Windknot51

Good Advise Ernl, Just keep fishing! Night fishing is alot better in my opionion as the cooler waters create activity. Nothing worse in my opinion than the sun on the water. Recently on a fly fishing forum the I asked opinions of carrying a cell phone..... boy did I ever catch some flack! My phone is with me for emergencies only and I have the numbers for local and state police and DEC for the areas I fish programed in, not to mention if I am needed at home. Those of you who can completely shut out the world....... you have my blessings! There will always be some of us that need to maintain contact. For me, it's my 17 year old daughter that is and will always be paramount, therefore my cell phone will be along with me.... be it fishing, hiking, camping etc.

As for fishing contaminated water, it may not take too much for you too to become contaminated. Yes rubber waders will protect you, but concider this.... handling a fish in this water, a hot day and you wipe the sweat from your brow, take a leak nearby etc., and you may well have contracted ecoli. I would rather play this one safe.

Roadwarrior....... I do wish I could agree with you, but having you lived through a flood where the rivers and ponds and lakes have been contaminated, you would be seeing things differently. Not only was the Susquehanna contaminated but so too were the ponds and lakes nearby. what are we to do? Fish in biologically unsafe waters. It is obvious that many of you don't realize the extent the damage these floods have done to both rivers, lakes and ponds. This area is in an ecologically disaster area...... thank god you are not yet infected. So given this..... are we to ignore the warnings and wet wade in hope we don't contract one of the dozen diseases thought this water harbours? I think not and time to learn to fish our safer waqters Bass fishing is great..... but if dis allowed we need to learn other safer species in safer waters. Shall we die in our passion?, I say learn your water and be healthy.

Fishnaz, Like yourself, I too was finding myself in a dink spell. I had been fishing NY's Susquehanna River till things started to dry up. Then 3 weeks ago we were hit with major flooding that took out whole towns. Needless to say the sewage treatment plants were also destroyed and are now dumping only moderatly treated sewage into my river. Warnings are now out to stay off the water for any recreational purposes. It will be some time before it's safe from bacteria. So I will return to my earliest roots..... break out the ultra light and do some stream fishing. Take a break if you need to but perhaps you could try someting different. Should you go for larger of smaller species.... it matters little. There is always a learning curve that will serve to make you a better fisherman. Tight Lines!

Great Post! Circle hooks sound like the ticket and I will be shure to get some soon. I will also continue to crush the barbs as I have done for years without a problem...... yes it does make release alot easier and i'm shure reduces the mortality rate.

Last week my area went through a major flood (upstate NY) I witnessed waters 10-12 feet above highest recorded levels. At this time I do beleive that which we persue are stressed and need time to relax to normality. Bass jumping in waters where cars normally travel is not normal! Yes I could have thrown out some plastic and caught my limit. But to me that is not fishing/hunting....... just carpetbagging / taking advantage of a situation. So I watch and wait for a degree of normalicy before I return to the river and our sport begins again. 1-2-3 weeks..... I will be watching and waiting.

I had an Alewife once that regressed to a Teawife. Thank God that she latched on to a sucker and has broken off! Poor knots I guess.

Good point Troutfisher. As many young people stay holed up in front of video games, advertisers look for ways to bring them out to a healthier activity. If it works, I say bravo! Gotta tell you all something...... recently my Daughter of 17 was voted the most improved student for 2006. When I received this news I was jumping up and down and told her, lets go out.... what would you like to do? She replied..... buy me a fishing pole! So off we went to Gander Mtn., and now I have a new fishing buddy. Had she seen the add, I have no doubt it would have been passed over as mundane. Her interest lies more in spending some quality time with dad and friends. As my home has become the hub of many young people, I understand the shock approach has become boring to them..... what I see working is quality. This add as I see it, was poorly executed for quality and only serves to create a buzz. Hopefully better things will be coming.

I have been having good luck with Zoom and will continue to use it at much lower expense.

Please don't take me wrong. There have been many great innovations that have enhanced our sport and even increased our productivity. Still nothing tops presention I beleive. Sex in advertisment can only increaes the number of people on the water, which is the intent.

Yes the add worked and will keep many buying their product. Truth is that the attractactants added only last a short time. Geeze.... keep me buying more!, or just learn to work your bait with equal sucess and less dollars. Learn what you fish for and you will too understand there is no magic formula as those will lead you to beleive they hold the key. Big Business BS.

First let me tell you all that I am new to Bass fishing. I grew up un the East Branch of NY's Delaware River and it's tributaries. So I became a Spin and Fly Fisherman. Age has crept upon me and the constant motion of fly fishing coupled with the price of gas keeps me from fishing my roots. I now live on NY's Susquehanna River known for Smallmouths, Muskie, Walleyes, Catfish and Carp. Access to this river is minutes away and I am having a great time fishing for Bass. Still I need to learn more and this is a great place to be. What I can tell you about is advertising. Look arround you. All arround you are advertisments of shock and awe. The intention is to create interest however contrivercial. Wall Street requires this as stockholders demand dividends. What better way to get there than to commercialize. The day of this quiet sport is gone as we now need to sell this new this and that. Just take a look at the Bassmasters just as flashy as Nascar and you see what they are doing..... Advertising for product. Product is not bad and I use Superline that allows me to cover more water than I ever thought possible. As the moral majority continues to decline, I wonder where we're headed. Naked guys are a NO in my book. Naked Ladies however would bring me to the river banks often. Without being a liberal thinker, I beleive in sexuality, but not in advertising. Wall Street now capitalizes on controversity and now are trying to prostute the fisherman and the water. It's all about dollars! As for the add.... It has done it's purpose well. From here they will back down, only to hit us again with another shock till we become conditioned as we have in TV, fast food, gas prices, etc.