papajoe222

If it works, I don't ask why. Life's too complicated as it is. Why add more to it questioning whether the scent made a difference? FYI, I rarely throw a soft plastic without some kind of scent on it, but that's me.

I'm not familiar with the waterway. Any idea what the water temp. is? Also, is the river at normal pool? Any current? Not knowing any of that, at this time of year I'd be looking for green vegetation, or a fairly quick drop to deep water. If the current is flowing from the shallow channel into the deeper main river, I'd start there and then look for anything breaking the current, or a change in depth.

I was using an app (ScoutLook). Took a quick pic and my location and weather conditions were auto recorded. I’d add lire, depth and anything else I thought important when I’d write it all down in my log.

My reasoning is that the fish didn't fully commit to the first lure and a slight change, or even a drastic one, will get them to. I always follow up a surface strike with a soft jerk bait or weightless stick worm. If that doesn't work, I'll change something about my original presentation. Often times it's just a matter of working it faster or slower. Sometimes it's a change to something different, but the same lure worked the same way more often than not, will result in the same result; missed fish.

Don't hesitate to call another angler out for their bad behavior. We all share the same waters and sport. If I see someone doing something that's detrimental to either, I speak up. I feel my silence is the same as condoning their behavior and just possibly, It may make them think before doing it again. The worst that can happen is they blow me off.

I stopped keeping a fishing log a couple of seasons ago. Big Mistake. I was reorganizing my den and went to move my stack of logs only to open one up and glance at it. Two hours later (I have a lot of free time), I discovered something I'd overlooked all these years: Other than a jig/trailer, a much higher percentage of the fish I've caught have come on soft plastic baits not lures (hard baits). I was surprised because for quite a while now I have been throwing soft plastics only when lures failed to produce and that typically is after a few hours of probing the water column with those lures. I just assumed that my numbers have gone down in recent years because I've basically been targeting big fish. Guess what I've caught more fish over 5lb.with? Okay, I'm hard headed. So I figure maybe there are a few on the site like me, or some that could use a smile in their day knowing there are others that think they have it almost figured out, but are basically just as clueless as they are. Happy Thanksgiving

You may need something a little more abrasive than ketchup to bring back the luster. Any metal polish like brass or chrome polish will have a similar affect when it comes to removing the tarnish. The other plus is they contain a mild abrasive that'll remove some of the minor pitting. What ever you use, give the blades a coat of wax to delay the onset of more tarnishing.

I do the same as MckD unless it's a football jig that I'm dragging along. More often than not, I'll switch to straight fluoro for that even though I really dislike the stuff.

I would venture to say that you're fishing where the fish aren't. By that I mean you're likely fishing below or above the fish and we all know that under tough conditions, bass won't move far to take a bait. Yes, you may be over working the rig, but I'd venture that your leader length has a lot more to do with your lack of success. If you aren't sure where the fish are in relation to the bottom, you need to adjust your leader length until they tell you that you have it right.

Dang! They're up to $250? I'm glad I bought mine when I did, although if I lost them I'd pay $250 to replace them. I like them that much.

You know you have a problem when everyone but you is searching the net for Christmas presents and you're searching the net for a deal on that reel you've had your eye on for all of a day.

LOL. Looks to me like somebody's spending a little too much time on the net and not enough fishing.

I don't believe what you feel would be considered paranoia, but more like a negative feeling based on your increased knowledge. Whatever you learn here, the purpose is to increase the odds in favor of you catching fish. That line, because of the increased angler visibility, makes strikes easier for you to see. Look at that as a +1. IF the fish can see it, give it a -1. Now do the math. You haven't gained any advantage, but you also haven't lost any. IMO, that makes it a good choice. You can take all the increased odds obtained from the gear you use because you are better educated and put them to use and all that can be negated by sloppy casting, or using the wrong retrieve speed. Work on your skills and you will tip the scales a lot more in your favor than any equipment upgrades could ever hope to do.

I lost two this season, both fishing at night and both were due to toothy critters. I'm going to loose at least a dozen next year as I'm all but eliminating their use in the future and will be selling them off.

If the money designated for fishing includes the cost of boat fuel, yea. Otherwise you're gonna spend a lot of time dead in the water.

I roll my own now and have both better and cheaper to shoot with

I used to tease my sister that her Yorkie would make good muskie bait. The thing disappeared a few years ago and the first thing she asked me was if I'd finally done just that. I showed her a pic of me and a 52in. muskie. You know, girls hit harder than you'd expect. I have a nephew that just turned one................I don't think I'll show her this. Playing it safe just in case.

If you look at the market as a whole, the cost of lures hasn't increased, proportionally, any more than rods, reels and other tackle. Even a spool of Stren or Trilene has increased in price around 35%. A lot of that has to do with advertising costs, but another reason is the average wage of that same target group you mention has gone up along with the younger one's parents. Live bait costs, on the other hand, fluctuate based on supply and demand. It was a rotten year for Canadian crawlers. Will we see crawlers at $2 or $2.50 again? That is a lot more likely than seeing a crankbait go from $7.99 back down to $5.99. Many of those lure companies moved their production out of the country only to raise prices anyway.

Go ahead, I think I know where you'd go with it.

I throw tubes on baitcasting gear the majority of time. Stay away from heavy line unless flipping. I use 8lb. for internal jig heads and 12lb for 'stupid' rigging, different rods. Fact is, I built a casting rod on a spinning blank for the sole purpose of using it for tube jigs. I paired it with a reel that can cast a 1/8oz. tube/jig easily and absolutely love the set-up. I don't like spinning gear for extended tube fishing because of line twist issues. there's still line twist because of the spiral fall of the tube, but the problem isn't compounded by the reel. BTW, prior to that build, I was using a Med power rod with what I would call a mod/fast action and I fish from a boat, so casting distance isn't as much of a concern.

The power plant lakes here in north east IL will be closing to fishing in mid October. The same goes for some of the smaller public lakes. Other than Shabonna, is there a decent fishery within 75 miles of the Joliet area? I just can't bring myself to put the boat up for the winter before the lakes start to freeze over.

If you aren't hesitant to open up the reel, I'd venture to say that there is way too much grease on the anti-reverse bearing. It's located in the right side plate and the main shaft goes through it to the reel handle. It should have a very minimal amount of lube on it. Too much allows the one way bearing to slip backwards of some of the less expensive reels.

Check that the line pawl cap is tight as mentioned. If so, try removing it and letting the pawl fall out. Slide the line guide assembly to the center and replace the pawl and cap. Now turn the reel handle. If it, the line guide, moves to the side and hangs up, the pawl needs replacing (cheap item). If the guide doesn't move, the worm gear isn't turning and it's an internal issue. Have someone look at it , it may just be a clip has come off the end of the gear and the gearing that turns the worm gear isn't engaging.

Tucson, I hope those boxes are worm proof, or you're gonna have a mess on your hands the first hot day you're on the water. Looks like a great storage option if it works and I hope it does because I could use a new idea or two for soft plastics storage.

For me, it's a Smithwick Devil's Horse. Not sure what the color is called, but it's chrome with a splash of red at the nose and either a black or blue back. My all time favorite was a WoodChopper. I'm down to my last one and don't throw it often because I'm concerned I may loose it.