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Well i had a good day at Briery Creek lake. Both these fish were caught on a wacky rig pitched right up to the bank. I ended up catching 9 fish altogether, which for me is amazing cause i have never been to that lake before and usually it is pretty hard to fish. But it was a good day!

The day started a little slowly with me targeting spawning areas and only catching small bucks. Moved to prespawn areas and it was the right move. Using a jerkbait, small plastics, and a Ned rig, put together a 20.03lb limit and also caught my new PB wiper of 11.2 pounds on the jerkbait. One of those satisfying days where I was struggling and made an adjustment that really paid off.

Today was a pretty long day for my brother. He works at Subway and had to open the store today. That means up at 5:45ish and at work by 6:30am. To top that off, we decided to go to Cabela's in Wheeling, WV and get him a new fishing rod. Ever since we've started fishing, he's used the rod that came with his Pfleuger President combo. It's a 7ft IM8 rod (apparently that's a decent blank) but he's never had much confidence with it. Seeing as the combo was about $90 and the reel is a $70 reel, you can tell the rod is nothing special. So my brother gets home a little after 3:15pm and we make our way towards Wheeling (about an hour and a half drive). We decide we'll stop off at Barkcamp State Park (Belmont Lake) on the way home as I scoped out what looked like a pretty good spot to do some fishing and try out his new rod (and I get to try out my new reel [Okuma Inspira ISX-30B] on my new rod [Dobyn's SA702SF]). Barkcamp is about 30min from Wheeling. First order of business, however, is to get some food. My mom is originally from a suburb of Pittsburgh and we all love Primanti Bro's. It just so happens there's one in Wheeling next door to the Cabela's! He got the same thing as me - Angus Steak and Cheese. I don't like slaw, so I got lettuce instead (no tomato). Top it off with some mozzarella sticks and a giant pickle each (and two pints of Blue Moon for him lol) and we're absolutely stuffed. Time to head over to Cabela's to walk some of this off! So, I'm telling you this next part so I can tell you another part. On Thursday I went to drive to work and it sounds like I was either low on Power Steering Fluid or the PS pump was going bad in my car. I bought some PS fluid and brought it home and opened up the PSF reservoir and saw that it was indeed low. Unfortunately, I managed to drop the lid to the reservoir through the engine bay and it's now laying on top of the plastic sheath that protects the oil pan and what-not. ****. The car needs a PS flush anyway but I don't get paid until Friday this coming week. My parents said they'd cover the cost so I could get my car back - wooo!! Local shop quoted about $70. Not bad. My brother got paid on Friday and was going to buy a new rod anyway - but my parents being the awesome parents they are, said that since they were going to pay for my car fix they gave my brother an extra $100 so he could go buy a really nice rod! They've seen how little success he's had and knows he doesn't really like his current rod much. The great thing about that is it essentially doubled his budget for a rod. Prior to going over we'd done some research and he'd decided to get a 7ft St Croix Premier. 1/8-1/2oz ML just like my Dobyn's. However, with my parent's addition, he now had a little over $200 for a really good rod! So we went to the fishing section and looked at the available selection. Being that it's in the middle of their spring Fishing sale, rods were pretty picked over. We looked at the St. Croix Premier, a St. Croix Avid, a St. Croix AvidX and a G.Loomis E6X - all in the 6'6" to 7'1" 1/8-1/2oz ML range. After a good amount of going over and deliberation he decided upon the G.Loomis E6X in 7'1" 1/8-3/8oz ML rod. He says he picked it because it felt better balanced and a bit more stout and strong. He also cites that he felt it was better made - and it did not have the micro-guides that both the Avid and AvidX had (we often use leaders and those guides could have been trouble with leader knots). So now he has a G.Loomis E6X rod with a Pfleuger President spinning rod - an outstanding setup! Just how outstanding? Well, let me show you. After we left Cabela's, it was getting late. Sundown was around 8:00pm and it was looking like we'd hit the lake around 7:30pm. Not a lot of time to fish. We decided to do our fishing up at the north west end of the lake near the two bridges. There's a nice patio area with a dock and boat ramp and plenty of places to throw some lures. At first we both were chucking shallow cranks from this area. The water wasn't very deep near the picnic area (maybe 2-3ft) and had a lot of vegetation. I couldn't really do the Ned rig as it was always coming up with tons of weeds. I threw my purple Rapala with no success. I also threw the 2.5" SPRO BBZ1 shad but it looks like the snap I was using was throwing off it's motion, so I grabbed this snake-eye thingy from our most recent LTB shipment. No real luck. So, I decided to go out on the point you see in the third picture above and cast out. I was still using the snake-eye thing with no success. Light was getting low, but I saw a couple surface strikes out there. I decided to go back and get one of our topwaters and see if it'd work. In the meantime, I told my brother to grab one of the chatterbaits we bought and go where I was and give it a go. Well, he didn't use one that we bought, but one from our LTB - it's a black and white spotted chatterbait with no trailer. He cast about 6 or 7 times and didn't get a thing. While I'm going through our new giant tackle box, I hear splashing. I look over and my brother is feverishly gesturing at me to get over to him because HE HOOKED A FISH!!!!! With my rod in hand, I start running over (it's a couple hundred feet from where I was) so I could get there and grab a picture of him. Somehow, I manage to get that damned snake-eye lure thing stuck on a tree branch as I'm running over! I hear the drag pulling and a simple tug wouldn't un-stick me, so I just set my rod down and keep running. When I get there, by God, he's got a fish!!! He's not exactly sure what to do with it though. lol It's hooked in the top of it's mouth - he says that it didn't go after the lure until it was nearly reeled back in, so it followed it from quite a ways away. I tell him to put his thumb on the lower lip and pinch there so he can hold it up and use his other hand to get the hook out. Unfortunately, he can't quite seem to get the hang of how to remove the hook. So he asks me if I can get the hook out for him. It wasn't too difficult, but it was his first fish and adrenaline can be a ***** in those situations. lol I managed to get the hook out and hand him back the fish. It's not a giant by any means, but it IS a new PERSONAL BEST LMB for him!!! (let's ignore that it's his FIRST ever LMB) This is also the first fish he's ever caught by himself (technically). He's been fishing just as long as I have but has never managed to actually land something. The only other fish he caught was a catfish while we were trout fishing - and the guide got that fish and held it up. Broski didn't even get to touch it! I can't tell you how happy I was - but you can easily see how happy he was in that picture above!!! FINALLY, after ALL THOSE TRIPS where he came up empty... His first trip with his brand new rod and he lands his first LMB! About this time it's getting close to 8:30 and the sun is nearly gone from the sky. All the other people have packed it up and left. So we decide that we're going to end on a positive note - our first positive note in a long time! We embrace and bump fists, clean up our gear and stow it in the car for the ride home. There's the winning lure for the day! And the info-bits from his new rod!

