Crestliner2008

Find bait on structure and deep drop-offs and drop shot or use Silver Buddies. The hard jerks are a good bet if you find the bait shallower. Tubes are another productive option at ice out. The operative word here is slow!

I agree with most of what John J says; but not about bass survival: bass can and certainly do survive in water temps below 40 degrees. The water temps here in the N.E., under ice, can and does go down a lot lower than that. Maybe John is referring to bass down south(?) - not sure. But up here, come ice out, no dead bodies are floating around And the fishing is as good as in all previous years.

Tell ya what, if you try tying direct to eye using a trilene knot, snug it real tight, and move the knot to the lower part of the eye, you will get an exaggerated action can really knock their socks off some day. Cinching up the knot straight ahead gives you a modified action and if you put it on top of the eye, the action changes once again. This way you can actually change your presentation according to what the fish wants, vs. what you can give them. If I'm trolling the river with the current (for walleye & sm) I always tie below the eye. Going up stream (not very desireable most days) I tie straight or on top. Been doing this for many, many years with a great deal of success. Using just a loop or snap you get only one action, period.

That "flappin' hog looks awesome!

The "Fishing Buddy" model 1150 by Bottom Line goes for only $129.. Transducer & sonar are build into one unit which clamps on jon boats easily. BPS

Last year here in MA we were fishing open water all the way thru the 1st. week in January. And there are angers here that fish the CT River all winter long; with chains and 4x4 used to launch. Their catches are nothing short of phenominal. Today, the morning temp. was only 20 degrees however. Looks we won't be as lucky as last season

Does anyone ever replace the rear treble with a feathered one? Or would this hurt the action on a Sammy?

Very interesting. I wish I had a nickle for every negative comment I've read lately about Vanish. I've been using it regularly on 4 of my rigs, in various test ratings, for over 3 seasons now. Have never had a problem with casting, knot failure or lost fish, which I can contribute directly to this line. Maybe it's because I'm such a great fisherman? ;D LOL! Seriously, I'll continue fishing Vanish, thank you kindly. Oh, and I'll be saving some bucks in doing so as well.

I think scents are way down on the list of getting a fish to take your lure. The fishes first/main contact with your offering is sight, followed by motion, followed by color; then, when he/she is about to commit to taking your offering, the smell "may" seal the deal. Especially if you're using a hard, vs. soft, bait of some kind. You should be more concerned with speed and depth control, visual attraction and triggering stimuli of your offering. If you've met this criteria, you are 90% there. If you are still not catching, then by all means, I would add scent. Especially in the cold water periods when your visual and motion characteristics are - or should be - very subdued. Remember, the fish WANTS to eat what you are throwing; because everything in his world has the potential of being food. And if he sees something going by - slow or fast - he really NEEDS to take advantage of it - if he wants to survive. And actually it's not under his control to do otherwise. To think that a fish sees your offering and goes over to sniff it to see if it's real, before deciding to take it, is ludicrous. They would never survive with that kind of instinct. Just my opinion folks

Everyone gets into a slump from time to time. When that happens to me, I go panfishing with an UL rod and tiny jigs. Just catching a bunch of any kind of fish re-builds your confidence and gets your mind back to working. This time of the year, here in the N.E., fish are in transition from their summer haunts to wintering locations. Usually the deeper water is where you need to be targetting. Remember what Buck Perry said, "The fish have to be either shallow, deep or somewhere inbetween!" All I can guarantee you is that they are not up in the trees! ;D Although my partner catches me looking up there every once in a while! The fall/early winter scenario is all about location, location, location. Your presentations are fine. You just need to find some fish. Trolling might be an option that I hope you are not discounting?

I fish the CT River here in MA and use 3 1/2" tubes with 1/4 - 1/2 oz. internal jigs, 6" Senkos (Tx Rigged) and Big Ikas (rev. Tx rig). All have sufficient weight to get down in current and have the "triggering" characteristis needed for a good bite.

hmmmm.....I guess that if I follow some of the logic here, a Yum Dinger is no good, because it's a "replica" of a Senko, right? ;D

One thing on yellow lines. If you've read any of Doug Hannon's earlier books on bass fishing, he did extensive research on lure color and bass reaction, as well as catch ratios. It is stated, in that literature (the exact name of that book eludes me right now), that yellow is the worse color to use around bass. That being said about lures, if you carry it into the line discussion, I would probably feel a lot more confident either not using it at all, or using a long length of fluoro leader of some kind. Just a thought.

PA is not all that far south from MA, so I'm not sure what you guys are talking about, when you say, "it's all over"? It's never over until you can no longer crack the thin ice on the lake with your boat's hull! Fish some rivers - you do have them things in PA, right? And catch the biggest and greatest quantities of SM bass you ever thought possible. Whatever you do, don't throw in the towel, for sure!

