slonezp

That was caught in Sturgeon Bay 3 or 4 years ago. The abundance of gobies, aelwifes, and gizzard shad in Lake Michigan is the reason bass from that area look like a burrito grande'. They can just gorge on forage in the spring. I caught my PB smallmouth in Sturgeon Bay this spring. I estimate it at 6ish. Maybe a little more, maybe a little less. It was 23".But after reading the article, It might have been nine. ?

Yeah, sure. Like you know anything about catching big smallmouth.....

That boat is probably double your budget

If you plan on spring, and you are not buying it off the showroom floor, build time for a Lund is 3-4 months. Lund has a new model for 2019 called the Adventure. It appears to be a great option for under $25k

I currently own 2 Lunds and previously owned a Mirrocraft. None leaked a drop. Modern aluminum boats are a far cry from yesteryear. There are plenty of people happy with welded rigs. I chose riveted after seeing 3 welded hulls that were warped. I didn't know the circumstances, just that they were warped.

Riveted hulls wont crack or warp. Lund, Alumacraft, Princecraft, and Mirrocraft big water boats are all riveted double plated hulls

Take a look at Mirrocraft and Princecraft. Both make a quality hull suited for bigger water. Princecraft will run close to Lund in price. Mirrocraft will run midway between Lund and Tracker.

You're really going to have to pick and choose your days wisely and keep a sharp eye on the weather. A shallow mod v hull is not designed for rough conditions. I think you'd be better off going with a Pro Guide 175. That being said, it is still far from an ideal boat. IMO your best option would be to find a used multi species boat in your price range that is more suited for the Great Lakes.

First question is will you primarily be fishing Lake Erie and occasionally inland lakes or primarily fishing inland lakes and occasionally Lake Erie?

Very nice.

My contribution to the thread .

Contrary to popular belief, different species of fish do intermingle with each other. If you find crappies, there will likely be more. Crappies will hang out with bass, bluegills, and catfish if the right conditions exist. Not so much with white bass or perch who I believe are the "bullies" of the table fare fish. You need to start by learning the seasonal habits of the fish on your water. Second, crappies are suckers for shallow man made cover come spring and fall. Can you sink fish cribs on your lake? Christmas trees, pallets, pvc, rebar or wooden stakes?

Glad the hurricane didn't affect your trip. I know you were looking forward to it for the last 365 days. Would have been a real downer.

Time to get some blood and slime on the carpet

Finding them is the hard part. A number of years ago I launched the boat and fished the docks on a 300 acre lake with marginal success. Before getting back to the ramp i tried a downed tree no more than 10 yards from the ramp. I pulled 45 crappies off the tree. I was in view of every shore angler and none of them were happy i found it first.

I had 48 degree water on Saturday and fished 2-1/2 ft down in 5 ft of water. I took home 3 dozen.

I eat an apple a day year round. This time of year, can't beat honeycrisp from Door County WI

6

That would bother me. Worrying about water intrusion.

What did you hit? Fox chain report

No one wanted to go fishing today. Better for me. Stopped off at Jim's Bait and Tackle to pick up 3 dozen large fatheads (a generous count) and some nightcrawlers. Hit my first area and caught a bunch of small white bass and small largemouth. Didn't want to waste too much bait on fish I couldn't keep. I moved from dock to dock on this 150 acre in the river system catching about a dozen crappies some more largemouth and a couple cats in the 4-5lb range. Even though action was hot, I was disappointed. All the larger crappies I caught came from this spot, but I was hoping for more. I blame it on the lake being overrun with gizzard shad that I was competing with. Next spot was where Jim from Jim's Bait told me to stop by but the river is in drawdown mode and as soon as I hit the mouth of the bay I was in silt so I turned around and hit my last spot of the day. Pulled the rest of the crappies off 2 docks. I used every minnow in the bucket and the 2 dozen crawlers are resting in the fridge. Ended up filleting about 3 dozen crappies 1 gill and 1 white bass

What a beautiful morning

5

We call them brown trout