FryDog62

I bought a Lew's spinning reel a few years back and it came with a thick rubber band that serves like backing. Its a slick idea, anyone else have one of these? Would be great to put on all my other reels but how would you find the right rubber band to fit snug on different spool sizes various manufacturers make?

Good answer! Chase bronzebacks on the upper Mississippi ~ My dad and hero turned 87 two months ago and we celebrated by fishing for smallmouth on Mille Lacs - and had a great day. Fast forward to October and he was diagnosed with Leukemia. Who knows what next year will bring, but he elected to get out and fish one more time this season - and it was a great day with 35 fish caught, an average of 18 inches, and a couple at/near 20. A day I will never forget ~

Do you know the length? Must be 20 years old that far North ~

I have found the river smallies in my area to really relate only to rocks, boulders, rip-rap in the Fall. Other times of year I do fish around wood, brush, lay-downs, etc. But I catch squat in those areas once the leaves start to turn. Again, we're talking Minnesota, your area may be different. The other thing is I switch off between 2 baits. One is a 5-6 inch sucker minnow, the second is a white 5 inch Yamasenko. In the darker river water and lower light conditions of the Fall, that light/bright color (officially called Blue Pearl Silver Flake) has actually outfished the live bait on more than one occasion. Smallies seem to be more oriented to the color white than largemouth in my experience. I've been hammering them lately... maybe worth a try. All the fish below were caught in the last week on that worm when other options were not working...

Going to Northern Minnesota in the morning on the way upper Mississippi for hopefully some more bronzebacks. Will have an overnight low in the 20's and frost on the dock at sunrise. Crossing my fingers for a few more in the 20+ inch range... Wrist surgery in a month - so gotta fish while I can !!!

Okay, it will suck like no tomorrow within a few weeks here... they don't call it the "frozen tundra" for nothing. But for now the outside temperature is good and the water temps in the 50's. If I could just make time stand still (and someone do my job so I can get out more). Here's to being thankful for what you have (while you still have it) !!

I think I'd fish the time of year the smallies are in shallower water. Catching them in 30+ feet, they probably die...

I'd consider any crayfish colored plastic (Baby Rage Craw, or tube if you need to go slower) .... but if you really have some isolated "holes" you want to keep the bite in the strike zone I'd try drop shotting or even a Wacky Worm.

And... the braid would have zero stretch compared to fluorocarbon. I bought 150 yards of Tuff-Line Hevi-Core for $20. I also plan to buy the SufixGravity2 product (because I tend to like Sufix regular braid) and Spiderwire fluorobraid as comparisons. So far, the jury is out on Hevi-Core and I'll reserve judgment until I compare to others. At $20 its not any more expensive than other braids so worth trying to me...

The only 2 sinking braids I'm aware of are the Spiderwire Fluoro-braid mentioned above and Tuff-Line Hevi-Core. I have only used Hevi-core and plan to do a review after I compare it to Spiderwire Fluoro-braid... Hope to do it this year but will see if I get time...

Haven't seen anyone post any pics of a Yar-craft (now owned by BassCat). Here's the 1997 brochure boat... re-powered with a new Yamaha 4 stroke, Shorelander trailer, dual Hummingbird 998's and iPilot Link. Its a smallmouth river catching machine! But Yar-craft hulls are also known as wave-eaters too and have had it out on Rainy Lake and other waters with 3 footers with ease. A very versatile 2 man rig!

Thanks for the input... I have one Lew's at 10 pounds, another Lew's at 14 pounds and a Revo at 20. Very similar reels in most other respects. Have to admit I've never had a "drag" problem with any of them and I started to wonder if I missing out on something ~

You could also try sinking braid with a fluorocarbon leader. I'm experimenting with one right now from Tuff-line and plan to get the other by Spiderwire. If both the braid and the fluorocarbon leader sink you might have the combination that gives you what you need without the manageability issues of fluorocarbon as a main line.

Looking for input, thoughts on drag for bait casting reels. Is there a certain amount you like for specific applications, or what is an approx poundage you prefer, i.e. 10, 14, 20 lbs, etc drag?

