PABASS

I have seen one Bass from PA that was claimed to be 10#s, he showed me the photos and it could have been a 10#, was caught maybe in eagle's mere lake, I cant recall. Of course he was a trout guy, which I love trout fishing[fly fishing] to but man he just didn't realize that is a once in a lifetime deal around here. Anyway my PB came from FL when I was 16 on shrimp and a bobber of all things, they have some of the largest bass hence the Florida strain... If its a goal make it easier and head down south to Florida and try one of the many lakes and get a guide to put you on the big fish. I would love to take my own advice on this.. Been fishing for awhile and my biggest fish in PA maybe 6lbs, when down south at 16 and I knew allot less about fishing then a do now and in a 5 day period caught the largest , Bass, Sunfish, Crappie and Alligator that I personally have ever caught till this day.

Since what 90% of the populous is right handed, I am left handed but do many things right outside of fishing.. I cast with my left and reel with my left, pitch with my left, fight fish with my right and never had an issue. I do have a question, why is it all spinning reels on the show floors are set to be left handed? It’s easier for me I just don’t get it?

Second this as I own a few stradics[2000,2500], howerver i also own and like the Sahara FE[2500], bit heavy but casts like a champ. My 2000 is the first year the stradics were introduced so they last, made from Japan, zero issues, except after owning the new stradic I dont care for the wooden handle much anymore lol..

One of my stradics/veritas combos are spooled with fireline with a florou leader and I can feel the difference between a branch, rock, mud, sand, stones, weeds and fish lol its a go to setup for me.

That makes sense, however I wont be fishing the river and or outlying streams when its flooded, its not safe and I have other areas to fish, but thanks for all the input.

I would like a new rod for one of a my combo tactics and currently looking at St. Croix and or Abu Garcia Vertias, I own both brands and love the Veritas but its quality doesn't seem like it will last like my St.croix's, with this being said, if it was your money what would you buy and why? Abu Garcia Veritas Spinning Rod 7' Medium Fast 6-12lb 3/16-5/8oz 7+Tip Veritas B St. Croix PS70MF2 7' M Fast 2 6 - 12 1/4 - 5/8 4.3 5 $ 120 MBS70MF Tubes / Grubs 7' M Fast 1 6 - 12 3/16 - 5/8 3.9 1 $ 100

For finesse tactics I personally wouldn’t go higher than 8# and or the lightest I can get away with, also I wouldn’t be using a bait casting setup for finesse tactics. For me when I go finesse it’s mainly because the fish don’t want anything else/large, so my rig would be 6-8# Seagur AbrazX flouro on a spinning setup, light, small baits, hard to see line, in your face small food so eat me. But this is just in my small neck of the woods..

I never fished jerkbaits with braid and not sure why you would need/want the sensitivity from braid for a jerkbait? Really you need more stretch to make sure that you don’t rip the bait from the fish to early. I have always used/prefer mono [better hookups and stays near the top] I know allot of people whom like to use fluorocarbon, which has better sensitivity then mono,sinks and is harder to see, however as action is concerned I don’t see how braid would provide better action then mono or flouro. Aside from how you work the bait the action comes in part from the rod [i like to use a Moderate to slow rod 7’ in length.] and the knot, a rapala knot will yield more action then an improved clinch knot. As another user stated it depends on the condition that dictates jerkbait lure selection, suspending I believe and what I personally use if for is for colder water and or less aggressive fish, floating is for more aggressive fish and not sure about sinking as I don’t own/use many of them.

Not that I am going to be fishing this river when flooded, however. I have a few spots I fish in normal conditions which is gin clean water, with depths ranging from few inches to 5 feet deep, when it floods the water is brown like chocolate milk and can raise 20+ feet, what do Bass do in this? In lakes I understand that Bass can transition closer to shore and or stay near the same spots, in a river if they transition to the shorelines in my example its nothing but trees and lots of them with very fast flowing water, would they find cover similar to what they have in normal condition's, like a large tree that cuts the current? This spot also has about 5 bridges within a 3 mile area, would they utilize this? Or would they go to a flooded soccer field for example and visit the goal posts lol?

My oldest plastic lure was from 1997, it was a Berkeley lizard, black, with a chartreuse tail and I pulled them out this season and caught some nice size fish on them. My oldest hard bait is probably a rapala minnow jerkbait although I have some spinners that I cant recall when my parents purchased them for me, maybe in the late 80s..

Personally I don't like to eat Bass and would never eat a bass under normal circumstances, as I see it there are much tastier fish out there an eating an apex predator is never a good thing. I cant say what it is about Bass as a species, a bond maybe, it does bother me for whatever reason when I see people taking Bass to consume them.

