Big-Dan

so i went out today for about 35 mins with my new BBZ-1 shad, and well i had no bites but i had a follow up. it was raining all day and after work it stoped but was really windy. i was able to cast to the spot i wanted but my line would go off in the wind and get caught up on the rocks and bushes so i decided after 35 mins it was enough, water was a little high and dirty. anyways the thing swims amazing and the action is just so real, i have the slow sink version and even though i let it sink for a few seconds and then start to reel in slow it always makes it back up to about 1 foot from the surface, not sure if its me or that its because im fishing from shore. well ill have to go out again tommorow and try again if its not raining like the forcast says.

man im so pumped up about my first swimbait ever, the Spro BBZ-1 4" shad ! i read about it in reviews and watch some videos on youtube, and i was hooked, bait monkey made me drive for over an hour in bumper to bumper traffic to buy one lol. cant wait to use it this weekend on some river smallies. bought the dirty shad color. anyways ill have to get some pictures of my catches with it this weekend. so how have you guys liked this swimbait?

hey guys i was at a fishing show up here in Quebec and this tournament bass fisher showed me a really cool way of rigging a 4" tube with a regular bell sinker and a 4/0 EWG hook. ill list the steps he showed me. 1- insert the bell sinker eye first into the tube and push it in all the way until its about to pierce through the top of tube ( make sure you dont pierce) 2- now take your 4/0 EWG hook and pierce the barb through the eye of the bell sinker inside of the tube and back out of the tube, (if you done it correctly you'll feel the hook is in the eye if not try again). 3- now that we have the bell sinker in the tube with the hook pierced through the eye of sinker. all we do now is proceed to to twist the hook into t-rig position and and rig it t-rig.

thanks for the advice guys, and i think i might try out RW's idea since i do get snaged alot out here, ill try both the weedless one from RW and the regular tube jig with straight eye. thanks again all and happy fishing, i still got atleast a month before ice melts and the river opens up and even longer before bass season opens up.

i mostly fish the Ottawa river, which type of jig head is better ? ill post 2 pics. is it better with the eye of the hook be slanted or straight up from the lead part? not sure if this is clear

hey guys im going to try to do some more tube fishing for river smallies this season. and i would like to know what type of jig head i should use for my 3 1/2" tubes. in the past i just used either color or just plain lead jig heads of various weights. i fish a rocky river so i dont know if that helps on choosing a certain model. oh forgot to mention i only used round lead jig heads before.

ok so ive tried some of my senkos i bought, but i never really used for at least an hour straight so i still think i need to try them more and learn. but when i fished them i sometimes see bass nibble on the senko but never actually try to eat it. so does size matter? the river i fish i never really caught anything over 3lbs and ive only caught one or 2 that size, there on average about 1-2lbs. most baits i use are small like a simple jig head with swirly tail grub and a really small shallow crank, they seem to work fine. should i down size to the 4" senkos? i do realize i should fish this bait alot more to learn them. just wondering thats all. oh and im fishing for smallies ;D

time for an update! so earlyer i went out and bought those ragetail toads you suggested and they only had the watermelon red flake so that choice was easy, so bought those and some 4/0 gama ewg hooks, salesman should me how to hook em up. so i went back to my local marina and started to cast and at first i thought they were not doing much action, then i pulled apart the tails and that help alot with the action. i took me a good 20 mins before i got my first bite so i started realing in the bass and as soon as he got to shore he got unhooked >, so casted out again and BAM another one same thing happened at shore. i have to learn to hook set a little harder lol, oh well next time. a couple of mins later i hooked this 1' 1/2 pike reeled him in and should the young kids fishing next to there expressions were priceless ;D. but after that pike it was dead for the next 2 hors no bites :'( . so thats my story for the day. oh and i wish these ragetail frogs floated. also that pike really messed up my toad lol but it was still fishable. all in all im satisfied with new rod and reel that i bought and those ragetails, also i think the baitmonkey really likes me i probably spent close to 300$ this week on gear and tackle but i think thats it for me for this season, i hope lol ;D

i think im going to get some ragetail toads right now lol store closes at 5 pm, once i get them ill head back out, see if i can get them to bite if not ill have to wait till my spro frogs arrive. and color suggestions?

i dont have any frogs, just made an oder from BPS for some spro frogs, and ive never fished topwater, also i should mention its a river im fishing out here in Quebec, Canada, its at the local marina the marina is surrounded by huge boulder rock walls all around the boat docks im fishing on the outside of them were this is about of 2-3 feet of water before the weeds start, and i dont know anything about frog fishing but i dont think there is any around the marina i wonder if the bass would even bite it but who knows ill let them decide.

hey guys, so this morning around 10 30 i went out to the local marina to try out my new Shimano Sahara 2500 reel with Shimano Convergence rod, and man is the rod and reel sweet never had anything better blows my old spinning combo thats in my signature. so smooth and the rod is nice and sensitive, i cast much father now. So my local marina is a decent place to fish early spring but in later summer its harder so much weeds and it can be a pain, also there is alot of boats coming in and out of the channel, were we usually fish. bottom is very rock and weeds galore. tried my wacky rigged watermelon senko and did not get anything only felt little nibbles and alot of weeds tried to cast it in holes or just before the weed bed but no luck so i threw on my favorite and got to lure my dollar store crankbait thats in minnow color and dives about 1'- 1' 1/2 , ive caught everything on that little thing. anyways the bass was really small and as soon as i went to put my thumb in his mouth he wiggled off and went right back in the water. BTW the water is pretty clear about 4' visibility. i decied to leave at 1pm and ill see about finding a new spot later this afternoon. so yea that was my first outing with new rod and reel and i love the thing. oh and also forgot to mention the weeds go to the surface and insome places they are a few feet under

is it Stephen Collins Foster, "Old Folks at Home" ("Swanee River") ?

thanks all for the replies makes me feel more confident i what i buy, man i cant wait to try this new combo out this weekend !

