Garry2Rs

I think that the rod is the culprit here. The MH is a 1/4 to 1 ounce rod...It won't cast baits under 1/4 ounce very well. Drop down to a Medium or a ML and you will be fine. Some adjusting of the reel might be necessary. But start with the settings that you have now. The centrifugal brakes are to stop the spool from turning faster that the line is going out at the beginning of the cast. Don't do anything rash with them. Change rods first...then make reel adjustments based on what happens on the first couple of casts, not on hear-say from other guys with other equipment and different casting styles. Garry2R's

Hi Roger; Congratulations on a great career with the Big "D" and welcome to the land of Retirees. This is the place where you have nothing to do, and all day to get it done! HAHAHA Garry2R's

I too am a Power-pro fan. In the past, I have also had good luck with Fireline and want to see what their braided version is like. I tried the Spiderwire Invisabraid this year. It seems to have weak spots because I have had it break in the middle on a cast or when when pulling a hook off of a snag etc. I returned the first spool...the replacement spool is better, but has the the same problem. I don't recall having problems with the same companies Stealth brand... This year I also have been using red PP for Senkos, it's easier for me to see on the water. I will try the Fireline Tracer for the same baits for the same reason, and to evaluate the braided version of Fireline. These new lines are all coated in some fashion, so they are smoother through the line guides, cast farther and hold their colour better. Since these lines seldom need replacing and really don't wear out, I suspect the manufacturers are hoping we will start replacing the line when the colour starts to fade...grin.

There are a whole bunch of new braided lines coming for 2009. Spiderwire will introduce a new Camouflage version of their Stealth Braid. The line has I think four different shades of brown... There will also be Stealth RED... Very bright! Then there's something called Spiderwire EZ Braid. It's supposed to be 2 or 3 three times thinner than mono of the same pound test and it's coated for smoother casting... Stren has a new braid called Sonic. It features a new and unique finish called GlideCoat Technology developed by Stren. They say that this GlideCoat treatment provides a finish to the fibers that lasts longer and holds color better. It sounds as if the coating helps form a stronger bond to the line material. The one I'm waiting to see is the new Fireline Braid. This new braided Fireline comes in two forms, regular and what they call Tracer...The Tracer line is dual colored, alternating every 30 inches between a high visibility chartreuse/green and low visibility dark green. Braided Fireline is also supposed to be rounder, smoother and stronger. I'm hoping to find it in Bass Pro or Cabela's when I go south in a couple of months. If it's not available in October, I'm sure it will be in the Xmas catalogues, so I'll be able to let you know what it is like to fish with before next Spring. Garry2rs

You can catch SMBass, Walleye, Sheephead (Fresh Water Drum) and Channel Cats there. I have also caught Carp, Pike and Gar it the same area. There is the pier itself, and there is also a riverside park where you can fish. From the pier you can fish either the Lake Erie side, or fish in the Grand River mouth.

The Grand River runs from Fergus to Port Maitland on Lake Erie. You can fish at any of the towns it runs through and many places in between. There are always people fishing from shore at the pier at Port Maitland and the dam at Dunnville. These two spots might be your best shot at a Walleye. Below the dam at Caledonia is another good spot. There's a Bait Store across from the dam and they will give you tips and information etc. At Fergus there is a dam, behind the dam is Belwood Lake...Pike and Bass. Below the dam there is trout fishing...but there are special regulations in effect, so be sure you know what the rules are. I don't know much about the area between Belwood and Caledonia, but if you check with the local bait shops they will know what's going on.

Way to go! Great fish and nice report.

