Delaware Valley Tackle

I voted jig due to versatility, just for the sake of the discussion. In reality I think each has it's time and place. As for dinks, I've caught my biggest of the year on a weightless 4" senko and my smallest on a crankbait that, if it were real, could have eaten the fish!

I don't recall where I got them but I had some stick-on weights that looked like a small round dot. They could be added to make a floater suspend or fine tune a suspending lure for neutral buoyancy. Anyone else ever use these?

A few years back, while fishing a Derby on Champlain, a couple a@$holes cut us off at the boat ramp at 5am. The next morning we went to a different launch where the same fools raced to the ramp. Only this time, they forgot to put the plug in and swamped there nice expensive rig. Now "That's funny right 'der".

Someone has a You-Tube video on how to make that tool. I'll post it if I can find it again. It works really slick.

On two separate occasions recently, I have caught bass right up against the bank under the moss in 6" of water. Granted, there were other favorable conditions, over hanging trees, shade, deeper water nearby (within 10-15 feet).

Weight and retrieve will both affect depth, as will the time you wait to start your retrieve after the bait hits the water. A lot of times the strike will come on the initial fall, so you can slow the rate of fall based on what the fish are telling you they want. Wind and current will also require a heavier jig to stay on the bottom. One way to get a feel for different weights and retrieves is to cast into a pool or some calm clear water and watch how the bait reacts.

I'll share most but not all if it's a give and take conversation. I tend to talk more about tactics or patterns that are working than to send people to exact spots. I'm not too worried about mentioning bodies of water except for the small ponds and backwater spots that I put a lot of work into on my own. I also make exceptions for the kids. If you can make a kids day with a few minutes of your time and less than a bucks worth of tackle, it's well worth it.

Best smallie was a 4lb 11oz on Champlain a few years ago fishing the annual derby Father;s Day weekend. Came on a 3" twist tail grub in motor oil color on a round head jig dragged on bottom. Missed a prize by 1oz!

Live craws and hellgies if you mind getting pinched once in awhile.

When I hear someone advocating promoting the sport, I take it in the context of keeping the next generation involved. As an example, the number of active hunters is dwindling, making the ones left a less powerful group to fight the antis and lower revenues from licenses and excise tax to fund government support of the sport. Fishing's not quite in the same boat (no pun intended) but we don't want it to be.

When I drove truck the pounding gave me chronic back pain. Like others suggest, make sure your core muscles are strong (and flexible). I used to wear one of the elastic support belts. They wont weaken you like a brace can, but they force you into good posture. The other thing you might want to consider is a visit to a chiropractor. Good luck.

I've been throwing a weightless senko with a spinning rod with good success. They're dense and compact enough that you can throw them a mile and control depth with retrieve speed. Push the head up over the eye and knot like bigtimfish said.

The weather's been keeping the Delaware high and muddy for a week or two. Does anyone have suggestions for these conditions? I was thinking some dark jigs and Colorado blade spinner-baits in the flooded cover.

RW, I got completely swept up in that old post. Nice!

Don't you think to catch fish you need to: 1. Find the fish 2. Choose a bait 3. Present the bait properly to initiate strikes in that order? Each step has multiple options making many combinations that will get strikes. Obviously in a tournament setting time is of the essence and you don't have all day to experiment. You play the averages based on your experience under similar conditions.

I Googled "Aquatic plant identification" and got this: http://aquaplant.tamu.edu/database/. Hope it helps. ML

Zel or anyone, Can Aeroflex be fished from the banks or is that a waste of time there? Thanks

I'm not technically a Jersey Guy, I live across the river in Milford, PA. But anyway, I've been having great luck fishing shallow, pitching worms, Senkos mostly, from the banks. My catch rate is at 2.75/hr with some nice ones. 4 over 3lbs and one 5.75 lbs. Anyone else catching good ones shallow?

Is there a material that can be used to fill-in a gouge in an EVA grip? Any other suggestion short of stripping and replacing handles? Thanks.

It's probably extra hard on a small fish but you'll know when you've caught your first smallie by the vertical bars and less prominent lateral line. Also check the mouth when closed extends beyond the eye on a large mouth. You'll also think you've hooked a bigger fish when you feel the smallie fight! Keep at it you'll smallies when you find'em.

I'm in north-west NJ an PA and the bass and pickerel share the lakes here too. My experience has been that the pickerel like moving presentations and will leave finesse presentations alone. Wacky rig, drop shot rigs and jigs tossed at cover are some choices that have been working for me. Also look deeper as others have said. Good luck.

I'm just getting on the braid bandwagon myself so I can't speak tp brand preference. I posted a question a few days ago regarding whether or not to use a flouro leader with braid and got lots of replies but no real concensus. Check it out.

Hey basser89 thanks for the link. Hopefully I can return the favor!

I have a friend's baitcast reel to look into. It's marked CX200 by Quantum. I can't find a schematic and Quantum doesn't seem to be able to help. Has anyone ever seen one of these or possibly know if it might have been made by someone else and rebranded? I'm pretty sure it's what many would call a throw away but it does work. We just want to clean it up and I don't like to take anything apart without a reference in case something goes wrong. We've all heard of "Murphy's Law" and I suspect Murphy was a fisherman. Thanks.

c17Lat, The south part of the lake around Whitehall and Ticonderoga NY has good weedbeds. There's also a a weedy bay that runs along the interstate south of St Albans on the VT side. Can't give you anymore detail I haven't been up there for a while.