papajoe222

I've fished the Zara Puppy in a frog pattern as well as a Tiny Torpedo with good success in the eddies. I picked up a couple of Rebel Frog-Rs this off season to try as they're about the same length, but will likely cast a little better that either of those.

Depending on how deep my pockets are when it comes time to replace hooks, I'll either purchase VMC SparkPoint trebles or Mustads. Both are excellent hooks and I haven't had to replace any of the VMC hooks since I installed them. My stock is getting low and I'm having difficulty locating them. The only others I have used were SureSets on the belly of my top-waters.

I can only speak from a northener's perspective. In the lakes that freeze over up here, we still catch fish.....through the ice. They still need to eat, but do so in relation to their activity level which is governed by their body temperature. So, it's never too cold for them to eat, but they are likely not eating at any given time in extremely cold water. There is rarely warmer water anywhere in the water column at this time. If there were, it would be at or near the top. Fish movements will be more verticle in cold water conditions as a slight adjustment in their swim bladder is all it takes. This is when a fish may rise up to feed but rarely chase down a meal. Plan your attack accordingly by verticle jigging, drop shotting, dead sticking, etc. You'll have a much better chance of hooking up.

You kind of answered your own question. IMO you only have one option when throwing Spooks and that's a good mono like original Stren or Trilene XT. I personally use 14lb. Stren almost exclusively for fishing Spooks and will bump it up to 17 if I know I'll be in the 'woods'. If you think the fish will shy away from the heavier line, don't believe it. I caught my PB on a spook with the 14lb. Stren in a strip pit with gin clear water at 11:00 A.M. in July under blue bird skies. BTW, heavier mono will keep your line up and out of the nasty stuff. Once you hook them, it's up to you to keep them out of it.

When I start 'cat' fishing in the house, mama knows it's almost spring. I break out the teaser lure and tie it on, she breaks out the credit cards and goes shopping........... You guys do realize that we are all in need of help, but unless the Dr. is a fisherman, he'll never be able to diagnose us and if he is, we'll spend the hour talking about fishing! Just can't win, so I gave up about thirty years ago. I've given up at least thirty times since.

Come on guys. I asked for help, not confirmation that I'm sick in the head. Of course I should've realized that when I started checking out monkey porn for him. The new reel is being paired to a new Browning rod. I swear that monkey has cousins that work for Daiwa and Browning! The really sad part of all of this isn't the spending the money, it's that once you feed that little booger he gets stronger and before I know it, I'll be looking at a new boat, probably a Nitro, but I don't think he has any cousins working for Tracker, so maybe I'll be okay.

I've come to call him the bait monkey, but he goes by other names also. You know him, he's the one that bugs you about getting that new piece of gear or adding to your collection of baits. You know you don't need whatever it is, but he keeps bugging you until you not only want something, but have to get it. Oh yea, he lives in your head and the only way you can feed him is to give in and buy something. Well, he's not only taken up residence in my little pea brain, he has become the land lord and insists that I pick up a new TD Pro that's on sale. I already have 13 baitcasters and I KNOW I don't need another, but as I sit here and spin the handle on one of the ones I already own, it's hard not to pay the rent. Here's the thing. He knows I don't have any vices. Booze, Cigaretts, Gambling, a cutie on the side, nada. He tells me it's okay, jeez, we're only talking $70, it's not like I'd be using rent money......I don't pay rent. Most guys spend that much on smokes in two weeks. I kept him pretty well occupied watching monkey porn last winter, but he wised up to that. I thought maybe keeping him drunk might work this year, but he says getting the reel would be cheaper. HELP

I'm not a big fan of flourocarbon, but I do have one spinning and one B/C spooled with 10lb. Vicious. I use both for clear water and finess applications. I have found that using a line conditioner frequently makes a big difference in manageability of the line although I don't have as much of a problem with it on the baitcaster. I've used both KVD and ReelMagic with good results. I also romoved about 20yrds. of line from the spinning reel and that seemed to help too.

