Bream Master

I was just wondering about this after watching some clips of guys ice fishing and pulling muskies, large smallies and largemouths on rods that look like my crappie rod. Are they just using UL or are there small rods with higher power ratings for ice fishing? Thanks.

Do you guys replace the worm, minnow, shiner, etc. after each bite or do you use it until it turns into mush? Some buddies and I were fishing over the weekend and I noticed this was the first time we didn't try to re-use the bait. As a result, we hooked more fish using minnows and worms. I'm under the impression that when a fish bites, it leaves a scent on the live bait that turns other fish away. Well, sometimes dumb bream and catfish will still take it but.....anyone know for sure? Thanks.

Dang, maybe that is why I haven't caught a single bass with my plastic crawdads yet! All the plastic crawdads come with the jig head at the tail. Well...do you guys just put the jig head in through the nose then?

For those who wear glasses, is there enough room to wear the sunglasses over the eyeglasses? I don't want to have to switch over to contacts just to wear fishing shades, which by the way, I need to start doing.

I was just wondering if it is just personal preference or if there is some reason for the two designs. Also, how about those floats that have a wood color with the very, very skinny tip and then towards the middle is the round section. Thanks.

Anyone use Pinnalce reels (BC) ? I was at Wal-Mart and saw a Pinnacle Inertia for 59.99. It looks nice. The bait monkey almost took me but I want to hear from ya'll first. Thanks

A lot of folks don't know this but if you don't have that AA and other roadside assistance stuff, look on your windshield towards the bottom right hand, a little beneath the wiper blades, there will be a serial number. About 16-18 digits. Little hard to see. Get that number and either get a friend or cab and go to the dealership and make a key. A lot cheaper than 50-60 bucks to call the locksmith. Happened to me about two weeks ago and it costs me 5.34 for a key.

Jackson vs. Marvin Eastman and CC vs. Eddie Sanchez. Other fights: Couture/Sylvia (HW Champ. fight) Anderson Silva vs Travis Lutter (Champ. fight) This card is stacked!!

I'm watching it tomorrow guys. This is going to be the best card UFC has put together in a long time. I have 100 push-ups each on Jackson and CC so I hope they come through. If they lose, hopefully the Colts will win the S.B. or I'll have to do another 100 push-ups. :-X

Guys, I think it's a good move for both guys because Jackson has bad losses to the Chute Boxe guys and C.C. will probably lose to Fedor and Nogueria all over again. I guess these guys are just following in Heath Herrings footsteps; let's hope they do better. They're two talented guys but would have a struggle in the Pride ring against the better class fighters, our in CC case, the other two heavies: Nog and Fedor. In UFC, I think C.C. can clean out his division. I'd like to see Chuck and Rampage go at it again too because I was pulling for Chuck but he did lose. Only bad thing about them going to UFC is, we'll probably never see the CC/Fedor re-match or CC/Nog. re-match. What are your predictions for UFC Saturday? Other thoughts?

Why take off the belly treble guys.

I don't use flouro as a main line, way too much memory. Some do. Here's what I do: use braid with flouro leader. You get the best of two worlds.

Well, it's nice to know I'm not alone. I sure do hope I get better at driving the boat back onto the trailer. That is the hardest trick for beginners. Good thing we have a cheap boat to practice on.

Okay, now those pins, when pulled out is that more or less brakes?

Not a matter of life and death or anything, I was just wondering what you guys think. I've thought about doing it because I lost one once due to the line slipping through the ring. Your thoughts.

I bought a used Shimano Cardiff and noticed there wasn't a brake control knob like my Daiwa. Do these things not have brakes? I know some of the Garcias you have to take the side plate off and I've tried it with this reel. The side plate ain't comin' off anytime soon. Help me before I do something I really regret...like breaking it.

Hahahha. Can't believe that's really a song!

