Garry2Rs

Sounds like a good plan Lew! I will be a little farther north, on a small rocky lake. In other years when we have had a late Spring, I found my fish in the shallows, in the sun, next to docks and boat houses and around rocks and emerging weeds etc. Often they were in those famous Black Bottom Bays, that are always mentioned in Spring fishing articles. There might barely be enough water to cover the fishes back. Initially, I will be making long casts into very shallow water, or even right onto the shore, using a small 3/8 ounce spinner-bait. Bigger baits might cause too big a splash, or be out of place in such shallow water. The forage fish in the shallows are pretty small at this time of year too. I will also check the spots along my mid-season milk-run to see if there's anybody home... The first fish will help determine if my strategy is correct and I can adjust if necessary. Garry2R's

I saw a couple fishing from one everyday last winter in Arizona. When I was in an apartment I had an inflatable for awhile. Everything went into a bag that fit in the backseat of my Camry. Later I had a 16 foot bow-rider. I bought it a parking spot in the Grand River at Dunnville. That worked out quite well. The trailer was there if I wanted to go elsewhere. At the end of the season it went into storage. Depending on where you live, you might be able to rent a garage. If you have space in your yard, Aluminum boats don't mind staying outside. If you can't bring it inside, the outboard is easy to winterize. As far as towing goes, even a 16 foot tin-can doesn't weigh much. Check your owners manual.

In the Apsley to Burleigh Falls area, the Black Flies are declining, but the mosquitoes are ferocious. I've been using Deep Woods OFF and it holds them at bay. Tell the G/F to lay off the perfumed products, scented sprays etc. attract them.

Bring on the Docks and Rocks...Grin.

I don't think the Best Bass fishing show ( IMHO ) is available in Canada except on DVD. Bass Pro Shop has a show called The Bass Pro's running in the US. It is outstanding. BPS sponsored Pro's Jason Quinn, Edwin Evers, Woo Daves, Rick Clunn, Stacey King, Tim Horton and Kevin Van Dam take turns hosting the shows, which are always divided into three segments. Each segment is on a different aspect of Bass fishing. The pace is fast, the information solid, plugging of products is subtle, and the editing is tight. The DVD of Season One - 2007, is available at Bass Pro Shop and I recomend it. Garry2R's

If Favourite Lure means which one is my confidence bait or caught the most fish for me here's my list: Most Walleye...Rattlin' Rap in Baby Bass. Most LM.Bass....Senko type worm Watermelon w/ Red Fleck or SM. Bass Carolina Pumpkin w/ Chartreuse tail. Most All Species...Black Spinnerbait. Most Pike or Musky...tie...Black 2R's Bucktail/Black Spinnerbait, close second Red over Yellow 2R's Bucktail. Most Crappie...Trout Magnet Crappie grub w/darter jig head. If I'm a castaway who has to survive on my catch, and can only have one bait for the rest of my life...Big can of Dew Worms...HAHAHA.

Here's some theory... In clear water, use baits that match the hatch, baits like Silver, Gold, Olive green, and Perch, etc .. When in doubt match the colour of the bottom, because the bait fish will have adapted to that colour for camouflage. In dirty water use bright colours, Fire-tiger, Clown, Hot Steel, Hot head, Hot Pink etc. On bright days, use metallic finishes. On overcast days there is no sun to activate the metallic finish, so switch to painted bright colours like Chartreuse, Clown, Fire-tiger etc. If I could only have one, I think it would be Silver or Silver Blue.

What about Ted Lindsay, Jean Beliveau and Leonard Patrick "Red" Kelly?

If BPS stocks what you want, why not just order what you want on-line or by phone?

Hi Brian; I don't have TV anymore the aerial doesn't work and I can't afford Satellite and Gas...HAHAHA. Let me know when you can make it over. Maybe Santa will bring me a new grey seat. I have a blue one off the Skeeter, but the old Ranger seat is nicer to lean against.

Buck has it right! If you can lift it, the truck can carry it.

I recall seeing an article one time that compared the action of the original Rapala, the Smithwick Rogue and the Strike King Wild Shiner. In the end, each had a unique action, a wider or narrower wobble, or a shoulder roll etc. that triggered more strikes under certain circumstances. As far as colour is concerned, Black is probably as good as any! Matching the hatch, or the bottom colour, is all fine and dandy, until the predator looks up and sees the bait silhouetted against the sky...In which case, the bait is black, unless it's translucent...

One test does not a hypothesis make... Not wanting to be too picky, but this experiment is faulty from the start, because there is no control group... We need red, white and blue plugs etc....In other words, "Is it the Singer, or the Song?" In theory, in the dark everything is black, especially as seen against the night sky. The rogue has a very different wobble than a Rapala. It would appear that the frequency of that vibration meant something to the 'Eye's on this night.

