Goose52

Sure. Note that the canoe is actually propelled "stern-first" when motoring. Since it's a pointed stern canoe, you can run it either way. I sit on what is supposed to be the "front seat" facing aft. This puts my weight more toward the center of the boat for balance. Also, since these photos were taken, I have removed what was originally the "rear seat" and moved the battery farther toward the stern (now the bow) of the boat. Removing the seat and moving the battery gave me better fore & aft balance and the boat now trims out very well (but of course is now a solo-only boat).

JFranco is our Kayakmeister and I would agree with him that the kayak would probably be the better craft for what you want to do. MUCH more stable than a canoe and easier to paddle. Most folks prefer a SOT kayak for fishing for a number of reasons. The only advantage that a canoe might have is that some (not all) might be lighter than a 'yak and easier to transport if you have to cartop, and canoes offer more inboard storage room. Canoes also might be more comfortable if you have any back problems. BUT, you have to be REAL careful fishing out of a canoe due to the stability issue For me, I have a heavily outfitted canoe (outriggers, trolling motor, sonar, etc.) but I still eyeball yaks and could end up with one someday.

Congrats and enjoy! I've been retired for two years now. I'm busier now than when I was working but still manage to squeeze in fishing every day

I caught a bowfin (mudfish) down in Florida on Tuesday using a 5" grub. Seems like you can pretty much catch mudfish on anything that will catch a bass...

10lb Yo-Zuri Ultra-Soft on mine - works great.

Grubs can be rigged many ways - jig head, t-rig, c-rig, drop shot, used as trailers, etc., etc. For me, I nearly always fish them weightless and weedless on a 1/0 EWG hook.

Earlier in the year, it was lipless cranks. Just yesterday, 5" grubs passed up the lipless cranks in bass count. Score as of today: Lipless cranks: 126 bass 5" grubs: 131 bass

Jigs for me. A proven, effective bait, but I just haven't used them enough to have any confidence in them. All of the other baits mentioned so far I catch fish on although I'm still weak on deep cranking. I think that's more of an indication of my lack of experience in identifying and exploiting deep structure than any shortcoming with the bait... Buzzbaits - haven't used them much so far this year but did OK last year - 31 fish. Lipless cranks - my FAVORITE hard bait - 136 fish, up to 5.42lbs, so far this year on lipless. Spinnerbaits - getting better on these - have caught bass up to 4.87lbs so far this year. Chatterbaits - just started using them - got my PB (9.06) on a chatterbait in February. And when all else fails, I have my bag of trusty 5" grubs...

I recently bought a Compre from TW (6'10" MHXF BC) and just got my rebate check a few days ago. It's a quality rod and a great value at $80.43 ($79.99 for the rod, after rebate, plus .44 for the price of the stamp to get the rebate!).

There are lots of opinions on this...but IMO, 7.1 is too fast for deep cranks and heavy spinnerbaits, 7.1 is manageable (but not ideal) for medium cranks and spinnerbaits, and 7.1 works OK for shallow cranks. My opinion is primarily based on cranking effort. Other folks opinions will be based on speed of retrieve, with no consideration for cranking effort.

This reel was first discussed back in February here: Revo MGX

Dwight: Veni, vidi, vici !

5" grub rigged weightless and weedless on a 1/0 EWG.

X2 - Pflueger Supreme

LMB - 9.06 - 3/8oz Z-man "Trailerz" chatterbait. The story is here: 9.06 Bass

Of those you mentioned - the Curado 50E. You can get them for as low as $155 on eBay. The IPT on this reel is 25" - most folks would consider that OK for shallow & mid-cranks. I have a 50E - a nice reel...

My deep cranking rod just happens to be a ......... BPS 7'6" MH Crankin'Stick. The Crankin'Sticks periodically go on sale for $59 - I've bought 4 of them at that price.

WOW - Dwight is cookin' with gas! But then - he's Dwight...and we're not !!

Not true. Poor "Incheon Basser" and "Marauder Yak" have beat their heads bloody trying to set the record strait on this fable. In short, many of these reels originate from the same OEM factory in Korea. Pure Fishing, BPS, Lews, and probably others work with the OEM to design the feature set for their reels - the reels are actually manufactured by the Korean OEM. Pure Fishing does NOT make these reels...

A great review by TT for sure. And lots of satisfied owners so far. This is a fine reel for sure. What I found MOST interesting is the TT photo of the lockwork under the handle-side cover. Anyone having a BPS Carbonlite (or PQ or Abu Revo) will immediately recognize the layout. Even the Lews frame looks similar (or perhaps is the same) as the Carbonlite frame. Most of the parts are probably the same as well. So, it's interesting that some folks are fawning over this Lews reel, but some other folks are saying that a Carbonlite or PQ is a ticking time bomb that will self-destruct after a "season". And yet this Lews, while having added bearings and an upgraded drag (and a slightly different centrifigal brake), is probably a Carbonlite at it's core. Regardless of it's origin, I will bet that this reel will give great service (as will a Carbonlite or PQ). One thing for sure, the "Lews" name is a big draw and getting lots of buyers !

7' m/f is my favorite power/action in a BC rod. I tend to fish lighter baits and I have mostly all open water so my MH rods don't get much use. I have cranking rods so I don't usually throw cranks on my 7' m/f rods although they work OK for that use. I do use them for light- to medium-weight soft plastics; lighter buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits; etc. Also, it's a great rod for 1/4 & 3/8 oz lipless cranks (depending on the rod - 1/2 oz lipless as well). Of the four 7'm/f rods that I have, the two most sensitive (Loomis GLX and SC Avid) are mostly used for soft plastics, the other two (SC Premier and BPS Extreme) are my workhorse, do-it-all rods - one of them is always in use for something.

When fishing from the bank, I wear a lanyard that has nail clippers and a 3ft tape measure. In the boat, I have both braid scissors and nail clippers right at hand.

As long as you're not talking about very heavy spinnerbaits, a 6.4:1 (~26-27 IPT) gear ratio would work nicely. Some folks like 7.x for those purposes but other folks would consider that a bit fast. If you WERE talking about heavy spinnerbaits with big blades, a low 5.x would work but not be as versatile as a 6.4.

Grubs are a versatile, multi-species bait that can be fished in many ways. Sizes range from 1" to about 6" so you can target fish from small to large. I mostly use 5" single-tails and I throw them whenever I think the fish are shallow. Unlike most folks, I don't fish them on a jig-head but rig them weightless and weedless on a 1/0 EWG hook. I usually get bit on the fall, but if not, then I will swim the bait back or get it up to the surface and bring it back as a topwater. Rigged weightless, single tail grubs will spin on the retrieve and it's best to add a swivel above the bait. Do they work? I caught 791 fish on 5" grubs last year. I haven't used them much yet this year but just yesterday I put the canoe in a little 4 acre lake - the bass were mostly in inches of water right against the bank - perfect for the grub. I got 19 bass - smaller fish mostly - 12" to 15" typical of that lake. I did have one 17" fish that hit the bait on the fall, and a nice 18"/3.04lb LMB hit I was bringing the grub back as a topwater - great fun!

Not ultra-light, but I was fishing a Roostertail on a 5'6" light-power spinning rod with 6lb test Stren nylon mono and got bit by a 33" channel cat. It took 17 minutes to land it. At the time, I was carrying a scale that went only to 8lbs so I don't know the weight - 16 to 20 pounds perhaps. I only have a very poor quality cell phone photo of this catch. It was a great fish fight though!