Joel W

it's just the weather channel weather site. I use it periodically. No better then the rest as they still can't get the weather right. NOAA seems to be the most accurate.

It's always a sad thing to see when there is any major fish kill. This year has been really tough on many lakes and reservoirs here in the North East, especially the NYC reservoirs. It got hot quicker then usual this year, the end result is that even these massive reservoirs have experienced lower then normal oxygen levels and there were some minor fish kills. Fish that normally "live" in the deeper weed beds have on many reservoirs gone even deeper as the weeds just out grew their water habitat. As for how long it will take for any body of water to recover from a fish kill, that depends on whether or not the lake was over populated to start with. over population makes for easier fishing, but the fish become stunted. A fish kill from lack of Oxygen could take a few years to double digit years to come back to normal fish populations, as every body of water is different.

Candlewood is in Conn. Read more here: http://www.nybass.com/showthread.php?t=32731

Russ, I'm only a rec fisherman, same for 99% of the Res Rats. Twin socks will certainly help come this fall. As far as the get together, keep on checking the site's forum for get togethers. Dennis hasn't posted for non-boaters as yet. As soon as I find out I'll pm you the info as well.

Russ, thanks for the info. We're getting out for a few trips this week on one of the reservoirs that gets hot once the water temps start to drop. If we need to deal with the wind for boat control, all of us carry a 24 inch drift sock. Will certainly opt for two if one doesn't do the trick. BTW, any chance you can make Dennis's (BassBum's) get together from NYBass that he's putting together for Candlewood ? Everyone would love to meet you now that Mike D has made you a TV star.

Russ, good luck out there today. Unfortunately, I have to work till well after 10pm at my Drug store. Triple drift socks. Never seen them used that way before. If that didn't keep you in a controlled drift coupled with a trolling motor, then the winds must have been really whipping up a storm. Us Res Rats only have drift socks, a anchor, and a pair of oars to control our boats. Heavy winds make it just too unsafe to be out there. The next Hurricane is IKE. He's just NE of Cuba and should make US landfall somewhere around Florida.

Russ, nice outing but I'm just a little confused with your timing. Tropical Storm Hanna didn't get here to Long Island until after 4pm. Then the really heavy rains and winds up to 50 mph paid us a visit. Fortunately, the storm moved through quite quickly. So I'm assuming that you were fishing in the pre-storm conditions which had the fish up and active.

Since I fish out row boats on the NYC reservoir system, after storm winds would be my main concern. It it's fishable weather, and it's my weekly day to fish, then I'm on the water. Of course, the ability to get up there due to down trees etc. would also have a direct cause and effect on my plans.

I guess it really depends on where one lives. For me, I live on Long Island New York, and fish the NYC reservoirs. I target Smallies in the spring through the spawn when one can actually find them. But once the summer gets here they generally go deep and are extremely difficult to locate and catch. So my attention turns to LM Bass which are more predictable in their summer locations, and much easier to catch. You also have to remember that on the NYC reservoirs we're only allowed rowboats and oars, so you just can't cover miles of deep open water. Wnd also plays a major role into where one can and can't fish on a given day.

Mike, The show with Rich Z will be amazing. All your shows this year l have been absolutely fantastic. You've really gone for the gold my friend.

Nope. Marty lives in Queens. Besides he's on vacation for 1 1/2 weeks.

Just another great Lunkerville show. Each episode continues to surpass the previous ones. As for the fishing being tough, well, Mike D has a very long history of going fishing and nearly always managing to turn off the bite. Stickbaits & the spawn goes together like PP & J does. Their just a natural that really produces for me. My basic philosophy is that if the lure puts fish in the boat, I'm using it.

I only kiss the big fat ones 4 lbs and over. Then again, I've been known to kiss a lot smaller Bass if the fishing been really tough and I was getting desperate.

I prefer to fish before or during the rain. The clouds and rain make it a lot harder for the Bass to see you or get a real good look at your topwater lures. My favorites are Spinnerbaits or shallow running Crankbaits.

