J Francho

Thoughts and prayers sent. Get well soon!

I'd be drop shotting 4" Roboworms (Aaron's Magic) or working a tube in 20-40 FOW there. Find bait on your graph, and the fish shouldn't be too far behind, and in fact you should see them on the graph as well.

No way. Then the nut jobs of the world learn nothing, and this behavior becomes acceptable. This guy needs to be disciplined.

Is there some deciphering machine we can use to try to make sense of what you post? I'll give it a go, LOL: Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits are made in Page, Arizona. Gary also has a Kobe Beef ranch in Texas that has a lake and a golf course. He sometimes entertains his friends from Japan there. Because of these facts, I know the baits you have are not old, but they are just a white bait.

And you've done a fine job with an amazingly tiny budget. I hope it provides you with many successful trips. I was just saying that you're going to want to change that black to something lighter. Looking forward to some fishing reports...

Cast and retrieve like a spinnerbait. Very simple. I like to rub the cavity and hook shank down with MegaStrike, aids in easier hooksets. Also, take a look at the Owner Beast hooks. Great hookup rate with these.

Because he's not wearing the the black bedliner. It will be hot to the touch in the sun but so would white. Sand at the beach gets hot, doesn't it? It won't make much of a difference sitting on the seats in it. I have two SUV's. One with black leather and one with light tan leather. There's no difference in inside temperature when they sit in the summer sun. Give the guy a break. He got a great deal on a nice boat. I've fished in enough black carpeted bass boats to know that there is a big difference. Not ripping the guy, just pointing out a mistake that could be easily corrected.

Spring and fall are your best bets for smallmouth on any water. Black Lake has a 15" minimum, and there are literally a million and one 14.75" fish. There are some hoss smallies there, too. Back at the end of June, a 4-6 smallie took lunker in our club tx there. I lost two that were that size or bigger at the boat. Lots of structure to fish there, so get a map and make a plan.

Bullhead, yellow perch, pickerel, northern pike, tiger musky, brown trout, lake trout, chinook, coho, steelhead, rock bass, silver bass, white bass, American eel, sheepshead, channel cat, blue gill, pumpkinseed, walleye, black crappie, bullfrogs, turtles, docks and pontoon boats.

Why would you assume that because one doesn't share the same opinion as you that they are judging you? I don't use G.Loomis, and I don't use Wal Mart crap.

Just saw this. Good things happen to good people. Remember that. Things will turn around.

Amen to that. This past team tx, we had a fish in trouble, and the TD was yelling at us to get moving. I told him I wasn't even thinking of putting my fish in the bag until he had the scales setup. We babysat that bugger for the last three hours, and I'd damned if I was going to let it die waiting for the TD to set up. We came in second as well. The fish was alive for the weigh in. Had we been assessed the penalty, we'd have dropped to 5th. I gave it to another club member, since I knew it would be turtle food in a few hours. Anyway, congrats on a solid 2nd. So many things have to go right to come in 1st. Consistent top finishes are more important. Incidentally, I am currently in the hunt for our club's classic, and I haven't even fished all the events. Keep it up with the strong finishes!

You want it to reflect sunlight. If it absorbs sunlight, its going to get hot. If it reflects sunlight, it will stay cooler. Try this, put on a black t-shirt and stand in the sun for 10 minutes. Now do the same thing with a white t-shirt. Tell me which is more comfortable, and why you think its any different with your boat.

I don't exclusively bash G. Loomis...in fact, I rarely use their name. I don't consider it bashing. Fact is, I don't actually like their rods for several reasons. I'm more likely to actually bash them for their antiquated grips, ugly blanks, and poor fit and finish. I would be more likely to attribute the prices to modern, more efficient manufacturing through well managed methodologies (i.e. ISO, Lean Six Sigma, TTM, CMM, etc.). St. Croix has the same type of service. They in fact take it to another level, and offer an upgrade plan that G. Loomis does not offer. And, yes, I'm a hypocrite - I own several St. Croix, plan to purchase more, and even owned a G. Loomis IMX, though it was a trout rod. I just don't see how they cannot have the cost of such a service built in, without it being passed to the retail consumer.

LOL, RPM would only be affected by how fast you crank the handle, not how much line is on the spool. Fill it up, see roadwarrior's post above for why.

he's paid $300 so far for it.. incredible find! But it didn't come with black bedliner, that he added. While it will be an easy to clean, no slip surface, I think he'll soon regret choosing black. Its going to get hot as hell.

No, the expression is a bass is a bass is a bass, where ever its from, and even that isn't true. While many techniques work where you are fishing, most usually address and solve a particular problem when fishing in a larger body of water. You will never encounter these problems, and learn what terminal rigs and baits attempt to address those issues, by simply fishing this one pond. In a sense, you are limiting your ability to progress. Now, that doesn't mean that it isn't fishing, and that may even be OK to you, but keep in the back of your mind that your experience is going to limited to that singular water, and may not be relevant when relaying advice. I fish a lot small ponds, and each is unique, and many hold some truly large fish. It is a very enjoyable part of my fishing, but that is only one small aspect of my fishing experience.

That black bedliner is going to suck on warm sunny days...

Golf course water hazard....I guess it counts, but can't see any of it translating to a reservoir or natural lake.

You don't want to get a PUI!

While they redesigned the brake system (looks like a complicated version of Daiwa's Mag system) its just marketing hype.

I almost ALWAYS fish a crank that runs deeper than the water I'm fishing. If you're just hauling water, you're usually just wasting your time.

Sorry this is off topic, but you would know... Are those lakers sitting there on the bottom in 75'+? I thought they hung around the thermocline, but admittedly, I'm not seeing one on this particular, secret lake where drinking water comes from.

Another sick post, my friend. I too saw a similar dusk phenomenon on a large-ish, deep lake somewhere south of Rochester, LOL, just last night. The difference was that these were initially HUGE bait balls that just appeared. After about ten minutes, There were some really big humps areound the bait balls, ranging from 30 to 45 feet down, in 65-75 feet of water. I'm thinking lakers. Cool to watch, though.

I can guarantee that none of your rods have an Expediter service, like G. Loomis. I can also guarantee that part of the MSRP includes a bit of padding equal to an insurance policy for any type of breakage. I mean, are we to believe that G. Loomis is not losing money replacing $300+ rods for $50, or are we to assume that the rods only cost them $50 to make, and they covering their expenses? I can guarantee that it isn't the latter.It isn't about what you or steezy do with broken rods, its the simple fact that some of the rod's MSRP includes some padding to cover the expense of all broken returns. Just like it does when there is a limited warranty; defective replacement is part of the bottom line. Add in stupidity/accidental breakage replacement, and that bottom line is higher.