Uncle_MC

Small poppers can work over bedding fish. I don't throw most topwaters until water temps get to the mid-60s. I've heard of people throwing Buzzbaits in early prespawn but never had that work myself.

It is almost always on the retrieve. This instance was on a Rat-L-Trap, and I tied direct to the split ring provided from the factory. Currently using 12lb Trilene XL. How would moving up or down in line weight/diameter affect it?

Was casting parallel to a long line of cover this morning. Made a long cast and the hooks fouled on my line. In a hurry to get back to fishing as quick as possible, I burned the thing back very fast and afterwards I couldn't stop thinking about all the racket I made bringing the lure back to me, wondering if I spooked any fish. Probably way overthinking this. What do you do?

Last summer, I snapped my leader while setting the hook on a wacky-rigged Senko. Heartbreaking, I know. I retied my leader and exact same worm and cast to the same spot. Staring at my line, I see it start swimming off to the side so I reel up slack and set the hook. Just following procedure. I recall it was a roughly 2lb LMB. As I pulled him up...there was my leader hanging out of his mouth! He had completely swallowed my Senko, I could just see the tip of it sticking out. He really liked those Senkos.

Excellent lures for both largemouth and smallmouth. I usually start with the silent Zara Spook first, and if they aren't liking that, a lot of times I'll switch to the Jr next. Quite often, either that smaller profile or the rattles just wakes them up and gets me a few more bites. I caught an almost 4lb pickerel on one two days ago. Favorite colors are Bone, Black, and Fluorescent Green Crawdad.

Fortunately, I do. However, I usually like my swimming excursions to be on my own terms.

My PB shown in my current profile pic came on a bad backlash. Spent about 3min picking it out while my Rat-L-Trap just sat on bottom motionless. Got squared away, and she whacked it as soon as I started reeling.

I recently got fishing rights to a lake where I am allowed to take the owner's canoe on the water. Now that I'm able to get off the bank, I am thinking of the new opportunities this will open up for me. I was thinking of adding a flipping/pitching setup to round out my 3-rod arsenal, that would also be able to punch and throw frogs. Something like a 7' H/XF Rod w/ a fast reel and 50-65lb braid. But I realized, are flipping and pitching really viable techniques from a canoe? It's really not built for standing up in, I can barely keep it still while sitting, and as its not mine, I won't be able to modify it in any way for optimal performance. I've never even been in a canoe before today when I did a lap around the lake just to get a feel for it. If anyone would like to share their experiences with flipping or any other "stand up" techniques, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Sounds about right. Bass here in PA are postspawn right now.

Quick question about filling up a spool. I only have enough line leftover on a spool to fill up a new reel 2/3 of the way. Could I take the remainder of line needed off of a different reel that it was replacing if both lines were the exact same type and lb test, and join them with an Alberto knot? I usually use that knot for joining braid to a different diameter leader so I wasn't sure if joining different diameters was some unique quality of the line. If some other knot would work better for joining identical lines, then I'm all ears.

Fishing in the north- and southeast PA region. Primarily a 300 acre lake, mostly from the shore but have boat access also. Clear to lightly stained water. Not sure of the max depth, average I’d guess is between 6-12’. I have no electronics which I know is a huge disadvantage. There is a 100yd riprap bank on the northern shore which is at least 20’ deep, as well as some docks and small islands. It has a good mixture of rocky and weedy areas, with some large slop bays in summer. Thanks a lot! I’ll look into that.

Has anyone seen KVD's "6-Season Bass Guide"? He breaks up the year into 6 chunks (winter, pre-spawn, spawn, post-spawn, summer, fall) with temperature ranges and provides a basic formula for fishing each one. It was pretty helpful when I was starting to get more serious about fishing as far as a good guide to what to throw and when for a beginner. I was wondering if anyone knew about a similar type of resource for walleye.

3+ to me is "nice".

A very important lesson learned for sure.

Has anyone ever fished a tube like a jerkbait, snapping and jerking it back? I was fishing the edge of some lilypads the other day hopping the internally rigged tube on a 3/8oz head along bottom as I usually do. Started to feel a snag so raised my rod tip and started snapping it up hard to get it over. All of a sudden: SMACK! Got a 4lb largemouth. Thought that seemed pretty interesting so I replicated that same type of retrieve in some rip rap, pretty much constantly snapping the tube pretty hard and erratically with occasional short pauses of a few seconds. Ended up getting another 7 largemouth in the 3lb range, a dink smallie, and a few crappie. I'm sure I'm not the first to discover this. What are your thoughts?

I am bank bound and 3/16oz is my goto. I do have a selection from 1/16-1/2oz to pick from depending on the circumstances, but 3/16 is definitely my most used. Why use a lighter weight for the straight-tail worm? I am just curious.

Just wondering if there is any other musicians here on the forum. I am a percussionist myself and currently am in college pursuing a music degree. Grew up with classic rock, rap, and grunge music around the house, but at school, I’ve been totally immersed in jazz and classical music. Hard Bop is my favorite style to play, but I can get on to pretty much anything. Anyone?

Congrats! What'd you get him on? I'd say that fish is solidly in the low to mid 4lb range.

That darn monkey is knocking at my door...thanks for all the reccos, guys!!

Thanks a lot, this seems exactly like what I'm looking for!

Thanks, I'll check it out.

Very interesting, I have only ever thought of them as trout lures but I now see they make them in a wide variety of sizes. I am definitely going to consider this option, as I'm sure that underwater, the flash they emit might somewhat look like an unsuspecting baitfish... Thanks!

I am looking for a crankbait, currently in production, that can fulfill the requirements I am looking for. The first criteria seems to be the hardest to meet. * Very wide wobble, with a side-to-side rolling type of motion * 3/8-3/4oz, 3"-5" length * Can be steadily retrieved incredibly slowly, staying in the very top of the water column, 0-4FOW * Shad-shape profile * Silent, no rattles Can anyone have provide any suggestions?

Baits and techniques have already been covered by the other guys. I just wanted to add that I’d suggest picking up a cheap thermometer. I got an aquarium thermometer from Walmart for under $2. I keep it in my box and drop it in near the shore just to get a sense of things.

Hello, all, long time lurker here from PA. Fished a lot when I was young, and have taken it seriously for the last three years. Happy to join the team!