wisconsin heat

That looks great!

I think we should bump a couple of the old "loot threads" so people remember what this is all about ??

This x1000

Wow, these boxes look epic! Do any of them come in 3600 size? If so I might have to add some to my Christmas list?

Count me in! This is always fun, looking forward to the "fishmas loot thread" already!

I've heard of this happening on occasion with strike king RES's . If I remember correctly, they might replace them if you contact their customer service.

Wow that's quite the distinct mudline.

That looks like a really fun way to fish! Always cool when you get to have those "call your shot" moments, I bet it's even better when that's the pattern!

This weekend was the maiden voyage for my custom built rod. It's a 6' light CRB blank with a Fuji PTS seat and silver carbon thread accents. I paired it with a cheap bfs reel and some 4lb monofilament. I love how it turned out, and it the little 1/8th oz spinnerbait I started with well. 5 minutes into using it, I caught my first fish! A chunk I ballpark in the ~17" range. I loosened the drag and the Rod handled it like a champ. However, 10 minutes later I expertly cast my spinner bait over a tree limb and as I brought the bait up and gave the rod a downward flick to retrieve the lure. The rod snapped. In half. At the midesection. Right after the second guide. Needless to say, the feeling sucked. After putting hours into researching components and assembling the rod only to have it snap like this was so disappointing. Do any builders here have any idea what could have gone wrong? Why would the blank snap in the mid section? I was babying the rod, and it had 4 lb mono on it- I WAS NOT stressing this rod to the point of breaking. Additionally, is there anything that can be done about this? I thought I remembered reading that if a rod blank breaks somewhere in the midesection that it can be salvaged. Has anyone done anything like this before? Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated. I'd hate to have to give up on this rod already.

When it comes to my spinning reels, I've also favored Power Pro, and I've used a few brands of braid. I've used 10,15, and 20lb test on spinning reels and 15 is my favorite. 15 lb seems to be the perfect line for me, 20lb seemed a little bit thick for many of the presentations I use my spinning rigs for. You could go as low as 10lb, but 15 gives you a little extra strength and you can still cast light lures with ease.

Half the time I just set the spool on the ground and place it beneath my feet so it doesn't flail around. I've used pencils before too. Pretty much anything works, once you do it the first time you'll realize how easy it is and won't go back to back to have line put on Everytime you need it.

Got the kayak out on a small lake east of the border yesterday, and had quite an eventful trip for the 2/3 hours I spent on it. I've only fished this lake once from shore before, so I didn't have too much to go off of. I got to the landing and the lake looked a little gross, a lot of floating dead weeds and pretty green water. I paddled to the other side of the lake where I had had success before, and the water quality looked a little better. As I dropped my (brand new) kayak anchor over board, some rope came undone and down she went! Oops. I'm Well, I paddled up into a creek that flows into the lake. One side of the creek is a flatter mud bottomed and has weeds, the other side was a tall bluff wall with some overhanging trees, and a little bit deeper water that had a few boulders and was littered with juicy laydowns. It really was a very cool place to fish. I threw a spinnerbait for a while as it looked like a good tool for the water clarity and depth/cover I was fishing but only managed one nibble on that. I switched to a top water walking bait after seeing a couple bass bust on top next to some rocks and the wall-got swiped at a couple times but didn't connect. I switched to a Texas rigged beaver bait with a punch skirt and that's the bait that did the damage- I caught the two fish that swiped at my top water bait, then proceeded to catch a biggun pictured below, no tape measure or scale with but she was a solid 3 pounder in the 18+ " range. 20 minutes later I pitched a really nice looking laydown and set the hook on another big fish! She wrapped around a limb and pulled so hard I lost my balance standing in the kayak and *almost* fell into the lake haha. It did bring down to my knees and the kayak tipped enough to fill with water, in addition to that my other rod rigged with the topwater bait now has treble hooks in my pants leg. All the while I have a 3 pounder on the end of the line, as I regained my stability and composure I had to set my rod down and gave the fish enough slack to get off . After draining the boat and catching another couple on the topwater and Texas rigged I had to call it a day as it was already getting late and I still had to drive back to the cities. I didn't get up the creek as far as I'd like or get to fish much else of the lake at all. All in all, it was a pretty successful trip despite a few mishaps, and a lake I will definitely be visiting again to explore further.

2008 Ford escape. It's the base model, so roof rails/bars didn't come stock. A rhinorack crossbar system and a sport track kayak carrier are used to transport my 10' lifetime Tamarack Angler kayak when I have the time to take it out!

Was out on West Bush Lake for a short kayak excursion after work. Started shallow with a frog and pitching a texas rigged pit boss around holes in the weeds, but nothing was going on in the shallows (aside from 10 bajillion tiny bluegills). After starting off shallow and not even seeing a bass cruising around I thought maybe they are post spawn and I remembered some recent posts on this thread saying they've been out a little deeper. I paddled out towards the middle of the lake looking for a defined edge to the weeds (didn't find one haha). So I pitched around blindly in relatively deeper water (10-12 feet maybe). I made a longer pitch and set my rod down to paddle a few strokes towards the bait while it sank, when I picked the rod back up and reeled in the slack, thats when I felt her on there. I set the hook and after a quick, hard fought fight, she was in the boat! I took a quick picture, and remembered I had a tape measure with. I rarely measure the fish I catch, even the big ones, but this one was nice, probably the biggest I've caught yet this year I thought. I thought right! She measured 19 inches!

