RoLo

Four to five inch worms are probably the most popular for finesse fishing, so you might want to hang with the consensus. Maybe I got it wrong, but I think of "finessing" more in terms of the retrieve than the size of lure. My favorite is the Gambler Big Stick which is a 7" worm. Especially during the hottest months (water temps in the 90s), this 7" worm will often get the skunk out of the boat when no other lures are working. The Big Stick is best described as a "tube worm", and behind the solid head section the worm body is hollow, which is why it floats so well. IMO, the retrieve is far more important than the color and even the size. As I'm sure you know, the best retrieve to use varies from day-to-day and sometimes from hour-to-hour. On balance though, we use subtle twitches interspersed with pauses, while mending the slack line. A subtle twitch is enough to kick-start the tentacled tail, which floats high above the head. Lots of luck. Roger

Not all the fish in the spot in case the spot is likely to hold more than 1 or 2 fish are in the mood to bite a speeding bait, you catch the ones that is on the mood to hit fast moving baits and then attack the spot with slower moving baits to tease those fish that are in more neutral mood. Catching one fish doesn 't necessarily mean you found them. x2 x3

Yes, T-rigged on a 1/8oz head (3/16oz in the wind).

The worm is more important than the head (you can go to jail for saying that). Three excellent high-floating worms are the Gambler Big Stick, Roboworm Zipper and Strike King 3x Finesse worm. I prefer dark colors like black, dark green, pumpkin, etc. Roger

I use the rage craw as a jig trailer, but much prefer the rage lobster as a standalone lure threaded on an 3/8oz Owner type-Z bullet head. You're right , they are Bad Boys Roger

The difference between a "jig" and "head" is getting into semantics. For instance, we've all read articles where a lure was called a "head", then a few sentences down the same lure is called a "jig". Though it's not carved in stone, "HEAD" usually applies to a plain leadhead and hook, for example the 'Owner Sled Head'. "JIG" on the other hand, as Raul indicated, generally refers to a leadhead that's equipped with a bristle weedguard and stranded skirt, and may or may not include rattles, for example: 'Jig & Pig'. The original shaky head design used a "ballhead jig", because a sphere doesn't produce any offsetting resistance that would interfere with the rocking action. For instance, a football head wouldn't make a very good shaky head. Roger

Good choice. That camp is a piece of angling history, but it's a 13-mile boat ride and one lock-thru to Lake Toho. Roger

My guess would be a "Central Mudminnow" http://www.nyfalls.com/wildlife/gallery/fish/mudminnow/Umbra-limi/01.jpg Roger

The first baitcasting reel was named after its inventor, Herman R. Baitcaster...he was a southpaw ;D Roger

Perish The Thought The IGFA has met great difficulty in trying to determine whether a record fish is authentic or not, and great difficulty trying to determine whose in first place and whose in second place. We certainly don't want to burden them with having to verify whether a record fish was caught on an artificial lure, natural bait or an artificial lure tipped with natural bait : Roger

Did I leave the door open? ;D

This article is a good read and well worth your time. Let's suppose you're planning to fish a new lake that you've never seen before, and you've obtained a detailed tutorial written by a local expert. You absorb every word that entails "WHEN", and every word that entails "WHERE". If you find yourself disrespectively skipping over everything that entails "HOW", you have the correct mindset, and you're a giant step ahead of the crowd. As the article above stresses, "a bass is a bass" no matter where it lives. Carolina rigs work in Oregon, Florida rigs work in Canada and swimbaits work in Rhode Island. The hard part is to establish a "pattern" (Location + Timing). Roger

One of the nicest things you can do for that reel is match it up with a Johnny Morris Elite 6' 8 med power spinning rod (JXE68MS) I hate to admit it, but my $200 Johnny Morris Elite is a more sensitive blank than my $350 Kistler Helium ll LTX. Roger

I concur. For many years, every spinning rod I used was between 6.0' and 6' 3". The short rod offers the best of everything, where the chief benefit to a longer rod is longer casts. But when the boat is properly positioned this is of dubious value (miscues are generally overcasts). Today nevertheless, my spinning rods have crept upward, and now the majority are 6' 6" long, and my 6' 9" Kistler LTX is the longest spinning rod I use (I own longer rods but don't use them). Roger

You acted out of compassion for the fish, and that's never idiotic. I'd tell you about some of the idiotic things I've done over the years, but you haven't got the time ;D Roger

