Reel

I like the Shimano Miravel

Bass frequent isolated structures because there are no other structures around.

The puzzle has not been solved yet. And you are not alone when you ask yourself those questions. The next few lines are from Britt Myers about his latest MLF experience at Dale Hollow: ‘’Literally, I never fished anywhere today that I fished the first day,” Myers said. “I think those fish are just roaming anywhere from 4 foot to 30 foot. And I know it sounds crazy. I don’t understand that. It’s against everything in the bass fishing handbook. But that’s what’s going on.” Join the gang !

Right now, Shimano Metanium MGL 150B

Some tackle stores sell stick on foam in sheets. You can cut what you want and stick it on the crankbait in the position you want. These were made mainly for suspending jerkbaits, but I don't see why they cannot be used for crankbaits. The name is Zappu Floating Board. No answer for question 2.

Yes. I was born in March.

This was said twice now and I have a different opinion. Fisherman have a tendency to ''humanize'' bass. Fish don't wanna do anything. They are animals and work on instinct, not will. Bass are where they need to be, when they need to be, doing what they need to do and the three things their instinct tells them to do, is survive, eat and reproduce. If you understand their needs, you know where they are.

Same suggestion. Those are the ones I use for my Spy Baits.

Even if I have not been there, I think giving exact locations is the worst thing you can do to a fellow fisherman. It takes out all the fun of finding a good spot. Use the Navionics viewer and you should be able to find a large flat spot near the chanel in 12 to 15 feet of water.

The Michigan side doesn't look deeper. Like Dwight sait, I would try to fish along the shipping canal concentrating on flat shelves along it. But that's where I would start ! It might not work.

Where I fish, everything in the fishing season happens faster. When fish can spawn over a fairly long period in the warmer states, up north they do so in 3 weeks. So when the spawn happens the fish are really concentrated. In clear water, I regularly see 10 or 15 nests in one little bay where the water is the right temperature. Very different!!!!

Yes, I'm from Canada also, and the season is closed. In Ontario, the bass fishing mounths are July, August and September... so prespawn and spawn are not in the picture.

I don't want to contredict anyone and I have never been to St-Clair, but I fish similar water. St Clair is not a deep lake and the water is cold. It' like a big bowl. I would guess that you always have fish that are not deep and you also have fish in midsummer ( July) that are in the deepest section. In June, August and September the water is cooler and there are more fish not really deep. On the Canadian side, I would think that June and September are the best mounths. In summer, I would be looking for changes in depth offshore around the 20 foot mark.

I try to be positive and and try to buy brands that do something for the environnement like use recycled paper for their packaging.

I see that you fish small rivers and little ponds most of the time. A Shimano DC reel doesn't give you any real advantage in those situations. I use DC reels because I fish large open waterways where the wind is regularly present and the water real clear. That extra couple of yards I get at the end of the cast with a spinnerbait or jerkbait and cutting down on backlashes went there is a sudden gust means a few extra fish at the end of the day. Is it worth it... that's for you to decide. It is for me. If it were the solution to all, Shimano would be making only DC reels.

I fish lake Champlain and can see fish on regular 2D sonar. The easiest to see are lake trout ( around 10 lbs) in 100 feet of water. You can see bunches of them grouped together as very clear arches. You can see your lure as you jig for them by putting it just above the arches and you see the fish move up to grab the jig exactly like FFS. I've also seen walleyes. They look like a straight line heading for the lure when they strike.

I fish a few of the New York streams and my best lures for very early season (catch and release) are small jerkbaits (75 and 95) and Ned Rigs with a bit of pink or purple.

Where are you so we can figure out at what stage of the season the smallmouth are ???

I have the 7' 2'' Zodias and it's a terrific rod: one of a kind, very versatile .

I don't know which brand you have right now, but going to another brand is always a challenge. This is more true if your adding new technology like FFS. If you want connectivity, you should also consider what brand of rolling motor you are using. For FFS, screens that are a little bigger ( 12 inch) help a lot.

If something happens, you can have the Nasci repaired, the other one, I don't know ?

Both would be OK. With the type of lure you are going to be throwing, I prefer the Shimano with the MGL spool. They work reel well with light lures that are somewhat wind resistant.

If you visit one of those factories where they hand make a lot of the baits, I think you will quickly understand. I visited Bagley's and a couple of others a long time ago and watched a girl handpaint a beautiful lure. She was very good at it but it took about 15 minutes to do her part. Then the bait had to dry, for others to be able to do the rest ( eyes, fins, etc. ) All in all, it took half an hour of expert painting and that's not counting putting on the hooks and split rings and the boxing. Add to that the cost of materials and oparating the factory and it quickly adds up. Baits that are mecanically made are less expensive. What's half an hour of expert labor worth today ?

The place I'm talking about is the St-Lawrence river.

I have fished clear water all my life. I have FFS but it's recent and I have been fishing for visible fish (large smallmouth bass) for the last 25 years without it. We have a closed season so these fish are not on a nest and they are not tied down to one spot. What I see now on FFS corresponds to what I have seen in shallow water, except the fish are not so shy when they are deep. - From what I have seen, in clear water, bite windows are way larger than what most fishermen think. On lots of days, 15 feet is the norm. A roaming visible fish will turn around and head for a ned rig from that distance. It reacts and turns as the lure touches the water. The fish did not see it yet but heads for it. - All the fish I see are not alone. They are in small schools of 3 to 5 individuals. Schools of small fish are larger. Schools of big fish ( 4/5 pounder ) are smaller. They roam together as a group like a bunch of baitfish. They turn at the same time and move quite a lot. Most of the time they go back and forth . I had one group that would circle around a small island over a distance of about 500 hundred yard. They do not stay in one place even if it offers the best cover. I think they work together to catch prey.