I'm a big Rapala fan, but for shallow crankin' I see no reason to switch from my Manns -1. What I'll be real interested in is their DT-20s. I'm not a real big fan of the sure set hooks, so I'll be switching them.

From time to time I fish a local public (privately owned) golf course. There are three ponds that border it which are owned by the county. One of which provides excellent LM and pan fishing. There are also a two smaller ponds on the course itself. I've fished one in the rain with fair results. But the Head Grounds keeper doesn't officially allow fishing on the course due to liability reasons.

JT, excellent read. You certainly opened my eyes to a new bait that I've just plain over looked. 90% of my plastic deep bottom bouncing is with Ugly Otters or a 10 inch worm with a 1/2 oz bullet wt. When I need to lighten up I switch to a setup with a 1/4-3.8 oz bullet wt and down size to a 7 inch worm or a Yami Kreature bait. But I can the advantage of switching to a Ika for a completely different look. Will be trying them out real soon.

As others have already mentioned, fishing weeds from shore is a two edged sword. 1st you're limited to types of lures, namely tx rigged, unweighted plastics. frogs, Horny Toads, and Flukes (not nose hooked). And even if you do indeed hook a Bass, landing it in heavy weeds is a iffy situation a best. I would spool my reel with 30 or even better, 50 lb braid and use a 3 ft flouro leader. The Braid will help you cut through the weeds. If possible I would look for the edges of the weeds from the shoreline and work those areas as your 1st option. Good luck & tight lines.

I really never fish much deeper then 30 ft or so and that's over known humps on several reservoirs. The only presentations I use are 1 oz jigs, a drop shot, and a 3/4 oz spoon.

The fish are already wet, so they don't mind if it's starts to rain. Actually, I prefer to fish in lite to moderate rain during the summer then have to contend with the blazing sun, heat, and humidity by mid day on. All of which drives the fish deep into the weeds and generally shuts the bite down till dusk when the bite usually picks up The rain tends to obscure the fishes ability to see our boats and us, so we can move in closer. The Bass tend to become more active and will chase topwater, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, Jerkbaits, and Buzzbaits. I tend to NOT work any stationary plastics like a drop shot or Shaky Head, but would offer up wt'd plastics worked along a weed line or ledge. As for colors, I tend to go darker as the light penetration would be less. Don't worry though, the Bass can see your dark colored lures just fine. However, the golden rule that we used last week is that thunder is ok, but the 1st sign of lightning, and we get our butts off the water ASAP till the storm passes.

All I can add to these excellent responses is that I also have experimented with no brakes, some brakes, etc. I use Daiwa TDA 150 A's for pitching both jigs and wt'd plastics. What works for me is a brake setting of 4 or 5, and a casting setting where the lure almost free falls, but not quite. I spent a whole winter practicing in my back yard till I was comfortable pitching. Now it's 2nd nature to me. On the other hand, I don't use these setting for casting jigs or wt'd plastics, as I will eventually end up with a dreaded birds nest. I up the brake to 7 and tighten up the fall rate a tad.

I also do most of my soft plastic fishing with spinning gear. The exception is wt'd plastics: Creature baits, 6+ inch worms, etc.. For that I use a med baitcasting setup and pitch in and around cover. I guess what I'm asking is do you pitch with a spinning setup ?

Me too. But once my son discovered girls, he dumped me. No time to fish as it interferes with his social life right now.

For several years I fished mostly alone. I found it mentally tough to stay focused for 8+ hours at a time. Once I hooked up with a partner for our reservoir boats, I've become addicted to fishing with a buddy or a guest. Besides the social aspects, fishing with others, especially those who are more advanced, often lends itself to learning new techniques, etc.

I bought two at the same time. Both were 6'6"Shimano Clarus's. One was a M 6-12 lb test, and the other one was a MH 8-17 lb test. By most other manufactures standards they would be classified as a ML & a M. Both were fast action tips. I still have the 6'6" ML rod and use it as my dedicated drop shot rod.