IndianaFinesse

I told you that Monday was going to be really good when i talked to you sunday. Wind has been key lately with this clear water. That fish sure has similar proportions, and similar coloration from what I can tell. You get a length measurement on that bass? Not sure if that fish would have moved that far (I caught her on the steep dropping shoreline just upriver and on the same side of the lake from statue of liberty), but its definitely possible. Either way, I want to catch her again in a couple years

Thanks, I might use them in the future. For now I think that I actually prefer the gamakatsu nano finesse trebles better than the katsuages though. See my above post.

The #5 and #6 gamakatsu nano finesse treble hooks showed up on my front porch last week, and I've had them out five or six times now. So far I've been very impressed, more so than I have been with any other treble hook. These things are probably the sharpest hook I have ever used and definitely take the least pressure to penetrate, plus they are surprisingly strong given their thin diameter. They are the slightest bit thicker than katsuages (the difference is hardly noticeable), but the nanos are definitely stronger by a fair amount. The #5s on the front two hooks and a #6 on the back makes the vision 110 nearly suspend and sink ever so slightly in 40° water (I tested them) at about 1/2" a second. They do run about 1 size small, #5 nanos are roughly equivalent to most companies #6 treble. Overall i've been very impressed, they stood the test of two bass over 6 pounds today and did not bend out even a little while tied onto 10 pound mono on a mh casting rod. I'm going to start (slowly, these things are so darn expensive) swapping all of my topwaters and jerkbaits over to nano finesse trebles, and some of cranks.

It's not to often that I'm not reaching for a vision 110 or lc staysee, but when I'm looking for a tiny profile bait the pointer 65 has done well for me.

Called my shots today-for the past few days I've been saying that Monday was going to be a great day for larger bass, I was more right than I imagined. In the two hours I fished, I caught both my 2nd and 3rd biggest ever bass and caught either my biggest or 2nd biggest limit. Best five weighed 21.7 pounds with not on but two kickers, one weighing 6.5 pounds and the other 6.7 (decimal, not ounces). I didn't even have a partner to help, and would have had a bigger limit if I'd been able to cull a 2.1 and a 2.3. A heck of a day, and the cool part about it was the 6.5 and 6.7 were on back to back casts-followed on several consecutive casts by some other bass in the 2-4 pound range. Caught them all on the vision 110 fished pretty quickly on steep dropping banks and points. The 6.5 pounder was crazy fat, the thing only measured 19.5" but looked like it had swallowed a bolling ball. If that big girl gets a little more length on her, she'll be an 8-9+ pounder no problem.

Texas rigs and jigs are not my strong suit (although I also plan to change that next year), but seems to me that while they are somewhat interchangeable, the fish still usually show a preference for one or the other on any given day. And some situations tend to lend themselves more to one technique or the other, such as muddy/murky water being better for jigs to than t-rigs usually.

Besides the aforementioned 10% off gift cards and 25 days of Christmas sales, they also have a 10% (or maybe 15) off "tax stimulus" sale sometime in April, a 10% memorial day sale, a 15% 4th of July sale, and a 10% labor day sale. Anybody know what's going to be included in the 25 days of Christmas sales this year? Last years was pretty unimpressive, except for the Rico blems.

Do you sell those jigs?

For me it was really a big year for expanding my fishing-both in techniques and styles. Got much better at fishing fast and run and gun style of fishing, plus I'm starting to developed more confidence in fishing offshore. Really spent a lot of time with and got fairly good at shallow cranks, buzzbaits, and shaky heads this year. I had used them in the past of course, but they really weren't my confidence techniques, and now they are a few of my favorite and best techniques. It helps that I can spend 240+ days on the water, gives me that much more time to learn than some guys.

And does anyone know what's going to be discounted? The last few years someone has found a way to see the sale items in advance.

You miss out on the best fishing or the year doing that, heck it isn't even cooling down yet on labor day.

