IwillChooseFreeWill

The only thing I have caught that has given me any longer than usual battles has been SMB.. otherwise I have never had a problem fighting or dealing with LMB or the coldwater fishies... I have pulled up several 20 to 24" northern pike in the heat of the summer and they never fought nearly as hard as any of the bass I have caught. Maybe once they hit a certain length or type of water they do but I have not seen it.

I remember doing the exact same thing growing up in SD. It also works with some minnows to.

As of right now looking at the BPS website, half the 1/2 oz are out of stock, all the 3/4oz shows in stock, and the 1/4 oz shows a few out of stock.

All gasoline comes from 3 or 4 suppliers, and some areas only 1 or 2. The only difference is typically how much is sold and the additives they put into it. If they sell plenty of gas then I would not worry. My local area has one supplier, 3 trucking companies to deliver for 6 or 7 main gas station "brands"

look at the color of baitfish where you plant to fish... if the feed mostly on shad then the lighter color shad type colors with work better... if they feed mostly on bream and panfish, then go with the darker/striped baby bass and sexy sunfish type colors

;D I have seen fish hit various stuff on the top of the water here in FL so I know dragonflies, small snakes, little lizards and frogs/toads do get them to bite. I have even seen a mayfly swarm just above the water have a bass jump out and right into the swarm...

I just tossed in a senko/strike king 5" worm and let the current take it for a while, reel it in and do it again.... caught a nice 16" 2.5lb little pig 2 weeks ago doing this. He/she took it on the 5th cast. I had tried other spots in the same area but not that specific bend... Try to keep it close to the edge of calmer water because they like to dark out into the heavier current to get the food then head back in the slow current. There was enough reeds and stuff that I had to do mine texas rigged but with little to no vegetation wacky rig should work well too. Repetition is the key, just keep tossing back tot he same spot over and over letting it pass the same area over and over until they take it. Usually by cast 10 or 15 I either change how it is rigged or try other bends and weed edges. This has landed me several in the small creek not too far from my house, 10-20 ft wide and maybe 4 feet at the deepest. edit: and like usual, use colors similar to other bait/baitfish found in the same area

I was wanting some but the $40 starting price from his website is a bit steep to just try them out (for 18 snakes, $2.38 ea with S&H costs). The $15 price for 3 snakes on ebay ($10 + 5 shipping for $3 ea) is a bit steep too... so I have an order I am waiting on where I got a 3 pack of topwater "snakelike" soft lures for $4 and free shipping. but to answer the original question, I would stay in the 5/0 range. Too much bigger and the weight may start pulling it underwater or affect the performance.

I love reading all these over... but I wonder what I will forget once I start launching my canoe on a regular basis...

The problem is some people (not here) just buy any bait that the pros win with so they have tackles boxes full of this stuff... but they toss it for a few weeks or months and don't catch anything... then they think it is junk and toss it aside to replace it with whatever the newest winner was using... I see these people all the time. I have had a few give me their lures before they leave (Bill dance topwater popper was a recent one, various worms and swimbaits). They never learn to better read the water, the weather, the location, the time of year... and learn that the weather and such matters more than the lures do.

depends on what you are looking for... For people new to baitcasters, they will have a decent looking bass pro brand BC reel for $40 (12962, reg price $80) or a reasonable Daiwa for $100 (12227), or a KVD Quantum for $90 (105-27751). 25% off BPS XPS cranks, Kermy frog for $3.99, redeye shad lipless cranks on sale, Lowrance fishfinder for half price (1002726)... Most of what I saw was low to mid range gear on sale, nothing really high end.

you don't.... pack it up and ship to me so I can make sure the trash can gets it properly a joke

welcome back from one of the newer faces

Welcome from Northwest FL

The way I see it, it can be used as a replacement for pen and paper, as long as the person using it actually uses it for that purpose... The problem is that too many people today get tied up in the internet and social sites and everything else that they do not hear the teacher. My laptop has quiet keys, and when I am knee deep in something I stick with it (usually) and try to not get sidetracked. So I am on task and quiet.

that and the new Camaros are 2 of my favorite modern GMs right now... I see a few of them here weekly, but they tend to get shadowed by the BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari, Lotus and other exotics you see here once a week during the summer.

yes sometime between now and the next 200 years will be the NATURAL warm peak for this planet... then 15,000 years later will be the NATURAL cold peak and another ice age. This is normal, this is the planet doing what it has long before man was around. Saying that man has created any of these conditions is like saying you killed off the LMB population of the world because you sneezed on one before you released it last week.

The guy in Japan stated he had caught some LMB larger than the record tying one he got publicity for...so they are out there

I would have grabbed some water temperaturwe samples from a few places on the lake and a few depths to see if that was a factor

If the local or state regulations allow it, try using the normal canned corn on a 6 or 8 panfish hook, either under a bobber or on the bottom... We usually used 5 to 6' rods, UL or L action, and reels did not make much difference.

because they are long and skinny, they don't have the broadside power that panfish and bass have, so they can be brought in on lighter equipment, the only problem is watching out for teeth I have caught northern pike, walleye and musky on UL panfish equipment, 4ft rod using 4-6 lb test... and I have had their teeth cut into 25 lb test and lost them... so if you are purposely fishing for them, a 6" metal leader may help reduce the chance of losing your lure.

There is only 3 things I heard actually have the same or better than usual outcome: Kickin' Bass MegaStrike coffee scent or coffee grounds

I do not see them listed on resellerratings.com so I would not trust them myself

A lot... I had plans to buy some anyways, and when I ordered yesterday morning, they were only out of one (the one KVD used).. and then yesterday evening I checked again and well over half are sold out

lol I smoked for 16 years and recently quit. I still have an occasional cigar to take the edge off but the bream seemed to bite better when I blew smoke on the bait... haven't seen much difference with bass though. I do drink coffee almost every morning so I think when I get low on grounds, I will use some coffee grounds in the softlure bag and seal it so it should be ready by my next outing.