Scott F

Spending more money on a newer boat that is basically the same as the boat you have doesn’t make any sense to me. If you are needing more room, a faster boat or a boat that can handle bigger water, that makes more sense. Spending money to improve what you have, a better trolling motor, better depth finders or even a bigger 4 stroke motor is something that will make your boating experience better. More time on the water with your current boat will tell you what improvements are really needed. If it’s just that you want something newer and shinier I’d say relax and let that feeling pass, unless you have too much money that’s burning a hole in your pocket.

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. 

I cut the hook off and added a split ring before replacing the hook
 

Pre drill the holes in the bench seat. Put the 4 bolts through the swivel plate holes. Leaving the bolts loose, attach the swivel to the boat seat. Square up the swivel so the bolts won’t come out if you push on one. It’s a little trickier if the bolts are short, but line up the bolts with the holes in the bench. Put on the nuts and washers. You should be able to get a wrench on the bolt heads and tighten everything up. Make sure to use big thick fender washers to strengthen the bench from the torque the seat will apply.

I fished with a guide in Canada for pike and the guide was throwing a Moss Boss plastic spoon with no hook. He’d throw it deep up into the reeds where the pike were hiding. The pike would follow the lure out of the reeds. With no hook, the lure wouldn’t hang up. Once the pike were out in the open, they were much easier to catch with lures that did have hooks.
Learning tricks like this is just another reason to hire a guide.

I’m an Apple fan boy. My iPhone and iPad let you resize photos before you post them. 
 

You can see the date of manufacture by the serial #. 
The first letter of the serial number stands for the year: 
A = 2001; B = 2002; C = 2003; D = 2004; E = 2005; F = 2006; G = 2007; and so on. 
The second letter of the Serial Number stands for the month: 
A = Jan; B = Feb; C = Mar; D = Apr; E = May; F = Jun; 
G = Jul: H = Aug; I = Sep; J = Oct; K = Nov; L = Dec 
The remaining numbers are for St. Croix's internal use.

If I’m a minimalist, I’m only taking one rod,  a few EWG hooks, a bag of Senkos and a few Ned rigs. I don’t even need an average sized fanny pack. My stuff will fit in a pocket.

It’s a tilapia

If he was fighting a fish at the time, it's called back reeling. In the "old" days, spinning reels did not always have very dependable drag systems so guys would flip the anti reverse switch and control the fish by letting line out turning the handle backward as needed. Those who got used to fighting fish that way still do it even though the drags are much better on modern spinning reels.

I've been keeping all my plastics in Plano utility boxes for 20 plus years. None of the boxes have shown any discoloration, and none of the plastics have ever dried up. If I mix colors  of baits in the same compartment, they have been known to blend together to form a new color, but the box doesn't change. Years ago, the plastic some tackle boxes were made of was different and some would melt when you put soft plastic baits in them, but the Plano utility boxes have never melted or been damaged.