Bluebasser86

Welcome!

I always welcome any member who wants to come experience some bad fishing with me ? I really want to chase these guys in my kayak more next year

They supposedly stock a minimum of 400 of them over 4 pounds in this lake 2 or 3 times a year, in addition to all the smaller fish, some over 10 pounds even. The main reason I started fishing the lake in the first place.

I usually walk the bank lines, especially the north and south sides near popular fishing spots. Baits that are snagged but eventually float up or are broke of on fish and worked loose will end up on those banks and just be waiting to be picked up. I'll walk productive banks more than once and often find a surprising number the second time through.

Multispecies day Friday. Also had a walleye, some wiper, and some drum that weren't photographed.

Wasn't fishing for them, but I caught a stocker Friday.

Welcome to my winter hobby lol. I use a big bowl full of warm water, or something like an empty ice cream tub if you don't want to get your bowls nasty. Sinking baits I just drop in and let them sink, floating baits I hook a snap or paper clip to the bait and a heavy enough bell sinker to sink them. Let them soak for awhile and then scrub them with a scrub pad. That cleans up most baits pretty good, enough to fish them anyways. That Deps is going to be tough if it has the skin on it, not sure how that one will work. I'd guess you could remove the skin and try to clean the inside with a toothbrush or something. Finding baits like that is pretty addicting. I've never had a day like that. I've found a few dozen a couple different times but there's never been that many quality baits, usually a lot of cheap BPS, H2O, or Wal-Mart baits in the mix along with lots of SK and Bombers, then a couple higher end Spro, LC, or Megabass. The pre Rapala warts feel like finding a gold nugget.

That is the optimal weight range for your rod, as light as 1/4oz or as heavy as 3/4oz. Since 1/2oz is smack dab in the middle of those weights, that rod will be perfect.

I believe it's a Railblazer mount, I think it would mount on a canoe pretty easy. There's tons of different mounting options for those camera arms.

I have a mount that fits on my kayak, it mounts on the accessory tracks.

Jerkbaits, jigs, swing head with a beaver, RES, shad rap, wiggle wart, shakyhead, Arig, underspins, and jigging spoons are my main winter baits.

Reduce the chance of backlashes would be my guess. I use baitcasters almost exclusively at night.

So far no issues. I haven't caught any giants with it yet but it's handled plenty of 3-4 pounders in some bad places with no issues.

I would have to check to be sure but I believe that the Assassin is the only one with magnetic and centrifugal brakes. I use them all for different things so smoothness is kind of hard to grade. The Assassin is the oldest and has a ton of fish catches to its credit in a lot of bad conditions. It's still one of the furthest casting reels I own. It isn't the quietest or smoothest reel I own, but it is also one of the less expensive reels in my daily rotation. I use it primarily for traps. It was a little difficult to set at first but I haven't had to touch it since I got it dialed in. The SDP I've been using for less than a year but I've really enjoyed using it. Very lightweight and I really like the handle and how it feels in my hand when I palm it. I use it mainly for T rigs and light jigs. I can skip a jig with it and it really is extremely fast if I need to take up line quickly. I think the extreme speed at an affordable price was a big selling point for me. My other 9.1 reel with similar IPT is a Diawa Zillion SV TWS That cost more than the SDP rod and reel combo did. The RLE I haven't had long but it's a very nice little reel. I wish the handle knobs were a bit bigger. I feel like they kind of went cheap on that part, especially for it being one of their more expensive reels. I set the magnetic braking system on this one and the SDP once and haven't touched them since. It has casting distance similar to the Assassin but it is a bit smoother and quiter, as it should be for a little extra dollars. I have the 8.1 RLE that I've been using mainly for plopper and bigger walking baits. I would really like to try the new MegaJaws as it appears to be very similar to the RLE for a few dollars less and nicer handle knobs

X3 on the HooDaddy, it's a big fish bait.

We caught gobs of jerkbait fish at the trout lake today, including one big trout on a jerkbait. Fish were really grouped up when we found them.

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One thing I have noticed is they seem to like dressed tail trebles, I think it just gives them something to target when the bait is at rest.

I always peg them and I'm sure A-Jay does the same. The line being behind the weight protects your knot. The shape of the weight itself allows it to fit through smaller spaces and it seems that it wedges less than a jig does. Being able to hide the hook in the plastic is another thing that makes it more difficult to snag than a regular jig and the trailer you choose can effect that as well.

Doesn't matter, I'll be fishing still! If a picture of my dog with a hat on is the worse we get this winter, I'll be shocked.

I really like my Speed Demons and Speed Demon Pro, but the Assassin is good too and the Royal Legend Elite has been really nice so far. The SDP would be my favorite if I had to pick one.

In really heavy timber, I'll switch from a jig to slither rig. @A-Jay has some good pictures of them and how you can put them together. I pure the collared sinkers, paint, and tie the skirt directly. It comes through heavy wood much better than a jig and protects your knot way better than a jig. This is one of mine rigged and ready to fish.

Do you have a jack plate? I mounted mine right on my jackplate, that's what was recommended by Garmin when I bought it.