Will Wetline

If there is such an organization as Baitmakers Anonymous? Not that I need to join myself . . .

The Rogues are reliable. Lucky Craft Pointers are worth the money. For a good, low cost suspending jerk, give me Bomber 15APs in Blue Flash and Silver Flash/Orange Belly.

Yes, these are great baits: Gitzit 3 1/2" Original tubes Lunker City Slug-Go Try the 3" on a dropshot rig! Arbogast Mudbug I'm guessing that Arbogast discontinued this productive bait because it was no longer glitzy enough in today's market. That's a shame because the bass still smash 'em. Sorry, no, I don't have any extras for sale.

Along with hundreds of others, I shore fish for American shad that run up the Connecticut River starting in late April. 95% of the time I throw an 1/8 oz. shad dart on 8 lb. mono with a varying amount of weight 18" up the line. I don't believe color is important - as long as it's bright. Weight varies because depth is important: You've got to find where the shad are traveling in the water column. Re retrieve: Cast, engage the reel immediately, get the slack out and let the dart swing on a "dead drift," i.e., at the same speed as the current. If you're not hooking up, try reeling slowly throughout the swing. At the end, you may want to "hang and twitch" before retrieving for your next cast. All darts in the photo below ( except those at 12:00, 1:00 and 2:00) I made from a Do-It mold. As you can see, the type of finish and the tail dressing varies. When I'm not throwing a dart, I swing a spoon in the current. The style of the bottom four in the photo is called a "willow leaf." The upper four are "1" tiny spoons" available from www.lurepartsonline.com. I like these a bit better because they have a somewhat sturdier hook. Hope it's a good run for you this year!

As tholmes suggested, contact CS Coatings with the link he provided. Last year I emailed a question about the durability of their Lure Dip and Seal Coat as a finish (over metal, which is what the Lure Dip is formulated to be used on) and received a helpful response a couple of days later. Regarding liquid finishes in general, we should be concerned about their toxicity and, specifically, inhaling their fumes. I fish in Massachusetts which last year banned the use of lead in jigs and weights weighing less than 1 ounce in inland waters. I switched to a bismuth/tin alloy which melts at 281 degrees F. For years I had been finishing with CS Vinyl Paint and will continue to use it since there's no risk of melting my finished jigs as there would be while heat curing powder paint. The important point I want to make is that with vinyl and possibly other liquid finishes you should be using a proper mask such as the 3M with filter cartridges for organic vapor and also evacuate the fumes from your work area.I don't know if OSHA would approve, but a simple box fan is quite effective. If you're in your boat dipping the tail of your plastic bait chartreuse, no worry. Painting indoors, be safe and take the above precautions.

Two fine fish and a well written account. Congrats and thanks.

The original 3 1/2" Gitzit produces well for me.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/108594-jerkbait-help-advice/

Excellent pics of fine fish. Matt Supinski in "Steelhead Dreams" tells us that the Great Lakes steelhead are called catadromous rather than anadromous, i.e., their lifecycle is entirely in freshwater rather than being born in a river, maturing in the sea and returning to spawn in their natal river. Joe Nagy, who fishes Steelhead Alley, also has an excellent book on these fabulous fish. Genetically, steelhead are very close to rainbow trout but for some reason are faster, tougher fighters. Don't kick me off this bass fishing forum for saying so, but there's nothing like 'em in fresh water if you're looking for a fight.

Yes, yes - fishing a spot thoroughly is important as is keeping your cool about a big'un on the line. Beside telling true fish stories, another strength I possess is the ability to call the bass. I have always had this gift but it varies in volume and character with changes in my diet and digestion. Some days when I call 'em I bust the big ones, other days it's not so effective. My fishing buddies, however, do not agree that my unique calls have any effect other than keeping them at the opposite end of the boat.

Has the boss ever seen a video of how a bass inhales a bait? Maybe that would convince him that trailer hooks on jigs are unnecessary. If he insists on adding them, the jig manufacturers will be the beneficiaries. I'm thinking that what he really needs is a better hook setting technique.

I'll be taking a vacation week the end of April during early prespawn. Goal: a 7 lb. smallmouth

Quality fish!

I decided to try a tube of MegaStrike scent when ordering direct from GYCB. I figured if Yamamoto carried it, it had to be a good product. On the water, I applied it to a Lunker City Hellgie which, to my nose, has a kind of industrial smell to it - not pleasant. The MegaStrike-smeared bait hit the bottom and it took me a bit to catch up to it because a 3 1/2 lb. smallie had picked it up immediately and was moving off with it. So . . . without extensive testing I can't say for sure this scent makes a great difference, but it sure didn't hurt.

