A-Jay

SAA-Weet Ride ! Congrats A-Jay

Sorry - Can't help there. A-Jay

Hello Bruce & Welcome to Bass Resource ~ Nice Intro and Congrats on the Sweet New Rig ! A-Jay

OK but you don't need me Sir. You are doing fine. A-Jay

(not to be a Hi-Jacker) Yup ! A-Jay

I have very little experience fishing the type of water level drops you've described. While a couple of feet is common during the course of a season for me, a 30 ft change is just not something I've ever had to deal with. I could only offer assumptions, which IME, are often very close to worthless. So I'll not do that. I will say such a drastic water loss certainly seems to offer a great opportunity to "SEE" all the shallow water cover - and I'd be taking notes & snapping pictures . . . A-Jay

Hello and Thank You for your Service ~ Welcome to Bass Resource. Nice Intro and best of luck to you. A-Jay

It is. Recently that NW portion of the state (Traverse City Area) has gained some notoriety for it's wide variety of World Class Brown Bass lakes. However, it's that NE portion of the Michigan (where Hubbard is located), despite the repeated MLF coverage, continues to remain a mostly untapped mega-size producing smallie factory. This may be in part purely due to 'access'. It is fairly limited. No Roads man; everything is "The Long Way", which is OK by me. Always seems totally worth every mile I drive. A-Jay

ONLY 3 months & 12 more days, or 14 weeks and 4 days or 102 more days . . . . And for The BR Members who are currently employed ~ 70 working days (560 hours, assuming 8-hour workday), 32 non-working days including: 15 Saturdays, 15 Sundays, 2 federal holidays (US) falling on weekdays A-Jay

Mind BLOWN .mp4 A-Jay

The "B" is certainly a nice reel (I have a 400 & a 700) but the "D" is a Little Silver Beast ! Good Luck with which ever way you go. A-Jay

Welcome to the 'Round' Side. A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ I live in northern Lower Michigan (Otsego County) and fish several of the lakes in & around this area. Most any lake north of rt 72 all the way up to the Bridge, has some population of smallmouth. The bigger lakes have the bigger fish but because of their size, they are more affected by weather and make finding fish during a short stay a little more challenging. Catching 60 smallies in 2 days sounds like a great time and it's not something I've ever done on any of the water I fish. But there are some really big fish to be had in many of these lakes and that's really more my style. Unfortunately I can not say definitively which lake may be better than another - however I do prefer the larger lakes (such as the ones you mentioned) mostly because they produce the bigger smallies for me. Good Luck A-Jay

Which motor / model to purchase is an important decision and one that should be made carefully. 'Knowledge is confidence" - learn all you can about each - and you'll feel much better making your choice. I run a 62 inch 36 volt 112 Fortrex. The whole thing is manual - no spot lock, no power deploy or power trim. I have a 360 imaging unit mounted on Fortrex as well. That extra shaft length is most useful in sloppy conditions, keeping the motor & both transducers in the drink (mostly) and is never 'too long'. I do know that there are a few Pro-V bass owners who seem happy with a 52" shaft. Below is a couple of video's I did two years apart talking about the boat, motor & accessories. Might help. Good Luck and ask anything that comes to mind - I did plenty of that during my own 'research stage'. Besides, that's what this site & forum are all about - sharing info. Good Luck. A-Jay

Nicely Done Mr. Holmes Congrats A-Jay

Pike, Muskie, Big Brown & Lake Trout as well as tons of Walleye, are often in waters the smallies are. Can't say for certain how the brown bass relates to the stripers in your area, but here the rule of gross tonnage applies. Meaning, when brown bass are not the dominant species (or even a food source) they usually will not inhabit the 'prime' structure and or locations long if & when Old Mr. Big shows up. They'll be else where but certainly can be located & caught. As cooler early-season waters warm - most all of the bigger species here move to very deep water. Only visiting the shallows to feed. Your Mid-summer struggles may have less to do with stripers and more to do with the brown basses usual summer habits. If you're looking for them in the same places you found them in the spring, usually shallow(er), I'm going to say that may be where your problem lies. Brown bass often move to their summer haunts which can and usually are, at least related to if not in, deeper water. Deeper drop-offs, main lake deep flats that have cover like rocks, boulders & even deep wood, can all hold summer fish. Smallies can & still come shallow in the summer but it may only be super early & or late in the day or even at night depending on the forage they are after & perhaps the boating traffic. Finding them is one thing, getting a bite is another. Admittedly my success in the summer is not what I'd like it to be - Drop shots & spy baits are my go to quite a bit during the day. Night ops & super early/late mid-week trips rule my routine, as the increase of recreational boating doesn't seem to inspire the fatties I'm looking for into biting. Still, I go when I can - but I know I may be doing more 'hunting', than actual fishing. A-Jay

A-Jay

My waters have long been frozen and will likely remain that way for some time. But @everythingthatswims recently put something together on a river that you might find useful . . . Good Luck A-Jay

Com'on man ~ Everyone knows those round reels are out dated, don't work and can't catch anything . . . . A-Jay

Thanks again @Crestliner2008 But since the Bass Resource Forum membership is currently posted at close to 65,000 strong, (with probably 5 or 10 times that number of 'guests' visiting every day) and is THE Premier bass fishing specific website on the Interwebz and has been for over a decade with no signs of slowing down, the way I figure it, I just did. A-Jay

And He's BACK ! Glad to hear you're home & on the mend. Here's to continued successful progress for you. You've got this @clayton86 A-Jay

New Years Day 2019 ~ Same Old Same Old A-Jay

Sounds Good Jeff, I am not new to boat handling or bass fishing. I have twin 12 ft Talons. They are mounted securely(back plated) directly to the transom - no problems. I fish a variety of habitats; from super deep to fairly shallow and pretty much everything in between. I use my Talons ALL THE TIME. They are as important to me as my Fortrex. Besides actually fishing, they are very helpful launch & recovering the Pro-V solo - for me that's all the time. I would Not EVER own a bass boat without them. Once you fish with them, you'll wonder how you ever did it without them. I say - get them. And now's the time to do it. You'll be very glad you did. (And you'll be taking that local club guys $$$ regularly too) OK so there ya go ~ I said my piece - YMMV Good Luck A-Jay

Thanks & I certainly appreciate the kind words - If & when bassheads like yourself might be able use some of the info to catch a few here & there, I'm good. A-Jay

@Jeff Browning ~ I'll add this - While running the original 200 hp Optimax with no jack plate - THE BOAT RAN AWESOME ! Popped up on plane in what seemed like 2 seconds, was Extremely stable on plane AND AT WOT and was in every respect EVERYTHING I wanted & needed it to be and more. And now with the re-power and the manual jack plate - everything is exactly THE SAME. I just got the space. My needs have been successfully addressed. So IMO, unless you can consciously articulate exactly WHY you Need a Jack Plate on the Pro-V bass - You Don't. However - if you can - I'd go for the newer V8 Pro XS -IMO there is a difference there. It's quieter, sips Less Gas and may come with a better warranty. Good Luck A-Jay