BARON49_Northern NY

I see it is not talked about much, but one of the things I have found for pond fishing that works great and is a lot of fun is fishing frogs. Try a floating version like the Snagproof Tournament Frog or a buzzing frog like a Ribbit or Horny toad. You might find this is a whole new world of bass fishing and very additive. I suggest you use braided line and a long 7' MH rod for these baits. You can throw them into places you would not even think of with your other lures.

Maybe the KISS method works and if I actually thought about it more it probably does. However, it is people who like to tinker, try, and mess with new ideas that keep fishing from getting too boring. I mean if you went out each time with the same jig or worm to the same holes and caught the same fish all the time what fun would that be? After many years fishing on several Bass tournament circuits I finally retired and now find checking out new lures, lines, tackle, etc a lot of fun. I fish waters from NY to Florida every year and find that fishing the same old thing does not always work. Personally I find it challenging to find and catch fish when others are not. Especially going behind other fishermen and catching the ones they missed. Call me warped.....

Something else I use for scounting lakes that works quite well is the new Naviontics Hotmaps DVD. You get updates for new lakes all the time and it has a feature where you can use Google Earth right along with the Hotmaps. With this feature you can see from a satilite view what is actually there and make and save waypoints you can add to your Lowrance. I have used it for a year now and find it works great.

In all my years of fishing never heard of this before....care to start a new thread and expand on this?

They talk about the SX, STX, and the Premier in the article. However they only have one option to buy. Strange way of doing business, a picture of a Premier and the price of a Revo S. I would be doing business elsewhere as you can find the Revo S for less then that.

Around here we have close to 6 months of snow so storing things for the winter gets to be a habit around Halloween time. After cleaning and putting a little bit of Pledge on my rods I store them in Plano rod tubes and stand them up in my fishing closet in the garage minus the reels. The reels get stored separatly in a box lined with newpaper after doing a full cleaning and oiling. During the Summer time I have put some 1x1 wooden strips across the rafters in my garage over where I keep the boat. I can keep a dozen or more rods with reels that I am not using there and can swap out what a need easily for an up coming fishing trip.

I have two of the Legends 7'6'' MH Moderate Fast action rods from St. Croix. They are marked "Pitching" tried several reels and the best match up was a Revo. They are very sensitive, are closer to a H then a MH IMO. However, I feel they are too tip heavy to use for an extended period of time. Was about to sell mine off when I tried them for some of the swimbaits and found they work great for all kinds of cranking! If you want a great stick for pitching jigs look at the St. Croix Legends 7'3'' "Carolina Rig rod. Perfectly balanced, fast tip and just a great over all rod. I like them for throwing buzz frogs too.

X2 I think this sums it up quite well. I have had many issues with Stealth line, but Power Pro have worked well for me now for years.

I have used both the Palomar and the double improved clinch knot for fluoro with equal success. In the heavier lines I give a nod to the Palomar. Checked out the webpage of knots and the knot shown is very simular to the double improved clinch knot.

I have to agree here as well. With hard baits costing so much it is foolish to skimp on the cost of the only direct connection you have to those expensive lures.....let alone the chance of having the fish of a lifetime on. For the record I use only Power Pro braid when using braided line.

Did a search and this is the reel I am using as well....E640PT

Bassbandit, Sorry to hear you got banned. This is the first I have heard anything about it. To answer your question on the Quantum reel. Mine is so old the acid in my hands has worn off the decals and a lot of the finish. It is an Energy PT and has the 4.4 ratio. If I could find another one I would grab it. Been a great working reel too bad Quantum cannot come up with as good a finish on them.

I very rarely use a leader and normally direct tie. One thing I experimented with this past year is using fluoro when fishing around a lot of zebra mussels. To my surprise the 15 to 17 lb fluoro held up longer and better then braid in the 30 to 50 lb range when fishing worms and jigs. I may need to rethink using a leader, but only in this situation with zebra mussels. I fish crytal clear waters here in NY as well as down in Florida and have not seen a lot of diffence in fish catching using braid direct tied.

