ww2farmer

That is how I feel as well.

The fast fall gets a reaction bite. No need to talk anymore about it, move along.

Same story here in WNY, this April has been cold, wet, damp, and did I mention cold? It's a double kick in the you know what for me. Not much money to be made as a farmer looking out the window watching dirt dry, and we can't fix what we have not used/broke yet. The guys at the shop are starting to go stir crazy. Can't even pass the time fishing because the winds blowing 100mph every day. That, and the cold temps, and daily rains make it down right not enjoyable. When I have been able to get out, I have caught fish, it's not on fire, but enough to keep you awake, starting slow, just like every thing else this year. I doubt I'll get my 120+ trips to the local lake this year.

Local Gander here had Baby Rage Craws and Rage Shads in the clearance bin, good colors too, like green pumpkin and watermelon red. I would be willing to bet my house that SK is not discontinueing them, but rather Gander blowing out over stocked items. Notice the word HAD in the first sentance.

I am on here less because #1 I am busy at work getting ready for when the weather finally does break, and #2, the ice is gone and in my spare time I would rather fish then sit in front of the computer.

When dock fishing, that fish has to be comming out from under the dock and to you almost the instant you set the hook. If you give them any room to move, they will go where you can't get them and game over. IMHO docks are no place for wimpy tackle, MH or H powered rods, braided line or heavy fluorocarbon are a must. Light line and underpowerd rods lead to heart ache around docks. I use a MH spinning rod with 30 lb braid to skip light weight baits, weightless plastics and other smallish stuff, and a MH or H casting rod with 17 lb fluorocarbon or 50 lb braid to pitch, flip, or skip jigs, t-rigs, frogs, etc..... I would dump the circle hook too. Get a hook that you can set hard, because the hard hook set is part of getting that fish turned and heading out.

Cool...............I look forward to seeing you on an episode of Hoarders in a few years. j/k LOL.

BPS charges $10.99 for the 25 pack, which comes to about .43 a tube, the 10 packs are $3.99 or .39 a tube for those math impaired. .04 more a tube might not be a big deal, but I just find it funny BPS charges MORE to buy them in bigger packs. With just about every one else it's the opposite.

7' M power, fast action St Croix LTB "Teaser", Citica 201E, spooled with 20lb braid, and a 5' 14lb fluorocarbon leader. The fast action rod and braid are nessacary, IMHO, for ripping the bait free from weeds cleanly, which is how I fish lipless cranks about 90% of the time here. Often I tie direct to the braid, but this time of year pike and bass roam the same areas, so the fluoro helps me get my bait back more times than not.

Depending on the year, I have seen LM on beds as early as late April, and/or as late as July. Last year was one of those early years, seen beds the last week of April, and the hight of bedding activity was early to mid May. This year things are moving along slower, seems "normal" so far. Lake has only been ice free for a week or so, dark bottom areas are still in the high 40's/low 50's with a few bass just starting to show up. In a "normal" year I'll see the first beds around the first week of May, with the rest of the month seeing alot of activity lasting into early June. You'll even see some late spawners in a "normal" year into late June.

Thats the way every one should dress while bass fishing.

And BTW they stopped making the 3" dingers, that was the last straw.

The F2 Dingers are way stiffer then the old LPT Dingers. I am not buying any more, and infact I am probably done with Yum altogether. Shame, they had some great stuff and ruined it.

Started the season off on sunday with engine trouble on my boat that ruined the trip, it's going to the shop next tuesday. And today my buddy and I got blown off the water by 40 MPH winds and a blizzard that came out of no where in his boat. Hey it can only get better from here.

Beaver, tube, big jig.

Daiwa Exceler. They are IMHO the best sub $100 spinning reel you can buy, and Daiwa still gives you a spare spool, Shimano does not. I own a few and they have seen a ton of use and abuse. With little done to them but basic maint. and they are still running like new.

I don't agree with that totaly, I get alot of milage out of $100 reels,and while not all $100 reels are equal (or worth $100 IMHO), the better ones will last and perform well with basic maint. There is nothing I can't do with a Citica that a $200+ Fuego did better for me. In fact with reels the further I got from the $100-$125 range the more dissapointed I got with what I was getting for my money, but then again I am not into looks, fancy paint,super light weight, bling on a reel, etc...... With rods it's just the oposite, I have generaly been very satisfied with each higher grade of rod I buy, especialy in the $100-$200 range. As a St Croix guy, the step up from SCII rods (Mojo's, Triumphs, Premeirs) to an Avid is very noticable, while the step from an Avid to a LT is less so, it's not so dissapointing that I am unsatisfied with the LT's the way I was with some $200+ reels I have owned.

I bought a bunch of both. I have always been a big Strike King guy, but those Xcalibers looked too good to pass up. On top of that I have also added some of the new Luck E Strike RC's as well. I got square bills comming out my ears now. Which is good, cause I use them. And was using them before the sudden spike in popularity.

Thank god BR is back, combined with this terrible WNY weather we have had for the last 2 weeks, BR being gone for a few days almost put me over the edge.

Like every one I have caught bass on small lures while panfishing, but when targeting bass on small stuff I have caught a lot of fish on a Zoom tiny flukes, and 3" senkos drop shotted. Not just dinks either. Most of my 5+ lb smallmouth have been caught on various 3" inch Gulp baits. And some times every thing in the lake is biting 1/8 oz. spinnerbaits and crankbaits.

I bought some grass pigs and devils spears. Need to have some open water to try them on though. This winter refuses to end.

I always tried to make sure that I left a good supply of "ABC" worms and other baits on the deck of the boat each time we came in. It kept the questions down to a minimum. They were never close to what we actually used..... But it was another part of the game. I don't play those games either. I don't care if any one see's, or knows what I got tied on. However I am not telling any one where I caught them, and what caught them in that spot.

Guys that usually don't do very well in tournaments asking every one at the weigh in " What did you catch them on? What color were you using?" What I like to call the never will get it crowd.

The mini series 3 is also pretty good :-X

What about the days where the barometer is falling, wind is picking up, and clouds are rolling in and you can only get bit flipping tight to cover or finessing them, or the high pressure, flat calm, blue bird sky days when they are chasing crankbaits back to the boat. Those situations don't go by the "book" and happen all the time but they do happen. Why?? To quote an old wise NYbasser " Why??.............because!!" We often time over analize this stuff to the point of paralisis, yes it helps to know that often time during a frontal passage bass become more active, but it's not set in stone, you just have to go fishing and figure it out. I don't know how many times I have had a good day of fishing that would have been poor if I did things by the "book". I know guys that won't even pick up a moving bait if it's sunny out, even if they have pitched/flipped every dock, grass line, and weed hole on the lake and caught little to nothing. They keep beating there heads against the wall, same guys will toss a spinner bait all day if the winds blowing, catching or not.