I have used a rootbeer colour , white, clear with gold flakes and clear with silver flakes as well as pink Flukes. It seems that I get more hits on pink. The only thing I can figure is that because I can see the pink one better, I fish it better. Like any jerk bait, it's very easy to start fishing it too fast, with the hi-vis pink, you can see whether it's "working" or not. Garry2R's

Today I went fishing for LMBass. The lake we chose was east of Stoney. There is a large weedy bay called Bass Bay. We cast Flukes and ran spinnerbaits over and through the weeds. For those that don't know, a Fluke is a plastic minnow that looks like this... Notice that the 3/0 hook is passed through the head, then back through the body. The hook point is pushed through the top of the bait and then skin-hooked to make it weedless. You cast with or against the wind, not across. The rod tip is held high and twitched to make the bait swim in a walk-the-dog fashion and crawl over lily pads... The rod tip is lowered when crossing open water so that the bait can sink a little between twitches. I like pink Flukes because they are very easy to see. When you are doing it right, it looks like a struggling minnow and good things happen... It takes a little more skill than a crank bait, or a wacky worm, but even children and old guys can learn to fish it successfully...Hahaha. We started out in full sun with hardly a cloud in the sky. As the day went on it got cloudier, then around 3:00 O'clock we spotted a big thunder storm heading straight for us. We turned tail and ran down the lake at 90kmh. As we finished loading the boat, the skies opened and rain drops the size of eggs fell. By the time we reached home...20 or 25 minutes later, the rain had passed. Welcome to the Summer of 2008...grin.

The rod is fine. I'm more than happy with my purchase. Today's client, that I hurried home for, called late last night to rebook for mid-week because of thunder storms in Sundays forecast. Those are the rains that never came...hahaha. The truth is I'm not jigging because I think it's boring...and I prefer to cast. Garry

One of the lakes that I guide has Pike. I went there today with my neighbor and his daughter to try out my new G.Loomis rod and to check out some locations for Pike and Bass. We started at the boat ramp and worked south along the east shore checking small bays for medium size Pike. The big Pike have gone deep along with the Lake Trout, so without steel line etc. small Pike are what are available. We found this one a few meters off shore in 7-8 FOW over some sunken logs. It hit a Spro Rattle-Trap type bait in Old Glory colour pattern. We moved to the west shore and checked around islands and in the back of bays looking for Bass. The shallows were empty, but we found SMBass and a ton of Rock Bass over the rocks. It was a couple of hours before our first LMBass near a dock around a small patch of lily-pads. This one took a wacky rigged 4" Green Pumpkin, Senko type worm. At the south end of the Lake is a weedy bay. This is where we ended the day with several more LMBass. The best fish of the day was this 3.5 pound SMBass. He came out from under a dock and ate another Green Pumpkin Senko imitation. All fish were released to fight again. Garry2rs

I stopped at G.Loomis in Mount Hope on Wednesday to have a new guide installed on one of my rods. Lorne Greene, who ran the Canadian operation, was the only one there. He said they are now shut down, all the girls who built the rods are gone, and that all warranty work was now being handled through Shimano in Peterborough. Shimano bought Loomis about a dozen years ago, but they continued to operate as two separate companies. Garry2R's

Way to go Brian! If you're ever looking for the weight you lost, I have it! Pass me that platter of fried chicken...HAHAHA!

There is a Little Lake in downtown Peterborough. It is part of the Otonabee River and has Musky and Bass.

Regardless of the weather there are always some active fish. You just have to find them and what bait they will respond to. Divide the water into three areas. 1. Shallows cover and structure...weeds, docks and rocks 2. Mid-depth cover and structure...weed flats, points 3. Deep structure...Shoals, humps and rock-piles. Use the smaller sizes of these six baits to fish these areas. 1. Jig and pig 2. Texas rigged tube or worm. 3. Jig head and worm or grub 4. Spinner Bait 5. Short Fat Crank bait 6. Small Husky Jerk The first three are baits that you fish Vertically, the last three are for Horizontal presentations. Spend an hour in each of the three areas and fish your six baits...A pattern will emerge. You will now know what type of bait to use and what cover, depths and structure to fish.

