Leaderboard

Got a pflueger president and a st.Croix rod for dropshotting, rigged it up and caught my first bass on it not to long ago today! I can tell I'm gonna really enjoy this rod and reel....

Twin 8' Sportsman Power Poles with blue tooth foot buttons on the bow.

Just settled in to a new house (first time homeowner) and my wife and I will be welcoming our first child in just three more short months. I don't think I could really ask for anything else.

Santa brought me a Go Pro Hero, I don't think I need a pic, we all have seen what Go Pro's look like. I am super excited to begin posting video's. These little HD camera's are so versatile.

Along with Merry Christmas wishes to everyone, I wanted to extend a special thanks to Glen along with all of the mods and advertisers that keep this great site available. Their time and efforts into, not only keeping us informed, but in keeping the site updated along with the constant improvements is greatly appreciated. Also, their spouces deserve our gratitude for the time that these guys spend on the site rather than with them and their families. Thanks Guys and Gals. I hope Santa has a little something extra for all of you.

Richmond Fishing Expo January 16, 17 and 18 Fairgrounds of Virginia Kings Dominion Exit off I-95, Exit 98. Here is the link. http://richmondfishingexpo.com/

The one on the deck of my boat & no you can't use it!

Hello all, wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas South Fl fashion. Have a safe and wonderful Christmas. Caught this pretty one earlier this afternoon

TW gift card woot! I got a chronarch 51e a few weeks ago from me to me for passing my finals and for christmas lol

I'm basically in the same position that you are in that my family doesn't have a clue what to get me. Thankfully, my wife is pretty good about getting me the things that I pick out or just giving me gift certificates. I did really well in the fishing department this year with gifts of a Quantum fisherman's tool (a small "leatherman's" tool that can be clipped to your shirt or fishing boxes), an Ice Rigger (rod tender for ice fishing), a large Plano 3700 tackle box with 6 insert boxes and a $250 gift certificate to Field and Stream. My wife was even kind enough to give me the certificate last week because I had to be in Erie, PA to pick up my son at college so I've already redeemed it. I got a St. Croix trout series 6'4" UL rod, a Daiwa Cielo 6'9" MLXF rod and a Lew's Speed Spool Tournament MG reel. I'm very pleased with the haul.

Julie, Anistan, and I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. We want to personally thank everyone for making 2014 such a wonderful year for us! Thank you! Mike Siebert

Stability is found in bottom width not length, so the 14' will be no more stable that the 12'.

Practical experience? I've seen many instances on clear water lakes where fluoro has outcaught braid by a longshot.

Albeit a humble man, Dwight is our resident 'Trophy Master'. How's this for record-class stats?: Largemouth Bass 11-lb 2-oz Smallmouth Bass 7-lb 6-oz Northern Pike 32-lb Lake Trout 38-lb Walleye 9-lb In a word: 'Incredible'! Roger

How bill dance feels about quantum

Use chart and sexy shad colors. Can't go wrong with those colors in muddy water

Welcome to the board. You'll likely get many replies recommending going to bigger lures that give off more vibration and sound to 'get the bass' attention.' That is sound advice, but I'd like to add that even in murkier water, bass will still use their sight when attacking prey the majority of time. Reguardless of the style of lure, or the vibration/noise it gives off it needs to be close enough to attract the fish to it's location. In clear water a fish can see your presentation from a distance and that is often all it takes to get their attention. Many anglers have difficulty making the transition from clear to colored or murky water and these same anglers also have difficulty catching fish in clear water under cold front conditions. The obsticle to their success is not presenting their offering close enough to the fish under those conditions. Any conditions that causes fish to reduce their strike zone, be it murky/muddy water, bright sunlight, cold front conditions, etc. need to be addressed with presentations within that zone. Even a big Colorado bladded spinnerbait run three feet away from a stick-up won't draw a bass out if it isn't willing to go more than a foot or so. I'm sure you've had smallies explode on a topwater from 30ft. in those clear lakes you left in NY. They may not travel 10ft. in stained or murky water to do so. Work on getting your offering as close to the cover as possible and I'm sure you'll see improvement. Do it with a bright colored/noisy bait and you'll up your odds.

