Scott F

More than likely, the water got too warm and the oxygen levels dropped. About the only way to fix it, is to put an aerator in the pond.

The Quantum Energy is a very good reel at $100

If you think that’s bad, how about new vehicles that turn off the engine when you stop at a light, then start up automatically when you take your foot off the brake. As a guy who used to own cars that had a hard time starting under any circumstance, this takes a little while to get used to. On the other hand, the back up cameras that zoom on on your trailer hitch and help you hook up perfectly every time without having to get out and look is just the best thing ever.

Don’t over think it. In your price range, there aren’t any bad rods. Honestly, there aren’t a lot of guys in a blind test who could tell the different rods apart.

I like muskies, but I don't like fishing for them. Expensive heavy lures and heavy rods that wear you out when casting hour after hour with few to no bites. If, you actually catch one, they are fun for a few minutes, but the hours and hours of boredom in order to get one, just isn't worth it to me.

Nitro would be last on my list. Too much bad history for me to trust them today.

I got thrown from a boat once. I can barely swim. Didn’t take off my boots, and I didn’t drown or even come close. To the original poster; You will probably be fine as long as you are standing while it’s raining. If you are sitting in the rain, your butt will get wet.

Active, feeding smallmouth are not usually in deep pools except at the head or tail end of a pool near a riffle or fast water. There is no way for me to know if your spillway and water is going to produce. You just have to fish it and figure it out.

Don’t know. I’ve never fished a crap plant in the summer. Air temps as a rule are irrelevant. Water temps are the only thing that matter.

The discharge from a water treatment plant is usually a good spot during the winter when the water coming out is considerably warmer than the rest if the river.

I've been fishing out of an inflatable pontoon for years and I love it. I mainly use mine in rivers where motors aren't needed. I don't think that for your wants and budget, it's for you. In your price range, all you will find will be nothing more than a pool toy. ALL boats get blown around in the wind. For you, I'd look for a small, cheap, used, aluminum jon boat.

I never listen to music while fishing. While driving to the river and back, definitely. I also don’t want to hear yours or anybody else’s music while I’m fishing either.

I use braid without a leader for finesse and every other presentation. I don’t find bass to be line shy on the waters I fish.

That’s a bluegill.

First of all, Fireline Crystal, is not mono. It’s the same material, more or less, as other Superlines, it’s just not braided. “No leader...I know, I know.” You know? There is nothing wrong with using Power Pro without a leader. Next, your lack of success has nothing to do with the set ups you have. Late summer lake fishing isn’t easy. You just have to keep at it, maybe try and find deeper weed edges.

I don’t know which lures you prefer to use, how you fish or what other gear you already have. Hard to help you choose without more information. I fish river smallmouth more than anything else so FOR ME, I’d pick the medium action.

In 08, the season was closed in April. Even if the regs allowed catch and release, it requires you release the fish immediately, not hang them on a stringer for a while to get a picture of two bass at time.

I guess the statute of limitations for taking fish during the closed season in Minnesota has expired by now, so you may be safe from prosecution.

How do you define a “normal” jerkbait? Jerkbaits can be floating, suspending or sinking, hard or soft. Which one do you want?

I’ve fished Rainy several times from a houseboat and I spent 25 years picking apart the islands in the central part of Vermilion from Oak Narrows to Birch Point. If size is the only thing you care about, I wouldn’t make either of those my first choice. For big fish, I’d go to Chequamegon Bay out of Ashland WI, or the Sturgeon Bay, Door County area of WI. For a vacation on a beautiful lake with smallmouth, I’d take Vermilion. On Vermilion, the hazards are marked, and there are more places to fish if it gets windy. You could spend a whole week just fishing the reefs around the hazard buoys. Big musky and lots of walleyes too if you are into that.

What size braid were you using?

Just edit the title to say sold and let it stay there. It will drop down and be forgotten.

I go leaderless. I’ve repeated my reasoning on this site many times. 1. I don’t think bass are line shy. 2. I don’t like the leader knot going through my guides 3. I don’t have problems with abrasion. 4. I don’t mind losing a few inches of expensive braid every time I retire. 5. Tying extra knots and having to buy extra spools of leader material is a pain.

I don’t think I’ve ever caught a bass while I had weeds or grass on my hook.

I’m still using a 1988 Ranger that is cosmetically a little faded, but is in otherwise great shape. Everything depends on how it’s been used and stored over the years.