K_Mac

It took a little while for me to learn this simple lesson. Too deep is a bad thing.

Pitching light lures is a technique that takes a higher skill level than most. No matter what reel you use, you have to loosen things up in order to get the spool started. This makes a skilled thumb a critical part of the operation. I practise pitching off my back porch often. The neighbors think I'm not quite right. Keep practicing. It is worth the effort. Not a thing wrong with pitching light lures with spinning tackle, as long as line and rod match the cover. 8-)

Same to you RW. Happy Easter everyone.

It depends on the situation. I'm with shimmy on this: A guy insisting that you fish his bait would make me get a little stiff necked. On the other hand I've fished with guys who would not use a wacky rigged Senko when I was killing with it. I always offer before I start fishing that you are welcome to use any bait I have. If I out fish you, and you're too stubborn to use something of mine... : I was fishing a few weeks ago with a guy who was killing on 5" Chompers spider grubs. I was catching fish on similar baits, but not the same quality. He offered them to me. I took the offer and we both caught good fish. It did not have any negative impact on my self-image. 8-) Note: I now have several bags of Chompers in my bag.

There is a learning curve even for spinning gear. When I have inexperienced anglers on my boat, they almost always end up using one of my spinning combos. I have them spooled with Yo-Zuri Hybrid 6#. I can fish them all day without one twist. A novice cannot. A decent quality baitcast combo in the hands of an experienced user is wonderful thing. For some applications baitcast is the only way to go for me. I feel the same way about spinning gear. It really is a matter of personal preference IMHO.

I am am experimenting with some different lines this year. I have 15# P-Line CXX on my heavier power rods, and I really like it. Compared to Yo-Zuri Hybrid 15# it is no contest. I am using KVD Line & Lure with all lines. It works well.

There are many who use only spinning gear. There are some who would rather have a root canal than use spinning gear. Others who feel the same way about baitcast gear. Most of us use both. Use whatever works for you. 8-)

I have nearly as much BPS stuff as Goose. A Pro Qualifier baitcast rod/reel combo regularly sells for $190. It is a sweet combo and is the best deal around in my opinion. A Pflueger President spinning reel matched with a BPS Extreme or Pro Qualifier rod is also a good value IMHO.

You may find after using a PQ for a few months that you don't need to spend more for a reel. It is a very good reel. The dual braking is a nice option when the wind is howling. I think you made a good choice. 8-)

The Johnson Mayfair cartridge pumps are inexpensive. My bilge pump and aerator pump take the same cartridge. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/standard-pod-wrapped.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/pod-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat21276-cat600055_TGP&rid=&indexId=cat600055&navAction=push&masterpathid=&navCount=7&parentType=index&parentId=cat600055&id=0037804

I was watching In-Fisherman Critical Concepts earlier today. In one of the segments they were salmon fishing in a river off of Lake Michigan. The boat was "anchored" in current by a Minn Kota. That is a very cool use of the technology.

Night fishing is a great way to sharpen your skills. It will force you to focus on what your bait is doing. It really is not all that much different than fishing during the day. Roadwarrior in a post several years ago said something like, "just like fishing during the day, only darker." I do tend toward bigger: worms, jigs with rattles, and single colorado blade spinnerbaits, all in a darker color, usually black. Sometimes working a spinnerbait like a jig, popping it a foot or two off the bottom and letting it fall can work well. If you are not naturally organized, you must force yourself to be when it comes to night fishing IMHO. Too many rods, too much tackle, or anything else out of place is a bad idea. A full moon on a clear night is as good as it gets. A new moon is good too, but for the night fishing novice a full moon is better. I can't wait for the water to warm up a few more degrees. I'll leave the light on. Stop by and say hi. 8-)

My wife took the shot. She has a natural ability to see what works. I can't even take decent fish pictures.

That is a very generous offer, and I hope to be able to take you up on it. Thank you Mike.

