i second the comment on tail dancers. i always carry a bunch of those.

as for line twist with spoons, the best method ive come across is using a small sized bottom bouncer a few feet in front of the lure. change out the swivel on the bouncer to be a nice ball bearing one and then use a cross lock snap on the spoon. the bouncer keeps the weight off the line so the torque to twist it is too high even for a spoon to twist it. the light weight makes sure you dont run too deep.

On the line twist issue:
When I was young and dumb we'd cast and then start trolling. As you can imaging We'd get some twist from fowled lures now and then. I've tried the let the line out and paddle for a while fix with not great success.

These days to cure annoying line twists I'll cast out, reel in and let the last 4-5 feet of twist spin my lure and let it's momentum take it as far past neutral as it will go. Cast out again to even things out. Then I repeat until all the twist is gone. A few casts will take care of all the twists those little bass you don't notice right away can cause. A spare spool is small and light insurance.

I have done almost nothing but think about how I can dredge some big boys out of Basswood this upcoming August.

My thinking is that big fish have refined eating patterns and seldom deviate. I believe big pike are apt to eat outsized meals that may hold them over for a few days...........so the window of opportunity is likely to be narrow. Add in that they may spend considerable time in the deep during summer and the game gets exponentially more complicated.

While I love the kick and vibration of spoons (fleeing prospective meal) they can be tough to fish effectively in the depths. The first prerequisite I would opt for is braid. Smaller diameter will keep the spoon in the zone longer as the lure will be less apt to kite up (small diameter of braid vs mono). I like the husky devle...........Throw it on 50 power pro with a beefy baitcaster and your in business.

One of my strategies will be to troll a Manns stretch 30 which is essentially a saltwater wahoo lure (11 inches). With 65 power pro and a muskie rod depths of 30 to 40 feet will be easily attained. The only question is how long will I be able to keep the big bad lure in the water..........can you say popeye forearms? (arrrrgh......maybe I'll hope for a good stiff breeze and troll downwind)
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That will be experimental..........a tried and true tournament winner is the cobra jig/big shadtail combo. Definitely a big fish lure with outstanding versatility.
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I'm also looking to do some butterfly jigging if the finder can show me the right spot...........
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Can't wait. Had to reconfigure my packs due to the decked aspect............I'm now the owner of a 4ft waterprood duffel (watershed), slides up inside rather perfectly.

The trial run is tomorrow.........The primary reason is to see if the depth finder will shoot through the hull..........but I am sort of pumped to see how she does. Yeehaw.

Puckster wrote on Jul 10^th, 2012 at 2:13pm:


I'm thinking helmet cam...
And: I think the mann's baits will work well for you and have seen the smaller version of the 30+ work really well for LT.

Hint: Db turned me onto the topo of Basswood.........it has all but North Bay area.

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