home championship. Greg Hackney, Takahiro, Tommmy Biffle, and Mark Rose are a few more B.A.S.S guys who have qualified for the 2009 FLW Championship. David Fritts made the switch to FLW full time and has been put the hurt down on those boys all winter. I can only Imagine the devastation that KVD could lay down upon the FLW boys That being said I saw bass covered this all in the new BASSMASTER issue, and they hope that the cuts will help them get through all this bad economy *****...I sure hope so too ...as long as there are two pro circuits, I have twice the chance of making it on one of them 8-)

Ahh...the codfather...anybody who has his hair professionaly styled in a salon before going fishing loses all credability as far as Im concerned

To comment on the payouts, At one time, BASS elites had 11 events and 3 majors compared to the 6 events total for the FLW. Do the math. 6 events to 11 events, almost twice as many tournaments, so even though the payouts where less, they provided more opportunities on the BASS circuits. Add the extra 5 regular season events and you'll see payouts aren't as you suggest. "At one time" Vanilla Ice was popular too... I was more talking about the direction that things seem to be going "right now"...Also dont forget that FLW outdoors sanctions the Stren Series, and the BFL, offering just as much entry level opportunity as BASS...I am a big fan of both organizations and am not trying to knock either one, but the fast growth of the FLW is undisputable P.S- I am not, and would never think of comparing BASS to Vanilla Ice in any shape way or form...even debate has its boundries

I liked the orig. hybrid #10 for skippin docks with a spinning rod because its tough and abrasion resistant, but I dont use it for much else because it has a larger line diameter than comparable lines, and is fairly stiff...I have not tried the ultrasoft tho, so cant speak on that

I think B.A.S.S is definitely falling more to the wayside with the FLW offering much higher payouts down the standings, more help with sponsership, and reaching out to a broader fan base...The one advantage BASS has is that its owned by ESPN, but that is also a disadvantage because they have to compete for airtime with major mainstream sports...I keep close track of both B.A.S.S and FLW events, and alot of the big BASS names have definitely been testing the FLW waters ...I think that if some of the top names in BASS switch over to FLW, the FLW boys will be in for a surprise, because IMO the fishing skill is definitelty higher on the BASS circuit than on the FLW, with a few exceptions of course.

I'm thinking with Academy Sports sponsoring the WBT this year they might(hopefully) start selling stuff online, unless, maybe they only use these lures/prices to get ppl through to visit the stores...but that doesnt do me any good being 600 miles from thier nearest location :-?

I see that a few pros have been throwing these H2O lures lately, and I had to look them up. They look great and at unbelievable prices, but it seems that they are only available through Academy Sports, and they dont do online sales...It seems a shame to offset what seems like a great deal by making it inaccesable to many anglers...Anybody know how else to get these lures???...I am tired of taking out an insurance policy on Luckycraft lures.

My "Fishing pet peave" is when I want to go flip a dock and people are out on it...dont they know that all docks are built for bass fishing???

The baby brushhog is one of my go to "numbers" baits out there, I like to stick it texas rigged on a owner ultrahead hook and drag it with a few little hops every now and then...this is also my #1 bed fishing presentation...I use the baby brushhog all spring until the bass get off the beds then I switch to the regular hog and fish it as a backup when when my jigs arent gettin bit...This has to be one of the best pad fishing baits out there, put it on a 1/8-3/16 owner sledhead and crawl it across the top of the pads and drop it into the holes and just watch the line twitch! 8-)

lol, I just drove over the canal to Seneca in Watkins Glen about 15 min ago an its still frozen to the bridge, but you can launch right in town(Watkins) by the new hotel year round, the warm water outlet from cargill salt is only about 100 yards from each launch and if you hit it right this time of year you can have a field day in there, Im talkin smallies, largemouth, landlocks, everything sits in around that discharge, if you try that out make sure you anchor a long cast away. Toss an BPS enticer smallie jig with a zoom tiny chunk all around the current, and if that fails a jerkbait fished real slow might work. To tell you the truth I havn't had the chance to fish the ice out season as much the last 4 years cuz' Ive been gone off to college, but back when I was in HS we used to sneak in through the cargill plant and throw jerkbaits from shore to get our early season bass fix in, and we could see schools of largemouths just cruisin in the warm current...I launch out of Penn Yann for keuka and that will be frozen for a few weeks I'm thinkin. Theres a chance Branchport is opening up now, but we might need a few warm days first...you go out there now give that hair jig a try. If your out on either of the lakes after the water hits 45-50 get out a Zoom Fat Albert and toss it on flats and run it so it just kicks up dust on the bottom...Man, I might have to get out there real soon myself! 8-)

I have yet to find a bait that I enjoy throwing more than a zoom superfluke for the smallies here in NY, I cant see NH being all that different 8-)...I usually burn a white fluke across the top in clear water, Ill slow down a bit if they are missing it...If your not fishing around cover use a big straight shank hook right up the middle of the bait and leave it exposed, the hookup rate is so much better than when texas rigged.

