BassThumb

Sometimes lighter leaders under #10 seem to inexplicably break, ever fresh ones. I rarely use leaders under 12#. My Senko spinning rod is a 7' MH with 20# braid mainline, and a 6' leader of 15# InvisX FC. This is a skipping rod, so I like the heavier leader for it's abrasion resistance and toughness. I haven't had a break off yet.

Walking the dog with an upward rod tip will make if skitter more, with more spray. Walking with the rod tip down will make it chug more, with more of a "bloop." This goes for frogs, too.

I don't really get upset about losing bass. There's more where those came from. If the fish breaks my line, if probably my fault anyway for not using strong enough line for the situation, or for not making sure my line and knots were in good shape.

Anything less than average size is a dink, IMO.

Frogs will catch bass anywhere there is heavy cover. Low light is best as with any topwater lure, but you can catch bass all day if you target shady cover in mid-day. Any brand in the $7-10 range is fine. I prefer Black, natural green/brown, and white Snag Proof Bleeding Frogs and Spro Bronzeye 65s.

I used this $20 Watermark fanny pack, and others like it for years for river wading. It had more room than I needed for carrying tackle and water, and it was light, so no back strain on long trips. It took up very little space so it rarely snagged on anything. You can sling a fanny pack over your shoulder if you're crossing a deep area where it would otherwise get wet. A fanny pack will be a lot cooler on a hot day than any backpack, and with a vented shirt, you'll be very comfortable. http://www.amazon.com/Watermark-Hopper-Fanny-Pack/dp/B000R41S6Y

When you're just hitting the water, how often do you vary your presentation between a passive and an aggressive presentation? Every few casts, very few minutes? How often do you switch rods when your best spots aren't producing? Unless I have a strong bite on something from a day or two prior, I usually start out looking for shallow fish with fast lures like buzzbaits, 1/4 oz spinnerbaits, frogs and skipping soft plastics, and move progressively deeper and use slower search lures like heavy spinnerbaits, swimjigs, and lipless cranks, before finally settling on slower, bottom contact lures to try to salvage a slow outing. I spend about 1/3 of the trip in each phase until I find a bite. How do you guys go about finding a bite when the fishing isn't terrible, but isn't very good, either?

Minnesota It's a bit of a down year so far. Fishing has been hit and miss more than the last couple of years. I'd say the sizes are about the same, but the numbers vary from trip to trip more than usual, likely due to inconsistent weather patterns. I think this is due to the very, very warm spring we had in MN. The fish spawned weeks before the Labor Day bass opener, and most were well on their way to their summer haunts be the time we were able to wet a line. There were also unusually large amounts of warm rain that we received early in the season than raised and stained the lakes. For over a month there, it seemed to rain every three days. Now the lakes are dropping. Central MN is farm county peppered with small natural lakes, and just by looking at the fields on the way to the lake, you could see how different the weather had been from previous years. They say the corn should be "Knee high by the Fourth of July", but this year it was over my head by that time.

I prefer a longer rod for skipping. They're more powerful and it's easier to guide a fish away from trouble with one. A longer rod also allows for faster and longer skips, and with a little practice, the accuracy will be fine. I use 7' MH/F and a 6' M/F.

+1. Try a 40-50 lb. braid which is the equivalent diameter of 10 or 12 lb. nylon line and there won't be any issues with baitcasting tackle.

Pure nonsense is right. It's like buying gas at the busiest local truck stop/gas station. You're going to get fresher gas because of the high volume turnover.

Lately, I've been putting severe bleeders in my livewell, and set it to full recirculate. The usually die after two hours or so. Their gills gradually get lighter and lighter, as they bleed out. I tried pouring cola down their throats which stops the bleeding temporarily...until you put them back into the water. Then they get filleted and I eat them or give the fillets away. After an overnight ice water soak in the fridge, with a pinch of baking soda thrown in to take away the weedy taste, they're not half bad. I consider it the best alternative to a bad situation, better than letting the loons and muskrats have it. I deep-hook a lot of fish on frogs, so bass has been on the menu quite often lately. :'(

A fast fall triggers strikes at times. In that situation, I would try 1/8, 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 oz jigs.

Dropshot, split shot, or on a 1/16 oz jighead for skipping. Like Raul said, lots of dinks.

Berkley Powerbait 3" Walleye Grubs. I wish they made 5 inchers for LMB.

If I had to pick one, Berkley Powerbait, because of the ribbontail worms, shakey worms, chigger craws, and walleye grubs. Otherwise, I like bits and pieces from Zoom, GYCB, Netbait, Venom, Reaction Innovations, and Rage Tail.

2-5' deep, submerged veg... Buzzbait.

Sounds like a wading situation to me, too.

There we go. I'll take the back deck, and likely be a better angler by the end of the day.

A 3/4 oz, single gold Colorado, black/red spinnerbait with a jig rattle heat-shrunk to the wire arm, either near the head or up near the blade.

There's not a lot you can do when the pike are aggressive. I lost 2 frogs and 4 Senkos in the last few days, plus had both of my 3/8 oz black Cavitron buzzers badly bent up and practically wrecked.

Have you considered snap-jigging a 3/4 or 1 oz jig and craw? Otherwise, a heavy, double willow spinnerbait or swim jig rolled thru the weed tops would be my first choices. Snap-jigging means quickly ripping the jig from the 9 o'clock rod position to the 11 o'clock position, and letting it crash back thru the weeds. You can cover quite a bit of water doing this, but it requires heavy tackle and braided line.

A local 80 acre private lake(Rice Lake near Clearwater, Stearns Cty) that used to be full of wildly aggressive, virgin 3 lb average bass had a carp die-off in early 2008. Thousands washed up on the beaches due to a disease, according to the DNR. No other species appear to have died. The lake is now garbage, not even worth the time. It's full of unfishable bubbles of slimy hair algae that have choked out the cabbage, coontail, dollar pads, and milfoil in 1-7' of water. The water clarity went from 8' to 3'. It seems that the shallows are uninhabitable, due to what I believe is a water chemistry imbalance and issues with oxygen. I say this because all the fish stay in the 8-12' range on the graph, and are very lethargic and sickly looking. They used to right up on the banks, with very few fish found deeper than 5'. I'm very disappointed with the situation. I'll take those carp back any day. I'm certain the die-off caused the lake to fall off. This was one of my favorite fishing holes.

3-4" finesse tubes on 1/16-1/8 oz tube jigs are still my #1 pick when it comes to smaller river smallmouth fishing. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_15724____SearchResults Buts sometimes the smallies want to chase. Here's a couple speedy lures to cover some water with if you need to locate fish. There's no river smallie lure that's as fun as this one, and sometimes it's the most effective of all, which is a real treat: http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_58847_100006000_100000000_100006000_100-6-0 This will cover water as well as any smallie lure. The action is a little more subtle than most lipless cranks. but it's my favorite in current because it has less resistance and stays a little deeper: http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_2848_100005006_100000000_100005000?cm_ven=bazaarvoice&cm_cat=RLP&cm_pla=2848&cm_ite=productname_link These are my 3 primary lures, and I fish them on a 7' 6" ML/F spinning rod and 15 lb braid. I also would recommend Super Flukes and X-Rap jerkbaits.

Agreed. Good rods for $100 new. $110 will buy a used Avid. I would wait.