I have been out a lot, 5 or more times in some weeks. As was mentioned, I have never used my rain gear so much! The early fishing ...Crappie and Pike were okay, but the fish weren't where I expected until well into the season. What I'm saying is I found them on the "regular opening days spots about 2 - 3 weeks later than usual. Musky were shallow at the start of the season, typical for cold water...but I don't target them anymore so I can't say much about them. One expert said the bite was great, but he fishes a very shallow lake where the higher water might not have retarded the weed growth as much as in the "Shield" type lakes. Bass started well. Then there was a drop in my numbers as the SMBass moved to deeper water, but usually the LMBass would have been moving in...I don't think they did until quite recently. So I am saying the since the beginning of the month the LMBass are coming on strong. Water levels in the North Kawarthas are now at JULY levels... All this deeper water means slower weed growth etc. In my opinion, the fishing has picked up and is more like the early July bite than the normally slower August bite... If that's true, everything is running about a month behind what was normal for the last half-dozen years. Garry2rs

Thanks Folks. I was out today looking for musky with a client. He had one follow, and hooked one that escaped. I had seven Bass...three on purpose and four on the husky jerk I was throwing. Here's the best one...

It appears that the Large Mouth Bass fishing around here has really turned on in the last week. There are reports around the Lodges and Marinas of several very large fish being caught, and we hope released. Personally, I have had just an outstanding week! Things started on Sunday August 3rd with this five pound five ounce monster on that famous Lake "X"...grin Then continued on Wednesday the 6th with a three pound ten ounce bruiser ... Lake "X" again. Both of these fish were caught on plastic worms, the first on a weightless Texaposed rig, between the two stumps behind me in the photo, and the second on a Wacky work between a dock and a large weed bed. I had a very nice fish on a drop-shot rig on Wednesday as well. My passengers on Wednesday were a brother and sister. They decided to hold their own mini-tournament. Since we were going to catch and release, the winner would be the one who caught the most fish, not the biggest fish or heaviest bag. Big Brother boated and released 16 Bass, and the loser, Little Sister only 14. It was close until the very end, when the brother got on a school of Small Mouth Bass and was able to boat two to his sisters one as the "clock" ran out. The younger sister, in true Vince Lombardi fashion, claimed that she did not lose, she just ran out of time! ...HAHAHA. On Friday the 8th I was on Lower Buckhorn and landed 6 bass between 2 and 3.3 pounds for a total weight of 15 pounds! All six were caught on a white spinnerbait. Five of the six were in very heavy weeds. I was burning the spinnerbait, running it about three inches under the surface Saturday I was back on lake "X" with two young clients. We caught a lot of nice fish between 1 to 2.5 pounds using fast moving spinnerbaits over the weed-beds and a Fluke in the pads and slop. Here are the first two they caught The shallow bite seemed to "dry-up"...grin...after our Daily Dose of rain around 2:30. Is anyone else worried about getting webbed feet??? HAHAHA. We finished the day drop-shotting a school of SMBass, but found nothing of any size. So That's the story of the last seven days, and it raining again...I better post this before the power goes off...HAHAHA. Garry2rs

Congratulations! Great to hear the spell is lifted from you too...grin. Garry2rs

Thanks for your report and advice. Nice mixed bag.

Saturday morning Natalie, my eight year old neighbor came over with her Dad to see if I wanted to go fishing. They knew I'd had company the night before and thought that I might be disabled...wink, wink. I was in fine form and we set a time to leave that allowed for various odd jobs to be taken care of. We set out for a lake that isn't part of the Kawarthas, but is closely related to them. Once on the water we checked out likely looking cover with Flukes and Senko type worms. Natalie opened the action with this SMB. I followed moments later with this little guy on a Fluke. I was looking for some LMBass for a client that was scheduled for Sunday... We hop-scotched down the lake checking weedy bays and downed timber. At the back of the lake we found a natural spring bubbling up through the weeds...I got a nice one there. Note the red pants...It had rained (as usual) and this time I was wise enough to put on the rain pants! Grin. This morning my client and I returned to the scene of the crime. Today the LMB's seemed to be relating to wood... Every downed tree or stump was worth checking out. We found lots of medium and small Bass but here's a couple of nice ones. This one came from beside a log in only a couple of feet of very clear water. This was the "Catch of the Day." Five pounds five ounces on the digital scale... On a Texasaposed 5" rootbeer worm. I cast between the two stumps behind me, in a foot of water. I didn't see the fish, but the line started to move and I tighted up the slack. This baby just pulled drag whenever it wanted...I fought to keep it from going back into the wood, where it could break the line or pop the hook. After the photo it went over the side to fight another day...grin. Garry2R's

