MIbassyaker

This morning is the two year anniversary of my current PB (the fish in my profile). Not sure of the size, but it was around 5lb. The scale I used was an old junky spring scale that overestimates weight a little bit, and it read about 5 1/3 pounds. So I just call it "about 5" and I figure my next confirmed 5er is a new pb. The length was "about 20", but I didn't get a confident measure of that, either. So, this morning I returned to the same lake, armed with a shiny new -- and confirmed accurate-- Rapala digital scale in search of a.... ....well, sorry, no new pb happened today, but a few decent fish, anyway. The first of the morning, 2 pounds, 4oz on a mojo-rigged junebug baby brush hog: Second fish, about 10 minutes later 1 pound 12oz on a texas-rigged junebug Mag II worm: Next cast, same worm, same spot, came the biggest of the day: 3 pounds 7oz: An hour and three dinks later, another 2lb-er on t-rigged rage craw (blue craw), 2lb 6oz: This "having an accurate scale" stuff is kind of neat!

Small bag of dried fruit and nuts or a protein bar. BUT water > food.

The Lake Belle Taine entry on the MN DNR doesn't list musky or pickerel on the survey information: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/showreport.html?downum=29014600 Doesn't mean there aren't any in there, but since tigers are pike-musky hybrids, they would only occur where both parent species are also present, or where they had been stocked. They're also rare, relative to pike and musky, so all things considered, it seems quite a bit more likely to be a young northern pike than anything else.

Small musky: http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=679 Small tiger musky: http://www.summitpost.org/tiger-muskie/736991 Could be. But I still think it's a pike.

Baby Northern Pike. Compare to: http://www.canadaoutposts.com/articles.php/Baby+Pike USGS data on ranges of: Northern Pike: http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=676 Grass Pickerel: http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=675 Chain Pickerel: http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=681 (although range boundaries are not exact -- I know I've caught pike a little ways beyond these ranges in both MN and MI)

Yes, well, I'm sure if I had one, I'd use it sometimes.

What happens when you tie an improved clinch instead?

I think you're right, but I wonder if the problem in many cases instead is anticipation. It's not the disappearing of the frog that people are reacting to when they do a premature hookset; it's the appearance of any activity at all by the fish in the vacinity of the bait.

Yup. So, if you gave me only what was in that picture and warned me that you would randomly tap me on the shoulder, at any time of day, any day of the year, and say "go catch some fish", i'd be hard pressed to come up with something that would give me more confidence. I could split hairs about colors and brands, but it would, indeed, be only hair-splitting.

The only thing I know about Limetreuse is that walleye love it. And if walleye will hit it, bass will too.

Is an Owner finesse ultrahead technically a shakey head? I'm not sure, and I don't work them quite shakey-head-style, but any 4-7 inch straight tailed worm on one of those heads is my biggest producer for worms. I get a lot of mileage out of trick worms, creme scoundrels, and the Strike King 3x elaztech. I've got some bubblegum color worms I've never been sure what to do with (not sure who made them -- don't think it's a Zoom trick worm; I think I got them in a bargain bin grab bag, somewhere). Turns out they float. I'm guessing this is a good color for murky water?

So...rather than going through one worm every couple fish, I'm going through three? I mean, it looks cool, but does it catch 3 times the fish?

I agree with everything Longo & Darren say above!

With privilege comes responsibility.

You can always try to assuage the guilt of killing a fish by making a small donation to a conservation fund.

The Float 'N Fly! http://www.worldfishingnetwork.com/tips/post/winter-float-fly-bass

No bass boat for me, either! Bank, wading, canoe, and kayak.

Serves him right.

Right on! There are several muskie lakes near me that I fish sometimes. I've never caught one before, but I have also seen them in the shallows occasionally and I've had suspicious-looking followers before....who knows if they've been responsible for a break-off here and there?

So...were there other installments of this intended series of posts? I like the idea. I am not much of a topwater fisherman. I don't seem to be very good at it or knowledgeable about it. Yet... What is your favorite top water lure? (who makes it, price, where you bought, color?): The Heddon Tiny and Baby Torpedos. Baby for largemouth, Tiny for river smallies. I like the Black Shiner color, which is basically chrome fading to black on the back. Under what circumstances will you throw any type of top water lure? Maybe this is my problem -- I don't really know what circumstances I should be throwing topwaters. I fish mornings mostly, so first light until the sun is in the sky can be productive. Everything else is cover-related -- if I see lily pads or a shady bank with overhanging trees, I'll try topwater. What do you throw when there's vegetation underneath the surface? Pop-R What do you throw when there is duckweed or lily's on top? A plastic bait rigged weightless and weedless, pulled and twitched quickly across the the top. Fluke, Senko, Trick Worm, Rage Toad, Stanley Ribbit, Sweet Beaver. Are there any top water lures you've tried that you do NOT suggest? No. Everything I've had trouble with, I'm well aware lots of other people have amazing success. For me, that's buzzbaits and walking baits.

I usually fish power worms (and other ribbon tails) on the bottom with a texas rig around cover. I generally want to be on the move (but slowly) to keep the tail fluttering, with only fairly brief pauses...slithering up and around stuff, hopping up, and falling back down. With Senkos I go wacky or weedless/weightless for the slow wobbly fall, and I want to keep them falling as much as possible. I work them only enough to get them back up the water column a ways so they can fall again. I drop it into submerged weeds (especially cabbage), next to docks or skipped underneath, or twitched weedless across the top of lily pads and dropped into holes. Sometimes I'll just deadstick it as I drift over a submerged weedbed.

Yes, I would be interested in both.

For smallmouth, the Tiny Torpedo.

Hmm. If you weigh and measure objectively, and don't lie about the numbers, why does it matter what it looks like in the photo?

I use o-rings on senkos and they last a lot longer. A lot of people don't like that you can't rig the hook 90 degrees from the worm, but I haven't noticed any difference in hook-up rate. If your mono is breaking off on fish, it's probably because you aren't checking for damage and re-tying often, or your knots are weak. If the latter, braid won't solve the problem. Always check both your knots and line frequently. I go braid when fishing weeds, but I use a mono leader for fishing rocks and trees in rivers, in case I break off I lose only the leader and not a whole bunch of braided line.