Neil McCauley

I don't keep LM/SM bass, not in about 15 years anyway. Not sure why, I think I just value them more in the lake than on my plate. I do keep pumpkinseed and rockbass which are absolutely teeming on my lake. I store them with a 15' length of #18 bankline as a stringer. http://oi58.tinypic.com/rbxldx.jpgCut a small slit in the bottom jaw, thread fish on the line, tie knot around the jaw and let them just hang out under the boat. My rule of thumb is don't keep anything that you can't catch 10+ of in an hour. First off you might not catch enough to feed everyone, and second it probably means their population #s aren't very strong. Did someone say grocery store fish?

I have used Tifosi Tyrant fototecs for years. They're about 90 but worth it. They are made for road cycling and adjust for lowlight conditions.

I hear that's the key. How do you find these springs? I don't have sonar/FF. Nice pike there. That's what I'm looking for.

So, uh guys?... Maybe I'm being captain obvious here but... these lists are garbage. These lakes are just the ones with the combination of the most miles of shoreline commercial/residential property in the most economically depressed areas. The most people with the greatest lack of money. The list is for boosting angler tourism. It has nothing to do with the fishing. Nothing. I'd guarantee that all 100 of the true "100 best lakes" in the US are kept secret and not one is on this list. Glad the same goes for most of my favorite lakes as well.

What are your preferred methods? I went after pike recently on a big deep oligo lake, in a reportedly very good pike spot, year-round. See pic here: http://oi59.tinypic.com/26410dv.jpgThere were humps, drop-offs, points, a stream inlet, and 100+ ft water nearby. I speed trolled big plugs/cranks 25-30 ft down- just above the thermocline- in 40-60 fow but did not do well. In about 6 hrs caught some smallies and even a LMB but no pike.

I've lost too many lures to underwater rocks and stumps or outright line breaks to spend $250 on one. Have lost about $50 worth this season already and I'm pretty good about getting lures unstuck and preventing line failures. It just happens sometimes. Lures are always going to be semi-disposable items.

Don't know why I always see these mentioned regarding "trophy" pike/LMB. Although they're great lures, these spinners are tiny compared to true pike/musky spinners. I catch a lot of dink bass and sunfish on them.

I don't shop for tackle there anymore really so I was a little surprised... -Tackle/lure section now cut to 1 aisle instead of 2 -Pitiful little row of crankbaits, all tiny and in the worst colors -No shad raps, no skitter pops, not even a jitterbug. -no senkos....NO SENKOS!? For some reason I don't remember it being like this.

Yep, it's everywhere. Has been happening with quality, too.

Go deeper.

Me too recently. Been lipping bass 20 years without a problem til then. I use gloves and grab behind the head now if it has trebles. Having a ticked off 4lb fish connected to a size no. 2 hook in your thumb really teaches a lesson.

I used bait a lot as a kid. Crawfish, shiners, nightcrawlers... I pretty much never went out without some sort of bait. It's good to have as a back-up while you're still learning artificials because at least then the day is salvaged and you can learn some fish locations and movements. But sticking to learning the lures game eventually pays off. Eventually you will get good with choosing lure style/size/color, appropriate retrieve, etc, and lures start to out produce livebait. It's usually just more efficient.

Ah you are right. Thanks. Didn't realize the little green cross thingies are comments.

Trilene 6 lb XL smooth. Only times I use mono anymore is when I want long casting distance.

Depends on the situation (body of water, boat vs shore-bound, species present, weather, etc). But in general, just downsize to smaller lures and shallower water. Sunfish will follow and nip anything that moves, but I do best with spinners, mister twister jigs, small plugs, topwater and crankbaits. When they're biting well sometimes I'll just use full-size lures to target the bigger fish. Best bet for finding good numbers of big ones is weedlines in deeper water. They will also suspend out over deep water. My favorite thing to do is use a fly rod and cast small poppers toward shore under the overhanging trees for bluegills. Fly fishing for shallow bluegills is a blast because they can't resist tiny surface flies and they're a lot of fun to fight on a 9' fly rod. My lake has a ton of Rock Bass and that's what I've been switching to lately when the LMB/SMB stop biting. Basically you just use all the same bass lures but in slightly shallower water. They can be very aggressive but seem to prefer crankbaits and spinners most.

