singingdog

Thanks. I was worried about it being harder to spin, but I don't notice a difference when testing them side-by-side with the clevised spinners I have made.

Thanks. It's a .51 wire, so it will probably stand-up for awhile. Time to order some clevises I guess.

OK, this is for you lure makers. I have been making my own in-line spinners for musky. I ran out of the right size clevis (clevii?) and built one with the blade mounted straight on the wire. It seems to work just fine...spins as easily as the ones I that I have built with a clevis. Is there a reason that no-one builds them this way? If they work just as well, it seems like a way to skip a finicky piece, and a step in the lure-making process.

A few things make ripping much easier: -thin diameter superline. -the right jighead. -the right weight Super thin braid, like 10lb PowerPro will cut through lots of weeds. The lack of stretch allows you to "snap" the jig off the weeds easier If the jig is too heavy, it will bury in the weeds too deep and make it difficult to rip. I like a jig that has just enough weight to just settle into the weeds, but doesn't plunge deep. The jighead is IMHO the most important factor. The upper jighead, with the line-tie right at the nose, is designed for ripping. When you pull on it, the jig is pulled nose-up through the weeds with very little snagging. The bottom jighead, with the line-tie on the top, levers nose-down into the weeds when you pull on it. The bottom jighead is great for open water and vertical jigging, but will snag way more when trying to rip. For ripping, a ball-head jig would work better than the bottom jig.

My wrist is killing me from burning big bucktail spinners for a couple of days. When I look back at all the musky I have caught over the past few years, both targetting them and not targetting them, I am sure that I have caught more musky on "regular" lures than on specialised musky lures. Today, I spent a couple of hours tossing big spinners and plastic swimbaits. When I finally switched to a 1/2 oz flipping jig with a big grub trailer, I hooked up almost immediatly. I have caught a bunch of other musky on bass spinnerbaits and walleye cranks. Anybody else have the same experience? Should I just forget those huge, wrist straining musky lures and keep tossing bass lures?

Yep, crankbaits are the crack of bass fishing....sooo many colours, sooo many depths, soooo many different wiggles. I ventured a short way down that road last year only to discover the one-ton jighead.

As long as they aren't fishing beds, and aren't keeping them, then there isn't any harm. If they are keeping bass, then they should get the book tossed at them. Ontario still has the most stunted bass season in N. America, for no apparent reason.

We got on a good speck/laker lake yesterday. I had caught a 21" speck there last week and wanted to get back and try again before the water got too warm. My finder was reading 67-68 degrees. I was worried that the specks would have gone deep, but they were still up against shore, in shallow water adjacent to deep drop offs. They were doing that "swipe" thing that specks and splake sometimes do: a spoon would get tapped 3 or 4 times, but no hook-up. I watched one speck take 3 passes on a spoon as I reeled it in, hitting it with it's head but not biting it. It was going to be one of those speck days: looking for the pattern that would finally get them hitting. We decided to try the other shoreline, so I tossed a small countdown rapala behind the yak and started paddling across, flatlining the rapala with no real hope of hooking up. As soon as I was over 40' of water, BAM! Rod bent all the way over and I'm fighting a 21" laker. It's just inside the slot, so I release it, thinking "that's odd, I thought they would be much deeper at these water temps." No more than 5 minutes later, BAM! Another nice laker, right in the slot limit. The lure is no more than 7' deep, over 40-50' of featureless water: no humps, no structure. The rest of the day went that way. I had 8 lakers, all right in the slot, most over 40-60' of water (the exception was one that hit in about 8' of water), hitting a plug that was running about 7' deep. These fish were super-aggressive, hitting hard and fighting all the way to the boat and then some. My guess is that the surface water is warm, but only about 2-3' down the water is back down to 60 degrees. We watched another boat trolling deep through the same water with no hook-ups at all. We never did figure out the speck bite. I threw the tackle box at them with no hook-ups. Ah well, that's speck fishing.

Surface temps on Haliburton area lakes have increased almost 10 degress F since last weekend: 68-70 degrees last night and this morning. Still not a lot of weed growth for the fish to key on, but it's starting to develop.

I find it odd that that they would be selling live bait, then giving you a hard time about using it. Your right about customer service....it's easy, it's cheap, and it's the only thing a small tackle shop has going for it.

Well, I'm not a UL purist I guess. I use a UL rod because it throws small stuff well and does a good job of protecting light line. I more interested in a fish-catching experience than an ultralight experience

230 yds of 6lb test. I would go as low as a 1500 series, but not lower. Last week was a good example of the need for a larger reel. The brook trout were hitting right against shore, then heading for deeper water right under the boat. Even with a larger reel, it's a race to take line up fast enough to get a good hookset in those conditions.

I have been on 2 walleye lakes this weekend. Water temps are about 56 degrees, there is virtually no green weed growth yet. Both of these lakes normally have beautiful weedbeds in about 10-15' of water, but it just hasn't started on either lake. There is also very little current on the streams coming into these lakes. Trent/Severn is holding water back in pretty much all our lakes, putting a big dent on the 'eye spawn here. So, for you walleye masters, what would you try? I know locating fish will be the first step....I just am not sure where to start in these conditions.

I love to fish UL rods, have no use for UL reels. The small spool limits both casting and fish fighting capability with no obvious payback: most UL reels can't take up line fast enough to get a good hookset on a fish that is headed toward you. I use a 2500 on my UL rod.

Depends on water temps. On tuesday, both brookies and lakers were in 3-10' of water, with temps in the 58-60 degree range. Brookies will stay shallow right up to mid 60's.

Lots of splake fishing here. Like folks said, think like a speck and you should be good. My magic lure is size 7 countdown Rapala in Brook trout pattern. One other thing: look for warmer water. A few days ago, I fished a lake really hard for several hours with a few half-hearted hits. I found a bay where the water was a few degrees warmer and the brookies were hitting as aggressivly as smallmouth, chasing down lures from 20' away in bright sunshine. I have experienced the same thing with splake. A couple of degrees is all it takes.

They haven't been bad here at all. I have been swarmed, but not bitten. Either they are going to be late, or they aren't going to be bad this year.

Stutter

Don't tell anybody about those Nories tailspins...they don't catch lakers, or eyes, or bass or.....

On one hand I hear what you are saying. On the other hand, you knowingly bought land that shares a border (the lakefront) with public space (the lake). It's a little like buying a place that borders a public park, then getting upset that folks are playing baseball right outside your yard. My property borders a snowmobile trail on an old railbed. I really wish that those folks would stop snowmobiling right past my place at all hours of the night, but I knew what I was getting into when I bought the place.

That's what I usually figure, but I am having very little luck. 58 degree water, showing lots of fish at 7-10' deep, throwing all the usual presentations at them but no takers. Any tips?

What lake were you fishing? I'm finding the same thing....fish suspended all over the place from 7' right to the bottom.

Yes, the Temagami system - along with every other river system that I know of - is very low. A low snowpack, fast early melt and virtually no rain in March and April have reduced levels to record lows on many systems. I have been updating water levels on a whitewater site for about 15 years and have never seen levels like this.

Nice spinners. Just a warning: you have started down a dangerous path....get out now if you plan on getting out at all.

So...you are saying to go with a dual beam? Why?