The other thing I've done is carry an extra reel or two if your bag has the room. I started doing this in case of a nasty back-lash on one of my primary rods and found it usefull in this situation. Unlike a lot of replies, I retie every time I change baits. This ensures me that I have no nicks in the line above the knot and that knot is sound. I also check the line every few casts, especially when fishing rocks or shell beds, and after every fish. Not loosing a fish in a tournament is more important to me than the few minutes of fishing time I may loose by doing this, but that's just my way of thinking.

What I've done (I'm using FlexCoat high build) is after applying, lightly heating it to thin it slightly. My drying motor turns at 5rpm and any excess will run faster than the motor is turning the blank, then I remove it with the applicator. This method also has the advantage of removing any air bubbles although I haven't run into that problem with this product.

Thanks guys. I was thinking along the same lines, but wanted confirmation as this is not only my first two piece rod attempt, it's also the most expensive blank I've purchased to date. I'd hate to end up with a rod I'd be unable to use let alone give as a gift which is my intention with this one.

Okay rod builders, I have a question. I've done a few rod builds and know how to find the spine and where to place the guides in relation to it, but I'll be attempting a build on a two piece blank and was wondering how to find it? Do you check each section individually, mark and match the pieces at the ferrel? Is it only necessary to find the spine on the tip section? Thanks

I have used this technique since the original Rapalas first came out and here is a tip on how NOT to loose them. It isn't really a carolina rig, but accomplishes getting a bait deep and keeping it there. Attach a 3-way swivel to your main line, your crank on a short leader to the second and a drop line of a lesser lb. test to the last one. You can add whatever type of weight you want, but a rubber core or a cylindrical drop shot weight will pull loose from rocks without the need to break the line. Attach another weight to the line and you're back in business. BTW, a great way to pick up fish off the beds is to rig a crank on an 8in. leader behind a heavy C-rig, drag the weight onto the near side of the bed and release tension by dropping your rod tip. When you raise it again, the crank will dive down into the bed, or just above it. Do this a couple of times and Mrs. bass can't stand it. It looks just like a baitfish feeding and retreating from the nest.

I like the DD's for cranking and the Deep Little N for trolling as it gets down there pretty deep on 30yrds. of line. I also do what crappiebasser does; throw deep divers in shallow water, especially the more bouyant ones. Not a big fan of the DT series except in the pre-spawn as they float back up very slowly and with the addition of a SuspenDot or two become a killer at that time. Unlike a lot of guys I will throw a crank at suspending bass, and this is where knowing how deep your bait runs and how long it takes to get it down there become important. Most baits can take up to 1/3 of the casting distance just to reach maximum depth and you also loose out on the end of the cast. You can figure that maybe only 30%-40% of your casting distance will that bait be in the zone. This is where a suspending FatFree Shad or Fingerling really shines. When it comes to targeting suspending fish this way I can give you one important tip: Keep your bait above the fish, whether smallies or largemouth. With the smallies, it isn't as important to get the bait within a foot or two above the fish, but with largemouth you sometimes need to be a lot closer to them.

I see overgreasing a lot more on the low end reels of most brands than I do on the higher end stuff. Quantum is by far the worst of the major brands although I have not had the opportunity to look inside any of the Okumas. The other thing I didn't mention earlier was that if you plan on using a piece of equipment for years to come, don't by inexpensive gear. With plenty of TLC it may last, but.......... The old saying you get what you pay for is just as true for fishing equipment as it is for automobiles.

Fell off the chair I laughed so hard!!

For those of you that are unaware......Some reel manufacturers use an abundance of grease when assembling their reels. This is why some low end reels feel smoother than you'd expect right out of the box. This by itself is not a bad thing, but grease and oil attract and hold dirt and if that reel gets even light usage from it's new owner it will be trash after a few seasons of use unless that excess grease is cleaned out. I just finished cleaning a reel that was a few years old and the owner did nothing as far as maintainance after purchasing it. There was so much grease inside it, that I literally could not see some of the parts and it was all pitch black. This reel should have lasted for a lot longer than it did (it's trash now). Even if you purchase new equipment every few years, there's a difference between needing to (as with this guy) and wanting too. It's your money, I'm just giving you a heads up.

