BARON49_Northern NY

The Rage buzzing toad catches big smallmouths when there is a good chop on the water. They actually might be a little too loud in shallow or quiet water, but the Rage 10'' Anaconda is the perfect bait for shallow and quiet bays. While is Florida this year I rigged one of these with a 7/0 Gamakatsu EWG hook, used no weight just a clear bead to keep slop off the bait and to keep the bait on the hook. These things actually look alive with the long "fin" that runs most of the length of the body. Crawled it over grass, slop and pads and let it fall into openings of clear water. Slowly retrived it with one of the most realist actions of any plastic bait I have used in years. The Rage craws and chunks displace a lot of water and actually flutter no matter how slow you move them, unlike many others that have to be move quickly to get any action out of them. I have to say I am impressed with these new Rage products.

For fishing largemouth and smallmouths when the water is cold 55 degrees or less using a pork trailer on a jig does several things. One) it slows the rate of fall, making an easier target for bass, Two) pork is more plyable in cold water and has more action then plastic. Three) the salty brine that is impregnated in pork trailers is supposed to taste somewhat like blood to the bass and makes them hang on longer. Four) pork trailers hold up for ever and rarely need to be changed, in fact the more the bass chew on them the better they become. In the early Spring and late Fall it is rare to see me using a jig without pork on it. Big pork trailers on a jig will not only produce more fish, but bigger ones in the long run. All my biggest bass including a couple over 9 lbs have come on jigs with pork trailers. A trick for easy removal of a pork trailer from a jig is simply hold the jig between you thumb and forefinger on one hand and the pork trailer the same way with your other hand. Twist both and turn them to reverse the way the hook went into the trailer. The pork will pop right off the hook. It is the basically same principle as popping out a hook that impaled someone skin.

Made it down to Toho and the weather was cold and windy. Now that the water is warming fishing is improving. Tried posting some pics but they did not come over from Face book. Anyone know why?

For those who have been wondering what happened to me. I made it to Florida for 6 weeks of fishing. The motel has the wifi system from hell, getting on-line has just not happened unless I take the laptop to the resturant. With luck I hope to have some pictures if I can get back on-line! Baron

X2

I see this a lot with people who fish for panfish around bridges, I have to laugh. ;D

Heading out for Kissimmee/St. Cloud first thing in the AM tomorrow. Hopefully will be back on-line the early part of next week. I have been packing the boat and truck for the past two days, the weather man is saying cold weather, but no blizzards or heavy snows for the first time in the last 5 years. Once I clear the mountains in PA it is clear sailing. Looking forward to a lot of time on the water and hopefully catching some bass. If any of you see a big ole high sided green and tan aluminum PolarKraft with an old silver haired guy beating the water to a froth, come on over and tell me why I am fishing in the wrong place.

St. Croix make a baitcasting drop-shot rod. 6'9'' ML with an extra fast tip.

Could not have said it better myself. I finally settled on an American Rodsmiths Team graphite series instead of their hallmark David Fritts glass rods. I like to feel what the crankbait is doing.

I have seen then like this....after I stepped on the tip while it was laying on the carpet of my deck. Bent one back, the other broke and I simply replaced it.

I agree with this post. I don't bother to put red hooks on my crankbaits any more either, but do still use the ones with the red hooks.

I use Trilene XT for topwater fishing, decent amount of stretch and very abrasion resistant.

I have used braided line for flipping and never added a leader. Just another knot to fail under the stress of a big fish in heavy cover. Sort of defeat the pupose of using braid in the first place.

The St. Croix Avid or Legend? I have 2 of the Legend 7'6'' MH Moderate action rods. They are made for pitching and light flipping, actually closer to a H then a MH. Great rod for pitching into grass and will handle a light to medium weight swimbait too. The Avid 7'6'' MHM is a one piece rod. The Legend 7'6''MHM has a retractable handle like the 8' Legend Flipping stick and the 7'3'' Legend Carolina rig Rods.

BPS has sent me all kinds of cataloges for years. Last year I had several orders get messed up and called to complain. Guess they just don't want my business any more. >

Here in NY we get them every year in the Fall. Ordered my Florida and South Carolina non-resident online and will get my Canadian non-resident after I get back from down south. Fishing licenses cost a bunch these days.

Been wondering if BPS had sent out their new catalogs? I have gotten several from everyone else. None of BPS yet....?

Used their 12-15-17 lb 100% last year for the first time. Was impressed with it on a baitcasting outfit for fishing jigs, worms, and creatures. The memory was tolerable, very senstivie, and good abrasion resitance, especially around zebra mussels. However, after using it for a few weeks it got brittle when tying a knot. Needed to strip off several yards before getting to good line. For the cost you would think it would have some kind of UV protection built into it. For me it was to expensive to respool every few trips out in the Summer time.

Best sevice on rods has been St. Croix. For reels Abu Garcia and Quantum are about the same for great service.

For my Shakey head fishing I use a 6'8'' M Avid spinning rod with an X-fast tip. BPS Pro qualifier 2000 wide spool spinning reel and 10 lb test Fireline. This setup also doubles as my wacky jig rig as well.

Gander Mountain carries them too.

Just goes to prove you are never too old to learn.... ;D

You will find that combo works great with treble hook baits, but will be a little on the light side for the bigger wire hooks used for swimbaits.

Using trial and error I finally settled on 10 lb Fireline as my main drop shot line. The reason is simply it has just enough memory to stay on the spool. I use Power Pro for baitcasting, but it drove me nuts being so limp it fell off the spool of my wide spool spinning reels. I add a small swivel and then use 6 to 10 lb fluoro depending on the conditions I am fishing. Gamakatsu drop shot hooks seem to hold up the best and are super sharp. This is the rig I have used for the past two years and my catch rate on Smallies from 15 to 50 feet deep has been excellent. I can feel the bait no matter how rough it gets out on Lake Ontario. Plus I catch the occasional Walleye using this rig as well.

Two other lures that I have had a good deal of success with have been lipless crankbaits and jerkbaits. Great cold water baits.