Preytorien

That's true too, it went from decent temps to awful in a short period of time. Let's just hope the same will apply in March....straight from the 40's to 60's!

I think it mostly amounts to how I need to up my game. I'm at that point in my fishing addiction where I've got to start taking it to the next level and figuring out how to catch fish in more than just spring and summer. Add to the fact that it's already getting cold here, and that I'm usually bank restricted about 80% of the time, it's more than frusturating trying to figure out where to get em

Where's the Cosmic Clock and Bass Calendar Tom? Can you put up a link to it?

I'm beginning to think our lakes, ponds, and rivers don't read BR or any other fishing media available. I've been fishing for about 5 years seriously now, and I still have yet to see a year where my list of fishing bodies of water experience this mythical "fall bite" that's so hot you might as well re-string with piano wire or it'll melt your line. I will go out and maybe catch a few dinks with lipless cranks, some flukes, maybe a buzz, heck I'll try the whole tackle box, but I usually come home with no bites at all. The water is about 50F +/- 2F and I simply have no luck whatsoever. Where are these guys fishing, what are they using, and heck....does it even apply to Indiana? I've noticed these articles tend to be written in regards to waters more south than me.

Both neoprene and breathables have their place, and I've used both. I would suggest for VERY cold water the neoprene. I have breathable Orvis Silver Sonic waders, and while the layering option is very nice, and allows me to fish in darn cold conditions, I would be hesitant to fish waters less than 40F. The thickness of layering so many clothes to keep warm would cause movement issues, and when there's an outside chance of slipping and falling in icy water (which happened to me this weekend), movement becomes much more of an importance. That said, your budget is good. Waders, like other fishing purchases tend to follow the "you get what you pay for" rule. My Orvis waders are far nicer than any of the others I've ever used. It's worth it to spend some bucks on good wicking base layers, socks, gloves, and other cold-weather wading gear. It'll pay for itself on the water when you're nice and toasty. A handy tip, even though you'll use the attached boot waders, buy the hot-hands sole or toe warmers. Maybe your feet aren't going to freeze without them, but with them your experience will be so much more enjoyable when you're not toe-frozen.

I used a green Rage Craw on a custom green/chartruse brush jig that Mike Seibert worked with me on, it mimics a frog really well. Its nice too since I can work it on bottom or swim it, both emulate a frog. I do pretty well with it.

It really works for me. I just did 2 spinning rods last weekend for river smallmouth. I have them both spooled with Copolymer, and had a normal bit of memory/springiness, but after the boiling, they're nice tight coils.....added KVD L&L and now it's nearly as limp as braid....no kidding.

I got mine on eBay. It's pretty darn cheap. And yes, as mentioned above, it's great line, but made even better by KVD L&L

Springy line is usually just an issue of the line wanting to still conform to the diameter of the spool it was packaged on, which is several times bigger than your reel's spool. It's a lot like a coil spring, and especially if it's been sitting all winter that baby will spring like crazy. I've used KVD and it's pretty good stuff....works good to make lines more limp. But the best tip I've used is take spool off the reel (with the line on it, taped down or secured in the line holder tab), and put it in very hot/boiling water, for about 5 mins in something like a coffee cup or something. Make sure the water is boiling/hot before you put the line it it. What this does is softens the line, which then as it cools it allows it to re-conform to the diameter of the spool, not the packaging spool. I've done this MANY times now with flouro, mono, and copoly, and it makes a HUGE difference. The line still has some memory, but it's to the size of your spool, not the packagine, so it's much more manageable. Give it a try and let us know how you feel about it. PS -- doesn't work with braid, but hey, you don't need to

I've always heard (from other discussions on here about it), that there's no way to determine the gender of the bass just by looking. Female and male alike are identical on the outside. There's a lot of discussion on it, and a lot of theories, but nothing short of tissue samples seem to be the surefire way. You could do a DNA tissue sample test. Otherwise, I've heard of guys taking a tiny tube of some sort, and err....."inserting" it in the urogential vent on the underneath side of the fish, just in front of the anal fin, if eggs come out, it's female. I really don't recommend doing either. However, that said, females tend to be the larger fish, so if you catch a hawg, it's likely to be female. Also, I heard an oldtimer say to observe the males and females after spawn. The males will be tired and sluggish, while the females will want to cuddle........ :grin: :grin:

