Scott F

Try some 10 pound Power Pro. Won't cost as much as some other lines, it will cast farther than 20 pound, and will work as well as almost any braid.

If you aren't fishing a lot of really heavy cover, 10 to 15 pound braid is all you need. Use some old mono line to put some backing on. You are trying to put enough on so you don't put on more braided line than you would normally use. Skip the leader for a while. Generally for me, leaders are a lot more trouble than they are worth. I use all braid all the time in mostly rocky situations and have never had a break off do to abrasion. If after a while you find a need to add a leader you can but keep it simple at first and skip the leader. A lot of guys find it doesn't help that much, some guys think they need it.

A woman goes to see a veterinarian. "Doctor, I hope you can help me. My dog has been humping me constantly. Is there anything you can do?" "Well," the vet says, "The first thing we should do is neuter him, that should calm him down" "No", the woman says, "That's not what I had in mind. Do you think you could trim his nails and fix his breath?"

The amperage draw comes from the motor. A larger motor draws more than a small one. It doesn't have anything to do with the battery. What size trolling motor will you be using? As long as it draws less than 50 amps, you're good.

If you use the remote, don't you have to stop fishing to operate the motor? One hand on the rod, one on the reel handle and one hand on the remote?

#4 plain (no squirrel tail) Mepps with a silver blade.

I find schools by finding the first fish then casting back to the same area the last one was caught. Repeat until they stop biting. I don't know that you can predict where you might find schooling fish except that in the spring, early prespawn smallmouth will school up. Catch one and don't move until you've fished that spot well.

Put whatever sealant you use on the screw threads and in the hole before you screw them in. It will ooze out around the screw and seal out the water. Putting it on the head of the screw then won't be necessary.

Switch because what you are doing now is not working for you. I switched because I could not stand the stretch in mono. Be prepared to alter the way you fish to adjust to the line. Because it doesn't stretch, ease up on the hook sets and don't tighten down your drag. Deal with leaders if you want, but I fish clear rivers and lakes for smallies and have never had the need for a leader.

My dad took me on a smallmouth trip when I was a kid and that's all I've cared about ever since. I like the way they fight, I like the waters they swim in, they will readily bite on artificials, and I can catch them close to home. I like pike but I have to travel too far to target them. Largemouth are fine, but I'm not crazy about fishing the weeds they like to call home. I'd rather stay home and paint my house than go walleye fishing. Muskies are fun but too few and far between to keep my interest. I'm too far from the ocean to fish for anything in salt water.

Last summer while fishing from my personal pontoon, I hooked a pike on a topwater. There aren't many pike in this river so I wasn't using a wire leader. I reeled him in right up next to me, when he jumped and cut my line. He didn't know he was free yet and laid there right between my legs in the water for about half a second so I reached down and grabbed him by the back of the head allowing me to get my bait back.

Why would I have to choose only one? My tackle box has room for old school stuff like in-line spinners and newer stuff (to me) like suspending Japanese jerk baits. You sound like you prefer the old school tactics. There's nothing wrong with that. If that's what you like, and you have confidence in, stick with it!

I float small rivers for smallies during the summer and seldom use more than 3 baits. A 4 inch senko, a top water popper, and a #4 plain Mepps.

2 different viewpoints given. One heavier weight, one lighter. You also have to consider the bottom content. In very rocky areas, you will spend a lot of time re-tying using heavier weights as they will snag up easily. Myself, I fish the shallower rivers also, (under 4 feet mostly) and prefer little to no weight at all. Bass are used to food flowing at the speed of the current and will come up to grab it when they are actively feeding. In my waters, baits that stop on the bottom will snag so I keep them moving. Light gravel and sand will let you get away with slower moving and heavier jigs.

It wasn't on Lake Erie. I can't produce verified proof. That was the point of the guy who wants to remain anonymous. I trust the person who spoke to the DNR and the fisherman who caught the fish. As to the guy's paranoia about being so secret, that's his issue. The South does have longer growing seasons but Northern fish live longer. Bass populations on the Great Lakes are really taking off with warmer water temps, and invasive species like gobies. Even quagga muscles and zebra muscles have helped by clearing up the water which helps sight feeders like smallmouth. It could easily take 15 years for them to reach maximum size. There are more big bass being caught than ever before like this 8.45 pound smallie caught in the Sturgeon Bay Open last year. By the picture alone, how many think it weighs almost 8 and a half pounds? It was weighed in the tournament. . As someone who lives near and fishes around the Great Lakes, I've been watching and waiting for more of these truly big bass to show up in tournaments and on the web. More and more good fishermen are targeting big bronze so it's just a matter of time before more fish like the one that is the subject of this thread show up. I have no reason to doubt the size of the fish that was in the first post of this thread. I can't tell from just a picture what a fish weighs and won't call someone a liar. I think huge smallies are a very real possibility. Even if that fish isn't over 11, it still is really big. Keep watching. Records will be falling in the next few years.

St Croix Avids are pretty good rods in that price range

This fish I was talking about is not the fish that this thread is about. 2 different guys. My point was that there are 10 pound smallies swimming in the Great Lakes and just because they aren't all publicized doesn't mean they don't exist. Although you may not believe it, to some people, there are more important things than having your name in a record book. If you had a spot that was not often fished by bass fishermen and found a consistent pattern where you could catch bass much larger than normal would you want a lot of other boats especially guide boats, hammering it day after day? The Great Lakes have a lot of water where bass fishing is seldom done and a lot of places not yet discovered by the general public. Many say there are no "secret" spots. But there are still some places that are almost a secret and those that know them want to keep it that way as long as possible.

Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, New York, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Missouri, Arkansas, and in Canada Ontario.

HA!

The guy who caught it, took it to the DNR to have it weighed but refused to submit it for a state record. The guy was fanatical about keeping his name, the location where the fish was caught and even the fishes existence a secret. A gentleman who was one of the original B.A.S.S. touring members and is one of the nations foremost antique lure collectors, heard about the fish, tracked the guy down and got most of the story. The fisherman wanted to return the fish alive back to the lake but it did not survive. Whether or not anyone believes the fish exists does not matter. The angler who caught it would prefer no one knew. The fact is it is real and more will be caught.

He's not pushing the fish at the camera so it can't be compared to the fish in the avatar. I think it could be what they say. I know of another Great Lakes fish that was weighed on a certified scale that went 10 pounds so they are out there. I'm a big guy and my fish look smaller in front of me than they do in front of a smaller person.

I like Quantum spinning reels a lot, it's all I use. Be aware that on all the new Quantum reels there is no switch to turn off the anti-reverse. Not a big deal for guys who never use it, but if you do, it ain't there!

My first 41 inch northern was caught on one. I bought a bunch of the arms, put my own blades on them and added jig heads. I often will use them with different plastics so they just become a small spinner bait. It is one of those things I haven't used in a while though.

What suits YOU the best? Only you can answer that. The choices are; kayak, canoe, personal pontoon, float tube, rubber raft, jon boat or V hull row boat.

That depends on how much line you have out. Tests were done several years ago testing the running depth of 200 lures. * One thing that was found was that you could hold the rod high over your head, or push the rod under water up to the reel and as long as there was enough line out, the lure would run at exactly the same depth. From the book "Crankbaits, A guide to Casting and Trolling Depths of 200 Popular Lures" by Mike McClelland