MarkH024

Greyleg.. 5lb smallie is a heck of a fish still. I haven't fished it, but Cheqaumegon Bay up in Superior is said to have consistent 5 to 6 lbers. I'd take that all day long as opposed to catching one 9 or 10lber. Not saying I wouldn't love to catch a 10lber.... , but not likely.

I don't hunt at all.......however I was under the impression from those I personally know who do, it is the hunters obligation to make sure that other people/hunters know of there where abouts...or is that wrong? Regardless...being shot at in any circumstances is completely unethical for a "warning" to another sportsman. Murderers, rapists, and burglars are just about the only grounds for being shot at in my book.

Next weekend is the beginning of Canadian Geese hunting season for Wisconsin. Every year this season comes up I think about a run in we had with a hunter that to this day I still think his actions were completely unecessary and I have a hard time forgetting about it. I'll make this short and sweet so you guys don't become bored reading a wall of text. It was an October morning (probably 5 years ago now)...so waterfowl hunting season was in full force. My dad, brother and I got in the boat around 6am and headed to the backside of our lake. The moment we stop the motor and are about to get situated we hear 3 shots from the farther shoreline side. I looked up in the air and not a single duck/geese was flying through the air and as soon as I start looking at my brother, we see and hear pellets landing in the water about 20 feet from us. Basically this guy in his blind was not happy with our presence. We were at least 100 yds from this guy but the lake is very small overall. 65+ acres only. He didn't have any decoys, nothing to let us even know he was out there. My dad is pretty hard guy to get fired up and as he didn't say anything, I could tell he was ready to go back to the house and retaliate. I was pretty steamed too but kind of in a shock as well. Who's right...who's wrong here? Both fishing and hunting legal at this point. He had no indications that he was out there. What would you have done? I'm heading up there next weekend for my brothers bachelor party with 9 of our friends so we'll be fishing all weekend. It's opening season for Canadian geese Sept 1st, and I know this guy will be out again. Every year with fall hunting seasons opening up I think about this and it still bugs me to this day.

Congrats! Nice fish. Where was that time portal you crawled through to take the picture?

This has gotten some relatively good reviews on TW and some other places. Might give this a go. Thanks for the referral

Nice fish! When I saw this topic, I thought of my 3 month old twins.

The great line debate..........it will never end. I do agree on the Vanish comment. However I've had good success with Viscous, so that's why I was asking. I use KVD line conditioner on it and it has softened up and casts really well for me. I haven't had the abrasion, break offs like people are saying in reviews. Sometimes I wonder if those people are tying knots properly or retying when they should be. There are more variables to it then to just say it's junk. I fish mostly braid except for my cranking set ups. I see the same type of reviews on Seaguar as people are giving Viscous. Some say its great, some say its garbage. I haven't ever tried it so maybe i'll give it a whirl. I just hate shelling out money for line...I'd rather spend that cash on tackle. I guess it's just trial and error. I'll still order some Viscous from TW probably unless I walk into a Walmart sometime soon. I don't ever shop there so not exactly convenient for me. I'm open to other suggestions on Fluoro. Let's hear 'em.

Thanks for the responses.

I have had great experience with it so far. Its easy on the wallet too. Cabelas is literally 5 minutes from me so it was nice and convenient. Maybe ill check out that pro elite flourish.

Did Bass Pro and Cabelas drop Viscous Fishing products? I have been to both stores and on the websites and don't see their Fluorocarbon line anymore. I probably have answered my own question but the other question is WHY? just out of curiosity if anyone knows that answer I'd like to hear. Good thing for TWH! I'll be placing my order there I guess.

Probably nothing, they don't always bite. Not sure on your location but a cold front could have shut down the bite. Maybe the water is too hot. Lots of variables. Just keep chuggin. Maybe they're not interested in those baits you've shown. Or maybe they're not in the areas you're targeting. Keep digging in your tackle bag and try other things. Flip a jig, throw a squarebill or lipless, try a spinnerbait, throw a topwater at dusk/dawn.

TY, i was not going to go back and fourth...........but Stock is 3, Mag is 3, Gas Tube 1, Gas Piston 1, Muzzle Brake 1........ If I go to jail....i'll be in a lawsuit over it.

