Snakehead Whisperer

$150 with lenses at Warby Parker. http://warbyparker.com

Nice Rock! I was never into Z's, but I was in 510 club back in high school. Wish I still had mine. My father drove a 620 pickup until the mid-eighties that finally crapped out at just over 600,000 miles (to the moon and back, and then some.) I think the truck was a '73 or '74. It was a dually, which I'm assuming is pretty rare nowadays. Goose52's Z is a fine example, nice ride.

A right handed spinning reel has the handle on the left. Baitcasters are the exception. AFAIK, the reason that baitcasters have the handle on the right side dates back to antiquity. On early baitcasters the handle would spin with the spool when casting, and for right handed people there was less obstruction to the spinning handles when placed on the right. This is also the reason that most baitcasters have 2 handles as opposed to one (the handle needed to be balanced while spinning. Not an issue on modern baitcasters.) I've also heard that early baitcasters had very little mechanical advantage, so it was preferred to reel with the strongest hand. I use almost exclusively lefty baitcasters because they build them now, but most of my older reels are right handed. Probably wouldn't buy a righty today though. There has been virtually no innovation in reel design for many, many years. It's probably one of the most overlooked aspects of fishing gear, in my opinion. Many of the design features of modern reels serve no purpose other than to be familiar to anglers. There are exceptions of course, but they are few and far between.

I am right handed, and prefer left handed baitcasters. I use both though.

No prob. Hope it works well for you. Post pics.

Sometimes bass fishing cracks me up. There are infinite ways to rig a bait (duh.) Bass fishing has borrowed a number of these rigs from other types of fishing (example: the Alabama rig is just a glorified umbrella rig that striped bass fisherman have been using for years, with the exception that you cast it. But whether this rig is really 'castable' is a matter of opinion, I suppose.) It's just hilarious to me how bass fisherman like to think that bass are somehow only suckers for 'bass fishing rigs.' BTW, the neko rig looks interesting.

If you prep it right, I'm sure any paint will work. It's the top coat I would be concerned most about. I've done reels with Devcon 2 Ton epoxy topcoat that turned out pretty good, but you need a rotisserie to get an even coat. It also builds up pretty thick which might not work with a compact baitcaster. Did my Abu C4 and it worked fine though. BTW, I used regular latex based airbrush paints... I think Createx.

There are so many variables when making baits that you could never cover them in one thread. The website that I linked to above is a great community where much of this information can be found. I would advise against joining the forum and asking these same questions there though, as the information has already been covered numerous times. Do a search there, kick back and read the threads that are of interest to you. All of these things are covered in excruciating verbose detail.

If you meant to say 'pierce' through, then yes. The tool is called an iki spike or ikijime, but you can use an awl or a sharp knife. I have always called it the 'icky stick' because when I was a kid it seemed icky, so naturally I thought that's what it was named for You are basically piercing through the flesh and puncturing through the brain, causing immediate brain death. It's at the end of the spine between the lateral line bend and eyes. If done right the fish will have a spasm and arch it's back, then quickly lose it's color. It's probably best to have somebody show you first, or look up fish anatomy to locate the brain. It may take several tries the first time you do it. IMHO not only is it inhumane to keep a fish alive for consumption (e.g. tossing it on the shore, in a bucket, etc.) but it also ruins the flavor of freshly caught fish because the flesh will become contaminated with various acids, etc. This is possibly the reason that some claim that bass is mushy or flavorless.

I've always used the 'icky stick' to dispatch a fish. It is quick and to the point, and seems to be more humane than any other method I've found. They die almost instantly.

The list is too long. Here are some highlights. -Caught my friends jig that he lost about 30 minutes earlier (and occasionally catch lures that I've lost myself.) -My friend Edwin had a 20 minute battle with a contractor garbage bag that was full of water in heavy current (took out a lot of drag, thought he had a 50lb.+ blue cat.) -Lots of birds on topwater, including a peregrine falcon (strange because they are not usually piscivorous, safely released.)

Awesome.

Access denied. Your pic is not publicly accessible. You can probably see it because you're signed in to Evernote.

First off, welcome to the site! Not sure what the water temp is up there, but I'm assuming it's below 35°. If so, smallmouth will not be nearly as active as walleye are at that temp. While they are catchable in cold water, the crankbait bite will most likely be almost non-existent until it warms up a bit. I would try some other methods if you're trying to catch cold water smallmouth. A few to try might be... -Float and Fly -Small senko/stick baits. -Jig and grub -Tube baits, etc. As far as habitat goes, try checking some of the deeper pools in the river and fishing slooooow. Even slower than that. Words can not emphasize how slow I mean by slow. I am a recent transplant to the area from Northern California, and I'm relatively new to walleye fishing (and cold water.) The bass bite slows down to a crawl in the winters here, so I usually target walleye for most of the winter and return for bass in the spring. Just some food for thought. There are numerous articles on this website that go into detail about habitat, water temperature and spawning rituals for bass, as well as effective baits/presentations. You still have time to read them all and devise a strategy before the pre-spawn in your area. A lot of the details will be specific to your area, so if you're familiar with the water you can fill in the blanks.

Best spincaster on the market today

Nice fish. Keep the pics coming.

While I personally would not worry about it, I will say this. If you do choose to get a mask, make sure you get a legitimate respirator with filters that are rated for the toxins/airborne particles that are in the dye (consult the MSDS like recommended earlier.) The dust mask type will most likely do more harm than good, as they will let some particles in but not out when you exhale. There are numerous cases of people wearing these while using aerosol paints and being poisoned because of a high buildup of toxins inside the mask. Get this type and make sure the filters are rated for whatever is in the dye. Oh, and if you have a beard no mask will seal completely.

They work great. Wacky rigged, T-Rigged or used as a jig trailer, etc. They are one of the most versatile baits on the market. The BPS stik-o's are pretty good. They don't have the delicate action of the GY's, but they are more durable and last longer in my experience. I've caught lots of fish on the BPS ones. The 4" size are killer for smallmouth.

True. Hey, what is that bait in your avatar? That thing looks mean. Is it half grub half tube?

Pretty simple paint scheme. The snout looks a little bit off to me.

Any pics of these paint jobs?

This makes complete sense. If it aint broke then don't fix it. I have fished some of the deep diving KVD lures, and they work well. I especially like the silent deep divers. There are many different square bill designs that I like though. I view it in the same way. I'm not ashamed to ask other anglers to put me on to baits and techniques that are working for them regardless of their skill level (if they're catching fish, then that speaks for itself.) And I'd definitely endorse supporting the small tackle maker any day. I just take most tackle recommendations with a grain of salt.

OK, but to be fair had you fished a square billed crank much prior to KVD's recommendation to buy his? And if so, have you fished any other brands of square billed cranks? I'm being serious (btw, I've never fished KVD's square billed crankbaits.) I know that not all square billed crankbaits are created equally, but I also know that there are plenty besides KVD's on the market that are proven fish catchers.

I agree with Bluebasser86. Scent can make a bigger difference in cold water where presentation is slower. Usually in the winter I fish Gulp baits, so it's less of an issue. With that said I soak all of my baits in scent year round, but this is mostly to take the human smell off of them. I just add some to the bag I store them in and that's it. I never re-apply it.

I've heard good things from anglers targeting smallmouth and walleye up there. I'm assuming it's slow like it is down here on the tidal potomac. I've been fishing here every week, but very few quality bass have made their way into the boat since early December. I've also heard that the perch fishing is starting to get decent up there.