These colors are ????

https://www.inforum.com/sports/outdoors/2735263-Uncertified-world-record-muskie-boated-and-released-in-Mille-Lacs-Lake-by-DNR-biologists#.XRbVBwe-WT8.link DNR shocked up a muskie that measured in just a touch longer than the current world record. They didn't have a scale that could weigh the fish. I knew it wasn't out of the question for a fish like that to be out there but it's crazy knowing that it IS out there. I wonder if the muskie traffic on Mille Lacs is going to get crazy after this news.

I do a lot of dropshotting from shore, when I do I use a size 4 or similar size removable split shot. They are super cheap so it doesn't hurt when you lose them. And they work just fine. I do have some cylinder drop shooting weights in various sizes if I do ever stray away from the bank.

I like a havoc pit boss, or yum craw papi or any slim beaver/creature/craw really. I have been playing around with punch skirts too. One time I punched my way down a stretch I usually do well on and didn't get a bite. I added a punch skirt and went through the small area again and they starting aggressively striking it, it was like a flip of the switch. I ended up catching a bunch out of that one stretch. Ever since then I always keep that in the back of my head, sometimes small changes like that can turn em on when they aren't hitting the lure you are using.

I'd agree that the Teton is probably the successor to the tamarack, but I'm not sure it's the same boat with a few upgrades. If you look at the shape of the boat it looks more like a new design compete with some of the more mainstream smaller kayaks such as the perception pescador or some of the smaller Wilderness yaks. I haven't seen the Teton in person yet so I can't speak to the hull design but if I'm speculating, I'd imagine it paddles almost as well as the tamarack does, while being a little more stable. I will say that the Teton has some very attractive features for a boat in the price range like the seat and accessory rails.

Unlike some of the people who have responded so far, I believe there are some great kayaks in terms of value in the $200-300 range. I used to work in a retail store that sold a lot of entry level kayaks. We would get new models every season - and they seem to be getting better and better. The Kayak I purchased after a year of selling it in the store and researching it online, was the Lifetime Tamarack Angler. This kayak goes by many names if you look it up online: tamarack angler 100, tamarack angler 120, muskie angler, etc. Despite the different names, they are the same boat (100 refers to 10ft, 120 refers to 120 inches- which is also 10ft Lol) . If you look up this boat on YouTube or just the internet in general, you will see it is very popular: and for good reason! It's a great value for the money! One thing I would consider when picking out a kayak is your height/weight. Most kayaks in this range are 10 footers which can be small to some people. I am 5'8" 180lbs and I fit very well in my tamarack angler. I'd say if you're 5'10/11+ and over 200 you should at least look into bigger boats and probably even sit in one even if it is just in the store, (if you ask in a store, usually the associates are happy to help you). Based solely on my experience with the kayaks I've worked with I'd order the quality of the "Cheap Kayaks" in this order. 1. Lifetime - the boats tend to have better features and more consistent build quality than other brands in this class from what I've experienced. The stealth series seem to be nice kayaks and someone mentioned on this thread the Teton angler, which in my opinion looks like a great option at it's price point, I'd look at that one if I was in the market for a new one. 2. Everyone else 3. Sun dolphin - ok, so there's nothing horrible about the sun dolphin Aruba Sit inside kayaks ( probably the most widely sold kayak among retail stores) it's simple, fine, cheaply made, but gets one on the water and are easily available. I have no problem selling one to an individual that just want to paddle around the lake. But when it comes to their sit on top kayaks, boy are they BAD. The Journey SS (fishing model) and Bali models track so poorly you might as well be paddling a bathtub. I've used them multiple occasions, no joke it's an art NOT to paddle in circles - avoid at all costs. Not to mention that this was the brand we experienced the most returns due to dents/pieces breaking/little things. For fishing, don't get a dolphin. I could see how if someone used a boat like this it could condemn them into thinking all cheap kayaks are this bad, trust me they are not. I wish you luck in finding your fishing kayak, feel free to respond or PM me if you have any specific questions, as entry level kayaks are one of the very few things I feel I have enough knowledge/experience with to have a valuable opinion on. I think you will be very happy with your purchase and find it is money well spent when you settle on a kayak - a 200 baitcasting reel might get you 20 extra feet to fish with over your existing reel; but a 200 kayak opens up endless amounts of new waters to explore.

What do you have against cheap kayaks? I did the same as boat squirrel and bought a 10' Lifetime tamarack kayak for under $200. It tracks well, its very comfortable to fish out of, I can even stand up and fish out of it on flat water. There are nice kayaks in this price range if you look for them, and like boatsquirrel said, even if you upgrade down the road, you have a spare boat for a friend to take out with you. Even though I don't get the opportunity to take it out as much as I would like, The boat I bought was probably the best fishing purchase I've made.

The kastking looks good, the Daiwa Revros LT is also an option, the 1000 size is only 7.4 oz and the 2000 is only 7.6! http://www.daiwa.com/us/contents/reels/revroslt/index.html

Haven't been able to make it out too much recently, but managed a couple hours this weekend. First fish with the new hat! Glad to be repping BR thanks @FryDog62

If you're trying to get as close as possible, I don't think you can get much closer than the Savage gear craw, I think the color is even pretty spot on

I agree with everything that has been said so far in this thread. You should be starting with casting upstream and working your lures back down the current. This presents the most natural presentation first. That being said, do not overlook working it the opposite way. I've caught so many small mouth (and another current dweller-trout), by casting downstream and working the lures back upstream. I always fish a target area like this from both angles as usually one or the other will be better for that day, and fishing from the other angle can usually get you another bite or two.