Mike G

Rich, Bring it on!

Wade, The Dufus (Jeff) and his idea of a good time with kids make it self evident why property owners don't want visitors like him. To point out a few things: 1. They carve a path through the woods. Dufus didn't have a clue what he was chopping down. 2. They build a dam. You are right about the havoc such fun projects can wreak on a creek. The 1/2 dam excuse is lame if it is true that they only damed 1/2 of the flow. Though it may be 1/2 the havoc, that could still be a lot of damage to the creek regardless of what Dufus thinks.. 3. They leave it there proving that they do not know that the action has any other effect than fun for the kids. 4. Dufus poses as Robin Hood bringing the goodies of outdoor life to the kids. For him, it is OK to break the law. He is really the devil showing innocents how to abuse property rights and abuse a beautiful creek. If "Robin" and his merry band keep it up, there won't be any more Pine Creeks as we know them. Scouts and other youth groups should use the article and video as an example of what not to do on a weekend out. As for your question on what to do when you find a "fun dam," I say stake it out. If Dufus returns, make him tear down the dam and then beat the tar out of him. Don't worry. In his mind, it is OK to break the law. Let him see how it feels. (This last part is tongue in cheek. But I do think the property owner should have filed charges just to give Dufus a wake up call. Dufus should think how he would feel if an uninvited group camped in his back yard, cut down plants, and built a rock wall "just for fun.") Just some thoughts. Robin Hood was cool. Dufus is a poser of the worst sort.

I have to agree that $50 is a lot especially when Grandt does the same for $25 on its warranteed rods. I have to think that Loomis is trading on its name and using the $50 as sort of a deductible to make you think twice before you file a claim. It should also make us think twice before we buy the rod in the first place.

I know rich posted something about his latest version of the worm. I can't find it. Anyway here are some pictures of it. Maybe Rich can add the recipe.

"What's the possibility to catch a fish and retrieve the lure lost just a few casts earlier?" It seems that the probability is high enough to make it worth another cast. I can add a story. Fishing for Brook Trout in the Ontario bush years back. A pesky hammer hnadle snipped my spoon off. Minutes later my buddy at the other end of the canoe caught the same pike on his Mepps. He landed the fish with my spoon dangling from his jaw. I got my spoon back. Incidently, it was the same Daredevle I picked out of the mouth of a Small Mouth Bass a few years earlier. See KD's earlier post. Did I find the lure or did it find me. Once a lure is in the hands of Its true owner, will it strive to return if separated? I would say that your Fluke has some powerful Mojo. Keep it as a go to bait. Don't throw it away, ever. that will bring a curse of snagged back casts, wind knots, broken rods, and endless fishless days. If you do not want to fish it, wear it around your kneck.

A couple of times I fished Shab around Memorial Day catching gills off their beds then. I would say that it is unusual for them to be bedding after the 4th this far south.

Find a lure and pick it up... good point Ken. I have at some lures that have worked that way.In no special order: 1/4 oz Daredevle removed from the throat of a Smallmouth bass that I caught on another lure. Later caught 25" Musky and countless Brook Trout. 1/5 oz Krocadile found on shore at Blackwell. It is a great lure for "catchable" trout. I bought a backup but still use the original one. Tiny Torpedo, Red White snagged in the weeds at Silver Lake, WI. I caught the attached section of line which had a 1/4 oz lead weight on it. This proved to be a good surface lure for Bass at Blackwell. U 20 Flatfish in yellow came up on a branch I snagged in Basswood Lake, Ont. Later on the same lake when I drew the guide (stern) position in the canoe, I used it between paddling strokes for lots of SM Bass while my buddy fly fished from the bow. 4" Sluggo found in shallows. I replaced the hook and used it. It was my first use of a soft jerk bait. I caught so many and missed so many more Bass on it that I added SJBs to my short list of lures. That reminds me that I have a couple other "orphans" that I should try...

Rich, Weeds would be a third point of similarity. This morning around 6, I was fishing a sandy flat. The weeds were sparse for 2 ft of water. LM Bass from 5-20" were cruising around. I could not interest them in a buzz bait or a moving chatter bait. To try something different, I cast the chatterbait about 5 feet to the left of a fair bass I spotted and let it sink to the bottom (2 ft). The bass siddled over and sucked the bait off the bottom. I landed this one 17-18" and missed a second using the same presentation. Let's try for a fourth similarity. This bass was gaunt with a caved in belly. That says they are just coming off the spawn. How does this fit your observations? So far my guess is that the murky water and cooler water temps have kept the weeds down. Cooler water also seems to have put the spawn back to mid June. Kinda late for IL waters. It will be a different year, maybe.

