papajoe222

In response to the OP's first question, there are a number of good fishing reel bearing suppliers out there and most of them, like Boca, list spool bearings by both size and reel. The have bearing kits for many popular reels. A quality ABE7 bearing is fairly inexpensive and replacing spool bearings is a simple task. Just be careful not to loose the retaining clip for the bearing in the side plate. They have a history of flying off into nomans land never to be seen again. I keep extras on hand even though I take precautions when removing them.

How do you retrieve yours?

If you're asking about a brand of lure it'd be a Zoom Mag II worm. It's a little longer and fatter than my favorite Original Culprit and fills that slot between a 6in. and 13in. worm. I also like their junebug red color and the fact that they come 20 to a pack.

Dealing with fishing pressure is nothing new, but with the effects the pandemic has had on the working class, it has really increased. Weekdays are nor longer for the vacationer, or retired anglers and week-ends on some waters are a nightmare for anglers. Night fishing is getting more and more common for those of us looking to avoid crowded waters. One of the things I've always done is giving the fish something different than the majority of guys out there. Silent cranks, big or small worms, topwaters mid-day, etc. That tactic worked for years here on the pressured lakes around Chicago. Lately, though, it seems the fish have wised up to those tactics. I'm a hard bait junkie. I love to chuck and wind until my muscles tell me to head in. I use finesse tactics when called for and from what I see on the decks of other boats at the ramp, it's a trend many have taken up in an attempt to deal with the increased pressure. I consider what I've come up with a power/finesse approach. Small hard baits presented differently than most anglers would. My two favorites are crappie sized cranks fished deep and heavy compact spinnerbaits with small blades. Getting a small crank to run deep takes a little bit of imagination as far as rigging, but that little crank presented mid-depth all the way down to bottom bouncing in 25ft. of water shows fish something they rarely see. For spinners, StrikeKing's Rocket Shad fits the bill perfectly, but adding weight to a smaller spinner, or a heavier jig to a Beetle Spin is another option. So, what do you do to compete with everything being constantly thrown at the fish population?

Pulling/stretching the line, will NOT remove line twist. If you are a non boater, another method of removing twist is to reel the line between your wet fingers, again with nothing tied on. Reel slowly as the twist will work its way down the line and get worse as you near the end. You can eliminate some of the line twist by manually closing the bail on your spinning reel prior to reeling, using a quality swivel a foot or more above your soft plastic baits that may spin and allowing your lure to hang a rod length under your rod tip and allowing it to spin every few casts.

I tie my own, but I quit using them on my walking baits as the added drag subdues the action I like to impart. Some guys like that side effect, I don't. BTW, you can add a feathered treble to just about any other hard bait. I like them the best on jerkbaits and suspending cranks. I recently added one to a wake bait with good success when I paused it for a few seconds mid retrieve.

You can remove coils a number of ways. The first one is for mono only and that is to remove the spool and let it soak in warm water. The second works for both mono and fluoro, but I don't recommend it as it weakens the lb. test, IMO. Tie the tag end to a stationary object and walk off 30-40yrds. of line. Grab the line at that point and continue walking away, stretching the line. The mono will spring back to its original length, but the fluoro will stay stretched out. Two things you can do for line twist. The first is to remove everything from the end of the line and let 15-30yrds of line trail behind a slow moving boat. The other is to walk off a short section of line 15-20yrds) over your lawn, again with everything removed. Close the bail by hand, point the rod tip to the grass and reel slowly. You may need to do this a couple of times. There are other ways I've heard of that do work, but these are the easiest I know.

Update So I checked out the transducer cable and there are no kinks, or cuts in it and everything looks as it should, but the display is stuck on simulator mode and I can't find any information on how to turn it off. Anyone with this unit that can help me out. I have a Hook2 triple shot mounted in back and this one mounted to the trolling motor. I know my home lake fairly well and can do without the front unit, but I travel to different lakes throughout the season and really need a working unit up front. Should I just contact Humminbird?

I'm kind of surprised that there are a number of responses so far that don't include some type of topwater? I'm sure they are an option for those guys, they likely have one ready to tie on. I also noticed a lot of soft plastics included, some exclusively. That strikes me as a little counter productive when first starting out, unless you know where the bass are. I don't consider tossing a drop-shot, shakey head, or Ned until I've found fish, either on my graph or by using one of the search baits I listed.

Great idea for both lipless and blade baits. Who makes/distributes them?

Seriously, if you were having a tough day and missing fish, I'd consider doing something different. If you're missing hooking up on one of ten bites, just keep fishing. On the other hand if after 25 fish, things changed and then you weren't hooking up, change something. Personally, I'd downsize to a Ned, or go to a fast, bottom contact presentation looking for a reaction. Using 6lb. line, I'd opt for a 1/4oz. blade bait stroked off the bottom.

