iceintheveins

I loved Easy Cast. They changed the name to Magnaflex, but now they quit making both. Idiots.

I usually fish them with a steady retrieve that is interrupted by a two to four second fall, then I jerk it forward with the rodtip and continue. I put a few jerks into a steady retrieve and that seems to increase strikes. I count it down to the depth I want, then retrieve,

Spinnerbaits work great still. In some fisheries they aren't as effective as in others, but they are a lure you should never go without.

I wasn't nuts about them either. I used them ice fishing once and the perch would just come up and look at them. I said screw them, put on a perch eye, and immediately started icing perch on every drop.

Yeah I need to get some sluggos, no doubt. I know a guy who nails big trout in the rivers and mountain lakes on them as well.

With the water being so cold, I would go with a tube, a jig and pig, maybe a senko, or maybe a suspending jerkbait. Oh, and don't forget dropshotting. Might be a little cold for more aggressive tactics like topwaters and cranks just yet. Then again I've been proven wrong at times on that one. I usually start getting them on topwaters when the water temps hit the mid 50s.

Hey I need to try that. That looks good for flippin' around cover.

That happens to me with just about all the soft sticks. I rig them texposed on one end, then when it's shredded, I texpose on the other end. When both ends are shredded, I wacky rig them. Soft sticks are pure bass crack in clear to slightly stained water.

Overall they are just about as good. I like the action of the original senko a bit better, but tiki sticks last longer. A senko is done after a couple of bass usually.

Smallies will nail a DT16, even 14 inchers. You might not catch the numbers on that size of crank that you will on a smaller crank or jig, but it will still catch smallies. I've caught smallies on 7" jerkbaits and giant buzzbaits over one ounce when fishing for pike, including some not much bigger than the lure.

They work all right, but not as good as regular plastics. The action is a bit stiff and scent usually isn't what catches fish, it just HELPS in some situations, mostly to hook more strikes.

It's cause the MWRA is a bunch of communists idiots. They wiped out 4 towns with eminent domain, and they own vast portions of many other surrounding towns and don't give people access to the land!! It's a bunch of BS is what it is!! Communist land grab. I'd be down to come fishing with ya'll though. Even though I despise how they 'manage' the land that WE own at the Quabbin. d**n Straight. WE own that land, not the government. Whenever the government owns the land and the people don't, it's communism. Water supplies ARE PUBLIC PROPERTY!

Because a lot of water utility goons have this fallacious idea that allowing boating is going to contaminate the water supply, and that keeping people out somehow makes it safer from terrorists (even though having MORE people around is GOOD for security). I can see not allowing gas motors in small water supply lakes, but access should be unlimited for at least non motorized boating AND Ice fishing. The nearby Waschusset reservoir doesn't even allow float tubes I heard. Here in Colorado, it's even worse. Most states and cities DO NOT block access to their reservoirs for the stupid reason.

Our lakes here in Colorado are now mostly ice free, but the water is still quite cold and the bass not all that hungry. I am going to hit some local ponds next week though because the water in there is nearing 50 degrees.

I don't target bass through the ice either, I catch them on complete accident when fishing for perch, gills, and crappie. It isn't good to try to ice bass in water over 25 - 30 feet deep because they have a tendency to blow their swimbladders and will have difficult time surviving being caught.

I have fished the Upper Susky around Owego NY. It was also very high and muddy when I did so. Try to find back eddies or culverts where the fish can get out of that current. A big, black hula grub of 5" is a good bait now, as is a big black spinnerbait slow rolled. With the river in flood right now, it's going to be tough though. Watch out for shallow shoals and submerged trees or rocks that might be visible when the water is lower and clearer.

I like green and brown pumpkins, watermelon seed, reds, and anything that will match the general color of our local crawdads when the water is clear. For murky water, black with blue or green claws is the way to go.

It says there has been no increase in native species since the removals began in the Green River. If you asked Steve Yamashita, former assistant manager of the NW Region here in Colorado, he has reviewed tons of data and says there has been NONE to support what is going on. Not ANYWHERE has there been an increase in native species. You are simply ignoring what is written. The enviros and idealists are ALWAYS going to ask for more time and money for their crusade.

Actually I think the power minnow is a soft jerkbait type lure.

I think as light as 1/16 ounce and as heavy as 1/4.

None of the fish are given to families in Colorado. Most are taken to the dump or left to rot on the banks.

That's a good pic. So how many of you rig the point of the hook up through the bottom of the tube around the tentacles? I usually was rigging them on the body of the tube, and it was tricky to get it just right.

Swimbaits. I've caught some big bass when fishing for pike with 6 - 10" long swimbaits and jerkbaits. But if water is stained or murky, a big fat jig and pig in the heaviest cover is best.

I would use 1/4 to 1/2 ounce. Heavier weights might be needed to punch through heavier weed growth.

Anyone ever tried this line? It's supposed to be Super Mono's easy casting formula?