ww2farmer

I have two scales, an equalizer brand tournament scale, and a handheld Berkley digital scale. Fish weigh the same on both scales. One is $20, the other is $300. I have checked the $300 equalizer against known weights of various products, and it accurately weighs them. I find that guys who complain about scales either #1..... Don't know how to use a scale, or #2.......are disappointed when all the fish they think should weigh 5-7 pounds actually weigh three and a half, so it must be the scales fault. Any fool who is not a legitimate record hunter who gets so anal about certifying, calibrating to the Nth degree, or worrying about a few 100th's of a pound on a hand held scale for recreational fishing is a moron. If a scale is obviously off, like saying a 12" fish weighs 5 lbs, chances are you have a bad scale.

I only have one rod with micro guides, and that rods guides are not really as small as some of the other rods with micros that I have seen. The rod I have is a St. Croix Rage, I like it, but it's not because of the guides.....I just in general like the rod.

Because I like it, I want to, and I am pretty good at it.

I prefer the 201D's over the 201E's in both the Citica and Curado, but I like the 51E better than the 101D Curado.

OK we have winners for the month of April. Clayton86 with a 4-12 in the SM category, and ww2farmer(aka me) with a 5-11 in the LMB category. Both fish........obviously............are also, so far, our leaders for the year in each. The monthly leader board is wiped clean for today. Good luck May Smallmouth: #1 wnybassman 4lbs 10oz. 5-15-13 #2 wnybassman 4lbs 8oz. 5-10-13 #3 rmcguirk 4lbs 2oz. 5-5-13 #4 ww2farmer 4lbs 0 oz. 5-5-13 May Largemouth #1 wnybassman 5lbs 13oz. 5-8-13 #2 ww2farmer 5lbs 0 oz. 5-5-13 #3 wnybassman 4lbs 10 oz. 5-5-13

Yikes!!!! That sucks. If my recent history is any guide, I just had a trip ruined last week by a pike bite on my thumb that needed a trip to the ER for attention, then the next time out after that I spanked them. Your due.

Nice! Looks like a great day of fishing, and a great day of giving back to the vets.

It will just look like that one in 3 days.

I tossed a 4" sick fish all morning. Bass were having none of it, but Pike liked them. I was tossing them on a VMC "Ike approved" swimbait hook, 5/0, 1/4 oz. IMHO it was just right for that bait. Durability was excellent as far as I am concerned. 5 pike on one plastic bait, and it's still usable, if five of them can't rip it up, it will last a good long while when bass actually start biting the thing. I found it swam at slow speeds very well. I like it, I will fish them some more and see what happens when bass want to play.

I went to where fish were.

Best five from 9 am - 3pm .............0 lbs, and the only thing I did catch all morning had teeth. Best five from 3pm till 7 pm...............5-11, 5-2, 4-6,4-1,3-12. Not to mention 10 more over three lbs, and a handful of small keepers.

The 5-2 just...............because. LOL

Two 5lbers today to raise the bar, first was a 5-2, second was a 5-11. Both caught today, 4-28-13, on Silver Lake Times running out for april boys, and so far this is a two horse race. Clayton86 for SMB, and little old me for LMB.

I keep it simple, jigs/plastics = browns/greens in clear water, some form of purple and/or black in stained water. Hard baits = translucent or natural colors in clear water, brighter colors with lots of chart., blue, or orange in them in stained.

I K.I.S.S. when it comes to bullet weights. I have 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 3/4, and 1 oz. in my box. I tend to use the 1/8-3/8 for shallow water, and/or moderate to light cover, and with small baits. 1/4-1/2 for GP work. 3/8-1 oz. for deep water, heavy cover, when I want a fast fall for a reaction bite, and punching.

Blow up.................one thousand one...............swing.

I AM talking about smallmouth. I have seen it every year for as long as I have had access to bedding smallmouth, on at least four different lakes in this area. They WILL spawn in grass, providing there is a hard bottom. It's not un-common for me to be in thick milfoil, come across a hole, look down, and low and behold there is a smallmouth in that hole, on a bed.

For 10 years I have been running Napa brand general purpose automotive wheel bearing grease. We get it by the truck load at work, and use it on all our semi's, farm equipment, etc....I have had no problems with it. Never used any "marine" or "waterproof" labeled grease, and you can't convince me that I would have had any better results had I done so. In fact, we had a submersible pump that the manufacture recommended "waterproof" grease for, we greased it with the right amount when we should have, and were constantly having bearings fail in it. Quit putting that in, and just used "regular" grease, and bearing problems went from almost weekly, to.................well we have not had to change them in 3 years since switching. Take that FWIW. That pump runs in pretty harsh conditions too, not just water, but in liquid cow manure as well............good enough to keep a 250 HP pump running trouble free........good enough for my trailer wheel bearings.

If the water is super clear, they will spawn deeper than you can see them. When they move up and are on beds in 2'-5' FOW here, I catch 2-3 lbers shallow, but 4-5 lbers in 10-12' FOW in the same general area.....just deeper. And they WILL spawn in grass, I have seen it many many times.................as long as it's a hard bottom. You pretty much described conditions like my home lake has. One side is steeper and has a lot more rock/gravel, the other side is flatter, with a softer bottom. I see and catch more SM on the steeper/harder bottom side, but I don't rule out the other side. They will use it.....unless it's just totally un-suitable.

Classic pre frontal/storm stuff fore me are reaction baits. This time of year I like lipless cranks, and jerkbaits. As the water warms, it's topwater, spinnerbaits, squarebills, etc...and in summer and or fall, any and everything.Immediate post storm IMHO can be just as good as pre/during the storm. It's the next day, when the clouds have all blown out and the pressure is high that you really have to change and grind it out for either suspended fish or fish that have sucked in tight to cover and are not moving much.

Zoom Horny toad hooks.

I also like the GYCB shad shape worm, gulp leeches, and zoom tiny fluke, but day in day out, my #1 drop shot bait is a 4-5" straight tail worm. Pick a brand, they all work.

I like them all year long as long as the water is above 50 degrees. They are not just for heavy cover. Frogs are my #1 open water topwater bait too.

Same here, or also get bit off by a pike.

In grass, instead of on a shaky head, I will use them with a light t-rig (1/8th oz.) pegged tungsten bullet sinker and light wire 2/0 EWG hook. They slip through much better and I don't get pieces of grass bunched up around the line tie like I do with a jig head. I actually catch more on finesse worms that way than on a shaky head.............at least in grass. I also use them on light c-rigs too.