Brett's_daddy

I have the Keitechs...no LC Pointer yet

I have a Savage Gear thru-line 6" Juvenile Trout just itching to be used...lol. I think I'll try the whopper ploppers too as well as all of the above...see how my luck is.

Okay, since I live in Vermont where it gets cold and by mid-late November we could see ponds skimming over with ice already I guess I'm more after the advice/opinions of other anglers in the same type of situation. What techniques do you use? I'm thinking maybe a black/white Chatterbait with trailer to try and wake them up, maybe after that go with a black/white spinner bait with trailer to bounce off the bottom and than maybe go to a suspending jerk bait or shallow crank bait and finally a top water if the fish are properly woken up. Does this sound even remotely like a valid sequence of techniques? Would you shift things around and if so examples please?

Yes it is. I fish it with a Fenwick HMG 7ft. MH spinning rod. I also use this rod for Whopper Plopper 130's which at 1.38 oz. weigh a little bit more than the Mini Slammer at 1.25 oz. That being said, not all rods are created equal, mine has a lure rating up to 1 oz. so it's not as bad throwing those two baits but some other MH rods are only rated up to 5/8 oz. or 3/4 oz. and I probably wouldn't throw those heavier baits using one of those rods.

I just spoke to River2sea. The guy was very non-committal about a WP 110, enough that I'm sure it won't be out this year but he definitely (almost) committed to the fact it's in the testing phase...very cloak and dagger-ish but enough so that I'm sure it's in the works for sometime next year. He did make it clear their main focus is fulfilling the orders they have now for their current product line!

The best top water bait for where I live would be the one that comes with a mini, battery powered ice auger attached to it so it could drill through the ice

Can't explain it either...just spit ballin' about why it's half the price as the original Gunfish.

I just checked it out on TW and it's much smaller with the largest size at 1/2oz. and 2-3/4". The Whopper Plopper 90 is 5/8oz. and 3" and the 130 is 1.38oz. and 5".

There is a physical difference between the 117 size and the 115 or 95 size. The 117 is a traditional pencil-style bait with a more bulbous rear and a slender front while the 115 and 95 are in my own opinion more fish shaped and the front/middle are where the bulk of the lure is (instead of the rear like the 117) so that is why the price difference...the entire lure is physically different!

I'm not experienced enough of a boater to tackle Lake Champlain yet...lol. Plus we usually keep our larger fish to eat and my wife has heard that fish from Lake Champlain have some of the highest mercury content around so she doesn't want to fish there :(.

YUP!!! We bought the double plopper to try out and it sucks! The whole thing just feels cheap like if a big bass ever did hit it would destroy it but rest assured, that won't happen as they don't like this gizmo. You must retrieve it slowly, too fast and the thing will list to one side and just plow water and the propellers won't work. As good as the original Whopper Plopper is that's how bad the Double Plopper's are!!!

Academy Sports also sells a copy called the Pistol which looks identical but only costs $5.99. So far I've heard that these are great lures and the difference is in the sound so they make a slightly different sound than the original LC Gunfish and I'd hazard a guess that's the main difference with the BDT lures as well. Sound can play an important roll in a knocking lure or so I'm told.

I just wondered if my fellow Vermonter's are having any luck this Fall (I know it's early still) and where they are having the most luck?

I prefer being able to go in and actually see the rod, reel and tackle I'm buying...easier to make sure it's actually what I want when I can hold it in my hands to see how it feels/looks...hard to do that online

I haven't caught anything on my Pompadours but they are easily one of the most fun lures to fish with (along with the Whopper Plopper)!!!

They definitely DO work! It's a pretty versatile bait too, you can pop it, slow retrieve or burn it back to create a huge amount of commotion. I have not had any luck on my 130's yet but have had good luck with my 90's (especially the Perch color).

I hope they just bought Cabelas but will leave the stores operating under the Cabelas name! I think changing them all over to Bass Pro Shops would alienate a lot of customers (myself included) who have always preferred Cabelas over Bass Pro. The Cabelas clothing has always been better quality and honestly I think on most smaller things like bait & tackle they've been competitively priced but larger items may be more over priced. Still, they sell quality stuff and not junk so that's good.

I always make it a point to visit the Cabelas flagship store in Hamburg, PA when I go down to visit my Dad a couple of times a year...I hope they leave that alone as it's perfect just the way it is! I wonder if somebody will appose this and call it monopolizing the industry?

I just got the brown in a size 30 and it looks sweet! I haven't fished it yet but it looks just like all of the field mice we have up where I live, the perfect size too which is what I was going for...match the forage. If I get a second one I would get the Morning Dawn just because so many people have had luck with it but it was too "out there" for me to try first as I said I was trying to match the natural forage of the bass. As a side note, I just ordered an MS Mini Slammer from TW as everyone on here raves about them saying how great they are and how much better they are than the Spro Rat so I will be able to do a comparison soon :).

1. ) You hit the nail on the head...snap clip size #2. Although even before I started using the snap clip I didn't really experience this. 2.) Have never experienced this so couldn't help you here. 3.) I have found lifting my rod tip up and to one side relieves this. FYI, I have 130's too and use a MH spinning rod and it handles these just fine. My rod is a Fenwick HMG 7ft. MH/F.

So what are the best Fall baits in Vermont? I live there but this is really only my second season semi-seriously bass fishing so i don't have a whole lot of experience. I'm sure geographical location does play a factor and the colors/types of bait that work best up here in the Fall wouldn't necessarily work all that great down in Florida. I'm thinking for color the standard light/dark/forage and for types jerkbaits, top water, frogs, spinner baits, shallow cranks...what else?

I do mostly evening fishing though so I think a darker color would work best. I didn't see a Golden Shiner version on TW's site.

Okay, after much haranguing I decided to treat myself one more time before the wife takes away my computer and ordered one of these...lol. I originally went with a Black Beauty but decided it was just too plain looking and changed my order to a Black & Yellow. Tackle Warehouse hasn't received these back in yet but they are due tomorrow so there's still time to change back or to another color...what do you guy's think...stick with the B&Y or switch back to all black? I'm hoping for some good success once i get this after everyone telling me how great they are .

I went with a freshwater Super Spook Jr. in Bone with a dressed rear hook for now but do plan to add more as I can!

Hmmm...not really interested in numbers and would rather catch more quality bass...maybe this bait isn't for me and I'll stick with the much bigger 1/2oz. baits!!!