Yea, not sure I really understand that reasoning either.... The same could be said about any human activity that affects the environment...keeping fish out of season, litter, waste, etc. Sure, your tiny contribution has a negligible effect overall but that doesn't make it right or wrong.

For the hell of it I trolled a 7.5" Matzuo Kinchou plug while night fishing last week. The thing was a little ridiculous, even the 10XD looked small next to it. It weighs 3 oz. But after an hour or so I actually hooked up with a ~4 lb LMB, one of my best this year. I was very surprised. Makes me wonder just how big a lure you could use.

For searching via casting this is my go-to. Casts a mile, even with 12# fluorcarbon. I prefer it over spinnerbaits and spinners because the faster the retrieve the deeper it goes, not the other way around. I can cover water 15-20ft down much more quickly. Or if I am totally clueless about where the fish are I will troll with a smaller 3" shad raps in perch pattern set at different depths. I've found some surprises doing this, like suspended smallies, LMB, even pumpkinseed over 150+ fow. I agree about the size...don't be afraid of bigger lures. A few times I've caught smallies on the StrikeKing 10XD. They cast further and draw more attention.

Is there a way to access the Navionics community edits without a fish finder? I'd like to get them on the app on my phone, that's it. But the subscription options (Navionics+, Platinum+, Gold, HotMaps, etc) all prompt you to choose your model of plotter. What if you don't have one?

As long as it's only during the season ie summer, I doubt many of the people who are fishing for them most in the summer would actually be able to catch their limit every time out. C&R mortality is also higher in the summer because of the water temps and fish depths. And again, the people who handle the fish the most are kids/tourists/etc, taking pictures, using barbed treble hooks, live bait, light/damaged tackle, etc. I think there would only be a problem if the season included spring, or if there was no keep limit during the season.

Not a problem if I'm fishing for em, otherwise I don't catch many. They usually aren't around the same weedbeds as the bass and panfish here. Mostly the nuissance is if you're using light tackle and expensive lures, or they get treble hooked deep, can't be landed without a net, flop all over the boat, etc. I don't eat them because of the mercury content, same with larger bass.

Pike suspend at 30' over 100-200' flats for smelt all summer on my lake so despite being an excellent pike fishery they're never much of a problem. I have never caught one while fishing for bass in the summer. Pickerel are another story though... I rarely get bit off, but it's even worse pulling one into a small canoe with it flopping around tangling up line and sliming everything up. Especially when it has taken a crankbait with treble hooks on it. SMB here throw barbed treble hooks routinely but pickerel manage to get them lodged way back in their throats and gills. Have to bring a d**n tool box with side-cutters and extractors and extra trebles.

I have a cheap 20 year old Coleman 75qt cooler that keeps ice for 3+ days too. Took it camping last week with a couple blocks of ice I made in bowls in my freezer plus 1 bag of ice and there was still ice on day #3. This was even with people opening the cooler dozens of times every day in the 80 deg heat. If it was "pre-cooled" and stocked with bigger ice blocks and kept shut the whole time it would probably keep ice for a week too. I prefer the cheaper coolers like the Coleman because they have more internal volume relative to outer volume so there is more storage per space taken up by the cooler itself. And they do just fine keeping things cool despite thinner walls. I do think the Yetis are a bit overrated and definitely overrpriced. There is nothing technologically special about them. They just have thick walls and seal well. That is about it. They're made out of plastic. At $300+ for a plastic tub made in China the profit margin is absurd. If you need ice for a week plus or need to keep something actually frozen, MAYBE the Yeti is worth it.

Nope. Smaller the swivel the less twist it relieves. The bigger the swivel the more it messes up the weight and action of the lure. Most of the time, better off just tying em as well as using multiple rods.

Agreed. Some of my favorite trips are to lakes with no road access within miles, and no shoreline development. It is like getting in a time machine to the 1700s. And the fishing tends to be different too, the fish spook easier and fight harder, they've never been caught before. I've portaged my canoe 6 miles to get to lakes like this and it is grueling but is worth it. I have a few large ponds picked out that would require portages off-trail through woods, which would really be an adventure/ordeal. On the other hand you can find a similar experience on big lakes if you go at the right time- between midnight-7AM, especially on weekdays. It's something else to be alone fishing on a 28,000 acre lake. You can find almost the same silence and solitude on a big lake as on any of the smaller places. Either way, if you make the effort, you can find what you're looking for.