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Just a head light for landing fish, tying knots etc. I also keep a good flashlight handy.

That don’t even scratch the surface for that god forsaken place. Hence the mass exodus.

It all depends on how well you know the man running the trolling motor……… if he’s your pal for 30 years tell him to slow the heck down. If you just met him, take your medicine and see if you can catch ‘em however possible

I had the same experience my first time on a boat fishing for black bass. Me, in the back, with my spinning gear. That was the day I was sold on the baitcaster and my first time using one. Wound up tossing a c rig all day and then getting the boat's big fish at the very end. When you're used to fishing downsized baits on the shore it's a totally different experience with different habits. Basically forces you to either speak up or try something new

A small Swimbait is finesse 😉

I'll use about any brand. I think it's hard to mess up plastics, especially from the reputable brands. Buying authentic Senkos is pretty much the only place I draw a hard line. No knock off works as good or better.

Early in the year before theres a whole lot of grass, a SH is a good choice IMO. As lily pads come in and vegetation starts to fill in I go with a T rig or mojo rig. A T rig gives has similar look to a SH, its just more weedless. Using the lightest weight possible is important. Local water is shallow so I get away with 1/16 or 3/32 90% of the time with a SH. With a T rig I go a little heavier, an unpegged 1/8-3/16 most of the time. Most of the time a bite comes on the fall or as the SH starts to pendulum back when you fish from the bank anyway IME. Ill throw it to the best peice of cover slightly ahead of me and either let it sink or take up enough line to get tension and let the bait pendulum, al,most like im swimming it. In either case I shake it once or twice (depending on how much time I have) and if I dont get bit I do it all over again. Theres a seam or transition under the boat or no good targets for a distance ill let it drag behind the boat a little bit. A ned rig is ideal for this too, although I feel can fish a SH or T rig more efficiently then a ned rig when the boat is moving faster. Ive had a lot of days where Ive caught a limit and my buddy up front has struggled to get bit at all. There is a cutoff though. Ideally you want to be under 3kts for it to work the best and 2kts seem to be perfect. Once you get over 3.5kts it becomes inefficient, you can still catch fish, theres just a whole lot of space that you're missing between casts.

Agreed it's a great $100 reel, but spending $30 more to fine tune according to conditions is more than worth it with the XT.

I bought a Met DC to try out the DC and wish it was not DC. Bought it for my spinner/buzz bait rod to throw in the wind and find it does save me from needing as much fun but at the cost of distance. Figured it'd be a good one to teach my boys in as well. Still a great reel, but will be my only DC.

Shimano's stocking bearings are pretty good, but the best stainless steel SPOOL bearings I've used are a pair of Japan ISC bearings, 3x10x4 and ready for any Shimano reels. Without lubrication, they are the quietest and fastest; a gentle spin could easily last over 2 minutes, in total silence. But then again, what is the point of having these superb bearings on a baitcasting reel? Other than BFS, we actually don't need spool bearings of that kind of precision. I would rather trade bearing precision for durability and maintenance convenience.

Luckily I think in Michigan you’re starting to see uptick in fishing leveling off. Bass is pretty low on the list of things to fish for in this state as we touch 4 of the 5 Great Lakes have 1000’s of public lakes 400,000 miles of river bank. however, I have noticed this year that I have had to down size line and tackle a little bit to get bit consistently. Eventually bag limits for all species are going to be reduced due to the advances in fishing technology, techniques, and the internet. We have allready seen it with bear hunting here in Michigan. We have record number of bears but, the MI DNR reduced the bear tags. Their reasoning is that hunters are becoming too efficient at harvesting bear. It will eventually trickle into the fishing side. the Michigan DNR is finally starting to focuse in the land lakes and rivers. The salmon crash on Lake Huron and Michigan kinda forced thier hand. Some of our inland lakes have not been surveyed since the 1930’, 40’s, and 50’s. They do not have the funding or the staff to do it. All the money is allocated to Great Lakes salmon, trout, and walleye. I mean rightfully so as that is where the majority of the Money is spent and license's sold. Ive soften my stance on FFs but, this fish tips things crazy. Just having FFS dosent mean you’re going to catch fish. Just because, you have spent the money on the boat and gear don’t mean you are automatically entitled to fish just jumping in your boat. Need to put the work in with the blood, sweat, and tears. Eventually you will be rewarded. There’s been times especially starting out target specificly for bass that I struggled mightly, heck sometimes I still do.

