tkunk

That's where I fish. Everyone I know uses braid with a fluoro leader for finesse lures. This isn't what you asked, but here goes. By July, rocks will be 100% covered in slime, so you can't fish bottom-contact lures unless you're around sand. So in the summer, I use a drop shot or spy bait about 95% of the time. If fish are shallow, weightless senkos are also good. If it's very windy, fishing jerkbaits and spinnerbaits very aggressively in shallow, wind-blown areas is a good approach.

I use the Expride jerkbait rod. I would like to go up to 3/8 oz jerkbaits. Would like more line capacity for two reasons. First, in spring, the average wind where I fish is probably 15 MPH, so when I cast with the wind, I get a lot of distance. Second, I often target species that are much stronger than bass, like brown trout, and I don't want to have to worry about getting spooled. Plus, there are normally many big bonus pike around. Currently, I'm using an old Metanium with 40 lb braid, which works fine, but I'd rather use a BFS reel if I can get enough line capacity. I've tried 30 lb braid on the Metanium, but it digs when I hook big fish. I like BFS reels because they cast really well and line doesn't dig. But maybe the line doesn't dig because the spool capacity is so low. Also, I can't use spinning gear like everyone else in the Great Lakes because it hurts my upper back.

Currently, I use 6 lb suffix braid. Ideally, I'd like at least 50% more line capacity than I have now.

I use the AFW leaders with small snap swivels, and they're great. In addition to not having to worry about bite-offs, one big bonus is you won't have to retie as often if you fish around sharp rocks and zebra mussels. If you use a snap swivel, another bonus is you won't have to retie when you switch baits.

Does anyone know of any good-quality BFS reels that can hold more line than the Curado BFS? I don't think it's possible to know by reading specs, because different companies use different types of line (Power Pro vs diameter vs mono) as benchmarks.

How are you guys using 20 lb braid or lower on bait casters without having your line dig in? I tried 30 a few times with PP, and I had a ton of issues.

With a 50-sized reel, it's easy to cast out the entire spool with a jerkbait. If you hook into any kind of big, non-bassy fish, you can say goodbye to all of your line and your bait. Even with a 150, you can cast out enough line that you'll notice the difference in inches per turn at the start and ends of your cast.

Door County is tough can be tough Fall--especially in September. It's usually windy, and there's a lot of water, so you get big waves. I normally drive around in 15-30 FOW and look for them on my graph. Windblown shorelines are worth checking too. Fish can be anywhere, and when you do find them, they can be very negative. It's no fun driving around for hours only to find fish that won't bite, so I always have suckers with me.

Where I fish, people only use hair jigs during prespawn. Not sure what's going on, but here, they're far less effective here than they used to be. Three years ago, it was my go-to technique. This year, I didn't even attempt to use them. Few people seem to throw them anymore, so maybe they'll be good again soon.

Wind makes things much easier, but I definitely wouldn't say that it makes things easy. I really can't catch them at all when it's calm. On calm days, the guides around here drive around for hours at a time looking for marks, but I don't have the patience (or fuel money) for that.

Seems like the different Great Lakes are very different. I fish Lake Michigan. On a normal day, I'd start searching in 15-20 FOW this time of year, but wind changes things. When it's very windy, the fish can get very shallow in summer. I've had many 50+ fish days fishing wind-blown shorelines in less than 5 FOW. They'll always be on the windy side of something, and it's great when that "something" is shore. There's nothing super difficult about it--They'll be where the bait is.

It depends on which lake. On Lake Michigan, wind-blown structure is usually good. Fish are often shallow when it's windy. In summer, I probably catch 95+% of my fish drop shotting. Spinnerbaits and jerkbaits are good when it's very windy. There's a lot of water, so the best place to start is the local tackle shop.

Based on my experience with catching pike on bass gear, if I had any shot of catching a 10 lb bass where I need a tight drag, I'd upgrade the split rings and hooks on all of my baits.

