Garry2Rs

That's all good advice. I'd like to add four points. One - You can Wacky worm the 4 inch Senko if there aren't too many weeds...this is my best set-up. Two - Most people leave too much line between the hook and sinker when fishing from the boat. 12 - 18 inches is plenty. From shore you need a longer space as mentioned above, because of the angle. Three - This is a dead stick technique...Don't put a lot of action into the bait! Most people pop and jig the worm to death. Think of this as a weightless wacky worm, but using the express lane to get the bait down to the bottom. I get lots of hits when the bait is just laying on the bottom. Four - I generally start with a 1/0 hook, but often switch to a 3/0 if the bite is coming on a dead stick. Maybe if they pick it off the bottom they are balling the worm up in their mouth, because the bigger hook seems to get better hook-ups. Garry2R's

Oh, YES!

I tried them for Musky one year, but all I caught was Bass. The dinks will hit them too, as will the WGSF...grin.

Well Clamp-it, someone thought that it came up so fast, that it would blow right over, and didn't want to be bothered with the bib overall type pants...DHAW! Yes TJ she is. Sort of reminds me of a little boy I met from Sturgeon Falls a few years ago...grin.

How deep were these Crappie? If they were suspended, over how much water, if not what cover were they around? I've never target them after the Spring, but wouldn't mind giving it a try with the neighbour's little girl... Thanks Garry2rs

Good rain gear is worth it's weight in gold! If you think I could wrestle a fish away from Natalie, you are wrong!

This morning it was raining AGAIN. Around lunchtime it cleared up, the sun came out and the neighbor came over to see if I was interested in trying a little fishing. It took until 2:30 for him and I to finish up whatever we were doing, but the sky was still clear as we started toward a lake about 16km away. The closer we got to the water, the darker to sky became... We had a plan to hit a couple of spots for some eater size Pike and we wanted to toss a worm around for some Bass just for fun... As we scooted down the lake we saw lightning in the distance, and about forty minutes later we saw the first drops... No sweat, we break-out the rain gear and carry on. The thunder moved closer, so we took shelter as the rain became a downpour. We could see the odd flash, and of coarse hear the thunder, but it was all off to the north of us and we felt quite safe. But, we didn't want to be on open water, where we were the tallest things around! We stopped near a rock face were a hill of dense forest rose above and behind us. we were partly out of the rain and there were lots of tall things behind us... After fifteen minutes or so, the storm faded away to the east, and there were high fives all around. We had out smarted Mother Nature...HAHAHA. In another 40 minutes a new thunder shower moved in from the west...We again sought shelter and as the heavy rain and the lightning etc moved off to the northeast we resumed fishing in a light. but not unpleasant rain. The rain was much lighter now, and the thunder was moving farther away. All was well...Until a sudden flash in the west told us it was time to get under cover again. This time we were on a bay with well developed properties...the shoreline was wide lawns that slopped gently down to the waters edge. It was wide open and barren, the only spot to hide beside something tall offered no overhead screen of branches etc. to help deflect the rain...and rain it did. This was an old fashion down pour of near Biblical proportions! As the rain increased, the opposite shore grew fainter until it vanished...the trees shook...It was like a trip to Niagara Falls. I kept looking for "The Maid of the Mist." At one point I had to switch on the bilge pump to get the water out of the cockpit. We had little choice now but to toughed it out. It rained hard for what seemed like an hour, but was really only about twenty minutes. There was an eerie sort of twilight with rain falling so hard it was like being in a fog... Finally the rain started to slow down. As we watched, the sun came out behind us. It was still raining on us, but we could see a patch of blue sky moving closer and closer until suddenly the rain had gone and it was a beautiful day again. We fished for a couple more hours and caught a few Bass and the WGSF, but no Pike...Natalie had one nice Pike follow a spoon, but that was it on a lake that gave me half a dozen, that I didn't want, two weeks ago!!! Here's a shot of Natalie and I with a double header... Garry2R's

My pail doesn't leak...maybe my hands are stronger.

Nice report and pictures. Keep them coming.

Reach is on Lower Buckhorn. Straight out from the marina and to the east and west, are a group of shoals and islets. If you start there you can't go wrong. To the east are more rocks etc. Head in the direction. To the east, the channel makes a dog-leg turn at Deer Bay. There are a lot of small islands to the North. Move that way. Behind these islands is Black Duck Bay...Fish there. That should keep you busy for awhile. Garry2R's

You have the right set up now. I don't think anyone said Braid looks unnatural. I think the question was, did a leader make a difference on finesse type presentations. This is all spinning rod work. If you are using crank baits, spinner baits, jerk baits etc. line visibility really doesn't matter. The fish are reacting to, and chasing the bait.

By now I'm sure everyone knows that Braid 101 says that you chose braid by the diameter you want, not by the pounds test! So I don't think much of the 20 pound line class test. The braid would be much thinner around .008 or .009 the plastic would be about .020 so what this test proves is that thin braid abrades fast that fat plastic...I think I could have figured that out with wasting all that line...HAHAHA. Hundred pound braid, would stand up much better and would still be thinner than some of the plastic lines tested. Still it wouldn't win, because it's made of thousands of microscopic fibers. None of those little fibers is very abrasion resistant. However, in the real world the only time this test would mean anything is if you were fishing for a line class record. Otherwise 20 pound Power Pro is most suitable for light spinning. It is after all about the diameter of 6 or 8 pound test mono.

