HardcoreBassin

Not familiar with the area. Any suggestions on where to launch? Is that where you usually fish Basscat?

Beltzville is up in Lehighton. You would take 476 up to the exit for Rt 202. It takes me about an hour and 45 minutes to get there. There are some really good spots on that lake. There is a dam with a large rip rap to fish. I always pull smallies out of there. It gets REALLY busy on weekends though with waterskiers and the like. I've never fished Blue Marsh but I hear its really tough fishing there. The whole thing is a muddy bottom. Have you tried Hopatcong in NJ? I've never been but I hear thats a really fun lake to fish. If you have something with a small motor (under 20hp), or have the patience to motor around via trolling motor, you should hit Nockamixon. There are some BIG bass and Muskie in that lake.

Good point. Looks like I may be taking a trip to Cabelas/Bass Pro this weekend.

d**n you "Store Only Sales!!"

Thanks for the info! Sine you fish carolina rigs a lot, in your experience would you think that a moderate or moderate/fast would be too noodley to fish a c-rig?

Thanks fishguy. I wasnt sure if I could get away with a combo. I'll probably make that reel a c-rig setup since it has slow retrieve and then get new gear for cranking.

Hey all! I'm looking to get a new rod for one of my favorite reels. It's a Quantum IR300C. I know its not the best reel, and its old, but it is so comfortable to fish and it runs like a well oiled machine. The reel clamp on the rod that I had it on decided to break the other day, so I'm looking for a replacement. I want to put this reel on a rod that I'll use for carolina rigging and cranks. Is there a rod that you would suggest that would be good for both applications? I'm assuming 7ft - 7'6ft at least. Medium/MF action? Any suggestions would be great. I've always been the type of fisherman that just bought a rod because it felt comfortable, and then figured out what I was going to use it for. I'm trying to get specific rods for specific applications now, though some will have multiple uses. Let met know your thoughts! Thanks all!! -Dale

Yea I'm hearing a lot of that from everyone. I'm glad its not just me. It's been really slow. Hoping once the water cools for the fall it will be better. I might take a shot up to Beltzville one of these days and see how it looks up there.

From looking at the pictures, and not actually being there, it looks to me like they are just fillers for the holes. If you try to pop 1 off, the screws will probably be under them. Unless there are nuts/bolts holding the frame from the underside of the helm. What kind of boat is it? I'll see if I can find anything.

Something small/light that won't "KERPLUNK" into the water as it lands. A worm//grub would be my go to if someone say to use a "subtle presentation." -Dale

Do the knobs actually connect to anything? Or are they just covers that lead to where to screws are? Did you try popping one of them out?

It's happened to the best of us. Its pretty frustrating. I use braid on my baitcasters now, so it is a lot easier to deal with a nest IMO. No need to worry about pulling too hard and kinking the flouro/mono making it weaker. Braid it up!

I think 1 of the issues is your hookset. When I fish wacky with an octopus hook, I set the hook by reeling in and sweeping my rod. Try to avoid the "grip and rip" technique with the octopus hook. It's designed to set itself. -Dale

Mine used to be a watermelon tube, now I'm on a powerworm kick.

A fluke is 1 of my favorite baits to fish. I fish it very similar to how you do, just like a jerk bait. Reel, jerk, jerk, pause. I fish it on spinning tackle and have not had any issued with my line twisting. I have my reel spooled with braid. Tie the braid to a swivel, then about a 2ft leader of mono to the hook. My typical setup is a pearl white zoom fluke rigged weightless on a red 4/0 Gamakatsu offset EWG worm hook. Its very random as far as directions it goes in the water, but it RARELY turns upside down or on its side while I'm reeling it in, no matter how fast or slow. Like I said, I never have any issues with line twist. Good luck! - Dale

Nice fish! Congrats!

Just got in from fishing this morning. Did well today. Nothing of size but caught 6 1#, 1.5# fish. Everything came on t-rigged worms. Fished the shore with the container on it. Headed back out tonight with the fiance. It's her first time out, so hopefully I can at least get some perch or something on her line. Keep an eye out for a red Stratos!

Hopefully you did well today. I'll be out there pretty much all day tomorrow. Going for the morning bite with my dad then out with the fiance for the evening bite.

Welcome back Tom! haha Yea we have been trying to do some back and forth on here to keep updated on the fishing situation. Hopefully we can get some more people in here who fish the PWC, but it's helped me a lot so far. I was thinking that this week/weekend would be better fishing because at least the weather is going to be steady for a while with no storms or anything. The past few weekends have been on the back end of all of the mid-week storms. Looking forward to the long weekend and lots of fishing! I'm taking the fiance out for the first time on Sunday, so hopefully I can get her into some fish so she will want to go again!

Awesome! I hope he sticks with it and you 2 make a ton of memories! Keep up the awesome work.

OK so there are 3 knobs for settings on your reel. The one attached to the actual handle is the drag. The knob on that side of the reel is, as aavery2 said, is the spool tensioner. The dial on the opposite side of the reel, which probably has "more-less" or "+ / -" or something along those lines is your brake system. Set the drag however you want. The spool tensioner should be set for each lure you put on the rod, or you will have a hell of a time casting. I usually start the tensioner tight. Then I hold the rod out, with the lure tied on, and click open the bail. Take your finger off the bail and "let the lure fall." You'll notice that the lure probably isnt falling if you tightened the spool tensioner. Loosen the tensioner until your bait just starts to fall. You can fidget with that as you get better at casting with it, but keep it at around that "just tight enough" setting until you get the hand of casting. The brake system is something you need to play with as well. Just know, that the lower you go on the brake setting, the more pressure you need to apply with your thumb as youre casting. If you don't apply enough pressure, you'll wind up with a nasty nest in your reel, and that is NO fun. Buy a practice plug and go take some casts in the street or yard with it until you get the hang of it. Don't assume that you can test it for the first time while fishing. You'll more than likely wind up with some nests the first few times you use it, and you don't want that to happen while you're on the water. Its an easy way to ruin a day. I hope that helps a bit! Good luck with the new reel! -Dale

I hit the container shoreline yesterday in UVS for the first time. Caught a 2lb large mouth but nothing else. That end of the lake looks great tho. I'll definitely be fishing that more often. Caught 3 fish total yesterday. 2 LM and 1 pickerel. Slow day, but it seemed like everyone we talked to had a slow day. Were you out this weekend? - Dale

I use red 5/0 Gam hooks whenever I am fishing a soft fluke. My "go-to" is a weightless texas rigged pearl white zoom fluke minnow with a red 5/0 Gam hook. I havent done any side-by-side comparison of red hook to standard hook, but I do catch a lot of fish on that rig.

Nice fish! What did you get 'em on?

I used to fish core creek ALL the time. Great little fishery.