S Hovanec

I don't care how good your GPS is, you're not gonna hold yourself on a boulder or mussel bed 4 miles off shore in 50' of water. Marker buoys are far superior where I fish. The GPS gets me to the location, but beyond that, it does nothing once I'm there.

You won't hear anything back. Just look for your canceled check on your bank statement to verify it has cleared.

Other than in the spring, if I'm a half mile or less from the bank, I feel I'm too close! Smallies on Erie move in to 8-12' in the spring, but some chose to spawn in the 20'+ range too. Normally I'm 1 to 4 miles off shore. Good sonar, a few marker buoys and a good dropshot setup are all you need.

I have a Lund Mr Pike 17 with a 135 Honda. I only checked fuel consumption once. I fished a club tourney on Erie and I ran 75 miles round trip on day 1. Most of it was WOT. Filled up at day's end and it took 13 gallons. Most days I only use 5 gallons.

Exactly. It only takes a minute for someone to pilfer your units when you stop for gas or to get snacks on the way home.

It can be done. I extended a couple musky rods for a guy from 9' to 10'3".

I used to use the Gammie dropshot hooks. After breaking a couple hooks on fish, I gave them all away and switched to Owner Mosquitos. I use from #8 to 2/0 depending on the bait.

I mix a few wheel weights in with my 100% lead when I'm making my ingots. IMO, wheel weights are too hard of am alloy to just use them alone.

PVC is the only way I'll ship rods anymore. I've recycled the cardboard tubes from St Croix shipments and 100% of the rods arrive broken. They seem to be a 'one and done' deal.

I dropshots the 4" and 6" nightcrawlers, minnows. They are killer for smallies no matter where I fish them. The Gobys are good on Erie too.

Yea. I was talking about the SS304/Minima4 style of guides. There is nothing wrong with SS frames with ceramic inserts. I just don't like the SS ringed guides.

Arbor knot.

I have a ML baitcaster on the slate to be built sometime this year (been trying to build it for 3 or 4 years actually!). Want it for throwing unweighted soft plastics and small cranks.

The reel plays a part in throwing light baits, but more importantly, the rod must be light enough to load up with the light lures. If the rod is too powerful, it won't cast light stuff.

My reasons for long leaders are high pressured fish and not having to retie a new leader on the water. It offers the ability for many, many hook and weight reties through the day. When dropshotting, a retie removes a length of line equal to or greater than what a lot of you guys are using for a leader.

I start each day with a fresh 18' leader. That way, I can fish all day without having to retie a leader.

I'm not a fan for multiple reasons. The biggest one being that I'm not a fan of metal touching my line. It doesn't take much to scratch or nick them, thus creating a rough spot to damage the line.

I think it was BPS that had this more than a few years ago. The stripper guide on spinning rods was instated backwards. Talk about a joke. I didn't fall for it, but I'm sure some did.

If you dropped anything while fishing on the front deck.....say goodbye to it. It'll roll/bounce right off. Looks like a boat you could set up to troll with.

High frame spinning guides are not a marketing ploy. The correct guide height needs to be used to properly lay-out a rod, be it standard frame or high frame. One of my favorite (and effective) lay-outs uses a combination of high frame and standard.

Dan will take care of you. He got me a new Sustain after a local "authorized repair' shop screwed mine up.

I did a little experiment during my vacation while fishing on Erie a couple years ago. 2 set-ups, almost identical. One with 10/2 PowerPro and a 18' 6# fluoro leader and one with straight 10/2 PowerPro. The PowerPro only rod didn't get a bite but the leadered PowerPro saw much action.

I play the stereo on occasion. It's never loud enough to be a bother to others. I'm normally fishing waters 20' and deeper. If the music scares the fish, I couldn't tell ya. I seem to catchem OK.

Not a big pair, but it's from my favorite place to fish in late May/early June. It's even more fun than Erie during that time frame. You won't get the size Erie offers, but it's non-stop action from some feisty river smallies.

There's some pretty familiar looking background there Dwight!