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Over 50 years ago Rapala came out with CD (count down) series lures that had a fall rate of 1 foot per second. Started "counting down" the CD Rapala's and never stopped with other sinking lures. After doing this for 1/2 century the count down clock in automatic with known lures. I initially check the sink rate at the launch ramp in 10' of water by making a average cast and count until the line goes slack or I feel it hit the hard ramp bottom. Repeat this a few times and know the sink rate fairly accurately. One reason I fish the same weight jigs so often, the sink rate becomes a critical element of the lures presentation. Tom

I take two approaches to this depending on the situation. 1 - If I can get the bait to the bottom (sparse cover, rocky bottom etc.) I make my first cast and let it sink to the bottom. I count at an even pace until I hit bottom. That tells me my max count. If I divide it by 2 and count my bait down to that number I am fishing roughly the middle of the water column. You can vary it from there. 2 - If I am fishing something over/through weeds (example: Fishing in 10 FOW with weeds maxing out at 6-7 feet). My first cast is a one second drop and reel. My second is a 2 second drop/reel etc. I keep the count going up until I can consistently tick the weeds. I like these because there are too many variables when it comes to sink rate. These methods take the conditions you have and simplifies the process for me. Some variation of either should help. The key is being consistent and finding a technique which work for you. Good luck.

I like the 40 size reels for bigger stuff on spinning gear, and like everyone else said I'd just make the leap to superlines. One of my favorite rigs has a 40 size Pflueger President spooled with 6/20 Sufix Braid - I use a 12 or 14 pound fluoro leader becuase I either throw medium size swimbaits or swimming jigs with it. Inexpensive reel that has really held up to some abuse for 5 years.

no you should be good to post!

I usually start with black, if that's not working I'll switch to black, if all else fails I'll go with black.

Heck of a game between Boston & Detroit.

I'm glad you guys are catching some fish. I spent 3 hours searching today and found 1 fish. No joke. 20". Better than nothing. Caught it on a frog. Good luck this coming week.

What a day we had out on the water. Martin is not kidding the amount of fish we caught today. I was soo tired from fishing today I passed out and just woke up to post the pics. There was soo much excitement today on that water. Martin crushed them today, he couldnt say that he did catch any fish, because he caught more than half of them. Most of them ranging from 1-3 lbs, but great fun all day.

What is this break thing you speak of!!! If it's not frozen, I'm fishing.

Bill, I feel better now. When I read your title line, I thought Bf was short for Boy Friend.

A total of a couple of hours fishing in 2 days caught my first and second bass ever at the same lake using floating square bill and a spinner bait. The first one was on the square bill but when I went to reach for the fishes lip to pull out the lure he came lose and fell back in the water ( a net would of been good). The second one was caught on the spinner bait, and I made sure I set that hook like a mofo. For not a big fish that lm hit that lure like a freight train it even jumped out of the water when I set the hook. I did get a picture with the beast Went back today around 4:30p and 2 more strikes, but didnt get the hooks set(still learning). One of the strikes was on top of the water on my floating round bill. Man Im really enjoying this Here is a pic of my second fish (sorry for the crappy quality)

I agree with a lot of what you said, trying things for yourself is sometimes the best way to get accurate info. As you said try different things until you find something that works well for you. I'm sure this is a gross over reaction on my part to totally abandon a line after only one problem.

Seeing as you have the rod already, just have to use the system to get things rectified. For me the only rod warranty worth any thing is over the counter replacement. Price isn't even an issue but convenience is. I do not want to take the time and effort to ship a rod back to the manufacturer, I don't care how cooperative they may be. Broken rod, I want to be fishing with a new one the next day, not in a week or 2 or 3.

6-0 They actually have a good shot at staying undefeated until they meet the Broncos if their defense keeps playing well and the offense keeps doing just enough to win games.

Yea maybe I will do that if I have time!

I been to one of the most haunted places in north America four times investigating ghosts and hauntings. Trust me I went in a non believer, a skeptic. Now I believe. My camera would take pictures by itself. It would shoot 4 or 5+ pictures by itself. Something pushed the button. We shut off the camcorder and it turned back on by itself. On every trip something called my dog as we were leaving many times. I believe in ghosts for sure. Search for "dudleytown" it's in ct. I think the place was haunted anyway. But the devil worshipers went there with their degree boards and opened doors for things to enter thru to our dimension and they stayed here. Plus they never closed the door or gateway they opened. Who knows what's there now. I personally seen clover hoof tracks in the snow. That's all I'm going to say about that. It's no box of chocolates. They try to discredit it so people won't go there but I know it's real. Trust me it's no Halloween story it's the real deal.

