mjseverson24

Two different answers for two different situations... Tournament fishing ---> Typically I have a few areas that hold really good fish, and I will sit on them all day until they decide to bite, I will throw a ton of different baits, but I will throw the one that I feel should be most productive most often. I typically rotate between these spots faster in the earlier part of the day, and slower as the day moves on. It seems like the key to being a good tournament angler is patience. Fun fishing ---> I like to move around a lot trying different things, I would say I will cast a lure 5-10 times before grabbing a different rod, and after around 20-30 min without much production I switch spots. It seems to me the key to a successful day of fun fishing is catching a bunch of fish and hopefully a few real nice ones mixed in. Fun fishing is also a great time to learn and become competent in new and different techniques. Mitch

Fish whenever you can, for as long as you can... Life is too short enjoy it while it lasts... Mitch

I use EWG hooks for everything except punching... I like the way the bait lays on the EWG much better than on the straight shank hooks, and I have never had any issue with hookups using the EWG... Mitch

For techniques such as topwater, jerkbaits, jigs, texas rigs, and really any other where you provide most of the movement and action to the bait from moving the hand that holds the rod instead of the one that cranks the reel you will feel a difference between the heavier and lighter equipment. is it a ton??? eh sometimes it is quite a bit especially in tournaments where you are fishing hard for at least 8 hours, and most likely you did quite a lot of similar fishing recently during the prefishing stage. I would say though for the average recreational angler it probably would make too much of a difference outside of potentially increased sensitivity as DVT said... Mitch

The temporary solution ---> get a sports wrap and wrap your wrist so there is pressure on it, and or get the tennis elbow wrap and put it on your forearm ( am have played tennis all my life and frequently get the "claw" from jigs and jerkbaits and these things do help). This will help you continue to fish just as you are... The long term solution---> I agree that stretching and strengthening of your "fishing" muscles will help with this issue, but they may not be the only key. I would invest in some very light weight equipment that will reduce fatigue on your wrist. an example would be a BPS carbonlite rod with a properly balanced reel probably in the 6 OZ range, they dont need to be super expensive just need to be light... Also I like the idea of having two setups ready that are opposite handed, this could help as well... Last resort---> Step 1: grab a cooler, put your favorite beer, whiskey, tequila, chocolate milk, or any other beverage you wish in the cooler, then fill it up with ice... Step 2: Turn on sporting event ie. football, baseball, golf... Step 3: Use cold beverage from cooler to ice your wrist... Step 4: Periodically drink the beverage to ensure proper temperature... Step 5: When beverage is gone grab a new one from the cooler... Step 6: If your wrist still hurts see step 3... Mitch

I am not as worried about the short wheel base as I am about towing a 2000 lb boat with a 3.8L V6. Now I am an engineer so I tend to be more cautious when dealing with these things, but it will definitely reduce the lifespan of your jeeps drivetrain. For reference I used to own a 2000 jeep grand cherokee with the 4.7L V8 and I bought a new boat that is similar in weight to the 175 VS and it had a hard time pulling it, causing it to consume oil, and having bad fuel economy. I believe the rated towing capacity of the Wranglers are around 3500 lbs, so with boat motor trailer and gear you are going to be around the 3000 lb mark, maybe a little less. So you are within the ratings of the vehicle, one other thing i would check on is the breaking, if you do purchase the boat and want to tow with the jeep I would make sure the trailer has its own breaks, as the jeep alone will have poor performance with breaking unaided... Hope this helps... Mitch

I have casting rods from 6'6"-7'11", and my preferred length in there is 7'2". I have spinning rods from 6'-7', and my favorite length for them is 7'. I like the longer rods for leverage when fighting fish, hooksets, and for the angle of the line when in cover(grass). Mitch

I would say in the 2 lb range maybe even less. Like Raul I typically catch a few very nice fish each day, but between big bites I catch a bunch of smaller fish... Mitch

I wish I would have gotten into casting equipment earlier... a lot earlier, it has allowed me to effectively fish way more presentations than before... Mitch

Try the Quantum Smoke PT, on ebay for around 120.00, or the daiwa T3-B for around 110.00. if you want to get reel crazy you can try the skeet reese victory reels for like 50. Mitch

rod? --> yes (7' skeet reese glass rod) reel? --> yes ( evercast "navy" reel) lure? --> yes (bandit pumpkinseed squarebill) only caught this one fish, it was immediately retired, but i bought 2 more to replace it... line? --> uh no... Mitch

all but one day has been very good for me ( last weekend only caught 1 bass in 3 hours it was only 45 degrees with 25+ MPH wind and the lakes just hit turnover ) most of the fish have been great quality, I have 3 bass in the last month over 6 lbs and in the previous 4 months I only had 1. numbers have been hit or miss, somedays its close to 50-60 others its 15-25, either way it is just fun getting out... I have a 4 day weekend starting thursday, so I am heading up to leech lake to try and catch a few over 7 lbs hopefully the wind stays down and gives me a chance... Mitch

