Garry2Rs

I don't know were others are fishing, but Bass are open until Nov.30 in Zone 15 and 17 where you and I are. Spinnerbaits are a great all around bait for Bass, Pike and Musky. I have caught the odd Walleye on them as well. There are no end to the ways you can fish them, but if you start by just casing out and retrieving you will catch fish. KVD won plenty of tournaments using Spinnerbaits, so I don't think you need "naive" fish to be successful. I don't think that there's much to choose between the top brand names. Better baits have better hooks and a better finish on the blades. The blades on cheap baits tend to rust easily. The skirts on cheap baits are held on with an elastic band, some better baits like the best Strike King have a better system. The wire on the cheap baits are often very soft, and the baits need retuning after a good fish or a snag. Titanium wire was all the rage a few years ago, but has fallen out of favour to a great extent. I generally teach beginners to cast with baitcasting equipment using spinnerbaits because they are very easy to cast. Garry2rs

My good friend Musky Striker uses a Beckman Pen Fin Saver Fishing Net. It's the best net I have ever seen. Here's what they say about it on-line... With a Fin Saver there's less mesh-snarling of teeth, fins, and gill plates. Today's trophy angler requires a rugged right-sized net for landing large fish — as well as a fish-friendly net bag for the most lively releases! Pen™ Fin Saver Net Treated-Hook Proof 30" x 39" hoop/bag 4' detachable slide handle.

Try closing the bale by hand on every cast. This will allow you to move the line onto the pick-up roller at the sametime. By doing this you will reduce line twist and never get a loop of line hanging off the spool.

I think those "good" hooks for Senkos are a waste of money. For Texas I use Wal-Mart 3/0 EWG hooks that cost about .30 cents each instead of $1.25 a piece. Wacky worms fish nicely on red Mustad 1/0 or 2/0 weedless hooks. They are also a wide gap type of bend and can be found at Wal-Mart and CTC. for about .60 cents each. I have caught lots of 5 and 6 pound Bass on these hooks and have never lost anything because of hook failure.

This year I have been using Seaguar Red, which is a new reel line, not a leader line. I have to say, I am not totally convinced that Fluoro leaders really do anything worth while. I have been using 20 pound mono and 15 pound Fluoro for Cranks and 6 pound Fluoro for drop-shot and weightless worms. I tried long leaders, 6 to 12 feet, but switched to down to 3 foot ones because they cast more easily. Over the winter I will spool-up some BPS fluorocarbon while I'm down south. I suspect that it is actually made by Sufix, which is one of the biggest line makers in the world.

Dutch Harbour Marine in Bridgenorth has a free concrete ramp. You would be launching into Chemong, but would have access to Upper Buckhorn and Pigeon without going through a Locke.

Pack up your tackle in your old kit bag and drive on up ASAP.

Buck and I got out for a few hours today because we are currently "between clients." It's hard for me to understand why every year people seem to stop booking fishing trips after the Labour Day weekend! This is honestly the best time of year up here. The weather is great, the bugs are gone and most days we have the lakes to ourselves... Oh yeah...it's also one of the best times to catch big fish! Today, our destination was a favourite small lake, well off the road, just north of Lovesick and about 15K South of our house. With the clear weather and mile-high-sky it wasn't a great looking fishing day, but we quickly caught a "limit" of average size fish using drop-shot and shaky head jigs, in deeper water. However, we switched to the good old wacky worm when we spotted this boat house... The cast I threw was at a very low flat angle to the water. We watched the worm bounce across the surface, skipping up to the door, like a flat stone, then sinking quietly. The water here was about 8 feet deep, so I counted slowly to 16, before picking up the slack line. As the loose coils became taught, I could see that the line was moving across the opening. I reeled down, then just leaned back to set the hook! The rod I'm using for worms this year is a G. Loomis spinning rod from there saltwater series. It's a GL3, seven foot, medium light rod that was designed to cast live bait, like shrimp, under a popping cork. The rod is rated for 1/4 to 1/2 ounce baits on 6 to 12 pound line. Senko's weigh about 3/8 oz. so they are just a little light, but with the weight of the hook, we are probably spot on. This rod has a relatively soft tip, to allow live bait to be cast without tearing it off and to land the bait softly it thin water. Last winter, while leafing through a G. Loomis catalog, I read the spec's for this rod and thought that it would be great for Senko's! I'm currently using 6 pound fluorocarbon on it, to see if it will out-fish my old standby, braid-without-a-leader set-up in the super clear water of the North Kawartha Heritage Park lakes. The jury is still out... The Fluorocarbon I'm using is the new Red Label from Seaguar. In the past I have always found Fluorocarbon lines to be too wiry and hard to keep on the spool of a spinning reel, especially reels of the smaller sizes that I prefer. Seaguar calls this a main line as opposed to a leader line, and I think they have tried their best to make it softer...So far so good. When the rod loaded up I knew I was into a good fish! Bass boats traditionally have cable steering on their trolling motors which allows you to go from lock-to-lock instantly by rocking your foot from heel to toe. I spun the trolling motor toward open water. We had to cross a major weed bed in front of the boat house. I think that you can see it the picture. After years of using 15 and 20 pound braid on my spinning reels, I have to say I was a little nervous about getting the fish out of cover and into the open water using six pound test line. I might have helped a little, but between the soft rod tip and the natural stretch of the plastic line we made the trip across the weeds successfully. Buck went overboard as soon as he saw the big fish so we all did a couple of laps around the boat before I was able to call him off and lip my prize. It weighed in at 4 pounds 4 ounces and measured just a hair under 20 inches without a tail squeeze. *Note to my friend Misfish (and other little old ladies...) You will notice that we have cleaned up the "dead" plastic baits from the back corner of the deck since my last post...HAHAHA.