I need to learn how to do the "Shaky Worm" thingy. Have tried it a few times, but just get the head hung up with goop from the bottom or tangled in weeds. I've never seen "clean" bottom areas, like the ones in the demonstration videos on TV, that actually have fish around? BTW, jwo1124, don't forget to play around with a few Senkos - if you haven't already

"To net or not to net That is the question!" All depends on how serious you are about catch & release, as far as I'm concerned. No net is perfectly safe on not removing any of the fishes slime coating. Some are better than others (and a lot more costly). If you are a true catch & release fisherman, then by all means, learn to lip (except for Northern Pike! ;D) However, if you just as soon bring your fish home, it matters not. I've never found a net necessary except for salmon - their lower jaw is too fragile for lipping tools and they flop around too much for landing by hand.

I agree with all of the above! Years ago, when my son was very young, he caught a 2" bluegil in a paper cup. We put in our freshwater aquarium. BIG mistake! It ate or destroyed almost all of my expensive fish!

For smallies around this neck of the woods, I rig 3 rods; one with a hard jerk such as an X-Rap, one with a blade bait (Silver Buddy or Sonar), and one with a drop shot. The med action spin rig used with fluoro for the X-Rap will be interchanged with a watermelon tube from time to time. That's an excellent arsenal - IMO.

X-Raps work well in either warm or cold water. You just have to adjust your cadence and pause periods accordingly. Right now, here in the Northeast, most rivers and lakes have water in the 55 - 58 degree range. Ideal for hard jerkbaits. I'd pause about 3 - 4 sec. between jerks now. As the water decreases into the low 50's to mid-40's, I'd pause a lot longer....sometimes as much as 30 seconds.

I've been using Vanish for 3 years now for drop shotting, tube jig & jerkbait fishing. No problems.

What do you do if you are a CPR fisherman? I know, I know....the diamonds, right? ;D

"Tennis Elbow" is no joke! I'm 62 and find it more & more difficult to use hard jerkbaits for very long and if I drop shot for more than a few hours, I'll be in agony that night! Went a local "arthritis treatment center" and after some physical therapy, they gave me a forearm band called, "Band-It". You can go online (Google) to find a source. It's actually worn between the wrist and elbow and it more or less "short circuits" the tendon causing the problem and redistributes the stress - according to the experts there at the center. Does it work? Well, when I remember to use it my elbow soreness is less that evening. I still take a couple of Tyenol Arthritis pain pills when I go to bed. But even with the band, if I fish more than 2 days in a row, I really start to feel it. It's the nature of the beast - casting. Not much you can do about it and I can assure you, it gets worse with age. I would highly recommend you seek a medical specialist, as I did, just to make sure the diagnosis is correct however.

If I were limited in what I could fish with up here, I'd have to say a 3" Kalin single tail grub (smoke w/blk flake) on an 1/8 oz. plain ball head jig. Has accounted for quite a few smallies in my day. The IKA is also good, but don't discount a 4" Senko wacky rigged either (Try RED)

Hmmmmm.....I thought the snake was designed with one thought in mind - and only one: to catch the BIGGEST bass residing in the area you are fishing. (And in less than 5' of water.) So I guess that if you are a true big bass specialist, this lure might just have to be added to your arsenal. Yes, I did buy the package; but not just for the lures, rather for the knowledge contained in that package along with the lures. I mean, this guy Doug Hannon is no slouch when it comes to big bass knowledge, right? If you buy knowledge (one book - $40.) and learn one thing, I guess you've gotten your money's worth. BTW, I've learned a lot more than just one thing, I guarantee you! And NO....I haven't caught anything on them....yet. Only used them a time or two, but next season I'll focus on learning the lure's niche and how to properly present it. Then we'll see

electrikal - I've caught several nice bass last fall on the SBs - when I first started using them (after reading Billy Westmoreland). But unlike the article you posted, you really don't have to watch the line all that closely and certainly I don't raise it that much (9 to 12) off the bottom. I use a baitcaster with 10# Fireline. As soon as the bait hits the bottom, I give it just enough of a lift off bottom (jerk) to barely feel the vibes. Drop it immediately and it should be on bottom again in a sec. or less. This is usually only an inch or two off bottom in reality (30' - 40' of water); you can see this easily, especially if you try it in clear, shallow water so you can watch it happening. Every strike I've gotten were slams - with no ifs, ands, or buts involved! Another MA angler I know has suggested to me that I should even dead-stick it for a few seconds or longer! These things are incredible. BTW, the "Silver Buddy" company is now defunked. Totally out of business. Unless you make your own, the cheapest ones I've found are at TNT Tackle, for $2.50 each. Wish they had a less "pretty" one at around $2.00, but even the plain jane SB's were costing that much.