J Francho

6-3 Lake Ontario mid August 1995.

A Scumfrog Bigfoot is a reasonable alternative. Any of the other frogs with skirts for legs are totally different baits.

Remove split ring and use a Palomar to Duolock snap.

I would agree with Catt, prefontal and stable is optimal, though I would put an emphasis on stable. A few days of a consistent weather pattern, and I don't mean horrible weather LOL, and at some point the fish will adjust and be hungry. However, part of the fun can be catching fish in adverse conditions. it can be a struggle, but catching a few decent fish can be as rewarding as a 50 fish day knowing you overcame the adversity.

I use Power pro braid on several applications, both spinning and baitcasting. I often wonder why people start out with 30# braid on a a BC. You're using something with the diameter of 8# mono and that is much more limp. Not the time to get fancy with finesse braid diameters when you're trying it out for the first time. I generally use 50-80# braid on my BC reels, and 10-30# on spinning. Why, because each type of reel excels at those diameters. On spinning rods, I generally use the rod line rating to calibrate the drag. If it says 8-12#, I set the drag there, unless the breaking strength of the line is less than the rod's rating. That way you get the most out of the rod's potential. For casting rods, I do the same thing with the exception of flipping sticks and frog rods. For those I crank the drag right down. There aren't many bass that are going to break your rod, and I want to be able to set the hook, lift the bass from the cover, and get it out of the weeds as fast as possible. Most breakage will from trying to yank your jig out of a lay down. Use common sense. As for bent Gammys, well I use Gammys for some applications, but heavy cover is not one. I love their light wire worm hooks for small plastics and their trebles are a great upgrade to your cranks as well. Get yourself a 25 pk. of Owners and try them out. I think you'll agree that they resist bending. I like Wide Gap Plus (EWG), Round Bends, Mosquito and Twist Loks from them.

I clicked the link the previous Chatillion poster sent, but it was a bit awkward to find where I could buy one and the price. Do you recall where you bought yours? I really like the fact that you can calibrate it! That has been my problem with other hanging scales - checked them with free weights laying around and they were off with no way to correct it... Try a Google search, there are dozens of online retailers, though they may not be fishing related. They run about $65.

Wow, I wasn't even close, LOL. Looks worth trying. Seems pretty simple to tie in a rocking boat as well. Thanks RW and Paul!

Are you talking about the ALLBRIGHT SPECIAL? Never heard of a "J-knot." If it is the allbright, then , yes, its a great knot. I used it quite a bit for very light lines last winter. You know the species .

For spinning reels, I use three primary lines: P-line or XPS 100% FC in 4-8# Power Pro in 10-20# Suffix Elite in 4-8# FC sinks, braid cuts through weeds, and mono for topwater.

BOTH! No one does it all for me. here are the rods I use, depending on bait/technique: 6'9" Med/X-Fast spin for DS, light wacky rig, flick shake, light tubes on tube jigs 7' MH/Fast spin for bigger wacky, smaller t-rig, Mojo/split shot, larger tube jigs, flukes, other weightless 6'6" MH/Fast casting for t-rig, c-rig, larger Senko in heavier cover (wacky or weedless), plastic swimbaits, other larger plastics 7'6" XH/X-Fast "flipping stick" for big t-rigs, flipping tubes, frogs, double flukes, XL plastic swimbaits, magnum DS (cannonballing) Most of my casting reels are 6.3:1 and spinning reels are something like 4.7:1. Remember, line pickup on spinning reels is a function of BOTH spool size and gear ratio. A 2500 series reel should pickup about 25" of line with a ratio of about 4.5 to 5:1.

Anything near or around 5:1 will serve you well. I happen to pleased with my Daiwa Sols for this.

Chatillon Scales.

There really isn't any excuse for ignorance of the laws. Please refer to p. 44 for minimum size requirements and bag limits for the state of Indiana: http://www.in.gov/dnr/files/2008_Rec_Fish_Guide_lo.pdf. Also see p. 49 for special lake rules.