Rich, How was it in the spring? I am asking because we now have very clear water at Lake Summerset. In spring it was murky pea soup. I was surprised to see how it cleared up since I was expecting it to bloom through the summer. I am just getting used to the lake so I do not know if this is standard for the lake. It is the first year I am paying a lot of attention to it. It has some similarities to Shab; so you observations give me some clues too.

The Grandt rods come with a great lifetime transferable warranty. I have a med-heavy 7 footer that is a favorite for Lake Bass. Consider getting a 2 piece rod. Though they cost more, they are much easier to transport. You will get more use out of it.

Jim, It looks likea great rod. But you bring up a side issue,"I'm too short for this rod but it is a great rod." How does your height play into the length of rod that is correct for you? Just curious. I use spinning rods from 5' to 9.' They all work for me-shorter rods in confined areas, longer rods where there's more room.

It is Older than you Think. Native Americans were using fist size bugs before Columbus arrived. Then there is a long period of evolution. Even a Dark Age. http://www.midcurrent.com/articles/books/tapply_bugs.aspx PS The latest chapter is being written now as we use EVA craft foam for Jude Bugs and Stealth bombers.

Due to my fishing upbringing, I do not think of fly fishers as a minority group in angling circles though we are. Likewise, seeing that those who fly fishing for bass are a minority in that group makes us minority squared. Time to march on Washington? I love these articles that translate bass for trout fishermen. I hope the link works. http://www.midcurrent.com/articles/techniq...ass_on_fly.aspx

There are monos and braids. And then there are the other lines. I admit that I have not tried Suffix. But i wonder if it tends to catch and knot like the braids I have tried. The other lines? Those would be stranded like Fire Line. I still like how this one absorbs twisting; and, when a tangle comes, loops and knots slide out with light pressure. Though Fireline has it faults, it still gives me more fishing time because I spend less time picking out tangles. Right now I like it because I know what to expect when I use it.

From Bob Clouser's recent book: http://www.midcurrent.com/articles/techniq...smallmouth.aspx

Steve, That is an age old question. In the end it is the sportsman's choice since overall a net is more effective than a spear, a spear is more effective than a rod and reel, trolling is more effective than casting, etc., etc. We choose a challenging method since we are way beyond the need to put meat in the pot.

Having no shame, I copied this from the Berkley website. Which one of you guys is working for them? Hug the Banks for Spring Smallmouth "Spring means high water in most areas, due to snowmelt and high annual rainfall. And spring means movement for river bass. A plunge-pool below a dam is a classic wintering site. As water temperatures broach 50?F, smallmouths begin to wander downstream from a dam or upstream from a reservoir, toward spawning areas. Until the water reaches 60?F, most bass are scattered. And, because the water is high, they hug the banks, where current is reduced. Working overhanging grass, reeds, woodcover and eddies right against the bank with a spinnerbait tends to be the odds-on method, because it covers water fast-one of the key principles for finding scattered fish. As the bass begin to concentrate again, switch to plastics presented on weedless jig heads or Texas-rigged. Pitch right up on the bank or into overhanging grass and slip it into the water." Suggested gear: 7 foot medium spinning rod, 10# superline with leader if water is clear.

Eric did a lot of work on this along time ago on a fishing website far far away. Untapped resources in the war on poaching are the state, county, and local police. Apparently they have the authority to enforce fish and game laws though, for whatever reason, they seldom do. How can we turn that around? BTW the last conversation I had with a DuPage ranger was on an opening day for catchable trout. He said that he really enjoyed checking stamps and licenses because he spend most of his time chasing gangs and drug dealers out. (Yes, I said DuPage County.) So that is an argument. If rangers do a lot of ordinary law enforcement, police should do some fish and game law enforcement.

Mark, I use 30 minute to have a longer working life. I apply a thin coat with a camel hair brush so that running is seldom a problem. The standard poop on yellowing is that faster curing epoxies yellow more. Flex Coat epoxies are formulated for rod building and are advertised as non-yellowing though they tend to have that longer curing time. Since I don't think fish care about yellowing, I have used 30 minute stuff on jig heads and to finish rod windings and to assemble cork grips. These stand up to water just fine. BTW, since water is not part of the chemistry of epoxies, it is hard to imagine that they would be water soluable. Just my magination.

