Ratherbfishing

I think it all depends on HOW you ice fish. If you somewhat randomly drill holes and spread out two dozen tip ups, that experience will not extrapolate very well to "regular" fishing. On the other hand, if you regularly study a topo map, learn your use your flasher or fishfinder to its maximum abilities, learn to look for weeds beds, edges, flats, drop offs, etc. and learn to follow the fish as winter season progresses or wains, I think these kinds of practices can easily carry over to your summer time practices-especially as an open-water fisherman.

Since you mentioned an invisible man, Did you hear that the invisible man and a ghost began dating? Well, they weren't actually SEEING one another.

Have you gotten a second opinion?

It depends. If it's a long drive to the lake and I know I have days off later in the week, I'll postpone until then. If it's a short drive or I don't have any opportunities in the near future, I'll go ahead and go. But things never seem to work out that way so I usually just go. One of my hopes for if/when I retire is that i can be a little more choosey.

Ouch! I have been lucky thus far but I'm sure my time is coming. Of my "almost", all have involved those dumb little dinks which are too small for you to get a good hold of (from the mouth, anyway), and they invariably shake like crazy).

I was, indeed, being vague for a reason. I have no meaningful knowledge of patent law and perhaps something does indeed have to be built to be patented. I've no dispute there. My design-while simple enough in concept-requiring very few parts (with only one moving part)- does require some degree of...finesse. I do take exception, however, to the suggestion that lacking that degree of sophistication relegates my idea to the trash heap. Certainly the pyramids could not have been built by one person alone. I read that it takes a great deal of R & D to get a fishing lure from its *** to it's final assembled product. But every creation has to begin somewhere and I think it would be a shame were it not to be pursued (especially if I can profit by it). I just don't want to present my idea to some company, have them subsequently steal the idea, and then give me the "big stiffy." This is, I suppose, an age old problem.

I have what I believe is an excellent idea for a new crankbait design however I have neither the financial resources, or the the design or materials expertise to carry it off. Which approach do you all think would be better-trying to sell the idea to a company or patenting it myself and then trying to sell the patent? Obviously the whole thing would rely, in part, on the merit of my idea but just wondering what you all think?

Man, how I *** both of you! It sounds cold but based on the flat lake surface in the photo's, at least it wasn't too windy. That would've made for a really brisk day. And when the big fish are biting, it's a lot easier to forget the cold. My brother and I had a somewhat comparable day once (though sizes were down some from yours) and I'm still trying to impress upon him how good that day was (He's not a real fisherman so he doesn't have anything to compare it to). Nice job guys!

My intention isn't to hiijack this thread so apologies in advance if it seems so. But it seems like a lot of caught fish have "bladder control problems." The host of a Canada trip i went on last summer caught a 39 inch pike while trolling a surface bait. It couldn't be resuscitated and after it was cleaned to be eaten, it was determined that it's air bladder was "blown out." We guessed that it must've swam up from deep water, intent on grabbing an easy meal, and then rushing back down again-only to have it's plan foiled. We were glad it was outside the slot so we could keep it and it' wouldn't be wasted-although there were plenty of eagles, seagulls and crows around which would've likely had a nice meal of it too.

Actually, the head and face protruding out of my back has a tougher time explaining me.

If the fish have been biting but seem to stop rather suddenly, I'll downsize before I move to another location or to a different type bait-especially if the weather seems to have changed.

It might be a local term but I believe that is a creek chub or chub minnow. Could be wrong but that's what it looks like to me.

I gave up using "jigs" after getting hung up about a dozen times without catching anything on them. Instead, I texas-rig a crawdad bait (sometimes putting a skirt in front of it and sometimes not). These are cheaper and, at the same time, a lot more weedless. They are better for swimming than most other jigs, too.

You just left it for some other poor slob to purchase? I'm certainly not saying you should take ownership for breaking it but... I hope it was OBVIOUSLY broken so no one else does purchase it.

If you're really lucky, maybe he likes to hunt and fish!

I've used a Rapala X-rap with good results (sometimes)

Have you ever shot these rounds through this exact weapon before? Some primers don't "like" certain firing pins. Don't get rid of them until you check.

My long term plan consists of staying out of jail. My immediate plan is to stay out of the ground. (I'd make the latter a long-term plan but I hear it's a lost cause). Next year will probably include some trips to Southern Illinois-perhaps to Kinkaid and Lake of Egypt and probably to Cedar Lake and the lakes in Crab Orchard NWR.

My girlfriend hasn't the knack for a baitcaster and she likes the way a spinning rod feels in her hands (less painful after awhile). I like it because I'm not always fishing out backlashes for her.

Will it "weed out" (sorry for the pun) the weaker returns?

I think fish can be conditioned in a lot of ways-trolling motors being one of them. Sometimes they may grow accustomed to the noise but other times they may equate it with danger-particularly if they've been caught before when the sound was present. And I think the "big girls" don't get big by being stupid. So, whereas some of the time it won't matter, some of the time it does. If you plan/expect to cover a lot of water quickly, it's kind of difficult to use a paddle to do so and therefore using a trolling motor (or outboard for trolling) is rather unavoidable. However, if you plan to thoroughly fish a spot, especially a shallow spot, it's better to GLIDE or paddle in. Particularly "fishy" spots merit more stealth, perhaps, than others.

Since my two largest bass came from a Rapala (Glass) Shad Rap, I guess that has to be my vote.

I, too, think panther martin stand head and shoulders above rooster tails (and a little higher than Mepps). How did you do on Saturday?

Do you have Meijer's stores where you are? Ours have carried it.

me thinks the SHAPE of the lure (round or flat) is less important than the action. However, the shape does strongly influence the action. As others have said, the Manns 1- has a great wobble and stays nice and shallow. One of my fav's.