I have a lot of cold weather cycling gear I'll be using as my base layer. Similar to UnderArmour, but it's made by various cycling manufacturers. It's specifically designed to wick moisture away from the body, which is what I hear I want to accomplish with the base. Felix, that headgear is called a balaclava. I use one faithfully in the Oct-Nov and March-Apr months of cycling. They keep you WARM believe me. I'm going to use one of those, with a knit cap on top. For my hands I'm using neoprene diving gloves. I like the two-finger ones from Orvis, but I think I might be getting those for Xmas from the wife, so I better not buy em' yet. My only issue I think I'll find is that for my cold/snow jacket all I have is the big tan Carhart jacket, which would probably be very heavy and bulky under these otherwise well-fitting waders. So I will have to layer a base-fleece-hoodie combo on top to keep warm. Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it.

Here in Indiana it's starting to get cold. Some of you have had cold weather for several weeks now, some of you never see truly cold weather. I'm new to river/stream smallmouth fishing, I have a great pair of Orvis Silver Sonic waders. I still haven't gotten out when it's cold to see how they do in cold water. What are some tips for wading cold water that those of you that are wading veterans could give me? Under my waders I plan on using military issue fleece-lined propylene baselayer, some wicking Swiftwick socks with normal cotton socks over that. Up top I'll probably use some kind of fleece jacket with a hoodie over that. Probably a balaclava and knit hat over that for my head. I'm planning on wading Saturday morning, for which the forecast calls for low 30's air temps that day. I'm not sure what the water temps are, definitely less than 60, probably in the mid-low 50's. The wading won't get any deeper than waist deep, with most of it being mid-thigh level water. Any warmth tips?

Now that's a cool idea. Great job! I have some of those twist-locks laying around for when I want to add one to a swimbait hook. I'll have to try it. The straws would certainly have to be a very flimsy kind to be able to depress at the bite, even subtle one, of a fish. What kind are you using? Looks like the coffee stirring kind I have at the Hardee's down the street

^^^ This I started using baitcasters for frogging, where we used 65lb braid, and got the hang of it immediately. Never had a "bad" backlash, just a few small ones. Now and then I'll get an itch in my hitch and want to try mono/flouro/copoly, and it's like I'm back to casting as a novice. Braid just seems better for me. Not to mention I now only really use a casting outfit for frogging or jigging in nasty cover, which needs braid anyways. When you're seating the line (initial spooling, and re-seating after a trip), I do as Aaron Martens said in one of his videos, he puts so much pressure on the line as he's reeling it back onto the spool that you can't even get your fingernail to hardly dig into the line.

I saw and hooked a 27lb Largemouth at Lake Fork, but it broke my line and got away......oh also it was in the Bass Pro Shops Pro Angler game for iPhone Ha, but really, I don't "see" all that many fish that I don't catch since I'm rarely in a boat. Even with polarized glasses it's not all that often that I see a fish I catch from the bank. When I do, it's spawn and those buggers won't hardly bite for anything since they saw me long before I saw them.

I agree, ponds hold a certain mystique about them. Likely it's because my fishing roots go back to fishing with my grandfather at a friend's farm pond for bluegill and crappie. Those were good times. Now, I love just dissecting the pond, it's structure, cover, and charcteristics without electronics. I don't have a bass boat per say, but I do have a Sea Eagle boat that allows me to get out on the water of smaller lakes/large ponds. Which is also fun. Nothing like finding a larger-than-average secluded pond with brush all around the bank and knowing you've got it all to yourself for the day. Lately though I've been getting into wading some local rivers/streams for smallmouth. Man, that's a lot of fun!

Yea, absolutely no sharp edges. Like I said I ran a cottonball and swab (both) around the lip, and nothing caught. It's just a tiny flat spot. Glad it's not problematic. A new spool is $40+ so I wasn't liking the idea of a new spool for a new reel. Thanks for the help guys.