I personally don't do it very often, but I see guys on the pro circuit do it quite often when fishing crankbaits... It can and will damage your reel, but it can also help land a large fish when it is close to the boat and she takes a run on you... definitely bad for the reel though... Mitch

College fishing is definitely not the best way to become a pro fisherman... The biggest reason is you are competing against other inexperienced tournament anglers... Go to school fish some summer tournaments (against experienced anglers in your area) when you can, get a degree in a field that you love, and that pays up to the standard of living that you want. Then get a good job once out of college and continue to fish club level tournaments, when you start making money each year fishing then you can start thinking about trying your luck on the bigger nationwide circuits. if it works great you've made it as a pro fisherman, if not oh well back to doing well at the club level and back to your good job with the steady paycheck... This situation sets up a win-win... Good luck on your journey though... Mitch

Muskie are much less common than Northern Pike its like a 1000:1 ratio, and they typically have the ability to grow larger. This makes them very sought after for trophy's ( mostly carbon copy's ). Mitch

well he may be driving, but he is going 0 mph as he said he had to subtract 24 from his speed to get actual speed, so at the speed the vehicle was going at the time of the photo i don't think he was too much of a hazard. lol... Mitch

lol that doesn't mean its a good thing to do... It just means that they do it. The Japanese eat whale, some of which are on the endangered species list, ( ie. humpback ) just because they do it and it is legal does not mean it is the right thing to do. I also do not eat any sea food, as I feel they are much more valuable to the earth alive maintaining a healthy ecosystem in the oceans, then being converted into sugars in my belly... Mitch

if its above 60 degrees I will fish regardless of weather, if there is lightning I typically head to the nearest launch and just beach the boat, and hang out under the trees till its gone. If it is between 40-60 I will still go with light rain, but heavy rain in 40 degree weather sucks, and typically so does the fishing... Mitch

I would also say it is the breaks, my suggestion would be to put a very light coat of oil on the break race ( the metal ring on the inside of the palm side of the reel) then use a Q-tip to remove most of it. I have seen this issue most often in my quantums, and the light oil seems to do the trick... Mitch

Look at the guys who make a living fishing on the FLW and Elite series... Almost every single one of them uses both, but unless it is on a primarily smallmouth fishery and or the bite is really tough they typically will all be using casting equipment (except for A-Mart he will be using a dropshot)... These guys are subject matter experts, and while spinning gear can and will work for nearly every every presentation you can think of, it is optimized for a select few... I can probably break 80 using nothing but 7-iron - 60 deg wedge, but if I put the longer irons and woods back in the bag I will have the right club for any situation thus giving myself a better chance to succeed... ( its funny how golf and fishing have such similar concepts ) Mitch

I have not seen the DNR care about short fish caught in tournaments, they seem to be much more interested in seeing how the fishing was that day, they ask how many of each species were caught and what sizes... they seem to leave tournament anglers alone for the most part, and some of the bigger events have the boats put special markings on them telling the DNR that they are in the tournament and basically to leave them alone till after the event unless obvious infractions are observed... Mitch

when you hoist the fish out of the water just using your rod. a lot of times you will see pro's doing this, but they usually let the fish fall on the bottom of the boat, I typically catch the line a foot or so above the fish so it doesn't hit the deck removing the slime coating. Mitch

Pike, catfish, perch, sheephead, bullhead, carp, whitefish and Panfish, I also consider walleye a sport fish ( only because I used to do walleye tournaments ) but trying to convince Minnesotans not to eat walleye would be like telling them not to drink beer( it just aint going to happen)... Mitch

If it is a picture fish and we used the net, it stays in the net in the water (its a deep basket net) I unhook it over the side in the water, and take the fish out only to get the picture and then it gets released, if I dont use a net i hold the fish in the water until it is picture time... I also never rock it back and forth as you very rarely see a fish swim backwards, I just cradle the stomach and or hold the mouth open and point her into the waves and or current, and away she goes when she is ready. if it is not a picture worthy fish I either unhook it over the side and release it very quickly ( less than 10 seconds out of water) or I will boat flip it (but i dont let them hit the deck i catch them) usually jigs/t-rigs and frogs and they get back in the water even faster... If a fish looks like it may be in trouble of dying I will fire up the livewell with the oxygenator and livewell additives and almost always they end up recovering... Mitch

That is the only reason I use it in stained-dirty water... Mitch