Midway has a 15% off fishing promotion going on use: FISHING052323. Cool part is it stacks with all existing sales/discounts and works on big ticket items like trolling motors, electronics etc. Also works on Shimano and megabass from the looks of it. Was tempted to upgrade my trolling motor to the Garmin force but couldn't justify it. Instead, I picked up a steez rod and megabass rod that were open box with 40% off then stacked the 15% on top.

Sonoma fishery is in balance prey to predator. Catching juvenile size bass is fishing where they live in lieu of targeting adult size bass where they live. Tom

I need to lose some weight my doctor at the VA wants me to also. They don’t want me to lose as much as I want though. I told them I want to get to my post coma weight which is also what I weighed post deployment 8years prior to being in coma. I would have to lose 50lbs or so to get to that weight they said just try and get down to 190-200 which is only 20lbs to lose. Did a diet few years ago with fiancé and we lost weight and kept it off for a little bit but are now both the biggest we’ve ever been in our lives not huge by any means but just big. good luck with yours

I really only have 2. Both made by the same company. The rapala DT series and the rapala otts garage. the DT series I can’t figure out why. I can throw them all day and then switch it out for another crank and catch fish. Maybe I’ve just been fishing them too early in the year. the otts series I believe it’s more to do with the lakes that we have up here or atleast around me. Those seemed to be made for bouncing off of rocks in up to 6ft of water in huge resivours. We have 1000’s of smaller to medium sized natural lakes in the state of Michigan. Which, the bottom consists of the 1-6ft range mainly consists of sand with little no rocks and lots of weeds. It seems like they catch more weeds than a normal crank/square bill. Now I have not tried them in the large river systems near my house which, consists of the titabawassee, Shiawassee, and Saginaw rivers. In the last 1.5 years I have transitioned from that to lake fishing. I’ve got rough ten DT-10’s and DT-15’s. Rough ten combines of the OG-4’s and og’6. If they are not producing by this time next year they are going down the road to make room for somthing that does.

Yamamoto, Zman, Keitech and zoom are my favorites by far. But I fish a lot for smallies so wacky senko, Ned, swimbaits, drop shot, and flukes are my go to.

It’ll catch fish for sure. Just no durability. I’m not a big fan of being told to use mend It and make It a freestyle after one fish.

@Bluebasser86, awesome trip with great fish! I like those go vols shorts your oldest is wearing ! Hahaha

Nothing would surprise me after learning where you learned how to thwart spammers!!!

It seems your argument might be (but it's hard to get a coherent reading) about what causes climate change - natural or man made? And that's not part of my argument or something I will discuss on Bass Resource because that's a whole other can of worms not appropriate for here. However that's typically what triggers the denialists. They automatically assume you're discussing what is at fault and not the phenomenon itself. Two different things. The cyclical climate change you later acknowledged does and did, and always will, do what? Impacts life on earth and changes how living beings live, thrive, struggle, and die. Therefore we can come to the conclusion that since bass are living beings they're impacted the same (albeit differently) as other living beings, such as the people who are dying in droves every year in places like India due to record heat (who would highly disagree with any denialist).

For sale -- all prices are shipped and insured TYD, please PM me for photos, etc. G. Loomis New with plastic still on cork -- Conquest 844c MBR -- $595 Excellent Condition -- Conquest 902 SYR -- $500 Megabass all excellent condition Valkyrie 71MH -- $375 Destroyer Carbon Head "Wild Bunch" F6-72X -- $375 16 JDM Destroyer Hein - F3-610X -- $295 Black Jungle Power Versatile - F6-74XBJ -- $325 X7 Diablo Fast Move - F5.5-70X7 -- $400 X7 Cyclone Advantage - F4-68X7 --$275 P5 Dark Sleeper - F4-71X -- $375 P5 Criffhanger - F2-60X -- $375 P5 Siglett - F0-66X -- $375 Cyclone Evoluzion Type F Rifle Back F3-66Xdti -- $200 Diablo Evoluzion F5-70Xfti -- $275

Bass boats and batteries have always been an issue. Today use Marine deep cycle AGM’s, they are maintenance free and hold a charge longer then wet cells. If you have a 24V TM you should be using 2 each group 29’s minimum prefer group 31’s for longer daily usage. Cranking battery the Marine AGM cranking battery size 24 should be adequate for your amp draw. Always add a battery switch to isolate the electronics when charging. Tom

This is always a tough one to pick. Christie won the last one here with 43 lbs 😐