SudburyBasser

No love for Shimano? When it comes to baitcast/spinning rods I'm a Shimano guy. Fly rods it's St. Croix... for now. Once the budget for that expands I'll start experimenting there.

Bank beating at this time of the year in northern Ontario is generally a fool's errand. So fishing is essentially over for me until next spring. It's going to be a very long winter...

Reminds me of the BPS in Toronto, Ontario. A decent fishing section but it's a fraction of the store.

I stopped fishing for about ten years after most of my regular partners got married or lost interest. A couple of years ago I started back up with a vengeance and am certainly making up for lost time. This year I even participated in a tournament series and did very well. Unfortunately winter is coming up here and today may have been my last trip for this year. Bass closes end of November and doesn't open again until June. Sigh.

Ginger man, Ginger. I don't trust guys who would honestly choose Mary Ann. At any rate I try not to think too much while fishing. I'm just trying to enjoy each individual moment.

I practically won a tournament fishing top waters all day. I am in total agreement. To add to the thread: I don't think colour is as important as people argue.

Gamakatsu generally but I have also been known to use the BPS brand as well. I never mind spending top dollar if something works they way I need it to but I find Trokar to be too expensive for the issues they have that others have brought up earlier.

Most days I can slam them on spinnerbaits. Last weekend I couldn't have bought a bite with one. It happens.

Definitely up here in northern Ontario. Bite has been more difficult of late and I'm in a tournament tomorrow morning where I imagine it won't be any better.

And yet he's actually an excellent drop shotter

I remember that article and I'm afraid it doesn't meet the standard of a double-blind study with carefully controlled variables. In fact, its not a study or even a meta-analysis of other studies. I know I sound argumentative on this and I apologize if I'm coming across that way but I was trained in experimentation and data analysis so I'm a little picky on the matter.

I'm afraid a press release by Berkley about the efficacy of Power Bait doesn't really qualify as a rigorous scientific study.

Spinning reel all the way. I love BCs for most things but for weightless soft plastics its spinning reels.

I rarely use scents and I can't say that when I do that I've noticed any particular difference. Frankly without a sound scientific test I'm not convinced either way that scents do or do not land more fish. I do know that during a tournament this past weekend that the guy I was fishing with -- the boater -- was using scents and I out fished him. Is that proof? No, but an observation.

I'm a Shimano guy myself but one of my set-ups is graced with an Abu baitcaster. After using it a while I still prefer Shimano but if someone told me I could only use Abu Garcias the rest of my days I wouldn't complain too strenuously. Long answer, short: They're both fine reels.

I'd have to say when me, my brother-in-law and a friend were going for bonefish in the Turks & Caicos last August. It was just such a perfect day. Just three guys having a grand time away from work for nearly two weeks.

Tie it right and moisten properly and even the humble improved clinch knot works fine on fluoro. I've been using this the entire summer on a rod I keep in back of the Jeep for "emergencies" and caught bass and pike without issue.

I use the tables to convince a reluctant brother-in-law to go fishing -- his is the boat -- but outside of that I don't put a lot of stock in them. Some...but not a lot.

Do you think I could use this reel as part of a dedicated Banjo Minnow set-up? Uninformed opinions only please.

Jesus, a lot of posts arguing about something that hasn't seen a drop of water touch it. Personally I'm quite skeptical. I've ordered bargain products from China -- including an ill-advised purchase of a GPS/DVD/CD head unit for my Jeep -- and I find you generally get what you pay for.

Ramakkos in Sudbury, Ontario. Love it and way too many entries on my credit cards and bank statements have that name as a debit. That said, there is some stuff they don't carry -- Megabass lures, for example -- so I do occasionally hit BPS or eBay for stuff I can't get and Gary Yamamoto doesn't deal directly with Canadian stores so finding Senkos outside of a few limited colours is impossible locally so I will order from out of town for that stuff.

Outside of people's fishing line, I've never pulled anything up. I feel gypped. Someone will find a jointed lure hanging in a tree on Lake Nepawassi one day. They can bleeping have it because I never caught a bloody thing with it in three years.

Agreed on this. I haven't seen any more catches on a scatter rap -- granted, I've only thrown four different scatter raps -- then any other crank bait, and in many cases less than the traditional crankbaits in my box.

Count me in on that.

Already cooler up here in northern Ontario...still plenty nice but I have a feeling the hottest days are behind us.