Rick Howard

Thank you!

Can you fine folks help me ID this mean little popper? At one time it had feathers on its rear. They were lost and it prompted me to take a photo as I knew it was only a matter of time till a toothy fish took it. Well that time has come....

Left hand retrieve for me. Like you, I fished for more than 30 years with spinning gear. Only a few years ago I started with bait casting. Getting a bait caster with a RH retrieve seemed pointless because LH is available. To me it just makes more sense in that regard.

i have little to no epeerience with thieves things. From videos I've seen the fish should appear as arches. Since I've had this thing I've yet to see an arch. What am I looking at in this photo?

Simply going to be a work around for me. One depth finder and transducer. Someday i will upgrade the boat and it will Be worth putting multiple units on the boat. I'm not using the depth finder in shallow enough water to worry about obstructions or bottom contact. After giving this a little more thought, I think I can rig up a mount with some pvc pipe.

Thank you fellas. I think this will work for me for now

Mostly turkey. I use to hunt coyote a lot. I deer hunt a couple times a year.

You can use super glue as a top coat. Fold up the towel so it's 3 or 4 layers thick. Put the glue on a paper towel (a few drops will do) then quickly wipe it on in the direction of the grain. It dries fast and a few coats are done quickly. It is pretty durable. Also it's water resistant. Wear a glove! Acetone dissolves super glue if you decide against the glove. I use stick fast Brand CA glue for finishing turnings a lot. There are you tube videos out there on the subject. Most are going to take place on a lathe but, I've used it as a wipe on finish for small carvings a bunch.

I'd bet it was a pike of some kind that broke you off. Lol I lose jigs to pike species all the time on 25lb mono. Those toothy fish give me fits sometimes. Lost half dozen cranks and spinners last week. Like I budget for fuel i budget for pike loss lol. Just part of fishing in the north I suppose. I suppose I could use a steel leader...

Puropose is to keep the transducer in the water while I idle. I can see the screen on the bow of my tiny boat just fine from thedrivers seat lol.

Will it damage the trolling motor? I'm running a minkota edge 70. I'm talking 5-6mph. My gut says it's fine so long as I don't hit anything lol.

I am pretty fortunate. I live on the water. I can walk out my front door, grab my gear and go. So I am able to fish often. Sometimes it might only be for an hour sometimes all day. I'm pretty certain I've fished for More than 13 days before but never counted. These last two weeks I was "off" from work so it was easy to keep track.

I just did 13 days. Fished for at least a few hours each of those days. I might go for 14 or I might just kick up my feet and hang around the house.

I don't go be the advertised depth. I swim them until I hit bottom and adjust accordingly. I didn't know such a thing existed. I think I might have some lead tape laying around too! Jigs, t-rigs, and spinners are main ammo for me. But this time of year I take advantage of the dying weeds and the fall feeding with cranks too. Jerks and tube jigs also. I keep my fishing pretty simple. Not a ton of tackle or baits but tons of fun!

Thank you fellas. Some explanation: Only two setups in my boat that will run this bait. One has 15lb mono and the other 25lb mono. The 25lb hoistsem out the stick with a jig also. I'm not going to buy extra rods and line to swap out but I will have a bunch of cranks that run at different depths. This way I can put the peices together on the fly. I go fishing with only half a plan. The rest comes together as I go. I have 4 setups. Casting 1: 7' Medium fast 12lb mono (tough to throw anything bigger than a 10) Casting 2: 7' med/heavy fast 15lb mono Casting 3: 7'3" heavy fast 25lb mono Spinning: 6'6" 8lb mono I don't mind changing baits a few times till I dial in. I only carry one color crank but I have DT 4,6,10,14,16. I find the depth and if they are short striking I change up me speed but have to keep the depth. That often gets me bit. If I can make shift a 8 and a 12 I will cover the range a bit easier. The fish I've been on seem to like it a bit faster and just above the bottom. Burn it by there cover and it's almost guaranteed! When I get around to tinkering I'll let you know how it goes.

Nope not the a fella manscaping. I'm talking about crank baits. Can I shave the bill of a bait to reduce the depth it runs at? Will it change the wobble to much? Nope not going to use heavier line or crank it slower. I want to turn a DT 14 into a 12ish. Maybe a 10 into an 8. Thanks in advance.

I have three bait casters. All Ora's. I really like them. The winch sounds nice.

Thanks for the great replies fellas. Sounds like I'm asking the bait to do something it's not capable of. Maybe a better question is this. Is there a jerk bait that will run about 2 that doesn't collect so much debris? I don't care if it's floating or sinking so long as it doesn't do either quickly.

Thank you fellas.

I think it might be called a fluke. Whatever ya call it I have an issue that is plaguing me. I normally use the traditional type jerk bait like the rapala minnow but, when there is lots of junk on the water it makes it difficult to fish that bait. To combat the issue I've been trying a soft jerk bait but the dang think won't stay under the water! Anyone have any suggestions for how to keep this thing down? I've tried a hook with a small keel weight. That's was better than no weight but still not 100% and I lose the suspension. So I tried a larger keel weight but obviously it sank like a stone. Any suggestions? The bait is made by Zoom. I'm fishing it on a 7' mh fast casting rod. I tied a medium heavy fast spinning rod but that had the same issue. Thought maybe the lighter line and more flex in the rod would help but, no joy.

It's September in NY. Things are changing in the water. I would find green (healthy) weeds.

I do not put much stock into the fishing pressure theory. The qualifier there is if the fish are caught and released. Weekends are pretty crowded and every Monday there are leagues that fish my home water. So Tuesday I catch a bunch of fish with hook wounds.

I couldn't say for certain but, I leave jigs in trees pretty often. I've hooked a few weeds also. What's really embarrassing is when you still think it might be a fish so you play it out for a few more seconds just to be sure.

Try turning the spool tension lower. Also turn the magnet down to the lowest or lower setting. Your going to have to pick out a few birds nests until you get use to it. Once you get use to no tension you'll likely be more accurate because it's less effort in your motion. So it's been for me. your equipment is fine. I pitch small jigs, t rigs, and weightless worms on a 7' fenwick eagle and Abu Ora SX.

Toothy fish. Nice one