Congratulations on your Christmas catch! I got out this morning for a couple hours up here in Boston. No bass or trout, but I caught a Pickerel for Christmas anyway...

Bass tolerate the sight of gaudy colored lures, gangly weedguards, obtrusive rattleboxes and big gaudy treble hooks. But once a bass notices a fine filament attached to the lure, All-Bets-Are-Off! My line and leader are polyethylene braid (even in gin clear water) If I really thought this was hurting my results, guess who would quickly add a leader? Roger

I find that I catch fish wether using braid or flourocarbon, I catch fish all the time using braid dropshotting !!So line clarity to me is a non issue . Just my opinion......

Should I put in my suggestion or is it too late? Lol

Senkos I used all 20lb braid no problem. Jigs and Trig I used all 50lb braid no problem too. I fish around or inside vegetation so braid is a must most of the time. My only setup I tie a flouro leader is shakey head. I'm undecided to go all braid or all flouro this year on that setup. I guess it really depends on the water you fish. Northern natural lakes braid is often used.

I'll use straight braid if I'm fishing in the slop or when I am fishing reaction baits. Most of the water I fish is somewhat stained, so I don't feel that a leader is necessary for applications other than fishing plastics or other finesse presentations. Because I almost always fish plastics, most of my rods have a flouro leader.

Monofilament means single filament. All fishing lines today that are not braided yarn are monofilament line. The term Mono has been used to describe a single filament line manufactured from a polymer known as nylon, so mono is synonymously with single filament nylon line. Copolymer line is also a monofilament or single filament line, the polymers being a mixture or blend of 2 polymers, nylon and another polymer. Fluorocarbon polymer line is another monofilament or single filament line, made from fluorocarbon in lieu of nylon. Hybrid co extruded line is a single filament line, made by extruding fluorocarbon over nylon. Mono = nylon monofilament. Copolymer = 2 blended polymer monofilament line. Fluorocarbon = fluorocarbon monofilament line. Hybrid= co extruded fluorocarbon over nylon core monofilament line. Tom

Who cares...Merry Christmas!!

Oh yeah, I also have #10 Sonic Braid on my spinning set up !!

All braid, all the time for me. No leaders (except steel for pike and musky). 8lb on my spinning reels, 20lb on baitcasters. 65lb on my musky rods. No problems with line digging in or break offs due to line abrasion.

I've been using straight braid for awhile , I used to use flourocarbon leaders but since I went to micro guides, I went to straight braid. I started out with #50, then to #40,#30 and now I am very comfortable with #20 , I have tried many brands of braid but am hooked on Stren Sonic Braid. I've learned that through practical experience over the years that line clarity is mainly a myth . The only reel I don't have braid on is my Revo Toro which is my swimbait reel. I have Izorline XXX co-polymer in #20-25 (depending on the size baits I'll be using ) .

You should take solace in the fact that you have no reason for frustration Merry Christmas Roger

I was not aware haha.

Like most everything in bass fishing the terms get hijacked and redefined. Finesse fishing was a term Don Iovino started using to discribe his doddling technique about 35 years ago. Don defines finesse, as being precise with presenting your lure to bass with light tackle. Drop shot with 6 to 8 lb line would fall into a classic finesse presentation. Suggest to get Don's book or video, should help you understand what he called finesse fishing. Tom PS, Don Iovino is in the bass fishing Hall of Fame and known as the father of finesse fishing.

This is simple, take a chair, bucket, or a dang lazy boy recliner if you want to.. It's your trip... Who cares what anyone else thinks... Good health, poor health, doesn't matter.. Only you and how you want to enjoy the fishing time that you have.. Best wishes..

Say What??? (quote) “Fluorocarbon fishing line is made of the fluoropolymer PVDF” (unquote) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishing_line The scientific name for ‘fluorocarbon’ is “Polyvinylidene fluoride”, written simply as PVDF. The “P” in PVDF ('poly'), underscores the fact that fluorocarbon is a polymer, and any line containing both nylon & fluorocarbon is a 'copolymer' line. That's all she wrote. Roger

This is a true statement, I would recommend changing out the hooks on these baits as well.... If you really want to upgrade look at some of the Lucky Craft Square Bills, they are on sale for $7 on BPS website.

Before the spawn

Actually Tom, fluorocarbon and nylon are both polymers, and any line containing fluoro & nylon IS a copolymer line. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A copolymer line can be a combination of different nylon polymers or a combination of nylon and fluorocarbon. The word hybrid however is more specific, because it tells us that both nylon & fluorocarbon are present. In other words, all 'hybrid' lines are copolymer, but not all 'copolymer' lines are hybrid. My pet peeve is the number of excellent anglers and authors who use the words “Nylon” & “Mono” interchangeably. What Is Mono Line? The term "monofilament" is self-explanatory, it refers to any line comprised of a 'single-filament' (as distinguished from 'braided' line). The most commonly used monofilament materials are Nylon, Fluorocarbon, Bioabsorbable Polymer and Copolymer (which is any combination of the first 3 polymers). There is one caveat however: not all 'copolymer' lines are 'monofilament' lines. A copolymer line with a separate core and sheath is known as a 'cofilament' line. Roger

The lake is full of 5 and 6 pounders. I mean you can find schools with 20+ 4-5 pounders in the summer. There are a lot of big fish weighed in in the 6-7 pound range but not a lot 8 or above. I fish a tournament at least twice a month against most of the best fisherman on Pickwick and I have seen three fish over 9 lbs be weighed in this whole year and two of them were this summer during the FLW Tour event on Pickwick and the other was during a BFL on Pickwick. I'm not bragging at all because catching a fish like I did is pretty much right bait, right place, and right time. I'm just pointing out that the "a lot of big fish" that Roger Stegall is referring to are more in the 6-8 lb. range.

Mine are a Jig-N-Craw & a Texas Rigged Craw Worm Notice I said "and" not "or"

Finesse fishing is also based on your presentation. Using the pitching and flipping technique on a spinning rig the bait enters the water softly. You use no or very little weight when possible. As Blue states above, the bait is usually a plastic worm or creature bait from four to 8 inches long. And you fish the finesse presentation slow on the bottom. Go to YouTube and look up Denny Brauer's finesse fishing productions. You will learn all you need to know about finesse fishing from Denny.

Finesse is normally referring to smaller bait with little action. When someone is talking about a finesse worm they're generally talking about a straight tailed worm in the 4-7 inch range.

I move too much to sit and fish. I don't even sit when I'm in the boat unless I'm running the gas motor. Just one more thing to have to carry too.

From my understanding. Finesse = small Small foot print Low impact People refer to finesse fishing in relation to targeting wishy washy over pressured easy to spook fish For me I picture tossing a Senko or a trick worm and it splashes If I throw a finesse worm it swishes

Normally down sized tackle and line. Tubes used to be considered finesse, dropshot, smaller baits, weights, etc. More suttle approach. Growing up, shaking a 4" Western Worm with a glass bead and small weight on 4-6lb with a spinning rod was pretty finesse. Split shotting could also be considered finesse fishing.

Same............all braid, all the time. A "few" cranking fish manage to make it to my boat each year.

20 lb. Braid , I don't like stretch in my line . I have never had a problem with treble hooks pulling out as I am not one to do hard hook sets . Using sharp treble hooks like Owner ST-41's makes the need for crazy hooksets non existent ...

I hope it all works out for you. I tried very hard to research the local lakes for productive baits and patterns but just did not come up with much. So I went with my confidence baits and colors and going off what little I learned about the lay of some of the lakes around there. I think you'll manage to find something in there you like Merry Fishmas

The screw eyes work. Not as well as thru-wire construction or hand-twisted screw eyes but OK if they are epoxied or superglued when installed. I much prefer using soft temper .041" diameter stainless steel wire and twisting my own screw eyes, which I can make to any length desired and have more glue surface when inserted into pre-drilled holes in baits. It's easier to install split rings on thinner diameter wire and the soft temper ss wire allows you to tune a balsa bait without cracking the finish, so it remains waterproof.

Like this ~ and it's fairly convenient A-Jay

I have the 4 & 6 in BBZ1 Shad. I just seen the rat now and wondering. I think it would be a killer for big northern and Muskie on a couple lakes I fish.

I like Shimano. Strong, smooth, silent and reliant.