Crestliner2008

Wish it was for more than one bag.

For me, I'd rate the 2" Bobby Garland's Baby Shad as No.1 for overall productivity. Dressed on a 1/16 oz. ball head jig. Closely followed by 2" paddle tailed swimming grubs. And when all else fails, a 1/16 oz. Roadrunner will always come through for you. The more I fish the straight tails, the more I lean away from the venerable curly tailed grubs.

Ponds are still iced over today. But with the temps being more "normal" over the forecasted 7 days and rain occurring on most of them, I suspect open water will be available in the very near future. Hopefully early this coming week.

I have four active Ambassadeur baitcasters. One is about 30 years old and still going strong. Love these reels. Currently running 2 Cardinal spinning reels too, with no problems. Great drags.

I have braid on almost all of my reels now, with the exception of crankbait and swimbait rigs. I use a fluorocarbon or mono leader, depending on whether or not I'm fishing on top or beneath the surface. The reason I use a leader is not for visibility reasons; rather I sincerely believe (through experience) that a leader affords a much greater degree of abrasion resistance than does straight braid. And the connection I use is the Alberto knot.

Another vote for cork. It just "finishes" a rod.

Even down here there is no open water yet. With the forecast for temps in the 50's over the next 7 days and rain on most days, it won't be long!

If the water is relatively open, I've found this little bait to be a sure bet most of the time: Not only does it possess a great popping action, this bait is the easiest I've had to walk the dog. For deep, open water fishing, I like a full sized Sammy. Have taken some giant smallies on this bait over the years. If I'm pad/junk fishing, just about any soft bodied frog/mouse will get you bit - if there are bass there. I've tried about a dozen different ones over the years. (I still have a couple of the original Bill Plummer Bass Frogs and they still work!) None outshine any other, at least from my experience. If it moves, on top of the junk and there's a bass there, he's going to hit it. Pure & simple. He certainly isn't counting the number of realistic looking spots on the top of the plastic frog, even if he could see it! One of my favorites is the Johnson Silver Minnow. It is my sincerest opinion that if you spend big bucks on a detailed frog imitation, then you have more money than I do. Doubtful that you'll entice any more strikes though. Again, it comes down to confidence. It's something that is hard to prove!

I do well with the original Chatterbait. Haven't found a need to change yet.

The sun can do bad things to you these days. You must be protected at all times. Besides a coating of Neutrogena's "UltraSheer" SPF 70 lotion on my face and neck, I wear adequate sun protection at all times:

OK, we do NOT have any open water here yet. However, it's coming. So, I did a lot of shopping around and found Cabela's "Silver Tec" Base Layer suits on sale, at about 50% of retail. So, I picked up a set - tops & bottoms. I selected the "Heavyweight" construction, as the "Polar Weight" was not available in my sizes. For ice out and cold water fishing conditions, did I make a mistake here? Just curious of what the opinions are amongst our members. Can't do much about it now as I already have the set and I'm ready to give them a whirl.

I love using those. Wish they made larger ones though. From what i've read, the bend makes it susceptible to breakage. I've never experienced that though.

I generally use water temperature as a guide. I find that if the water temp is 55 degrees or less, it's a pretty safe bet that you're dealing with pre-spawn. There are exceptions, especially within the various species and lake locations & type. Once the water temps get above 64 degrees, then I'll focus my presentations aimed more towards post spawn. Remember though, a lot of the actual spawn takes place over a longer period of time than most anglers suspect. Each lake is different and only time on the particular water you are fishing, will get you focused in to what is actually happening there.

Right now it's total ice! Hopefully, in a week or two, I'll actually be able to wet a line.

Try a Spro PowerSwivel in size #8 or #10. Very high quality crane type swivels that I've been using for many years. I tie these to my main braid line and then attach a fluorocarbon, pre-tied drop shot leader. Works for me.

I'm confused. Are you talking about a "swim jig" or a swim bait? Two different animals. If you are talking about a jig trailer, then the Paca Craw is hard to beat. If you want more action, try a Rage Craw. But I've never had any problem with the PC myself. If you are talking swim baits, then you need to clarify why you are putting a trailer on them?

I start out with hard jerkbaits fished slow. If I get a follow or two, I'll switch to a 5" wacky rigged Senko. Either of these presentations will get bit from ice out through the spawn.

I never assume that a jerkbait will suspend. Which is why I carry a small spool of soldering wire with me. Depending on the water temp and the current you might be faced with, adjustments to the rise / fall can be accomplished easily with a little wire wrapped around the shaft of the lead treble. Works better than those suspend dots, as it doesn't interfere with the action of the body of the bait.

They work really well with flukes and soft jerkbaits too (like Slug-Gos). However, with the advent of the new screw spring type retainers that a lot of hooks now come with now, the original Mr. Keeper barbs have had decreased popularity. They do not hold all that well in fact, although it's still a great idea. I like them on the smaller soft jerkbaits.

I'm heading on down there (to CT) today. I hope they have some decent deals.

I agree with Thronback. I keep the number for the Natural Resource Officer on my cell. And I call them if there ever is a problem. But I would have called them right away, while this guy was standing there telling me this! I'd almost betcha he'd have hi-tailed it out of there when he heard who you were calling.

I'm getting pretty discouraged. Maybe I should take up curling! No open water here in western MA yet. And to add salt to the wounds, it's snowing outside right now. UGH! Will this winter ever end???? On the bright side, I'm heading down to Cabelas this week sometime (inbetween inclement weather). So that should be a "pick-me-up". I can hope anyway. lol.

Five or Six inch sizes are not too big.

Whites can be a lot of fun! Our large reservoir here has some beauts, but they are hard to find at times.

I don't see why it wouldn't do what you need. But just what exactly is your definition of bass fishing? There are many presentation techniques, most of which require different rod/reel set-ups. You can catch a bass on a branch of a tree, but if you want to be a bit more specific, we could probably answer you question better. A general purpose, all-around bass fishing rod, would be a medium action, on the light end and med-heavy on the upper end. You won't go wrong with either. BTW, Shock rods do have a 7'6" MH action.