Absolutely correct in my experience. This year alone, I have caught three LMB with large worm hooks embedded in their craw. The fish were thin, one even emaciated, but all bit and bit hard suggesting they were hungry. Other fish caught were in good condition, exhibiting the normal fatness/thinness depending on time of year. This says to me that the fish were healthy and hungry and wanted to eat, but could not due to the 4/0 hook stuck in their throat. In every instance, it was no problem to remove the hooks as detailed above or in one instance, it was simply lodged in there with no hook point or barb penetration, which must have been a break off. The other two cases were obvious cut the line jobs, as the hook still had line that was trimmed perfectly at the mouth.

A good storm can disturb the thermocline, but not cause the lake to turnover completely. Take a look at historical surface temps leading up to the recent weather, and compare to readings you get when on the water. You may want to move shallow. If the water is murkier than usual, use appropriate baits. it may have settled down by the time you fish. Read the water that's there, not the water you pre fished.

Welcome, and sorry to hear about your addiction. There is a twelve step program that starts with tying a jig on the end your line.

The best way to determine proper hook size for a bait is to put the hook next to the bait and see if it will have enough bite. Also consider the weight of the hook and whether it will make a difference is it interferes with the action of the bait. I nose hook flukes with 1/0 or 2/0 Owner Mosquito and weedless with a 4/0 or 5/0 Owner Wide Gap +. For 5" Senkos, I use the same Mosquitoes, but weedless I use a 3/0 Owner Round Bend worm hook. I usually DS, wacky rig, wacky jig, or shaky head Trick Worms. For DS, its Owner 1/0 Mosquito or 1/0 Owner Down Shot Offset hook. 1/0 for wacky rigs. I use Zappu and Gammy flick shake jigs for wacky jigging, and Bagley, Spot Remover Pro, and Giggy heads for shaky heads. If I were to t-rig a Trick worm, a light wire 2/0 or 3/0 round bend hook would work just fine. For 10" Power worms, I use 4/0 Owner J Bend worm hooks. I don't really lump Trick worms and 10" Power Worms in the same profile category. The Power Worms are a lot bigger than Trick Worms.

"Not up to date" is about the strangest description of a spinnerbait I've heard. Are they in poor condition? What is "not up to date" about them? I have Reef Runners and Stanleys that have been catching fish for years and years. I sharpened the hooks and replaced the skirts when necessary. At any rate, I also have several Strike King Premier, Terminator T-1, and the Secret Weapon mini kits are awesome. Their design lends the bait to slow rolling and rock bumping.

Live softshell crabs, LOL.

I'm not a big color person, most of my plastic baits are black, motor oil, watermelon, and maybe smoke. If you can figure out what the primary forage is, then pick one that is close. Usually I go with the more translucent colors in clear water, but not always.

Chigger Craws on a football head are a total waste of time, LOL. ;D

Same as my answer to the Finesse worm question:

I prefer a jighead that has a straight or almost straight tie point. I have had great success with Gammy Wacky Jigs, but the little cut out for the line tie sometimes catches weeds. The Zappu jigs work great, but are pricey. I've also used Bagley shaky heads for this, and they work well, but have that little baitholder cone on the shank. Basically, any jig with a gap wide enough to accommodate the worm will work. Speaking of worms: Berkley Hand Pour, Finesse, and Chaky, Zoom Finesse and Trick worms, Roboworm Straight Tail, and basically anything that fits works. Cast, let it sink to depth, and gently shake the tip. Depth, current and lure buoyancy will determine weight of the jig. I generally use 1/8 oz., but occasionally use 1/4 for deeper. A really light head will allow you to let the bait rest on thick, submerged vegetation and then shake away. Its much more interactive than wacky rigged Senkos. There is very good article in a recent In~Fisherman that details everything about this.

There's no shame in getting to 1st base with a good bass

Sometimes the Sammy outfishes the Spook. Sometimes the opposite is true. Sometimes there is no doggie bite. It isn't really a confidence thing for me. The variety in TW box gives me more confidence than any single bait. A buddy of mine said the same thing as you, until in three night trips in a row, I caught several fish to his skunk. Funny thing is, he went out and bought a couple of Sammys, and I whipped him again on Spooks and spinnerbaits. That's how it goes.