Spankey

Same for me for the most part. But pretty much a Shimano guy. This mom and pop shop is where I buy most of my reels from is stocked well with them. I've been way more than satisfied with the last few Abu Garcia reels over the last couples of years. I have them on Abu Rods and they pair up well.

I don’t really target fish Muskies. But on the river have caught them Smallie fishing. A thrill for sure but only fishing 6 and 8 lb. test makes it very interesting when you hook up one. Crankbaits, Jerkbaits, and larger Mepps in-line spinners have nailed them. Colors were random.

I’m struggling to have a day to catch a lot of bass. Only getting a few each time out. They are there. My soft plastics have not really kicked in yet. They will. I don’t think I’m concentrating enough. Cranking most of my fish. But I’ve gotten a few nice ones. Runts and nice fish have been good looking and healthy. We had torrential rains Friday. Held me back on Saturday. Fished some high water yesterday. Wood and lily pads. Managed a 12” and 14” fish on a Cotton Big-O and a DT-10. Had one on that I never got to see. I’m thinking Wednesday morning to hit it again early than go to work late.

Good deal.

Great post. You’ve had them for a long time?

I love fishing a Rat-L-Trap. I do not use them exclusively. But in the heat of the summer and it’s a tough day, more than once over the years a Trap has kept me from getting skunked. Great bait. Often times in summer I’ll start out throwing some topwater pop r’s than go right to a Trap before fishing anything else.

I’m heavy industrial equipment repair as my job. Since March it’s been tough to get parts in a timely fashion. Some of my sources are spot on as far as delivery others are way out of line. But we are going through some crazy stuff in this country right now. Some places that you would normally call and have a dialog with them are not taking it and ordering online is the only way communication exists or is non-existent. But BPS is not in a good way right now. I know others that are not getting their stuff timely even if it is in stock. BPS has gone way downhill since the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. The COVID is effecting all establishments. But BPS is not what it use to be.

I’ve just been dealing with slow shipments. Two day free shipments are not two days. But free shipping. Truth be known shipping is built in. I’m not hard up for anything. TW is low and out of things I want but I can wait for it to be restocked. But to receive damaged product I would be ticked. TW ships their rods in HD tubes. I’m waiting on a rod from there. I’m sure everything will pan out. Good people to deal with.

I sort of have mine stowed by manufacturer and size. Ex. Bandit 200 would not be mixed with Bombers. Rapala DT’s would not be mixed with SK 1.5’s. I label my boxes real well and some of my crankbaits I mark the bills for running depth. Jerkbaits and topwater are separated also. I fish a lot of hard baits. Admittedly I probably take too many out with me when I’m out.

I thought the same thing about the DT’s when I first started fishing them a long time ago. Now as time has passed I have plenty of spares of my more productive ones. Not a boat load of those colors but enough. They are all productive. They all have caught fish.

The jaw goes behind the eye so to me it’s not a smallmouth even though it looks similar.

Take her fishing with you. This is only a suggestion. Not a do as I say or say as I do. However that goes. Because you can’t get my wife to fish. Maybe some other guy can. But I can’t. I’m not complaining.

I’m only across the river from you. I think that’s what my weekend is looking like for me. The grass edges, dead falls and Lilly pads. I’ll try to make something hit. If all fails I’ll throw a Rat-L-Trap or a RES for awhile. Something about one of them that may keep you from getting skunked.

You’ll get 1000 opinions but I’d rig the Zoom 4” curly tails on a Gammy straight 1/0 light wire worm hook. My two cents.

Thanks. My go to first patterns on cranks and jerks is not always a natural pattern. I’m always ready to throw a firetiger, chart / blk back, chart / green back or a chart w/ powder blue back. They have been pretty dead so far. We are suppose to get a bit of a slam with rain on Friday. This weekend water levels should be up and off color. Maybe this push some fish shallower and some of the old stand by patterns will kick in. Just hope it is not flooding rains. Good fishing.

Real crazy start for me this season. Have not had any days with real nice numbers. Have only gotten a few dinks and runts which, I can live with that. But, have gotten a nice handful of healthy quality bass though. No breaking of a personal best. But feel doable this season. Soft plastics have not been working out to well as of yet. It will come around, it is my favorite way to bass fish. Been a lot of crankbait fishing. 8 to 20 feet of water. A few shallow water grass edge fish with buzzbaits. Natural color CB's, Rat-L-Traps in chrome, jerks in naturals. Gonna stick with it a bit longer. Worms and creatures have to kick in eventually.

God bless you and your family. Glad to see your dad is bouncing back. This has been a crazy year. Can’t comment on Erie. I’d be ready to throw it all to catch them. Good fishing, best wishes to your dad and family.

Use to be the Culprit but they have been hard to find for quite some time. Mostly a Zoom guy these days. Can’t go wrong with a Berkley 7” Ribbon type tail worm.

I’ve never noticed that sulfur smell with a bass but have on a few occasions catching some river spotted Musky. Fish were healthy. Decent water quality. Very well could be from decaying plant live or leafs.

Thanks Mo, had the Grandsons up the lake the last few days. I was like a guide service for them. They caught a real mixed bag of bass, bull heads, white crappies, yellow perch and bluegill. They keep me too busy to get a line wet but I'm not complaining. I enjoy being with them and keeping them exposed. Great post, thanks.

I use the KVD and Reel Snot. I can't say one is better than another. I for the most part only fish Fluoro and Mono, it works with a noticeable difference. I'm pretty anal about my line and keep my line fresh by changing it a lot.

Real nice. I'd go with the long ear. Down here in SE Penna. we have many different version. I'm gonna have a very interesting late day Friday into Friday night will have my grandsons on the lake. The one is a fishing machine. If he gets one on it's to the boat and the line is right back out immediatly. He's like a MLF'r. I don't really get much fishing in when I'm out. I'm fine with that. Our time out is about them. More of a guide and try to get them in some good areas. I'd like them to get a 5 lb'r. But I'll be prepared for 100 various panfish.

I hear you on that. I have had the red $$$ with BPS for awhile now. They screwed me over with the Frittside baits recently. But that ok. I basically stopped using them the last 3 or 4 years. Back in the 80's and 90's they were great.

Productive color for me. Pretty close to Zoom green pumpkin watermelon. Did you just start fishing it? Hard for me to find decent Zoom stuff on a local scale.

When I have my grandsons out with me I start them out and try to guide them for the bass first. But we have plenty of panfish baits on board. They've had 50-100 fish days. Shiners, worms, crickets get it done. Here in PA there are many variations of bluegill, sunfish and crappies.