Scott F

I don’t believe there is any hard and fast rule that applies to water clarity and lure color. Most people use what they’ve had success with in the past and that success usually came from trial and error. Don’t be overly concerned about color. Use what you have and don’t be afraid to experiment.

Generally speaking, Apple products as a whole don’t need virus protection software. I’ve been using nothing but Apples for over 30 years and have never used any virus protection and have never had a virus. Just be careful and don’t click on links that show up in spam emails and stay off questionable web sites.

“House batteries “ ? I’ve never heard anyone use that term before this thread. From the usage, I understand what it means in this context, but where does the term come from?

Lithium ion batteries will probably not be with us for too many years. Solid state batteries are the future. In 5 years or even less, solid state batteries will be taking over. Smaller, lighter, more powerful, faster charging, longer lasting and safer are all promised in the new technology. The demand for better batteries in electric cars is pushing the development of these batteries and the technology will find its way into everything we use that needs mobile power. They still have a way to go to bring the costs down, but they are on the way.

I’m sure the knot will not hurt the guide but I find that a knot going through the guides to be very irritating. It’s one of the many reasons I don’t use leaders.

We used to catch them with tiny hooks and tiny pieces of night crawler. We’d start at a place where a bridge crossed over a creek. The water was very clear, couldn’t see any bait fish at all, but seconds after the hook hit the water, we’d have one on. We’d get all species and all sizes.

Your biggest limitation is going to be trying to get smallies from small rivers and streams from shore. Covering as much water as you can is important. You don’t necessarily need a boat, but at least consider getting in the water and wading. River banks are usually covered with bushes and trees that block you from getting near the water. Sooo much easier to cast and get your bait where you need it from the water. Which baits you use don’t matter as much as you might think. Throw almost anything in the right spot and you will have success. Just use as light a weight as you can. If you are dragging the bottom, be prepared to snag a lot. While wading, it is much easier to wade over and get your lure back than trying to free snags from shore.

I’ve always found the lure weight ratings on St. Croix rods to be very dependable. You can trust what they say.

You mean like how many pros continue to say the FC lines don’t stretch?

I’d be very surprised if you did. There are no smallmouth bass in Florida.

I use a spiral wrapped rod where the tip is rotated 180* from the first guide. No two guides are even close to being aligned! It has zero effect as far as I can tell on casting distance.

I never buy 150 yard spools due to the amount of wasted line. You wind up throwing away 20-40 yards of line from each spool. With a 600 yard spool, you still wind up throwing away 20-40 yards but you only do it once instead of 4 times with 4 spools that were 150 yards each.

I fish mostly smaller Lucky Craft jerk baits in the 65-78 size and use medium and medium light, St Croix Avids with 10lb braid. Because I apply a lot of the action to the bait with my rod, I never use lines that stretch because of how the stretch absorbs the movement that is supposed to move the lure.

Everything depends on the river. Lots of smallmouth disappear from summer spots because they’ll migrate often many miles to their wintering areas. In some rivers, especially if there are dams, they barely migrate at all. If you are near the winter spots, they’ll sometimes comes out on a warm late winter day and feed a bit. As far as current goes, feeding fish are usually found NEAR current. They can’t stay in fast water, they find slack water which might only be inches from some very fast water. Even in fast water riffles, they’ll tuck in behind a boulder in an eddie where the fast water is going right over their head. As the water warms, they migrate back to the spawning sites. Just like good lake fishermen, good river guys put in the time to learn where the bass can be found during each season, high water or low.

Single Colorado.

When you straight arm a fish for a photo, you can expect to be questioned about the weight.

My replica was made in Florida and shipped to my home near Chicago. The taxidermist built a nice wood frame to support the mount which is mounted on a piece of driftwood and then on a base. I wish I still had the box and frame he shipped it in as I’m getting ready to move and I’d like it protected during the move.

I got hooked on the ancient Perry Mason show. The original episodes were on when I was only a few years old and the reruns have been on ever since. I was never interested when my parents watched it or at any other time, but it wasn’t until I was home with a back injury and watched a lot of daytime tv when I was already over 60 that I really began to appreciate how well written the show became as it matured as a series.

In the spring, for pre-spawn smallmouth, the Pointer 65 is my go-to bait. I’ve caught more smallmouth on that lure than ALL my other baits combined. Some years it’s almost the only thing I use. Some years they aren’t as picky, but it always catches. Not only smallies, but largemouth, rock bass, perch, walleye,

I’ve been tying up to docks at rental cabins for over 30 years. If you know it’s going to be windy, make sure you can point to boat into the wind if possible. Also try and use the side of the dock so the wind isn’t blowing the boat into the dock, but away from it. Inflated boat fenders and sturdy ropes are a must. Be sure you know the proper knots for tying up. Don’t over tighten the ropes. Makes sure there is just a little slack to give the boat a little bit of room to move with the waves.

It’s a tilapia

What are you doing that is causing the line to dig in? Pulling on snags with the reel? Not getting backlashes cleared all the way? Locking down your drag?

Match the hatch is a term used in fly fishing for trout. Bugs hatches will trigger a bite in streams where trout will key in on the insect hatch happening at the time. Using a fly that matches the current hatch increases your chances of getting trout to bite. IF there is a sudden hatch of insects on a lake like mayflies or fry from other fish, matching that hatch doesn’t always work. Bass will often key on the fish that are feeding on the hatch, not necessarily the hatch itself. Paying too much attention to “matching the hatch” while bass fishing doesn’t guarantee success.

A book was published many years ago, before superlines were being used that tested how deep 200 different lures ran using different sized mono lines. The author was a walleye fisherman where knowing trolling lure depth as well casting depths are critical. For bass fishermen, casting distance, line diameter, lure speed and lure design are all involved in getting lures to the desired depth. A new book needs to be written using current lures and superlines.

Waterfalls are always a prime spot to fish for every species in the river. Lots of oxygen, current, deep water close by. It has everything. They may not be directly under the falling water, but the entire pool and run out area should be fished thoroughly.