leadslinger

X3 on backing w/ mono.

The lake I fish doesn't have much heavy cover, and I use the M most often. I use it for t-rig plastics&jigs down to 30ft (great feel), cranks and spinnerbaits. Landed plenty of thick fish, and abused it while trying to free snags and haven't had any issues. I don't use the MH much so wouldn't want to mislead you. With this said, I'm thinking about trying the Falcon Bucoo which is also about $100 (free ground shipping) and has pretty good reviews, just to try something different. Good luck.

I've been very pleased with the St. Croix Mojo Bass 6'6" M or MH. I think they are $99. Good luck, and don't let the birdnests win! With time, you will love it (the baitcaster I mean).

I've been using the S, SX, and STX (gen2) for over a year now and pleased with all 3 reels. The STX does feel a bit smoother, but all perform nicely. No backlash issues on any of the models for me. I've left the brake settings kind of on medium, and never change them. No issues, like 'em all. The $$$ is personal choice. The SX is a happy medium, and looks the coolest (IMHO).

I have been using St. Croix Mojo Bass, 6'6" Med/Fast rods for my Revo's. I recently bought an Abu Garcia Veritas 6'6" MH/Fast Micro Guide rod for my Revo SX. The Veritas Micro Guide doesn't seem to cast nearly as far. I use this setup mostly for jigs and texas rigged plastics. I haven't tried swapping the setups yet. Anyone have a similar experience with Micro Guide rods? I'm not sure if its the Micro Guide design at all. Maybe it's the MH rod vs the Medium Mojo, or just an inherent difference in the Veritas rod. I'm thinking about swapping the Veritas for the Falcon Bucoo. My price point is around $100/rod. Thanks. Bill

I'm new to early season fishing (water temp of 39F). Had my first outing for the season yesterday and caught two nice smallies at about 30ft deep (silver buddy on long main lake points). So my newbie question is.... Are bass caught in deeper water susceptible to air bladder issues? I've read walleye may not survive if brought up from certain depths. Does something similar apply for lm/sm bass? Thanks. Bill P.S. I'm guessing the fish pictured is a female judging from size and belly, but if anyone can confirm I'd appreciate it. I'm not sure how to tell the difference.

Been using this knot for 6 months now and love it. Simple to tie, strong, no break-offs to date. Whatever it's called, it works great.

Thanks to all for the replies! I can tolerate being uncomfortable as long as there's still a decent chance (albeit low) of getting bit. Sounds like there still is, I'll keep plugging away. Happy holidays and good fishing to all. Bill

This is my first fall/winter season fishing a lake in MD known to be kind of tough fishing to begin with. It's a fairly large lake, water down to 100+ft deep, has largemouth and smallies. Current surface water temp is 46. I've been skunked the last 3 times out with water temp <48. I'm throwing blade baits and dropshots in about 10ft of water and working down the drop to 45ft, trying to cover the whole column. The only fish I'm marking are very deep 45-60, but locals feel they are not that deep (or so they say). In this temp of water, do you only go after marked fish? I never mind a good boat ride, but are these fish really done for the season? Thoughts? Thanks. Bill

I know this sounds amateurish, but I am. Following up on a recent hookset thread by bassr95, I wanted to ask if a second hookset is okay if you're unsure about an initial good set. This is my first year fishing the t-rig, and it is my favorite weapon right now. I am usually making long casts to cover a lot of water. Every now and then the hookset doesn't give me that solid feedback as when you know you got it set well. On those weak feeling sets, often the fish seems to just let go half way back (still underwater), and the plastics didn't move off the hook tip very far, or at all. I'm using braid w/ 6ft. fc leader, and 3/0 - 5/0 gammy offset ewg worm hooks. Not sure if it's the long cast that makes the hookset tougher. I do reel down before setting, but maybe still a little slack. Thoughts on setting the hook a second time if I sense it wasn't set well? Thx.

I'm still a sonar reading rookie, and would appreciate thoughts on the attached. I often see these "stacks" of angled lines that seem to go from deeper water up to the surface, and not sure what to make of it. I've circled 2 sets of these stacks side by side. The screen shot was taken this morning while drifting over a point. I see the larger fish returns, but not confident they are bass. The lake has bass, white perch and stripers. I'm assuming the returns to the left and center are bass (chasing baitfish maybe?). Do baitfish show up like that? Thanks for any help. sonar noob Bill

okee doke. will change as you suggest. first season using braid/fc, still learning the ropes. Thanks much.

