Scott F

Braided line all the time, leaders, never.

If you are trying to run new wires, attach a long string or a piece of wire to the plug end of the old transducer wire. Pull the transducer wire from the transducer end. When you pull enough to get the string, attach the new plug to the string and pull the string from the other end where the unit mounts until the transducer plug appears. Do the same thing with the power wire. Just make sure you attach the string or wire securely so they do not come apart halfway through the pull.

The dumbest thing I never did on the ice was go ice fishing.

1. Walleye fishing. I'd rather stay home and paint my house. 2. Getting snagged on a dock you KNOW has fish under it and then spooking them while you are getting your lure back. 3. Loosing expensive baits 4. Heavily pressured water.

You are concentrating on fishing when suddenly there is a good sized black and white "creature" under water, swimming right next to the boat. It always startles me and I'll never get used to loons doing that. Anyone who has ever fished up north has seen loons doing this but it is creepy to see.

Moose, black bears, caribou, musk ox, arctic hares, wolves, deer, and peregrin falcons to name the most uncommon. Fishing up in Canada gives you the opportunity to see a lot of wildlife. Eagles are so common in Northern Wisconsin, that at almost any point in time from almost anywhere on the lake I spend most of my time, you can look around and are almost guaranteed to see an eagle.

The biggest smallmouth bass come out of the biggest lakes. The Great Lakes are well known for producing lots of really big smallmouth.

When they get big, they are not that tasty.

I'd bet this is the reason for the shorter distances. I see it with the bulky baits I throw.

I started fishing more seriously in 1988 when I bought my boat. Not tournament serious but I wanted to know what I was doing and I did a lot of reading. there was no internet back then. I was progressing pretty well for a number of years when my wife started going with me on my fishing vacations. I stopped progressing at that point. I was trying to be sure she was having a good time and stopped trying new things. Years later, the wife had to take a different job and she could not go with me anymore. I returned to fishing with friends but these friends were excellent fishermen. I now had someone bring a fresh perspective and new ideas on how to approach each situation. It worked. I was kicking myself for wasting years. I now catch many times the number of fish on lakes I've been fishing for years. I had been driving over and totally missing spots on the lake that are now my go to spots. Being in a fishing club and fishing with talented fishermen has made an enormous difference in my skills. I wish I had been able to take advantage of it at an earlier time.

I booked my pre-spawn outing for this year, last year when I was leaving the rental cabin. The only baits I'll need for smallies are an assortment of suspending jerkbaits. I've got plenty of time to prepare, I've still got 2 and a half months before I go back. I seriously hope the ice is gone when I get there. There was still ice on the lake 3 days before I got there last year.

You are still applying human logic and reasoning to a largemouth bass. Bass do not have the mental capacity to figure out the connection between line and something they should not eat. As far as "facts" are concerned, the fact is, FC fishing line is not invisible. Just because pro fishermen did not use braided line in a tournament is not unquestionable evidence that largemouth bass are line shy. The almighty KVD himself still frequently states that FC lines have low stretch.That alone should be evidence that the pros, even the best of them don't know everything and cannot be relied upon to be the the basis of what is a fact.

Even in clear water the viewing range is limited. Like the GoPro, they have wide angle lenses so anything more than a few feet from the camera gets so small it's hard to see. A couple of other things. 99% of the time, the camera has to be near the bottom to see anything at all. And, the time you spend watching TV, is time you aren't fishing!

Aside from a loss of speed, a dinged prop that is out of balance will wreck the shaft seals and let water into your lower unit.

You are in the same area as I am. If you like blade baits, you MUST get hold of some "Big Dude" baits. They are the same as Zip Lures. All the tackle shops that service the Illinois River carry them. Bedford Sales in Morris always has them. The smaller ones are THE white bass bait on the Illinois. I use them for whites and stripers on the cooling lakes and I get smallies on them too.

Ask the guys who have a Go Pro how many times they watch the videos they shoot. Ask them how much fun it is to watch hours of video where almost nothing happens when you have to edit. The depth finder is SO much more useful.

In July, you probably won't be getting any bass from the shore of Lake Michigan.

Bass Pro offers at least 3 different kinds of hook holders that you can attach to any rod. Look under rod and reel accessories.

Sump pump for the basement and a new starter for my truck.

Wisconsin is a big state. Are you talking Northern or Southern WI? Largemouth or smallmouth? The winter to this point should have no bearing on when the spawn takes place. A few weeks of "normal" weather would put everything back to where it should be. I fish Northern WI for smallies. Generally the cold water period continues through April. The entire month of May would be pre-spawn with them locking on the beds near the first of June. Post spawn ends around the middle of June. Bigger, deeper lakes start a little later, smaller shallower lakes begin earlier. I don't fish the cold water period. Pre-spawn, (water temps 50 degrees) I use hard jerkbaits until the action on them slows down right before they move onto the beds. I find them in the 6 foot depths near spawning areas. Topwaters can work well in the late pre-spawn. Once they lock on to the beds, I stop fishing for bass until the post spawn is over. I catch a lot of largemouth during the month of May but I don't spend a lot of time targeting them. They seem to be behind the smallmouth in their spawning activity. When the smallies are on their beds, the largemouth are still in pre-spawn. When I do fish "greenies", I look for them in shallow, dark bottom bays around cover. Senko type baits are pretty much all that's needed. I often fish with a guy who is too hyper to slow down enough to fish a senko. When I'm with him, I have to power fish so I use lipless crankbaits, jerkbaits and spinnerbaits

I'm not one for having a different rod for every type of bait I use, but I like to be able to rip lipless baits pretty fast especially when fishing over the tops of weeds. For me, a high speed reel is a necessity. My hand would get pretty tired burning baits on a 5.4:1 reel. A 7:1 speed works better for me.

Dude, you still use CD's?

All fishermen are liars except for you and me and I'm not so sure about you.

He died like 20 years ago. Time to let it go.

I store all my baits in 3600 and 3700 Plano boxes. I really like the spinner bait versions, they now fit in my tackle bags right along side the other boxes.