Marty

I think that means the spool is sitting too high. On the shaft there should be a few washers. Removing one or two will lower the spool and may possibly get you more even spooling. But maybe someone who knows more about it than me can clarify. As to loose line, you can fill the spool under some tension by running the line between some fingertips as you retrieve. Or you can hit some water, let out the line and retrieve a lure such as a crankbait that offers some resistance to get the desired tension.

Southern New York can cover a few hundred miles from east to west. I'd try Googling house rentals and include in your search term the lake or county name.

I have used small Kastmaster spoons in the past, but in the last few years I've been using small crankbaits, such as a very small Countdown Rapala or Mini Fat Rap. But I do believe that if there are willing bluegills in the area, they'll be willing to hit virtually any appropriately sized artificial. They are indeed great fighters on an ounce-for-ounce basis.

Yeah right, and the moon is made of green cheese. ;D

Fishing's pretty unpredictable, so you'd better go both days to find out, otherwise you'll never know.

I responded to this on another forum.

Lures do not have to be imitative to be effective, they have to appeal to the bass' senses. I've never seen a color, soft plastics or other lures, that don't catch fish. Additionally, many people, including me, don't think color is high on the list of factors that fish consider in striking a lure.

That's the smart thing. Bass break the rules too often to stay home because conditions aren't the best per the book.

I never liked weighing them by the gill area. Rather, I would put the scale hook through the jaw, immediately next to the hard outer lip so that lip supports the fish's weight. But for the last two years I've used this inexpensive item from Cabela's, inserting the scale hook through a hole in the handle.

These fish are apparently well-fed and I don't think you need realism, you need something to anger those fish or arouse their curiosity or otherwise appeal to their senses. I'd try a full assortment of lures, retrieving them erratically and try to get them to react.

To each his own. I have no quarrel with what anyone does, but I'm curious about the advantages that this provides.

I rig weightless with a 4/0 extra-wide gap hook. Jerk-pause is good, as mentioned above. After the jerk, leave a little slack in the line, which is what allows the bait to dart erratically. Also use in vegetation, such as lily pads, retrieving them over, around and through the weeds, letting them sink into holes and at the edges. My strikes are generally detected by seeing the line move to the side before feeling anything, so be a line watcher. There are numerous ways to fish them. One way that I like in weedy water is to walk the dog on the surface.

I have 15# Power Pro on three Daiwa 2500-size reels. I use enough backing so that I just put on ~50 yards of the braid.

The lighter and super glue would both work. You can also use a candle in a base, that way both hands are free.

Could be none of those possibilities. All we know for sure is that they weren't willing to hit it as a topwater, but were interested in a subsurface presentation. I buy into the theory that a bait doesn't need to look or act natural (natural is a people concept, not a fish's), but it does need to appeal to the bass's senses and stimulate it to strike.

I can't argue with any of the lure advice given, but I also know that any lure that works in big water, from boat or shore, will work in small ponds. I've seen plenty of large bass in small ponds and I don't worry about the size of the water. I choose (not that I'm particularly good at it) any lure that I think would be appropriate for the conditions.

I've been using size #1 duolock snaps for years and have full confidence in them.

I don't know about the more expensive lure catching more fish. All I know for sure is that crankbaits in the $4-7 range catch countless millions of fish. I've been using cranks for 39 years and never owned one that cost more than $7. My gut feeling is that we can't buy our way to more fish, but who knows for sure, these things are almost impossible to prove. My opinion is that the Speed Trap is a good lure and I'd venture a guess that yours hasn't been in the right place at the right time.

Clever, but I'll pass, I can't match that creativity.

There 's no such thing as "luck", nothing happens by chance, it 's a chain of events what makes the fish bite. Bass and almost any other predatory fish are somewhat predictable, it 's up to you to select the bait ( which is nothing more than a tool ) and knowing where, when and how to present it. Better good than lucky. Raul, I disagree 100%, I think fishing is the most luck-intensive sport there is, at least of those that come to mind. I could quickly provide at least a dozen examples, but I don't want to go there right now. Suffice it to say that beginners catch fish and without skills, there is no explanation for their catch other than luck. Or, as Dr. Jones, author of Knowing Bass, says, he can and does on occasion outfish pros with vastly superior skills. He sees no possible explanation other than luck and I'm in full agreement. To be blunt, I think people who think there is no luck in fishing are just deluding themselves and overstating their skills. Certainly, over longer periods of time, those with more skills will prevail, but in the short term luck can be a huge factor, with the shorter the term, the bigger the potential for luck affecting things.

I agree with Popeye, pike will readily hit any bait in your tackle box, so there's little doubt that it would work if it's fished in the vicinity of pike.

Is Power Pro one of the braids you tried? If so, what are the differences between it and the Sufix?

I wouldn't count on that method. Air can warm and cool much faster than water. Plus water warms and cools at different rates depending on such factors as depth. I don't know what one of those is and I don't know what pool and aquarium thermometers look like either. I've been using a so-called "stream thermometer" for years, available for about $10.

My experience is just about any lure in 50-60, with the possible exception of topwaters, and any lure when it's 60+.

That's a much more likely scenario than people not wanting to help.