JackstrawIII

As stated, yes it will. It's a great combo... but I've found I lose a lot of tails on 3.3" Keitechs. I think it's from perch grabbing them. Doesn't happen when I fish larger (3.8 and above) paddletails.

I change my braid SO infrequently that I don't bother. I've literally had the same 30 pound PowerPro on one of my reels (my favorite rod that gets the most action) for 3 years. Yes, 3 years. And it's never broken. So I keep fishing it. If it ever wears out, I'll just toss and put on new line.

Kinda this... except it's 8.1 and 6.8.

Docks 100%. Second would be downed timber.

I grew up in Delmar (just south of Albany) and used to spend a lot of time up in the Adirondacks, but I live in Central NY now, between Roc and Syr up near Lake Ontario. I think you're right, things are changing up here too. Starting to get a lot more bites on moving baits and topwaters in very shallow water now vs earlier in the summer.

Yeah, NY is trying out a new “early antlerless season” in certain zones (wildlife management units) to try to lower the population a bit. I happen to live in one of those areas. We get 8 days with a rifle in early September to fill doe tags if we can get them in the lottery. You can apply for 2 doe tags anytime before Nov 1st (I always get them in my zone) and 2 doe tags after Nov 1st. They release the second round of doe tags based on the reported harvest from the first round. A buck tag can be filled with a bow starting on October 1st, as can any doe tags you have. Regular rifle season begins the 3rd Saturday of November and lasts 3 weeks or so… followed by muzzleloader for a couple more weeks. That’s the basic gist. So yeah, the new early September antlerless season is good for those of us who try to fill the freezer with venison because the deer are feeding heavily this time of year and pretty easy to pattern.

I posted this on TFL, but figured I'd share it here too for anyone who's wondering. I have a lot more experience in the hunting/shooting sports than fishing, so maybe I can help someone out with deer, as I try to learn more about bass! After much deliberation, I decided to make the switch to copper bullets for my deer hunting and was able to take two deer with them this year. Was really pleased with the results and figured I'd pass it along. Cartridge: 308 Winchester Bullet: Cavity Back MKZ 125 Grain Velocity: 3200 fps at the barrel, probably around 3000 at impact (80 yards or so average) Both deer were broadside and hit double lung. The first one ran about 35 yards and went down, the other dropped in its tracks. Damage was adequate but not overly dramatic (I was concerned about getting tons of blood shot meat because of the high speed, but the entrance and exit holes both looked pretty good once the skin came off). Why did I want to use copper? - No lead in the meat. My kids eat it and, while this may not actually be a concern, it's concerning to me. - I like an entrance and exit hole. Copper gives me a higher probability of full penetration. I was concerned that the "harder" copper wouldn't expand enough for quick wounding on the lung shots I prefer to take, but these two worked great. One dropped and the other had a very nice (short) blood trail. Can't argue with those results. Anyways, wanted to pass along my experience for those who are debating making the switch.

I don't follow new releases in the bow world, but I'm sure whatever they're making these days is decent. If I was looking for a new bow today, I'd be looking for the lightest/smallest crossbow I could afford that shot over 400 fps. There's nothing magical about that number, but that's what I'd be looking for.

I have a Barnett Ghost 410. Been very reliable and I've used it on deer up to about 65 yards... though it could go further easily I'm sure. The real benefits to a faster crossbow are less holdover and wind deflection. Due to the heavy bolts, lethality is pretty good even from slower bows.

That's what I've seen online. I guess if it happens, I'll just fix it. Not too scary.

My first baitcaster was an Abu Garcia Black Max on a KastKing Crixus rod. Not crazy about that rod, but the reel has been great for the price. I have a bunch of other stuff now, but the BlackMax works just fine.

