ironmike12

Marty, great looking baits! Love those colors!

Guys, thanks so much for all the info. Tons to think about. I'm starting off with line thru baits. Once I get the hang of that I want to go bigger. I just acquired a older bass pro round reel I was going to start with.

I'll be targeting bass. There are a couple lakes that have musky, but I have not ran across one yet. I'd probably go with flouro, but haven't made a definative decision on line type just yet. Thanks for the info!

Hey everyone, I'm looking to start throwing more swimbaits this year. I won't be throwing anything really big like an 8" hudd. I'm thinking more line thru baits around 1-2 ounces, maybe some smaller hard baits around 3 ounces. My question is, with this size bait is it totally necessary to invest in a high capacity reel? Thanks in advance!

Boats were ok. Shallow V hulls. Decent to fish from. Definitely not a bass boat with casting deck!

remember to work whatever lure you choose slowly. The bass won't want to chase a fast moving bait.

The piece of advice that I got was to look for the perch fishermen. We started off fishing a couple spots the guys at the tackle shop told us about and did ok. We caught a couple fish. We then decided to look for deeper water, 16+ feet and that is where we started doing a little better. drop shots and dragging tubes. Hope that helps!

Talk to the guys at Sportsman's Direct. They won't stear you wrong. Great guys! I would imagine you could still do well up there right now. They also have reasonable rates on boat rentals if you aren't planning on taking one.

forgot to post link http://www.confidencebaits.net/

Check out confidence baits, they have some reaper style baits. I like their bird baits as well.

Those are some great looking fish. I'm really looking forward to getting back up there. I really enjoyed the lake as a whole.

We had a great trip. The guys at Sportsman's Direct were great. The weather was a bit up and down, but we managed 16 fish over 2 days. My buddy had a huge fish, 5+ pounds break his line just before I could get it in the net...needless to say, I felt terrible! Here are a couple that I caught in about 12 feet of water on a crankbait.

Thanks for the info. I ended up renting a boat from Sportmens Direct. Excited to get out there and try to tie into a few good ones. Any other advise would be much appreciated!

I'm actually leaving Thursday and fishing on Friday and Saturday. What were you getting the most action on up there Stratosjoe?

I layed it against my rod and measured my mark when I got back to my jeep. It was about 19 1/4". It was a tank though!

Thanks guys! I was getting a little frustrated because I had 2 beasts throw my hook at the side of the canoe. It was great landing that one!

Myself and a few buddies fished the Allegheny River this past weekend. A combination of canoes and wade fishing. Caught these 2 off of a point with a weed bed running almost the full length. We caught about 6 really nice fish out of this area. The fat one is my PB at just under 4.5 lbs.

Hi all, I am wanting to take a fishing buddy on a special trip to St. Clair. I do not own a boat and saw that there are places that rent boats. I didn't really want to use a guide, we like that challenge and won't care if we don't catch a ton of fish. However, I was poking around and it read some things saying that the boat rentals aren't worth it because they limit how far you can go. Can anyone chime and and make any recomendations? Thanks!

Found a couple videos after a bit more searching. Big M what and how are you attaching anything to the wire or are you just bending and twisting? Thanks again for your input.

Thanks for the replies guys. Big M, I searched twisted SS wire and it looks like it's what they use for jewlery making?? I've also been looking for videos on doing any of these techniques, but I'm coming up empty on youtube. Do you guys have any favorites?

Hey guys, I just shaped my first 2 balsa crankbait bodies. I know I need to seal the bodies before I paint them. What are the best options for this? Also, is thru wire the only option for balsa?

Awesome, thanks for the info! Looking forward to trying a drop shot the next time conditions call for it!

Any other tricks or tips for getting cranks down a bit deeper? Just starting to fish deeper reservoirs for smallies as well.

This may be a dumb question but I have never fished a drop shot. Should all drop shot baits float?

I have used them in thick weeds as a punch bait. I've caught fish with it and like how it performs overall. The plastic seems soft and it tears pretty easily in comparison to the havoc pit boss that I've used in other scenarios.