The Baron

I've not tried either of the two you mentioned. I use Seaguar Blue Label 8#, 10# or 12# and have been very happy with all - thin and relatively soft, but strong and seems to wear well.

I'm late to the party - I was about to start my own thread about GoPro's because I'm in the market for one, but thought I'd do a search first. My #1 reason to get one is the photos - I've got enough pics holding my phone at arms length, while I smear my cheek with fish slime trying to fit the two of us into another photo that looks identical to all the others. I want real hero shots like you @A-Jay and also it's likely just a matter of time until my phone goes in the lake, so I'd rather keep it safely stowed. I was thinking just buy a GP Hero 12 and be done with it, but maybe I'll try to find a lower model for a deal on FB marketplace. See how we like having a GoPro, and then upgrade for there. Q - how do you take photos? With a GP mounted on our console, can I just turn around and hold up a fish and say take a picture, or does the camera run full time and you just grab a pic out of the video?

I've got nothing to add yet, I'm still just perving all y'alls fish photos. lol. Work's been very busy, and any day I could maybe go fishing it's been raining. 😒 But, busy work means a few extra Canadian Pesos in my pocket, everyone here is healthy and our little Sea Bass is ready whenever we are. My son and I are pumped for it, and my daughter has even said she's looking forward to fishing.😁 I just need work and weather to align - so many techniques I want to catch a big ol' bass on first!

I thought our late winter pike season was gonna be on fire. We were out March 8 and water temps were still a bit cool - 40-43F in the back bay - and we caught a couple. Went out two weeks later and max. temp we could find was under 40F. Tried a smaller lake with same result, and caught zero. Now pike is closed until May 4. 😕

I replaced mine last year with pressure treated lumber and boat bunk carpet, bought at a local marine shop. Glued and stapled, was easy to do and the boat slides on easily.

22lbs. is a great day! I tried the VMC crossover rings last year, and was quite happy with them.

So many great photos, guys. 👍🏻 We’re still stuck in winter water temps here. I snuck out today on Lake Ontario, looking for some early pike with the backup plan being the early catch and release bass season. Sadly, the sunshine they promised never came and it was very cool on the water. The surface water temps on the main lake were the same as two weeks ago (35F) and the back bays that were up to 42-43F on March 8 were only 37-38F today after a cold snap last week. We didn’t even try pike fishing. I was going to try a big rock flat area for smallmouth, but with a SE wind the rollers were not to my liking in a small aluminum bass boat. So, we went for a boat ride up the Cataraqui River to have a look at where we’ll be slaying big largemouth in the summer. 😊🤞🏻 So, no fish… but I own a boat and was out on the water for the third time in March. If it was only 20 degrees warmer…

I’ve never really paid much attention to the BM Classic. It got a little of my attention last year, after Gussy won it 🇨🇦. I followed it a bit more this year, because it was too cold to enjoy anything outside myself. I’ve got no baseline to know if these tournaments used to be better, but I found the coverage just what I’d expect - trying to make a non-spectator sport exciting, while bombarding us with ads. Our whole world is like that now - commercialized and awash in sponsors and nonsense. So not a knock against the Classic, I’m just about done with it all. I do agree with the earlier comment that so many of these pro bass fisherman seem like guys you could step on a boat and have a good day with, “average joes” so to speak. I do appreciate that aspect very much, seeing a guy who’s quit his day job to pursue a dream and won it. That’s very cool. So I watched some highlights, but only lasted a short while on the live coverage boredom. I find the controversy over FFS more interesting than the sport itself. lol

Actually, me too. I’ve had some fun banging a squarebill off wood and rocks, but everytime I think I’m gonna throw a crankbait, it turns into digging weeds and I don’t do it for long.

I pretty much sat bolt upright in bed at 4am today, realizing I never once fished a Carolina rig last year. lol. I’ve only fished a Carolina rig a couple times with little success, but got thinking I have a few spots where it could work very well. That ended with me watching “best Carolina rig baits” over my morning coffee. One video concluded a heavily salt impregnated fluke was a great bait to use, which I’d never thought of. So I might try those. The lakes I’m thinking of have both smallmouth and largemouth. Knowing that, what would be the bait you reach for drag on a CR? And while we’re on the topic… what proven fish catching methods do you rarely fish and even almost forget about?

