NateFollmer

I hooked two minnows when I was using a Rapala Slashbait. I was surprised that I matched the hatch so well because they were the exact same size, color and shape as the lure I had on. I've never hooked 2 bass at once though

Just a reminder to let everyone know June 6th is fish for free day in Pa. This may be a good time to take someone out fishing or for some of you out of state people to come fish here. http://fishandboat.com/promo/fff/fffindex.htm

Make sure you tie that leader on with a good knot. I went through a few knots that completely blew. The Alberto knot works best for me and I find it easy to tie with braid (its a PAIN tying stiff line to stiff line with it though, but I only do that with my fly rod when I do leader to tippet). http://www.stripersonline.com/Pages/Articles/article_arby_albertos_knot.shtml

Out of all the rods and reels I have tried, I liked Quantum the most. Have a used Abu Garcia yet? Nope, so they may be better, but at my current position, Quantum's are working for me, so I'll keep buying them. I also like Diawa's products but felt that Quantum was a little better fit for me... I wouldn't say I'm 100% totally loyal, because if something completely awesome comes along, I'd buy it...but it hasn't happened yet.

Have you tried Inhibitor VCI Chips? They seem to work for me. I place them in my box or containers and change them every 6 months. http://www.gamaliel.com/cart/product.php?productid=6159

At least twice a week. Some weeks I sneak in 4 to 5 days, whether it be bass or trout fishing... I do a lot more bass fishing though, i'd say 1 in 5 trips is trout.

Yeah the place I work at rigged up their TV system. It's a really nice place! I didn't realize there were so many of you from the same area as me haha. It's good to see I'm not alone

I'd still go up though. That new lodge/hotel thing (whatever it is) is almost finished and it looks NICE. I may even stay in it just because it looks that good (it's only a 30 minute drive to Sayer's for me) haha. I hate when they drain the lake because a bunch of people just sit on the little pockets of fish and rip them out (no fun at all!). I think it's really starting to effect the fishing!

http://www.cabelas.com/p-0066932124203a.shtml I love the Diawa Crossfire combo from Cabelas. I use it mainly for trout, but it gets in the river sometimes too.

Some fluorocarbons are too stiff to be used effectively on spinning rigs. I would use braid on a spinner and then use a flouro leader. You could get away with a leader anywhere from 3 to 8 ft. long, so you wouldn't even have to get the leader back into the spool making it easy to cast. Personally, I use 20 lb. braid and 12 lb. flouro leaders for general fishing. If I get into was real slop, I'll go with 50 lb. braid and a 20lb. leader.

People are "afraid" to put kayaks or canoes in Raystown simply because they go to Seven Points and see all the freakin' house boats and speed boats. If you want to put a small vessel in (which I use a rowboat with a small outboard so I'm a small vessel also ). Put in at Snyder's Run (which is the most northern point on my attached map). Basically, just stay away from Seven Points and you'll be fine. If you need to go past it, stay on the south side of the lake and hug the shoreline. When I put canoes in Raystown, I just stay in the no wake zones and I'm fine (most of the good fishing is in no wake zones also).

Raystown has AWESOME camp sites. There are tons of them around the lake. I love the lake because there are no homes around it, so it's all forest and cliffsides. I'll share some good starting points for bass. Just enter the Lat. and Long. points in google maps or earth to get a better view of the area. These aren't dead on, but they should at least get you started. I selected these from memory and didn't set these while on the water. Most of the good areas are closer to the dam, but there is a lot of the upper area I haven't gotten to yet. Good hunting!

Sayer's hasn't been as productive this year as it has in the past. I don't know if the recent drainings have effected the fish or what.

I hope you have access to a boat because if you're fishing from shore, you're going to have a hard time finding a good spot. Most of the shoreline is steep or an area where people swim. I'm sure you can find some place to fish with a little work though. The boat is a must on Raystown though, you need to get back into the coves away from all the boat traffic. I use just about everything on Raystown. Crankbaits, Slashbaits, weightless Senkos and other plastics, spinnerbaits and swimbaits: All these I use in the DEEP water. Find the cliffs and run these beside them (I normally don't go down much further than 30 feet for bass, after that, things get a little... BIG and they aren't bass...). All of the above baits will work off the shallow points too. I also throw texas rigged plastics back in the slop and coves (again, you'll need a boat to get to these areas). Raystown is a freakin' puzzle and then some. You could be on masses of fish one minute and then not get a bite for days. That's why I love it so much though! Everything is massive in that lake for some reason, I've caught bluegills that looked like large dinner plates ha. I also know a few guys that did some diving rescue training there and have seen some fish that scared the pants off them. The catfish, stripers and musky are the big ones! Stop by Jim's Anchorage, they have an awesome shop and should be able to tell you what's been catchin' fish. There are also tournaments on Raystown about every weekend so go check out the weigh ins and see how they did! Ok, I could go on for hours about this lake, so I'll stop there. Let me know if you need anymore info

