Daniel My Brother

Tpayneful, careful where you choose to put those crappie. Those buggers spread like wildfire. I think HG2 has exactly the right idea on catch and release, it really depends on what's best for your particular lake.

Very helpful post guys. This is why I love/hate this website. I love that I'm always learning new things. I hate that it always ends up costing me $.

Cold fried chicken is my all time favorite fishing food. You can eat it with one hand and hold your worm rod in the other. No prep needed, no dirty hands on bread, and when you're done, the bones go in the lake. I buy a whole fried chicken from Wal-Mart for around $5, and split it with my partner. My second favorite is the RW special.

Field & Stream had an article recently where they called the Storm Chugbug the number 1 bass lure of all time. I hear George Welcome likes 'em, too.

Yankees are the evil empire. Mets are pond scum. I'll go with pond scum. Wife or Girlfriend?

Ability to fly. Ginger or Mary-Ann?

When the bite is tough, there is nothing better than a senko. When the fish are actively feeding, I like the knock-offs. My favorite is the Tik-Stick.

Craigaria, I really appreciate you going into such detail. Largemouth are only half the reason I want to catch shad. My home lake is supposedly a good lake for stripers, and I hear native gizzard shad are the way to go when targeting them. Thank you to all for replying! Dan

I do it, and so does my fishing partner. No problems yet, but I don't let them out of my sight. If I were planning to make stops, I'd lock 'em in my vehicle.

Another thread went off topic and made some interesting points about why you might, or might not, unplug your trailer lights when you back into the lake. Just wondering what the rest of you think?

Where I live I have a tough time finding bigger shad or minnows at the bait shop. I've seen Craigaria have tremendous success with bait he's caught on his own and I'd love to know some tricks to success when trying to catch baitfish in my home lake. I've never tossed a net in my life, so I'm really looking for some good, basic advice. Types of gear, finding the fish, keeping them alive, etc... Any help is appreciated. Thanks, Dan

You should be able to get that boat in just about anyplace, though I don't know that I'd be able to fish back to back with another person without burying a treble hook in their skull. : So...what's up with the name?

I've always been told your trailer lights will last longer if you unplug them, probably for the reasons G3 Basser stated. A couple of the lakes I fish don't have docks, just a ramp, so I guess that's another reason I don't use the dock much, even when it's available. I've seen guys stop thier trucks quickly and the boat just float off the back. Looks cool when it works, but I've never tried it.

Welcome Nyper, Here's how I launch my jon boat alone. 1. Get to the parking lot, I pull out of the way and get everything ready for the launch (insert plug, trailer lights unplugged, tie down off, etc..) that way I'll be ready to launch when it's my turn. 2. Back down the ramp until the boat just starts to float off the bunks 3. Walk on the trailer tongue, unhook the winch strap, jump on the bow and push off from the trailer 4. Fire up the outboard and beach my boat next to the ramp (Like I said, mine's a jon boat, If I had a fiberglass boat I'd tie off to the dock) 5. Park the vehicle. To load the boat back on I: 1. Beach my boat 2. Back the trailer up until just the top of the bunks are out of the water. 3. Drive the boat onto trailer. I try to coast onto the trailer at decent clip so I don't have to gun it at trailer --- power loading (using your outboard to push your boat higher onto your trailer) isn't good for the launch if your lake has a soft, shallow bottom near the ramp. 4. Climb over the bow, onto the trailer tongue, hook up the winch strap and crank the boat in. 5. Pull the trailer and boat out of the way and prepare for the trip home.

When you've got a small boat you're better off to simply limit the amount of gear you take with you. 2 or 3 rods and one tackle bag per man usually makes for a more enjoyable outing. We've all seen small boats so loaded with gear, coolers, tackle bags, and rods that there was barely room to move, much less fish. Keep it simple, bring less gear, have more fun. BUT...to answer your question. I lay my rods across the seats, and strap 'em down with one of these.

Raul and Natural, Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now, when my wife says I spend too much on fishing, I'll just point her to this post. You've done a service to all of us. Well done!

Good story, Mike!

Hey Cart, If you don't find discounts in the fishing aisle, don't stop looking. Our Wal-Mart put clearance fishing dept items in the toy aisle! Sometimes they put 'em in the clearance aisle, but I've never seen fishing stuff on clearance in the actual fishing aisle. Also, our wal-mart quit selling better quality reels last fall. I picked up an Abu C4 and a Pinnacle Extant HS Metal for under $50 each on clearance, but that glass cabinet's been sitting bare ever since (unusual for WM). I do enjoy Wal-Mart. Where else can you pick up a loaf of bread, a gallon of paint, and a Rapala DT-10?

You can always target visible cover, deadfall, stumps, rocks, etc... You can also make an educated guess on structure by seeing how the shoreline transitions into the water. Dragging a Carolina rig along the bottom will also give you some idea of what's down there. And keep your eyes peeled for schools of baitfish...Plus, don't forget to fish the points and along weedlines. Electronics are great, but people were catching bass long before depth finders were invented.

Great fish and great pics. Always a good story.

It doesn't look like much, but I LOVE this little jon.

Congratulations! I've fished out of similar Trackers many times and I think it's a great boat!

I picked up the Extant HS metal baitcaster a couple of years ago and have really liked it. Smooth drag, quiet reel, casts a long way.

Man Avid, that is just wrong! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Nice crappie Avid! If you get that Muskie jitterbug to gurgle properly, please let me know how you did it. I've never been able to get good action on those big boys.