Scott F

Kayaks are perfect for the rivers and streams and would be my choice if I were going to fish from a kayak. The problem is your choice of dates to be on vacation. Spring rains not only make camping uncomfortable, but they can also make the rivers rise to the point they are unsafe and ruin fishing. If you lived in the area, picking days when conditions are good is easy. Picking dates for the spring, 10 weeks in advance is risky.

A better question is, if they can see hi-vis line, are they intelligent enough to figure out what it is?

I've had Z man baits in the same Plano boxes for 3 years and I've never had the box warp.

Newer Plano boxes that have not been used to store other plastics will be just fine. I don’t use the water proof boxes because if water does get in, it has no way to get out. In a normal box, water will evaporate if it gets in.

Elements is a one time purchase, not a subscription. It's on sale right now for $70

Have you tried Jann’s Netcraft? They offer smaller ones.

Try the Musky Shop. They have what you are looking for. https://www.muskyshop.com/components-lure-building/stainless-steel-screw-eyes/

While St. Clair and Erie are both great fisheries, the chances that it could be too windy to fish would ruin your trip. Chequamegon Bay on Lake Superior out of Ashland WI could provide a fantastic smallmouth trip. Wind could also keep you off the big lake but if it did, there are many other smaller lakes within an hour drive to fish to keep from losing time on the water. Late May is prime time for size and numbers of pre-spawn smallies. There are a number of well known guides but I’ve never used one so I can’t give a recommendation

I don't know that I would remove the center seat without adding some kind of bracing or maybe a floor to replace the structural support that seat gives. As far as controlling the boat in the wind, you might consider using an anchor. Face the boat into the wind, and drop the anchor off the bow. They are a pain to keep lifting and dropping, but if you use a winch, it might be an inexpensive option. Oars are another option to help position the boat to use in addition to the trolling motor. Oars and anchors were how boats were controlled before trolling motors were used. Certainly not as easy, but a cheap way to get the job done

Back in the days before digital video, I used shoot a lot of videos on tape. Here are my observations. Shooting videos seems like a great idea. Back when I was doing a lot of fly-in-trips to Canada, I shot videos of everybody on the trip, incorporated still shots and made keepsakes for everybody who made the trip. The videos told the story of our fishing trip. Those videos were a lot of fun to watch during the winter with my fishing buddies. The reality is that you'll find out after you've spent a lot of money on cameras and editing software, and hours editing, that unless the videos have some entertainment value, you never watch the videos you made. Editing is very important. For your videos to be interesting, or entertaining, you need to tell a story or have a message of some kind. It's also a very boring part of making videos. Most of what you shoot is nothing you or anybody else ever want to watch. So you will have to watch it all and edit out the boring bits. That takes up a lot of time. Go Pro cameras are great but they are designed for close up shots only. The videos made with chest or head mounts take good shots of your hands and the reel you are holding but are lousy for the long shots of the lure landing, fish jumping or anything else more than 5 feet away. Get a tripod or a camera mount of some kind for the boat. If you want to use a GoPro, point the camera at yourself or someone else in the boat. Wearable mounts make pretty bad videos. How many fishing shows do you see on TV that were shot with wearable cameras? Wearables are best for fast action for guys who are skiing or riding a bicycle downhill at 70mph.

Batteries Plus sells the same size 7ah battery from Duracell for $37. That’s the one I’d buy.

Nobody fishes for bass anywhere where the water is 30 degrees. At 32 degrees, water becomes ice. Water under the ice, is above 32.

Can't you go after the guy who stole the truck to make him pay for the damages?

Sorry, but that woman howling was pretty irritating. 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr9ie2J2690

I sent you a PM about a box of all the needed hardware I have for sale to make nearly 100 inline spinners (no hooks or wire though). Let me know if you are interested.

If you want to give them a name, I think you should call them jerkbaits. Unweighted or with small nail weights, they will behave erratically like a jerkbait pretty much the same way a stick bait (Senko) will behave if you T rig the Senko. To me, if you use too much weight or with a jig, they lose the jerkbait action pretty much the same way a Senko loses it's jerkbait action when you put them on a jig or wacky rig it. Just like any soft plastic, you can rig them anyway you like. If it catches fish for you, you aren't doing it wrong.

Well, the Mojo Bass rods are made in Mexico.

I have never been a fan of crankbaits in shallow, rocky, rivers. Besides the obvious snag potential, the current messes with a crankbaits action. Because I find most of my smallies near current and smaller rivers are often narrow, I find myself casting into the current. To get a crank moving and wiggling the way they are supposed to while moving with the current, you really have to wind fast. Casting downstream in the current, all you have to do it hold it steady for it to vibrate. That can, at times, be a real advantage. Retrieving in against the current you can only reel very slowly before it spins and rolls. There are too many other baits I can work more effectively in a wider range of situations than crankbaits for me to spend much time using them in rivers.

Does your down imaging sonar show fish as arches?

If I was seeing this on a lake in my area at this time of year, I would think that it is weeds that once might have been standing up and are now dying and are laying down. Just a guess on my part.

I'd guess that the mechanic who worked on the boat accidentally pulled a wire off from under the console while working on the hot foot. Maybe he even caused a fuse to blow. Because several items aren't working, a ground is a good guess so look for a black wire, loose, hanging under the console.

One of the problems with the waterproof boxes is that once water gets in them, it stays there as long as the box is closed. I have several dozen Plano utility boxes that I've been using for years and have never had an issue because they are not water tight. If I am out in damp weather and some rain happens to get in a box, I bring it inside, leave it open and It will dry out. All my tackle stays indoors except for the boxes I take with me while fishing. Aside from rain and maybe a bit of splashing that may happen in the boat. Keeping water out of the boxes is seldom an issue.

My solution was to buy a second, rubber net.

I've got that net, but if you are using crankbaits or lures with smaller trebles, I found that I was spending too much time getting my hooks out of the net. For single hook lures it's the best. Also, it does work well as a holding pen if you want to keep the fish in the water while you set up a camera or if you have to search for your scale.

You just have to retrieve it VERY slowly.