That is the $64,000 question Mark. I would like to see that one answered first since it is my impression that in Illinois license and sticker fees are not earmarked for DNR activity. It all goes into the general fund. Now there are disadvantages and advantages to that. We are aware of the disadvantage that outdoor activities do not get the very funds that they generate. On the other side of the coin, it means that DNR funding is not strictly limited to the dollars it generates. Assuming the 700,000 figure is right, that would be 700,000 voices wispering in the administrations ear if they could be organized. Add those who enjoy the outdoors but do not have to buy a license or register a watercraft, and we might have a million voices. Then if their were enough voices, the DNR might get more than just the funds it generated through fees. Face it. We take the outdoors for granted. When election day comes we vote for the piper who has played up to our conservative or liberal feelings as long as he says he won't raise taxes, or get soft on welfare, or whatever... When the smoke clears after election day, we wonder how come he ain't doing anything for the DNR. Well, he probably never said he would. I got to admit that I do not pay a lot of attention to the candidates' stands on conservation and the environment. Maybe we all should.

B, It is s great idea. But a hard sell. Let me be the devil's advocate: "Us Bubbas has come to expect bass fishing to be included in our reglur fishin license. We kant figure out why we hafta pay exter for trout. Now you want us to pay fer bass too? One more government pork barrel. Get back to the reservation with the rest of yer liberal friends." Seriously, I can swallow the trout/salmon stamp because I see that a lot of extra efforts like hatcheries and stocking are necessary to have the fishery. IMHO, SM bass and LM bass do not need the same TLC. Maybe they do. But you have to make the case swimming upstream against the prevailing view. Mike

My two cents. The thump of a lure is similar to the beat or tempo in music. It is the time signature of the lure regardless of the pitch or sound of the lure. The thump can be slow, Largo. Or fast, Presto. Or eratic, accelerating and decelerating. Lots of ink has been spent in fishing journals on pitch and rhythm in fishing lures. An example is Doug Hannon's theory of the attracting and triggering qualities of bass lures. In it, a steady thump is attracting while an eratic thump is triggering. And, since the combinations of pitch and rhythm are virtually infinite, there is always room for one more bait to fill an empty nitch. There must be some truth to it otherwise all we would need is an assortment of River Runts sufficient to fish all depths.

Rich, good question. To match a suspending lure, we need a suspending fly or at least a fly that sinks slowly and horizontally. Years ago I observed my uncle's deadly technique of dead sticking a bucktail. Of course the term deadsticking was not invented till years later. In the cold water of early spring, he would cast a 3" red and white bucktail to likely pockets and simply let it sink as long as the boat's motion would allow. It was a classic "do nothing" presentation. The strike came on the sink or as he began to pickup the fly for the next cast. Since I wasn't catching fish on my "rubber worms," this was very frustrating for me to watch. Just within the last few years, when the suspending baits became popular, I finally realized what he was doing and why it worked. So I nominate the Red and White Bucktail Streamer with a silver mylar body.

Joe, Welcome to the site. I am very glad to see you here. Now that we cross paths on two sites, just think of it as stereo surfing. Very soon folks here will appreciate Rich getting you to sign up. About carp, when I think of it, one reason I don't do them is that I do not know how to fish for them. You may be able to cure my problem. Like Carp in some waters, Smallmouths got a bad rap when they invaded Landlocked Salmon lakes in Northern Maine. In some places Smallmouths and Largemouths are even referred to as the Brown Rats and Green Rats of the fishing world since they can aggressively displace more delicate native species like the trouts and Walleyes. No fish is perfect. Anyway you owe it to yourself to join one of the SMB on a fly events. Then you will owe us a Carp on a fly lesson

Josh, I have been collecting a lot of them lately. Though they function as a cork, they are a lot tougher. BTW I have weighed several and find that they are about 1/8 ounce. So they might make better spinning lures than flies. I tried sawing one with a Hacksaw holding it down by hand in a small mitre box, that I have to, get a 45 deg angle. Results not good. I need a better tool and clamp. Though it is challenging to try to figure out how to use them, I am beginning to think that softer molded foam popper bodies would be a better choice unless someone has some power tools. Just my thought.