Crestliner2008

Get some Fat Ikas and 7" Senkos for sure.

The plastic Case Helgies are great drop shot baits! Never used live ones though.

Another caveat, that I started playing with last season, involves a wacky rigged Senko, with small spinner blade afixed to the hook via a small crane swivel on the shank of the hook. Salmon love this set-up!

Also, crimp down the barbs on your hooks!

There is an enormous resource here in the Articles above. And the search engine here is great. I fish a lot of different bodies of water and at different times of the year, so it's a rather difficult to answer you. Start at the top of the site and I'm sure a lot of folks here will help you as well.

Ya gotta tell us where abouts you are from? What's the water temps like? This time of the year, it's critical to determine what the fish are doing; ice out, pre-spawn, spawn, etc.. Then we can be of more help.

KVD didn't fare too well during the 2012 Classic though. But he'll always be a force to be reckoned with, for sure!

We are only allowed one hook (lure) on each of two rods, or two lures on one rod, here in Massachusetts. We can't even "spider rig" for crappie here! After seeing Paul Alias kick butt last weekend on the FLW tour, it was an eye opener indeed. Even so, I wouldn't want them to do otherwise in this state. Just doesn't seem "sporting" to me.

I second that on the Hot Lips. Smallies love them in summer when fished on the sides of humps!

You can't beat the Chompers finesse worms for drop shotting. Just make sure you warn your buddy before opening the package. Powerful stuff! I don't think I've ever had any other bait with as strong a smell. And the smallies love 'em.

I've been using the Speed Worms for several years now. When fishing gets tough, I like to use them rigged Texas style with at least a 1/4 oz. worm weight. On/off bottom retrieve is very effective. It feels like the on/off retrieve I use when fishing blade baits. They can really turn on the fish.

I own several Pointers, including their original counterpart from Japan, the B'Freeze. Fine jerkbaits indeed, however when fishing water in the low 50's I do well with jerkbaits period.....doesn't matter whether it's a Pointer, X-Rap, Husky Jerk or Rogue. It's the presentation that is effective, not the particular lure - in my opinion.

Most lakes and river systems out here, in western MA, are free of ice. The fish are turning on too. Hitting some nice yellows and crappie, walking the banks. This recent snow storm will pose some problems with high, muddy run off, but I'll bet they're still feeding and preparing for the spawn. Just wondering how many of you are taking advantage of this early open water season.

What's wrong with your Eagle? What model is it? How many pixels? How do you have it set-up (ping & chart speed, sensitivity, etc.)? Upgrading to a sonar, with higher pixels, is always a good idea. My Eagle has 480 x 480 pixels, so that's plenty good enough, if you have it set-up correctly and know how to use it.

My favorite technique is drop shotting - IF I'm fishing a lake. River fishing is a different scenario. There I prefer tubes. Then again, a lot is dependent on the time of the year too. Like Will said above, they'll turn on to different things at different times.

You guys are going to think I'm nuts. For the last 30 years, I've bought nothing but clip-ons from CVS for about $12.00! Sorry, I'm a tight wad.

Try a light Carolina type rig. I use 6# test Fireline as my main with 6# fluoro leader and 1/0 Gammy wide bend, off-set hook. 1/8 oz. weight on a swivel with the 10" fluoro lead, to a 4 1/2" Roboworm. Slow reel it back. You will get bit.

For the past year & 1/2, I've been using this inside-the-waistband holster by High Noon, for my Ruger SP-101. I wear it on my right rear hip and have had no problems with comfort or ease of access. This is what it looks like: And here's the link to their site: http://www.highnoonh...bare_asset.html Prior to this, I carried in a Smart Carry type holster (ThunderWear). I didn't like it because it cost just about as much as a quality leather holster but wore badly. This is what I mean: The hammer on this revolver abraded the material quite badly. Not easily seen by this photo, but it will give you some idea as to why this happens: Here's a better view, although the damage was severe: The Smart Carry was very comfortable though. You had to practice drawing with it a lot in order to become comfortable with getting at it when needed. Not as easy as they say it is! Hope this is of some help.

I've been using Vanish for the better part of 8 seasons on several spinning rigs and one bait caster. Never had an issue. I would think that this cold weather is not helping your problem any. Switch to an XT mono until you get the hang of it. I wouldn't condemn the line right off.

Which models of shakey heads on your site are the non-lead ones?

You are SOOOO lucky! "They" (Fish & Wildlife) just banned lead in my state this years. Talk about an expensive compliance! I've dumped nearly $70. so far in replacing only a small portion of the jig heads, lures and weighted hooks I have. More to do yet. A more "sensible" approach would to insure that a cost effective replacement is available, through local retailers, before even considering such a ban. But then again, politicians and special interest groups are never sensible. Good luck to you!

Smallmouth - I like the X-Rap in olive back. Have caught a lot of quality smallies on this bad boy. Largemouth - I prefer the largest Rogue in clown color. If I'm fishing water containing either or, I'll also include a Husky Jerk or two. For some reason, when water contains both species, this bait is very productive. I've used the Pointers as well, but don't really see that they give me an advantage over the others mentioned. JMO!

Fleck makes a dandy of a spinnerbait for smallies. Called the Winni Special, it's 7/8 oz. bad boy with chartreuse blades. Great bait! Big & flashy is what gets the smallies attention when they are shallow. Sunny, windy day is definite putting the odds in your favor, as Wilbur says.

Lots of great opinions here. One thing you might want to remember though. Chances are it's going to be at night in a dimly lit or dark house. The muzzle blast from any gun under those conditions create immediate debilitating conditions for the shooter. (I really don't care about the intruder.) First, you will be immediately blinded. Second, you will no long have your sense of hearing. Those are the facts. With that knowledge, you had better select a weapon with which you have extreme confidence in and one with which you practice a lot at the range. Common sense, right? Most folks that have a gun for home defense rarely use it unfortunately. Something to think about. My selection is a short, double barreled 12 ga. loaded with low base 7 1/2's. If you ever shot this load at a paper target at 10 yards, you'd know why. Quite a devastating machine. You will also be very nervous under these stressful conditions and pointing a shotgun is much more effective than aiming a pistol. I know there are some good pistoleros out there, but most are not. And unless you are visiting the range at least once a week, you are not as good as you think you are. The shotgun stacks the odds in your favor. And the above load reduces the chances of bullets or large pellets leaving your premises and harming someone outside your home. JMO.

Thanks Siebert! I'll spread the word around the Mass site and see how much interest I'll be able to generate. I'll pm you soon.