The only thing is I only have one baitcaster...so I need line that will work well for everything, not just jigs

See I'm not the only one who hung it up this season, nfc east is a wash

Was out fishing, totally forgot about it

We had or year end classic today, and finished 2nd...................to the dastardly wnybassman LOL. Who should have gone perch fishing today. It was a fun, and busy season. I took over running the Thursday night tournaments from wnybassman who decided it was better to just take our money at the end of the night then at the beginning. I also stepped in to fill the void of Sunday open team tournaments left by the former York bass club, in addition to my aluminum boat only tournaments. I fished 15 tournaments this year, running 13 of them. I am glad it's over, but I look forward to next year. Anyways, here is how I(and my partners did) did this year Oak Orchard opening day tournament: 4th place SLBC fathers day open: 4th place SLBC July open: 4th place AAU Poor Boy: .........bombed LOL SLBC Aug. open.....2nd place SLBC Sept. open....1st place SLBC Classic....2nd place SLBC Thursday nighters: 6-27-13.....1st place, and lunker 7-11-13....6th place 7-25-13.....12th place 8-8-13....9th place 8-22-13.....5th place 9-5-13.....tied for 1st place SLBC Aluminum only tournaments 6-30-13....2nd place 7-28-13....2nd place

lmao!!!!!!

yes me either.. I use 12# mono on it full spool and man im casting that thing a country mile again !!!

Hey Lou, not so fast...... I believe that I now have 94" with this 23" to cull my smallest 17" out.

I hardly qualify as a rod expert, but I think the rating is based on line strength, not diameter. As in go too strong and the line could break the rod and go too light and the line could break before loading the rod. When using braid heavier than the mono rating, the advice was always to ease off on the drag to compensate for the greater strength.

Try cleaning the break race then put a very small amount of oil back on it.

One more thing comes to mind. Your line..... Have you been running a bait that produces lots of line twist like a spoon or weightless fluke? See if your line has a bunch of coil, more than you've seen in the past. I had the same happen with my fluke set up last year.

I fished Okeechobee yesterday. First time on the lake in over three months. We got a little bit of a late start...fished from 7:30 - 1:00. Nothing going at all on moving baits. Finally caught a few flipping. Only caught about eight fish, but size was good. I got one good one (7.3lbs) and a couple 3s. I lost another fish that was an absolute beast... (hoping it was a mudfish). Scraped together about a 16lb bag....if that beast I lost was a bass I was well in the 20s (Jared McMillian won the tourney yesterday @ 23lb w/ a 10lber). I fished about 15 stretches and only two of them had any fish at all. I feel pretty good about those two stretches...need to find a couple more (going out again this Thursday) to feel OK for my tourney next Sunday.

One quick thing to try is to check your bearings. It doesn't require breaking the reel down. See if they are spinning or dirty. The two bearings are (to my knowledge) the only resistance on the spool during a cast, next to the cast control knob. Flush them with break cleaner and soak them in acetone. Add a couple small drops of oil to them and see if that helps some. If that doesn't work, send it off to DVT or Pro Reel and let them have a looksee

Dirt and junk build up in reel maybe?

It's impossible to diagnose for certain without seeing the reel. Since the issue came on suddenly, my guess would be contamination of some sort assuming you haven't changed rods, line etc. You can try popping the spool out and making sure the rim and frame are clean and maybe put a drop of oil on the bearings. Beyond that it's probably time for a deep cleaning. I can turn them around pretty quickly still, but the busy season is right around the corner.

With a break in the rain, I got a chance to get out this afternoon for a little while. First spot I wanted to hit was standing room only so opted for my second choice, Baker Park. Worked my way around the lake and got to a section that I've never had any action but was stuck at that spot for a while with ducks hangin out where I wanted to fish. I was throwing a lipless crank when I thought I picked up a branch but then it began to fight back. LOL! Played her out and pulled her to the shore. Only bass of the trip and she measured 20 1/2" and weighed 4lbs 11oz. Here's a pic.

Pre-fishing for the Wichita Area Meet Up today. I took my Jig rod, and my Swimbait rod. I was 5 bites for 5 fish. All on a jig. Not just any jig. A Siebert Outdoors Storm Series Jig. 00Mod Gen 1 Brush Jig with a Black and Blue Uncle Josh Pork Frog Water was DIRTY!! Only a foot or so visiblilty with that big black/blue/purple jig. 17" @ 2lb 12oz This one came way back in the creek, looks like it got a little frisky with a hooker.... Without protection. Confidence with the jig is getting better.