As a bank fisherman myself you only have limited real-estate so fan cast and move, note when you do catch a fish what was happening to the bait and around the bait(Structure for example). Typically you caught one there is a reason for that and you have the potential to catch another, I am also thinking about what the bait is doing on every cast. For me I can catch bass on jerkbaits all year long, its just a matter of knowing where the fish are and what they want, jerkbaits I own especially floating and or suspending only go down so deep and if this fish aren't eating in that water column don't waste your time.. For me most of my fish come from parallel and tight to the shoreline.

Now that's a great idea and I think I am going to use it, thanks for sharing!

In southern PA I was nailing them two weeks ago with crankbaits and Pop-r(s), now back to central PA and I cant get a hit even in my local ponds, tried everything I own in the hard bait world and even soft plastics. Hopefully will get out again soon to another local pond and see if it was just an off weekend.

Seems like it depends on the year locals tell me that, few years back a senko would be the bait to throw, few years back before that a single tail grub, few years before that would be top water, having allot of success this year on hula grubs without the skirt, go figure, and top water is out, sadly.

River is chilling Smallies are biting I am smiling

Cat-fishing/Carp fishing had a metal bucket full of water cant recall why as I wasn't using live bait, anyway walked away for a few min and heard a loud noise like a metal bucket of water tipped over and fell into a lake. I had my rod propped up on the bucket of water, when I ran over the bucket was in the lake and my rod/reel was gone and whatever took that combo must of been a monster, funny now, not then. Recently I was river fishing and thought I hooked into a decent sized smallie turns out its a large freshwater clam, this has happened three times this year and man do they put up a fight hehe..

I like eagle claw hooks and I like the price, eagle claw needed a high end product and Trokar is it and not worth the costs to me. This year I changed to gammies to give them a try and have missed more fish on a gammy then I have on a sharpened eagle claw, with that said I sharpen “most” of my hooks and do so very similar to a Trokar edge. I buy cheaper hooks and make them sharper, I do like gammies and will sharpen them as well but an eagle claw can be just as good and better than a gammie in my book. I posted a question of hook sharpening not that long ago and it seemed split, with that be said take a hook out of the package and put it under a magnifying glass look what makes them sharp. Some hooks have a triangle edge which I think is the best along with less material to make that edge. Some hooks just tapper off to a point like gammies, all hooks OEMs have a way to create a point. I loose more fish with a cone shaped point than I do with a triangle edge so I typically make the triangle edge.

Here is my review: Updated Why did I stray from Shimmano? This reel has been replace by a Shimano Sahara FD a MUCH better real, none of the cons below. I tried to tear down this reel and what a freaking pain, not worth it, to oil this thing took way to long and didn't fix my squeaking issue, the reel has been handed down to my son. I did get to test my Sahara on a 4+# smallie and it did excellent. My last reel I purchased was the first Stradic so its been awhile, I am doing allot of river fishing lately and didn't want to risk losing this reel. I wouldn't trade my Stradic for anything it always works and it always works well, however I wanted something "cheaper" with similar performance. My local fishing shop had a lews speed spin for $49 plus free line on both spools, a darn good deal... Took it out to the river that day and caught two smallies and it performed well, it’s not a stradic for sure but it’s also a 1/4 the price. The drag is a bit disappointing and I am a bit let down, I use somewhat light line for my conditions and it gives more than it should. I lost a fish from the drag setting, it’s also not smooth at all, I have a very old shimano sf2000(?) and its drag is better.. Turing the reel is fairly smooth and for a newer reel requires more effort than my stradic to use it. I enjoy using the reel and I think it casts further, it struggles a bit in the river and not sure how it would handle a 4+ pound smalie in the river. I plan to take it large mouth fishing this weekend at a pond and see how it performs. I am not sure if it needs oil but it squeaks only when the pull of the river is on it which is almost every cast, it’s an odd noise and I can’t locate it. Maybe this is just the expectation when you’re comparing a higher end reel to something lower on the price range but I was impressed at the shop, not as much on the water, however it’s a keeper for me. The last item is comfort at first I was extremely comfortable but at the end of my fishing endeavor I was more fatigue than I would have been using the stradic, it could be weight related but the stradic is easier to turn. NOTE: Same rod I use for my static was used for this reel. -Pros Quick Release Spool Spare Spool ++ for me.. Casts far Priced aggressive Good Anti Reverse and has reverse -Cons Disappointing Drag Squeaks Can it handle big fish? Heavy More wear and tear while using this reel. tear down = long Quote MultiQuote Edit

I am glad to see that the point is being taken sharply amongst the community. I inspect every hook and with the gammies and owners it’s more of a round tapered point, chemical sharpening I believe? Trokars use a triangle point mechanically sharpened I believe which is what I am doing. The PA fishing commission has a pdf on sharpening hooks and recommends a triangle point and seems to work very well for me. If it has a hook and I can, it gets sharpened, it makes a noticeable difference. Personally I don’t think gammies are any sharper than an eagle claw which is allot cheaper, if you look at the point on a gammie it has less material to make a point and this equals easier penetration and not necessarily a sharper hook, I sharpened a gammie to a triangle and its crazy sharp best hook in this manner, except maybe Trokar which I refuse to buy simply because of costs. Right now I am under the belief of buy a “lower priced” hook and make it as good and maybe better then a “high priced” hooks and that equals something else to spend my coin on. If I had time I would love to snap his rez before and after on all new hooks into my ecosystem that I call fishing, but I don't lol..

