SudburyBasser

Already cooler up here in northern Ontario...still plenty nice but I have a feeling the hottest days are behind us.

This is why I'm happy I never got married. The idea that I'd have to explain or hide a purchase is ridiculous.

There is increasing doubt in the medical community that glucosomine has any effectiveness as joint lubrication. I wish it wasn't so because my casting shoulder is bone on bone these days.

Bank beating I carry one -- though I keep an extra combo in the Jeep in case of equipment failure, which saved my bacon earlier this week. On the boat, and as a co-angler, I carry three combos: 1) spinning combo for finesse 2) casting combo for topwater 3) casting combo for crankbaits. Today I'm adding a fourth combo, casting, dedicated to flipping for a tournament this weekend where that technique is going to be pretty important. That's pretty much going to be the max though. I don't care how spacious it is, a lot of rods at the back of the boat is a pain in the rear.

I use them on both open and closed eye spinnerbaits and buzzbaits. I've never had a problem casting with either -- at least I haven't found the open eye to slide on a snap too often. I don't carry a lot of rods with me -- as a co-angler I've never felt comfortable carrying more than three or four -- so the convenience of snaps outweighs the occasional hiccup.

Shimano guy here and after work tonight I have to go buy a new flipping combo for a tourney this weekend. If Shimano doesn't have what I perceive to need I would go with a competitor. I'd rather not -- I have a good history with Shimano -- but the name of the game is catching fish.

Funny, looking at your time post, you wrote this while I was fishing yesterday, ha ha. And I tried the Spook again...I wish I had read this before going out. Yeah, what you wrote is essentially my problem. I'm not patient enough and tend to give it too much action. Next time I go out I'm going to have to make sure to go a little more Zen with it and relax.

If there is ever a time where Senkos won't catch fish I hope I never see it.

I can honestly say that I've never caught anything on a Spook -- although in honesty I haven't given them much of a chance in the past. That said, I bought two Spook Jrs yesterday and plan on fishing them tomorrow. At any rate, nice vid!

Not including gas and food I would estimate about $1,000 in the last year. I'd like to say that it won't be repeated but I have been thinking of adding a few new rods and reels to the mix.

Couldn't have said it better.

I like Ko-Man-Chi and Boo-yah but I've caught just as many fish with the "3 for $10" rack cheapies at my local outfitter. In fact, given that I often fish for pike, I almost prefer those.

I leave them in the original bags and keep them in a large side pocket in my tackle bag. To be honest I've found every other solution to be more trouble than they're worth.

I don't even pretend to argue with the Bait Monkey any more. I think I've bought tackle six times in the last month after promising not to go again. Friday I ended hitting an outfitter because I had the day off -- and "needed" to buy some drop shot weights and then today I was bored and decided I needed to replace a rod glove that went overboard last weekend. Of course, I needed some more stuff for drop shotting and happened across some River2Sea frogs that were half-price. I barely even fish frogs but now I own even more of the darned things. Oh well.

I've had bass steal Senkos even with the o-ring! What size are you using? I've found that occasionally going down to a 4" Senko encourages more hookups as the bass are obviously a little closer to the hook. I don't know what size hook you're using but I find using a 3/0 EWG on a wacky rig works well.

Considering that the pros use Senkos as well I wouldn't let anyone tell you they are for "newbs". Hell, I used them in a tournament last weekend and they got me second place. If that's an amateur's lures I'll take the judgment any day...and the money that came along with it. At any rate, green pumpkin and watermelon Senkos in 4" and 5" are my favourites. Outside of that I'll take cranks or spinnerbaits.

I used to be able to go a decent distance past 30 without any problem but these days my shoulder is bone-on-bone and held together with duct tape...30 is about my limit unless I don't want the use of my shoulder the next day. The darn thing burns enough with normal use...

I'm with you. I may keep all my rods and equipment ready but I don't put much effort into planning a fishing trip. This is supposed to be enjoyable, not a job. I have one of those already. If it's a tournament I put more preparation into it -- research and stuff -- but even then I don't go crazy with the prep.

Braid on my finesse setup as well -- 10# -- and no flouro leader, though I have been thinking about using one. At any rate, I haven't a problem with either Suffix or PP.

Precisely the way I fished Senkos yesterday to place second in a tournament up here!

I personally marginally prefer FLW's Bass Fishing to Bassmaster but I subscribe to both and enjoy each.

I've tried that exact same minnows as well and caught precisely nada on them. Go Irish!

I only use braid when I crank...I should probably use a fluoro leader but I prefer just using straight braid. Works for me.

Darn, you cats are lucky. Nothing like these deals up here at our local Wal-Marts where I am...not that I could justify adding any more tackle to the collection...he says after buying four lures not one hour ago at a local outfitter.

It doesn't really bother me to get skunked. Fishing is an opportunity for me to get away and enjoy some quiet time if I'm alone or camaraderie if I'm with someone else. As long as I have a line in the water I'm pretty happy. If I catch something so much the better. As a guy told me a few days ago after he mentioned me he got skunked: It's still better than mowing the lawn.