Crestliner2008

Welcome aboard! You're already successful in your search by being here. To try to answer your question - try slip floating a 4" wacky rigged Senko. Let it dance in the chop below that dam and watch that float go under! You can/should adjust the bobber stop so as to keep your bait about a foot or so off the bottom. That'll put you in the prime zone and out of the snags. Slow.....but effective.

I'm smiling here as I woke this morning to -2 degrees outside around 4 am. One popular Oxbow lake here still has 14" of ice on it. Be that as it may, as soon as I see any kind of break in the ice, I'll be tossing some sort of plastic for sure!

A mature river system is like our Connecticut River here that flows from the Canadian border down though Vt, NH, MA, and CT before dumping into the ocean. Usually they have water that always has current, a few dams and few, if any, rapids. Sometimes about a mile across with both deep and shallow water areas. Ours is not as big as the Mississippi, but with similar features on a smaller scale. The In'Fisherman defined all the various river system types in their books and articles. I do not recall their exact definition of "mature", but at the time I read it, I concluded that the CT. River system was/is this type of river. You may need to do an online search of the In'Fisherman's Concepts to narrow down your specific river system. Another gauge of maturity of a river system is in the diversity of it's fish population. Our river contains LM & SM bass, walleye, panfish, sturgeon, catfish and others.

Are you saying they will cut nails and hooks? I have my doubts? My vote for a line cutter, however, is the Boomerang tool.

Been using snaps on cranks for more decades than I care to remember. Much better option (IMO) to retying every time I want to change up. Just as effective as a split ring.

They also work well when put on a drop shot hook.

A 1/2 - 3/4 oz. blade bait twitched off the bottom is hard to beat for early season smallies, before they bed up especially. Works especially well on mature river systems. But I also use these llures all year long. I'm fishing minimum 15' of water down to 40'. I don't fish for bedding bass.

What is amazing to me about these holders is that the box of 4 that I received was so LIGHT in weight. I was afraid they'd be heavy, but quite the contrary. I'll keep that lithium grease spray in the back of my mind as well. Thanks guys!

Got a response from an owner of these rod holders at Amazon.com. He said to spray it with WD-40 and let it set. It WORKED! All is good with the world once again. LOL!

Just bought 4 of the side mount version to put on my 12' tin boat. I assembled the first one by re-positioning the holder from the vertical mount position to the side hole position of the base. Problem is I cannot get it to come up to move it! It's like it's glued in there. Tried WD-40 but it hasn't helped. Went in just fine, no idea why I can't get it up and out. Any suggestions or tricks? Thanks!

Opt for a faster tip in that rod length for ul fishing.

The Alberto knot will flow through your guides with no problems. IF....you tie it correctly. Practice tying it often, when not on the water, and you will become proficient at it in no time. Personally, I prefer a no-stretch main line with a 6# test fluoro leader. I use Fireline Crystal exclusively now on all my rigs. Very reliable. Ties up nicely with fluoro using the Alberto. JMO.

Make sure you have a bunch of 1/8 oz. ball head jigs and a variety of 3" curly tails to put on them. You'll get bit.

The jerkbait would be ideal under your conditions. However, you have to have a lot of patience between twitches. You might also consider a wacky rigged 4" Senko under a slip bobber. Set the bobber so that the worm is about a foot off the bottom. I've taken some nice bass under those conditions this way.

I can tell you this for sure, they are dynamite on a drop shot.

Pink.

So sorry to hear that! We're not able to wet a line either......still have about 6" ice on all the water. Spring floods are predicted to be bad as well up here. Wish you the best.

Congratulations indeed! Great pics.

I've got no words for this! Banning Hooks!

I've been using U40 for many decades on all my cork handles. Never had that happen to me. Not sure what's going on there. It's not how you are applying it. I use a dipped paper towel myself. Could it be that it got frozen at some point and that changed it's composition? I talk to a lot of anglers and this is the first I've heard of this problem.

I posted that second picture in your post above; and have been experimenting with hooks and blades a lot. I sincerely believe that there is no need to use treble hooks on any bait. Yeah, I know, I'm going to get flack for that statement. But in every case where I've substituted trebles with inline singles, I've had just as good a hookup/landing rate as ever. Plus you won't get hooked up on the bottom as often. I also crimp down the barbs. No need unless you're a tournament angler and "need" to land every fish you hook up with. JMO.

I'd go with a marabou Road Runner instead. I hate treble hooks. And I've caught a lot of trout on RR's over the years.

I always use 2# test for trout & panfish.

Wow....does that bring back memories! I remember being so proud of owning an actual Alcedo Micron spinning reel. It was the "cat's meow" back then. It actually had ball bearings on the shaft end. Great little reel.

Check with UMass agricultural department. They have all kinds of studies being done by students all the time. At the very least, they can direct you to the proper agency to contact for specific information.