Jim Hill

yeah boat trips are few and far between, without a boat!

The cabela's bag is only $59 and doesn't look so bad? I was set on a wild river one at $149 at first. http://www.cabelas.com/product/cabela-s-advanced-anglers-8482-backpack/1546939.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dfishing%252Bbackpack%26x%3D10%26y%3D6%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%252BProducts&Ntt=fishing+backpack

i'd love to swap to smaller boxes but I fish mainly for toothy fish, as said. Northern pike, musky, some small and largemouth too. The lures I have are hard to fit in smaller boxes, thats the only reason I don't use them. Those husky jerks and big daredevles take up space!

yeah that looks pretty solid and I think the two boxes are equal to 4 3700 singles is it not?

Im lucky to have a walmart in my area lol I checked out some orivs slings and they don't look like they can carry my 3700's or if I downsized to 36's. I think somewhere if I traveled I could find a shop. We do have over 15,000 lakes here

also, now that i've been told to check on other things, my main concerns were carrying it of course, space, organization and durability. Mine now can carry 4 3700's and almost nothing else on the outside pockets. I have things like my scale, camera, line spools, pliers, plastics..etc If I got some jansport, imo, just toss it all in the bag and its an unorganized mess I will have to dig through. I suppose i'd be open to a different tackle bag if it was better. I got mine at walmart. I had bought a plano softsiderx 3600 but it was too small so I went with a mossy oak colored 3700. I think about an hour and 15 min drive there might be a DSG. I live in the middle o nowhere lol

sounds nice, but what about comfort with a sling? Gonna sound odd but I have a bad back and when carrying around my current tackle bag, it hurts eventually. Thats why I figured a backpack with support would be better. I carry everything I own in my current bag, which isn't a ton, but the space is super limited! I can only walk short distances so I figure a pack of some sort would be best.

That bag is way better then the one I am currently using. But i'd rather go with a backpack style, not fun trying to carry one of those around.

I actually saw that name while looking around. Thats the thing that I wanted most in a bag/pack was specific places for specific things. Searching backpack on amazon could take me all week! EDIT: oh, I all ready have a tackle bag, I don't like it much. Could fit my 4 3700's in it but hardly anything else on the sides or front pocket. I figured it would be much easier to grab the backpack, throw it on, walk the banks ya know? Its not REALLY about the money as I just got back my tax return, its more about bang for my buck with a bag.

granted, but all backpacks aren't the same. Guess I'll go read some reviews on amazon

I'll check around for those also while still holding out for reviewers or help on the others also. I can afford any of the aforementioned ones its just between 50-150 thats a big difference

really? Those named packs I showed have specific things for fishing. Like storage container holders, things for pliers...etc I never thought to look for a non fishing pack?

So I don't go out in a boat often, but fish off shore almost every single day in the summer. Not exaggerating either! Anyway, I went from a tackle box, to a bag and now looking at the backpacks, That being said, I saw a few and wanted some help in choosing the right one! I am sure people own them or have had a chance to compare some. The four I have seen and narrowed it down to are as follows: 1. the Nomad Wild river by clc 2. The cabela's advanced angler backpack 3. the shimano blackmoon 4 and the tackle warehouse one, which name escapes me as I type this I have a tackle bag now, its I think a plano 3700 in mossy oak colors. I do like it but I find myself needing another bag just to carry other things. I do not have a lot of gear but enough to fill 4 3700's. The only thing keeping me from just buying one is they are so drastic in price! I would LOVE to have a rod holder on the side, which some do, but the Nomad has more space. Oh whats a fisherman to do! Help me out!

Its not my first smallie, i've caught them many times before when I was younger. However, its my first (two) this year and by far the biggest i've ever caught. And the place it is at is virtually unfished! I do agree its gonna cost me a lot of money, i've all ready bought things for them I never would have owned! Its just so exciting to not only sight fish but just knowing this pit is over 100 feet deep, cold, and relatively remote/unfished but its 1 mile from my house in the middle of the woods! Up here on the Iron Range we have a lot of old mining pits from the 1890's and early 1900's which are all filled with water and some with fish. The bass that come out of them are usually really pretty colors, dark, and healthy. I wouldn't say theres a world record in there but I would almost bet there are some close to state records.

take a look at lake link, your local state DNR website, and of course here on the forums to find them in your area! Lucky for me this is about one mile from my house.

