manitoubass2

More truthful, yet simple words are rarely spoken. Very well put. LOSER (k, but seriously, I like your post)

Black and silver if shiners are present. Chartreusse and silver blades when vis. isn't great or your fishing 20FOW+

and Paul, I've also used the beetle spins on skirted bass jigs. That way you can downsize the offering when needed, while still creating flash and vibration

I don't know about the originals, but I use the Northland Tackle ones for walleye and other pan fish. They can work really well at times on a jig head with a grub, especially for post spawn.

I totally agree, tons of great info here! And for the wallies, doesn't surprise me. Most people just don't use them for wallies, plain and simple. And thats fine by me! lol What color you plan on using for pike??? I already mentioned my two favorites, but if I'm pike fishing it's gotta be white on white, with silver willows

Bwahahahahahaha!

lol, thats funny! I guess the trailer did make a difference though, I forgot that was the biggest bass of the day that ripped the trailer off.

Got out today for 3.5 hours, brought the kids with and had alot of fun We had around 30 bass in all, biggest being 18", but the rest were all around 15-17". Only used one bait all day, black/silver tandem blades, 3/8oz. Pot Belly Strike King SB. I tried to get some pics of spawning sturgeon as well, but the sun was reflecting off the water in a way that I just couldn't view them through pictures. Kids had a blast, they caught some real nice smallies! There first ones of 12012, they were pumped!!! They also loved checking out the stugeon, wish I coulda got better pics. Amazing fish! Same conditions today, but no rain. Towards the end of the day the sun peaked out and the wind died. A few pics of good times (with no blood) Still in the soccer gear action shot! The prize!!! Another decent fish!!! My daughters first fish in along time (shes the non angler of the family) Earlier in the day Alot of fun catching these on the kiddos rod! 6'2" Shimano Clarus, lol My oldest girl is an excellent angler, action shot Every fish has the SB hooked in the same spot! Hope you all enjoy!!!!

lol, I caught about 30 smallies today on the black silver tandem SB, only bait I used for 3.5 hours. I tried with a 4" Berkley minnow on it, caught about five or so, then the minnow was wrecked, so I just kept fishing without it. Adding the bait didn't hurt, but it didn't make things any better either, at least not today.

I like braid deep or shallow, just a personal preference really. I use SB for walleye quite abit, and you need the sensitivity on the drop. Alot of times they hit when the SB is doing nothing but falling to the bottom. With mono, you wouldn't even feel it the majority of the time. Cool to see everyones color preferences as well. Merc, you started a really good thread with lots of good advice!!! Oh, I never add anything to the hook, just never found a need for it. But, I am heading out for some smallies here in a few minutes and I'm going to add a 4" minnow bait and see what the results are.

I know, lol. Thanks again for the warm welcome! I think it took me 3 hours to have 2 entries? A good sign of things to come I hope Yes, yes it is! Hahaha, I'm way up in NW Ontario, near the Manitoba border

Hahaha Thanks RC. I'm only good for a few species though. Looks like the tourny is off to a strong start this year, gonna be alot of fun! Thank MM, always appreciated! 4x4Bassin, you should probably avoid any whitey reports, lol. I removed the pic as to not offend anyone

As per in my report, it was deep hooked. I kept the fish as I felt it was too damaged to swim off healthy. It will be for lunch today. I don't normally keep bass, but if it deep hooked like that, I'd rather it not go to waste.

I also had a quick chance to see some spawning sturgeon, which is always cool to see. If the weather holds, I'll try to get a few good pics of them today. Kinda looks like shallow water infested with 6ft sharks, lol

