Crankenstein_MI

Broke a 755 Xtasy first time using it. Can not contact Dobyns. Called multiple times for a week(just get a tone). Emailed through their site and no response. Did GSM drop em?

Hey all. About to put in a Dobyns order and wondering some opinions. DRX 755-for sure getting this rod DX 746-mainly frogging and some punching. I been overthinking this a lot. I looked at the dc 736 vs this rod. Mostly be frogging with this rod, but would like the option to throw a 1oz weight into some thick stuff. Only thing that has me thinking is can I bomb a frog with this heavy of a rod(or does it have a good tip). DX 704 or 705 - dock skipping with 1/2 jigs. cant decide between the 2. Live in Michigan, so I am not going to be winching 7 pounders out from under docks. Would even consider that DRX 725 or 724

I think this is my best fish. I have caught a lot of big ones on the Great Lakes, but I never have a scale on me. The second is my best friends personal best on Saginaw Bay off of Lake Huron. The third is my daughters personal best on Lake St.Clair.

all fish were caught in less than 5 foot of water. Super slow with 3.5 inch natural color tube. Found a bunch of bait on a sharp weed break.

Sorry. Here is a pic

water was 37.5 and we managed 60 in the boat. Most of the fish we caught were big. Surprised at how well they fought in the cold water. All on tubes.

You will be in smallmouth heaven up there. There are some many awesome lakes up there. Do not be intimated by the bigger lakes as well. Elk, Charlevoix, Intermediate, Walloon, Bellaire, and the east arm of grand traverse are all awesome fisheries. Fish will be shallow and the water is sooooo clear they are easy to see. I like to find em with jerkbaits and lipless cranks, then pick em apart with plastics. Spider grubs, tubes, and senkos. I like light sand colored plastics. Smoke works well. The water is ultra clear, so try to match your plastic with the bottom of the lake.

all fish were caught in less than 5 foot of water. Water was super clear. You never think you can get right on top of em in such shallow clear water, but them pre-spawn smallies are not afraid of anything. That is what are so cool about em. They are fearless and aggressive. The jerkbait that got the action was a small xrap. I think it is a number 5. Tube was a 3.5 inch copper with gold flake with is a great natural presentation with the sandy bottoms we have up here. It seems all of our bottom dwelling critters blend in with the bottom, so matching the color of the bottom in clear water seems to be the ticket. In reality, pre-spawn smallies are not very hard to catch. They will smash just about anything you throw at em. The hard part is finding em on such huge bodies of water. Once you find em, the rest is easy. Few more smallmouth eye candy from the great lakes attached.

Thanks for the tip RW. Unfortunately, Michigan is only catch and release right now. I would not want to be caught with a livewell full of smallies. All the double pics were taken when my partner and I landed doubles. I will have to use that tip when the regular season opens up.

The smallmouth in the great lakes just keep getting fatter and fatter. Most fish caught on tubes. Did manage a dozen or so on a jerkbait. 50+ for the day.

Northern Michigan is about as good as it gets when it comes to smallmouths. Elk lake, Torch Lake, Grand Traverse Bay, Long Lake, Burt Lake, Mullet Lake, just to name a few. Lake St.Clair is probably the best for numbers with size. Saginaw Bay is my favorite for both numbers and size. Everytime I find em on Saginaw Bay, there is 5 and 6 pounders in the mix. My buddy caught a 6-14 this fall on da bay.

I did not catch them around the charities. Most of my fish came around north island. I caught some on the inner bay as well. I do fish the charities as well, but I dont make that run if I got a bunch of em closer. I fish out of a 19'6 Stratos glass boat. You just have to pick your days and try to use your head out there. There are some great spots in wildfowl bay when it gets harry past the islands. I will get you and jack up there soon and show you guys some spots. I know that spot that you guys smashed em in the fall is also great in the spring. Jeremy

that fish on the top was my buddies first ever bass. He has never been fishing on anything but a farm pond. He reeled him in holding his spinning reel upside down. Wind was out of the west, which can pull some pretty good waves. The biggest I have caught out there was 6.8 pounds. My buddy caught a 7.4 last year. The best part of it......I was the only guy out there bass fishing:)

Went out of bayshore on thurs and turned my arms into limp noodles. once I found out how they wanted things presented, it was every cast for about an hour or so. I started out with a red eye shad. Got bit on the lipless crank, but I was missing a lot of fish and/or they would slap it at the boat. Tried slowing down with the lipless, but was hard for me to slow down when tossing a 7:1 gear ratio reel. Tied on a pointer 100. I was getting a lot more bites on the jerkbait, but only if I paused it for a really long time(10-20 sec). My cadence was jerk, pause, jerk, jerk, long pause. I would get bit on that long pause. As the day went on, the fish moved shallower and my jerkbait wasn't as effective. I tied on the trusty ole 2 1/2 inch tube and just dead sticked it. If I hopped it, I wasn't getting bit. They wanted it either dragging ever so slightly or just sitting there. Once I figured that out, it was every cast. Biggest was just under 6. Caught a lot between 4 1/2 and 5 pounds. Caught quite a few in the 5 pound range as well. I never seen the bay that calm before in May. I could have took a pool raft to the charities it was so calm. Anyhow, good luck!!!!

That can be one of the best days of your fishing life, or one of the worst. I always tell people to go out in groups if you dont know that area well. There are some rocks a mile off shore there that can put your life at risk. There are rock reefs that extend of those islands that can put a world of hurt on ya. You are right about the aluminum boat. I have found myself fishing the great lakes more and more, and not fishing inland as much. I am thinking about selling my stratos and buying a Lund Predator ss. Check that think out: http://www.lundboats.com/boats/2011-aluminum/predator/2010-predator-boat

I personally like to use yamamoto series 11 skirts and make my own color combos with twin-tail grubs. This way, it is easy to adjust colors without retying or buying a bunch of jigs. I like the action the plastic skirts have in the water as well. I have paired these skirts with finesse jigs, pitching jigs, big 3/4 oz football jigs, little football jigs, etc. You can make your own cool color combos. I have used these skirts a lot with flappin hogs as well to offer a big profile bait in stained water.

I would find the clear water closest to the spot you were catching em before the front.

I love yo-yoing a red eye shad. Fish it eratic. My second is a pointer 100.

Hey Jack. I have a 7 foot mojo if ya wanna try it. I would personally spend $50 bucks more and get into a Kislter Mag or something similar. I have a 7 foot kislter micro mag that I use for drop shotting if ya compare the two. You can also get a Duckett for $50 more. I personally like a shorter rod for straight off the boat verticle drop shotting, like around main lake structure. I have a 5'10 St.Croix tournament for that technique. When casting drop shot and tubes, I like a 7 footer.

The Duckett company is totally separate from e21. Duckett Fishing makes the white rods, not e21

I have caught a bunch on a hula grub as well

Looking to buy a 6'6 jerkbait rod and a deep cranker. What ya'all think about ducketts?