Hey guys, I live in upstate NY and am doing my best to learn how to find bass at different times of the year. My primary information source is Youtube... and I have two questions: 1. When does the "fall pattern" start? By that I mean, when fish start pulling off of deeper, grassy cover and towards shallow, hard cover? All the Youtube guys say this is a solid pattern, the bass move shallow to follow the baitfish and start relating to hard cover. But when does that start? Last time I fished (last week), they were still over grassy flats. 2. What Youtube channels do you guys follow who talk about Northeast fishing specifically? I've watched a lot of channels and learned a lot, but most of the guys do most of their fishing in the south and central parts of the country. It's hard to know what applies to me, and what doesn't because most of the info doesn't necessarily apply specifically to our climate and weather up here. Any tips on channels I should be watching? Thanks guys!

If I find one stray lure on the ground, I'll grab it so nobody steps on it. But a bunch of tackle? Someone is likely to come back looking for it.

When I fish from my kayak, I carry 4 rods: - cranking rod (MH moderate action, 12lb YoZuri) - some sort of texas rig setup (M fast action, braid to 15lb YoZuri leader) - a lightweight rod for small paddletails and finesse presentations (ML fast action, 15 lb braid to 8 lb fluorocarbon) - misc. depending on what I'm doing (usually end up with a wacky rig tied on)

How do you guys rig these worms? Texas rig or some sort of jig head?

Buy a couple packs of 3.3" Keitech Swing Impact FAT paddletail swimbaits. Rig them on a small underspin jighead. That combo is money in ponds. Works great in larger bodeis of water too.

Good question! I'm about 50/50. I'll always, always try something new... but when that inevitably doesn't work, I'll go back to tried and true.

Hey guys, been learning from this forum for a few years now, ever since I decided to get good at fishing a couple years ago. I grew up in a non-fishing family, but I had one distant relative who took me from time to time. Fast-forward many years... and in my mid 30s life changed a lot for me. I ran into some health issues and lost the passionate drive for many of the things that used to take up my time (competitive shooting, custom knife-making, etc.). I realized I wanted to spend more time with people and more time outdoors. With the extra time, I made the choice to pursue fishing. Since then, I've learned a lot and can catch a bass in most waters... but my journey has just begun. I have much more to learn, and am excited to do it here. Hopefully I can pass along some of what I've learned, as well.

My favorite rod for small swimbaits is a medium light power, fast action. Around 8lb line. It'll cast a mile on a lighter rod and I feel like the action is a bit better too. You get the benefit that it's always more fun to fight them on a lighter rod, too. My light rods are all BPS Ultralight series (which is a lot of rod for very little money), but my favorite line of spinning rods are the St. Croix Premier series. Can't go wrong either way.

My biggest smallmouth was 4 pounds 7 ounces. I caught it on a 3.8" Keitech on a 3/0 Flashy Swimmer off a dock in early June. That's really the only large smallmouth I've ever caught, but it was memorable! Ps. I'm really tall, so fish always look smaller in pics. Didn't measure length, just weight.

J. sorry for the delayed response. I exceeded my allowed number of posts for the day. Not sure if that's due to being a new member, or if that's true for everyone. Anyways, I have a kayak I take out by myself, but I have a friend with a little 14 foot johnboat we take out together a few times a month. Most of our fishing is in Sodus and Little Sodus Bays.

Hey, I'm a fellow CNY/WNY fisherman. I fish braid/leader about 90% of the time and use various leaders, depending on the technique. It probably doesn't matter, but I do it anyways. If I want to help lightweight baits sink, I'll use FC (ned/neko, etc.). If I want a to keep the baits higher in the water or want more stretch, I'll use mono (wacky rigs, some texas rigs). If I don't really care, I'll use hybrid. Could probably just use hybrid for everything... but that's what I do.

J Francho, I also live near Rochester and I wish I had this problem haha. In my last 3 years of bass fishing I've never caught a pike. Bass aplenty, no pike. Looking forward to my first one soon, hopefully! But thanks for the positive feedback on the BassX reel seat. I guess I'll just get out there and fish it and hope for the best.

I really like my BPS Ultralight series rods and they're so inexpensive. I use a 6' L for panfish and a 7' ML for finesse bass techniques.

I have use for both... but if I had to choose only spinning or casting gear, I'd choose spinning. Extreme versatility in the spinning rod world.