Papa's helpful hint; when attaching lines of similar diameter, loop the flouro or mono and use the braid to wrap. When connecting lines of different diameters, loop the larger diameter line and wrap with the smaller diameter when using either the Albright or Alberto knots. With either knot, the tag end must pass through the loop in the same direction that it entered.

Thanks. I figured there was a retaining clip or something. I never would have guessed this. Now if I can keep parts from flying out when I open it, I should be okay.

BPS ProLite model PRL05H. Anyone familiar with this little baitcaster that can tell me how to get the handle off so I can disassemble it for cleaning? I've been cleaning my own baitcasters for longer than I care to remember and I've never run across a reel that doesn't have a nut holding the crank handle on. The son-in-law picked this one up at a garage sale. Nice little reel, but it needs a major cleaning and I just, for the live of me cant't figure how to get it off. HELP

Shewillbemine brought up something in response to another post. Should be a great way to teach and learn here. What are some of the different terms and their meanings. Only add one term and definition per response so everyone gets a chance to add their two cents and humor is just as welcome. Structure.....Changes in bottom contour or composition. This can be a ledge, creek channel, flat, point, transition areas, etc. Not to be confused with cover although often times cover is refered to as structure.

This is what's great about this sport. All the knowledge in the world won't make you a better fisherman and even if you're able to apply that knowledge to it's maximum, success at catching isn't a given. If it were, I don't think we could call this a sport as there'd be no competition.

You bring up an excellent point, that being not all fish in a given body of water are doing the same thing at the same time. This is extremely evident is large impoundments. One thing I should've mentioned is that nothing is gospel when it comes to a fish's behavior. These are just general knowledge tid bits developed to help us narrow things down. There are exceptions to every rule and there are conditions that will change the rules, rest assured. When you're ready, you'll learn the what and how, kinda like learning the alphabet, then spelling, followed by reading and writing.

I got to thinking about what I don't know about the smallmouth species and realized I really don't know squat. I've caught my share along with some northern and walleye, but the weren't the species I was targeting. So I decided if I plan on targeting smallies, I'd better educate myself on them. and I decided to start with the spawn? Generally speaking, at what water temp do smallies spawn? I know there are other factors to consider, but water temp seems to me to be the best. I'm assuming that it's colder than that wich largemouths will spawn, but you know what they say about assuming. Along those lines, Is their prefered bottom composition for building nests sand or gravel if both are available and do they generally build beds in deeper water than their cousins? Thanks

Where am I likely to find concentrations of fish when I go fishing tomorrow? I've seen it numerous times just on this site. Someone will ask: I'm going out tomorrow, what should I be throwing? A ton of suggestions are made and most are excelent. The problem is we all assume that the person asking the question either has some experience or knowledge about catching the fish. With that in mind, I'd like to share some of what many of you may consider to be common scence facts, but many of you may be unaware of. First and foremost, a fish's brain is the size of he tip of a Q-Tip. It doesn't reason, plan, or for the most part remember. Don't assume it's thinking about whether or not your bait looks appealing to it, that fish could care less whether or not it has a $40 paint job or only cost you $.99. Second, a fish's movements whether seasonal or daily are driven by one of two factors. It's either making movementsthat relate to spawning,or is active or inactive in relation to feeding. Sex and food. That's about it when it comes to how a bass 'thinks' Survival, in a nutshell So the next time you go out, ask yourself: Are the fish preparing to spawn, spawning, recovering from the spawning activities, or are they in their survivor mode of feeding and possibly avoiding being preyed upon?. Once you answer that question, others will surface (how they're relating to cover or structure, the front that just passed, rising or falling water or water temps, etc.) Remember, I'm not in any way saying catching is easy. What I am saying is that you are smarter than any animal on this plannet. Don't go mountain lion hunting in the desert.