ww2farmer

Not have anything break, blow up, sink, keep myself and my gear out of the lake, and keep as much money in my pocket as possible.

I don't care what the weather is doing, I'll fish in rain/sleet/snow, but I need soft water to do it. My biggest fish of 2011 came in late October of that year with snow on the ground in the morning, and flurries in the air all afternoon.

Cool, maybe Buffalo and/or Rochester will get one. Kind of lean around here for that stuff. The Gander Mtn. in Henrietta is bad, the Dicks pretty much right across the road in Marketplace Mall is ok, probably the best one in the Rochester area. In and around Buffalo the Gander in North Tonowanda is much better than the Henrietta store, and the Dicks in Galleria Mall is ok, but like the Rochester area the rest of the Dicks are pretty lame. BPS is an hour and a half drive for me, and frankly, unless I am bored, or have another reason to go that way, I don't really care much for it. I have been in other BPS's in other cities and the one in Auburn has been the worst.

I would love to see 40's and rain. My lake is still locked up end to end, side to side with ice. And it's been below freezing and snowing almost all week, and will be for another week according to the forecast. Last year at this time it was in the 70's and I had been on the water for 2 weeks already. March 12th to be exact, I would be surprised to be out there by April 12th this year. Such is life in WNY. I fully expect to not see another "early" spring like we had last year for a good long time.............if ever. It seems most years it's late March, early April, so were kind of right on track, if not a little behind. In the 6 previous years I have had my boat my first days on the water were: 2007: April 21st 2008: April: 4th 2009: March 26th 2010 March 24th 2011: April 6th 2012: March 12th

There are several different feels to a spinnerbait bite. Sometimes they hit it so hard it stops the bait dead and just about rips the rod out of your hands, sometimes they come up from behind it and knock slack into your line as they mouth it and swim towards you, sometimes it's just a tick and the bait feels "funny", and probably 50 other ways that I can't quite explain.

Of all the things I worry about, lead is wayyyyyyy way down there.

Being a new rod, I would send it back. There is no need to screw around with something that's not right from the get go.

6th sense sinker stops.......works, and cheap.

I am not a spot sitter, at least not on bank cover like laydowns or docks. I'll sit on something offshore for a little while. When I fish laydowns, docks, weed-lines, mats, etc.... I am more of a pass maker. I'll fish a pass doing one thing, if it doesn't work too well, but I know it's a good stretch, I'll turn around and make another pass doing something else. I pick apart the stuff I am fishing pretty good, trying not to leave any stone unturned.

Now that's bed fishing.

Both....At times when I have been low on beads, I have just put a bobber stop between the swivel/knot and the sinker.

I run the stock SK hooks if I am running low on replacements, but if I have replacements around they get changed, and I won't tournament fish with a SK bait that has not had it's hooks changed. To the OP...I use the Mustad KVD 1x strong 2x short, Elite triple grips on my RES's. I stick with the stock size on the 1/2 oz...#4's I think.

I use the round the most. And 3/8's or 1/2 oz. is about the only size I use. Some exceptions...Bubba shotting, I use a tungsten worm weight. slid on the tag end, pointy end UP, a bead, then a split ring or swivel tied to the end to keep it from sliding off. And I use the pencil shaped ones when I am dragging a drop shot in rocks , they hang up less

I really like the way my Curado 51e's look on my St Croix Legend Tournaments.

He is one of the few guys who's schtick actually seems genuine and funny to me, not to mention the dude can lay the wood to the fish. So I like him. I also like how his shows will show you if things sucked and the train came off the track.

Every lake I fish is one giant "community hole". Pick a spot to get in the merry go round, and fish flawlessly.

That's what I use too. One pair of $2 scissors lasts all season.......that is in normal peoples hands. In my case, I buy several. I hide two or three pairs some where in the boat where I will never find them again, throw two pairs in the lake because that's where they usually end up, and still have a couple pairs left over to use.

I don't do the whole "get a limit first than upgrade" thing either. The only time I go looking for keepers is, after 7 + hours of stinking up the place to save a little face.

I have fished about every 4"-7" straight tailed worm on the market on a shaky head, and looking back at the results...........what ever one you pick will work fine.

I throw three different ones, for three completely different reasons. When I am really working them hard and fast, or in a little deeper water, I like the GYCB D-shad. It's a heavier salted bait, sinks faster, and doesn't need any additional weight added to the hook. When I am dead-sticking one, I like the SK Caffeine shad, I like the wiggle on the fall it has. When I am skipping them under docks/brush, or fishing super shallow I use the Zoom super fluke. Color choice also depends on what I am doing. Often when I am working them aggressively I like a vivid color, like bubble gum, even in clear water. I see pink....jerk, jerk pause, I see pink, jerk , pause.........I don't see pink.........set the hook. When dead sticking, or they are just swiping at a bright colored one, I go with the green pumpkins, watermelons, etc.....

I have not had that problem, were both the weight transfer balls "back up front"? It will sit tail down after a cast until the first jerk pulls the nose down and the balls roll back to the front and sit in there little spot, then the bait suspends with a slight nose down angle, which is what I want. Every jerkbait with a weight transfer system I have ever had will do that. Of the three Jerkbaits I carry around the Lucky Strike gets the nod from ice out till high 40's, low 50ish water temps, then I move to a more aggressive jerkbait. Used to X-raps, this year it will be the SK KVD's. A real sleeper bait that I found works great is the Excailiber EEshad. Not many people talk about them, but I like them as an in-between type bait, not in as cold water as the STX, but not quite in turbo jerk mode yet like the X-rap. Plus I find it, for some reason, to attract a little bigger bite.

A floating jerkbait twitched on top and then deadsticked is a pretty effective cold water tw bait.

Ahhh yes, the sage wisdom of the Dicks employee.......tis to be taken with many a grain of salt. They are wizard like.

I don't target them, they target me. I have landed pike up to 15lbs on standard bass gear with no problems.

He's going to want to hope people's memory's are short when he goes to sell that boat at the end of the season.