patbfishing123

Yeah man, I saw that. Should be a good time! Looks like we might get some rain.

Oh no kidding? Rick always does a nice job with the newsletter, I wonder what happened.

Haha... it'll all be in the newsletter. Whether or not you choose to beleive it, that's up to you!

What makes you think the winning bag came from flipping docks all day?

Excellent, Good Luck!

Lol, I have seen Burnie's name all over the place up there. That guy can flat out fish! He has some fantastic tournament reports as well. We had a tournament up there last year and it was a blast. I caught around 17 lbs both days and didn't even make top 10! The winner had somewhere around 23.5 lbs both days!! Definitely looking foward to visiting again in a couple of weeks!

Yeah man, I'll be there. You?

That's pretty impressive. We had a two day at Oneida last weekend (which scorchx is referring to). It took 16 1/2 lbs the first day to win and over 18 the second day. I'd say it's fishing pretty good right now given those weights. I wasn't able to fish due to some family matters, which is unfortunate because I love catching those mixed bags!

You caught a 15 lb bag on day 1 at Oneida? Unfortunately, I had to miss that tournament, but it looks like there were some good bags caught.

lol, that's the truth. The state launch gets a little crazy too!

There were definitely some good fish caught at Conesus last night, I beleive the record was beaten twice! That 7.25 was a beast!

Ben, I am also a member of the Rochester Bassmasters and have been since 2008. I spent 3 years as a non-boater and learned more than I ever thought I could. This year they have also started a mentor program, which pairs a newer, less experienced angler with a more experienced angler. This could help you, not only to learn about fishing and tournaments but also to get to know the great group of guys that are in the club. When I first started in the club I had no boat and I didn't know anybody who had a boat that was willing to take me out. Now, I have a boat and know a bunch of great guys, heck I've even won a couple of tournaments, but most importantly I know a whole lot more about fishing than I did when I first started with the club. Ww2farmer is right, you can go out and fish the open tournaments throughout western New York, but if you are anything like I was, no boat and no fishing buddies, then a club like the Rochester Bassmasters is the perfect place to be!

Power Pro! Not only is it one of the cheapest on the market, but I have not had one issue with it.

Fair enough.

You don't think there is such a thing as a mean mouth? Or you dont think they exist around here?

It looked just like the pictures of a meanmouth bass on the internet. However I don't think there are any spotted bass in keuka lake... so maybe it was a different breed of meanmouth... Largemouth mixed with smallmouth??

A friend of mine caught a meanmouth bass during a tournament in Keuka Lake, may be the same guy that duckmaster is refering to. Was he from flower city bassmasters? He took a picture of the fish on his phone and it was indeed a meanmouth. He had it verified with DEC, not sure if he kept it and brought it to them or if he showed them the picture.

A few people have already said it, but confidence is the biggest factor. If you don't have confidence in what you are doing you are not going to fish the lure exactly as you should or make the right casts. Try a couple different lures that you are confident in, if they don't work head on to the next spot. If you think that spot may be holding fish, come back to it after you have caught a couple fish somewhere else and pinpointed a pattern. CONFIDENCE IS KEY! Good Luck.

Thanks for the reply, I do A LOT of drop shotting. I did read the manual and it did say that it was better at lower speeds but I got some reviews that said differently , and at $359, I had to give it a shot. I'm heading out tuesday, so I'm going to try to screw around with it a little bit and see what I can do. If I cant get it to work, I might have to go with the elite 7 and and move the elite 5 to the front. How has the Elite 7 been while driving around? Does it have 2-d sonar?

Ok thanks, I'll give that a shot. It is a fiberglass boat, so we'll see how it goes!

Hello Everyone, I just picked up a Lowrance Elite 5 Dsi after doing some research and getting some recommendations from friends. I had it installed in my boat by a boat mechanic in my club, so I am confident that it is installed correctly. I have had issues with reading the bottom while the boat is moving over 20 mph. I have read reviews that people have had no problem reading the bottom while going up to 45 mph with this unit. Is there anything I need to do differently to be able to see the bottom? It does a fine job reading the bottom while i'm just idling around. I bought this unit for the GPS along with the downscan imaging. I want to be able to mark waypoints while I am driving around the like during practice. But if I cannot read the bottom, its not going to help me do this. My mechanic says its because I do not have 2-D sonar on the unit. I'm beginning to think that I would be better off putting the elite 5 dsi up by the trolling motor and getting something else for by the steering wheel. Does anyone have any solutions to my problem, or a recommendation of a good unit to put by the steering wheel? Thanks in advance. Pat

I would also have to say that a good portion of the fish that I have caught have been on the drop shot rig. It is very versitile, it can be fished anywhere, in any conditions. But. If i'm fishing for smallmouth, especially in the summer, this is my go-to bait. Any plastic bait can be fished on this rig. Aaron martens says to use the lightest weight that the situation will allow. So, basically the windier it is, the heavier the weight is that should be used to keep the lure in place and feel the bite. But if there is no wind, use the lightest weight that you are comfortable with. I generally start out with a 1/4 ounce weight and go up or down from there based on the conditions. I also use 6 to 8 lb flourocarbon depending on the conditions and water quality. As stated in a thread above, lazer sharp makes a great octopus hook at a resonable price. I try to stay between sizes 2 and 4 when fishing for smallies, especially. But try different baits out on the rig and see what works best for you, everyone is different. Definitely start out with the traditional 4" finesse worm to get a feel for the technique and work from there. Light line fishing can be a whole lot of fun. Good Luck!

I also use trokar 4/0 or 5/0 hooks. They are very dependable and the sharpest hooks I've ever used. Some hooks will bend after even a couple good hooks sets, not trokars, they stay very true and solid.

Thanks J Francho, that's what I have been reading. Brian I will be fishing up there the 27th - 29th.

I'm headed out to black lake at the end of the month for the first time. Any suggestions where to start. Thanks Pat