I wish.. Kansas fishing actually sucks almost as bad as indiana's, which is in part why Midwest finesse was created. Statistically, Indiana has the worst bass fishing in the country. 25 bass an hour is a lot, (I've never personally reached 100 bass in a 4 hour period, though I did get 99 in about 5.5-6 hours once), but if you hit it right you can do even better. Fastest action that I've ever had was 38 bass in 50 minutes, unfortunately that was the only time I had that day and I left them biting.

That's so true (except for calling fishing brainless..) it's funny. Women are always asking me what I'm thinking about, and unless I tell the truth and admit that i'm thinking about fishing, 9 times out of 10, my answer is nothing. They never seem to get that though.

A 3-4 inch zoom finesse trick worm can be a great ned rig plastic, but that 3.5-4 inch strike king/zman finesse wormz is deadly. I use it almost as much as half of a zinkerz. Great on a 2/0 1/8 ounce finesse shaky head to.

You might be able to get away with a swim/glide and shake retrieve then, especially for smallies. I'm really not a big color guy, but if they're eating shad in clear water white can be good. I pretty much stick with the green pumpkins and pb&j zinkerzs, but I fish in more stained water. Steep dropping shorelines are key. PS, don't leave home without a jerkbait tied on this time of year.

Don't know where you are geographically, but in the winter I usually alternate between a very slow swim/glide and shake retrieve and the drag and deadstick. I prefer the swimming retrieve as it is a little faster, but some days you have to drag it really slow with a few seconds long pause.

My outboard is currently out of commission (front gear shaft seal went out), but I took advantage of the 60° weather this afternoon, although just with a trolling motor. Fished for about 1.5 hours, with 11 fish to show for it. One of those being a 20.5 inch walleye and another a bass weighing a hair over 5.9 pounds, all on the vision 110 fished with 2 twitches and a 1-2 second pause. Biggest bass since July for me, agonizingly close to 6 pounds but not quite. Definitely tested my very worn out katsuages and drag settings, luckily nothing bent out. Steep dropping banks over 10-20 feet of water is where they're at. Trolling motor battery ran out about 5:50, and with no outboard I had to row all the way back, which was only 3/4 of a mile but against 10 mile an hour wind that's no easy task. Didn't get back until 6:55, over an hour later. Looking like the lakes will freeze over in about 3 weeks if the long range forecast holds true, get out while you can.

Saying they like the smell of coffee is like saying they like the smell of roses IMO. At best it helps cover up "bad" scents, but how much that matters is highly questionable. Subtle differences in technique would more likely be the cause.

Yeah, but I already blew my money on not one but two curado 70s, a 6'10" mh/f casting zodias, and a 7' m/f spinning zodias-almost wishing I'd waited for the st. Croix deal. Sweet deal on that legend though, a killer rod from what I've heard. Just looking to restock up on my favorite baits for next year using the sales.

You guys see any other cyber Monday deals?

Cabelas has the revo sx marked down 50% to $80, strike king and rapala are mostly all 20-30% off, and the helix 10 and 12 are something like 40-50% off.

Location, depth, timing, and speed have to all be checked. Try steep/vertically dropping shorelines and fish them thoroughly with jerkbaits and drop shots (maybe a shaky head to) at various speeds. It literally took 10 minutes per 30 foot cast working a dropshot today, but they wouldn't have anything else. Oh, and make sure to find the clearest water you can. The more clarity the better in cold water.

Nope, the bite is never "over with", the fish still gotta eat once in a while! You just have to adapt to the conditions.

The recommended line rating is just that, recommended. Not set in stone. What does matter is the rod's power/suggested weight range, that'll dictate which lures it can set the hook well on, fish well, and if they load up the rod on the cast properly or not. Knowing what lures you plan to use the rod for (and the rod's power) would help us help you better.

Ned rig, shaky head, junior pad crasher, poppin pad crasher, horny toad. Honorable mention goes to the 2.5" bitsy tube, 3/8 ounce cavitron, and deep little N.