Mainer

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by bad weather, are you talking about safety, or comfort? If you are talking about safety, a storm big enough to cause problems should be noticed by the folks that watch those things early enough for you to plan arond it. If you fish big water, a weather radio may be a very good idea. If you are talking comfort, it may be a good idea just to carry rain gear. I try to keep good gear, including a waterproof wide brim hat in my boat.

Texas rigged small tubes are a good choise for smallmouth.

If you are fishing from a dock, and the water is very clear, other folks have probably seen and fished for these guys. Also, and perhaps more importantly, the fish have seen lots of people? I suspect that they have seen you and shut down. Try to use a little stealth. Sneak up on them, or fish from a distance, use light line.

If you are not familiar with ice fishing, use caution! If you are familiar with ice fishing, use caution. The ice may not be of consistant thickness on the whole lake. Currents, springs, inlets, etc can cause varying ice thickness. Bore test holes to verify ice thickness if it is in question. Also beware of concentrated loads (groups of people, trucks, etc)early in the season. Warm spells can make a difference also. Enjoy, but be smart!

If the season is not closed by law (ours is :'() and the water is not frozen (ours is :'() then it is not too cold. You may have to expect fewer bites, fish much slower, and deal with ice in your guides, but they can be caught.

Do any of you guys use this site for more than just this forum? I have the forum bookmarked, so I go directly to it, but like to check out the rest of the site also. Tons of good info!

Soft plastics.

I have tried them, but not for a while. If I remember correctly, I found them to be a little soft and not very durable.

My favorite fishing spot is a small pond (probably about 200 acres) that is about 5 miles from home. It is a dammed up stream which holds LM bass as well as brown trout. I can fish it from my kayak or small aluminum boat, and quite often have it all to myself. Favorite time is right at daybreak when the water is like a mirror, and every thing is very quiet. What a relaxing time! Do any of you have a favorite spot?

Probably they affect me more than I know, but I am more apt to respond to one that educates me rather than hypes up a product.

I watched the show this morning. The host is a little hard to take. He has a huge ego, and is very self centered and in-your-face. He motored nearly 100 miles offshore to the canyon (Continental shelf) for yellowfin tuna fishing. He had several rigs out and wanted 3 or 4 hookups at one time. (Very dumb for a solo fisherman.) He got one hookup and struggled to clear the empty lines. He landed the fish and gave a very dramatic (and bloody) finish to the fight. The show brought back memories of my trip to the canyon, but I can not say that I enjoyed the show for anything more than the memories.

I have no problem with eating fish, but to be honest, I never cared to much for the taste fresh water fish. As far as I'm concerned, the fun ends with the catching! Even a larger (say 3 or 4 LBS) fish does not yield enough meat to make it worth while for me. I guess I'm just too lazy! Now a 75 LBS yellowfin tuna...thats another story!

I agree that time on the water is the key. To get the most of that time taking notes that you can review later is valuable. I don't want to be bothered with a note pad on my boat so I got a cheap recorder so the note taking is quick and painless. I can transcribe the noted later.

Sounds to me like you are starting out right. You don't need much to get started. Check out http://www.flyshop.com They used to have a good rod building section. Yes, flex coat is for the guide wraps.

I registered on this forum yesterday, since then 11 more people have joined! That seems like a great growth rate! How many are new and how many from an earlier format?