Lund Explorer

Speaking of expensive.... If you're trying to do both at the same time!

Much like Catt, my deep water fishing started in the 1960's. Only my experience came on Lake Michigan during the height of what was called "Coho Fever". The only other deep water fishing we did was through the ice for species such as lake trout, whitefish, and perch. As a younger, we were taught the Michigan's lakes were all bowl shaped. Shallow along the shoreline with gentle slopes out to how ever deep the water was. When I'd read stories about fishing deep water structure, i.e. creek channels, dropoffs, and such, it didn't really seem like it meant much to someone fishing a bowl. Fortunately, as I started my bass tournament fishing, I got to meet and fish with several anglers who knew the "secrets" of our deep water structure. Even our bowl shaped lakes sometimes held underwater humps or sunken islands. Many of these were the result of receding glaciers leaving what are called tailing's. the humps are made up of gravel and stones that the glaciers had pushed along and then dropped off. We also have a few impoundments and of course flooded river mouths along the Lake Michigan shoreline that held many of these so-called "Southern Structures". While I still do pound the shoreline quite often, I have found myself spending time on these deep water spots. It has doubled the amount of water I have to explore, and many times when the conditions are right, it has led to some fantastic catches. Hopefully the tools available today will give today's anglers a chance to discover these hidden fish a lot faster than I did.

Okay Glenn, this is more of a project than a simple question, and maybe the whole BR gang could ask the same from the other pros as well. I'd like to see a detailed plan for how the pros would design and equip a boat or two from scratch. Knowing full well these guys have sponsors and all, it would still be interesting to see what these guys could come up with for what I'd call the BR Boat. Maybe one boat that is fully rigged where no expense is spared, and then say an entry level boat for guys just starting out. The questions from such a topic could be almost endless, but I'd really like to know what new technology they think has made a positive impact on the sport vs those things that only the bait monkey could love. So, what gas engines, trolling motors, fish finders, side imaging, down imaging, GPS, what gauges on the dashboard and the bow. Livewells, dry storage, rod storage, batteries, charging systems, passenger seating and gear storage. Safety gear, rain gear, tackle storage. Maybe this would be better written down along with an invite them to start posting to a new section. Do I see a whole new video series? After all, they should spend time doing a little fishing. And wish them all good luck!

Maybe if I could get there Thursday before the crowds. After all the people get inside, they would have to be giving away free beer!

One of my favorites on that show, I remember when he was having medical problems a while ago. Blood clots were the problem the last time, most likely it finally got him. Way too young, the guy was just a couple of years younger than I am, and it makes you start to think. I hope the boys can carry on in his absence.

For me, it isn't so much a technique problem as it is an attitude problem. I need to learn how to adjust to changing conditions better. I may go into a day with a specific battle plan of baits and/or spots, but if the fish aren't responding that day, I'm in trouble. Too many times I retreat to the wormin' stick, even though I know something better might work.

The last great assault rifle would be my choice..... The M-14! http://www.fulton-armory.com/M14.htm

My answer will be either, and/or neither. I'm just glad to be on the water, sharing time and knowledge with my wife, a good friend, or perhaps the grandchildren. If I was going for numbers, I'd fish bluegills. If I was only worried about size, there's all kinds of fish that grow bigger and harder to catch than a bass.

Nasty forums are a dime a dozen. It makes this place shine even brighter. The annual road trip is a good case in point. Back here someone mentioned a get together of a bunch of the posters didn't bother to go to it. Most were the ones without a CCW! If the scheduling ever works out to where I could go to a Pickwick Lake outing, my first mission will be to make sure Glenn and the Mods have at least one night with no bar tab.

Imagine the realistic bass fishing lures this guy could build!

931 + 51 = 982 Over The Top on a correction.... 962 + 51 = 1,013

Florida Strain LM - 9.9lbs Caught on Lake Fork in April 1992. After tiring of watching my boating partner that day try to bed ****** the same fish for an hour or so, I tied on an 1/8 jighead, rigged up a skirted twin tail grub (pumpkin/pepper), and tossed it out into the middle of the channel. Best comment of the day came with a texas drawl "Luckiest Yankee I ever saw.... Catchin' a big old bass on a sissy bait!". Thanks for the memories Rick! Northern Strain LM - 24.5" (no scale in the boat). Caught on Clear Lake (198 acres), Mecosta Co. Michigan in August 1990. Middle of a bright sunny day on a Rapala Shad Rap in about 15 FOW. Smallie - 6.85lbs. Caught off the end of the "C" Dock, White Lake, Michigan. Size of lake is over 3,000 acres and connected to Lake Michigan. June, 2004. Fishing a 5" Kalins grub (avacado/red flake) on an 1/8 darter head. Late morning off the end of the slabwood piles in about 12 FOW. The smallie was the only one of these caught during a bass tournament. It took the big bass pot for the day, and anchored a five bass limit with a total weight of over 17lbs, good for first place. Nice Paydday!