As far as pre-rigged rods go, What is always on your deck, or in your locker during the summer. Although I normally have more than five rods laid out on my deck ready to go, these five (actually six) are constants throughout the summer; #1.......C-Rig, I'm a deep water, summer fishing junkie and this is my favorite presentation. I can work my way down or up a drop, or parallel a deep weed line and be confident that if there are fish holding close to bottom, I'll get bit. #2.......Spinnerbait, Specifically a 1/2oz short arm single willow blade. I can fish it throughout the water column presenting it to suspended fish if needed #3........Flipping Jig, Again, I go heavier than many anglers and adjust my trailer to regulate fall rate. Using an arkie style, it can also be stroked off the bottom, or dragged slowly with occasional hops. #4........Lipless Crank, I prefer a heavy one knocker as I can work it in a yo-yo fashion, which is my #1 presentation in deep water, or rip it off the tops of submerged weeds. #5&6...Square bills, for targeting docks I have two identical ones tuned to run right and left on 15# fluoro. one for each side of a dock or slip and I direct tie and constantlly check the last few feet for line/knot wear.

Sharpen single hooks and sharpen, or replace trebles. Something I've done when it seems like I'm having trouble keeping them hooked is to set the hook a second time. Sometimes, you just don't get that hook point in them past the barb on your original hookset. Don't give them slack line, just reel down and give a quick half sweep. I began doing that years ago with muskie and pike and it stayed with me.

Uhhhhh.................................... Nah, I'll leave it alone.

Name one modification that you make to a certain lure other than changing out the hooks, or 'O'rings that you feel actually makes that lure more productive. For me, it's adding a couple of suspend dots to the tail end of my Zara Spooks. With the tail sitting lower during pauses, I'm certain I get that rear hook into short, or hesitant striking fish. I tried a feathered treble years ago, but it added drag to the tail when working the lure.

Thanks Dog. The wife is heading up with me, but won’t be fishing, so she’ll be alone. I normally head out around 4:00 AM and get back around 10:00. She’ll only have been up a couple of hours, so she’s okay with it. Adding 1.5hrs of driving time each way wouldn’t be worth the effort. There are a couple of good Muskie and LM lakes close by, so I’ll stick with them this year, but I’ll keep the ones you mentioned in mind for next year.

Jig/RageTail Craw trailer 10in.-12in. worms on a C-rig 1/2oz RedEye Shad I have been catching fish on topwater and spinnerbaits at night, but those three produce then, too.

I'll be heading up to the northwest section of Wisconsin at the end of the month. Polk county to be specific, and I'm looking to get into some smallmouth action. Anyone know of a lake, or river that has numbers of them? Upper Turtle lake is the only one in the immediate area where I've actually caught one. Many of the lakes within 30mi. of there don't even list smallies in their descriptions. Apple River shows potential, but they are a prime forage for the musky there.

They've already caught the big one, you. If you like them, the fish should like them, right? Clear water, dirty water, main forage of blueback herring, doesn't matter.

AS far as soft plastics go, I compare them to fishing live bait (cost wise). I don't even know what a dozen Canadian crawlers costs, but they're only good for one fish each and you can get more than one fish from a plastic bait. As far as cost per fish goes, unless you put hash marks on your hard baits (similar to what they used to do with their six guns back in the day), you'll never know the cost per fish until you loose it, or break it.

Save yourself the time and effort. Find yourself a used Tracker. You can get one fairly cheap as the resale value is somewhere around the water level of an old toilet. They have two compartments on either side of the livewell that are made to hold thos plano boxes and plenty of storage under the front deck. The rod locker can double as a storage space and the live well can hold a ton of plastics to balance things out. Ask me how I know and I'll send pictures.

C-Rig nuff said.

With a light power rod, your options are limited. You really don't have enough rod for presenting a top water with the exception of something with small, light wire hooks. A 1/4oz lipless, or blade bait should get the job done. They will not only cast far, but will stay in the strike zone better than a jig, or tail spinner. They can be fished with a yo yo style retrieve to get to the bigger fish below those busting on top, or run just under the surface for the surface feeders.

In your situation, you would have been better off easing up pressure on the fish once it got into the weeds. There was a better chance that the fish would swim back out of the weeds vs. you muscling her out. By easing up, I don't mean giving her slack, just keeping light tension and line when necessary. This tactic works well for fish that get tied up in brush, too. Keeping the fish out of the cover is your first priority, getting it out and to you is your second. You should have a plan on how to do both. The right equipment can accomplish the first...............What's your Plan B?

I am a tackle junkie and am starting a support group. Trust me when I say that you have a long way to go before being considered for admission. I have 14 of those 3700 style boxes that are overflowing along with literally 100lbs of soft plastics a buzzbait box and two spinnerbait boxes that I keep in the boat or my truck for every outing. I don't want to be caught without a color, or bait style. Of those boxes, I have one filled with what I call my favorites. There are days it's the only box I open. I includes two different styles of cranks that run at different depths along with two suspending ones (8) baits, two Spooks, two lipless cranks, two blade baits, a few jigs (all arkie style in different weights), two in-line spinners, one in-line buzzbait, a floating and a suspending jerkbait and two hollow body frogs. That thing is stuffed, but what I have in it will cover most conditions I may face.