bigmac1984

BOAT stands for Break Out Another Thousand.... referring to dollars of course. I heard that from a guy recently and it is about as close to the truth as there is!.... Another suggestion is to look at marinas or dealers around where you live. Typically if you buy something from them, they are more likely to be of better service to you down the road.

X2 for luremaking.com I got all my stuff there, they are great people to deal with. The fact that you can customize colours and blade sizes etc. is fun. I poured myself 20 new spinnerbait heads last night that are now waiting for me to put my own colours and combos on it. Its definately a good way to kill the winter blues away (although it is spring now!)

I use 1/2oz mostly, but I think it will vary depending on who you talk to.

Where to begin with this one.... As many have said, a spinnerbait is a great "search" bait to find the active bass. Can't really fish them wrong, chuck and wind, chuck and wind. Trailer hooks are a must, alot of times without them you'll miss the smallies. I don't add a twister tail or anything to mine but I do use the Strike King Perfect Skirts with Magic tails which pretty much already give the bait that same look, but those skirts are my personal preference (I make spinnerbaits myself for fun). You can do a few things when you are retrieving the bait to increase your odds of a strike. As soon as the bait hits the water, give the rod a quick jerk to get the blades spinning, and periodically during the retrieve, do the same thing. This will make the blades flash which can entice a strike, as well as make the skirt pulsate and give off a vibration at the same time. Quick flash + vibrating skirt = injured baitfish. With smallies, the further you can bomb the bait, the better it seems to be. Since they are notorious sight feeders, the further away from the boat you can be the better. Most of my spinnerbait strikes come within the first 3 or 4 turns of the reel. Secondly, smallies notoriously will follow a bait all the way to the boat and frustrate the hell out of you, so I always have a tube or drop shot rig right beside me and if I see a follower, I drop that in the water right away. If you don't have multi-rig setups, then next time try a faster or slower retrieve to see why that bass didn't strike the bait. Chances are, it'll follow it 2 or 3 times, and eventually it'll hit if you present it correctly. Blades make a difference too I find. Silver blades give the most flash on clear days, while the gold blades seem to work better on overcast days. I usually use only silver willowleaf blades when smallie fishing, and go to the bigger colorado blades when largemouth fishing. They seem to like the thumping and the flash that the gold blades give off. As far as the actual spinnerbait colour, white, white, white for smallies. Largies seem to hit more colours, but I find the firetiger or bluegill colours work the best. Lastly, and again I think this will be personal preference, but I use a MH baitcasting rod, extra fast action, with 50lb braid. When those smallies hit a spinnerbait, they will absolutely smash it and cripple your spinnerbait. Most spinnerbaits will have a 3/0 of 4/0 hook that will require good backbone to set the hook, but enough flexibility to keep the fish hooked. I could go on and on about spinnerbaits as it is one of my favourite techniques, I don't go on the water anywhere without a spinnerbait tied on. Hope this helps along with the great advice I'm sure many people will give you.

I see this every time I go to the beach in Grand Bend. Its more fun watching this than actually going to the beach. They have a tractor there I think that will launch the boat for you, but its expensive so alot of people just do it themselves, but soon realize the launch fee would have been much cheaper than the towing fee and repair costs to their cars!

If you are not against taking the subway, that would be the best option. Pay the $5 parking at Kipling station, and take the subway directly to Danforth and main. It'll literally take you right there. Should take you only 40 minutes or so by subway, by car your lucky if its less than 1.5 hours! TTC Map - Take from kipling on the bloor-danforth line to main http://www3.ttc.ca/Subway/interactivemap.jsp

As someone already mentioned for your fish finders, go see Joscylyn at Angling outfitters in Woodstock, would be well worth the drive. Even if you don't/can't afford 2 HDS units, he has alot of used units he sells, and you can get into a good pre-HDS colour/gps unit for the price you are looking for. He won't steer you wrong. As far as trolling motor goes, certainly the more power you can afford the better because you can always turn down the speed on a high power one, but you can't turn it down. I think the highest you can go on a 24v set-up is 80lb thrust but I may be wrong. To me 80lb thrust is plenty. I fish LSC alot with only a 65 and have no issues getting around. If you do happen to get an HDS unit, you can overlay the voltage from your battery so you can always know how much juice you have left, which is really handy. I run all my electronics on 1 battery with all the console gauges, starting battery is on its own as well so the electronics don't drain them, and my trolling motor is on its own 2 batteries as well, so in all, 4 batteries on board. I can usually fish with both my GPS units turned on for 2 to 2.5 days before it is fully drained. Of course if I'm running my livewell or stereo etc. that lenght of time goes down. This is all on an 18 foot Lund.

