billmac

I don't get the "beginner's lure" thing. Is a beginner's lure something that catches fish? If so, why aren't we all using them? Why would anyone use a lure (in whatever situation) that they think is less appealing to bass than something else they could throw? To me, a beginner's lure might be something that is easily castable and more weedless and/or less snaggable.

Well yes, sometimes that happens, but that's more than pretty good. That's extraordinary.

Even Texas!

Isn't 20 lbs / day really good pretty much anywhere?

Curly tail grub on a ball head jig with spinner arm attachment. Fast, slow, shallow or deep, it just produces.

Ultimately the answer is "some, but not as many as think so".

Current breaks or seams. Deeper pools near shallow water. Any kind of structure. Even weeds or pads. Weeds aren't usually ideal smallie structures, but as long as you're there, why not? Honestly, this is how I would fish rivers for virtually any kind of fish.

Look at the St. Lawrence River. The place is literally crawling with 4 and 5 lb smallmouth. An 18lb bag is likely to put you in 75th place. You would think in an environment like that, it would be a crap-shoot as to who would win. And yet, consistently, it's pretty much the same subset of pros. There's a reason.

One of the things that separates any pro from amateurs in any endeavor is the ability to deliver under pressure. With nothing on the line, perhaps some average joes could compete on occasion. Pros don't have the luxury of heading in when they aren't biting, or it's too hot, or too cold, or too windy, or under a pouring rain. This is their job.

When BASS first came to the St. Lawrence river back in '78 (I think), they discovered a largemouth fishery that the locals didn't really know was even there. And fishing northern waters was not even much of a thing in those days, so a bunch of southerners came up and kicked butt. If you are not skilled in a large variety of waters and conditions, and are driven by honey holes and preconceived notions, you aren't going to make it.

I have to agree with the general trend of this thread. There's a reason local hot-shots seldom win when the pros come to town, even on their home waters. To be able to read a vast array of types of waters, and adapt to changing conditions is a rare skill set. I also have to agree that it has become a rich man's game.

When I only used mono, years ago, I usually respooled with fresh line every spring. With braid, I seldom respool until the level gets low on the spool. Not sure what is recommended with today's mono and fluoro.

I've mostly followed the advice I found on this board. I use braid for jigs (which I don't use enough), topwaters, and moving single hook baits (like a jig and spinner). I use mono for treble hook baits. I use fluoro or fluoro leader for dropshot and ned rig.

It's gotta be Dr. Pepper, and I'm not even from the South.

I remember seeing Scott Martin on Champlain getting quite a few bites on the C-Rig, but losing most of them. Doesn't mean much but it stuck out in my mind.

I haven't tried it, but I know some anglers on the St. Lawrence are using C-Rigs and just doing controlled drifting in the heavy current. Even as I'm typing the above, I'm thinking, isn't the current going to push the bait ahead of the weight? I have to talk to some of the guys I know who are doing it, because that doesn't seem like an ideal situation. I must be missing something.

Yes. I was thinking about the strength of their bite.

So I just watched NDYakAngler catch a huge catfish, and hold it by the lower jaw. I've never caught a catfish, but I have caught some large bullhead, and occasionally when lipping them like a bass, they bit hard enough to cause pain. I kind of assumed a much larger member of the catfish family could bite down hard enough to be unwise to put your fingers in their mouth. Is this not the case?

I had a workstudy student who was a computer programmer and a terrible speller, an interesting combination. One day he comes in and loudly and proudly announces "I'm Dyslexic". I said that while being dyslexic was nothing to be ashamed of, I've never seen anyone happy about it. He replied "I thought I was just stupid!, You can do something about dyslexia but stupid you're just stuck with!"

Gen clear? (something I've never seen or heard) What's next, walleyed pike? (something I've seen and heard a lot). Maybe the folks saying gen are Baptist and aren't allowed to say gin. (I'm Baptist btw).

They are black, they turn white (and get soft) before they transform into a dobson fly. In my area they get about 3 inches long.

I'm actually thinking of using the Navionics app with a tablet as an alternative.

What kind of tablet are you using? I'm considering a similar setup. My Kindle fire doesn't have GPS, but it looks like you can buy an external GPS unit for it.

What is the smallest (translation: least expensive) Navionics enabled depthfinder? It was borne in on me yesterday on the St. Lawrence, that if I want to follow contours effectively, I need a depthfinder on my bow. I had planned to put an inexpensive Garmin Striker 4 up there, but that wouldn't really help me.

I was a boater for our college's in-club tournament yesterday, and the boaters were encouraged to fish also. Almost all boats caught all their fish before 9:30am. The student in my boat, and I, probably contrary to all the rules of dropshotting, caught most of our fish from about 20 feet off the bank, casting up toward shore and dragging it down the dropoffs while drifting at ridiculous speeds. These are probably my two PB smallmouth. They are both just under 4lbs.