Congratulations! The curse is lifted and life will be good again. I also had a good weekend. I will post when my pictures finish up-loading. G2r's

You will find that reel on the same rack as a good 50 cent cigar and the 10 cent cup of coffee. You should have been here in 1970...grin.

This isn't a plastic reel. Only the side covers are graphite, the frame is one piece of aluminum. I'm sure that not needing to polish the sides saves on production costs, which lowers the price to you and me. If you want an all metal Curado, it's called a Chronarch. In the article I saw them mention brass gears. I seem to remember a certain amount of sniveling a couple of years ago when the Curado "D" series was given the new hardened aluminum gears... The USA price is supposed to be $179.00 down twenty bucks from the $199.00 "D" series. The reels are made in Japan, so a price reduction with a falling US dollar is amazing!

I Just saw this article and though I would share. There should be some current model Curado's on sale soon... Sorry the pictures in the story didn't copy. The Shimano Curado E Series baitcasting reel was voted by tackle buyers and the fishing media to be the most innovative new product of all at ICAST 2008. The Curado E series won the overall 'Best of Show' award, beating 695 new product entries across all fishing tackle categories in the annual competition. Jeremy Sweet, Shimano Product Manger-Reels, holds the ICAST Best of Show winner - the Curado E. Jeremy points out that there are several Curado E models overall (including a CU300E which is ideal for big swimbaits). However, the two Curado E models which will be of most interest to most bass anglers are: CU200E5. Cranking 5:1 speed model lays 21" of line per crank CU200E7. High speed 7:1 model retrieves 30" of line per turn "The E5 and E7 both come in right and left hand models. They are all lightweight at 7.6 oz," says Jeremy. "What we wish to emphasize to bass anglers about these new Curado E's, is they have the smaller profile of a '50 series' body with the higher line capacity of a '200 series' spool.," says Jeremy. In other words, the big, bulky reels of only a few years ago, are unnecessary and obsolete. It used to be a big reel connoted strength, durability, guts and power. 'Used to be' is the operative phrase there. The smallness provides an advantage in palming the reel. The Curado CU200 E5 and E7 reels almost melt into your hand and disappear while using them all day - and their power is second to none. "The days of the big, bulky reel are over," says Shimano Canada's Bob Mahoney. "The Shimano Curado E is both lighter weight and smaller than many earlier, bulkier reel models, and more powerful than many heavyweight flipping reels. The Curado E's are incredibly small and light - but powerful as heck. They will withstand years of rugged use, and the spools have ample line capacity for even the heaviest lines." "There's no sacrifice of durability. These have powerful brass gears," indicates Jeremy Sweet. "We've added a ball bearing to the drive shaft for increased strength. We've placed a 'shielded A-RB' bearing on the pinion gear. This area of a reel is where water is most prone to intrude. So we've eliminated that with the shielded A-RB (anti-rust) bearing there. Best of all, we've dropped the price to under $200," smiles Sweet. "So not only is the Curado E series the best new product across all tackle categories for 2008, it is also affordable for the tournament angler who demands the very best he can buy for under $200." For most bass fishing situations, there is no advantage to using a larger reel any more. Quite the opposite. For casting or even flipping heavy cover all day long, the smaller, lighter yet incredibly powerful Curado E will give you an advantage over bigger, heavier reels.