A quick search of Ebay as well has the Citica or curado coming up for under $130 and $160 respectively. Shipping is around $20, and if you ask the seller to mark it as a gift it should save you from paying any duty charges. Some local tackle stores might also have these on clearance, I know a local store here in London has a few curado's left for around $135 (been a few weeks since I've been there so they may all be sold), but at that price, I'd be grabbing one if I needed another reel.

I love my curado's. I have 3 200E7's and 1 200E5 and they are great. I've seen the new G series and i'm not as impressed with them. There are still the E models to be had, I've seen them as cheap as $145. If you are willing to spend around $200, the Chronarch's are essentially last year's curado, pretty much the same specs.

To each their own I guess, I don't think brand really has anything to do with it. I've used 15lb PP on my Medium action baitcaster without any issue. I agree with most posts saying that you should try as best you can to match the #test to the lure(s) you are using which typically matches the technique. I use 30# on one of my MH setups, and 50# on the other, and run 65# PP on both of my heavy setups. I find I do get some backlashes but its usually human error thats causing it, not the diameter of the line.

I have used boxes like this before and they worked well: http://www.basspro.com/Plano-FTO-Elite-FTO360-Series-Utility-Box-Spinnerbait/product/10210353/56532 http://www.basspro.com/Plano-FTO-Elite-FTO370-Series-Utility-Box-Spin/Buzzbait/product/10210361/121993

Was reading the paper and saw this article. Glad we have people out there catching people abusing the resource. http://www.lfpress.com/news/weird/2012/01/04/19199761.html

Bought my brother a 7'2" heavy action clarus last year for some frog fishing, and if the spinning rods are anything like this rod, I'd go for the clarus. And with the changes they've made this year, you're basically getting a compre from last year. Can't go wrong IMO there, plus the warranty is great. Most stores will replace them over the counter now for the cost of shipping, but I don't think you'll experience that hopefully.

Rae, I have 2 units networked together right now, HDS-7 at the console and HDS-5 up front. I am hoping this unit helps me find new water. How do you find it works in murky water, or water shallower than 10'? What lake do you do most of your fishing on? I noticed you were from Kitchener which is close to where I live.

Hello Everyone, I am thinking about buying the Lowrance structure scan over the winter to add to the boat in the spring. Does anyone have this on their boat already? and if so, what do you think of it? has it helped you? What are the advantages/disadvantages. I have read alot of forums about it an checked out screenshots etc. and it seems very useful, but most screenshots are from lakes in the U.S, so feedback from people who use it on our Ontario waters would be more useful I think. Thanks in advance.

HDS 5 is great, I have a HDS 5 and HDS7 networked together and they are great units. The HDS5 you can buy an ice fishing attachment to it to make it portable. Worth the money, and the rebates right now are incredible.

You can catch them from shore there, no need for a boat but it will be shoulder to shoulder from shore down there. Last I heard they are catching them there now. A week ago was a different story when the river was really dirty, but it seems to have cleaned up a bit now. A friend of mine was down earlier in the week and went 4-4 with the biggest being 51". Its anywhere from 10-18' deep in most spots there. Any fish I've seen caught from shore are usually caught on bulldogs or big bucktails. Most guys in boats are trolling mostly, and believers seem to be the ticket there. Either way, anything that makes a bunch of noise seems to produce. There is a free boat launch right at the lighthouse but it's a bit sketchy. There is a pay launch not far away thats about $20 that takes you right out to the river fairly quick. Good luck.

I usually find the most success in situations like this with smaller baits, or baits that fall slower into the pockets/grass. Along with alot of the baits mentioned (senko/jignpig), I like a texas rigged craw (strike king rage craw or baby rage craw) with a 1/4 or 3/8 oz sinker. This allows the bait to fall slower into the strike zone but when it gets in there, they usually don't think twice about it. Rocks/wood/grass mats provide warmer water at this time of year, and that is where fish seek baitfish and other bait because all these types of baits need oxygen rich waters which these areas provide.

If you can, find any vegitation left that is green. These fish late in the fall will be looking for oxygen rich waters, which throughout the summer healthy water plants (green in colour) provide them, but as the vegitation dies, they search for the grassy areas that are still left that are healthy. If you can't find any healthy green grass, the fish will tend to go towards rock piles as they provide one of the better sources of heat during this time. Good luck.