The 5" crank doesn't surprise me as it's not insanely big. I read that a 16" LMB can eat another LMB or fish proportionate to that around 9-10". So yeah it's not surprising you get one here or there on musky baits. I was thinking more like the Double Cow Girls, Suiks, Bulldogs. Some of the big monster baits. I think I've caught about 50% or better of my Musky on bass baits. I don't Musky fish nearly as much as I do Bass fish though. When I was in Canada one year, I was fishing a giant Tiger Tube for Musky and I caught about 15 20" or less pike on it. There is no way a pike of that size could even swallow it. Rather amusing however it tears them up pretty bad. I pretty much crippled all of them that I caught. I was giving an easy meal to the Brown and Bald eagles. But as for the topic...I would never throw musky baits for bass intentionally. For one, it can get exhausting depending on what you're throwing. Maybe some of the big swim baits if I were out in Cali or Texas.

X2 and I have an addiction to figuring it out. Its a new game every time out. It never gets old.

You're more likely to catch a musky on a bass bait, then the other way around. I do recall someone recently showing a picture of a bass on a Poe's Giant Jack Pot. That's a big meal for your average bass. I've caught a bass or two throwing bucktails for musky, that's about it though. Snakey northerns will go after musky lures of all sizes.

Congrats on the nice fish and the win. SMILE! What lake was this on?

Further north past Madison. Up by Green County area.

I beg to differ. If you frog fish the right way, with the right tools....your hook up rate should be pretty good, +75%. Most misses I experience are just from the fish completely whiffing on the hit. Ask Dean Rojas if it's overrated.

No I haven't. Never even heard of it.

Understand completely. Everyone has their priorities and limits. Well, the Chain or Shabbona is probably your best choices for Northern IL then. Maybe next season convince your pops to get a WI license. You could also try Lake Zurich, Crystal Lake, and Silver Lake. Those are a few others that you can put a boat in. There is plenty of good shoreline opportunities on the Fox River too just so you know. Just google it and you'll find pretty much shore access around all the dam areas. Let me know if you check it out and catch anything.

Take this from me, and this is strictly my opinion as I know some people will chime in. Since you're up by Wisconsin, I'd target something up there. The fishing (in my own experience) is just plain better in Wisconsin. For starters, you have to pay for a permit whether seasonal or temporary on the Chain. The Chain is dirty...hotter than tick, super shallow...and in the boating season it's filled with drunk people flying around on 600HP boats. You're coming down in October so you'll miss the brute of the morons out there but you'll catch a few still. I know this because I used to go there and party with friends that still go there and do the same stuff. There are some select areas that are decent spots for fishing......but nothing great (in my eyes). I'm sure others will say it's awesome but I'm just being super honest with you based from my time spent out there. If you want to fish the Fox down this way, you need a boat that you can port (canoe/kayak). The Elgin stretch is big enough to put a motor boat in with launches however you're limited to the dams. The Fox river is nice but if I were you I'd head North and hit the Wisconsin River instead. I'm from the Chicago area, and I've been to the chain, I fish the Fox River by my house, I've caught fish at both. But overall the fishing has been better to me in Wisconsin. I fish Wisconsin much more than in IL. The fishing pressure in IL is insane INSSSSANE. I think the other people fishing here makes me even more angry because of how they treat the water and shorelines. Shabbona I hear is decent, but extremely pressured as well. I haven't fished it so I'm not going to say if it is good or not. I'll let someone else speak on that.

This is a great topic and why I love these forums. It's the smaller things, that get discussed and you get to see how everyone else factors in their choices. I personally use EWG 90% of the time, and offset 10% just like some of the others, however I never really put a LOT of thought into it. I'll be interested in seeing some more responses. The other great thing is people like Big-O, who have a plethora of knowledge in the industry just openly speaking about these topics daily. I too am curious on "who" is watching these forums and taking in all this free feedback. Even just reading all the tackle making topics from the average joe, I am really inspired to start doing my own stuff. Some of the work done here is incredible.

I've caught a number of walleye from Hollow Body swimbaits, fishing for Bass. I don't really ever fish for them but manage to nab a few here and there. If I were purposely going for them I'd use a jig and grub on light tackle or Flicker Shad cranks.

I'll send you all my reels to be greased and oiled.

Square bill crank baits and pitching Jig n Pig. Crash the square bills off the sides and pause it just for a moment. Don't just zoom it past the timber as you don't always know which way they're facing. If you smash it into the wood and pause, they'll likely turn to that direction from the disturbance, that pause will give them a chance to burst out for it. Keep at it, timber is always a great source for nice bass. Sorry for repetitive answer from WW2Farmer. I must have scrolled past it. my mistake, but great advice.