I've seen what you're talking about in shallow water: The bass mouths the bait and spits it immediately. I don't think bait size will help with this. An aggressive fish will keep the bait in its mouth for a long time, so you need to find aggressive fish. I fish the drop shot like an underwater senko. I start by pitching the bait out. Once the weight hits the bottom, I let the bait fall and lift my rod occasionally to see if there's anything there. If nothing's there, I let the bait fall again. Once my boat gets above the rig, I reel it in and repeat the process. It's rare to feel anything until you lift the rod.

PowerPro is great up to 50 lb test. I use it on all of my bass rods and wouldn't switch to anything else. But once you get heavier than that, Cortland is much, much better. When I first started musky fishing, I had multiple break-offs with 80 lb PowerPro, and I switched to Cortland. In the 3-4 years since then, I've never had a break off.

Does anyone know if 300-sized Shimano reels (like Tranx and Calcutta) fit securely on the Dobyns FR 795SB rod? The seats on those reels seems to be incompatible with a couple of other rods I have. Thanks.

The lack of success with soft plastics/finesse is very surprising to me. Before I started fishing in FL, they were always my go-to. Mostly, I texas rig my baits (worms, senkos, and creatures) with no bullet weight. The weeds are very soft and stringy, so it's rare that I can move a bait more than a few feet across the bottom before it gets fouled. 99% of the time, when I get bit, it's on the initial fall. The deepest areas are probably around 5 FOW. I bet I've caught at least 100 fish on soft plastics, but no big ones. Any advice?

For a few years, I've been fishing a few ponds in north FL. I've caught tons of fish on t-rigged senkos and worms up to 12" but never anything big. Every big fish I've gotten ate a chatterbait, buzz bait, or whopper plopper. There are tons of junk weeds, and the water's very stained. I can't fish a jig on the bottom, because it will get covered in weeds. Are there any other baits that anyone can recommend? I'd like to target big fish. Thanks.

If you're pointing the rod tip at the lure, then how are you working the bait? I mostly fish smallie waters, where it's almost always windy, and I see many people retrieve tubes with the reels instead of their rods. Are you doing the same thing with jigs? I've always wondered whether there's an advantage to that.

Depends on the mood of the fish. If fish are very active, you'll catch more with artificials, because you'll cover more water, and more fish will see and eat your bait. If fish are very lethargic, you'll catch more with live bait, because inactive fish won't hit artificials very often.

Being able to read a map and knowing where fish should be at any time of the year is the most important thing. I suggest watching all the videos here, even if you don't target smallies https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lowrance+feider The In-Fisherman bass books spend a lot of time talking about good structure, so they're worth buying. Also, if you have side imaging, it really pays to map out a spot thoroughly before you start fishing. That way, instead of spending a lot of time fishing dead areas on a huge point or weed bed, you can focus on the best spots like boulders, composition changes, wrecks, etc. Mark every good spot you see, so you only have to scan an area once.

I have some experience with aquariums. First, you can't just dump ice into a tank of water to regulate temperature, because it creates a big temperature change, which kills fish. You have to use a chiller, which is expensive, to regulate temperature. Also, going from a warm livewell to a cold holding tank is a recipe for disaster. Second, tap water contains many chemicals that kill fish. I doubt that these guys were treating the water (e.g., running it through a reverse-osmosis unit) before using it to create ice. Big smallies are typically 10 to 15 years old. I honestly don't care if people catch bass to eat them, but it's really sad that any animal that age has to die needlessly because of incompetence.

Not if you're a perch, alewife, or whitefish! It's mostly for muskies. A couple of years ago, I had a ~25" pike saw through 100 lb fluoro when I attempted to swing it in the boat.

In the Summer, you usually can't fish jerkbaits too fast, so it's fine to use a wire leader. It will mess up the way that your jerkbait suspends, but it doesn't matter when you're fishing fast. It does matter in Spring, though, because you'll want to pause the bait. I've also caught some very big bass while deep cranking for pike/musky with 200 lb fluoro leaders. I don't think bass care about leaders on reaction baits, unless they mess with the action or the way they suspend.

I spend more time fishing for pike and muskies than I do for smallies. Where I fish, I'd put the ratio at 10:1 or larger. It's hard to tell, though, because nobody knows where many of the big pike go in the summer. I've seen muskies chasing smallies (and pike), but I've never seen pike chasing smallies.