The word is Drag. Those lake fish up in that thin water are a edgy as a virgin bride. The roe bag with no attachment drifts down stream just like every live worm, caterpillar and bug in the river. The one attached to your rod is pulled slightly off coarse, by the current pushing and pulling on the line that is stretched across the water. I talked about fly fishermen, mending their line and using yards of spider silk for leaders...but Float guys also know this, and that's why they use 12 and 13 foot rods, with super light line and reels so well ballanced that they will spin if you breath on them. Try this...Tie a 4 or 5 foot piece of heavy line...12 or 15 or even 20 pound test to the roe bag and throw it in...The fish will take the roe bag line and all, because the line and roe float freely without drag. The fish isn't smart, it just ignores or is spooked by something that acts unnatural. As for the Ottonabee adventure, I don't know. Braid floats, perhaps this caused more drag in the moving water of the river, than mono did. But if mono works in that case, sign me up! I won't argue with success...grin. Just don't expect me to go back to that "bungee cord on a spool" plastic line for all around everyday fishing.

Two pound Stren is advertised as being .006 in diameter so is Ten pound Power Pro. Fireline doesn't give their diameter because the line is not round. The fibers are fused together and the tread that is formed is oval. Twelve pound test Trilene XL is .013 diameter so is forty pound Power Pro. However Power Pro does compare that diameter to ten pound mono, which isn't really a lie since 10 pound Trilene TX is .0135. Other brands of Braided line are offen larger in diameter than Power Pro because PP is wound under tension to produce a tighter weave.

I found a reference in my map book that says average fishing for LM & SM Bass

Let's start at the beginning...Fish Don't Reason. Their brain is the size of a pea. They don't know or care if there is a TV set a telephone pole or an anchor rope attached to the bait. What they don't like is "drag." Drag is the side pull caused by wind or water current pulling on the line. This causes the bait to fall or float in an unnatural manner. By using fine leaders fly fishermen reduce drag. They also "mend" the line...That means they throw slack line up-stream, or up-wind, so that the current doesn't effect the drift of their fly. For Senko's I use red ten pound PowerPro. I use ten pound PP because it's the diameter of two pound mono or fluorocarbon. I don't have any problems in gin clear water. I always throw slack into the line...this allows a free fall, and also acts as a strike indicator...When the line move faster than normal I have a bite. Garry2R's

I had a V6 Camry and drove it without any repairs for 6 years. I was selling in those days and put on a ton of miles. I change the oil every 5000km. and nothing ever went wrong. Best car I've ever owned. To bad I can't afford one of their trucks to pull my boat. My tow vehicle is a Dodge Ram 1500. They are cheap trucks, but I have had good service from mine...260,000km and still going. I wish the brakes were bigger, the extra weight of the trailer really eats mine up in a hurry.

That's quite the resemblance alright!

A 5 inch Senko weighs 3/8 of an ounce. The plastic is, as previously noted, very soft. They are loaded with salt. That, some people say, is why they tear so easily. Yes they work and yes, they are expensive...but so is the tournament entry fee. There are many other excelent brands, like Yum and Zoom, to choose from. For everyday fishing trips, I also use a lot of the no-names from my local tackle store.

It has rained every evening or overnight for what seems like two weeks or more. I have been fishing about ten of those fourteen days. I think I am noticing a gradual but persistent decline in the bite, but it's hard to be sure. The fish in the shallows seem smaller and harder to come-by. I am also noticing an absence of LMBass in the shallows, possibly because the weed beds are still very thin on my rocky Canadian Shield type lakes. The better fish are deeper and slower to hit a bait... That's not to say we aren't catching fish, just that the bite seems slow to me. The most consistently productive technique for bigger fish, in these rocky lakes, has basically been a Carolina or a Split-Shot Rig dragged on the bottom. What are you guys thinking and seeing in your areas? Garry2R's

I went out this morning after the rain stopped. They weren't jumping in the boat but the neighbours kids did okay...

Yum and Zoom are just as good, and might even last longer. Senkos are very high in salt and tear very easily.

Wind up the slack, point the rod at the snag , jam the reel spool so that the drag can't slip and pull straight back...The hook will straighten, the line will break, or the snag will be pulled to the surface.

I like Power Pro a lot. This year I am using the red ten pound on my spinning reels for Senko worms, it is very easy to see against the water with my sunglasses. I use green 30 pound on my baitcasters, but might go up to 50 pound for a couple of rods. My Musky reels had 80 pound and I never broke it once...maybe Mark had a bad spool. I don't use flouro leaders the fish don't mine the line as long as the bait acts naturally...in my opinion. I have used almost every braid on the market at one time or another. No Spectra line likes a sudden snap and I have had spools of every brand that I thought were weak. If you contact the manufacturer, they will generally replace that spool for you. I recently returned 300 yards of 30 pound Micro-fuse Invisabraid, Spiderwires new line. The first spool was crap...the replacement spool is fine. If you remember that the braid is no more abrasion resistant than mono of the same diameter IE 10 pound is the diameter of two pound mono, you will understand that you need to check for nicks and frayed spots once in awhile. Granite edges and Zebra mussels will cut the line quickly, check the line if you get dragged over rocks or around stumps etc. Garry2R's

I never took it out of the water. Just grabbed the hook with the pliers and let it shake off at boat side.