Scott F

Where is the water to fill it coming from? Is there a creek or a spring? How is it going to stay full? Is the land you want to build on a low area on the property? How deep is the water table?

Reeling against the drag certainly isn't helping line twist. It seems many don't realize that spinning reels twist line just by the design. It is impossible to eliminate twist altogether. Even if you wind the line perfectly when loading the spool, close the bail by hand, never wind against the drag, and use lures that never spin, spinning reels will twist the line. Considering how frequently they may be catching 5 pound smallmouth and the time spent cranking against the drag, the amount of line twist put in just by this action probably doesn't amount to that much compared to how much the reel twists the line on it's own. When it becomes bothersome, let the line out with no lure, troll for a minute, and reel it back in pinching the line netween your fingers.

If you measure fish, and everyone you communicate with weighs fish, they won't get it. It's like going to work where everyone speaks English and you speak Greek. It's funny, in my crowd, we all measure. I don't know if anyone even owns a scale. If somebody said they got a 4.68lb fish, the first question everybody would ask is "How long was it?"

Never wacky, always weightless, T rig

I always power load. Sooo much faster and easier. My boat normally cannot easily be winched on. Winching the last foot or two can be a challenge depending on the ramp. You being up in Minnesota, I'd guess you might appreciate not having to get wet when the water is in the 40's.

It could be you are not getting a good hookset with the ultra-light rod, especially while using 6lb mono. if you can, try them with a slightly heavier rod like a light action, or medium light.

There is nowhere on the Kishwaukee that has any water anywhere near 15 feet deep. Most of it is wadeable or floatable in a kayak or canoe. Leave all the deep water stuff at home.

I fish for river smallmouth frequently, but I've never fished a river as big as the Ohio. The big difference that I see is that current is very, very important with river smallmouth fishing. Success is nearly always found near current. With largemouth, they will hold more in the slack water and current is not as important. My best piece of advise for river smallmouth is to look for current breaks. Areas where faster water is moving past slower water such as happens behind a wing dam, islands, fallen trees, bridge piling, rocks, or points of land. The bass will hold just on the edge of the fast water, just out of the current. If those were the only places you ever fished on a river, you'd do just fine.

Right now, topwater baits have been doing well. The good thing about rivers is that the bass are not real picky about baits. The most important thing is location. Find them, and most everything will work.

Our local DNR uses big catfish for the same problem. There are only so many small fish a catfish can eat. If it were me and it was my pond, I'd scatter food on the same spot on the pond every day for a week or two. Once the fish become accustomed to being fed every day, they will gather at that spot waiting to be fed. A friend of mine had a bug zapper that collected hundreds of dead bugs every day. He'd use the collected bugs to feed the fish in his pond. All he had to do was stomp his feet next to the pond and the fish would come to him. Once you have them where you want them, throw a cast net right after you feed them. Remove the fish you don't want in the pond, and throw back the ones you want to keep. Repeat as needed.

If you would like to increase your chance of success chasing Muskies, I have a little secret. Use smaller sized musky baits. Throwing 12 inch baits and Double 10s requires some heavy duty rods and reels to hold up not to mention the speed at which they will physically wear you out. Those baits will get the big girls, but reduce the number of hits you will get. If you are just starting out and would like a bit more action, stick to smaller bucktails, and smaller cranks. I have a remarkable amount of success with 1/2 ounce rattlebaits. Your heavier bass gear will work just fine for the biggest fish you are likely to get. Smaller baits will get big muskies as well as the smaller ones as well as any pike or big bass. Having more action will keep you in the game longer and not tire you out as fast.

If you want to fit in up north, you'll have to cut back on the "y'alls" ??

Instead of a live well, a landing net to hold a fish in the water while settling up the camera works well. Of course if the boat already has a live well and it's not full of other gear, like mine usually is, that works.

Maggots come from flys. An adult fly lays small eggs in an area in which maggots are likely to find food. If some old bait like a dead minnow or nightcrawler was left in your tackle box, maggots may later be found

You won't find many largemouth in Northern Illinois rivers. Lots of smallies though. Which river are you going to fish?

Things that I would stay away from right off the bat is a 10ft boat. Everybody is different. I never keep fish or use live bait, so I wouldn't waste my money on a live well. I've had my boat for 28 years and can count on one hand the number of times I've used an anchor so I wouldn't have need for an anchor system. MY choices work for me. Let your style of fishing dictate how you set up your craft. Get the biggest boat you can afford to pay for, store and tow. How you modify it after that is up to you. What you can afford, and what will make YOUR fishing easier. God luck.

Probably because braid is so much thinner than flouro. 80lb fluoro is some thick stuff! I used to laugh when my wife would catch a pike. She'd always wonder how that would happen if we were smallie fishing? I make my own steel leaders. I have different sizes depending on the baits I'm using. I have some very thin, stranded steel, 20lb test, tieable wire that I use when fishing with plastics or suspending jerkbaits. Many guys feel the leaders hinder the action of the lure and cuts down on the number of strikes. If that is true, it doesn't bother me as much as loosing a $15 jerkbait does. Besides, even if I'm bass fishing, I'd rather land the pike than having it get away with a lure stuck in its mouth where it might keep the fish from being able to feed.

I like braided line as much as anyone but I would never depend on it to keep me from getting bit off. Pike are fun to catch but if you don't want to lose lures, invest in steel leaders. Any line you can easily cut with scissors can be cut by a northerns teeth.

I never weigh bass. Most of those who are in my smallmouth club don't fish tournaments and everybody does length measurements. I do know a few who fish kayak tournaments and they all compete using length only.

For several years, I only used 8lb Fireline on all my spinning rods. I never panfish, and smallmouth fish most of the time so 8lb was as light as I was comfortable with. The only issues I had with the thinner line was that when fishing single hook baits, sometimes the knot would slip out of the hook eye if there was any kind of gap. I experienced no more wind knots with lighter line than with any other line. As far as shock absorption, your ultra-light rod's soft action will take care of that. Lighter, thinner lines cast farther and lets baits run deeper. The only reason I'm using heavier 10lb line these days is Suffix 832 doesn't come in 8lb test

There are several pieces of information needed. You can go to the Pennsylvania Commission Permit and Forms web page. The site won't let me put the link up. Google Pennsylvania boat titles which should answer your question.

There are so many things that can cause wrist pain. 10 people can have 10 different problems. I see you've had problems before, you really should check with your doctor.

I only fish sinking stick baits in shallow water, mainly because I do a lot of river fishing where most of the time, the water is less than 4 feet deep. I don't have any more success with Yammy Senkos vs any other similar bait. I doesn't matter the shape, the color or the texture. I just don't see any real difference in the number of fish I catch. When a bait gets worn out, I pretty much stick my hand in the box and use whatever I pull out. I use Case sinking minnows that sink like a senko, but look something like a fluke, and use other different brands of 3-5 inch baits and they all work equally as well on the river smallmouth I catch. As was said before, I think the extra success some guys have with real Senkos comes from the extra confidence that they have in the baits. Go half an hour using an XYZ bait with no hits and then switching to a Senko and getting a couple of fish in the next hour. Was the change because of the bait, or maybe you put it in front of a few more hungry fish? Hard to say. Having more confidence in ANY bait makes it work better than one you aren't so sure about.

Is there a reason you are asking for medical advise on a fishing forum instead of from a doctor?

That new boat of yours must really have some enormous storage compartments!