I recently purchased an XTools digital gripping scale. I verified that it was accurate and consistent before weighing any fish. Today I caught a rock solid 4+ that weighed 3-11. My wife caught a beautiful 5+ maybe 5 1/2 that weighed 4-14. I do not like my scale. : I recommend buying a very cheap scale, and then when this happens you can feel comfortable knowing there is a certain margin of error... ;D

I said I would report back after fishing today. Based on today's fishing, grubs do not work. : Replace them with chatterbaits.

We fished all day today, and the big producer in both numbers and quality was the chatterbait. I was throwing an original in white and chartreuse. My wife a Booyah in fire tiger(?). They only worked in the creek arms where the water was a little muddier. Both of our best fish (3-11 and 4-14) were caught ripping them out of grass that was a few inches below the surface. We had a huge amount of wind today, and while a chatterbait is not very aerodynamic, compared to a spinnerbait it casts a little easier. Like the others have said, I don't think there is a wrong way of using one. Finding the right way can be a challenge, but that is part of the fun... 8-)

Mike my wife and I fished 12 hours today in a howling wind. I thought of this thread a couple of times. ;)Fishing in the wind is a pain. I was at 100% for a couple of minutes in teeth of it. I love my 80# MK. 8-) I would love to fish the back of your boat to see how it works. I'm still trying to get to Pickwick for a couple of days...

Preacher You got me. :-[ I thought you had lost your mind. BTW I was wondering what you think of keeping a few bass for the table now and then? just kidding :

Until the Senko came along it was my "secret weapon." A 3" or 5" curly tail grub on a 1/8 or 1/4 oz darter jig has caught me a lot of fish. I saw the episode you mention and promptly went out and purchased 2 bags of 4" grubs. : I will try them tomorrow, and report back. It is a very versatile bait. You can swim it like they were doing on In-Fisherman, bounce it slowly on the bottom, or some combination of the two. Pitching to standing timber and letting it fall straight down is another way of working it. I have caught fish on grubs in all seasons.

While the definitions of finesse and power are a little vague when it comes to bass fishing, I am for the most part, a finesse guy. My favorite power technique is quickly working a heavy jig on rock/gravel.

Mike one of the main challenges of fishing an aluminum boat (or even glass) in the wind is the relative position of the boat to the bank. Keeping the boat positioned so the angler in the back can fish while controlling speed takes constant correction. My cable control allows me to make those corrections fairly easily. When I purchased my Fortrex I looked at the iPilot units. It was not money that caused me to choose the Fortrex. I like the cable control. It was the right choice for me. I think there is a big market for the GPS controlled units, but I don't see them replacing cable controlled units any time soon. I am a little surprised that I haven't seen any of the pros using iPilot. It may just be the old dogs, new tricks adage at work. I'm glad you're pleased with the new TM. A TM that has enough power and works well is a joy. 8-)

In IL. you can use a kicker motor on a larger boat. If you start the big motor for any reason you are in violation. There may be lakes that have site specific regulations that I am unaware of. I fish a 50 HP limit lake regularly as well as a couple of 10 HP limit lakes. Neither of these lakes can be effectively fished with a trolling motor only. There is too much distance to cover. I have an 80# TM on my 18' aluminum and although I have plenty of power and can run all day on a charge, I could not fish these lakes with a TM alone. If you are going to spend most of your time on HP limited lakes an aluminum boat is a better answer in my opinion. A glass boat is a joy on bigger lakes though...Good luck.

I don't think it makes any difference. Just my $.02

This thread is from the "best of" section. There is a lot of info in it. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1151590913 Once you have the spool tension adjusted correctly, I would set 4 of the centrifugal brakes on (out) to start. Set the magnetic brakes to ~5. Now with a 3/8 or 1/2 oz bullet weight or practise plug you are ready to go. Don't try for great distance; let the rod do the work. It won't take long and you will start to get comfortable. then you can start to back off on the braking; first on the mag then on the centrifugal-one at a time. Enjoy 8-) I usually use 2or 3 centrifugal brakes and only add magnetic as needed, e.g. throwing a spinnerbait into the wind.