I have also used those Lindy type sinker with a solid eye instead of a split ring. It appears that the thin 10 pound braid is the problem. Use a heavier running line or a drop of Krazy Glue on the split ring.

Congratulations on the speedy move and re-settlement. I'm sure you're glad that it's over. I will tell Natalie of your success with her special technique...grin. If you get a chance to get away for a few days, let me know. But don't wait too long...In about 4 weeks I will be closing up the house for the winter.

Hi JP; I have no doubt that this is a fine reel and that it is light and strong. I know that Carbon fiber is used to build airplanes, race cars and a carbon frame was one of the secrets to Lance Armstrong's Tour de France wins. I have fishing magazines dating back to the 60's and can show you that, just like laundry detergent, Shimano is constantly marketing products that are "New and Improved." It must work, because they win the "Best New Reel" awards at I-CAST almost every year! However I see this latest crop of improvements as somewhat of a step backward for the consumer. I bought my first Stradic in 2000 or 2001. Back then, just like today, as you progressed through the Shimano line-up, the basic reels had certain features and every $10 or $20 extra you were willing to invest bought you more bearings or better materials. The Stradic of that era still had three or four plastic parts. There was a plastic drag adjustment knob on the front of the spool, a plastic head on the screw that holds the handle in place and a plastic heel piece on the body. If you had deep pockets and had to have the very best, there was the Stella...It was, I think, more than twice the price of the $175.00 Stradic of the time, but it was, as I recall all metal... Now a decade later we are offered a carbon bodied Stradic at nearly double the price of last years model, and the sales pitch, at I-CAST, from Jeremy Sweet, reel product manager for Shimano was "Lighter and more durable than our magnesium spinning reels, we see the Stradic CI4 reels becoming the standard spinning reels for avid finesse bait anglers.” Those finesse guys he is speaking of really need to "man-up" if a magnesium 1000 series Stradic is too heavy for them...HAHAHA. Again, I say "No Thanks!"

More drop-shot and Carolina rigs, more crank-baits.

Pardon me for not falling down and skinning my knees to welcome this new reel. If you have been here for any length of time you know that I am a big Shimano fan...Especially of their upper end reels. In the past I have shelled out hundreds of extra dollars just to get rid of the Carbon (plastic) parts on my Shimano reels. IE I bought Chronarch's instead of Curado's Now I am being told that I should pony-up $250.00 for a new plastic Stradic...No Thanks! In my opinion, top end Carbon reels with good bearings sell for $100.00...and I don't care what you call them.

Yes Brian, I am still throwing used baits on the back corner of the deck... Tell Hammer that those rain pants are a little large on Curtis because they are my spare pair.

