iceintheveins

It's a great lake, as it's nearby Quail Creek, which isn't as good for numbers but produces more 5 pound plus fish.

Aurora has pigs. I know some other lakes that occasionally kick out an 8 pound or bigger bucketmouth but my lips are sealed, they aren't protected well enough in our state. But I've seen 5 pound smallies and 5 pound largemouth pound swimbaits at Aurora.

Yep.

Was down in LA in January and it was nearly 80 degrees, warm even for there during the winter. The drought in Colorado is bad but in California it is unbelievable. Time for overtime prayers and rain dances or California might take a major hit as one of the best bass fishing states in the nation.

About time. I wish there was an advocate to fight for our rights to boat on our own lakes.

Didn't they pass single barbless only regs on this lake or was that thankfully repealed?

I have had my pq's for four years and they are still going strong with no troubles.

Great for spinnerbaits and all topwaters except frogs.

The Pro Qualifier hands down. The Speed Spool isn't bad either and neither is the Shimano Caenan.

The "Vicious" line of cranks are very good too, though small and best for finesse presentations.

I fish the three or four inch models on jigheads usually, 1/8 of an ounce to 3/8 of an ounce. The four and five inchers can be fished texas style on small EWG hooks.

Rapala Skitterpop #7 in Lime Frog.

Netbait tiny paca chunk, zoom creepy crawler, and the smallest yum craw pappy.

Curado!

Too much oil had gotten into the AR bearing. Cleaned it and that solved it.

Figured it out nevermind.

On a couple of my three year old PQ's, I noticed that after the annual cleaning the anti reverse is slipping VERY slightly, and the spool will turn backward maybe a millimeter or so. I thought maybe I overlubed them, so I cleaned them again and applied less lube, and they are still doing it. When I have the spools out and the tension knob bearing out, I notice the pinion gear will turn backward just slightly. So I'm not sure where the problem lies. Thinking of sending then to Mike at Delaware Valley Tackle. Any suggestions?

Try a 7'11" Medium BPS crankin' stick for those small swimbaits

I would go for the BPS Crankin' Stick in 7' Medium.

The problem is the eco purists who think "endangered species at all costs" especially when an introduced fish really isn't the problem, the big money dams and water users are the real reason for the decline. State biologists can be REALLY dishonest too, and some people are too pig headed to see that. A good policy is to take anything a government biologist says with a spoonful of salt until you do your own research with other anglers and verify it yourself. Colorado is the worst of the worst on this, and Washington/Oregon are pretty bad too, not to mention California. Most states out west suck at managing fish IMO.

10 - 12 pound mono for 1/4 ounce spinnerbaits in lighter cover, and 14 - 20 for 3/8 ounce baits and up in heavier cover. In light cover with heavier spinnerbaits you are fine with 12 - 14.

I do primarily overhead casting, whether it's casting gear or spinning gear, because I like to cover water and make long casts. You can have a fairly quiet entry if you thumb the spool just as the bait hits the water. Sidearm casting, pitching, and skipping are all skills you need though, especially the last two.

I catch tons of bass through the ice when fishing for panfish, though I don't target bass. For me, panfish fishing is just a way of waiting for the flags to pop up when I'm running tip ups after my REAL winter quarry: BIG PIKE! Most of the bass I've caught through the ice have been largemouth, but smallies too.

The very best jigs IMO are pepper jigs from pepperjigs.com. I carry three colors: Pumpkin Green Flake (Green Pumpkin), Clear Lake Special (Brown Orange) and Black Blue. I use matching rage or paca chunks and they hammer the snot out of bass everywhere I've fished.

I carry generally only three colors of jigs. 1. Green Pumpkin 2. Black Blue 3. Brown/Orange If it's clear water, green pumpkin is what I throw almost all the time, though brown orange can be good if the crayfish are in that shade. In stained and murky, you just cannot go wrong with black/blue.