mjseverson24

the next best thing to bass fishing is buying bass fishing gear, and talking about bass fishing... buying gear is just how I keep my sanity during these ridiculously long and cold MN winters... Mitch

I can cast with my right or left, I prefer to cast with my right though, and I hold the rod in my left hand, and reel with my right. Mitch

Punching... or heavy jig pitching... lol or learn how to use it for frogs... Mitch

I like the revo S over the PQ, but they both will work just fine, just comes down to personal preference... Mitch

This winter has been brutal, definitely the coldest winter in my lifetime in MN, I just hope we dont end up with a big winter kill on some of the shallow fertile prairie lakes. I wont take too many more of these winters, might have to be a snowbird... Mitch

My first season tournament fishing i was a wreck before tournaments, trying to get everything done just right, and having a hard time getting asleep, now I make sure I do some good pre-fishing, have an idea of how the lake is fishing, get my gear ready plenty of time before I should be asleep, then I sleep and just go fishing... I actually find pre-fishing to be more stressfull then the actual tournament, as I am still trying to develop a pattern and find some key areas. plus it is not always than much fun to find a spot catch a few nice fish, then mark it on gps and leave to find another... Mitch

It depends on what application you are using and what kind of toothy critters inhabit the waters you fish. a general rule of thumb is use as light of line as you can, as it will give you maximum action on your lures. up here in MN with the pike and muskie I typically use a 20-30 lb leader on my moving baits that are more likely to get hit by the toothed fish, and anywhere from 6-12 lb leaders for other finesse presentations ( dropshot, shakeyhead, weightless...) I dont use leaders when doing bottom contact like jigs and t-rigs as i use either straight floro or a hybrid, so maybe someone else can help you out there... Mitch

I have a 7'MH/F veritas, 7'6 H/F vendetta, and a 7'M/F verdict. I really like the verdict, it is more sensitive than the veritas, and lighter as well. at MSRP the veritas is the best IMO but I got my verdict new for 60.00 that is a great deal on that rod... All are good, there is a big difference in the size of the blanks from the 30 ton veritas to the 36 ton verdict the verdict just feels a little more crisp, but they have had issues with the handles... I have not tried any of the newer upper end rods though... Mitch

I would also go with the lighter of the two, I use as small of a spinning reel as I can get away with... Mitch

high end equipment is definitely not needed to be a good fisherman, nor catch big fish, that being said if you are already a good fisherman, I think an increase in the quality of the gear you use will equate to an increase in production, the difference might not be huge but I would guess there would be a difference, at least in most cases. I also think that having very low quality gear no matter how good you are will negatively impact your fishing especially in finesse and bottom contact situations. I would say that you give the guys on tour 150-200 dollar combos their productivity will not decrease very much, but their wrists and elbows might hurt more after a day on the water... Mitch

I give most boats a 2 cast distance between us, so that our casts can never interfere with one another. I dont mind talking to people at the ramp, or people on their shorelines, but I dont like other boats getting too close, which is why a 1 oz spinnerbait on a 7'10 crankbait rod is always rigged up ready to show how close too close is... in a tournament I believe it is 50' so as long as they dont break that boundry i cannot complain too much... Mitch

1) ice 2) lightning 3) mosquitos I might be one of the only guys who actually likes wind, and almost the more the better up to about 30-40 Mph and also depending on the lake. The wind makes boat control a problem, but catching is almost never a problem in wind, you just have to use a moving bait... Mitch

If you want a great chance at a 7+ lb large mouth try leech lake, especially since you like to jig, it is pretty much jigs and frogs... Mitch

I love my triumphs, especially for the price, I would not get any more premiers because of the lack of performance increase for the 50 extra bucks... thats just me though, I know a lot of people really like their premiers... Mitch

If you are looking for light lure castability I would check out the Daiwa t3-B 8:1 with hawgtech spool bearings, this is my favorite light bait casting set up. I use the 8:1 because it is basically only used for pitching... Mitch

Shallow squarebills, wakebaits, buzzbaits and chatterbaits would be on my list... Mitch

1) have fun 2) catch a bunch of fish 3) use the stuff I have learned on here and other places over the winter 4) win some tournaments 5) don't get hit by lightning ( this one is always on my list ) Mitch

I have a few triumphs and one premier I would say the quality is pretty close to the same, the premier just has more overhead cost being made in USA which drives the price higher, some of the components are better on the premier as well, but they fish very similar. Mitch

1/4 Oz hand tied jigs (green pumpkin or watermelon and a flash of color, or black blue/black red) with paca chunk for cold water and less active fish and rage chunk for warm water or dirty water... I typically power fish jigs, but i do a hybrid yo-yo and shake retrieve... Mitch

I like both the veritas and the premier, but for the price difference I would go veritas, but if you talk about the veritas and the st. croix triumph I would go triumph for the same price. Especially since your choice of veritas is limited... Mitch

I typically like a slow rate of fall when fishing in grass, so I can imitate a bluegill or other baitfish falling to the bottom, so I use in these situations a 1/16 - 3/16 weights(typically tungsten, but not always) if I am fishing wood and rock I like to keep the bait closer to the bottom imitating a crawfish so typically it is a 3/16 - 1/2 oz tungsten weights. water depth also plays a factor, but I agree rate of fall is most important, since most of my strikes come on the initial fall... Mitch

I have seen a few very interesting animals while fishing, Two stick out in my mind as the most unique. 1) Lake Nipigon on a large creek named shadow creek, there was a large herd of moose mostly cows, but a few very large bulls in the mix, standing up to there knees in what looked like a wild rice field. Less that 100 ft from those beautiful animals on a remote reek in Canada was an amazing experience. 2) Fishing a local MN lake I had a very large Golden Eagle attack my hollow body frog, When I quickly reeled in the frog the Eagle turned its attention on us in the boat, and hovered less than 50' from the boat for quite some time before heading off. That was one stare down I wont forget. Mitch

I agree with the daiwa exceler but the previous model with the mag-z breaks is what i would get... the new one isnt bad, just not as good, except a better handle and knobs... Mitch

For me it totally depends on the lake, some lakes I fish a dink would be considered 12"(about a pound) and less, and others a dink would be considered less than 16"(close to 2.5 lbs). Mitch

For beaver style baits is the SK rodent, and the pitt boss that get used the most in my boat. Beaver baits are great especially when the fish are finicky, the subtle action is great for pressured waters... Mitch