mikey5string

Deeper water close to shallow flats. Big females will hang around cover in deeper water close to shallower spawning grounds. The wait for the males to come get them and bring them back tho the nest. If you catch small bass shallow, they are probably males. Try fishing that same spot but deeper.

My family has a cabin on a lake in the Adirondacks. It is near Paul Smith's College. I'll be up there this summer and I wanted to see if there were a nearby lake with good smallie fishing. I've never caught one before, only LMB. Most likely, I wont have a boat. I could probably get a canoe though. Also, I may be there during the LMB spawn. I know NY has a closed season for LMB during the spawn. When do smallmouth spawn? Can you fish for them all season? Thanks Mike

Which invasive species do you consider an overblown threat?

Did pretty good at Saltonstall this weekend. Alewife were schooling all along the dock side back late Friday afternoon. Got several fish from 2-3lbs on a swimbait and a few on a 3/4 lipless crank. I got lucky when a school just popped up right next to me. Today I got a couple over 4lbs on a football jig close to the bank around brush piles. Still need to officially break 5 pounds. Hoping I can pick off a big female before the spawn goes into full effect.

if youre not losing lures, youre not fishing in the right spot....

I remove the tail treble hook from most crank baits. IMO they are unnecessary and just damage fish more, get hung up on everything easier and can stick you good when trying to unhook an unruly fish, The exception would be tournaments when losing a fish can cost you...literally. When I want to fish barbless, I'll just flatten the barb with pliers.

Trick worms on an owner ultra shakey head jig. I use the regular size, i think its 5 or 6". This is my go to bait when fishing is tough. Roboworms & tiny flukes for drop shot. Small Jika rig with Owner's Yuki Bug and a "finesse" Carolina rig with a 1/3/0 worm hook and a split shot about 6" above. I don't fish wacky Senko's much anymore but I always have some on hand in case nothing else is working,

I think I figured out what is causing breakoffs with flouro. When tying your knot, you have to make sure there is zero friction when cinching the knot. If I felt friction when pulling the knot tight, the line would break when I would pull on it while holding the bait in the other hand. No friction, no break. I lubricate the knot and eye of the bait and pull slowly and evenly. I have found that the Clinch knot holds better than the improved" clinch knot. I assume because omitting the last step reduces friction. I took the Vaanish off all my rods and leaders. I could not get the line straight, too much memory. Twist was uncontrollable even with swivels. Add the hypersensitivity to break offs at the knot and that was it. I bought p-line instead. It is much softer and I had zero breakoffs. It has more stretch and less sensitivity than straight flouro but it is much easier to deal with,

suspendingjerk: Thats been happening to me a lot recently with berkley vansih flourcarbon. I lost 3 fish plus tackle yesterday before I did a google search. Apparently flourocarbon (and sounds like p line) breaks very easily at the knot. KNots must be tied perfectly and lubricated so the line doesnt pinch itself. All my fish were lost on hook sets. op: I have lost a few fish in a single day using braid as well. Turns out I was missing the ceramic insert in the last guide. It was like a knife. I didnt notice until I got home. Is there any other way to cut braid? Seems like it would need something to actually cut it. If its not getting snagged, the only thing that could be is your rod, reel or lure.

I have one of the inexpensive Lowrance depth/fish finders and have a problem I could use some help with., The pins in the multi pin plug got bent slightly and now I cant plug the transducer into the display. I spent an hour trying to align them perfectly but I can't get them perfect. I can't see the two parts close together enough to adjust them one at a time. I would just replace the connection but it is the display and it would involve taking the unit apart. It was inexpensive but I only used it twice before this happened and I'd like to get a little more use out of it. Any ideas on how to align the pins? Is there another way? Thanks Mike

I love tying palomar knots with braided line. It has to be a jig with an unruly skirt for maximum fun. I have lost a few (some with fish attached) settling for "good enough" after trying to thread powerpro on a windy day. And forgetting the bullet weight at least once is a given. So is dropping it on the hull of your aluminum boat.

work the banks with soft plastics. shakey heads with straight tail worms. weightless fluke type jerkbait texas rigged. EDIT: Just noticed that you were going this morning. Soft plastics are the most versatile IMO. A box of various hooks, weights and terminal tackle and a few packs of plastic and you can pretty much fish any condition. How'd you do?

A bunch of companies make keel weighted hooks. I use Owners "Beast" for swimbaits and smaller sizes when I want to swim a tailed worm or craw. I guess if you have the materials already making your own might save a bit. I would be concerned with getting the weight perfectly balanced so the bait stays horizontal when fishing it. Could probably pound any old lead weight around it without too much effort.

Mega strike mega shake stand up jig heads with a havoc pit boss. My favorite all around. The mega strike heads don't fall down in the water and the pit boss has nice action in the appendages. Dragged or hopped along bottom. Carolina rigged with 3/4oz tungsten weight and a flouro leader. For probing bottom, finding structure, covering water, looking for deeper fish. I'll usually use a fluke, straight worm or craw/creature. Texas rigged or florida rig with a lighter tungsten weight. For working weed lines, sparse grass and other cover. I like t rigs for weeds in mid summer. The jika rig is great. I use a 1/4 oz with an owner yuki bug. Great combination. I have been meaning to make some jika rigs with 1/2oz weights. The 1/4 is a little light for me.

What lake? I am in CT and the grass in the lake I fish most isn't nearly as dense as it usually is this time of year. Its still there, just submerged. I like to fish flukes over the top and pegged texas rigged worms in the grass. You dont have to flip and pitch jigs in grass. The reason for flipping and pitching is to be able to get the bait to a very specific target like a small hole in a grass mat. If you are just generally fishing a grassy bank, there is no real need to flip of pitch. If the grass isnt matted, there is nothing to "punch". Try hopping a texas rigged worm along the bottom. A pegged 1/2oz weight will let the bait get through weeds. If you get hung up just pop the bait with a sharp jerk of the rod, then let the bait fall back to the bottom. Until this season, I rarely used jigs and I almost always fish grassy banks since I have no electronics. I cant remember the last time I got skunked.