LOL, the Jets have a better record than all the NFC East.

I hear they are looking for a lady in NY wanted for child abandonment. Seems as though she took her 11 kids to them game and left them there. They are beating the Giants 14 - 0 and they want her to come get them.

AND THANKS AGAIN FELIX FOR THE BASS MEMBER BAG! ITS PERFECT FOR BANK FISHING

Yea man it's different in NJ though since it's neutral lol you have south NJ who ride with Eagles or Phillies and northern who ride with Giants/ Jets or Yankees/ Mets. I was born in south NJ so my younger years were Eagles and Phillies (I was only into them because my best friends dad had season tickets and would take me and my dad, my dads a Eagles/Yankee fan). We moved to jersey shore area when I was 7 or 8 and I became a Yankee fan because my dad had season tickets. He was so proud that I like the same teams he does. Never forget I went to Eagles Falcons game when ATL had Vick, was always my favorite player in NFL. It had snowed so there was still snow in stadium and Falcons were beating us I think ATL ended up winning too. A bunch of eagles fans were pelting snowballs at a father and his son who both had on Vick jerseys, kid couldn't be older than 10. The father took exception to this and was livid which is understandable you have you CHILD next to you. To sum it all up eagles security staff came and instead of removing the fans throwing and instigating they took out the father and son lol. Eagles fans we get a bad wrap but just like any group with a bad wrap there are a select few who justify it lol

Una Cervesa ? This one old man was on his bike with 20 full cans in a basket and had the biggest grin I have seen in awhile...his tire looked about ready to pop..lol

I'll be moving up to Herkimer in January for college.. I'll b going to bass pro shop... spending all my food money. On baits. I can't wait!!!

Get one around 4-5", cast it out, reel it back, get some confidence in it. It'll work!

Deep fished 8 inch huddlestons that caught him his bigguns. But, he did go months without any big fish doing so. The 8 inch will work, but you have to be patient and learn where to throw them. Guys like SPEEDBEAD could help you out since he does a lot of big swimbait fishing for northern strain bass and fishes up north.

You will need swimbait tackle for lures that weigh 2 oz or more. Lures an ounce or less your standard heavy fast action bass rod, 7'+ should be good. My question is, do you have a swimbait rod? Tom

Try some 5" hollow belly soft swimbaits on a 1/2 or 3/4 oz Kalins saltwater bullet jighead. It's a versatile bait that you can fish at any depth, 3 to 30 ft. The 3/4 oz size sinks quickly and makes it easy to keep contact with the bottom. I catch more bass with it than I do with deep diving crankbaits - and I love fishing crankbaits.

Down here in Georgia baits up to 8 inches have worked for me. i lean more toward soft swimbaits like hudds or rago bvds and ospreys but for hard baits the bbz or black dog shellcrackers are hard to beat.

Yes, all shapes and sizes!

As previously stated, there are literally countless choices in both hard and soft baits from various brand names that will fit your budget! The question to ask yourself though is what is your definition of swimbaits? If you are looking for cost effective options, you need to add soft plastic swimbaits to your arsenal as well. You can choose pre-rigged options from Storm, Berkley Powerbait to name a couple. I personally throw my Powerteam Lures 4.8" Swinging Hammers on a 5/0 weighted swimbait hook. They are a soft-bodied paddle tail plastic with killer tail action that come 5 to a pack and include the awesome Hog Tonic which is liquid crack for bass!!

Not sure if he went back home yet but a member named "Deep" did VERY well in NoVA throwing swimbaits. Just keep throwing them around likely ambush spots. They'll get bit.

Swimbaits will work anywhere bass eat small fish. I'd suggest getting a couple proven baits in proven colors and just going fishing. The 6" BBZ 1, 6" River 2 Sea S Waver, 7" MS Slammer, 6" Huddleston, Black Dog Shellcracker, are all proven baits that won't break the bank and are easy to fish and catch fish of all sizes.

Gonna do my best to have a boat in time for the trip next year (my first).. So I'll have a seat for someone!

the only trailer i use on a spinner bait...is a hook.

I've been using These http://www.netbait.com/home/index.php/products?page=shop.product_details&product_id=902&flypage=vmj_genx.tpl&pop=0 On a spinner Bait, in White.