What he said Roger

First let me say what a lucky guy you are. I used to fish Georgian Bay every chance I got (Moon River to French River). Because of its fine diameter, braid is often characterized as a "weed-whacker" but that's wishful thinking at best. Polyethylene braid excels in nearly every line-amenity imaginable except' abrasion-resistance. Ironically, the most effective way to enhance the abrasion-resistance of braid is to increase its line-diameter. Twenty-pound braid has the strength to handle most any freshwater situation, but heavier breaking strengths are needed so braid can live up to its fabled weed-whacking ability. We're only talking here about thousandths of an inch, and even in the heavy pound-tests, braid is still a fine-diameter line. Microfilament Braid POUND-TEST DIAMETER MONO EQUIVALENT 8 lb .005" 1 lb 10 lb .006" 2 lb 15 lb .008" 4 lb 20 lb .009" 6 lb 30 lb .011" 8 lb 40 lb .012" 10 lb 50 lb .014" 12 lb 65 lb .016" 16 lb The last time I fished in Canada (2006) I used 40-lb braid and found it to be perfectly adequate. In the final analysis, the choice depends on your personal comfort level. Roger

That's an easy one. If it involves casting lures, go with Spinning. If it involves casting bait, like live shiners and chubs, then go with Baitcasting ;D Roger

If I didn't consider the J-spoon a subsurface lure, it would definitely be my favorite (they are Killer). With regard to full-fledged surface lures, it must be "weedless" (fishable) and preferably "soft" (mouthable). As much as I love the Stanley Ribbit, I have to give the nod to the Sizmic Floating Pop'n Toad. I believe this lure has already caught more bass than all those I've boated on a Jitterbug. It's important to specify "floating", because unlike the horny toad for example, the Sizmic Pop'n Toad is a "true" topwater lure that does not sink when paused. My confidence color is "Mossback" but all the colors work very well. The Floating Pop'n Toad will POP as loud as a cannon if that's what you want, or can be softly chugged. Nonetheless, my favorite retrieve is kind of a "bubble plow", similar to a fast cranked Jitterbug. I generally wake the toad for about 18" then let it pause at least 3 secs, and so on. This lure is not good for twitching or zigzaging, which I leave to other surface lures. The best hook I've found is a 5/0 Horny Toad Hook with a screw-coil retainer. I fish the Pop'n Toad strictly on MH 15-lb spinning tackle, spooled with 30-lb fireline braid. Roger

I been racking my brain for 10 minutes, and NOTHING comes to mind > :-/ Roger

It's a toss-up between the Vibrax Blue Fox, ABU Reflex, CP Swing and Shyster. Just kidding, I only said that because none of those four in-line spinners are on the list. Years back, I used the "panther martin" for stream trout, and used the "Mepps Anglia" for bass, pickerel, pike & muskies (aka French spinners) but have since migrated to spoons. In spite of their rich price, Mepps spinners in my opinion suffer from poor workmanship. In one case, the label on my Mepps Black Fury peeled away, and I was able to read the word "Comet". Until that time I never realized that a Black Fury is simply a Mepps Comet painted black. Today I use in-line spinners only for crappies and bluegills, and my favorite in-line spinner for panfishing is by far Worden's Roostertail. Roger

Like any other state, property taxes in Florida run the gamut depending on millage & assessment in a given district. We lived in Georgia from 1992 to 1998, and we lived in Florida from 1998 to date. The cost-of-living is significantly higher in Georgia, which is one of the reasons we left. Like most states, Georgia has a higher Sales Tax than Florida, it imposes an Ad Valorem tax on net worth and imposes a State Tax. Florida has a lower sales tax, no Ad Valorem tax and no State Tax. Now you know why Florida is the retirement state of choice In any case, my suggestion was the Columbia area, not Florida We don't want anymore newly weds down here ;D Roger

Well, since you ruled out Florida, I'd focus on the Columbia region of South Carolina. From here you'd have a clear shot at Santee Cooper Res. (lake Marion & Lake Moutrie), Clarks Hill Reservoir (Strom Thurmond Res) and Lake Murray (among many others). Roger

Especially if you're interested in fishing the Shingle Creek region of West Toho, Richardsons is an excellent choice. I stayed there once and it's a beautiful location, with several size cabins and live shiners on premises. Roger

The Very First? Hmmmm..........Let me see......ahhhh Probably the first lure ever made ;D ;D Roger