NateFollmer

Never used the Gambler hook but the Tru Tungsten hook is my pick anyway. I always have had trouble rigging a frog with a dual hook, but after you do it a lot, it will become second nature to you. The tru tungsten hook does a good job of keeping the frog (or other topwater soft plastics) from flipping. Buy some cheapo frogs and practice rigging with them. I push the eye of the hook up through the head and just skin hook the frog in the upper butt region haha. Depends on what frog you are using though, that doesn't work on all model frogs.

How is that possible in Erie? There's two types of Smallies in Erie, Eggs and Monsters. Smallie's eggs in Erie are the size of chicken eggs and as soon as the fish emerge from the eggs they are 20 inches long.... Ok so I'm lying, but I still don't think it's possible to catch a small fish in Erie

How lightweight are we talking? Personally, I would use a spinning set up for anything 'lightweight'.

Medium vs. Medium Heavy is the action of the rod. I usually use a Medium because I'm using braid about 90% of the time. The lighter action is good because the braid has no stretch. It puts a little more, 'give' in the whole set up. I would only use Medium Heavy for throwing really big lures like hard swimbaits or hefty jigs.

I would even argue braid is a must to learn how to use a baitcaster. If you throw mono, flouro, or copolymer during your learning phase, you'll spend more time cutting line off than you will be learning to cast. Braid is simple to clear when it backlashes. I throw 20lb. Spiderwire braid almost all the time, it has just enough 'teeth' to keep itself from slipping on the reel, yet it's still pretty smooth. As far as the actual rod and reel goes, I'd go with the Daiwa or the BPS. You didn't list it but the Quantum Bill Dance combo is my pick I learned on it and am still using them today.

I like Luck E Strike 4" curly tail worms and there Ring worms too. I guess I'm just a cheap guy, but they work so I don't feel the need to 'upgrade'

Meh, they say it's going to storm here in PA about every day and it usually doesn't. As long as there is no lightning, I'd go fishing. My favorite time to fish is right before it starts raining and if your lucky, right after (if there is a fog or mist coming off the water). If it's a cold rain, downsize and slowdown.

Lurecraft, Bears Baits and Del Mart Molds are all very helpful sites/people. I have been throwing around making my own soft plastics for years, but never want to spend the money. If I were you, id just buy the plastic compound and not re-melt plastics. You can do that, but if you read on tackle underground, it can get hairy and toxic. You can heat up the compound in the microwave even so no need to mess with the stove.

Do you have more success pegging your weight? I never saw the sense in it, I figure if your going to peg your weight, just use a jig? Maybe I'm just an idiot though

Good, there is no reason they needed that many fish! I don't care if they thought they could take their "week" limit (its called daily limit for a reason), 5 people do not need that many fish. I find it funny that can't buy a license in 34 states anymore either, especially in their home states...HA

The only bigger prop style bait I'll throw is the "Crippled Killer". The big one in black is awesome, I think it doesn't get spotted as fake because it has props on the front and back. This probably makes more turbulence, thus making the bait harder to see. Anyway, Tiny Torpedo's are the perfect size for smallies so I'll stick with them!

I used to think color didn't matter, but then I watched Dave Mercer use a Rapala with 1 red hook and 1 regular hook. The fish hit the red hook just about every time. Honestly, I'll use whatever hook I have, but I think the red does have some effect on fish. Maybe they are like bulls and it makes them mad I like buying those Luck 'E' Strike worm boxes that come with hooks that are the same color as the worms, blue hooks just look neat HA

It's imperative that the tube makes bottom contact. Texas rig that baby and it will dart around wildly in the water. I catch a ton of smallies and largemouth on tubes. My favorite colors are from El Grande Lures (there Bluegill pattern works great for largemouth and I use the watermelon copper for smallies). Some people use tubes like swimbaits also, but I haven't had much luck doing this.

I hooked two minnows when I was using a Rapala Slashbait. I was surprised that I matched the hatch so well because they were the exact same size, color and shape as the lure I had on. I've never hooked 2 bass at once though

Just a reminder to let everyone know June 6th is fish for free day in Pa. This may be a good time to take someone out fishing or for some of you out of state people to come fish here. http://fishandboat.com/promo/fff/fffindex.htm

Make sure you tie that leader on with a good knot. I went through a few knots that completely blew. The Alberto knot works best for me and I find it easy to tie with braid (its a PAIN tying stiff line to stiff line with it though, but I only do that with my fly rod when I do leader to tippet). http://www.stripersonline.com/Pages/Articles/article_arby_albertos_knot.shtml

Out of all the rods and reels I have tried, I liked Quantum the most. Have a used Abu Garcia yet? Nope, so they may be better, but at my current position, Quantum's are working for me, so I'll keep buying them. I also like Diawa's products but felt that Quantum was a little better fit for me... I wouldn't say I'm 100% totally loyal, because if something completely awesome comes along, I'd buy it...but it hasn't happened yet.

Have you tried Inhibitor VCI Chips? They seem to work for me. I place them in my box or containers and change them every 6 months. http://www.gamaliel.com/cart/product.php?productid=6159

At least twice a week. Some weeks I sneak in 4 to 5 days, whether it be bass or trout fishing... I do a lot more bass fishing though, i'd say 1 in 5 trips is trout.

Yeah the place I work at rigged up their TV system. It's a really nice place! I didn't realize there were so many of you from the same area as me haha. It's good to see I'm not alone

I'd still go up though. That new lodge/hotel thing (whatever it is) is almost finished and it looks NICE. I may even stay in it just because it looks that good (it's only a 30 minute drive to Sayer's for me) haha. I hate when they drain the lake because a bunch of people just sit on the little pockets of fish and rip them out (no fun at all!). I think it's really starting to effect the fishing!

http://www.cabelas.com/p-0066932124203a.shtml I love the Diawa Crossfire combo from Cabelas. I use it mainly for trout, but it gets in the river sometimes too.

Some fluorocarbons are too stiff to be used effectively on spinning rigs. I would use braid on a spinner and then use a flouro leader. You could get away with a leader anywhere from 3 to 8 ft. long, so you wouldn't even have to get the leader back into the spool making it easy to cast. Personally, I use 20 lb. braid and 12 lb. flouro leaders for general fishing. If I get into was real slop, I'll go with 50 lb. braid and a 20lb. leader.

People are "afraid" to put kayaks or canoes in Raystown simply because they go to Seven Points and see all the freakin' house boats and speed boats. If you want to put a small vessel in (which I use a rowboat with a small outboard so I'm a small vessel also ). Put in at Snyder's Run (which is the most northern point on my attached map). Basically, just stay away from Seven Points and you'll be fine. If you need to go past it, stay on the south side of the lake and hug the shoreline. When I put canoes in Raystown, I just stay in the no wake zones and I'm fine (most of the good fishing is in no wake zones also).

Raystown has AWESOME camp sites. There are tons of them around the lake. I love the lake because there are no homes around it, so it's all forest and cliffsides. I'll share some good starting points for bass. Just enter the Lat. and Long. points in google maps or earth to get a better view of the area. These aren't dead on, but they should at least get you started. I selected these from memory and didn't set these while on the water. Most of the good areas are closer to the dam, but there is a lot of the upper area I haven't gotten to yet. Good hunting!