The Picasso Jared Linter Finesse jig is another good one...its got a big bad*ss hook made to handle hard hooksets too.

When the water hits 45-50 the NY smallies are already thinking about spawning, but on many of the lakes I fish the water might not even get up to 50 till june, and hit a high of 70 in the summer...If you have creeks that smallies spawn up in, the smallies will sit at the tributary mouth over the first real structure until warm rain brings the water temps up then they usually head up the creeks...I target any warm runoff spots on Seneca lake and get some of my best brown bass of the year during this period. Right after ice out when the water 35-45 they are still stacked in wintering spots along bluffs and breaks into deep water and can be hard to catch because they usually suspend...I'll use a Bass Pro Enticer hair jig with a zoom tiny chunk, and try an x-rap as well. I personaly like it best when the water gets to 50 and the smallies really start cruising the flats. The best lure is swimming a green/pumpkin zoom fat albert grub so that it just about kicks up dust along the bottom, sometimes you can get an entire school to chase it to the boat!...my backup lure for this pattern is a craw rat-l-trap. Good luck! 8-)

Thanks everyone...I think I'm going to go with the Falcons 8-)

Use a heavier lure...I have learned to use a jig 99% of the time when skipping with a baitcaster because it doesnt foul up on the hook nearly as much as a soft plastic when skippin...I used to have backlash problems skippin a 1/4oz jig but once I moved to 1/2oz the difference was night and day...I tell you one thing; you start skippin pontoon boats with a 1/2oz jig you either get good or you get shot!!! ...now if only I could skip as good as my 15yr old little brother...dang prodigy's

Glad to help guys...I like to think of myself as a shallow water jig fisherman who grew up in the wrong neighborhood and had to adapt, lol ...I love having all these great smallie lakes around and its allowed me an extensive chance to learn clear water, but man, the winters up here are just killin me, I just cant stay off the water that long (Tennessee might have a new resident soon! )...One other lure that me and my brother started playing around with and started to see surprising success on Keuka last year was a Little George, but that dang little george is a heartbreaker; those fish love to spit him out before they get to the boat 8-)

I heard that Denny Brauer is gonna fish these Ardent reels this year...that would really surprise me because he's been with Team Diawa so long now

Berkley vanish transition and strike king crankbaits

Well I compensate for the no stretch braid hookset problem by using a little softer tip on my rod...Denny Brauer did a seminar up here in NY after he won that Champlain elite 3 years ago and said that he sets the hook as hard as he can every single time, even with braid to ensure that the weight clears the fishes mouth and the big flippin hook digs in...I throw a jig' n pig 99% of the time and a wrist snap set just doesnt cut it ...Anyway I think that big hooksets are one of the main reasons everyone bass fishes!!!

"Demonstrations of domination over a smaller object/fish"

The last 2 bass seasons Ive been throwin 50lb powerpro at docks on stained lakes and 20lb Vanish flouro on clear water lakes. Well I've had a few to many hookset linebreaks with the flouro and linebreaks lead to heartbreaks, and well I'm just too sensative and cant take it anymore ...The later part of last season I went with strictly braid on my dock rods and I didnt really see any noticable drop in bites, so I'm thinking about running braid on docks fulltime this season...Any thoughts on this???...Lighter hooksets are not an option

yea I was gettin a little worried at his pretty calm demeanor in the classic up untill he yanked those two hawgs at the end, it bet those last two bass were scarred for life ...I think that kind of excitment great tho. BTW how does Ike get into many pro level tournaments??? One minute hes in the top ten of a Stren Series in NY, half an hour later hes yanking hawgs in an Elite in Alabama, and on his way to lunch in between he qualifies for the FLW tour event in PA. I swear theres two or three of him