Its been a week so I thought I would refresh this thread. Wondering 2 things: 1) If/when anything goes on the web site now that its "Mid-September." and 2) If there are any more details on the two versions of the boat. I've heard of a "southern" bass style (I assume those are the pictures we've seen thus far)...and a "northern" version that is to be more multi-species in layout. Not sure what that means but I would be very curious to see ~

I think a marketing campaign to talk about the upgrade in materials and manufacturing, sign on a prominent pro to use/endorse the product.... and back it up with a warranty like St. Croix has - and it may sell again ~

Its a hot controversy here, even the Governor is involved... the biggest issue is the netting/spearing that goes on during the spawn. Many big female walleyes are taken out annually. May have to do more with that than fishermen over-harvesting slot-sized walleyes. But its not politically correct to discuss the netting so it will continue after a one year hiatus ...

Yes it is, that's why you're seeing more smaller fish. 4 years ago the average was 17-18 inches and usually a couple 20-22. Now lots of 13-15 inch and a couple bigger ones. The smallmouth are being harvested at record rates because in Minnesota the walleye is king. And when the walleye population went down they needed a scapegoat and opened up keeping up to 6 smallies. Of course as all of these smallmouth are being cleaned, they aren't finding any walleye fry in their bellies - its almost 100% crayfish. Also, an independent survey was done recently and found the biggest predator of walleye fry? Answer: adult walleyes... So they continue to harvest up to 6 smallmouth per angler and even some 22 and 23 inches are being kept on the charter boats. Plus many walleye fishermen that are mad about the walleye population going down either keep their 6 smallmouth (and throw them in the dumpster afterwards) or worse yet, slit their throats/gills and release them in the water to die. They are ruining one trophy fishery at the expense of another. They need to understand that walleye and smallmouth are not mutually exclusive. In a 128,000 acre lake you can have both a vibrant walleye and smallmouth (and muskie) population.

I fish a small river that is a tributary to the Mississippi River in Central Minnesota. It has semi-stained water that is almost chocolate colored at times. I had mixed success over the past few years until this year my catch rate went up 3X. I learned I had to slow way down and put something in front of their face they will see and react to. I stopped throwing faster moving baits and went almost exclusively to wacky worming. Using a 1/16-1/8 oz VMC wacky jig with the single weed guard wire. You need just enough sink rate to not get swept away in the current...but not too much to go straight down and snag. I went to an almost white Senko that really shows up in the water - Yamamoto (956) Blue Pearl/Silver. My avatar is a picture of 4 smallies between 17-20 inches all caught on that worm and the water was pretty murky. Give it a try ~

I don't mind dirty grips on my poles so much, yeah it shows it gets used and you catch a few.... However, I was looking at selling the pole and getting it back to/near its original condition. The Magic Eraser worked well. Within 30 minutes of posting the rod for sale it was gone. I'd like to think the clean handle had something to do with it

I included BPS fluorocarbon in a line test I did last Spring. Out of 9 fluorocarbon lines tested, it was 4th in terms of overall stretch. Of the 9 FC lines tested, five of them including BPS, also snapped at the maximum line rating of 8 lb test. I would rate it in the middle to bottom third of the lines tested. I personally think you can do better for approximately the same price. Based upon the results of the tests, my fluorocarbon choice would be Sniper, co-polymer would be Yo-Zuri Hybrid and mono would be Trilene XT.

I am a big fan of St. Croix but the only Rod in their line up I don't like is the Mojo because it lacks sensitivity IMO. It felt "numb" to me. I sold it and bought a new AvidX and it is night and day to me... Just my .02 cents...

Right now my default rod for skipping is a Loomis Mag Lite 6 foot XF. It's an unbelievable Rod but I'm looking at selling it to get something a bit beefier for skipping. It's a little light to skip anything of weight, so many times my lure ends up veering to the right because the tip doesn't catch up to my cast fast enough. Plus to stratos point above once you do hook a fish of any size in cover or under a dock it's a lot to ask a smaller rod to manhandle it out of there. So all these suggestions are good, will be selling my Loomis and don't want to break the bank but want buy something for this application as I skip more and more and don't want to keep going into a gun battle with a knife

Thanks Jeff and Stratos...good info. I currently use a Fenwick 6'-9" MXF and it works pretty well. I'm thinking of a second rod specific to skipping and was thinking something shorter would complement it well. Could be 6'-0" will have its limits, I don't know of any 6'-3"s so maybe a 6'-6" The search continues but I enjoy the process and other peoples input... Thx

Heck I just side-arm a chandelier with a couple of treble hooks on it !