Im always nervous buying new fishing gear, i dont really understand the different class rods and lines for different fishing conditions, so i had to take the salesmans advice and also mine own instinct. i cant wait till this weekend to try it out, also bought some senko's watermelon black flake, i tried these on my old rod but couldnt catch anything, was afraid i wouldnt feel the bite so now im hoping with my new more sensitive rod ill be able to catch some fish on my senkos. thanks for the tips guys

hey guys, i went to the fishing store today to buy a new rod and reel since my old one is starting get old still works though but i want an up grade and a new rod, if your wondering what i have at the moment check my signature its the rhino rod and mitchell reel. so today i bought a Shimano Sahara 2500FD reel, i intended to buy the Symetre 2500 but the had no more and they told me that they were being replaced by the 2009 models and that they wouldnt have them for another month, so i couldnt wait so i bought the Sahara. next i bought a Shimano Convergence graphite rod 6' 6" Power- Medium, Action- Fast , to be paired up with my new reel, and i bought Stren Super Braid 14LB lo-vis green line. i seller told me this set up would be good for all round fishing that i do, i throw any lure i have in my tackle box, i dont have the money to spend on different rods and reels for different fishing types. anyway i just want to know your guys opinions on my purchase? oh and i still will use my older rod and reel. thanks Big D

hi guys i recently ordered my first senko worms and i read some were that i will easily loose or tear up a lot of senko's if i wacky rig them, so i remember seeing this kind of like rubber ring the you place on the work and then you put your hook through it instead of the worm, and by doing this it save you a lot of worms. i can't remember the name of the product but i found this http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_95042?cmCat=CROSSSELL&cmid=PP_P0_1 will this save me from going through tons of worms useing this tool? Thanks Dan

well thats another thing i dont need to worry about, thanks for the opinions and advice. thanks and good fishing Dan

thanks for sharing your opinion on the reel, in my head i basically already chose the 2500 symetre i realy like the feel and weight of it, but i wanted to double check with you guys, and so im guessing the 6'6" MF rod is good for all round fish too?

hi guys, at the moment I'm looking to buy a new reel and rod, to replace my Rhino kevlar tip 6'6" meduim power rod with a Mitchell Excellence II reel with Berkley fireline 14lb smoke color. (yea i need a big upgrade lol). i went to the local fishing hunting shop, (basically our canadian version of your Bps), and asked about buying a reel in the 100$can price range, he suggested the Shimano Symetre FI series SY-2500FI model http://fish.shimano.com/publish/content/global_fish/en/us/index/products/reels/spinning/Symetre_FI.html and a Shimano Convergence rod 6'6" spinning Medium power and fast action rod to compliment my reel. i tested out the reel and really like the weight and feel and the smoothness, i also tried a Quantum reel at the same price range and i found it a bit more heavy and not as smooth. haven't tried any other brand or model. the guy offered me this reel and rod combo because i asked for a general all purpose rod and reel since i like to fish for everything mostly bass though but also pike walleye and other fish i get in my river, and i don't have money to have different rods for different types of fishing, so i took his word for the things he showed me. haven't bought it yet. so all i want to know did he suggest something good for my type of fishing, i really have no clue about rods and reel and line combinations and types :-?, so I'm asking for your help and advice. thanks Dan

hey guys thanks for the info ive placed and order for some of the things you mentioned, so when i recieve them ill take em out and test them and ill come back with some photos of my outing. thank you all

i was looking at that last night forgot to mention it on my list, was thinking of rigging it with a jig head with a skirt, similar to foot ball head not sure though.

hi all, i live in Gatineau, Quebec, in the Aylmer sector, i always do my fishing on that river and i love it has so many types of fish so its good for any type of fisherman. i mostly fish for the bass, near the marina in aylmer and in the rapids before Champlain bridge. going to use a Fat Ika this year and see how that works out

I forgot to add that im a non boater so i fish off of shore, and i was wondering if the techniques are the same for non boaters?

all right I've decided to jump into the soft bait scene, something i haven't done very much of besides the old tube jig with a regular jig head and the swirly tail with jig head, other than that i haven touch swim baits, worms, creature baits, crawfish baits and so on. I've read a lot about senko's and fat ika's and they seem like really nice lures that are great, and would probably work on my rocky and weedy river (Ottawa River, Canada). so i compiled a list of things I've been interested in trying and would like your opinions and if you have other suggestions. - Gary Yamamoto Senko - Gary Yamamoto Fat Ika - Bass magnet paddle tail eye catcher series (canadian made) - Berkley powerbait or gulp worm, not quite sure which to use - Berkley tube's not sure which one either

Unfortunately im not sure were Barry's Bay is but nice to meat you.