Dropshot http://www.xzonelures.com/products_slammer.html usually used dropshotting Dropshot technique: http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/drop-shot.html White Spinnerbait: http://www.basspro.com/Booyah-Double-Willow-Blade-Spinnerbait/product/51785/73403 Jerkbait: http://www.basspro.com/Rapala-XRap-Xtreme-Action-Slashbait/product/57968/97224 Texas Rigged: http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/guides/texasrig.html Jig/Trailer http://www.basspro.com/Strike-King-Hack-Attack-Jig/product/10210437/170537 http://www.basspro.com/Strike-King-Rage-Tail&153;-Chunk-Softbait-Lures/product/96635/70705 You are in good hands here. Guys/gals on here know alot. If you are close to Toronto there are some good events to catch during the winter where there are alot of seminars about catching bass. The Toronto Boat Show in January usually has good seminars and you can see the schedule online once it's posted. There is the Sportman show in march I believe, and that usually coincides with the Spring Classic at Bass pro shops, all of which have seminars as well. I'm sure others on here know of more as well. Feel free to PM me if you have any other specific questions.

You will most likely get alot of differing opinions on this as bass fishermen and women all have different ways they prefer. The best thing to do is be as versatile as possible, and learn new/different techniques. For smallmouth, I use mostly 3 techniques, one of which I learned how to do this year and that is dropshot. It seems like a very easy technique, but most guys will tell you there is some skill involved. I use this technique when the bite seems to be slow, or I can see the fish deep on my sonar. When I start the day, I use something close to the surface and moving fast, usually a white spinner bait or a topwater lure. Finally, you can't beat a tube or goby imitating bait bounced off bottom, no matter the conditions, this technique will often work. For Largemouth, I'll also use spinnerbaits to start, and the colour green seems to be the ticket for them. If you are in really thick cover (usually a good spot to find Largemouth), something texas rigged or a Jig with a trailer to imitate a crayfish can be the ticket. Nothing beats throwing a topwater frog around lilly pads for largemouth, the bites are explosive and quite possibly the most fun you'll have bass fishing IMO. Many people have already said this board is a great resource to learn, there are lots of good reads on here, lots of good posts from the summer you can read up on. As far as rod/reel setups go, again you will get differing opinions on here. For me, I use a spinning rod 7'2 Medium Power Extra Fast action for dropshotting, a spinning rod 7' medium power Extra fast action for tubes, and a 7'7 Medium Heavy power, fast action baitcasting rod for the spinner baits. On my 7'2 dropshot rod, I run 8lb straight flourocarbon line, but alot of guys use 15-20lb braid with an 8-10lb flourocarbon leader attatched to it. I use 20lb braid on my 7' medium because on occastion I use that for jerkbaits and like how the braid feels. When I use a tube, I'll tie a flourocarbon leader on that. The baitcast setup is straight braid, 30lb. Rod/Reel setup for largemouth, I go heavy because of where these fish live and where I primarily target them, the slop. When from fishing, I use a 7'6 Heavy Power, Extra fast action with 65lb test braid. This allows for powerful hooksets and to pull them from the slop. When flipping/pitching a jig or texas rigged worm/craw, I also use a 7'6 Heavy Power, extra fast action with 65lb test braid. For spinnerbaits, I use the same setup as above. If you are serious about learning to bass fish (and it sounds like you are), the internet is a powerful tool. My opinion is to start out using only a few techniques and getting good at them. The best thing is to read up on how these fish react to weather patterns in the summer, and adjust your technique to the weather conditions you are going to fish. Good luck, you have until June 30th, 2012 to read up and learn up!!

Hi everyone, Over the winter to keep myself busy, I am looking to make some spinnerbaits for myself. Does anyone know where to buy the needed tools and accessories locally? I'm within a 2 hour drive to Toronto and Windsor area, so ideally, if there is a place within reach of these areas, that would be preferred. Thanks in advance.

I just caught this poor guy with a lamprey attached to him. Saw lots of other fish with the markings as well.

These guys have already listed the stores.... Angling outfitters definately has the most product in the store. Lambeth Rod and Tackle deals exclusively with St. Croix rods, and Angling Sports has a good mix of everything. Either way, I'm not sure you could go wrong with any of these 3 stores, all local guys always willing to help.

Congrats man!