I have a Stradic FJ2500, and last night I was putting new line on the spool, and ended up dropping the reel on the garage floor. Unfortunately I don't have a shop mat or anything there, so the spool hit the concrete and got a small flat spot on the lip of it. It's about 1mm deep and about 3-4mm wide. Made me sick, I've had this reel about a month. How concerned should I be about replacing the spool? I checked it for rough edges, there are none, I ran a cotton swab across it, and nothing caught. I tried casting a few times, and didn't notice any issues, but I'm also no reel expert. It's tough to see without knowing it's there, but I can see it...and it's irritating. Maybe some of the reel pros could chime in here? Thanks guys

Sounds interesting. Could you post a few photos to show us what you are doing? The post is detailed, but I'd still like to see what you're doing exactly. Thanks for the tip!

I have a Sea Eagle 8, with the fisherman's dream package. I'd like to put a swivel seat on it, however the nature of the boat, and the reason it was attractive, is the fact that I can stow it in the trunk of my car, so I need one that's removable (stowable for transport) Any ideas or recommendations? I'd prefer one that's not very high, preferrably almost flush, or just a couple inches high. Ideas?

I was undecided on the Ci4+ versus the FJ.....but I ended up going with the FJ since I like a little more stiffness to the frame of the reel with a little weight penalty. I'm not fishing 200 days a year for 10hrs a day, weight is not as big of a factor to me as it is to others. I can certainly see the merit, but I posed the question a few days ago of how truly important is that few grams is to a fisherman? To some it's a huge deal, to others it appears a marketing hype. It's just up to you. That said, my FJ is now my hands-down favorite reel in my arsenal.

Yea, initially I was kind of breaking the rules, sort of....I had permission from a resident, a guy that I work with, to "fish at our ponds anytime you like, just park at my house." But I found a guy who understood, allowed the resident to exercise his allowance, was accomodating, and had the clout to enforce the rules as he saw fit, and me being given the exception was in his graces. But since those guys took it much too far, and not having permission, the HOA was forced to require Gary (the guy I know) to enforce the rules to everyone, not just at his discretion, or permission from residents. He stated that the only way I'd be able to fish it is physically WITH the co-worker of mine being with me at the time of fishing. They're even changing the signage around the pond to state that rule. I was just given a good opportunity, but now it's gone. Makes me just that more considerate of the other properties I am allowed to fish.

Just a friendly reminder to be a considerate and conservative fisherman I frequently fish a small pond near my house. It's in a neighborhood, and the HOA stocks the pond with nice bluegill, bass, and catfish. I've developed and maintained a courteous relationship with the HOA president who's also a fisherman, we frequently talk shop about fishing, stocking, and bass biology. He caught me fishing once, but offered me a "you're the exception to the rules" fishing permission. I always made sure to thank him. It's a nice place to stop by on the way home from work, give a new lure a try, or take my little daughter with me to fish someplace that's nice and clean. Apparently some other fishermen who weren't afforded the same permissions came and fished the pond over the weekend, and were caught with fish in a bucket. Now the HOA has a no non-resident application in process, which means I lost my most convenient fishin' hole. I tried to see if he'd still allow me to fish, but he begrudginly told me he can't allow it anymore, he had too much pressure from the residents. Just remember to be courteous, clean, and considerate, your choices may someday affect the very fishing spots we hold dear

I have a Sellus (white kind) and I've noticed that the reel seat is a good deal more pronounced than say my Compre or Crucial With any of my reels to keep a nice snug seat, I wrap the ends of the reel foot with a couple wraps of pipe thread tape then seat it. Seems to keep any play at bay. I just hope it's not causing sensitivity issues for the rods.....doesn't seem to be

I've had one a couple years and never had an issue Like has been stated, a lot of it is probably high-sticking, swinging, etc.....user error It's one of my favorite rods. I have a Fast/Heavy version with a Carbonlite 6.3:1 reel for my frog setup.....more than one of my friends have asked to use it while I'm using a different rod But as for durability.....I've not had any problems