Burning Babies

It's called intonation. It is a function of string length (adjustable at the bridge) and fret placement. A properly set up guitar will have very good, but not perfect, intonation. To get perfect intonation, the nut must also be modified to compensate for the stretching of the strings as you fret them. Replacement of a traditional nut with a compensated one, like the Buzz Feiten tuning system addresses that issue.

I'm surprised you guys have had problems with Quantum Energy. Mine have been very reliable (both spinning and baitcasting) - except that the casting real likes to fall off my BPS rod .

IMO the best deal in baitcasting is the Bass Pro Shops extreme combo. $100 right now for a great rod and good reel. I liked the higher end Quantum Irons too, but most of them have been out of production for a long time.

The "best bait" is going to vary wildly from season to season, and even day-to-day. For example, I caught bass on spinnerbaits all week, only to have to switch to a crankbait on Friday to catch anything. I really like Rapala minnows in spring for bass, although I fish a lot of tubes, sluggos, and a few other options then as well.

Bass Pro Shops sells "The Balancer". It's kind of bulky, but worked ok on a 7' medium spinning rod for me. I don't know how it would work on a 13'. edit - I can't seem to get a link to work. It's available under "rod and real accessories" for $7.

Generally, Ifor your first rod, medium. For your second, medium-heavy. From your initial species list, unless you are way more interested in the big pike, I'd stick to that order. You are faced with a tradeoff. The medium action rod is a far better tool for fishing light baits like light jig and minnow combos for walleye, light tube jigs for bass, or smaller crankbaits and minnow baits. Its also more fun to catch smaller fish on. A medium heavy rod provides more backbone to toss bigger baits (eg heavier bass jigs, spinnerbaits, on into bigger pike baits) and to fight larger fish, but doesn't load well with lighter baits, making casting difficult (working them correctly as well, imo).

I wasn't arguing that a baitcaster isn't a better tool for accurate casting overall, I was stating that I personally am more accurate with a spinning rod, and that they are more accurate tools than they get credit for being. I'll happily skip a bait across the water and put it within inches of a target for you with spinning tackle.

Maybe the way you do it.

FYI, casting length can be adjusted in mid cast with spinning gear as well (by feathering the spool), although it takes more practice. I'm probably more accurate with spinning gear than casting.

Fair enough, but it sounds like they already encouraged removing as many pike as possible, without success. It isn't surprising - research in Minnesota suggested encouraging removing small pike couldn't even improve size structure.

I'm not aware of any documented cases where an invasive species has been eradicated through angling. Its simply too inefficient, and it only takes a couple fish to repopulate. Rotenone has a fairly short active window before it becomes inert (a day or two I think), and can also be neutralized by potassium permanganate or several other compounds. They aren't going to be poisoning any other systems.

I think it's a solid setup. He's right about fireline not stretching, but that's mostly a plus in my book - it gives great sensitivity and hooksets. I don't see how he thinks it is a problem in weeds at all, and when it comes to getting hung up in rocks, the biggest problem I have is that it is really hard to break off, unless you use a mono leader. Fireline also doesn't twist like mono can (make sure you put the mono on the right way, btw), and casts like a dream. On the other hand, mono's stretch is pretty forgiving, and you don't have to worry about things like backing with it, so maybe it's a good place to start. Personally, I think you should stick with 10 lb test, regardless of whether you use mono or a superline - you can put a lot of pressure on a fish with that. Just don't toss a bait directly into a brushpile with it and you'll be fine. A medium action spinning rod is not designed to handle the pressure of someone reefing on it with 20 lb no-stretch line.

Rotenone will kill trout. Their objective seems not so much to improve the trout fishing (although I'm sure they would like that) as to eradicate an invasive predator. And LOL at talapia being a "flashy menu topper".

Nice. I've beat the hell out of one of those Minn Kota Enduras for five years, and it still runs like new.

Personally, I think that the best all round beginner rod is a 6'6" medium action spinning combo. I'd recommend rigging it with 10 lb fireline (for which you will need mono backing). It will handle most applications from panfishing through bass and walleye. I'd stick to this rig for a while, before graduating to baitcasting gear.

That would be great Michael. Shoot me a PM if you head up.

Thanks Mart. I'll check that out soon. I'm at work now, so gotta go.

Thanks for the reply Michael. I have contacted Adventure Maps, and he can't do business by credit card, so ordering from there is out anyway. I am certainly interested in any advice you can give me. One caveat is that I only have a 14' semi v and 15 hp outboard, so I likely won't be bobbing around in the main lake. I will be staying at the Lumina Resort for a couple days and will probably work the bay it is situated on. I also may fish the southern arm after I move to my aunt and uncle's place later that week. I'm happy to try other areas, as long as I can get to them safely.

Thanks. I'd never come across that before. However, I can't seem to find any lake contour lines / bathymetric information on that site, which is what I'm looking for.

I'm going to be fishing around Muskoka / Bracebridge on the Week of Sept 23. I am wondering if it is easy to find lake maps in the local bait stores. I'm looking to fish Lake Vernon and Lake of Bays, plus possibly Three Mile or Woods Lake. Alternatively, I'd be willing to order them, but I'm concerned about shipping time (particularly with customs, as I live in Ohio). Adventure Fishing Maps seems the best prospect for aquiring them - does anyone have experience with these guys? Any suggestions re acquiring these maps would be appreciated.

My go-to night bait for bass is a 1/2 oz spinnerbait with a big thumper blade and trailer. I have had success on most lures at night, although I don't like baits I can't keep in constant contact with.

It looks to me like a small tigerfish of some kind, from Africa.

Those pier boys are excellent. I use them mostly for picking bass off specific pieces of cover. As far as a top bait goes, for all species combined, I would have to go with a jig. For bass (90% of my fishing), it would be a dead heat between a spinnerbait and a tube jig.

I keep them till they get too beat up, and then throw them in the garbage.

Hi. My name's Chris. I'm planning on taking my first vacation in about four years late this month, fishing around the Bracebridge area. I only have a 14' semi-v boat (with a 15 hp outboard), so I'd like to find some smaller water to fish (maybe between 100 and 1000 acres). I'm mostly looking for largemouth and smallmouth bass opportunities, but I'd like to try and hook into some northern pike and walleye as well. I'm more than happy to go a little off the beaten path, as long as I can drive an SUV in. Any recommendations would be much appreciated, and water color/quality/depth/etc info would be useful as well. By way of introduction, I have just finished a MS studying saugeye stocking in Ohio reservoirs, and am currently a research technician at Ohio State University. I've been an avid bass fisherman for twenty years, and have some experiece fishing for a range of other species. This year I haven't been out much, so I can't provide much of a fishing report (not that this will be particularly useful to you guys). I fished a small, heavily fished lake in Columbus last week when we were getting a lot of rain, and managed to catch six bass. Most came off the deep edge of a sparse weedline, in maybe six feet of water, fishing a light version of a carolina rig. Mostly dinks, but one 20" fish. All caught and released. Anyway, pleased to meet you.