Otter17

Awesome pic man!!! There is the evidence right there! ?? Those water snakes love their fish. Whenever I see one along the fox river, they’re usually munching on a Bullhead.

Excellent point Scott! Thankyou

Scott, when I wade the river, in the Plainfield area where I fish. There is a small forage fish by nearly every single good sized rock or boulder. They are all the same kind of fish. About 3-4” with a mottled brown/green color to them. There is just a boat load of them. But just one each behind their rock. I was thinking they were goby’s. But I’m not sure if the Dupage has goby’s. Would you have any idea what they are? I want to make sure I Fish Baits that look like them. Thanks man!

I was going to try some live bait for Smallmouth. The river/stream i fish gets a lot of pressure. And wanted to try some roaches(Shiners) for bait. Any suggestions on the best size to buy for this time of year. Thankyou

Whoa, that’s new to me. Never thought about that. Thanks man!

It helps a lot. Thankyou North E97. I’ll buy each of those sizes. Have a great Sunday man!

The stream I fish averages 1’-2’ deep with a few deeper(5’) holes in it. What weight shakyhead Jig would you recommend? Thankyou

Thanks Allen! Why not use a bait that has salt in it? And oh man, I just checked out those Mega Strike’s you were talking about. Those are freakin awesome!

I am buying shakyheads for the first time. They will be used primarily with soft craw Baits to keep them upright, and other soft plastics. Getting them in green or brown colors is preferred. Do you guys have any you prefer or recommend the most? Thankyou

I totally agree Scott. It does get to the point of being unfishable. When it’s like that, I won’t even go out. We were a little lucky this June in that it had rained so much and the river was so high and dark, that it didn’t have a chance to grow early on. When normally it would have been bad. I was able to get in some good days. But I didn’t see what it was like in July.

I live in the Plainfield area and fish it, just wondering if anyone else on Bass Resource fishes it. Thanks

Hi guys, I’m from the Plainfield area. I’m having a hard time finding Shiners for live bait in the area. Anyone know of any shops in the area that might sell them. Thanks

I found my ocd was just kickin in. Nothing wrong with the Sedon FI. It’s a Nice Reel for the price. And I’ll be sticking with it. Thankyou for your suggestions guys.

Holy Cow! You are busting out some great info Aquaholic! How the heck do you know and get all these %’s and stuff? And Thankyou for the suggestion on the 5 turn surgeons Knot. I’ll add that to my Knot now.

Aquaholic, thanks for doing the test and posting it Man! For surf fishing, I use either: 30lb. Braid- 40lb. Leader or 30lb. Braid- 80lb. Leader i also use 20lb. Braid- 30lb. Leader Inshore catfish- 65lb. Braid- 50 Leader

DHP, when you are tying a mono or Fluoro MAINLINE to a heavier leader of mono or fluoro you use 4 to 6 wraps. But, if you are using a BRAID mainline you need to use 10 to 15 wraps. Then it will hold as it should.

I think that is very important. Using a Knot that “you” feel confident in, and like using. There’s no perfect knot out there that everyone “should” or “have-to” use. Everyone has there own go-to knots.

? Dhp, how many wraps did you use?

I’ve used this Knot to catch barracuda and Jack’s up to 30lbs. down in Florida. They tested that Knot to its limits. Also got plenty of blue and Flathead catfish up to 50lbs. on it. Never once did I ever have to tie a second knot or Bimini twist or spider hitch or anything, and it has never come loose. Once it’s locked tight, “your line will break” before that Knot ever breaks.

This is the way I’ve always tied it. It’s always important to cinch it up tight so that the tag end pops up perpendicular to the line. Once it’s done that, it is locked in. The second picture shows what I mean by the tag end popping up perpendicular.

I’ve tried a ton of Mainline to Leader knots over the years, and over the past couple of years I’ve settled on the Yucatan. Ive tried the FG also, but I can tie the Yucatan with my eyes closed and pretty darn fast. I feel it gives me all the strength I could ever need in a line to line connection. I just dont hear of many others using it. Any one else out there use this Knot, or else what’s your favorite and why you like it?

Looks like I’ll be going with: 10lb. BBG for the mono, and 20lb. 832 for the braid. I was going to try the New Super Slick Version 2, But I’ll wait till next season to do that.

Nice, that will certainly help out. Braid adds up real fast. I appreciate that tip man. ?

Thanks Russ E!

Gorgeous Smallmouth! WTG Man!!!