FrogFreak

Exactly. The easiest way to get kicked off my boat is to say something like, "Hey, can we listen to some music? or "Hey, it's too quiet out here." Or to chat on your phone. Emergencies I get, everything else can wait.

Here are a couple new ones. I wanted another buzz frog and the wooden lure is for the owners of the resort where I stay. It's more for decoration really.

No idea why I love it so much but I do. It's really hard to articulate.

Skoal

One more vote for Dremel. I make lures and I use mine all the time. Lots of accessories for them as well.

Welcome Stephen! BobP explained it better than I ever could. The bulging eyes just let's em see all around much better and yeah, seems like the more they look bulged, the bigger they are.

The picture in my avatar is a bass that I never weighed but I was making a point to my kid that if you hold your arm straight out then it looks bigger. I'd guess it was 2 pounds or so. No idea. I'll tell you what, I made the biggest mistake of my fishing life by purchasing a digital scale. Every since I bought that darn scale, I haven't caught one bass over 5 pounds. i used to catch a bunch over 5.......

I suppose I fight the fish just enough to get them to the boat. I don't play them longer than I need to. Since I don't keep em and I'm not tourney fishing, I want to put them back as soon as possible with as much energy left as possible.

Nope still have ice on all the lakes around here and Bass opener isn't until 5/24 in MN. Good for you though!! I have to do that with a jig this year.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I'm working on a couple more buzz baits and an all wood muskie glider. I'll post pics soon. Yes, the green walker has a rattle. I make the rattles by cutting a flux brush segment and dropping in a bb and sealing it up w/ superglue. Getting into it is easy. go to tackleunderground.com. There are some smart dudes over there. Stopping is the hard part!

Last summer I was using one of my favorite poppers when a Northern hit it and broke me off. A couple minutes later, that same Northern jumped and I could hear the popper rattling. It's hard for me to spend a bunch of money on a lure with all the Northerns around. But each to his own. Heck spend away. I make lures and if I sold them, I'd have to charge enough to recoup my time and materials. They wouldn't be cheap.

Exactly, I've caught plenty of fish shotting a tube. To say any one technique can be out fished by another is a silly statement. Tom, Just saw your quote, and that's what I'm saying! BassinKS, I'm with you.

Interesting stuff. I agree with some others here and say go with the VMC spin shot hooks (no. 2 for nose hooking). They are super strong and line twist isn't an issue. I caught a 39 inch Northern with a no. 2 VMC last summer. As far as weight goes, I use just the amount I need to feel the bottom. Personally, I don't agree that you need to impart any action on the bait. I find it best to leave it alone. It quivers plenty without your help. I use Strike King bitsy tubes, lake fork baby magic shad, Berkley's shad in 4 inch or trick worms. Just let the fish tell you what they want. I use a M or MH rod with a fast tip. Sensitivity is key. I like the Pfleuger President in the 30 size. Just remember on the hook set when you nose hook the bait, just lift up while reeling to set the hook. No crazy lip ripping sets are needed. This is a great technique just about anywhere you think the fish are holding.

Bomber Model As, Rapalas DT series, Husky Jerks, Strike King Spittin Kings (poppers) and spooks.

This thread warms my heart. All you guys with all your experience and you still are working on getting better. It makes me feel better about my deficiencies. Here they are: Jig, don't throw it much. I will this year Punching, same as the jig Any deep water presentation (cranks, c-rig, spoon) It doesn't get that hot up here to worry about this much. We can catch em shallow all summer. Jerk baits. We don't fish soft water in the winter much around here.

When you take over a room in your house and call it the tackle room and move the stereo in there so you can listen to music when you play I mean inventory your 3700 boxes and download an app to keep track of what you need so you can buy it the next time you go to Cabelas.......you might have a problem. Or when you alternate going to the local tackle shops each day during your lunch break to make sure you haven't missed any new inventory...you may have a problem. Or when you take over another room and turn it into your lure making room and buy an airbrush and all the accessories and start making lures every waking moment during the winter....you might have a problem. But I call it passion, not addiction.

X2 but where I fish it's green and yellow for sure. 55 for the size. Wait but I have to have my Strike King Spittin King in Black/white or sexy shad?? Cant remember the color name. This question isn't fair.

X2 on the Brush Hog. If the water is stained, I like the chartreuse tail on my green pumpkin hog or a Berkley power worm in Green Pumpkin or Watermelon T-Rigged. I do have to say last year, I went to a drop shot with a Strike King bitsy tube (natural colors) more often than in the past when I was stumped.

I have a wavewalk kayak and I love it. Check Em out at wavewalk.com. The biggest benefit to this yak is that I can easily go from sitting to standing and move my legs around during the day. There are a lot of great yaks on the market today but I'm very happy w mine. Pm me if you want more info.

I was just thinking about this today when I was supposed to be working. My lake has lower numbers but quality fish for MN. I can go out and catch 2-3 fish but they average 4 lbs. but down the road I can catch 20-40 fish on an outing but they average 1 lb. What's better? Not sure. I like both. In my experience when I decide to get stubborn and stick with a technique instead of paying attention to what the fish want, my catch rate suffers. I do that with frogs all the time. I love throwing frogs!

I should have been bold enough to tell him no.

I had a guy pull up within 20 feet of my boat and ask if he could fish there. Well, I was working this area at the mouth of a feeder creek that was only about 80 yards wide but I said sure since I thought he was going to give me some room and we could both work the deeper area where all the fish were hanging out. He proceeds to anchor right over the hole and throws out the ole bobber. And then he starts chatting up a storm as he pulls in fish after fish (mostly panfish and one big LMB). I just looked at my buddy and we took off after he was talked out. To me that's pretty rude but some people just don't know any better. Next time he asks I'll say no for sure. I mean we're in Minnesota and this lake had 2 boats on it at the time, his and mine. Kinda silly if ya ask me. Worst part is that my partner had one day to fish and was up from Illinois. He was up on business and hadn't brought his boat so I invited him out on mine.

In MN the wind rarely comes out of the East so when it does, it means some weird weather is happening or just happened. My grandfather always paid attention to the barometric pressure and I believe that's the culprit here. If I didn't go forth when the wind blew from the North, I'd hardly ever fish!

Just reading this and this is dead on! I use braid for the manageability for sure. I'm going to try a mojo rig this year to float over the deeper vegetation as well. I love drop shotting! I seem to have the most luck with bitsy tubes from Strike King. All the natural colors seem to work. I never thought to drop shot docks. But I will try this year for sure!! PS I live in Grand Forks but my lake place is in Park Rapids.GO SIOUX!

I fished Bad Medicine up north of Park Rapids once last year and it was very clear as well. I had luck with top waters in the middle of the summer focusing on shallow rocks. it was the middle of the day too! Not sure if this helps. Welcome to the forum. Great to see more MN guys on here!