Donald Tyson

Thanks for confirming pink. For clear deep water that just sounds right.

A close friend mentioned he was up in the St. Lawrence and was completely smashing Smallies with the aid of pink Yum Senko. Do you ever just put a minnow, such as a Swing impact or Zoom Paddletail. I have White and bluegill.

I don't have one but I like those Dobyns. I was glad to hear you mention 1/5 oz and also the shcroom head. I was considering them for deep water. I like Green Pumpkin but also PB&J.

I'm just joining in here...Is there a way to make inline spinners more weedless and still catch fish at the same rate?

That is what I found with trying FC on my Baitcasters. Snarly sonofagun. The limpness of 8lb is what that reel wanted for tossing 3/8 oz or more. I have no experience fishing in Vodka before. I'm sure it will be intoxicating compared to the tea I'm normally in. I've tried NR only 3 or 4 times and have never caught a thing. so this is going to be a blast, armed with all the info above, and trying it out in a concentrated area, with no schedule to keep for a week. I've never fished deliberately for Smallies before. Little Smallies have always been a bycatch of Pickerel and panfishing. Grew up on a farm in Dublin PA. Wasn't allowed to go anywhere much as a kid but I had this thing called a Zebco 202. I pedaled my bike all over to fish for whatever. One day in the Deep Run Creek I caught a mis-placed SMB of 17 and 1/4". I was 13. It must have been put there by someone as there were no Smallies in that creek naturally. I was 13 and sort of vowed I'd fish for Smallies someday and tomorrow I'll fulfill that dream. I'm 66 now. I will likely use some old Zebco 33's for part of the time just for the sentimental benefit. Thanks for all the help Men!

Buzzbaiter and Toxic, I like those crush worms and hope to find some soon. I plan to try some pumpkin colored 4" Senkos, can't wait. I prefer extremely sharp light or medium wire hooks I don't currently and don't want to learn the Matt Allen Hook set. My experience is that Hooks never break. Its Humans that break hooks. I've never broken a hook, ever, and I fish for large channels and also Medium Bluefish up to 8lbs. I do believe they are broken but is is by the operator. I'm not a tough guy, I admire such, but I'm not one. I use average to light wire hooks and when I get a bite I simply give it a small rip and start cranking. Toxic those Smallies look twice the size of what I catch. They're the size of LMB. This is so awesome that folks are willing to share their success on this forum. Thanks

Everything I fish with is lighter and smaller than the norm. Sufix Siege or Elite is my current favorite. Very hard to break and very resistant to abrasion. An Older guy I cant see clear line much anymore so I use Chartruece or tangerine. Fly tippets are nice and I have them from 3x to 00. I've been fishing for Pickerel on purpose. I hate wire and cable leaders. Since I've been using 17 or 20lb mono I've not been bit off. I'm an FC chicken and since it doesn't work so well with my Spincast gear I pretty much stay with Mono....sometimes I've liked Copolymer....but mono works here in my shallow Pennsylvania Poconos Mt lakes.

T.J. I guess we fish some similar waters ( I hope to fish Salem NJ area for Snakeheads soon). My normal haunts are all in the Poconos or at Spruce Run NJ. While I won't add tubes this year I will add some heavier Ned jigheads. I don't care for Braid but 8lb mono Siege is my favorite (tangerine). Do you recommend clear leaders or do you feel they are unnecessary?

I had heard before that it seems smaller fish are more interested in this. For egg hooks I use Gamma. For Jigs I use Kietec ball jigs with diachi 2/0 or 3/0 hooks. I am a collector of Old Pushbutton reels. And due to bad arthritis in my right hand I actually prefer them over spinning gear. Problem is I use light components for most lures and baits in order to accommodate my light gear. This will My first fishing trip where I am using a bait caster as the primary reel.

I see a few responses from fellow Pennsylvanians. I must say that I've never caught a thing on these Ned Rigs the few times I've tried them. I'm a Beetlespin and spinnerbait lover and always catch fish on them. When Spinnerbaits Don't work I switch to Kieteck shiners and 1/4oz jigheads. Can't say that I clearly know what I'm doing but I am catching fish in PA to some degree. I also have a limited experience with topwater lures and also flyfishing. Next week I'll be in Acadia in their clear lakes. Some have everything including Pickerel and others only Smallies and Salmon(small). I'm thinking this will be a great time to learn the Ned and to catch Smallies. Rusty mentioned the method I had in mind to try...long casts laterally along steep underwater slopes. Several of you mentioned changing up the action allot. I'll do all that. Are leaders used by you all? I'm hoping to use primarily Baitcasters this trip out, 2 Royal Legends and 1 Abu BM3. They have 20, 8 and 14 lb Siege on them. I thought that the Royal Legend with 8lb line and a 1/4 or 3/8 head may be best for depth. Could someone share your experience with these in deeper water, I mean how deep can I effectively fish and not find it better to drop shot or something else ( I don't know how to dropshot either). Thanks for all the encouragement.

I'm not really a Basser. I guess I want to be, not really sure and here is why. In our local and shallow lakes here in Pa I pursue Panfish and Pickerel. My Bycatch has always been Bass with out really trying. Now, For the first time in my life, I'll be fishing for Smallmouth in Gin Clear water while in Maine next week. Spinnerbaits and jigs are my normal choice but am afraid I won't get deep enough. I'm thinking I might like to learn to Ned Rig down the steep underwater slopes. The visibility in these lakes is 20-60'. I have tried 3 or 4 times to employ the Ned Rig to no avail. While there is likely allot of info on this site regarding this practice I was hoping some of you could spill the beans from a-z and we'll keep it all right here for others to benefit from as well. Info to include may be jig weight, Line strength, depth, distance and situational conditions where you would use Ned Rig. I fish with Restored Spincasters in smaller areas, Spinning reels for topwater or finesse, Fly Rod for weedy banks and Baitcasters for all else.

I am planning out my spring Lure Lineup. One of the components I plan to use is a Carolina Rig. Some say that you can feel free to "peg the egg" weight. Does anyone here feel that is the case? I would like to pre-tie them and there are many ways to tie them to accommodate the sinkers. Pre-tying them would save time. Best! Baron

I was thinking lite wire would be best How would this help with with weedless use of the spoon. Perhaps I'm not seeing something.

I began using these nice lures and would like to make a few modifications. Often the manufacturers have done all the work and it is not necessary to modify their products. I wish they had only one good hook and that the hook was weedless. What I'm hoping for is the ability to fish these in very weedy areas of my favorite Pocono Lakes. Have any of you done this to your favorite Kastamaster or spoon lure? Am I barking up the wrong tree?