Scott F

Have you fished the Kankakee, DuPage or Fox Rivers in Illinois? Lots of access and lots of smallmouth.

Or, Blaze Orange.

I typically do not go through a lot of terminal tackle in a day so I carry this small, Plano #1070-00 box. It's 4.75" x 4.25" x 1.5. It's made for fly fishing but it has moveable dividers which makes it perfect for hooks and other terminal tackle and easily fits in a side pocket of my tackle bag.

Check out these responses from older threads. It's been brought up a few times before. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/147943-whats-your-preference-on-braid/ http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/144107-best-braid/ http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/136350-best-braid-sunline/ http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/130658-best-brand-of-braided-line/#entry1444977 http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/119219-best-braid/

#6 wire is good for any size trolling motor you can buy unless you are running more than 20 feet of wire.

Back reeling is not even possible on any of the new Quantum reels. They removed the anti-reverse switch.

The guy is so cool, he has a remote that backs his truck and trailer down the ramp.

I find that soft plastics that don't give off a lot of vibrations, like flukes or senkos no matter what the color, don't work well for me in stained water. I catch more fish with these in clearer water.

So you can get even more impressive backlashes.

Of course the guy launching the boat is cool. He's got a $70,000 Ranger boat! What's subliminal about that?

A bass boat not using a cable steer? Is that the "Subliminal Message"?

I'm a technician by trade. I often will build what I need from what I can find around my shop. I have some friends who are intelligent, and very, very good fishermen but are mechanically inept. They would not even consider trying to build ANYTHING from scratch. My post about buying a kayak carrier from Cabela's is for them. Although, if they bought one, they'd call me to put it together for them.

Cabela's has a kayak carrier on sale right now, Regular $120 for $49.99

The reason I will be spending my weekends volunteering my time working a booth is because I get to see and talk to a lot of people who I know and seldom see, and I get to talk to a lot of people who like to fish. I see a lot of posts on BR from guys who are bored with winter and want to get out and fish. When that's not possible, they post here. But better than that, is getting out and being with people who fish.

DO NOT TRUST ziplock bags to protect your cell phone or camera in the event of a dunking. Too many of my friends who do a lot of wading have lost phones that got soaked while being "protected" by a baggie. An Aquapac for your phone is $30

Seal-Line has a good line of waterproof bags. Lot of different sizes. If the weather is cool, keeping extra dry clothes is a good idea just in case you take an unexpected dunking. For small items like phones or cameras, try and find Aquapac cases. for hard cases and boxes, OtterBox makes some real good cases. Sometimes, the biggest problem is finding retailers who carry what you are looking for. Kayak shops usually carry a selection.

Hungry bass are hanging out behind those rocks out of the current waiting for a meal to drift by. Weightless senkos drifting in the current right next to the slack water are money.

Those double cowgirls put more strain on reels than almost any other bait. You need the toughest reels you can find to hold up when throwing those.

I caught A LOT of smallmouth and largemouth on jerk baits with spinning gear and braided line. If I give a little tug on the line to remove any loops that might be forming at the spool before I start my retrieve, I don't have any problems while working the bait back to the boat. I also haven't found I get any slack line that allows fish to throw the bait while using braid. At least no more than while fishing any other lines. Smallies just have a natural talent for throwing baits back at you.

Lines that stretch do not impart all the action you give while working the jerk bait. With braid, every twitch and jerk I do to the bait is transmitted right to the bait. That's what I'm looking for.

Musky gear needs to be sized more for the baits you'll be throwing than for the fish. Repeated casting of double 10's or baits that weigh over a pound will do more damage to your gear than the fish will. Gear up for what kind of baits you expect to throw with each rod.

Why do you like the jerk bait with the nose pointing down?

My club had a booth at Rosemont for years but it is such a ghost town anymore it just wasn't worth our time to participate anymore. Having to pay what is it, $12 or $13 just to park is more than the show is worth. I used to love that show back when I was booking a lot of Canadian trips and doing a lot of traveling to fish but, that time is gone.

Exactly how buoyant do you thing braid is? Do you think a jig, even a light one won't sink because braid floats? A bare hook will cause braid to sink. Braid barely floats. I use braid exclusively on my spinning gear in mostly clear water and have never used a leader. I don't like anything more than 10 pound because I like to make long casts and I start losing distance as the line gets heavier. You will cast so much farther with 10 pound braid than you will with 30.

As the water temps drop their metabolism slows down to the point where the rarely have to feed. Depending on the river system, they may have migrated several miles out of the creek and into the river the creek feeds into to find deep slow moving water. That's why winter fishing is tough. Even if you find the wintering holes, they probably won't be doing a lot of feeding.