MrPeanut

I haven't picked one of those up, but I'm interested in this thread since I was considering the feathers / hair as a different look

I had a similar noise when I first took out my tatula SV this spring - the only thing I could find online was reports of reels "grinding", but like your experience it wasn't really a grinding noise and the reel itself still performs smoothly. I oiled it up, but unfortunately have been stuck doing things around the house and haven't been able to even get to a pond to see if that helped the noise or not I'm interested to see if anybody else had similar experiences too

I bring around 6 or 7. When I show up I'll have something smaller / more finesse and a bigger, noisier bait for top/middle/bottom level of the water column. I'll find tune from there and re rig as needed.

The youtube fishing channels are always an interesting topic because everyone has a very different view point on them. There are many channels that are for fishing, but don't actually provide instruction. A lot of the younger crowd find them entertaining, so they have a lot of followers. I don't find a lot of them entertaining so I don't watch them. On the other hand, there are a handful of channels with a lot of very good information / tips on them as well, which I do watch. Youtube is nothing more than a platform people can share information on. The viewers can choose whether or not they want to watch. Some companies are more or less supporting some of the bigger channels, because it's a way to get their advertisements out to a mass of viewers, who would otherwise not see their ads. To them, it's simple economics and marketing. If people want to invest the money into buying cameras and posting their outdoors blogs on youtube, my take is go ahead, there's a lot worse things they could be doing. As long as I can still choose which ones I want to watch and which ones I don't, I have no problem with it. I think it will be interesting to watch and see if companies start to "sponsor" youtube personas in the same way they do tournaments, and the affect that choice will have on the massive amount of channels there are. Once channel owners get to a certain age, youtube will pay the bills or it won't.

my most nostalgic lure is a black hula popper I "borrowed" it out of my dad's tackle box on vacation and caught a pike off the back of a paddle boat with it when I was a kid, and I've been hooked on fishing ever since. The best explosion of water ever.

1) 1/2 jig 2) 3/8 jig 3) red eye shad 4) red eye shad 5) black and blue senko Ironically enough - the best fish (all species) I've caught was a musky that hit a senko by some lily pads as soon as it barely touched water. It was on the first cast of the day while fishing with my dad, a catch that I will remember in great detail forever.

I had the same experience most have when dealing with dobyns; they're awesome to chat with. They're sending a new end cap insert in the mail

Thanks for the suggestion, I shot them an email last night while browsing the web trying to avoid the bait monkey. I have no idea where the old cap is, I didn't even notice it missing until I started cleaning stuff up.

While cleaning up my stuff before putting it away for the winter I noticed the end cap of my fury 735 fell off. No big deal, but will be looking to stick a new one on. Any advice on where to order one or a size?

I really need to get better at deep fishing - I love this thread.

I've been using 40lb braid and a 17lb flouro leader for jigs for the last couple seaons, and I've been happy. I sometimes throw straight braid when I break off and I'm too lazy to tie a new leader on, I've had success, but in clear water I'm still more confident in the flouro leader. I'm sure it's all mental though and I'd be fine with straight braid too..

this sums up my vote as well

I've heard a lot of stories of how he is a stand up guy. I know some think he's a little over the top, but I've always been an Ike fan. He also is genuinely into getting the younger crowd into fishing and growing the sport, which is awesome. His other book, fishing on the edge, is pretty good too. There isn't as much fishing tips in that one, it's more so his story of becoming a pro, but I enjoyed reading it. It gives a different perspective of him.

I'd also second the above on this finesse DVD. It's a little dated, but as much as Ike can act, well - like Ike, he's an amazing teacher.

I have the Ike finesse book, I think it's a good read. He gets very thorough with each technique discussed, as well as locations to fish. I'd recommend it

I've recently picked up a couple bags in super bug as well. I'm a big fan of the versatility - it will become a staple in my bag for sure

I went up to southern WI last weekend, water temps were mid - upper 50's on a fairly small lake. I had a few bites throwing a chatterbait on windy points, although I only hooked up with one. I did find this girl hanging out in a foot and a half of water under a dock, which threw me for a loop since I didnt expect to get any shallow bites in those water temps. Goes to show how little I still know! haha

I tow a 16' boat with an Edge with the tow package, for me it was the ideal compromise btwn MPG and towing capability. I got it certified pre owned for not much north of 20k. I avg 21-22 in general, while towing it's not horribly worse although I"ve never actually calculated it. It can tow up to 3500, the major difference with that and the escape is its a bit bigger on the inside which makes it a bit more comfortable. I don't think it's much higher off the ground than the escape if I remember right, but when getting into comfort and ease of getting in, those are all preferences and everyone will have a different opinion for their own situation

^ditto You can only control your own actions. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Zoom ultravibe speed craw either by itself or its the perfect finesse jig trailer I like the baby d bombs a lot too

wow that looks great did you anchor the supports at all to the boat? or are they held in place by pressure? I have to redo the casting deck I built for my little utility boat soon

Both rods would fit the bill nicely. I have a couple St Croix's (although not the bass x model) and I love them. I also have a couple E6X's and while they might not be the best money can buy, they do the trick. If I had the option of getting 50% off of the loomis line up though, I would save up to utilize that as much as I can for their higher end lines where their quality starts to shine. I think a lot of people on here, myself being one of them, would drool over a 50% discount off the loomis line up if it applies to all of their lines...

It sounds like you have a solid financial plan to get money saved up, which is better than most your age, honestly. As somebody who is about to be (finally) done with student loans 9 years after I graduated college, I would say you might want to consider either saving up to pay in full, or waiting to see which school you end up going to and what loan(s) if any are needed for college. Get the education part squared away first, and then with what's left get a plan on the boat purchase. If you need to apply for student loans, it will be easier to get approved and for a lower interest rate if you don't already have outstanding loan balances for a boat.

I know I definitely miss strikes at times, but I'm getting better at it. For me, the light bulb went off when I caught a couple I didnt feel bite at all, but was using an exposed hook and they ended up hooking themselves. Luckily they weren't gut hooked or anything, but taught me to get my head in the game haha

I typically will throw 3/8 down to about 10-12ft; when deeper I'll go to the 1/2 I've been debating ordering some 3/4, but I'm not sure when I would throw them, since I rarely fish past the 20 ft mark in local lakes