Yep, in hindsight I suppose regular retying was called for. I frequently retie the knot at the lure, just figured the leader knot would need less maintenance. I think leaving a bit of fluoro tag end showing would help to inspect for any slippage. Several videos showed clipping flush, but I think I'll try leaving a small stub. I'm hoping since it made it through 20+ fish, and several hard hooksets on inanimate objects, it was stressed too much. The braid knot still looked good, just no leader material. Thanks.

I guess I was using the Improved Albright (Alberto?), I went 10 wraps out, and about 4-5 back towards loop, exiting back through the same direction I started. I gave a few hard tugs after tying, seemed solid. I will take extra care tying this the next time, but I hope it was more a matter of needing to retie after so may outings vs poor knot construction. Thanks for the input, you guys are a great help. Thanks Tom for the extra credit work, much appreciated.

I was fishing a Texas rig with #30 Power Pro and 10f feet of #15 Invisix Fluoro as a leader using an Albright knot to connect to main line. Got bit, set hook as normal, and it just let loose. All I got back was the braid knot, with no fluoro remaining in the knot from the leader, which seemed like it slipped rather than the fluoro breaking at the albright loop. Nothing I hate more than leaving a hook and 10 ft of line in a fish! I had been using a uni-uni knot to join the leader, but that knot was bigger so switched to the albright. I'm confident the knot was tied well initially, but I honestly didn't inspect the knot over time. Had been using that rig for 5-6 outings, and maybe 20 fish. Is this a common issue with the Albright? Does the leader to main line need to be retied after some time? Any thoughts greatly appreciated. Bill

I bought an SX this winter, and had the side plate come off (and into the lake) after 2 months. In talking to rep, he said the reel had a design problem, but has now been corrected. They replaced with next gen (I assume gen2 as you refer to it). Love the reel, no problems with gen2. Not worth $100 as others have said but if you get it cheaper just keep an eye on the side plate screw. Good luck. Bill

Good to hear about my FF being capable of seeing the springs. My first season with this unit and still messing with it. I see the thermocline fairly clearly in regular sonar mode (not DI mode), appearing as a speckled band about 10-15 feet thick at about 50 ft right now. I'll try looking at it in DI mode to see how it looks as well. I'll check this site for site for sonar adjustment discussion. Thx. Bill

Thanks to everyone for the excellent feedback. For the record, I have now been officially diagnosed with Sonar ***! Santa said I better be an awfully good boy if I expect an 1100 series (or equivalent) FF under the tree this year. I wonder if my HB 596 HD DI is capable of distinguishing such a feature. Thanks again all (especially Wayne for the screenshot)! Bill

Great work, and thanks for the follow-up. I haven't located any at my lake yet, but still searching. Do you mind if I ask what kind of FF you have? My HB596 HD unit has only Down Imaging, and looks nothing like what the advertising suggests. Your imaging shot shows tons of detail. I may need to have a talk with Santa. Thanks again.

I've tried them occasionally with the YUM weighted swimbait hooks with no luck yet. I can't seem to keep them deep enough for this time of year. Might need to add a bullet weight. I'm going tomorrow and will give it another try. I see on TV they work just great! Smallies are hitting 1oz spinners (double willow) w/ trailers right now though.

Traveler, If it's not a lot of work, sure, I'd like to see what you found. I found a few USGS docs, but not like what you describe. I came across a YouTube video showing pics of the old mill and town prior to being flooded. They blew up the mill, but left the houses intact. Thanks for the help. Bill

Good input on this subject, and I appreciate the info and suggestions. The lake freezes sometimes, but no boats allowed until march. I did not know spring water lacked DO. If I can coax the location of just one of these springs from the lake veterans, I will try to locate and get a FF screenshot, but it will likely take a while. Thanks, Bill

The reservoir is Liberty, owned by the City of Baltimore. I did some USGS digging, but no luck finding spring info. I did find some cool history of the town now underwater and some neat pics. If you find anything, I'd appreciate the info. I'll also pay more attention to the FF display as WRB mentioned, but I have entry-mid level HB finders, not sure they're up to the task. Thanks!

This is my first year fishing a local reservoir, flooded in the 1950's. While asking a local advice for striper fishing, he mentioned it wouldn't take long for me to find the underwater spring heads (and thus the stripers). I figure this lake feature would apply to large and smallmouth bass during the warmer season if they're looking for cooler water. Does anyone have advice on how to find/identify these underwater springs? I've got a good lake map showing the old river channels, depths, foundations, etc,. Is this something even worth looking for regarding bass fishing? Appreciate any thoughts on this. Thanks, Bill

This site is great, and a huge help to this newbie. I recently picked fishing up again as my "mid-life crisis", got the bug, bought a boat last year, having a blast, tons to learn. I'm fishing a local lake exclusively. I look forward to sharing and learning on this site. Bill