Earlier this year one of our vendors sponsored a fly fishing guided learning day and boy was it fun, the guide pulls out his pocket sharpening stone and gets the fly to a nice sharp point. Light bulb, I have an old sharpen stone and have been doing the same since. I realize that a fly can be more expensive/time consuming but when you pay 6 bucks for two treble hooks to replace a popper well there has to be a better way. Now I am sharpening all my hooks and it seems to be paying off. Recently I fell in love with fishing my local river and it’s a rocky mess so each time I go out hooks get sharpened and it’s paying off. I kept missing a ton of fish on a zman chatter bait so not only did I sharpen the hook but made the hook smaller in diameter I understand that it could weaken the point but been landing lots more fish now. Back to my point is this a lost art? Do people still sharpen hooks? I try to create a triangle and this seems to work better for me, I sharpen the hook the same count on each side and repeat. I have even tried to make round wire hooks more square in thinking that less material equals greater penetration, weaker hook maybe but when your catching 1-4# smallies what does it matter.

First gene has a few videos on locating bass. Second I agree bass love senkos the biggest problem with senkos are if you are fishing where there are no fish it won’t much matter what lure you fish with. It looks like this is a flooded area? Newly flooded? Did I see open water in the background? Is this typically a creek that feeds into the lake? My first approach would be forage, what forage if any can you see in the water? Shad, minnows, crawfish, frogs, gills? Are you not seeing any forage chances are bass are not around. As someone already pointed out when the water is hot = less oxygen in the water which affects shad more than bass and if bass are feeding on shad then they will move to cooler water/more oxygenated water after shad. This could mean grass/plant life, springs and deeper water. Summertime fish are tight to cover and strike zones go way down so I don’t think it’s what your using as much as are fish even around. To cover an area fast use a spinner bait or buzzbait.. As a bank fisherman it’s hard locating fish on large lakes so I feel your pain but you have options since you have a boat and it appears open water.

I would like to know how a popper or chugger would move water while in weeds? A poppers use is in open water, maybe next to a weed line or sunken timber, but in weeds? Use plastic, Texas rigged weightless. I have a pond that is covered with duckgrass I simply toss a 4in dinger from one end to another cranking fast sometimes the fish hit and I catch them, other times I cast to the hole they made and let the action of the bait do the rest.

From what I have read about buzz baits bass are attracted to the nose because it sounds like a big fish going after a small fish, large schooling fish going after smaller schooling fish. I have also heard it ticks them off and it’s an aggressive bite. I believe it depends on the mood the fish are in, it’s clear that bass typically hit the end where the hook is so they seem to zone in on the rubber, black is my preferred color. Sometimes bass drill a buzzbait was that an aggressive hit? I do not know but I do know it’s my second favorite lure to catch bass on. I have had some very small bass less then 10inches hit a 5-6inch buzzbait. A wacky rig senko imitates a wounded/dying fish in my opinion.

My last reel I purchased was the first stradic so its been awhile, I am doing allot of river fishing lately and didn't want to risk losing this reel. I wouldn't trade my Stradic for anything it always works and it always works well, however I wanted something "cheaper" with similar performance. My local fishing shop had a lews speed spin for $49 plus free line on both spools, a darn good deal... Took it out to the river that day and caught two smallies and it performed well, it’s not a stradic for sure but it’s also a 1/4 the price. The drag is a bit disappointing and I am a bit let down, I use somewhat light line for my conditions and it gives more than it should. I lost a fish from the drag setting, it’s also not smooth at all, I have a very old shimano sf2000(?) and its drag is better.. Turing the reel is fairly smooth and for a newer reel requires more effort than my stradic to use it. I enjoy using the reel and I think it casts further, it struggles a bit in the river and not sure how it would handle a 4+ pound smalie in the river. I plan to take it large mouth fishing this weekend at a pond and see how it performs. I am not sure if it needs oil but it squeaks only when the pull of the river is on it which is almost every cast, it’s an odd noise and I can’t locate it. Maybe this is just the expectation when you’re comparing a higher end reel to something lower on the price range but I was impressed at the shop, not as much on the water, however it’s a keeper for me. The last item is comfort at first I was extremely comfortable but at the end of my fishing endeavor I was more fatigue than I would have been using the stradic, it could be weight related but the stradic is easier to turn. NOTE: Same rod I use for my static was used for this reel. -Pros Quick Release Spool Spare Spool ++ for me.. Casts far Priced aggressive Good Anti Reverse and has reverse -Cons Disappointing Drag Squeaks Can it handle big fish? Heavy More wear and tear while using this reel.