I have been fishing the King Shad since they first came out and have not found another single hard bait that produces as many or as big Smallmouth and Largemouth bass as well as huge pike and pickeral. I have tried several other hard swimbaits and they have not come close to the King Shad. The King Shads are sold by Strike King, but are actually from the ABT company run by Allen Borden. The bad news with these baits is the hinge used to be made of plastic only and was prone to breaking. All the new baits produced since the latter part of 2008 have a steel pin embedded in the plastic hinge. I have not broken one of the new baits.

Mend it gets my vote. It is hands down the best soft bait fix I have ever used. Not a glue but causes a chemical process that actually melts the tears back together in just about any plastic I have used from swimbaits to soft stick baits. I did find "lubricating" the soft plastic baits with a thick paste type scent like Mega Strike helped with fishing the bait thru grass, pads, and cover. Plus I feel I can get a better hook set. Might be just a personal thing but it works for me.

I use the spring lock for the 1/8 oz football heads when using a thick worm like a Berkley Shaky Power worm. However, I started with and for the most part still prefer the short shank 1/16 oz, 1/8 oz and 1/4 oz round ball heads for most of my Shaky head fishing. When I started using this technique we called it a jig worm? Guess I am getting a bit older....

I have tried several different brands and found the Booyah Boogie bait to work the best in my situations around thick weeds. I cast these out let them fall to the depth I want to fish and slow-roll them back to the boat. Went to braided line and you can tell when a weed has fouled the blade instantly. A quick snap of the rod clears the bait and a lot of time provokes a strike. Don't be afraid to try fishing these baits from buzzing on top to jigging on the bottom. Very hard to fish these baits wrong. Using different plastic trailers works well too. A personal favorite when working around deep lily pads and reeds is to use a Swim Senko for the trailer and just slow roll the bait. Using a Super Fluke, double tail grub, ribbon tail worm are just a few examples of ideas to try. I fish these baits all year long and for the most part use these over a spinner bait most of the time.

Some of the Bagley's Balsa don't have rattles

Time warner cable here in my area put the Outdoor channel into a pay package with a bunch of other stuff I have no interest in. ESPN2 and V/S are all we have around here on regular TV.

Fishing satisfies my love of the outdoors, my tinkering skills, boat driving abilities, and I can have just as much fun by myself as a do taking a friend. Gave up hunting some years ago as I can't eat all I can shoot. Catch and Release feels good knowing some one else can get the same enjoyment out of a lunker I did. As I am getting older I am finding teaching someone who has the desire to learn about fishing to be the best part, it ranks right up there with catching a personal best.

Yes, you have confirmed what I was told by several other people about the tails coming off. Todate the only hard swimbaits that have held up well for me have been the Sebiles and the big jointed Rapalas. I catch more on the KingShads, but have broken a lot of them. Was hoping to hear these 4" Tru Tunsten baits were made tough. Sooner or later someone who has some expericence with them will chime in. Thanks for the info.

Thank you for the reply. Glad to see someone else is actually interested in getting some information. Personally I have been working with swimbaits hard and soft for several years. Most of the hard baits have produced the best, but as mentioned in another thread they do not hold up well. Was hoping someone actually KNEW something about these Tru Tunsten 4" baits and could enlighten all of us about them. This is off topic, but how have the Spro swimbaits held up and how well do they track?

All good information about replacing the tip not much more I can add here other then make sure the tip is the correct size for the blank you are putting it on.

I still have an old Quantum 3.8 Crankin' reel from back in the 80's. Other then it has brass shims and needs oil about once an hour. Was a great reel for the big DB3 Dredges. Also bought a Quantum Energy PT 4.4 when they first came out and still use it to this day for DD22's

The fabric softener sheets work for almost every animal but mice. Moth balls have always worked and worked well for those little critters. While in Florida I had problems with cats getting into the boat under the cover. The moth balls did'n't bother the cats one bit, but the fabric softenr sheets booted them the first time I tired them.