I had posted earlier about fishing in a pit and catching small mouth bass there but as of recently I couldn't get one. Threw everything I had and nothin. Well, it was suggested I used squarebills which I haven't gone to buy yet (thanks btw for recommending them). However I had some leeches I was using yesterday and sure enough the bass were at this pipe and actually landed one!! I can see the fish swimming around the pipe but I had my polarized lenses on. When I got there I saw 1 LM and 2 SM. I had one on in first 5 mins but it got off then I landed this one. My new uncalibrated I think scale said just under 4lbs but this thing LOOKED huge! My new found passion, smallmouth bass!

Im not as worried about getting a squarebill stuck as I am confused with what exactly it is. I know it has a "square bill" on it but i've never really sought one so I don't know which ones I would need. I did go buy a pumpkin' Ed jig and some (too big it seems) Yum tubes. I caught a northern with it.

Can't do a kayak for a multitude of reasons. I do not own a squarebill but im always afraid of throwing anything with treble hooks into logs. The spinner works ok, just have yet to catch anything.

So where I live in Northern Minnesota they have lots of old iron ore pits that are filled in with water and have fish in em. There is one in particular by my house which doesn't have a dock or a boat ramp, meaning its virtually untouched. People occasionally fish it but not often. That being said, about a week and a half ago I was able to catch a whopper, which is in the thread I made "I caught a football". Since then, I've gone every day and have not seen nor caught another one. Im wondering, since i've never really been targeting smallies in particular till now, what things should I be using. The water is clear with a semi greenish tint when it gets deeper. I fish from shore and it has TONS of logs and trees under the water. Some you can see, some you can't. Im not sure the depth of the water right off shore but it could be in upwards of 60 feet deep, 20 feet off shore. I caught the one off a daredevle spoon but im starting to think it was prespawn and it was protecting. I was wondering what lures would be best in this type of water. Also, what temps should I be looking for with certain things, like top water lures and maybe deeper ones. Any kinds of info since im rather new to SM would be appreciated!

FIshing here in North Eastern MN hasn't been the best for me on the locals lakes. Considering I was fishing 2 or 3 days ago in the snow! Hopefully this warm up here helps, going to Vermillion on saturday, most likely hoodoo point (in a boat). Anyone been to Vermillion in the last few days?

I recently made a post looking for a baitcaster. Well, I finally decided ya know what, if my spinning reel is working, why change? So that being said I have some pretty low end stuff. I have a shimano solstace 2500 fl with a berkley cherrywood HD 6'6" Medium rod. I was looking for a better rod and reel combo $150 being max. This will be used for Walleye, northern, bass mainly and I prefer 20lb braided line on the reel. Just looking for a nice, smooth long casting setup. Most likely I will have to order it online because I have no stores around me aside from walmart. I would like a lighter reel, as mine is about a pound and I am not sure if I should even be using this rod with the reel, I broke my old one so I got the cherrywood for cheap.

thanks all! More to come from this basically untapped location for monsters! Just gotta wait till it stops snowing...

I was looking to buy a small weight scale for fish, any recommend ones? I have a small one now with a spring on it and tape measure, but its rusted a bit and not accurate. I just want a smaller one that won't break that bank.

I live in Northern Minnesota and around my town there are old mining pits that are filled in and have fish in them. There is one that had very little fishing access but a LOT of monster sized fish. It was raining today but I caught a break in between rain and caught this here football! This is the fattest fish I'd ever seen, most likely pre spawn since its so cold. I threw rapalas, senkos, spinnerbaits....notta. I put on some daredevle spoons and they were chasing it like mad. Im usually a walleye and northern fisherman but how big this was and the fight has me really wanting to catch more! Oh, and its full of rocks, sand and iron ore because I landed it on shore without a net and as you can see behind me its all rocks and such. This thing seemed to have lock jaw because it refused to open its mouth so I was like meh, pick 'er up!

You should also eat some of them there crappies. Very good, some say best, tasting fish in fresh water!