You can make any tranducer portable by purchasing a suction cup mount. The 565/570's resolution should be enough to sell you on the unit. And IBTM... These clamp on deals work too. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/horizontal-pod.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/pod-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat21276-cat21402&rid=&indexId=cat21402&navAction=push&masterpathid=&navCount=1&parentType=index&parentId=cat21402&id=0000844

Wow, you guys have got to start reading the news after visiting here. There's been several big write-ups on the fights between the miners and the greenies lately. Burley can probably tell it better, but the last one i saw dealt with topping off a mountain <?> or something like that.

If you own water front property, click on the link to Pond Boss to see about getting yourself a dock mounted fish feeder. If you don't own water front, cruise the shorelines looking for somebody that has one. Purina makes a great fish chow for bluegills.

Darn good question Jaymc. Catt is prettyy close to dead on, like normal. Now I'll throw a couple of curves into my answer. Most important, you have to determine WHY those bass have moved into the weed cover. During cold front conditions, bass that were hanging on the edge will become more negative, and will move just into it. Those are tought fish to catch. I usually will peg a 3/8 sinker to either a craw or paddle tail worm and toss it just a foot or two in from the edge. Deadstick the bait for 30 seconds or so before making another cast. You've just got to take your your time with that bait right on their nose. The other reason they move into these weedss beds are to find cooler water (yup, even up here) during the heat of the day. That is a great time to look for holes to flip baits to. They're just like little edges right in the middle of the weedbed. And, usually these holes are caused by some change on the bottom, like a large boulder, stump, or some other feature. These fish will be more active, so keep moving and flipping. Also, from my experience, you'll want to do either of these types of fishing with a long heavy rod, heavy line, and be prepared to really put the winch to them. Some of those curly leaf cabbage plants are down right tough!

You've got to remember where the snow is falling from. Up in the cloud tops, it is a lot colder than on the ground. Think about how hail drops from the sky when in its in the 70's - 80's.

Goose, you should get the diehard award of the year. Most of the guys I know simply spend that time of year getting our ice fishing gear ready. A couple of questions though. Who do you get the bass up out of the water and onto the ice? I assume you then just need to skid them along it until they reach you. But how do you release them?

I'm not going to suggest any specific bait, or the weight of a jig/jighead. Needless to say, everyone would need to match these to the river and current they are facing. You should also match your bait to the size and coloration of the crawdads that those smallies are feeding on. Making casts that quarter upstream, the bait should make light bottom contact while moving along at about the speed of the current. This way, the bass should assume it is a crawdad that either broken free, or has been driven from their cover. As far as how to hold boat position, a number of ways could work. My choice would either be with an electric trolling motor (this is one of the few places a minnkota power drive comesin handy), or with a river anchor. My favorite anchor when fishing rivers is a length of logging chain. On a side note - Its nice to see that someone took the time to use the "search" option to find a discussion on a subject. That is what we are supposed to do, right?

Just because I'm in a somewhat better mood, I edited my post to remove the term cheating. I'll settle for the term "fair chase".

Still Need To Be Careful! A lot of us have been out on the ice, but it still isn't safe in some places. Awfully sad story here. http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=117198

Sorry folks, I voted NO! If you want to void out a legal catch based on this supposed fact that live bait is cheating, then you need to add a whole lot of other restrictions as well. First would be that any fish should only come from a public body of water, in the fish's native region, and where no stocking has occurred. There should also be no artificial feeding, or the stocking of prey for the bass to feed on. Finally, no fish caught during a vulnerable time, such as while on a spawning bed should be counted. Every one of these things allows for a supposed unnatural advantage to a fisherman. Simple logic says that if one thing should be excluded, then all of them should be.

You just can't keep those Dakotan's down. True Story: Years ago (Mid-70's) a woman who lived in the village of Fertile ND traveled into the neighboring State of Minnesota just south of Grand Forks. The poor lady got into a fatal traffic accident in the town of Climax MN. The Grand Forks Herald reported the news with the headline of "Fertile Woman Dies in Climax"! The story was picked up and was actually shown on Saturday Night Live.

Must be nice to able to fish that shallow. My favorite trout lake is Higgins Lake, and we start at around 80' and can go down deeper than 100'. Of course we're after lake trout, and they like to hug bottom way down there. Makes using braided line an absolute must.

I'm not sure how far you are from Houghton Lake, but check out Lyman's Shanty Rentals. They even have an overnight version.