Marty

Not a floater and perhaps not considered a worm, but Fluke-type baits can be used as walk-the-dog lures. I've used this technique and caught bass.

Very nice, but not what I was expecting. I thought you were talking about the bird; I didn't know about the fish. But like I said, nice video.

Senkos, Zara Spooks and others. These lure types are often referred to as cigar lures. Sorry, couldn't resist being a wise guy.

Ditto. By the way, the pros often get skunked on tournament days, so to all you guys who have a lure that always catches fish regardless of conditions, I'd quit your day job and join a tour. To have a lure that always catches fish means you can always locate willing fish, which is downright amazing.

There are so many good brands of crankbaits that it can be hard to decide what to buy. I've whittled my crank selection down to two 3600 boxes and don't have more than two colors of a given lure. I do have a hodgepodge of brands that includes with and without rattles, narrow wobbling and wide wobbling and depths that cover super shallow to about 15'.

Sad to say, but both a friend and I have experienced a huge decline in fishing at all of the ponds there in the last few years. Like so many other things, it's a huge mystery as to what happened. I have to disagree with Max about smallies in 100-Acre Pond. I suppose there could be an accidental one but I've never seen one in fishing there on and off for 40 Years. Besides, being a shallow (no more than 8-10'), weedy pond doesn't square with smallmouth habitat. Interesting how this topic was resurrected 16 months after it was started.

I think scents do indeed make their way onto lures and that fish do have a good sense of smell. However, we don't know what scents might repel the fish. In his book, Knowing Bass, Dr. Keith Jones states that the most repulsive odor to bass is DEET and that gas and oil are NOT noticeably repulsive, as is commonly believed. Some other repulsive odors are some ingredients in detergents and sunscreen. Nicotine is believed to be a negative, although not proven and caffeine also is believed to offend.

I'm sure it would be good advice to start off your fishing that way, but there are so many exceptions to the rules that you shouldn't stick stubbornly with something that isn't working. Instead, switch to something that goes against conventional wisdom. I don't know who said it, but there's a well-known quote, "No generalization is worth a d---, including this one."

I'm not familiar with the lure, but I have little doubt that some bass would take it. After all, when you have fish like the one below taking stuff almost as big as them, I'm sure decent sized bass would take a 6" lure.

Following up with a soft plastic after a missed topwater strike (also called a boil) is a widespread technique. I highly recommend it, although it works for me less than I wish it would. I'm not sure how big a difference which plastic it is makes. Sometimes they'll also try again for the same or different topwater bait and also a follow-up with a non-plastic, such as crankbait or spinnerbait. One time a fish boiled three times and nothing I did got it to hit again. I went back to the same spot an hour or so later and got it on the first or second cast with the same Jitterbug that it boiled on the first time.

I use a trailer hook all the time. Most fish are hooked by the main hook, but there are just enough on the trailer only that I need to use one if for no other reason than confidence.

I live just a couple of minutes from Locks 32 and 33 and used to fish them extensively, right at the spillway overflow. During the 90s the fishing was great for bass, walleye and pike and I used to go multiple times per day. Almost all my fishing was done with crankbaits with the rest using grubs on jigheads. Those locks were very good to me for eight straight years. Then the fishing dropped off considerably in 2000 and never got back to anything decent. I just don't go anymore for the last few years. Why the fishing tailed off for no apparent reason is one of the great mysteries in my 40+ years of fishing.

I'm well north of you, but in early fall I use the usual variety. I don't see where anything needs to be ruled out. That could change as fall progresses and the water cools significantly.

Buzzbaits are good for covering a lot of water and using in some moderate weeds where treble hooks can't be used. One advantage of a popper is that by popping it, but for short distances, you can keep it in a relatively small area (like where you think a fish is ) for a longer period of time. With buzzers I'm not overly concerned with color or brand, although I do use one particular brand and style from force of habit because I've used them for a long time.

Calculators can be unreliable. But it depends on how badly you want to know the actual weight. For the most part, I'm satisfied knowing the length of most fish. My general guideline is to weigh it if I think it may go 4#. Whatever scale you use, test it by weighing things that have already been weighed on certified scales at your supermarket so you know what you're dealing with. For what it's worth (probably -0-), I've never measured the girth of a fish.

I think you need to decide what you want as far as size and power. Don't buy something new that's smaller than you want just for the sake of getting something new. When you decide what you want, if you don't want to pay the price for a new one, then look for a quality used rig.

Yep, that's what I'm sayin'!! Maybe with an 8' rod, 4# line and 3/4 oz. lure.

Don't know a thing about New England, but waters with a lot of weeds can also offer cranking opportunities. I was just at such a place yesterday.

I use a gripper to hold the fish's jaws and put the scale hook in a hole in the gripper. A friend carefully puts the hook into the opening to the gill covers, which is not recommended. You could put the fish into a wet plastic grocery bag that has handles or use some other container that's suitable.

I used enough backing such that there's room for 50-60 yards of braid. I tie a uni-to-uni know to connect them, but sometimes I wonder if it matters, because I never get down that far while bass fishing.

Nice memories. I love it when there's a carp on the end of my line.

Didn't you also post this in the Northeast sub-forum? At any rate, I replied there.

Right now I would not add anything because you feel overwhelmed. You have a pretty good assortment of lure types which will cover numerous situations. I think what you probably need is more time on the water to help you sort things out. By the way, those lures you've had no luck with are all excellent fish producers; you just haven't been fishing them in the right place at the right time. Good luck at Chautauqua. Never been there but have heard that it's a good fishery. Let us know how you made out.

Probably best to do some reading and the beginner's section here might be a good place to start. http://www.bassresource.com/how-to-fish/ I'm in Rochester too and have spent countless hours fishing the canal, but not recently.

I don't think I'd draw any conclusions about buzzbaits and 10" worms based on one outing. I also wouldn't rule out any types of lures. As always, it's trial and error because you can't predict what the fish will do on any given day. If you establish that the fish are willing to hit fast-moving lures, then probably spinnerbaits, crankbaits and maybe topwaters will work. Otherwise you can crawl plastics or jigs along the bottom or use lift and drop. But the key is to keep doing different things in different locations until and if you find out what works on that day.