Dwight Hottle

That's a great recovery story.

Well tubes don’t have any claws & they get bit all the time. Other than a gobie they do represent a crawfish.

“ Up your nose with a rubber hose” Welcome back to BR.

Owner.

Cleveland & Miami are in the mix along with Golden State. He doesn’t really care about the money at this point just the potential for the right chemistry.

Welcome to BR. Bass are a lot more fun than trout unless your into steelhead, Lakers or big brownies.

Suffix 131 is the best of all the different braids I have sampled. My previous favorite was Suffix 832.

Wondered what happened to you.

I used to think the same thing until I tried a spool of Suffix 131. It’s rounder, casts further. Digs in less, doesn’t get wind knots yet for me and is very durable. Only downside is it is more expensive.

My first trip down to lake Baccarac was a failure for DD bass. I was very pumped to go after seeing big fish Jeff’s first trip down results. I did catch three over nine along with a seven & 8lber for a total of 43 plus lbs for best five before lunch one day. And I lost several biggies one I saw when she jumped & thru my bait back at me & one I never saw but was super impressed by the raw power of a run away from me after grabbing my slow rolled spinner bait. The total experience is something you will never forget. Like @ A-Jay mentioned just 107 days to go.

@Functional thanks for the explanation I always wondered about what functional stood for.

Netting a fish while on your knees always happens on Lake Erie if you are a true fisherman. Sounds like a great trip/tournament.

The 2nd generation or current model met is much easier to get dialed in than the previous model.

Take a look at these. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/search-tackle.html?start=0&count=20&searchtext=permalock+weighted+

Definitely a pure strain muskie. Pike have short squiggly horizontal placed lines while muskie's have a vertical bar design. Musky just below & pike in 2nd pic.

I have three. Great reels have the same precision build as the Bantam but lighter in weight.

Rods categorized as Steelhead rods would fit the bill & most of them are offered as two piece for transport. I have used 8.5' light weight St Croix rods for smallies & they work out fine with treble hook baits. I knew a guy up in Canada who fished long rods at night trolling on piers for walleye with jointed jerk baits. He actually trolled parallel to the pier by walking up & down the concrete pier surface. He was very successful catching big walleye with his technique.

Google is your friend. Bass have crushers too.

Try them & find out. I caught my PB sea trout just over 8lbs while fishing a ball jig with a plastic grub. Everyone else were fishing jigs tipped with live shrimp.

It would not be much different than a jig & minnow presentation. Fish Chris a past member on BR used to use live craws to catch monster large mouth bass & smallies also mean mouth in California waters. Mostly sight fishing as I remember.

I totally agree. Do not wait until it’s too late because you only live once & there are no guarantees in life except death & taxes. My father had already passed before I bought my first boat in my late fifties so he never got to go with me after purchase. My only advice regarding boat purchases is don’t buy what you can not comfortably afford. Being old school I appreciate & have always practiced not to encumber debt I could not handle.

My guess is in the 4 lb range. But the solution to your question is always carry a scale with you.

Listen up all you brown bass enthusiasts. The man shares & communicates his thought process & experiences as a trophy smallie fisherman very well.

My suggestion is to swallow your pride & start trolling on a regular basis.

I almost always use spinning tackle for fishing jerk baits for smallies. I do use casting outfits for largemouth when fishing jerks simply because that’s what I have available. But for windy conditions the solution would be spinning tackle.