Trackick9707

I like to research first, and then ask questions. There's nothing worse than being "how do I catch fish guy"....

Any Shimano in the 50+ range is gonna be a solid reel. Over the years I've found that Abu Garcia is the best bang for the buck. They're smooth and they last forever. I've never had good luck with quantum reels, but i've never put the money into the expensive ones.

Mudhen is a great lake. Awesome topwater bite on the northside of the lake all summer long!

@5dollarsplash..., Shout out for NW wisconsin! If you know where New richmond is try any of the lakes around there. Squaw, Cedar, and Bass are good spots to start. The Willow river is great for smallies and the state park in Hudson is a gold mine for large mouth. Most guys around here are fishing walleye's so the bass spots are mostly un-touched. If you want to go a little further north, Mudhen lake east of Siren has a great topwater bite all summer long. Otherwise you can hit the St. Croix river but it's hard to work around the pleasure boaters. I was gonna try the Apple River Flowage up in Amery this coming summer as my "new lake of the year" but finding info on it has been difficult at best.

I keep my tackle inside during the winter, but it's currently -4 outside and about 12 in my garage. I wouldn't worry about hard baits, but if you have pork trailers that are in glass jars with liquid in them make sure they are inside. The liquid might freeze and expand and explode in your box. Not a pretty sight. I've also found that the berkeley gulp soft plastics have liquid in the packaging and they tend to discolor and get funky if you leave them out in the cold. Rods and reels should be fine, but if you want to disassemble them for cleaning and lubrication bring them inside to warm up first or they feel sticky in the cold. I dont use mono but i would assume that temperature changes can affect it over time. Also having your tackle inside over the winter can save you the hassle of finding out there was a mouse or other rodent living with your tackle over the winter.

Randalls bait shop in Star Prairie WI. Great selection of live bait, very knowledgeable staff, and they carry all the quality stuff that a guy can't find at wal-mart. I've stopped asking questions at stores like dicks and gander mountain because most of the employees have little to no knowledge when it comes to practical application of anything in the store.

1. Learn to use Carolina rigs... 2. Help my 4 year old catch her first bass... 3. Help my wife catch her first bass over 5 lbs... 4. Fish slow...and then slower... and then even slower 5. Continue to prove that a canoe is the ultimate fishing machine... at least until i can talk the wife into a real boat...

If you have pets it's always a fun time to pitch and flip a small toy for them to chase after (works better with cats and small dogs, big dogs not so much). I had a buddy of mine tie a tennis ball to his fishing line last winter and play with his dog so he could learn how to cast a bait caster and he was set as soon as the water thawed. I live in NW Wisconsin and I feel your pain when it comes to cold weather. Think outside the box and you will come up with something fun.

My goal this year is to add a new tactic to my fishing arsenal. I want to start using carolina rigs and i want to get good at it. I've fished braided line exclusively for the last 10 years or so and I want to start experimenting with florocarbon lines also. Is it a bad idea to use braid as my main line and use floro leaders? Should I use the "florocarbon leader material" or just regular florocarbon, and is there a difference between the two? What brands does every body use? I have had great luck with power pro and Suffix but that was braid and I don't know where to start. Also i've used a palomar knot for all of my connections with braided line, but i've heard that a palomar knot can damage florocarbon... and suggestions on knots? Thanks for your help!

I run a hummingbird 170 in my canoe. It makes all the difference in the world knowing what the bottom looks like. The only advise i can add is when you choose a battery don't feel obligated to get a big car battery or a deep cycle battery. I use a wal-mart brand lawn tractor battery because it's small and light and its 12 volt so it works great and it lasts all day. I have the transducer mounted to a 3/4 inch piece of square aluminum tubing and i carry a c-clamp to position it wherever I like and i can pull it up when I'm really shallow or in heavy weeds.

I currently fish from a 1979 17ft alumacraft canoe. I get a lot of static from my buddies until I ask how much it costs to fill the gas tank on there big fishing rigs. The best party about a canoe is fishing non-motor lakes. No pleasure boater or jet skier's to ruin your spot. Being close to the water is really cool and when i fish from a big boat the intimacy of the experience is lost. Take pride knowing that you have to earn your fish when you have to paddle to get to them. Also, as far a trophy fishing i have caught my 3 biggest bass while canoe fishing. Small waters sometimes hold the largest fish.