dannycbass Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 I'm new to swimbaits and SU, looking for some advice for fishing New York's gin clear waters. I fish mostly Oneida L., 1000 Islands, and Eastern Basin Lake Ontario. I fished smaller baits like Hudd shad, LC Real California 110's, BBZ Shads before. Got the bug and want to jump up to the big stuff. Mainly looking for line/leader recommendation. In clear water(with toothy critters) is it best to use flouro, braid w/ flouro leader, or just mono? Also, what's the best way to protect expensive baits from the toothy critters without sacrificing bites? Use wire leader or not to use wire? Would also like some bait recommendations that are proven on the waters that I listed. Gear I have so far: Dobyns 806ml W/ Lexa 300 BPS Extreme ETR710HT w/ 300 Curado (1/2-3 oz., should be OK for small baits) Matt Hard Gill Matt Hard Perch Hudd 68 perch and green back 6" Hudd green back I think I'm off to a good start but any advice is appreciated. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcm83 Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 welcome aboard! i mainly throw the medium sized stuff, 6-10"/2oz-7oz with the occasional 10.5oz'er. i use Big Game #tests 20-30 depending on the baits. 20#on the 2-3oz baits, 25# on baits up to 6oz, and 30# on the big big stuff. As for leaders, i havent been using any, but ive been fairly lucky. some of the waters that i fish are teaming with northerns up to 40". some house 40+" muskie. from what ive heard, a section of 80#-100# fluorocarbon works well. good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 I've been successful in the past using 50# Tyger leader on my hardbaits when fishing clear water. Maybe not "gin clear", but close. ...just a suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanhick Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 My home reservoir Quabbin in MA is deep gin clear and I use either 20 lb sunline sniper FC or 25 lb seaguar abrazix depending on the setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Dot Posted June 18, 2013 Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 i grew up fishing all of ontario. i still go home to fish every so often. are any of your baits floaters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannycbass Posted June 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2013 Thanks for the tips, I guess its still up for a little experimentation as to if wire is a necessary evil or not. When throwing normal bass lures I just considered the occasional bite off of a $6 bait a cost of doing business but the thought of a northern or worse a pickerel running off with a $60+ bait makes me cringe. Especially if were one of my wake jr.'s since they're not that easy to get your hands on 'em. I juwant to be able to go as low as possible with the #test not to deter bites. For instance, in the last couple of years, on Ontario and Oneida I had to drop from #14 flouro to #8 flouro dragging tubes for smallies due to the clear water and the pressure. Landing a 4 lbs.+ smallie on #8 or #6 flouro with a 3/4 oz. head isn't easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Socalbassmaster Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 When it comes to fishing big baits bass arent very line shy, once they lock theirs eyes on that big bait their aint nothing that can take their attention off of it. If u feel u need to add a steel leader to ur line ti protect from bite offs from those pike and muskies then by all means do, the bass wont mine. I fish in Southern California where we have clairty ranging anywhere from 5-30ft deep with 10-15ft clairty on average and i have caught many bass with straight braid on swimbaits, A-rigs , crankbaits and frogs eith no problem. My PB at 15lbs was caught on Straight braid with a 8inch BBZ in 15ft clairty in 2ft of water and less than 10ft from the shore. Bass seeing ur line isnt any issue with Big baits so dont worry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aasenke Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 When it comes to fishing big baits bass arent very line shy, once they lock theirs eyes on that big bait their aint nothing that can take their attention off of it. If u feel u need to add a steel leader to ur line ti protect from bite offs from those pike and muskies then by all means do, the bass wont mine. I fish in Southern California where we have clairty ranging anywhere from 5-30ft deep with 10-15ft clairty on average and i have caught many bass with straight braid on swimbaits, A-rigs , crankbaits and frogs eith no problem. My PB at 15lbs was caught on Straight braid with a 8inch BBZ in 15ft clairty in 2ft of water and less than 10ft from the shore. Bass seeing ur line isnt any issue with Big baits so dont worry PB of 15#s wowee I wish my PB was even close to that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Socalbassmaster Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 PB of 15#s wowee I wish my PB was even close to that! yeap my second biggest is 13.2lbs just about every body of water in southern california have a lake record of 13lbs or bigger with at least 5 bodies of water having the lake record at 20lbs or slightly bigger its pretty common to catch multiple fish in the 10+ class in a single day here on certain bodies of water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannycbass Posted June 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2013 When it comes to fishing big baits bass arent very line shy, once they lock theirs eyes on that big bait their aint nothing that can take their attention off of it. If u feel u need to add a steel leader to ur line ti protect from bite offs from those pike and muskies then by all means do, the bass wont mine. I fish in Southern California where we have clairty ranging anywhere from 5-30ft deep with 10-15ft clairty on average and i have caught many bass with straight braid on swimbaits, A-rigs , crankbaits and frogs eith no problem. My PB at 15lbs was caught on Straight braid with a 8inch BBZ in 15ft clairty in 2ft of water and less than 10ft from the shore. Bass seeing ur line isnt any issue with Big baits so dont worry Thanks Socalbassmaster. this answers my question. I don't want to use flouro if I don't have to. Flouro has its own set of problems as a main line. So, basically what you are saying even though swimbaits are generally fished slow its still a reaction bait and the heavy line being braid or mono doesn't impact amount of strikes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Socalbassmaster Posted June 22, 2013 Report Share Posted June 22, 2013 Thanks Socalbassmaster. this answers my question. I don't want to use flouro if I don't have to. Flouro has its own set of problems as a main line. So, basically what you are saying even though swimbaits are generally fished slow its still a reaction bait and the heavy line being braid or mono doesn't impact amount of strikes. Exactly dude u got it. DONT WORRY about them seeing the line cause they dont. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke V. Posted June 22, 2013 Report Share Posted June 22, 2013 Socalbassmaster, I take it you're referring to Striper, and not largemouth. If you're referring to largemouth... Pics or it didn't happen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Socalbassmaster Posted June 22, 2013 Report Share Posted June 22, 2013 Socalbassmaster, I take it you're referring to Striper, and not largemouth. If you're referring to largemouth... Pics or it didn't happen Lol largies son and i dont have to prove anything to anyone if u knew me in person u would know i dont make up fish stories, heck im on the water 24/7 baby and chances are if u fish socal u knew where i caught em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke V. Posted June 22, 2013 Report Share Posted June 22, 2013 Socalbassmaster, I take it you're referring to Striper, and not largemouth. If you're referring to largemouth... Pics or it didn't happen Lol largies son and i dont have to prove anything to anyone if u knew me in person u would know i dont make up fish stories, heck im on the water 24/7 baby and chances are if u fish socal u knew where i caught em. For sure man. No hate, I just don't believe things I read on the internet unless I see some proof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Socalbassmaster Posted June 22, 2013 Report Share Posted June 22, 2013 For sure man. No hate, I just don't believe things I read on the internet unless I see some proof. No worries dude i hear ya. Those fish are deff still out there to be caught Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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