dwtaylor

You should be able to get a 18 footer with a 150 in that price range now. 2/3 years ago not so much. A late 80s to early 90s ranger 300 series is a great hull. I have seen a few repowered with new 4 strokes so guys really like them. They may be slightly outside your price point, but not by much. There are javelins, stratos, skeeter, and tritons in that 90s era that are good too. I probably wouldn't consider a nitro, but if you came across one that was clean that could be a good option too. The evinrude intruder and johnson fast strike are good engines as are the mercury xr6 but they are carb 2 strokes which can guzzle gas and be complicated in cold starts. Stay away from any optimax from the 90s or johnson/evinrude fichts. I am not 100% up to speed on the yamaha options back then as they were kind of an up and coming brand at that time.

Anyone have any details on the bps spring classic that starts next week?

Those zoom hooks are a lighter wire hook, just an fyi. They are mustad 91768 jig hooks with a screw lock keeper. I use the gamakatsu or berkley fusion19 ewg superline hook with a screw lock. I actually take the screw locks that come with the hooks and replace them with the owner center pin screw locks. Another modfication that I do is bend the hook point slightly down to keep the hook point from snagging, even when tex-posed. I don't like using weighted hooks for this due to the tendency to pick up fine algae and other vegetation.

The population in Calhoun county where my parents live is outstanding and has been for 5 years or so. I miss it a lot sometimes, but not enough to buy an out of state license. There are like 0 pheasants in my area of Wisconsin outside game/hunt clubs which release hatchery birds. I did pick up waterfowl hunting this year and found that I have a couple really good goose recipes...still not like pheasant though.

google "Best smallmouth lakes in NW Wisconsin?" and there are some good suggestions from another popular bass fishing forum. I have never been in that area though. I moved up to northeast/central WI 12 years ago from your neck of the woods. Rarely do I go more than 2 hrs from Oshkosh (where I live) and find myself fishing the wolf river by new london the most. Its good for both species and a smaller boat is preferred. Its not traditional smallmouth fishing though because you are fishing around a lot of wood and heavy cover so its really more or less like fishing brushy creek, but with current if that makes sense. The wolf is not as wide as the des moines river above the dsm metro area, but it is deeper and has a little more current. The water is cleaner as well.

There is a little bit of pedal pick up tension/stick that I only notice when I just start using the pedal. I tightened my pedal tension screws up though so that makes sense as why it does that. I came from a motorguide so I wanted a higher tension feel. With that said, I can get pretty dialed in after that. I have an lvs32 with a fish obsessed dominator mount that made a world of difference for me to get lined up properly. I can see my bait at 80 feet without issue by lining up my trolling motor with my line. Practice makes perfect here. I don't agree that 1 degree at 80 feet makes a difference as that is about 16 inches of error. The beam width is much wider than 16 inches at that distance so you are going to see whatever you are looking for if you are close. 10 degrees is a different story as that is half the beam angle. To me, it sounds like you are closer to 10+ degrees off than 1 degree off for steering.

I am aware of those, but the blank I have is actually the legend elite blank which had a size 3 tip instead of the 3.5 tip that is specified on this site and the normal legend extreme blank. At the time I bought my blank they actually offered both...one with the teal green (extreme) and the light green (elite) of which I bought. This smaller tip makes it much lighter and more of a true xf action than the 3.5 tip size.

I recommend Stardust and getting a cheaper $20 heat gun off of amazon, harbor freight, etc. Stardust doesn't chip like other powder paints and doesn't require an oven to cure. It is a little more expensive than other powders, but I like it a lot.

My favorite general use frog rod is a Dobyns 735c. I have the Dobyns Savvy 735c which has been discontinued for a while, but that same rod is available in just about all their series. Pick the price point of Dobyns you want and get that action. Reels, I go with a 7.something to 1 ratio. The fast 8.something or faster reels you lose some torque and that can wear on you a little bit with a lot of slop. With a 7something ratio you don't lose too much line pickup or torque. I run 50lb braid on frogs, but may actually go down to 40lb power pro after my bulk spool is gone. I have never actually broken braid that wasn't frayed so why not downsize a little bit to get better casting ability and cut through weeds better.

The best aftermarket treble on the market IMO is the gamakatsu g-finesse aaron martens trebles. The standard and the mh hooks are both great options. They are pricey though. A really good alternative that is better for price is the Owner ST36 or the Hayabusa TBL930 with the NRB coating. That size of spinner is probably going to be a #4 or a #6.

^This. Otherwise, look on ebay or facebook marketplace for parts reels or replacement reels. My e series shimanos are in this category right now. I have lucked out with Shimano twice for parts and otherwise, I have bought parts reels too.

Depends on the day and what the fish are biting. I built a lime green MHX FP885 that I love flipping tubes or other t-rigged soft plastics with. This and the next rod below caught most of my fish this year. I have a 7'6" ml-f rainshadow revelation that I love for traditional tube jigs that I have caught many smallies on. I also have a 7'6" ml-xf st croix scv which is my nicest rod that I throw light neds or marabou jigs on. Its almost too nice that I don't use it a lot because I can't replace the blank anymore.

I recommend getting a Noco GB40 (or similar), which has 1000A or larger jump pack for this instead of using your trolling motor lifepo4 batteries. I have had to jump my engine several times due to my group 31 not having enough juice to crank the engine. I also recommend having a power switch isolating your graphs from the battery when jumping it to avoid damage to the graphs. I run livescope, a garmin 93 at the bow, a garmin 106 at the console, dual power poles, and the livewell pumps on a single group 31 lead acid battery due to my engine requirements. I have on multiple times had my battery too low over 6 hrs of fishing to start my outboard. Thus, I am going to buy a "budget" lifepo4 battery for electronics only to get my graphs off the main battery to improve reliability and also allow for me to add another graph and livescope for full time forward and perspective modes.