Another busy work week behind, but I’m catching up on my vicarious living. Good luck at the tournament @Bluebasser86! Bring us back lots of big bass photos - it’s all I got right now! 🙃

Update: I ended up getting a Curado DC 201HG for my St. Croix 7'11". Spooled it with 20# Berkley FluoroShield copoly. I've fished the S-Waver 168 a bit and a 13Fishing Glidesdale 185. The Glidesdale is 2.5oz. and does feel a bit heavy for my rod. But, I threw it last week for a couple hours and caught a really good pike which was great. I haven't thrown the S-Waver yet on my longer rod, but I think the St. Croix will be great for baits in its weight rating (1/2 - 2oz). I'm on the hunt for a rod rated a bit heavier - there's a huge fishing show coming up in early April, so thinking I might get a deal there on something about 7'10"-8' rated for 1-4oz -ish. I don't plan to fish anything over 4oz. I'm headed out for pike again today - this mild weather is offering an exceptionally early start to the fishing season. 😎

Yes, I fear this whole glidebait/wakebait interest could cost me a kidney or more. lol

Good tip. I’ll watch out for that problem, @AlabamaSpothunter 👍🏻

My Spro Rats arrived today - a 40 and a 50. These were hard to find, and I got soaked for duty on them because I wanted them ASAP. Adding these to my new plans for this year. 😁

Yes. 😁👍🏻

More nice bass pics - you folks are gonna get me through winter. I got out on Friday, on Lake Ontario. Absolutely crazy to say that about March 8. Air temps were about 55-60F, so we didn’t even need gloves. We were after big spring pike though, so I won’t post pics here (I did in the other species forum). But it sure felt good to be fishing again, especially to feel that thump and have the road load up. We have lots of cold rain this weekend, headed back down to the negatives by end of next week. Hopefully it’ll swing back up and we’ll get out again in April.🤞🏻

That’s me. Big pike in (relatively) shallow water is a lot of fun. But once bass is open, I’m done with pike until maybe late fall when the big girls start to come up again. If we start “accidentally” running into them on a late fall bass fishing trip, I’m happy to switch gears and land a few gators.

We got out on Lake Ontario today in my little Bass Tracker. March 8 and we didn’t even need gloves. Crazy. Water temp about 35-36 on the main lake, up to 42 in the back of the bay. Caught a couple good ones in 6-7ft. Still a bit early, but if it keeps up like this it’s gonna be really good in a few weeks.

@Pat Brown Yeah, buddy! Fingers crossed you stay in the birthday money with that big girl. 😎

I’m going to stick my toe in the swimbait pond this season and am looking for rod/reel advice. I’ll be throwing bigger baits for spring pike, then showing our local bass something different. So far I’ve picked up a R2S S-Waver 168, 13 Fishing Glidesdale 185, Savage Gear 6 3/4” 4D Perch, a 6” Cullshad and an 8” Rapala Peto. I’ll be grabbing a Spro Rat 40 and/or 50 as soon as I can find one. So, I’m looking to throw baits in the 1 1/4 - 3oz -ish range. I already had a St. Croix Bass X 7’11” Heavy/Moderate-Fast rod that’s rated 1/2-2oz., paired with Chronarch 201E 6.5:1. This isn’t labelled as a swimbait rod, but I’m thinking it will work fine for the lighter baits I’ve listed? I also want to add a bit heavier rod. A local shop has a Diawa Tatula 7’3” Swimbait rod, rated for 1-4oz. Would that be a good choice for throwing 1.5-2.5oz. hard baits around docks and other cover? Thought I might pair it with a Tatula 300 reel and 20# Berkley Fluoroshield copoly. I fish small-medium size lakes from a 16ft. aluminum bass boat. Pike up to 10-12# are pretty common, and I could certainly catch bigger. But up here a really big bass is 5-6#, and I’m just as likely to catch a smallmouth that size, as I am a largemouth.

I had the same unit! Rigged up to use in my canoe. It was better than nothing, for sure. But when we got the little bass boat I upgraded to a Garmin Echomap UHD 93sv. It was like going from a musket to an AR-15! lol

Where we fish, 30” pike are fairly common in the spring, 36” is an achievable goal but not an every day occurrence and a 38”+ pike is a real trophy. To catch the really big 40”+ you have to head north - the further, the better and if you arrive in a float plane you’re in the right spot. When summer fishing for bass, it’s usually the 24” and under pike stealing our tackle in shallow water. By the time bass season opens in late June, the big pike have slid back into deep/cold water and have to be targeted by a knowledgeable pike angler (i.e. not me).

My perfect eater size pike is about 4-6#. Smaller and bigger get set free.

I just fillet them like any other fish, then season the fillets and bake them on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Once cooked, the meat will separate at the Y-bones and they’re easily removed. Then I flake the fish and we make fish tacos, or fish burgers. It’s certainly more fiddly than boneless fillets dropped into a frier, but the whole family enjoys the end result. 👍🏻