BassinCNY

I like anise because it's as pleasant to me as it is to the fish.

It's been my experience that it's mostly the smaller bass that grab the bait and move away. The big ones tend to take it gently and stay right where they are.

Kayak pfd's are pretty comfortable. Maybe that would be an option?

All these were caught while targeting bass 95 percent of the time and occasionally pickerel or walleye because I think they're delicious. largemouth smallmouth lake trout brown trout tiger musky northern pickerel drum rock bass perch sunfish walleye bowfin Notably missing from the list this year are a few fish that I normally get but didn't this year. At least I don't remember catching them: catfish gar carp bullhead brook trout

First lake trout.

Something similar happened to me last summer while fly fishing the Roaring Fork in Colorado. Luckily it was a black bear and he was only interested in reaching his favorite back scratching tree which we were fishing next to. But due to the terrain we were trapped and it was a little unnerving.

Give them a try and report back. I fish with nothing but Gamakatsu hooks except for round bend worm hooks. For those I use the Granite Trail brand from Walmart because they are the best I've found at any price.

I was fishing a very similar lake in northern NY with a spinner bait in about 4 feet of water. As it got close to the boat I watched a pike that had been suspended vertically with it's head down take off like a rocket for my bait. I realized I hadn't seen it at first because I thought it was a weed. I think that's what it was trying to look like. It was around 24 inches long. So at least a small pike can position itself vertically.

I buy the dairy farmer boots at Walmart.

The Cicero store is the best in Central NY in my opinion. They carry what I like to fish. I hope they stick around.

That is the coolest and most ridiculous lure I've ever seen. The story makes it even cooler. I've got so many questions. Who paid for the tooling? Did the prototypes work? Was it just a scheme to defraud investors? Wow.

For fly fishing I use a waist bag that I found in my closet when I took up fly fishing. It is actually my wife's but I commandeered it. It has several compartments and works well. I have no idea where it came from. I lengthen it and use it like a sling pack when I get in deeper water. I don't usually bring a towel but it seems like a golf towel would work well.

I think the next thing I would try is a weightless texas rigged senko.

Yesterday was the first time we went more than 3 days without rain in 9 months. I tried to get in an hour of fishing between rain showers this evening but it poured on me. At least it was a warm rain.

Just going in to the spawn here and no contest it's the bladed jig in a blue gill/troutish color. A distant second is the white with silver blades spinner bait.

I bought a shirt on Amazon to try for $20 and it works as well or maybe better than my more expensive shirts. I really like the fit. I miss having a zipper at the neck but at least I can't forget to zip it and get a burned chest. The color is a little obnoxious but I figure it helps me to be seen by boats a little better when I'm in my canoe. Full disclosure, I'm in upstate NY so hot here is not the same as hot in warmer climates. Search for Key Apparel Men's Enhanced Visibility Long Sleeve Waffle Knit Pocket T-Shirt.

I switched to a mono leader for spinner baits recently because the braid was getting tangled in the spinners too often. It solved the problem and so far doesn't seem to have added any new ones.

I carry black, white and junebug 6" lizards but green pumpkin almost always out fishes the other colors.

It probably depends where you are too. I fished a finger lake in New York last weekend and the smallies were spawning. The water temperature at the surface was 49 degrees first thing in the morning and had warmed to 54 by mid-afternoon.

The diet of the bass in the local lakes and rivers I fish the most has changed significantly in the last 5 years with the introduction of round gobies. Especially young smallmouth. It seems to be for the better but time will tell.

Trick worm.

I will give this a try. Thanks for the tip.

I checked out Oneida lake today and it looks like another week or so before the ice is gone. Hopefully I'm not being overly optimistic.

It depends on the thickness of the bait but either the Gamakatsu light wire EWG or offset worm hook. 1/0 to 3/0 depending on how I'm working the bait.

I've never fished a creek for smallies but I think my first choice would be a small tube, then a hair jig.