Bankbeater

15# Big Game on the Daiwa baitcasters 10# Big Game on the SLX 10# Big Game on the spinning reels.

When I got back into fishing in 2002 I was fishing with the same Millionaire 5HS on the same whippy 6' Daiwa rod that I was using when I took the break. If I could go back and do it over again I would purchase a new fishing combo as soon as I knew I wanted to fish again.

These are the three rigs I use when I go pond hopping. MH/F baitcaster for bottom contact baits like jigs and t-rigs. MH/F baitcaster for moving baits like crankbaits, and spinnerbaits. M/F spinning rod for light weight, or weightless presentations.

Single wire.

Don't get skimpy with the grass seed. I've used an entire bag that can cover 5000 sq ft on a 1000 sq ft area.

I treat a weightless fluke like a frog. I cast it into the heaviest slop I can find. I like a MH/F baitcaster spooled with 15 lb Big Game. If I'm fishing open water I'll use a M/F spinning rod with 8 or 10 lb line on it.

My strategy this year is to change up the presentation of the bait. I have a few small lakes near me that see an unreal amount of fishing pressure. Using some presentations that haven't been seen before may get the bigger bass to bite.

It's my "me" time where I can forget all the drama going on with life. I like to catch fish too.

I remember my dad saying that too. Usually when we get a lot of wind out of the east the weather is doing something funky. As long as the anchor holds the boat in place I'm OK.

I don't have an irrigation system so all of my experience with grass growing has come from trial and error, and info from the guy next door. On a brand new house I would use sod, and keep it wet. Soak it good at least once a day until it starts growing. Before you lay the sod down spread some fertilizer. I don't know how close you next door neighbor is but be careful on the grass near the house, or between the houses. The heat bouncing off of the siding can burn the grass.

I have them stacked on metal shelving in the basement away from the sunlight.

Crankbaits? Try and run the moving bait by the vegetation at different angles. If you can find holes try dropping a weightless fluke or senko type into them.

I should be fishing but this weekend and last weekend I’ve been helping my youngest daughter come home then go back to the dorm for spring break. Next weekend I will be getting the lawn equipment ready to use and filling holes in the yard that the rabbits have dug.

I get up at 4am to go to work. Off at 2:30 pm, and back home by 3. I'm usually in bed by 10 pm, but sometime I'll be napping around 7:30 or 8 pm.

I don't target muskie, but they are stocked in some of the water I fish. Those muskie seem to like lipless crankbaits.

After I become familiar with a lake I find I don't need it, or if I do have it on, I don't look at it very much. On a new lake I have never fished I will use it for temp, depth, and bottom contour.

With daylight savings time, as it gets later in the year, the sun comes up later in the morning. So I may be getting to the lake later in the morning and doing some more sleeping in.

I never noticed any difference in the bite so I quit using it.

Pliers, knife, rag, sunscreen, and my telescopic lure retriever.

Well they can't get themselves loose from a snag.

This year it was a spinnerbait.

The BPS Carbonlite spinning rod I bought at the end of 2020 has them. It's a good rod, but it has taken a while for me to warm up to those micro guides.

White, and green pumpkin. Those are the only two colors I fish with. Most of the time it's white.

Cool thread. I don't really have any brand loyalty to any rod or reel manufacturer. I will continue to use their product as long as there is quality, but when that goes I try something new. I started out with a spincast combo when I was about 4 or so. It was a Johnson Century 100A on a kiddie rod. No snoopy rod, just a regular rod, but a few feet shorter. I have them both downstairs and the century still works. My next rig was a Zebco 33 on a 5'0" rod that my dad pulled out of the Missouri river while catfishing. That was my main panfish rig for a few years. I'm sorry to say that I don't have either one of those any longer. My first spinning reel was a Shakespeare 2200II Spinning reel on a Eagle Claw 5-1/2 foot rod that I got for my 10th birthday. I've still got the reel, but I lost the rod back in the summer of '81 to a tailgate. This is the rig I started fishing crankbaits with. I started with a Big O because that was the hot lure back then. I still have a couple of old Big O's from that time that I keep down with the tackle. My first baitcaster was a Daiwa Millionaire 5B that I got back when I was about 14. That reel was paired with a 6' Daiwa pistol grip that is about as stiff as a wet noodle. The reel broke after a couple of seasons and my dad gave me his Millionaire 5HS. I used the 5HS on that pistol grip rod until 2003 when I finally retired both of them.

Most of the time when I fish a frog I'm using mono. The reason is that most of the time when I'm fishing thick coontail, regardless of the bait, the bass will pick up a ton of vegetation while I'm reeling it in and get stuck. I don't try to drag the bass out, I go in and get it.