MassYak85

@Scarborough817 Pretty much said what I was going to. I assume this water is pretty clear? I'd focus on the deep drop for the most part. They might be more willing to come up onto the flats during lower light conditions like overcast days and night time. Wind might help too if it is blowing up against a wall or drop off and bringing bait right over their heads.

I think it was this one. Dripped nylon net, aluminum handle. A cut off wheel went through it pretty easy and the grip at the end you can just slip back on. http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-Shadow-Tech-Landing-Net/product/1509241051/

A tip that might work for you as well as it did for me. I bought a rubber net when BPS had them on sale and took a saw to the handle and shortened it to maybe 2 1/2 feet, and then put the rubber grip back on the end. So now I have a "kayak friendly" rubber net that isn't too long to be awkward.

> Pressured Lake > No one else fishes lures imitating the main forage Yea I'd say your plan should work excellent. If it's like most of the quarries I've seen I imagine it has some pretty steep walls. You might have success fishing a hudd mere inches from a wall if you feel you can make the cast.

As a matter of fact, this showed up in the mail today Along with this because my other rod isn't up to the task, now I just need a reel (I've pretty much already decided on the Lexa300H but I want to try and find a deal). I don't plan on using this until I get back to Mass. If I can't figure out the fish on normal jigs and worms I don't think it's worth my time to go chucking hudds at them in 90 degree VA chocolate milk. I'll write this whole setup off as an early birthday present to myself. And in hindsight this statement usually doesn't hold up but I think once I get this setup up and running with a few baits I won't be buying much gear for a while.

I'll never buy a non-rubber net again. Better for the fish and I never have issues with hooks getting tangled.

If my gear can handle it, the fish is coming to the boat ASAP. The longer you fight the fish the greater chance it will get off. If I hook a 5lber on a dropshot on my ML I'd let it tire out but generally I'm fishing braid in 30, 40, 50, 65 lb for most of my setups. At which point my only concern is the line getting brushed against something sharp or the hooks themselves failing. I think there's a place for both tiring the fish and horsing them. I don't ever get precise about my drag settings though. I am more concerned with the drag being smooth than the actual lb it's set at. I usually have it set to where I feel comfortable not damaging the hook. Only time I worry about the line snapping because of drag is on my spinning setups usually when I am using light leaders.

I can't speak to the baitcasters they make but the President spinning series is a true workhorse reel. They can be had for 50 bucks and I have never had an issue with one. I'm usually one to try different things even if I'm satisfied with what I have but I will probably continue to buy President reels until they stop making them.

I'd go with the S-Waver 168. Big enough to still draw some curiosity but not so big a decent smallmouth is going to struggle to get it in it's mouth.

I'd go Saturday too. If I have the choice of two days and one is worse (but safe and tolerable) weather I usually pick that day. It doesn't always turn out great and I've had amazing days during bluebird skies but it generally seems to work.

My only gripes with Trokars are I seem to have bad luck with the points rolling (specifically on spinnerbaits) and texposing hooks becomes more difficult as the hook will actually slice through the thin layer of plastic you stick the tip under.

I couldn't tell you why but I have yet to get bit on one past dark

If I go I bring a headlamp but I also DIYed up a pole over the winter that I can stick in a rod holder, I think it came out pretty well. I got the idea and materials from some article I found. Overall maybe like 15 bucks to make, most of that being the waterproof diving light. It's pretty bright. Here it is more or less (not mine, someone else made this one but similar idea).

What do you consider "light" tackle? If you're asking is 50lb braid too heavy for dropshotting 4" worms on a Light action rod then yes. But if you want to fish lighter 1/4oz t-rigs in thick cover it might not be.

Awesome! I'll definitely make good use of it next time I'm there (or maybe even empty it for you sometime)

I think the issue is you ordered on Saturday like NiX said. Because of that you have to count how many business days your order has been in process. Today is day 1 for your order basically. Although if you check now and it's still not at least saying that it was shipped to a California shipping facility there may be an issue.

A 30 size spro rat, a hollow bellied frog, a popper, a small chartreuse spinnerbait, a bag of senkos, a bag of 7" berkley power worms, some 3/0 EWG hooks, some 1/8 oz weights and bobber stops, a squarebill, a black buzzbait, a 3/8oz jig and a bag of trailers, and some flukes! (and yes I can get that all to fit)

I rarely walk mine unless I'm fishing a pocket in the pads and want it to cause commotion but not move a ton. They can be chalenging to walk sometimes depending on certain factors. You could always try trimming one of the legs slightly shorter than the other to provide a little imbalance. The key to walking a frog is to get it to make that first side turn, once you do that it's usually not too bad. But I've had it before where the frog just would not turn sideways and it took like 15 twitches of just nosing forward before it turned. You want some slack in the line when you are doing it.

Can you...yes. Should you...no. Their is zero reason to use fluoro for frogs. If for whatever reason you absolutely loathe braid, use something like 15lb or 20lb Big game or CXX mono.

How do the weights compare. I have no experience with St Croix but some rod manufacturers are able to save weight by using a larger diameter blank but reducing wall thickness. In essence creating a lighter rod by sacrificing actual size.

I've honestly never done well at Cotichuate, not sure what everyone else's opinion is here? Last time I fished it was ice out from shore with a hudd 68. Nice! I placed an order for a 9" light trout. Can't wait!

I've found that I enjoy three different aspects of fishing, each of which I can enjoy for certain lengths of time. There's actually catching fish. That I'll never get tired of and I have had several 15 hour days on the water simply because the bite didn't stop. Then there's actually trying to pattern and locate fish, which I enjoy but I do reach my limit. If I don't catch a fish after like 6-8 hours I usually have run myself out of options and go home to try and think critically about why I didn't do well. Then there's just being out in nature, which is usually a factor of the weather. I've deliberately gone out in some nasty conditions because I thought the bite might be on. I've been wrong and I've been right. I'll usually tolerate anything for at least a couple hours, but if it's a beautiful day, I'm in a new area, and I reach that 6 hour point where I get stumped, I'll usually just go around and quietly observe the animals. It's nice if I'm in the kayak because I can turn a fishing trip into a paddling trip in an instant, and switch back if I see something.

Nonsense! You just need the right type of car!

Lol, how many ball bearings? (Just kidding) On a serious note has anyone tried these out yet? If they are worth the original price that's a heck of a deal! A 9 speed reel at that price point I am sure will have many people's attention.

I think regardless of what any of us think is the current trend in the state of our waters, we can all do a part to improve them. Like Tom said with drawdowns, they are a great opportunity and if your local water has them it's a great chance to just pick a stretch of shoreline, take a trashbag and spend a couple hours cleaning it up. Even when we are out fishing it's pretty easy to scoop up a bottle as it floats by, or pull that line out of the tree we're standing next to on the shore.