EC1

I think after a while we can come to the conclusion that gulp doesn't need much action because fish think the bloody thing is food already. I've had several times where I just leave the bait out and fish will grab it without any motion. But all in all, adding action to bait is good, and the gulp gobies are great.

acrylics work well, although fish that have teeth tend to bite off the paint like all jigheads. I would also imagine that your wife's nail polish would work just as well. Good Luck with your search for a good Jig head paint!

If you are gonna wait for a few months to buy the reel, get the new stradic that is coming out! It has a black body with red as the second colour. Looks much nicer and supposedly has quite a few improvements inside also.

thanks for all the input guys! The point that only the bottom matters is probably true, since they're only looking up and seeing the bottom + the hooks.

Hi everyone! Just wanted to ask people for a few topwater colours I should be trying within the next few days. I currently am really liking the black top and golden bottom, but the golden paint in the bottom of my topwater is absolutely torn apart, and I'm noticing less bites on the unpainted silver bottom. Thanks for any suggestions in advance!

I'd say go for the lower end berkley or rapala rods. (Berkley Lightning Rods / Rapala Magnum / Berkley Tactix) Those have much better sensitivity and are lighter. You won't be sad if one of these break, and they don't break too easily.

Awesome to be out on the water with you today! Thanks again!

YES X100! The storm chug bug just caught me about 30 fish in the last couple of days! Get gold with orange and a black top! They are also probably the best value at under 5 bucks for the topwater. I also hear a lot about these Zara Spooks, and the xrap subwalk probably would be a really good choice!

thanks guys! I did manage to catch one at night on the topwater, and it was definitely different! I was so scared because earlier in the day the fish were missing and I was having the topwater fly right back at me! Luckily I did manage to get it without the hook firing back at me, but it was a rather small one. Relying only on sound is such an awesome thing, only except that those bass don't bite as often when it gets completely dark.

Last Thursday, me and a bunch of friends went up to my friend's cottage on a small lake just south of Algonquin Park. The first two days of fishing on Thursday and Friday, I tried to look for any types of panfish and tried for rainbow trout but was completely unsuccessful. I only had 1/8 ounce jigheads which were my heaviest, and it was not going to go down 40 feet for me on a kayak without an anchor. We only caught a largemouth here and there, which meant that my fishing really didn't start until Saturday morning. By Saturday morning, it was a beautiful day as I remembered from the forecast. A very warm day, and not a cloud to be seen anywhere. Unfortunately, I had all these plans to be up and on the water by 5:30AM to be the first to fish for the Largemouth, but because of the previous night, I was unable to wake up until about 9:30AM. Got out there and fished for only a couple of hours, thinking that all the fish would have been gone by the time I got there because it was way past dawn. Luckily, I was still able to find some fish here and there.. Oh yup, and here is my setup..... A Kayak with a pocket full of Fishing gear... The first morning since I was too late, I was using a Rainbow Trout coloured Fin-S Shad, attached to a jighead. I didn't even need to bust out the Gulp! as they were readily biting on anything that is presented to them. Many of the fish were found in fallen trees, as there was barely any slop, and the thickest weeds were like this.. Around 7PM, I went back out for more fish, but this time on the topwater. It was absolutely amazing! I only brought my cheap reels there since I was going to be lended out to people that didn't know how to fish, and I had a fish wreck my anti-reverse on a cheap Daiwa combo reel. Switched on to another reel using braid on the topwater, and it continued to work even though topwaters aren't supposed to use braid. Sorry, not pictures of that fishing session. Most of the fish I caught were of a decent size, and the largest were probably 2 pounders, but I was unable to find anything larger. In my Kayak, it was kind of bad since the fish were pulling me right into the trees as soon as they were hooked. On Sunday, the weather was terrible and we just hung around inside the house.. By Monday morning, I was determined to wake up for dawn to fish. Got out onto the water and caught a few bass here and there, but it was nothing compared to the fishing on Saturday. At the end of the trip, my topwater is absolutely torn apart, as the gold paint is gone and is silver now. Have to admit, topwater is the most fun way to fish for bass. An awesome journey to be out on the water, and then it was over as fast as it came..

Thanks so much, Will be heading out soon. Report to come!!

Thanks a lot! Am I looking at Largemouth, Smallmouth, or both?

Hi everyone! Was wondering if anyone wanted to give me a little bit of help on this lake. I am going up to a friend's cottage tomorrow afternoon, and am going to be doing some fishing off the dock and possibly on a canoe. I know that there are bass in there, but what else is there to fish for? I would love to find something in season for the first two nights, then I can start hunting down the bass. My friend said something about trout, but I myself have never fished for trout and am a complete newbie at it. It would be awesome if someone had some hints for me for what fish there are in there, and what kind of structure to find fish in, Would thank you a ton!

The Storm Sewer water doesn't get treated and gets dumped right back into lake ontario as far as I know in Toronto

awesome job Will! I think I've yet to have seen an eye that big out of the Kawarthas!

I happen to always lose mine while netting them. They are dead tired, and my netting skills are far from decent..They swim for their lives when they see the net, and then they get off, assuming that their lips are no longer in tact

I wont say that carp barely hit lures. I've had them hit rapalas a number of times this year already. But usually the ones that hit the rapalas are the biggest, fattest and hardest to land. That is why I have yet to have landed a carp this year especially when the fish is around 10 feet below my feet every time.

Lebaron in markham had them on sale about a week or two ago for 16.xx for a small bucket. Definitely worth it, but the only problem is that gulp alive does not come in pearl silver, which is my favourite colour for it. As for rigging, probably a jighead + gulp is more than sufficient for smallies and pike. If you want to put it in a dropshot, use a dropshot hook instead.

I drive a subaru myself, but nothing modded..and yes, the winter is amazingly fun!!!

Yup, theres a subaru forum out there, and supposedly they wave when they see other subaru's

awesome info JohnF! Thanks!

I'm hating it. I'm still getting bitten by bugs, fish are stuck between spring and summer, and my winter jacket is taken with me everytime I go fishing.

nice pike report! the picture would look better if the pike under the gill plat were turned slightly more to the same profile as the first pike. Either way, thanks for proving it !

nvm.

Vertigo, I think the split grip is more of a styling cue that either you can hate or love. Split grip does happen to be the more "enthusiast" look and is a newer styling cue that is found in a lot of japanese rods now. The weight reduction I find would be minimal, and you could probably get more weight reduction through a nicer blank more than anything.