Bluebasser86

The way they hunt down a big bait is almost as much of a thrill as actually landing a fish on one. If you like muskie fishing, you'll like fishing big swimbaits for bass. Fred Roumbanis often talks about fishing swimbaits in tournament practice because so many fish will show themselves without striking so he can see what caliber of fish might live in an area.

I sold almost all my newer Shimano reels and replaced them with Okuma, Pflueger, and Daiwa. I have plans to buy more Daiwas in the future as well.

I really like the H/F Ethos rods I have from Academy. I have a 7' H/F and a couple 7' 3" H/F that all see a lot of use. Daiwa offers the AIRD-X in a 7' H/F. It has good reviews and I've heard nothing but good things about it, and they're only $50. https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/daiwa-aird-x-braiding-x-7-h-casting-rod#repChildCatid=3924672

I have one in my boat with boat tools, spare TM prop, spare prop hub, and prop wrench in it.

Looks like a Spro? I have some cheapies that have really found their way into my box because they do certain things that the expensive ones don't do. It's not stupid if it works.

Awesome day! Looking forward to the days I can get my boys out and on some great fishing like that.

Paddlefish randomly jump at LOZ pretty often at times. It's not a good feeling to be a WOT across the lake and have a 80lb fish jump just off the side of where the boat is pointed. I couldn't imagine having a giant like that sturgeon almost land in my kayak though.

I'm doing to challenge myself to step out of my comfort zone and experience some new things as well. It's so easy to hook up to the boat and fish anywhere on most lakes, but now I have to plan and come up with a strategy for what part of a lake and what time of year I'm going to be able to connect with some species that aren't always near shore or within reach of a kayak angler. I'm sure I'll upgrade the drum and largemouth, trout I might not but I'll be trying. Going to use my love for "trash" fish to my advantage when it gets hot out. All those big longnose gar, buffalo, carp, suckers, and shovelnose sturgeon in the river would really help me out. I'll be going for the "death by a thousand cuts", too. Getting all the sunfish species, creek chubs, bullheads, crappie, and white bass that aren't overly large even at their biggest, but all combined will add up quite a bit. I wish the closest lake with pike in it wasn't over 3 hours away or I'd try to make that happen too.

That's how slot limits work, lots of our lakes have 13-18 inch slots, so you can keep fish under 13" or over 18".

I can't see any of the pictures, thanks Photobucket!

Zman turbo CrawZ

42/18 tomorrow, 43/27 Saturday, 42/32 Sunday. I know not nearly as bad as most of you guys, but our averages this time of year are supposed to be 62/40, I need that in my life right now.

My BIL destroyed one in 2 fish, of course, these guys are pretty destructive

It's right there under my favorite lake or river; https://fishing.mdc.mo.gov/reports/hazel-creek-lake Don't expect a lot of fish, but the quality is there, plus some big toothy critters. Just a few of the fish from our last trip there.

It doesn't matter what bait you're using if you're not around fish. (location, location, location).

Braid to a leader is just asking for heartbreak with big baits. I use Pline or Big Game 20lb, both work excellent.

HI-SEAS Grand Slam has really impressed me. Really good abrasion resistance, good knot strength, and low enough stretch to use with jigs and plastics. Plus I can get it anywhere and it's very reasonably priced.

It's a lot of work, way more than I ever realized before getting into it. When I'm making baits for the little local tackle store I usually make 20 of each color. Doing 20 of 8 or 9 different colors is taxing to say the least. Then I take those in and find out a couple other colors got hot and sold out since I'd been in last and have to do 3 more colors, and the cycle repeats itself. I wouldn't ever want to do it for a living. They made it and look great!

Maybe it's the angle, but it would be a really long and thin fish to be a smallmouth buffalo. Maybe just an oddly built one. The ones we have around here are very oval shaped and stocky built fish.

Popping Pad Crasher is my frog of choice. Savage Gear makes a nice popping frog too that is a little more durable than the Booyah.

I've only ever seen a difference in super clear water, and that was still only during certain occasions. Those same fish in those same lakes will also hit an A-rig so hard that it about takes the rod out of your hands. If they were line shy, certainly they'd shy away from something like that. I still fish mono and flourocarbon, but not so much for visibility reasons.

This is exactly what I've seen too. Saw 48 at a couple little lakes, then 45 was the highest I saw last weekend.

Not even close. Water hasn't even touched 50 degrees yet and they don't normally spawn until late April on a normal year.

I bought 2 pool noodles, ran rope through them and tied them to the roof handles on each side of the car. Then I pick my kayak up and put it on the roof and strap it down. I have an Ocean Kayak Big Game Prowler II that is around 13' and 80 pounds, but with proper technique I can get it set up there.