jdw174

I personally prefer the straight shank for most of my worm fishing. I use the EWG hooks for Senko's, Flukes, etc.

I'll have to go with the SkitterPop and the Pop-R. Honorable mention goes to the ChugBug.

I'd go with the Champion, hands down.

It's "Captain and Tennille", and thanks, I will. 8-)

I spent two hours watching an SRV concert on public TV not too long ago, and was bored after the first few songs. I began hearing the same runs/riffs, only in a different key. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it :

Muddy, I agree 1000%, especially with Joe Pass and Barney Kessel. I will, however, disagree on the choice of Hendrix and SRV. Every time I hear Hendrix playing it reminds me of the scene from "Cheech and Chong's Next Movie" where Tommy Chong is playing the guitar with a pipe wrench. While I like SRV as a blues player, he does IMO get very repetitious after a couple of songs.

I ALMOST bought a new Dell laptop.....in fact even ordered it through QVC. Then, when I came up with a question before it was delivered I contacted Dell's tech center for help. The question was, "Does it come with an Ethernet card installed ?". In short, it took me 20 minutes to make "Punjab" understand what I was talking about and to get a "yes" back out of him. During that time, I understood probably 1 out of every five words he said. I decided that if this was what I was going to deal with every time I had a problem they could keep it and I cancelled the order. If you have a problem with Symantec software (Norton), you'll get the same type of phone service. Best thing to do is use the online chat feature if they offer it. They type in English really well

Silver Thread is one of the cheaper lines out there and the only one that I use.

I remember owning one.......and trashing it just as fast. Not nearly as good as the real thing, IMO.

either 10 or 12# SST line.

Well, this might raise a few eyebrows, but back when I was doing a LOT of dock skipping in western NY and PA, by skipping rig was an AllStar model SRMLTN (spinning rod, med. lt. action, tennessee handle). The rod was just about 5'10" and I had a Shimano reel taped to it loaded with either 8 or 10lb SilverThread line. The lure I always used was a standard Bobby Garland Gitzit on a Garland 1/16oz Gitzit Head. That thing would skip a LONG way on that rod/reel. The combination hooked/fought/landed a ton of bass, including smallies up to 5+ and LM the same size out from under docks made of wood and metal both. Come to think of it, maybe it's time to dig in the closet and put that rig back together again 8-)

Jig or worm about 98% of the time.

When I fished Lake Erie, about the coldest water that I could reasonably hope to find some activity was the mid-40's (smallmouth). Largemouth started up about 10 degrees warmer.

Silvercliff, I've tried to find a source for the electric gizmo, but haven't been able to find anything yet. They've gone by several different names and the last I can think of was "Worm Welder". They were in the BPS catalog until recently. One other source you might try is Northern Bass Supply. They always had a way of stocking out of the way items no one carried. (www.northernbass.com) If I can find anyone carrying these I'll get back to you.

It would be nice if it worked that way, but I bet they find that fishing/hunting alone won't pay the bills.

99% of the time it will be a 1/2oz. The rest of the time, 3/8.

Brush Hog in "Wild Grape" color, or a half-ounce jig.

If that's the case I suggest the Cumara. Just saw them in a shop near here yesterday......$220.

Back when I was doing a bit of outdoor writing I was sent one of the earlier models of "worm welder" to play with. Ran on one AA battery and was a solid loop of wire with a small Paddle at the tip that would heat up. You slid it into the tear on the worm and pressed the button while slowly pulling it along the length of the tear. It would melt the plastic together which would solidify after you removed the tool. It worked fine, but I'm not sure it was worth the $20 asking price at the time.

Everybody has their own ideas, so here's mine. You'd be hard pressed to find a better jig on the market than Bass Stalker Jigs. You can find them on the Uncle Josh home page.

I agree that last years selection was way better. I passed on this years....thank goodness!!

Sounds to me like it might be time for giving some Texas-rigged soft plastics a try.

I think RW is right about no smallies there. I bought my (then new) Triton from Beech Lake Marine in Lexington and did the initial run on Beech Lake. There are several lakes in the area that are watershed lakes and they all require a permit, available at the local water dept. office. They do get some nice fish out of there.

I like culprits, but one of my favorites was always Gillrakers. Fantastic action and good color selection. Haven't seen any in tackleshops for sometime now.

I fished Erie out of Erie, Pa for years. I've seen springtime tournaments there where a five fish stringer weighing 25 pounds would barely get you into the money! I had a half dozen days where I hooked and boated 120+ fish myself. They might come a little bigger down south, but I'd take Erie over any southern lake when it comes to smallie fishing.