Coyler Lake my friend... Come toward Lewistown on 322 and right after that Harley Davidson shop on the left (you can't miss it because it's a huge place with a ranch beside it). Right on the hard right turn look for the sign that says Colyer Lake Access. It's a good 3 or 4 miles back that road, but find directions online because some of the signs are hard to see. Coyler is in the big bass program and its half drained because the dam is cracked, so the bass are concentrated and EASY to catch. I live down in Lewistown about 30 miles south of you. I'm coming up to Penn's Creek tonight to fly fish If you live near Penn's, you'll have to start targeting trout too. Penn's has some of the best hatches on the East coast!

I think you already bought your rod because of your backlashing thread but in case someone else reads this... Quantum Bill Dance Select Combo - my first baitcaster and I still use em!

Where in Pa? Here in central Pa we have the Juniata and Susquehanna Rivers, Walker Lake, Faylor Lake, Raystown Lake, Whipple Dam, Greenwood Furnace (more of a trout empoundment but it holds smallies)... those are just a few spots...

And if the water is very muddy make sure you are pitching right up next to the cover. A few inches can be the difference in getting bit when the water is muddy and the fish will hang tight to cover. I fished a very muddy lake Sunday. The only bites I had occurred when pitching and flipping to tree trunks in 8 feet of water. This means finding breaks and spaces between branches to get your lure up in there. The bass that I caught were tempted by jigs placed right up against the tree. Also, when you're pitching/flipping into cover like this (or beside docks or any vertical structure/cover, make sure you strip some line off to control the fall of the lure. If you don't do this, your lure is going to start coming back to you (pendulum back to you). If you pull some line off, or if it's a heavy enough lure just don't engage the reel, then you'll get a nice straight fall and more bites.

About the only thing I do for scent: I will take a strip of paper towel and cover it in scent and lay it in my tackle box/compartments and change it every 6 months or so (depends on the conditions). It gives all my baits the scent smell without wasting the product. Does it help at all? Don't know It isn't hurting though...

I must say, I have only used the Rage Shad and I think it performs great. I cannot speak for any of the other plastics in the Rage line, but I do know that Strike King makes great jigs and hard baits also, so I doubt they would put their name on anything THAT bad. I did have issues with the Rage Shad flipping through the water, but I went to a 5/0 hook (or if you still want to try a 4/0 get a weighted one, it will still float) and the flipping stopped. The Rage Shad has all but replaced my buzzbaits. The Smokey Shad makes the smallmouth go crazy in the summertime!

Smallmouth - Strike King Bitsy Bug Jig (usually black) with a YUM Craw Trailer. Largemouth - 10" Ribbon Tail Worm... Any brand will do

Swimbaits are something you just have to 'play' with... I can give you some guidelines that I have learned to give you a decent starting place though: - During Spawn and Post-Spawn run swimbaits shallow, sometimes even burn them across the surface like a topwater bait. Toss them around beds, docks, weeds, and any other cover. - If you find a cloud of baitfish, toss the swimbait into them and let it sink to the bottom. Sometimes bass will pick it up, if they don't, slow roll it back, just slow enough to get the tail kicking. You really have to experiment with them though. Sometimes I use them to get followers, just so I know fish are there. Then you can toss out something else and they usually take it. Here is a link to some articles that are in the article section of this site too: http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/swimbaits.html http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/swimbaits_2.html The biggest producers for me have been Money Minnows, but you really need to 'match the hatch' with swimbaits. Figure out what some of the baitfish are in your fishing area and get some swims that match.

Yum makes a pretty realistic craw imitator also. I use them with a Strike King Bitsy Bug jig.

Depends how I'm fishing. If I'm fishing where I can't see my lure, I love setting the hook and feeling that first initial pull. If I can see my lure (topwater, shallow fishing), there is nothing more exciting than seeing that shadow come out of no where and destroy your lure

I just bought a "River Shirt" by Natural Gear at Sams Club for 14 dollars, I thought it was going to be cheap junk but it has been working out great. It has plenty of pockets, the pocket snaps are magnetic and it has some vertical pockets/vents. It does a great job of repelling water too. I hate paying a lot for outdoor clothes because I always get them too dirty or I rip them up from walking through forests to get to my good spots