One of the best tournament fisherman on Conesus lake use spin cast reels to skip docks. He's whipped people using them, and has for 30 years...........so IMHO they are a viable tool in the right hands. Conesus is usually ultra clear up shallow, and you have to stay WAY WAY back to skip to avoid spooking them. Some real hogs get up under those docks and using spinning gear is a way to get your heart broke. The distance you have to stay away makes it a real challenge for even the best skippers with casting gear. So he puts a spin caster on a stout casting rod, stays back, and takes our money.

New for 2017, Zebco, the most recognized brand in fishing, introduces the fastest version ever of the tangle-free reel they made famous. Appropriately named Bullet – it’s faster than all spincast reels, and even faster than 6.1:1 baitcasting reels, and a size 20 spinning reel. Geared at 5.1:1, Bullet picks up an unprecedented 29” of line with each revolution of the handle – a handle that’s padded with unique-feeling new GripEm™ knobs. Many field test anglers reported the surface of the handle felt even a bit tackier when they’re wet, much like a wide-receivers gloves. Disclaimer >> never used one. Source >> Zebco Yet, I do carry one with me on specific fishing holes. Like to use them to skip under tree limbs & docks. And for an easy gentle fall around stumps & laydowns. To each his own.

use what works for you........the fish don't know or even care what kind of reel you're using.what matters is that you're fishing.

Once you get it down,that sideways wrist flick will become your friend.I almost never cast overhand with a baitcaster.Use the correct weighted lures,let the rod do the work.If the rod loads properly and your keep ithe cast under control,you can bomb a lure with a simple wrist flick.If your trying to throw it across the pond you'll be picking your line out a lot.Like @Fishin' Fool said.Keep it controlled,take it easy and that lure will go plenty far.

Spincasting has introduced a lot of people to this sport (including me) who would have gotten frustrated otherwise. That said, there's no denying that spinning and casting win hands down as far as efficiency and power. If one is proficient with spinning he would do well to stay there. You can get a straight drop just fine with it.

Aiming a cast is like throwing, all about release point. Thumb pressure varies throughout the cast. You need to get a feel for it. It will come with practice.

