je1946

Congrats Ken on a nice LM, nice looking jig as well.

A few used ones for sale in this area. 17' are with a 90hp, and the 18 is with the 115.

I think your making this a lot more complicated than it really is. What do you mean where should you stand? On land at the waters edge obviously. The technique you mentioned above is fine, with occasional pauses, hold your rod high and when you feel a tell tale bite which can be a little tap to a pick up and run, lower your rod and reel up the slack and set the hook hard like your trying to break the line but of course you set your drag properly and won't do that. As you set the hook, reel enough to keep slack out of the line. Remember when you set the hook you have to do it hard as your driving the hook thru the bait and into the fishes jaw. As far as places to fish you could talk to a wildlife/conservation officer for the area and he/she will point you to a place where you can fish from shore. remember the season is still early and the fish are sluggish, slow and steady wins the race, if you read some of the comments lots of people striking out so don't get discouraged. Try joining a club and attending some meetings and see who would be willing to work with you.

Those look great. What I like about Mike is the fact that he will work with you make what your looking for in a jig or bait.

Nice looking rig Lady M. Best of luck with it.

Way to start the season.?

Cresty, Are you speaking of the tourney won by IKE? I thought that was on China Lake?

Congrats on some nice brown bombers. Long pond, there's only 3 that I can think of across the bridge, but I'm pretty sure I know which one you were on and they don't come easy on that body of water, and throw in a very windy day and you did well.

If I may ask, Have you considered braid for finesse? I use 10-12# braid with a 6ft 8# fluro leader for ned, and neko rigs. I think you would like it much better. JMHO

They put a wire from your boat to the trailer. Some guys were taking the eye bolt off of the boat, so now they wire it at the stern. If that wire is broken for ANY reason they will not let you back on until your boat has been washed ($40) and re wired at the place where they wash it. Strictly enforced.

Once your boat is sealed for the Q that's it. If you use it in another body of water it has to be washed for $40 and sealed again before you can get back onto the Q. The only time the seal is for free is in the winter.

PM sent.

GD luck. don't catch em all. lol

I own 4 Dobyns rods 3 HPs and one Champion XP all are perfect and I fish them hard. You didn't state where you purchased the rods from but I'd be surprised if it were from Dobyns directly. You should ABSOLUTELY not accept any rod with issues. I promise you if you call Dobyns they will make it right, do not email them CALL them. I purchased a heavy rod from them for punching mats and never used it, a yr later I called Dobyns and told them I would like to exchange the rod for another. They told me to send the rod back to them and if it was in gd shape they would do the exchange. They did. CALL Gary and explain what happened and tell him your unhappy. I promise they'll make it right for you.

Sorry to hear of your troubles. I never got to take my dad on his last trip as cancer took him very quickly. If your able to get him into a boat take him to the place you loved to fish and talk about the memories you both shared, enjoy a gd laugh, and most of all thank him for all his time and the memories you will cherish forever. Best of luck & God bless.

I keep mine fairly loose and use my index finger against the spool for tension, works for me especially when a fish nears the boat and makes that last run. On a guided trip for smallies in Maine the guide taught me this technique and it has served me well on some big fish. It takes some getting used to but I find it second nature now.

Those reel are very easy to work on.. You can go to Shimanos web site and pull up the schematics on it or your best bet is go to youtube and look up shimano stradic reel cleaning, it's all right there. Take off the nut for adjusting the drag and under there will be a keeper(looks like an opened paper clip) which holds the drag washers, and felt pads in place, take it off and make sure the drag washers and pads aren't all stuck together. These at the very least will have to be cleaned and or replaced. The best thing to do is go to Youtube and look at the video for shimano stradic cleaning, Ive refered to it on occasion. Your other option is to send it to reel shop, depending on which model you have they may or may not have parts, but usually drag washers and such are available. As I stated they are very easy reels to work on, even a caveman could do it. lol

You haven't mentioned your preference ie glass or aluminum? Look at some of the Lunds easy to trailer, wide, deep, safe and comfy. I had a 17' Explorer with a 115hp that I trailer'd, it was fast enough for family fun and it had an 80# digital tour electric up front along with a pedestal seat for bass fishing if I wanted to. I had that boat out in some nasty weather conditions and never felt unsafe. They make aluminum boats all the way up to 21'. go to a dealership and look at them very wide and stable, & they also hold their trade value.

Glad you enjoyed the show, did you meet up with any of the NE bassers? Congrats on your new ride.

Why can't you stop and fish? I believe it states for the first 2-4hrs vari rpms 2-4k doesn't mean you can't stop fish then resume the procedure. until the time has been met. so if you vary rpms for an hr shut down and fish for 1/2 hr then you start up and resume to vary the speed.

Merry Christmas to everyone.

Going to do my best to meet up with everyone.

I hear ya. My biggest is 6lbs and had two others that day over 5 for a 5 fish limit over 24lbs. Had two other days with 5 fish limits over 23lbs.

Congrats on a beautiful Smallie. She's a tank.

Last yr on the Q I found the fishing for smallies to be tougher than usual. I had no fish over 5lb for the first time in a long time. We did have a number over 4. My PB is right at 6lbs, but I've had smallies follow baits that were bigger than that.