EC1

Nice musky! Good on you for taking the risk of skunkings to go for the big ones!

Don't find too much of a preference, but since I got a rod that used EVA foam this year, I would say I like foam The matte black really brings out the other colours of the rod Just like cork, there are different grades for foam... And from the responses above, it looks like you guys probably only tried the foam on the very lowest end of the spectrum. Those ones really are mushy, and I'm not too fond of them either. The ones in the higher end stay matte, and keep their shape very well. My rod used a mediocre foam, and went glossy within a couple months of hard use, but once again....Sanding the foam turns it right back into its original condition.

Thanks for sharing! Getting any good sized ones recently? I was surprised the warm weather didn't put them on for a huge feed! The water was pretty close to freezing before monday, and I thought the indian summer would make them way active last night! I was out last night in and around another kawartha lake and did pretty terribly as well. The fish were biting, but refused to put the entire bait into their mouths...resulting in countless blank hooksets.

That thing gives me the goosebumps everytime I look at it....I think I would have given it my hook instead of touching it at all. BTW, when touched, is there a texture to it or no?

Woo! Go Dirk! I`can't believe you're still able to throw topwaters...The water all around feels so cold to the point I didn't think they will hit anything above the water. Anyways, nice job!

trout and pike together? Where were you fishing? Just Kidding. anyways, good job to you. Pictures would be really nice next time

Nice suckers Ultyma! Wonder where all the game fish went in the grand river. Rare to see a sucker report at this time of the year, and to that I congratulate you

Texas rigged would be my choice since the majority of time for me to use a senko would be inside of the weeds. Gamakatsu...Owner..Wide gap for texas.Don't use sub-par hooks or you will face disappointment especially if you hook into nice sized fish. For wacky rigging, I saw these green hooks made by owner that looked pretty interesting! They had a weed guard on each side of the hook.

You are good to set the hook as soon as you feel the fish like you said! Last weekend, I was using a crazy crawler and it was a little bit easier to operate than a Chug Bug at night. I find that you reel in the crazy crawler until you feel weight, and then set the hook!

Be careful when you're going to take apart your reel. Make sure you know where everything goes, or else you will end up making your reel useless. The picture of where each part goes where will be your best friend

LOL that's too funny. Everyone should go and read this.

No theories to help out with you on that. But I think that your dock is sufficient as a "nursery". Rocky bottoms are what smallies like to hide in, and the dock provides shade and an ambush point for the larger bass. Also keeps them out of the sun. You there, my friend will probably have an outstanding year of smallie fishing in a few years

The only thing I hear bad is that they don't come with a spare spool!! That's a huge huge turnoff since the 2500 will probably be very good for different applications. If it had a spare spool, I would have used it for both panfish and bass. On Garry's point, I think this reel might be good though. I bet the carbon fibre isn't what you're exactly used to in the cheap reels. Anyways, time will tell when some people have put their hands on this reel.

Has anyone else also noticed that fish are the best looking when they are still alive? When they're dead, colours fade and they just don't look as nice anymore. But on the other hand, I like my fish, will eat them out of the freezer, and I WILL take the occaisional big fish home.

Shimano Sahara, Pflueger President, Daiwa Exceler. I am confident any one of these three will last you for quite a while. If you do go for something else, go closer to $100 and your reel will last you much longer than those that are cheaper.

Wow, that's a surprise! I have two that don't have them at all. But upon checking their website, they do have rattles. Guess you have to buy the older ones if you don't want rattles in yours.

I know that the Cotton Cordell Wally diver still doesn't have rattles. I, on the other hand will think that colours are more important for crankbaits. If you have the key colour of the day, it doesn't matter what rattles and what type of crankbait you have.

Congrats on the PB dirk! I find topwater at night is really hard, especially when you can't see anything!

There is a channel that runs to Omemee where I think you can drop tubes along the bottom, but otherwise, you are looking at all weedless setups!

the majority of time in ponchos or long sleeves! Yup, that was July alright. Nice fish though Garry!

These scents are just probably to make the fish hold on for longer. Not sure how effective these ones are, but would like to hear more about them!

Wow Will! That has to be an awesome trip!!! Loved the read, and enjoyed the pictures even more!

The third bait you have is a great one if you are fishing shallow. It suspends and dives about 1 ft, perfect for smallies to come up and smash it. To my surprise the bait actually held up its paint pretty well, I'm guessing that if you don't catch pike / muskie on it, you should be more than fine. The only problem is that the hooks have a split ring, and they do tangle up with each other. Although these hooks aren't the best hooks, I have enough confidence in those hooks that they won't even bend on a good 3#er.

awesome dirk! Your one days worth is probably better than my last two or three trips added together!

They had my business at the beginning of the year. They are extremely fast and very helpful, as emails are replied almost on the same day. The only problem I have is that shipping does become kind of expensive if you are buying rods. Although that is a problem, they ship very fast, and they carry some of the stuff that you wouldn't be able to find anywhere else.