I use small bags that I buy from hobby lobby to store the jigs in. I also apply corn starch, talcum powder, or unscented baby powder to the bag to keep them dry. Keeping them dry and cool is the key to keeping the rubber from "melting" to each other.

I haven't lived in the area, nor have I frequented the store for more than 10 years. However, before that several folks I knew in college worked at that store. At that time, the fishing lead was Jamie and he was a very nice calm guy and I always liked talking fishing with him. I don't think he would ever be nasty to a customer. BUT...that was 10+ years ago. The Iowa State Fishing club even worked with the boat center manager on getting a used boat for the club, so at that time they were pretty decent to work with. It wasn't a bad store from when they opened until then. However, just about all outdoor retailers seemed to hit a wall about 8-10 years ago. I have heard that over time, the pro-staff and employee discounts got worse and so did the pay/hours/benefits. It kind of forced a lot of the good ones out of the whole retail space.

Core tackle weedless hover rig. The hook will come out the back of the tube like a normal tube jig. Rig like a normal hover rig bait, but try to stuff a bit of plastic worm in the middle of the tube before rigging. The hover rig lead diameter is much smaller than the inside diameter of the tube so fit is an issue without the extra plastic. If you don't care about the spiral, rig it on the back of a normal weedless jig like a flipping jig without the skirt (got the idea from James Watson). This rigging style has caught me some good fish this year and is my go to with fishing this profile of bait on a power fishing flipping/heavy cover setup.

What are your livescope settings? Also, what kind of transducer mount are you using? An LVS34 should be great out to 100 feet. In your depth of water, I recommend turning noise reject to high, turning off tvg, turn up color gain to around 85%. I run my gain somewhere between 75% and 90% depending on how clean the water is. More gain puts more stuff on the screen so it won't be very clear, but you are going to get stronger returns at a distance and that is a 100% need at 100 feet. I fish mostly shallow water and have an lvs32 that is clear out to 55/60 feet easy. I increase gain and can see a jerkbait out to around 90 feet. I recently upgraded to a fish obsessed 0 degree mount and it is much easier to line up casts now so its even easier to see my bait.

I agree with this comment 100%. Another side benefit of size 17 reel seats is that they weigh slightly more which leads to a better balanced rod around the reel seat.

Its a top of the line blank for a technique which doesn't require top of the line performance. Op requested something a little less costly as they build on blanks half the price. I actually just bought a revelation revs76ml on a black friday sale this morning that I am going to try as well but I wont know how well it performs until next season.

I have this sv 7'6"mlxf blank I built into a hair jig/small tube rod and the tip is quite light as mentioned. I dont throw hair jigs a ton but do use this rod for that purpose from time to time. Works great for that but use it mostly for light ned rigs and 2-3/4" tubes with 1/8 to 3/16 jigheads. Reach out to Matt Stefan (MLF/FLW pro) about what he uses in the MHX line. The scv blanks are a little overkill IMO for hair jigs.

I grew up fishing farm ponds with mostly mud bottoms and a ton of vegetation that grows as you describe. The key with that scenario is keeping your baits clean of weeds and the best lure for that is a topwater frog. I prefer Spro frogs but most any will do. Make sure the hook points are not exposed so they don't catch moss. Always fish frogs with braid. Also try a unweighted super fluke. You can throw them on top of the weeds and drop them in the holes as you pull the bait over it. Not all grass is created equal but my experience is with what I call pond moss, duckweed, milfoil, and brittle naiad. Those weeds kept the water very clear so the fish could easily see if the bait was fouled with grass so thats why it is super important to keep the bait clean. You can't fish those weeds (other than milfoil) clean with a texas rig or a jig because it will foul the bait up. The pond being shallow you arent losing much going to a weightless fluke, senko, or worm.

So I handled some rods today. I can say that the scv 7'6" m legend xtreme will be a little bit too stiff for what I'm looking for. Handled a 7'6" mlxf 2 piece walleye legend tournament 2 pc rod and it felt alright, but I really don't like 2 pc rods. I was blown away by the 8'6" mlxf legend tournament rod in the walleye series. Does St Croix offer this blank for builders?

I'm looking for a 7'6"+ spinning rod blank to use for small tubes (2 3/4") with mostly 1/8-1/4oz tube jigs but will throw up to 3/8 oz tube jigs too. May use this rod for hair jigs and other finnese applications too. Basically my Sturgeon Bay finesse special rod. I'm eyeing the st croix 7'6" m or ml sciv or scv blanks. I took a look at a st croix eyecon 8'ml rod on the shelf this weekend and it was way too whippy for my preferences, as it felt a little slower of a taper and almost no backbone. Maybe that is due to it being a 2pc rod and scii blank? Thus, should I go with the m or ml blank if I thought that 8' ml was too whippy? I'm either going to go with a microwave guide system or a k style Fuji with #4 runners. Thanks

Tubes are excellent baits in post front conditions when flipping/pitching/punching. They come in and out of cover very well. If you can find good hooks, a 3.5" tube can be awesome Texas rigged.

Did you by any chance look at lake-link? They have more local traffic than any other site that I know of for Wisconsin fishing info. FWIW, Lake Winnebago has water temps in the upper 50s right now and I was able to find as high as 64 and fish on beds in some areas. Last week was somewhat warm until Friday through Sunday morning but it has warmed since. The forecast this week has me thinking I'll be fishing Sturgeon Bay!