Like your stories and writing style. This is the first time I've come across the term banzai berserkers and I am going to appropriate it for my own use. (Thank you.) Can't tell you about a seven or eight pound smallie, but a solid six met the net mid day during the second week of June this past season. While I had been doing next to nuthin' using proven baits and presentations, my partner had boated five smallmouth that were good for sixteen or seventeen pounds. Dave was using a rig I had known about for years but can't honestly remember fishing. At this time I realized it might be in my interest to switch to something that was working so I wacky rigged a 4" Slim Senko . On the first cast I saw my line moving off slowly not long after I had closed the bail. I let the line tighten and then set. Well now, what most anybody would call a big smallie fully cleared the surface, went down, bulled around, came up . . . went down, and hey - it came out again. You can't see me patting my back because we're not on Skype, but I will say that I kept my cool with this fish until I gave the nod to my capable netman. And that's the story of the fish in my avatar photo.

"Wow!" sums it up. That's a big bite in cold water. You must've found 'em schooled up. Were you dragging the tube in deep water? Soft take?

Lure Parts Online and Jann's Netcraft both have deals. Barlow's recently emailed new items info. These are the three component suppliers I buy from and if you subscribe to their newsletters, you will find plenty of product news in your inbox on a regular basis.

Uh . . . 14 inches.

Be patient, George. You can't absorb all this info in one season. You may or may not have plenty of gear, but the first consideration is attitude: Get out there and enjoy yourself. Don't make yourself neurotic. Experiment with different baits and presentations at a leisurely pace. You're always learning something even if it's what doesn't catch fish. It's about the journey. Enjoy being on the water. The fish will come as you pay the dues and will be all the more gratifying for having done so.

Those of us who fish Lake Ontario and its tributaries know that you don't go into a tackle shop and brag about a 10 lb. brown unless you want to get laughed at - braggin' rights start about 15 lbs. and these monsters get even bigger. The one in the photo above was merely a "good" fish at 12 lbs. I use a Stradic 4000 filled with Berkley 8 lb. Sensation and either a St. Croix 10' 6" noodle rod or, new to me this year, a TFO 9' 6" lite power medium action steelhead rod. I used to offer these fish egg sacs (which are cured salmon eggs in a mesh bag), but in recent years have been successful with egg pattern flies. The ultimate in freshwater excitement is standing in a river casting to these fish - and especially steelhead. Take J Francho up on his offer or hire a guide. Jeff, Go to New York.

30 years ago I would have said a spinnerbait, but I've "outgrown" that, knowing now that there may be a better bait for the conditions I'm fishing. I target smallmouth and love it when the sun is out and the wind is up and the smaliies will come from a distance to smash it - but this isn't often the case. I'll fish soft plastics rigged several different ways, suspending jerkbaits during early prespawn, cranks on occasion and topwater. I like 'em all when they're producing fish. I realize I haven't exactly answered your question. Instead I'm saying, "Be versatile." Determine what they want for the conditions at hand.

Thank you Jig Man and Swanseabass. I've got a whip finisher and can also whip finish by hand. I just didn't know if I got any cement on the rubber or silicone skirt material if it would affect it.

When using thread, do you half-hitch to finish and then use head cement or would the cement/Hard As Nails clear polish eat the rubber/silicone?

To continue . . . We found active fish for much of the week and here's what they eat: Although they don't look like salmon eggs, all these flies fall into the "egg pattern" category. Color didn't much matter nor did material - they liked both the yarn patterns and the Estaz and diamond braid designs which are plastic. These are all size 10 hooks and are tied to 7 or 8 lb. fluoro leader. In the heat of the summer when I don't care to be broiling on a lake trying to locate deep smallmouth, I'll be in my air conditioned tackle room tying these. Pleased to report the outsized salmonids cleaned the plate. Here are a few more: Don with a plump, pretty brown Aaron M. with his best Aaron Holmes with a beautiful "chromer" Yours truly with a fish that ran me 100 yards downriver before it met the net. Understand that in this world-class fishery that this 12 lber. is merely a "good fish." Braggin' rights start at 15. To close this post let me add a word of caution: Steelhead are even more addicting than bass!

This was the annual steelhead extravaganza for three friends and myself. My buddies fly fish for trout regularly while I'm the lone bassmaster. I borrow Stradic 4000s from my bass rods and attach them to a 10' 6" "noodle" rod and a 9' 6" medium action lite power rod. We arrived at the river the 21st and collected info about what was happening. Good news: there were plenty of steelhead in the lower few miles of the 13 miles of river that are fishable, and they were running big this year. To give you an idea: