Scott F

I can't answer your original question and I am anxious to see more answers. Too many of the posts I see on these forums are concerns about what color bait or what shape the plastic should be because the poster isn't catching any fish. The better questions are always where should I be fishing? There are times when one color or one bait will out fish everything else, but more often than not, if you put a bait, any bait, in the right place, it will get bit. In my experience, knowing where to drop a line is the biggest key to success. Learning how bass relate to flats, dropoffs and structure is what will make me a better fisherman. Good post!

My last trip was a for 3 days. We had a long float planned for day 2. For the 2 days leading up to day 2, the forecast was calling for 70% to 90% chance of rain for every hour of daylight. We nearly cancelled the trip but when we got up the morning of day 2, no rain was in the forecast. We enjoyed sun all day. You can never tell what's going to happen tomorrow.

Small rivers are consistently good all day long. Shallow water near current is what I do in summer.

This morning when I went out my front door, it was cloudy and raining. Weather.com said it was partly sunny with a 0% chance of rain. It truly surprises me at how bad the forecasts can be.

A boat owner who will not accept any money from a non-boater is a very generous fisherman. A non-boater who does not even offer to pay his way is inconsiderate. I own my own boat but don't fish tournaments. I had a period of a few years when money was tight. If I did not have someone to share the gas costs with I could not afford to go.

A senko is a good choice. You generally won't find largemouth in the same spots as smallies. LM don't like the current areas as much as smallmouth. Fishing in the slack water behind fallen trees is the exception. Lure choice will depend on current speed, water depth, clarity and the cover. It will take you a little while to get the feel for what current does to your bait and your line. Your biggest challenge may be getting to the places that have the current and break lines you need.

Look for current breaks. Where the faster water is disturbed by something that will cause an eddy of slower or still water. Feeding fish will hold on the slow edge of that breakline facing into the current waiting for a meal to go by. Throw your bait up stream so it drifts back along that edge. Very high percentage areas.

Enforceable? The same way most home owner associations enforce their rules. If everyone knows no outside boats are allowed, the residents should not be inviting guests to bring their boats. If you saw someone on the lake without a sticker, you ask them who they are. If they say they are a guest of Mr Jones, Mr Jones gets a letter from the board. If the outsider is trespassing, you could call the police.

At a local private lake, the rule is only residents are allowed to have boats on the lake. Each home is issued one boat sticker, no guest boats allowed. You might consider suggesting a similar rule for your lake.

Memphis? Gotta go to Graceland!

This past week, a friend and I made a trip north into Wisconsin for a few days and floated a couple of rivers in personal pontoons. The weatherman threatened to cancel one of the days by predicting an all day rain, but he couldn't have been more wrong as both days were just perfect. Although it was warm by Wisconsin standards while we were there, the cool spring and summer still has the water cooler than normal. Normally by this time, the bass are in the full summer pattern, hanging out near the faster water but few were found there. We still caught a fair number of fish with a few pushing 18 and several over 16 inches. Sinking plastics, worked for both of us and I also got some on a topwater popper and I also did well with an In-line spinner. I just LOVE being up North. The beautiful rivers, the wildlife, the great smallie fishing and the adventure of the road trip just can't be beat.

I've had trolling motors lose power over time. If the motor armatures get worn or dirty, or the motor brushes get worn, the performance will suffer. You can't look at a motor or even run it and tell unless you have a new motor to compare it to. You can tell if the prop shaft is bent, or if there is ANY corrosion on any part of the motor housing. Because it is so difficult to see any problems, you are just better off getting a new one with a full warranty.

Unless you are really strapped for cash, I would not buy a used trolling motor.

My first bass fishing was done with a fly rod. Quite a few guys in my smallmouth club are fly rodders. After fishing with some of those guys who are very, very good fly fishermen, I quit using a fly rod altogether. To me, it's a huge pain. Not the easiest thing to learn, and a lot of extra work for what is often not the best tool if you are trying to put fish in the boat. There are a lot of extra challenges and you have to be into it more for that than if catching fish is your first priority. It's not for everybody.

Wow, you sure do fish different rivers than I do. A 1/2 oz football head jig wouldn't last 3 casts in the shallow, fast, rocky rivers I'm used to. And by shallow, I mean it's hard to find water more than 4 feet deep. 90% of the river is less than waist deep. Even kayaks often have to be dragged through some areas. More often than not, anything with much weight just snags on the bottom.

Depends on the river, but a 4 inch senko and a #4 Mepps are what was killing them for me the last 3 days on the shallow rivers I was fishing.

I use a very thin tieable wire leader that I tie to suspending jerkbaits and tie a very small split ring to the other end when fishing in pike infested waters. I found that the small wire causes the baits to sink slowly, but not as fast as regular steel wire leaders. I also use snaps sometimes, but never a swivel.

I got my first in April, 1988. I was 33 years old. It was my first and the only boat I've ever owned. I still have it and use it.

Pretty similar to the Jack's worm from Case Plastics. It sinks too, like a Senko.

I bought an expensive Frabil Conservation series net last year and it drove me nuts when my crankbaits hooks would get stuck. I used a rubber net this year and it's worlds better. Hooks will hang up, but come out easily. I'm sorry I spent 80 bucks last year on a net I'll never use again. Get the rubber.

Pardon me for asking, but if you want do it on your own, why are you here asking for help?

You've got the Sylvania Wilderness Area and the Menominee River, both in the Southern part of the UP.

No, I've never wondered that.

Have you seen this comparison of high end coolers?

The fact that everyone so far left off Stevie Ray Vaughn incredible. I may be in the minority, but my basis for judging the greatest is that they not only have to be able to play the instrument, but have to play good songs too. I respect the inventiveness of Jimmy Hendrix, but I never liked his songs. For being able to play so many different genres and do all of them so well, Eric Clapton is without peer.