Dwight Hottle

I like a MM or MHM for jerkbaits.

? I don't understand your question. What do mean by professionally ?

Try tucking the end of the rod under your forearm for support & try keeping the rod parallel to the water. Short strokes with slack line should make your baits dance.

Trying using your arm rather than your wrist.

That's what you get for being so sucessful. WRB mentioned earlier that 13 years went by between his high level pb & most recent pb.

A-Jay & I have a streak of 3 consecutive years. And yes it does get better every time.

I agree with that observation completely. Here on lake erie the cormorants are boat wary & leave the area. I have observed the exact opposite down off SW Florida in the gulf. Down there I have seen cormorants hanging around boats like pelicans waiting for undersized or catch & release fish like sea trout. You could release a small trout on the port side of the boat & see the cormorants swim up on the starboard side surface & swallow the fish you just released. It must be a learned behaviour.

All my rods are 6' to 7.5' My preferred rod length is 7'-7'-3 ". Sometimes you find a rod that just feels totally natural in your hands & it becomes your overall favorite. When that happens that particular rod length becomes your favorite as well. I have fallen in love with 6-6, 7-0, 7-2, etc. Sometimes its not the rod length but the overall superiorty of the stick.

Those frogs will catch some big bass. Give it time.

I use them when vertical fishing 20-40 feet. Let them hit bottom then rip them up. Sometimes the smallies will follow them up near the boat. Mostly just fish them as lift & drop. I have the same luck with jigging spoons. The blade baits do offer more visual flash. You can also swim them like a swimming jig. Cast & fish horizontally.

Not to take you off topic but any new PB could be considered an endangered species if kept.

Plain snaps will not affect the amount of fish you catch versus tying direct. I use them all the time for jerkbaits & cranks. You can use them for topwater treble hook baits as well. For jigs & soft plastics I just tie direct. I like to use duolock snaps.

Sad to hear. He was a wealth of information.

Looks like a quad.

New England slobasaurus.

What do mean you can't get out. http://forecast.weather.gov/shmrn.php?mz=lez149

A-jay likes the diversity when the smallies quit biting.

My biggest pond bass was a 9-2 caught in southern GA on a Northstar hidden head spinner bait. The fish hit when other bass were chasing bream near the surface against the shore. I was casting parallel to the bank.

On Lake Erie you just never know. I have caught walleye, pike, lake trout, steelhead, channel cats, brown trout, perch, largemouth, rock bass, white bass, drum, gobies and white perch while fishing for smallies. I know I lost a musky that smoked me in front of a creek as well.

You can always use the motor trim switch to help get you back in the boat. Step on the lower unit & trim up. Just a thought for guys who don't have a ladder.

I used to run including a few 1/2 marathons & a regular marathon. As I got older my lower back started grumbling and I had to give it up. I did enjoy running.

Many a time. I have had a fish hit while I was still in free spool. It always gets my attention.

There is your answer.

Back reeling or free spooling allows you to adjust drag pressure from light to heavier based on conditions . If a fish hits at the boat with little line out you can feather the drag from easy to hard as the fish dictates. If you have experience with it and are comfortable it has its place.

Yes I have the baits & the rod/reel I caught both bass PB's on. Smallie & largemouth. Once you catch a PB on a particular bait that bait becomes a big fish bait to use again.