Bluebasser86

I have very rarely had good success during a full moon but I know a couple days before and after are supposed to be some of the best times to catch a big fish.

I second that motion. Been there once, no desire to ever go back.

I'd much rather pay 3.49 a pack for 4 packs than 15.99 a pack like the original trash fish cost. If they are as durable as most Havoc baits have been for me then they should last fairly well, probably will depend a lot on how they are rigged and fished. Either way I'm fine with buying several packs if they're catching fish.

I don't use a trailer on my buzzbait unless it's really dirty water and I want more contrast and a slower retrieve speed. 3/8oz is my favorite size, casts easy and I can still retrieve it very slowly. I like black in most cases but also like white for brighter conditions or when they're eating a lot of shad and a kind of translucent color for really clear water. Buzzbaits can be effective any time of day but tend to be at their best during low light conditions.

Wish I had anything remotely close to any of those deer on my camera. Hunting a hedge row that runs between a bean field and corn field with bedding areas on the north and one of the only 2 water sources for a long ways now with this drought. Of all the pictures I've got the biggest buck was a meager 6 point I know the bigger ones are there, just maybe not drinking from the side of the pond I put the camera on I guess.

I got both my rods in the mail Friday. Picked up the 6'6" MH/F for spinnerbaits/buzzbaits and bigger walking baits and the 7'M/XF for T-rigs and finesse jigs. It's raining for real for the first time this entire summer here, really makes me wish I was going to have a chance to give them a test run while the clouds and cool weather are here. Back into the 90's after today

Haven't yet but it's supposed to have pretty sweet action. As for Skeet saying it's an original that he designed it doesn't look like they changed anything from the Little Creeper All American Trash fish other than the colors. http://littlecreeper.com/All_American_Trash_Fish.php I'm not complaining, I've wanted to try one for a long time and now I will actually be able to afford them.

Another thing working against the saugeye is they don't get as big.

One of the biggest flatheads I've ever caught was while fishing for wipers, heck of a fight on a medium action baitcaster! Nice fish!

At least when it's a buddy tournament It wasn't for lack of catching fish, I put almost 30 fish in the boat in 3.5 hours at Wyco while it was 100 degrees outside, including 3 over 15 inches, but they were all smallies Chris also had 2 smallmouth over 15. Maybe I was just cleaning the smaller, more aggressive ones out so he could catch the bigger fish . We only needed 2 of our 3 to win but I sure felt better once he boated the 3rd one. The cool thing was 2 of his 3 keepers ate one of my homemade baits, the biggest fish had it almost swallowed.

Well after I've been bragging on how good Olathe had been it sent me home with my tail between my legs. 4 hours and I only managed 8, biggest was maybe 15", most around 12. I also caught a catfish casting a swimbait to schooling wipers and letting it swing back to the boat on a tight line, kind of surprised me. Best pattern was to catch a fish on a bait then put it away. I caught 1 on a chatterbait, 3 on 2 different color jigs, 4 on 3 different color worms on shakyheads. Also caught a very heavy sleeping bag on a jigging spoon, unhooked it before I had a chance to see if anyone was inside it or not The lake is open from sunrise to midnight is what the sign says but I was out there at 5:30am and all gates are open and another boat showed up shortly after I did and proceeded to launch without any lights on their boat.

I use a medium for shakyheads, works alright for me It will work fine for dropshotting too.

I also use a Pfluegar Supreme for my finesse fishing. I use the 30 size with 6lb for dropshot fishing and the other spool has 8 for wacky rigs. It's a very nice little reel and very light. I like that it has the T handle, some small spinning reels have tiny handles that I seem to have a hard time keeping a hold on while fighting a fish. Any of the choices you listed would work just fine for you though.

Fall is when horizontal presentations really start to work well again for me. Spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, buzzbaits, traps, squarebills, all start to really produce well again in the fall. Of course I'll always have slower presentation baits at the ready but when they're actively feeding a faster moving bait is just going to put more fish in the boat for you most of the time.

It's hard to argue their effectiveness for almost all species of fish that will eat a lure. They imitate a small baitfish very well. I agree they have a bad rap of being a beginners lure, probably because they are so easy to fish I guess. They tend to catch smaller bass when I use them but I know that some of the pros keep them in their "panic box".

They're terrible every Wednesday night tournament I fish during the summer. Get the bug spray with the highest DEET concentration you can find (I use 40%) and spray yourself down. Make sure not to get any on your baits though, DEET is one of the few scents that have actually been proven to repel fish. Almost everything in this world can kill you, you'd go crazy trying to avoid it all. My luck I'd quit fishing when the bugs are out and get bit by one in the back yard and get it.

Looks like a muskie to me. They do a number on wire baits but I'll sacrifice one for a nice 'ski anytime!

If I followed that advice I wouldn't catch half the fish I do during the summer. You can't make blanket statements like that about fish. They don't know the rules that we set for them. Both fast and slow moving baits have their moments during the summer.

Chris and I fished the Wednesday nighter tonight. 8 boats, 4 fish weighed in, we had 3 of them. All barely keepers, and Chris caught all of them. Of course he couldn't have done it without my expert boat handling skills and one of my homemade baits that he caught 2 of them

Skunked! It's been quite awhile since I've seen you on the board, always liked you're straightforward reports and comments. I'm going to Olathe in the morning. My buddy backed out last minute so if anyone wants to go I'll have an empty back of the boat. Planning on getting out there at first light and fishing until about 1 because I have a doctors appointment.

Yes, it will be packed with lots of people acting crazy and lots of them that should never be allowed to operate a boat. Don't be so sure about nobody being out at night out there either. I've seen ski boats running full speed in the dark with no lights on out there. It's usually like a miniature version of Lake of the Ozarks out there, only it's much small so the chaos is more concentrated. Despite all that I've done very well out there during Memorial and Labor day weekends both. Last time I was out there for Labor Day my wife and I caught hundreds of big white bass, literally until we got bored with catching 1-2 pound white bass. They had thousands of shad pushed into the marina by the dam and were just on a constant attack for 2 days straight, it was pretty crazy.

Lots of rods will work for a wacky rig under the $100 mark. You don't need anything super sensitive or specialized to fish one. An Abu Garcia Vendetta would be a nice rod for a wacky rig, and they just happen to be on clearance at Bass Pro right now, normally 79.99 now 59.99 http://www.basspro.com/Abu-Garcia-Vendetta-Spinning-Rods/product/10203993/

I doubt they'll be very concerned with something that happened 20 years ago if you've kept your nose clean since then. If they do mention it just be honest with them and tell them you thought it was referring to felonies.

A heavy shakyhead can be a good option since it will anchor your bait to the bottom until you move it again. You'll still lose some, just goes with the territory of fishing in rocks. If the rocks are really bad a weightless fluke might be one of your best options.

That's a heck of a smallmouth! They don't make very big ones here either but I've been extremely fortunate to hit the 5lb mark 3 times, each time it has been exactly 5.0lbs. Now I just need to get one bigger than 5 on the nose, but our state record is only 6.88 so they don't get much bigger here