OFC's old friend Curtis dropped in for a couple of days of fishing last weekend. He is without a land-line or internet these days, living way off the highway. He's hoping to get one of these new cell phone based units and get back on-line soon. His new place has a private lake and this summer he has been perfecting his drop-shotting. On the weekend he took the time to show me his latest techniques, but I will let him tell you about them himself. In the meantime here's a picture from last Saturday in the rain. I spent a couple of days this week fishing the drop-shot for Smallies. Yesterday after catching a few one pound fish on the finesse rig I noticed a lot of swirls around a nearby point. This point is the mouth of a large bay on one side and a little cove on the other. There was a Rapala DT 6 in Baby Bass on one of the rods so I threw it over there a few times. Twice I had hook-ups, but lost both. I assumed that the colour was the problem and that the fish were striking short. My next try was with a 3 inch Live Target in SM Bass. This bait has a super small lip and I used it as a jerk-bait. Nothing doing...so I switched to a Live Target natural colour Crayfish and on the second cast hooked up with a heavy fish. With the Gin-clear water Buck was able to see the fish running under the boat. He dove in to provide assistance and we played that game where I lead the fish to the opposite side of the boat and he tries to catch me. On the third lap the fish came close to the surface as we came down the Port side, and using it's momentum, I swung it over the gunnels, just like on TV...grin. Here are the details: I apologize to those who only speak metric. The scale in the picture reads 3lb 3oz. and the fish measured 19.5 inches without a tail squeeze. The fish that were rising were taking tiny flies off the surface over the rock point. The cast that hooked the big fish was 3/4 with the wind, 80 or 90 feet long. It reached way down the bay-side of the point, some thirty feet beyond where it became dry land...The lure landed over about 8 feet of water, and the fish hit within a couple cranks. This side of the point drops from 6 or 8 feet into 16 feet then slowly to 20 feet. The tip tapers into the same 20 feet then quickly drops into 40 feet on the lake side. The boat, fish and dog action put the rising fish down. We circled the area but couldn't find anymore active fish. We could have checked other points and islands, but it was our dinner time so we will save that for another day. Garry2R's Fishing is my favorite form of loafing.

My 79FP Minnkota went down, I think it's the rheostat, so I am now using the 65FP unit. When I get down to the city, around the middle of the month, I will drop the 79 at Aickman's for repair. Once I have two working units again, I will offer the 65 For Sale. It has a much longer shaft so will fit boats with higher decks than a Bass boat.

check for stuck brushes. I have had the same problem. You might need two Hacksaw blades to reinstall the armature.

There are a number of internet shops that can supply parts...if you know what you need. Ackman's can probablly do the repair job or Rocky's in Orillia, if that's closer. I have had problems, in the past, with the brushes sticking so the motor would be okay, then just stop..then go again...etc. On mine there were two long screws holding the motor casing shut. The hardest part was getting the armature back into the shoes...Two hacksaw blades did the trick. Other than that, the rheostat can go south, or there can be a problem in the circuit board. But for those jobs I took them in for repair.

Great fish Mike Congratulations!

This year I like 40 pound Fireline braid on my Bass size casting reels. It is very round and smooth. Here are the two knots you will need. The Palomar is strong but can be a pain if you are tying on a crank bait.

The glove... Maybe I'm getting old, my thumb joints ache all the time. It gets worse when I have to fish several days in a row. JohnF suggested I try a golf glove, he gave me one for my right hand and it seems to help...sort of like a tensor bandage. It's working out in other ways too...Like John I also have women stopping me to talk... They inquire if it's a Micheal Jackson tribute thing...HAHAHA.

August is quickly slipping into the history file so I'd like to do a brief recap of the month. I started the month fishing with my friend JohnF. We caught Large Mouth and Small Mouth Bass while we checked out several local lakes. On the 6th one of my favourite little fishermen and his Dad dropped bye. His name is Aaron and he will start Grade One this year. He mastered the bait casting reel in one session and caught some nice Bass on Yum frogs... That was the start of a couple of weeks of Father and Son outings... Here's Troy who brought his son Anthony Jim and Jimmy... And John and Devon. More recently I have been out with DaveC and his friend Joe. and James who always seems to attract big fish. This was last year... And this was last week. If I have some time off, I can always count on my neighbours Mike and Natalie to help me check out new locations...grin. Incidentally, Natalie predicted there would be a big one under a certain fallen tree in a shallow bay. She couldn't reach it with her cast, so she generously offered it to me...along with detailed instructions...HAHAHA. James will be back on Friday and there is still the weekend, but this is how I will remember August 2009. Garry

I would discourage anyone from moving crayfish even a few yards. Native crayfish are being push out by larger more aggressive invasive species. These invaders are better able to fight off feeding fish. That makes them less desirable in the water shed in my book! Why would you want to help the intruders?

Weightless Senko's etc. are hard to fish in the wind and if you are in water over 8 -10 feet, it takes a long time for the bait to get down to the fish. Enter the drop-shot, but drop-shotting isn't just a vertical presentation. You can cast it out and work it back...How you hook the worm will be dictated by how you intend to fish the bait. I my opinion, hooking the worm weedless is only important if you intend to drag the rig along the bottom.

I hate any extra terminal tackle and try to avoid it. However on a crankbait rod I sometimes use a SMALL snap swivel to facilitate quick bait changes.