WIGuide

Google, navionics, or buy a gps as that will do it as well.

The club I'm in is nowhere near that big, but it really depends on the day and the lake. The majority of the time everyone has at least something to weigh in. By those tournament results, it sounds like a pretty tough fishery. If you think of it this way 1/4 of the field did not catch a legal fish in 16 hours on the water. That's a pretty brutal stat. On a better fishery, you might see 1 or 2 boats blank both days. You might not always see everyone with limits both days but usually they will have weighed in fish both days and at least had a limit one day.

I'll just list some pro's and con's of each- Braid: Pro's -strong, small diameter, little to no stretch, cuts through vegetation, lasts a long time, little to no memory, easy to manage Con's- low abrasion resistance, higher initial cost, low to no slack line sensitivity, lack of memory can cause tangles Fluoro- Pro's - High abrasion resistant, slightly less visible under water, highest slack line sensitivity, slightly more sensitive due to sinking nature which takes more bow out of the line Con's - high priced, less manageable, less forgiving with knots, once nicked it loses strength faster (my experience), kills the action of topwaters due to it sinking Mono - Pro's - Cheap, neutrally buoyant, some slack line sensitivity, easy to manage, holds strength better once nicked Con's - low abrasion resistance, absorbs water which increases stretch throughout the day There are other types of lines out there these days as well, but these are the main 3. You can use the pro's and cons of each to try to pick the best line for each technique you use. For example if you use topwaters a lot, fluoro wouldn't be a good line to try for that technique, because of it's sinking qualities.

Sorry for your loss catch. She's still there with you though looking over you.

Hmm..have you tried cleaning and relubing the reel? It seems to me that there was chatter on here before about the Curado's being over-greased as the assumption of the manufacturer being most anglers won't service their reel. Performance seemed to improve some after this grease was cleaned out and the reel was serviced. You might want to give that a try to to even out the consistency of the reel.

It feels weird as in how? If it's just different I wouldn't worry about it, use what you want and you'll get used to it.

A Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier, is a solid choice in the $100 category. It goes on sale a few times a year and is a great value then.

Stick steers are pretty cool little boats. Definitely fun to drive even if the speed isn't the fastest just because of the seated position. They make great panfish boats and you can bass fish out of them as well. The only down side to the stick steer is the fact that there's no raised deck due to the forward driving position. For some that may be a deal breaker, to others not so much, but something to consider either way. They won't have nearly as much storage as a bass boat, but you may not need that either. Most aluminum boat manufacturers make a stick steer, so look around and check out which you like and which you don't. They are usually an entry level budget boat, so features themselves will be pretty similar, as well as fit and finish. If I were you, I'd be looking for a used one. Financing is nice, but there's really not much that can go wrong with these. They're generally easy to work on if anything should go wrong too. As long as the motor checks out, you'd be saving yourself a ton of money over new.

Congrats to your grandson as that's a very nice Largemouth, and an awesome catch! I'm pretty sure he'll be hooked after catching one like that. Also, welcome to the forums! Smallmouth can range in color from a light sandy color to an almost near black fish. Sometimes they have distinct bars and other times they don't. but their mouth is much smaller for their body size. Pics for reference.

Take a look at the St. Croix Mojo Bass worm-n-jig rod. It's only slightly over your $100 mark, but worth a look. I have experience with the 6'8" MH/F version and I use 12 lb fluoro. It's a nice well balanced rod with plenty of sensitivity. It's got a nice soft tip too which really helps with casting, as well as feeling out those light biters.

Congrats on your new purchase! Gotta love the feeling of getting a new (or new to you boat)!

I fully understand the pro/con column of longer rods, but your question was "out of curiosity what are you planning to do with the new regulations?" I answered that, I'm not planning on doing anything different. I don't need a rod over half the length of my boat to catch a bass.

If I could only take 3 rods to cover all my bases I'd have to take a M/F Spinning rod, a MH/F baitcaster, and a H/F baitcaster. Not the most ideal after using my normal arsenal, but I feel like I could effectively fish with those 3. If the lakes I fished had less veggies, I'd probably change my 3 to a ML/XF Spinning rod, M/F & MH/F baitcasters.

No reason to fill the full thing with braid. Sure it's got a braid ready spool, all that means is it's not smooth which allows braid to slip on it. Why spend more on line that you'll never see? Just use backing and save yourself some money, especially since that's why you started this post to begin with.

I use fabric softener sheets in mine and haven't had much of an issue. If you're leaving it outside, leaving the drain plug in probably isn't the worst idea either.

I don't see it changing how I fish at all. I don't care for longer rods to begin with and try to stay under the 7' mark unless the technique calls for it (flippin'/punchin') I don't even have a long crankbait rod. Just because they change what you can use doesn't mean I'm going to change what I use, even if I am fishing in a tournament.

A lot of your decision will be based on what you plan on fishing the most. If it's something like docks/stumps/logs that is basically light cover, you won't need a broomstick to flip and pitch with. If you're planning on flippin/pitching heavier bushes, gnarly laydownds, pads, or other types of vegetation you're going to want something in the heavy to extra heavy range depending on manufacturer. If you fish a mixture of both, I'd go for the heavier. My recommendation for your price range would be St. Croix Mojo 7'11" H/MF and pair that up with an all aluminum frame reel. I've got a Pro Qualifier on my Mojo jig rod and I love the feel of the combo. It's a great little reel, but if you have your mind set on something else, there's plenty of options out there.

I've got a few Mojo's. The new Mojo's built on the SC3 blanks are much lighter, well balanced, and sensitive. They're great rods for the money and I doubt you'll be disappointed if you buy one. The rod you're looking at will do just fine for weightless to lightly weighted plastics.

It's possible that these pictures you're seeing aren't after they're freshly spooled. For instance, I only re spool once a season unless something crazy happens where I need more line. By the end of the year if you look at a lot of my reels I'm down to 2/3's maybe a little less.

Welcome to BR

Welcome to Bass Resource!

I like that show as well. It would be cool to travel the world to do that.

You were weren't you? You could have pointed out to @juicebass that my location is located just under my username as well lol We'll cut him some slack though since he's new here.

Flex Seal and truck bed liner would be alternatives, but @Fishing Rhino's suggestion is probably the best option.

I'm not sure if the Largemouth is the same fish. It looks similar, but it's hard to tell without being able to see the markings. The deformed upper jaw is actually fairly common so it's possible it's not the same fish. The smallmouth is definitely the same though.