bugman

Heading to Lake Chickamauga March 21st with Dad and two brothers and I'm looking for information on best area of lake I should start off at this time of year. Also would appriciate suggestions on what is the best boat ramp and a near by hotel, Bait shop ect... Am I correct in thinking that LM & SM Bass will still be in pre spawn? I plan on fishing flats and bays in the 12' to shore with U-rigs, traps, jerkbaits,chatterbaits and spinners. Any other suggestions are greatly appriciated.

I'm looking for a fishfinder for the front of my boat. Most likely I will get the Elite 4X DSI or Elite 4X. My question is if the DSI model is always in DSI mode or can I change it to traditional sonar? I have a Lowrance HDS 7 with structurescan for the dash and I find that structure scan is great for structure but I like traditional sonar for seeing fish better. One other question is do I have to turn the dash unit completely off when running the front fishfinder or can I just have it in chartplotter so I can set waypoints but not interfer with the front sonar. Thanks in advance, Gary

The newest edition of KVD Bass strategies. I found that it really explains all aspects of bass fishing in a easy to understand manor. I am getting to a point that I think KVD is over exposed but it is a great book.

Called Poor Richards and Gary said that there is still some ice in the bay. I'll check back next week and post after ice out. In the past there was a web cam that showed the bay from downtown Erie. Can't find it this year. If anyone has info please post. Tight Lines

Hey Bassinleo, Good to hear from you again. Hope all is well. I see you are getting some river fishing in. That's great, I plan on hitting some local rivers with backwaters here soon. But as you know I can't wait to get over to PIB. Had a good year in and out of the bay last year. Still learning new areas and patterens but that's one of the best things I like about PIB. There are not many places that offer the verity of fish and different habitat as PIB.

Anyone been to Presque Isle PA. this March? Would like to know if there is much ice in the bay/lagoons. Thinking about some early Northern Pike fishing. Don't want to make the two hour trip and not be able to get the boat in the water. Thanks

Here up North I throw the SK red eye shad about half the time when smallie fishing on spawning flats. I like to use the pull a few feet then reel in the slack retrive. Most of my bites happen as i'm reeling in the slack. This works very well in 3 to 15 feet of water that has sand and rock bottom.

I've only used ultra soft on both BC & spinning. 12# on BC & 8# on spinning reels. Is there any advantage to using Hybrid over Ultrasoft on BC reels? I will be respooling all my reels this spring and would appriciate any feedback before I buy the line.

I fish the Shimano curados from the old "mean green reel" up through the E series. The new G series curados seem to be a down grade. I picked up another E series on clearance from Gander Mnt that I will keep for future use. Might look into Lews when it's time for a new purchase.

Thanks for all of your feedback. It's always interesting hearing what other fishermen thoughts are. I was leaning towards copoly for all my rigs but the braid guys have got me thinking. I may go with copoly (Yozuri or Izorline) for most of my BC rigs and try Sufix 832 for spinning and frog / jig.

Over the last few years I have fished every type of line on the market. I agree that each line has it's good and bad points for different applications. My issue is that I have gotten to the point that I feel that I need a different setup for each type of bait I use. I'm starting to think that too many options in fishing gear is taking away from the enjoyment of fishing. This winter I took off all my line from all my reels and plan on using only one or two different types of line. Pure Mono is out because I only use it for topwater baits. I really like Fluorcarbon and Copoly but I'm thinking I could get away with using one or the other. I do use braid on some spinning gear and my frog / jig setups but could use Fluorcarbon for those applications. I would like to hear from anyone that has cut back on using many different lines to using one or two.

Same blank as Avid with micro guides. I don't have one yet but will be looking for a jig rod this spring. May try the St Croix Rage.

1/4 oz jig with a kalin 5" grub slow rolled across spawning flats for smallies here on lake Erie has been the ticket this spring.

Lipless cranks are my downfall. Strike King Red Eyes are hard to pass up. I wish I could say lures are the only thing I buy that I don't need. I don't even want to get into the rod and reels that I have and don't use. lol

6' with a x-fast tip for short pin point casts. 7' fast tip for open water 7'+ for flip/pitch, c-rig or frog