You have every right to feel this way. Just like I have every right to hate jerks who drive jet skis.

I understand the frustration and you raise some legitimate concerns. With that said, bashing "fisherman" on a fishing website is likely going to elicit some very strong counterpoints. Be prepared...

Splake are pretty rare, but if you can find where they are concentrated you have a good shot at catching one. Was able to go and fish one of the few places in Michigan where you can catch splake from a public dock. You can only catch these guys from shore in the spring or fall since that's when water temperatures are cool enough for the fish to cooperate. Went 1/3 using fresh, uncleaned smelt on a homemade fluorocarbon quickstrike rig under a bobber. It was the coolest thing because when they would hit, they wouldn't pull your bobber down a few feet, but would rather just suck the bobber barely beneath the water's surface. You'd then reel in and if the fish was still there, try and set the hook on the hybrid of a brook and lake trout. Heck of a fun time. This one was 22 inches and 4.27 lbs. The crazy thing is I lost one much bigger than this before I could get it to the net. Fish On!

Hope you all have a Happy Easter!!!

Actually the Berkley Lightning shock rods are more moderate to handle braided line , I don't think the rod has an action rating listed on the rod, but what I've read about them says they are more moderate than fast.

Got a couple fish yesterday! Fished 4 ponds all day! It won't allow me2 load the other pics

Like any tool they can have their time and place. I disagree with the straight fall reason though. I don't see the falling bait pulling line off one of these much easier than with a good casting reel and certainly not a spinning reel.

Happy Easter Y'all Will address 1215 soon!

I understand the frustration, but you also have to understand the individuals you're complaining about are a select few in a group of mostly good and respectful people. Coming here to complain and insult a group as a whole is not going to do anything productive.

Downtown Morgantown is producing some fish right now, bites are hard to come by but it is always like that, very tough fishery for sure. My friend and I are fishing it 3 days in a row, today was our second day out. So far we have caught 4 bass over 12". Tuff for sure but it definitely makes you a better angler to stick it out and keep your head up. Won't have long tomorrow but we should be able to get the kayaks out for a little while in the morning before the storms roll in. I have class in the green building to the left of the spinnerbait line tie!

IDK! Always called em craw worms

Zombie Alert!

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ Your plight is not uncommon. However, to suggest that all fisherman are jerks, may be as unfair as calling all lake front property owners nice people. There are always a few bad apples in every bunch, even when the rest of the farm is usually pretty solid. There are official & legal steps one can take to address legitimate property damage. Taking the time to register to this fantastic form, only to make the above post, is probably not one of them. Hope you can stick around and contribute something constructive. A-Jay

Great first post. Insulting every member of this site will surely help your dock problems.

Diesel mechanic, not for those with weak backs. Idk if there is such a thing as the perfect job. Anything you enjoy doing will turn into work and will lose its appeal so I would choose anything that you are good at and pays well. Make your life about the things you do away from work. When I die I hope no ones says he was a good mechanic. I would much rather them say he was a great witness for Christ, family man and fisherman.

Happy Easter to the Bass Resource community and your families, JB

Happy Easter everybody.

I still really like it. I use it until it starts to puff out, then I flip it on the spool so it's basically like a new spool of line. Once that end puffs out I'll just start trimming a few feet to get to fresh line until the spool gets low. I fish it a lot and have only put one new spool of line on.

Started out on a farm for 7 years.Did a few other outdoor jobs before getting into lawn care,which Ive done in various ways since 1987. I now do sales for that and all the other pest control services our company provides.This allows me to have a flexible schedule which I love.Love the people I sell to but not so much the fall out from micro management. Got a ministerial degree but havent done it full time.So Ive done volunteer ministry since the mid- eighties. Children's ministry, teens,adults.old folks. Right now raising a 15 year old grandson and 11 year old granddaughter. And doing mentoring for recovering addicts. And love teaching people about God and fishing.

Buy what you find comfortable.Just because so and so likes the Zodias,doesn't mean you will too.Get your hands on a few and play with them in the store.

I have a several different ones and dont fret to much about which to use . I like the Larew Salt Craw too but the 4 inch version for tight eyes LOL . I go after numbers and there will be a few big ones mixed in . I prefer to use the ones that are skinny and round like a worm with the craw body . I fish them and rig them exactly like I do a worm.

Bluebasser86, you can use Surflon 7 strand nylon coated leader wire to make weed guard but Lure Parts Online sell their own wire weed guard that is good for a single wire guard but if I was going to do a "V" style with 2 wires I'd opt for .015" diameter single strand wire. The nylon coated Suflon 7 strand won't unravel when you cut it but it will sometime give a puff ofsmoke when you pour, the ones from LPO are nice and if you have to trim them all you need to do afterward is heat the end that you trimmed and dip in powder to seal it. To put them in your mold you can do a few different things, you can fill the weed guard slot with form a gasket or plumbers putty and then lay the wires in, or use a skirt collar, simply open the skirt collar and insert your wire or wires and lay in the weed guard slot. The collar will hold your wire and also keep the lead from flowing out of the cavity, just position the collar with the wire in it at the entrance to the head cavity and adjust the length of the wire to fit in the cavity then close and pour. Again, with the rubber skirt collar you may get a puff of smoke but it is nothing and a single collar will last a good long time. I also have another solution that I like a lot, find Cadman and ask him if he's sell you some reducer pins, he had some pins made that are the same as the regular base hole pins you get with the mold but the ends are turned down to a smaller diameter and the bell at the end is cut off. What you do is lay it in the mold and depending on your mold you will most likely have to trim a little off the end as they are made long purposely. Once you trim to fit you pour just like normal but when you pull the pin instead of there being the normal 1/8" hole for an FG-30 fiber guard, it will leave a hole for the 1/16" diameter FG-9 weed guard or the 5/64" diameter FG-12 weed guard which will also be a lot lighter than what you currently have. I believe he has pins in both sizes but I typically use the FG-12 a lot of smaller jigs like that.

I've used 2/3 of a 5" stick worm for a finesse jig trailer lots of times and it is a great trailer. Doesn't do much, but the fish love it. These are the jigs I'm tying that I'm looking for the trailer for. It's a 1/0 hook and 1/8oz head, very tiny jig. http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/n500/bluebasser86/20170415_193014_zpssghzw5wo.jpg I have a bunch of these, but even the Bitsy size is almost too large. I might get out some scissors and do some trimming. Necessity is the mother of invention right? http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/n500/bluebasser86/20170415_193235_zpsa4mylqyv.jpg

USAF, as of March 17th this year (graduated basic, working on technical training now).

I wish I could be more specific Lonnie, but it was over 50 years ago and I only remember that it was air-cooled. Though it only set me back $100, it never gave me any trouble so I never tore her down. Though points & plugs wouldn't be a problem, I'm sure that all the proprietary electronics have been off the market for years. Roger

6 lbs on a picasso shock blade with a lake fork trailer.

River Rock custom baits 15% off with code "taxday". Over $30 free shipping.

It's an old Eska outboard, they made these for several discount stores back in the 60's. Tom

^ or leech lake Want to go there someday, after watching the never stop tour...

What about Mille lacs?

The difference in line diameter between 10-lb braid and 20-lb braid is 1/1000th inch (0.001"), which is 1/3 the thickness of a human hair. Slashing your breaking strength in half (by 50%) to reduce line-diameter by 11% is not an appealing tradeoff. Roger

That is odd. It's usually the first thing I throw when hitting a new body of water. I can cover some ground and typically don't get hung up on anything

You don't own the water bro!! Sorry, had to say it :). Any fisherman that hooks a boats cover, is a jerk and deserves some grief (and possibly paying for the damage IMO), but if the water is public then fishing by a dock is fine, provided the fishermen are respectful of the dock and what's around it.

Weak first post....and what fisherman has never fished a dock? This dude is out there in left field somewhere....

4" any more questions ?

My son and I with some late season walleyes. Cheers

5" because it's been most productive for size and numbers for me.

Caught a big crappie on a Ned rig my first cast Thursday. Then a new PB wiper on a jerkbait later that day, 11.2 pounds.

So I'm at my in-laws place in small town Minnesota.. I swing by the local walmart to see if there's anything good in the fishing clearance section. Oh they just had a few racks of KVD cranks for $1.50 a piece.

You definitely can !??? I've had much success hopping it off bottom and pulling it though weeds. Lol this notion that you HAVE to use it like a spinner bait makes me chuckle. Even if that was "how it was intended to be fished when it was designed " there's more than one way to skin a cat brother . Chatterbaits are awesome. I like the "freedom" versions where you can swap hooks .

You can throw it and straight retrieve it like a spinnerbait, you can hop it like a jig, you can slow roll it over submerged grass like a squarebill, you can slowly drag it on the bottom like a jig, you can burn it like a double willow spinnerbait.... I've fished it all of these methods without success