Scott F

I’m more than curious to know where you will be fishing that has 40 pound pike?

While doing float trips, I don’t trust that I won’t drop my iPhone over the side while taking a picture. It’s waterproof, but it doesn’t float. I’ve got an Minolta. Takes good pics, can get wet and if I lose it, I’m only out 70 bucks.

I love the BedRug! I’ve had them in both my trucks.

I’ve had an ARE truck cap on my last two F150 pick ups. For my usage, I was doing week and longer fishing trips driving hundreds of miles and hauling a lot of gear, more than would fit under a tonneau cover. There have only been a couple of times in the last 20 years when I wanted to carry something that wouldn’t have fit under the cap. As far as color goes, if the truck has a factory paint job, cap companies can match the cap to the original paint.

I use AccuWeather most often, but around my house, we refer to it as InAccuWeather. It very often contradicts itself. On the hourly weather page, it will show no rain, and on the current weather page it says that it is currently raining when it is in fact not raining at all. Or, it may be raining heavily and will be for some time, but the forecast may show only a 70% chance of rain even when it’s raining over the entire portion of the state. Like I said, I do use it, but I don’t rely on it for accuracy.

If you insist on using anything but wire leaders you will still get bitten off unless your FC leaders are in the 50# and higher range. You can use light, tieable wire that won’t affect lure action much and you don’t need to make them any longer than 6” or so.

If he’s using bait casting gear, he’s probably got the brakes or spool tension turned up too far to reduce backlashes which slows down lure making him have to use more force. Probably not injured because of older gear.

I’d be interested in finding out if the OP ever did open a business. He was only 22 when he started this thread and hasn’t been on here in 6 years. My guess is he gave up on his idea of opening a “talkel” store.

The decision to use a leader or not shouldn’t be made because of visibility. In my opinion, whether your line is visible or not is irrelevant. Fish do not have the ability to reason that line makes a lure inedible. If they were that smart, they probably wouldn’t strike lures with metal blades and thick wires like a spinner bait has not to mention all the other things we throw at them. If line abrasions are an issue a leader may reduce some break offs, or like has been mentioned if you end a cast abruptly with braid, the lure may snap back and catch on your line. Myself, I’ve never used a leader because I hate having the knot pass through the guides and don’t want to mess with having to carry extra line and tie it to my light line. I’ve learned to cast and let the lure land lightly so few of my casts get fouled. Personally, I’ve never been out fished by someone because they used leaders and I didn’t. If someone beats me, it’s because they are a better fisherman than I am. If you believe visibility will hurt your fishing, just that lack of confidence will affect how you fish. In the end, you’ll have to decide which you like better.

That’s a lot of stuff to cover in one post. You might try narrowing it down a bit. How are you fishing, in a boat, personal watercraft, wading, or bank fishing? Pick a body of water and the time of year and work on one part of your post at a time.

Are you fishing from a boat, wading or fishing from shore? How deep is the river, how much current is there? Generally, you want to look for areas with fast water, if it’s dead calm, or with a barely moving current, you need to move. If you find faster water, then look for things that interrupt that flow. A big rock, a fallen tree, the tip of an island, a point off the shore. Look for the bass to use that obstruction to hide behind. Let your lure drift naturally down stream so it passes very close to that big rock. As the lure is moving quickly, the bass won’t have much time to decide so he’s not going to be too picky. Finding those eddies and the break lines where the faster water is moving past slower moving or not moving at all water is the key. Bass can be in a lot of places but if you only fish the places I described, you’ll do well.

Don’t leave your top water baits at home! Twitch them over the edges of underwater reefs/rock piles and drop offs they’ll bring up both bass and pike. Depending on water temperatures, smallies may still be in relatively shallow water, especially during early morning and heading into the evening.

Looking at this from the doctor’s point of view, I’d bet that a lot of patients accompany their spouse that has insurance and attempt to get free medical advice during the appointment. It’s got to be frustrating for the doctor who has limited time to spend with each patient then are expected to give some of that time to another person without an appointment. I don’t think that applies here if it was the doctor who engaged. I’d definitely fight the extra charges.

Being an old guy myself, and not a tournament fisherman, if I give someone any tips, they’ll be worth listening to. However, I’m not passing out information to just any guy I see and never unless someone asks politely.

10lb braid is more than enough. Because it doesn’t stretch, a hook will penetrate easily. I used to use 8 lb braid exclusively but I went to 10, not because of breaking strength, but it was so thin, it slipped out of some hook eyes.

Are you wading, fishing from a boat or fishing from shore? The bass on the Kankakee are still in spawning mode, so things are going to be a bit slow at the moment. Have you been fishing in the state park? Use the hunting areas as a place to park and hike down to the water. You might have to do some bush whacking so wear long pants or waders to protect from ticks and thorns. Head over to the Warner bridge fisherman parking area on the north side of the river just west of the bridge. There is lots of shore access there too. If wading, use a wading staff and wear a life jacket. There are lots of ledges that you can step off of and be in over your head. It can be a dangerous place to wade with a pretty strong current. Look for weed edges break lines and eddies. The bass there find spots out of the fast water. It’s a big river with thousands of spots that hold bass, you’ll have to put in lots of time to learn where the bass are. I know a lot of guys who have put in thousands of hours on the “Kank” and they still come up empty at times.

Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida and Ontario Canada.

I knew it was time to change when the Ford app on my phone told me it was shutting down the remote features on the truck to conserve battery and that I should run the truck for a while. I’d just come home after driving for an hour.

They work on trout too. I got this brown trout in Milwaukee harbor on a Kastmaster

I won’t fish with lines that stretch. No mono, fluoro, or hybrid. Won’t use them for leaders either.

I did fishing trips with a guy who loved eating fish. We’d keep a few nice rockies for the table. They were always good eating.

At 6 years, I’d probably be proactive and replace it while it’s convenient instead of risking having to be towed, or being stuck when you have somewhere you need to be.

I like to skip T rigged, 4 inch Senkos under overhanging trees. Probably my favorite method of fishing small rivers for smallmouth.

Goretex bibs for my lower body and a Goretex wading jacket on top. Because you are sitting in a kayak or canoe, a long jacket isn’t good. You are sitting on the bottom of the jacket without a lot of room to move around. A wading jacket is shorter and won’t restrict your movement. Having bibs with the short jacket keeps you fully covered.

Usually, if bass are feeding heavily on a particular food, they’ll cough one up after you catch a bass. It’s a good idea to peak down the throat of any bass you catch to see if there is something besides your lure in his mouth.