ell, after a long day stuck inside with my daughter, I was itching to get outside and do some fishing. My addiction was made worse for the day since I was finally added to a team for the OFC tournament. By the time my girlfriend got home, I had a sign printed and ready to go. I got the rain gear on and off I went for a shore fish looking for pre-spawn smallies!!! We had funny weather all day, it went from calm/sunny, to hyyyyuge wind gusts a freezing rain. It seemed to change every half hour throughout the day. So I left in rain gear and fully prepped to deal with cold rain/thunderstorms. When I left, it was about 12 degrees, winds from the west that went calm, to 60km/h wind gusts. Water levels had recently dropped 2 ft, but had held for days at a 7.5ft average. When the water holds, visibility is pretty good, for the river that is, lol. Water temps were 55 degrees. I had two rods ready to go for changing conditions, and one had a Pot Belly 3/8oz black/silver spinnerbait, the other rod ready for duty with a crankin rap of the crawfish variety. First cast was aimed at the shoreline in about 4FOW. Usually this is a good way to gauge how aggressive the bass are, if there even there, lol. First cast with the spinner bait and I missed a bite near some wood. Ok, good sign, fish are here where I expect them to be. Second cast, 6ft from the first cast, and another hit.... But another miss! Tough to get a good hookset with my glasses covered in rain, lol, I'm relying heavily on the sens of my rod and braided line. Down goes the spinnerbait, time to hit that spot with a crank bait, something tougher to miss the hook set on... First cast, fish on! Man I love how bass fight! He left from the water 3 times, man he had alot of energy. Got em landed, popped out the bait and back into the water he goes. I woulda liked some pics for my report, but It's just raining too hard. I fanned out casts, and in the next 10-15 minutes, had landed three more decent smallies. All with loads of aggressive energy. Pliers were needed on all of them. They were just smashing my offerings. I switched back to the black spinnerbait for a few casts, two more fish! This time one is decent enough for a pic since the rain had settled down. Not a giant, but 17.5" would be the biggest on this day. After landing even more fish on a variety of crankbaits and the black spinnerbait. I decided to switch it up and rigged up a 5" worm on a shakeyhead. Now I was looking for deeper fish in 18-22FOW. About 5 cast in and BAAAAMMMM! Oh, I know that feeling, thats a pike. Very aggressive and seemingly swimming in circles. Got him to the shore and released quickly, No measurement needed to see this fish is in the slot at about 33" ish. Next cast, same thing. Just a baby, but he's good enough for a quick measurement and a pic for team 4! Released to fight another day. By this time, the rain had picked back up and clouds looking dangerous. So a quick retreat home for supper sounded like the plan. Got home to some pasta awaiting on the table, so I quickly got into some dry clothing and enjoyed a hot meal. After eating, that storm, like the others today, had past quickly. I was now clear and earily calm. So, As quick as it it finished, it began once again, lol. Back to the river for a few more bass. As soon as I arrived I was greeted by the biggest beaver I had ever seen. He gave me a quick look over as he swam by. Man was he huge, looked 5ft long! I got back to fishing. Picked up a couple quick ones in the 15" range on a spinnerbait. Then I decided to swim that shakeyhead right on the shore, burning it. Lets have some fun as it gets dark!!!! Well that idea payed off quickly!!! Got a few good bites, but missed a few as well. Funny they were even hitting this bait being burned like that. The last bass had swallowed the offering way too far, about 4" down his throat and hooked hard. After some work with the pliers, I suppose I'm keeping this fish for tablefare. One more shallow cast offered a OOS walleye in about 6" of water. A monstrous 12" was quickly released into the depths of the now black river. Overall it was alot of fun! Conditions sucked, but hey, thats how it goes... I had a ton of fun today landing about 20 bass in just a few hours, but I did miss about 6-8 good bites. Oh well, till next time (which is about 6 hours away from me writing this, lol). Hope you enjoy!

Yeppers, good point Sinclair! I tried Terminator spinners last year and two of them broke right away, I wasn't too impressed. Strike King makes the best IMO

If your on a school of walleye and you want to catch the biggest ones in the school, tie on a spinner bait. Let it sink to the bottom the slow roll it or jig it back to the boat. Bass and pike will hammer these baits, just gotta try different retrieves etc to see what they want. Braid works fine, actually I prefer to use braid for the sensitivity. Two colors I love, chart with silver tandem blades, and black with tandem silver blade. My preferred size is 3/8oz. I only use Strike King Pot Bellies. All of them will work, but these are the ones I like the best.

Yep, that would be one crazy walleye (the kind you'll get emails about for the next 5 years, caught here at XXXXXXX location) hahaha.

Saweet! Time to make a sign I spose

ahhh man I love your reports... Thats a nice pike! Great shot of Roloff as well. "Look at the stripes on his tail!" lol, Jack is awesome!!!

Yeppers and thanks for the link to that Drifter, that was a very enjoyable watch!!!!

I'll be out on Rainy River and Rainy Lake. Heading up to Mainville in 2 weeks as well

I'd like to see that show of a weekend fishermans journey to professional angler, especially if it had a good blend of behind the scenes content. I would also watch a show where they take a guy and place him in the wilderness, give him a small cabin and some tools, and film an entire year of trying to survive in the wild.

grrrr, I was just setting up the camera as the moon slipped behind some clouds. Nice pic Twocoda

Thanks for that Sinclair!!!! That was awesome.