Though I don't have my own boat yet, two buddies and I pitched in and bought an $800 boat (late 80's model, I think). Well, it broke so we serviced it and after 3 months, we finally picked it up last Sat. We planned to be on the water by 10:30 so I drove from school back home. I get there about 11:00 AM and both my friends looked tired and upset. They've been up since about 8 trying to lower the motor. They told me they've pushed, pulled, turned and stretched every knob and line on the boat. Nothing seemed to be working. My brother gets there shortly afterwards, being the handyman that he is, looks around the motor and twists this knob and gets the motor to lower. So, we celebrate like it's Christmas and proceed. After about 30 min. we got the motor to crank. We tested it out in a big trash bin full of water seemed fine. Only problem is, we can't get the lock switch to work. We decide to worry about that once we're on the water. Alright, now we have to hook it up to my dad's truck. Well, the ball is too big. So, we leave to go buy a 1 7/8 size ball. We get back to the house and realize we have no tools! My friend's dad took their truck and the tools earlier. We go back and buy tools. Back at the house, we can't get the original ball on my dad's truck to come loose. After pondering, we noticed on the left and right of the ball are two other slots. Not sure if those slots are designed for towing purposes or not. We have no choice so we install the new ball to the left slot beside the original, center ball. This was our first time towing and it took forever to get out of the driveway. We get to the boating access dock and it takes another 30+ min. to get in the water properly. Nobody could drive straight and finally, we get it straight. We un-hook everything and turn on the engine. The engine flies striaght up out of the water. So, we go back to the lock switch and after blistering our fingers, we finally get the switch to lock. We put it in reverse. The boat wouldn't move! We just got it fixed. We get ticked and my friend calls the shop and cusses the guy out. It seems as if were going to get stranded on the dock. One guy is driving and the other 3 of use get out and tried to push the boat off the trailer. Useless. The boat is crooked on the trailer due to our pushing and pulling now. We have no choice but to push it out because we can't get it back in the trailer. Finally, one guy does a leg press on the boat and it leaves the trailer. We're happy and cheering now. My friend puts the boat in drive/reverse now. It worked!! We called the shop back and apologized to the guy. ;D Two guys pull up from fishing and one of them says, "Ya'll aint had it far 'nough out in the water boys." Well.....I'm sure everyone had a great time laughing and giggling at us. It is now about 2:00 PM. We have 4 guys, 13 poles, a 17 foot boat only a little wider than your average door. One guy brings a small folding chair to sit on. We catch nothing but I did learn how to work the foot-trolly. We decide to move and after we made it to our new spot, I realize I forgot to pull the T.M. up! Well, after fishing this new spot we decide to move again. When I tried to pull up the trolly, it wouldn't move! It's stuck now. All the pressure from the water probably did something to it. One guy takes some pliers and after a two man effort, we get it to come loose. We fish a new spot and then decided to go. For some reason, we all noticed we were going much, much slower. You know why. The guy sitting in the back forgot to pull up his anchor! We're halfway across the lake now! We stop to roll it up and half way to the boat, the anchor slips off the rope. There goes more money. Finally, we're at the dock. Three of us get off, one guy gets the truck. Now all we have to do is get the boat onto the trailer. We couldn't do it! The boat ran into the dock, one guy drove the moter over the trailer and hit something. We made about 18 circles trying to get the right position. On our last attempt, we decide to get the boat on the trailer best as possible, haul it out and then we'll position the boat by man labor. While hauling the boat out, we heard clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk....the guy driving the boat forgot to pull up the engine!! ;D Ahhhhhhhh. The boat is "on" the trailer. We get two guys to a side and tried to move it. No use. A guy comes up and with authority in his voice, "Let me show ya'll some 'um." "Boys, ya'll boat ain't on the trailer. Gonna lose that boat." He directed us back to the water and showed us how to do everything properly. Thank God for him. We took him out for a beer afterwards. We get back to my friends house and un-load the boat. While taking the boat off we realized we screwed up the bumper on my dad's truck big time! The metal looked like a twisted up pretzel! ;D My brother and I heard an earful but my father said because it was us and our friends, he wouldn't make us pay for it. Great guy. He told us you're suppose to have something else that goes underneath the car to help with the proper level of the boat and truck. I don't know. All we had was the boat trailer and we attached it straight onto the ball of the truck. There you have it. Total fish caught: 0.

Whatever color you decide, if you're gonna be fishing near dams or lots of rocks, use a flouro leader because it will cut on the rocks. Most of my bank fishing is done at dams and I have to check the braid often for weak spots.

I don't like Fireline. It was my first braid and after using other braids, you can really tell the difference in performance. Fireline frayed easily and came apart. The line is too, too stiff. Plus, the black coating kept coming off on my hands. Not that good. I use the vanish as a leader on mono when using spinning gear for trout. I don't think I would use it for a main line. Cheers!

I too am fairly new to fly fishing and let me tell you, it's a lot of fun. For general fresh water fishing, a 5 wt. rod will do. I've been advised to stay away from rods at wal-mart so I guess if you get a rod at a decent sporting good store, you'll be fine. Mine happens to be an 8', two peice White River rod. I have a cheap Hoobs Creek reel but for my fishing, it serves me fine. Get weight forward (WF) line (make sure the fly line is the same weight as the rod weight) and for most purposes, floating line will do. You will also need to get leader material. A decent leader will run about 3.99. Also, buy a small spool of tippet material. I use tippet in 4x. You'll need to learn the nail knot and the blood knot for attaching lines. Cheers!

I have used both brands and from my experience, Suffix is better. I think Suffix is smoother and has more of a silk feel, which I think allows for further casts. For some reason, I get less backlash and digging using Suffix. I think you'll like Suffix, if you decide to spool with it. Here are my ratings: 1. Suffix 2. TUF line 3. Stren braid 4. PP 5. Fireline

The rod tips are fast action. Some of you guys mentioned how it didn't load well because of the stiff tip, which is true. I'm going to try it out again today and see what happens.

Good thread Mike. I was wondering the same thing. Not to hijack the thread but I was comparing two rods at Gander Mtn: a 6'6" MH and a 7' M (both were Gander Mtn. rods). The Med. was thicker at the base but yet the power was listed as M. The base on the MH was actually smaller. So, which rod is actually the more sturdy of the two? A Med. with a thicker base or a M.H. with a smaller base.

Just got back from Gander Mtn. buying a gift and on the bragging board I saw some huge cats! Those who fish for large cats, what are you using? I have never caught a catfish over 12 lbs. and it was on a nightcrawler. All I use are nightcrawlers and livers. I may go out there with a whole cornish game hen next time! ;D