I fish for Crappie, on 10# Power pro on drop shot type spinning rods. Bass on the same spinning rods/line for Senko's, drop-shot and shaky head jigs. Generally I'll use 15 or 20 pound PP for tubes, swim-baits, Flukes, etc. The 10# is only the diameter of 2 pound test so it doesn't like a lot of abrasion. My casting rods all have 30 pound PP or Fireline. Power Pro is much finer, but I got a great deal on 30# Fireline one time and can't wear it out...hahaha. I have a spool of the new Spiderwire, Ultracast, Invisi-braid in 30# test. The first spool I had was crap! It broke in mid-air for no apparent reason. Real Fishing sent me a new spool, but I have yet to try it... I don't really have a Pike outfit. Since I sold off all my Musky equipment, I use my Bass gear with a wire leader. I will use the same set-up if I go out for Musky this summer. No doubt I will land a few Musky while bass fishing, you can't keep them off a spinnerbait some days. FYI you don't generally have a problem with Musky up to about 40 inches biting off a spinnerbait while Bass fishing, because the extra long hook goes through their top jaw and the teeth ride back and forth on the hook shank. Those Musky rods I sold had 80# Power Pro or Tuff Line XP on them because my 2R's bucktails weighed up to 3 ounces and could snap off 65# braided line, ditto for Sledge's etc...but at least the Sedge floats...HAHAHA. As an aside... Last winter I received a spool of 12 pound Trilene XL in the mail as part of a promotion. I put it on a Calcutta 50, a fine little bait-casting reel that I don't think they make anymore. I used this set-up to throw tiny crank-baits that otherwise would have had to go on the spinning rod . This was the first time I had spooled mono since the year 2000. I honestly couldn't believe how bad it was! On a hook-set, it stretched like a bungee cord. There was no popping it off a snag, or ripping it through weeds, because I couldn't get any leverage. I couldn't feel the lures, and had to check twice to detect a strike! The only thing I found useful was I could bow-and-arrow it off stump, or humps and it makes great backing. Garry2R's

Hi Marty; Nice to see you're able to sit up and take nourishment...grin. I hear they're still playing hockey down your way... Don't you guys know it's Summer? GRIN.

Lovesick is small and, in the summer, very weedy. There are good Bass and Musky in Lovesick but both are, as you know, currently OOS.... I'm not interested in Walleye, and I have never fished it for Crappie, but they are in Lower Buckhorn and Stoney and Lovesick joins those two, so I don't see how they couldn't be there. I know of a couple of nice camping spots on "Black Duck" the big island. They are free and first come first served, so be early!!! There are either five or six small dams between Lower Buckhorn and Lovesick, so you have lots of places to try. The lake is fairly safe, but if you don't have a chart, stay in the channel when on plane, there are some huge rocks and rock piles! PM me if you want details on any of this. Good Luck Garry2Rs

I'm not sure about the weight, but you can see it was chunky. Natalie's fish was only 12 pounds...a spawned out Female. I caught one the same length a few years ago that weighed 19 pounds in August.

Brian, If you go ahead, and want a better trolling motor, I have a 65 pound, 24 volt, cable stear MinnKota off my Skeeter that I will sell you cheap.

Bass generally spawn on the full moon once the water reaches 65* In some years that maybe in May in Southern Ontario. In a cold year the fish will spawn in 60* water... Yes, many States have no closed season for Bass. But they tend to be in the southern half of the USA, where there is a long growing season, and the spawn is spread out over several months.

If South Bay and West Bay mean anything to you, you know where I was fishing...grin. A thirty incher is a small fish, here's a picture of the same little girl with a thirty-eight inch fish she caught last year...

Last night my buddy Kirk and his family stopped in, we had lasagna, and wine...and shot the breeze for a while. This morning we slept in...grin. After a hearty breakfast of pancakes, eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage and fried onion rings, Kirk and family headed off. I hung back to give them time to launch, then followed a few minutes later. It was 11:00 AM when I left the house. The neighbours stayed home today, so the dogs came along for the boat ride. I started fishing at the first marina and soon had two quick hook-ups, but they both got off!!! The hooks on my old Rapala Husky Jerk have been replaced many times and the current set was too small, plus one treble only had two points... I stop on the lea side of an island and changed hooks, and was able to landed the next two fish...Both small ones around 30 inches. I was casting toward the windy shore, throwing long casts, into very shallow water then working the jerkbait out over the first drop off. The wind was quite strong, but that's where the bites were. The lea side was much more comfortable, but I didn't move a thing there and was soon back out in the wind... By 3:00pm I had, had enough and called it quits. I came home, with the smaller of my two fish, as a donation to my neighbour's fish fry tonight. All together in four hours I had 4 follows, three fish that got away, and two in the boat. Here's Natalie with my small one.

I guess I don't count as Southern Ontario, because I'm more than two hours from T.O...grin. Around my area we have them all the time. It was worst before they closed the dump. One year, I had one that kept rolling my burning barrel over. Another time, there was one that kept tearing the screen out of the back window. I had dirty paw prints on the inside of the window frame... That's one of the reasons I have dogs. The bears aren't generally interested in trouble, just an easy meal. The scent of the dogs and the barking, keep them away from the house...most times.

It doesn't matter what type of line you are using, monofilament, Fluorocarbon, braid etc. To put line on a spinning reel, you hold the spool facing the spinning reel, so the line comes off the bulk spool in the direction opposite the way the bail turns. What I am saying is, as the bail turns, it should take the line off of the bulk spool and wind it onto the reel spool. This will minimize line twist.

Bump.

If you're going to use a leader with braid, here's an idea I picked up from Bass Pro and Senko maker Gary Yamamoto... Make the leader long enough so that when you land a fish you have the knot and several turns of leader on the reel. The weakest parts of your set-up are the leader to line Uni to Uni knots...Get them on the reel, safely out of the way if there are any boat side heroics.