webertime

An 8.07 Big head just came out of Bomo a couple weeks back... Bomo is big water for a 14ft without a motor, but doable. Hortonia and around the Larrabee Launch on Champlain could work out nicely for you.

Trilene on Braid and smaller Mono San Diego Jam on Fluoro and bigger Mono Alberto for leaders I agree 100% with tie what you can consistently tie.

Tackle trap shoyld be able to order one, they do Daiwa orders fairly often.

Sorry WRB the Looks like my reply got goofed when I replied to others. I use KVD Line and Lure on it. I've read where sometime moving a bait with a rod can cause an instant of slack that causes the line to pop out. Maybe that's it?

On Champlain??? Not a chance, zebra mussels, granite and marble eat braid... Guac... done, too often. Cleaning done too. I'm about to disable the T wing and convert it into a Fuego.

I've got a Tatula HL spooled with 20lbAbrazx on my Carolina rig rod. It seems at least 1 in 10 retrieves the line pops up out of the bottom of the T and goes to the palm side of the T. This causes the line to bunch to one side. I catch it pretty quickly, but it's happening often enough that I am spending too much attention on it rather than fishing. Anyone else have this issue and fix it?

The hook points on your creation would point down on retrieve, and the size of the tail would be too heavy and sink it. I tried to make some and had limited success. Best bet is to start with a jawbreaker mouse, use a csp on a high quality snap swivel. Insert the snap into the tail hole (yank tail out) and clip the snap around the hook shanks. Screw into tail of a chewed up swimbait. Even still the weight and balance arent the same as thr Teckel.

Carolina Rig a Speedcraw or toss an Ika/Senko.

A MHF St Croix and a MHF Dobyns are as different as you can get for "MHF" rods. St. Croix almost fishes at a Heavy. Dobyns is a much more moderate action and almost feels like a Medium. Deep jigs, that may make a difference. I have owned 70mhf St Croixs AND a FH Champion 734... They fish pretty differently for sure.

On Champlain the Hammers chase you... lol message me for specifics. In general Inland Sea is the most "stable" place to get good fish, it's also an hour boat ride from Ti. Mid-Lake has HUGE smallies, but they are fickle and it's tough to find them because it's a big area and the spots you can find them on are numerous, but small. So it's easy to miss them or they just aren't there. If it's windy you will not get them there, unless you are in a 600 Series Ranger and run a 36V TM. Up around Plattsburgh to the Canadian Boarder is good but not as good as the Sea. That being said... If your boater has never been on Champlain, especially in the winds, you will need to have 2-3 plans. One of which must be around the wind. Message me for more info if you want.

Use the upgrade program to get a Legend Elite (it's going to cost the same to upgrade as it is to get a Champion). OR Megabass Orocchi XX EMTF

Ti sucks right now... RUN NORTH I hosted a tournament yesterday, top 4 were: a small 21lb, big 20lb and two mid 18lb bags... FOR 6 FISH and the 20lb bag was Smallies from 30 minutes north. The day before there was a 40 boat tournament out of Ti and they had the same weights for 6 fish. Ti needs a long break for a few reasons: *Floods of 2011 silted in the creeks reducing their flow and damaged a ton of the weedbeds. *Drought last year dropped the lake 4ft below normal, killing more weedbeds. *Constant pressure from the large tournaments out of Plattsburgh. (a 4-6lb fish is a SMART old fish, 10-15 years of taking dozens (hundreds?) per tournament out of Ti has left a ton of not so smart fish (diluting the DNA pool) and juvenile offspring of the 4-6lbers. The Plattsburgh fish have been proven to not return.) *It's been cold and rainy this year and the lake is a foot or so higher and the water is darker than the traditional chalky grey making fishing very hard this year. Sure there are still good fish there, my partner got a 5.87 yesterday, but the Ti as we came to know it is gone for now. If you are pumped with 2lb fish and the "chance at a 5+" then it could work for you. If it were me and my boat/gas money/entry fee. Look at the northern section of the lake or for smallies in the mid-lake. You fishing as a boater or co?

Enigmas cs is terrible too.

Carolina rig a Zoom Speedcraw, you'll have a great chance at both species.

Spool the braid on very tight. fishnkamp nailed the set up.

A 5/0 on a 3.8? I use a 4/0 on a 4.8. Keitech recommends a 2/0 for the 3.8 although a 3/0 works too. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Eagle_Claw_Lazer_Sharp_Weighted_Swimbait_60_Degree_Hook/descpage-ECSWBHK.html that's my go to hook for all SIF's the bend at line tie allows the head to search back and forth.

Ive heard of entire docks with boats and jetskis attached, just floating down stream.

Bring 1000000000 weights!

Why do we have such a late season? We spawn later, and when years like this one happen (lake still 59-60 in the Mid-Lake, when is should be near 70) we still have HUGE numbers of spawning fish during this open season. The Article below is pretty eye opening. http://www.outdoorcanada.ca/Fishing-for-nesting-bass for example: The FLW/Costa was just there and bedding smallmouth must have made up most of the fish (8 fish per boat per day on average). 195boats x 8=1560 spawners per day were weighed in (their beds are dead). That doesn't count the fish caught and moved/culled away from their bed, which is at least the same number per day. So doing that math you are looking at close to 6000 beds that were killed in that tournament (didn't figure in day 3 where it was 10 boats). The smallies caught during this tournament were the 2nd wave of spawners, so it by no means decimated the population. It is a significant strain on the population recruitment in certain areas. If we had earlier seasons this sort of impact on reproduction would skyrocket. I run a bunch of tournaments up here and have no problem with our shortish season.

Straight retrieve vary the speed accordingly.

I've got a few Sprinker frogs and have used them a few times. Hooks are angled just about perfectly up and out. I haven't had to bend them. Hook up ratio is no different than any tuned frog. You can sort of walk them if you pop them. Not worth the gouging prices on ebay, but at $14 retail, I think they are awesome.

Water is fir the most part permanently cloudy due to the clay soils around the lake there. Weeds and frogs should be good then. 30 min run north can get you into world class smallies. Message me when you get closer to the tournament.

Ti and the St Larry are about as different as you get. Clarity, Current, Depth all on the opposite ends of the spectrums. Ti is terrible right now by the lofty standards it set a decade ago. (Look at the Costa here last weekend mostly all Mid-lake smallies). Low water last year messed up the weeds, the ones that were shallow are basically gone now that the water has gone up and is even slightly higher than normal. The weeds that were in 8 ft last year are now in 12, with the cloudy water the growth has slowed a bit. There might be some dense weed spots depending upon when in July you are here. Water is a slightly greener version of a Starbucks coffee drink you get from the local gas station. Find the mats and throw black frogs. Swimbait the outside edges. Find Coontail mixed with Milfoil and don't move. Bulwagga bay on the NY side above the bridge will have clear water. Above the Bridge to Mallets Bay is mostly Smallies and clear DEEP water. Honestly St. Albans smokes Ti right now and has been over the last 2 years (6 7lb+ largemouths weighed in at tournaments from that bay).

They come with 2 tails, one mounted, one spare.

Spawn is still going on Champlain (albeit the tail end). That's why we have a late season, the ABA out of Plattsburgh on opening day was a bed fishing slaughter. Hundreds of bedded fish yanked off. On Champlain aside from spawn/bed baits. the topwater bite has started. Fish are all over inches to 16'+