D4u2s0t

absolutely, i go for trout regularly and don't use fly gear. You can use live bait, worms are great with a very small hook. Or you can use small spinners, mepps and panther martins are awesome. you can pick up a few panther martins at any walmart or any store that has fishing supplies, they're cheap.

I don't like to use any less than 10lb in any kind of cover, and casting gear will be better suited. I learned the hard way using 8lb line and watching my bait fly 100 yards out after the line popped mid cast. you're not going to pull anything out of cover on 2lb test unless your targeting small panfish.

i'm looking at 12-16, which means i'll probably have more like 20 or so.

I had a pickerel last week, thought for sure it was a monster... When i got to the tipup, it was 3 cranks from coming totally unspooled... pulled in about 40 yards of line, cut 4 of my fingers nicely, fought like crazy. That was the only fish I caught through the ice that I had to let it pull because I just couldn't get it out... ended up being like a 3 lb pickerel, fiesty as all hell though. can't even imagine what this fish was like.

Where in north jersey do you live? I'm in highland lakes, the snow in my backyard right now is about to my knee lol. Been a brutal winter this year.

I just deal with people that have high feedbacks, and top seller ratings. These people are actually running a business, not just some random person selling stuff. If you're safe about it, buying from ebay is not much different than buying from any other online store. The top guys have the same quality service, usually with less hassle.

I pull in fatties through the ice, fun stuff. But I can't wait for the ice to thaw and actually make that first cast, I'm SO looking forward to it.

yea, this has been a brutal winter in my parts and i've had enough lol

you can put beer in the cooler so it DOESN'T freeze lol

yea, we're in some trouble... my area of north jersey has seen about 4 feet so far this year. we're on top of a mountain and get significantly more snow than surrounding towns... to give you an idea, the snow in my backyard right now is up to my knees. a 10-15 minute drive from my house and you can see people's lawns.

I usually use either a 2/0 or a 3/0 ewg hook. One of my faves for wacky rigging is a 3/0 ewg hook with 1/8oz keel weight. Will get you a little better casting distance, is light enough to not mess up the action, but the best part is that the bait ALWAYS falls with the hook upright. Meaning significantly less chance to hang up on the bottom, and makes it easier to throw around stumps and other cover without hanging up.

here's my thoughts on it... sometimes you don't want a fish to get a good look at your bait. That being said, just because a fish can see a bait, doesn't mean it's going to eat it. If that was the case, we would simply throw flashlights with a hook on them. Majority of what fish eats blend in well with the surroundings, they don't stand out like a sore thumb. Many times, you're not getting a hunger strike, you're getting a reaction strike or a "get out of my space" strike. I don't know the science behind it, but everyone has seen a fish come to their bait, take a look, and swim away. Certain baits are designed more to aggravate a bass to the point where they eat a bait to shut it up, and look nothing even close to what a fish would typically eat. Look at some of the baits that we are succesful with that look like nothing you would ever see in the water. I think the discussion should be about "does seeing a bait better create more strikes". my answer would be sometimes yes, sometimes no. In terms of how that fish above is seen, i'd like to know if the plants and other things in the water give off uv light as well. I can't imagine after millions of years of adaptation in nature fish are totally contrasted by the environments they live in. That goes against everything that nature tells us about how animals survive in the wild.

This guy caught a 26lb muskie while fishing through the ice for perch in Lake Hopatcong NJ. Phenomenal fish, can't imagine how excited he was. http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20100222/UPDATES01/100222104/Man-pulls-monster-musky-from-Lake-Hopatcong

you said you want to narrow it down to 3 minutes, that's not that clear at all. that's why I asked specific questions, so I can help along the way. sorry for trying to offer some help (i edit full time for a living)

the vast majority of people will never notice a difference in spark plugs, until you get into a highly modified car.

asking how to edit is kinda like someone coming on here and asking "how do I fish" lol. Are you looking for a free program, do you want to spend money, if so how much? Do you just want to post the video online, do you want to make a dvd? Is quality important? are you looking to make a nice video, or just something basic to stick online?

congrats on your fish!! The first of the year is always great. p.s. get a scale, you will be humbled lol

I don't think i've ever had a line break as a result of a weight... and I use very cheap weights that I get from the local shop. They're about 1.39 for 10 1/4 oz weights. That being said, if I need to throw a 1/4 oz weight, i'm not using 6# line. What kind of line do you use, what size weight, and what strength line?

me too! Even though they came in late last season, and I haven't really had too much time to use the rooster, I already know it's going to be one of my most used baits in '10.

exactly what I was getting to with my above post... in a sport that is not exactly attracting tons of fans, every little bit of popularity helps... Ask a bunch of new fans who their fave pro is, bet ike gets the votes. Why? because not only is he a great angler, but he's also a ton of fun to watch.

but then again, he is one of the most popular anglers because of what he does, and majority of the people who know the name iaconelli know it because of his "antics" on the water. I'd be willing to wager that in the non-fishing crowd, he would be one of the more recognizable names on a list of the top anglers. I'd also be willing to wager that if you showed a non-angler vidoes of each of the 51 pros in the tournmament, and asked the non-angler who'd they'd want to spend a day on the water with, ike would be right at the top. As far as people saying serious fisherman exclusively use baitcasters, you've been around long enough to know that anyone that says that isn't worth the argument.

KVD takes it with 51.6!!! 19.7 bag!!

coming down to kriet and kvd, and kvd needs a nice bag to pull it off! he needs about 15, and he's up next

right now matt herren is on top with 35.13 A few of the guys were around that mark after day 2, earlier one of the guys said that we're going to be really surprised by a few big bags, so time will tell

exactly what I would have said... Last year I did a test, I would go out, keep track of my results, go home, and THEN check the reports to see how accurate they were. For testing purposes, I didn't want to have a different attitude because I "knew" between 1-3pm would be the best bite, or because 3-5 would be terrible. Sometimes they were spot on, sometimes they were totally wrong.