FryDog62

Its the equivalent of catching one of those 50 pound bags they do in Texas...

I fished 5 decades in Minnesota - best options are: #1 For largemouth, fish in the southern half of Minnesota. Slightly longer growing season - in general, shallower eutrophic lakes (but deep enough to hold big fish). Mankato, Faribault, Waseca areas have some tanks. #2 Study the DNR Lakefinder that Gim suggested. Look for recent Fisheries Lake Surveys with a higher concentration of 20+ inch fish present. Six pound fish are rare in Minn, 7 is just about nonexistent, but a few people catch them every year. You gotta be smart, disciplined and lucky but it can happen. FWIW, I like South Dakota for less pressure and some of the bigger LMB and smallmouth in the region. Check out Big Stone for LMB in the spring before it turns too green to fish effectively in the summer. Horseshoe and Cattail/Kettle are known waters with 6 and even 7 pound smallmouth. Then, there's always Mille Lacs...

Would be interesting to see how an 18 foot version of the Savage would compare with either the Lund PVB 1875 or Vexus AVX 1880 - layout, features and price, etc. Vexus starts at $42k, wonder if a similar Tracker would come in under $40k?

Surprised no one has mentioned it so far - the Berkely Stunna was designed as a knockoff replica of the Vision 110 to get the same darting action. Hank won 2 Classics with it. Comes in the standard 112 size, but also a slightly downsized 100. A few bucks less and I have found it just as effective as the Megabass Vision. I'm also a fan of the Zumverno when downsizing and/or when tossing on BFS. It works great when longer pauses (hence flash boost) are the key.

We got quite a laugh out of the 1.5 inches of snow received here is Greenville, SC. Of course our perspective is from being natives of Minnesota for decades. Our housing complex here in Greenville sent a notice out that - kids should not play outside because snow may slide off the roof and hurt them. That dogs should not go outside because road salt might irritate their paws, and that we should open the cabinet doors in bathrooms and kitchens so that warm air can get to the pipes and keep them from freezing. Grocery store shelves were wiped out for almost a week before this “Snowmegeddon” hit, and people had their generators out and tested them to make sure all was in working order. Lastly, they called school and work off all day on Friday due to the inch of snow. It was 45 degrees the next day on Saturday and all was melted by noon. However, many schools and some businesses were still closed the following Monday. Haha, but the warnings of 90 degree days in Minnesota are just about as silly. Somehow we survived both climates all these years!

When BFS rod/reels started to become more mainstream a lot of the new information was on YouTube. It did influence the equipment I ordered, although I buy 3-4 at a time to compare weight, balance, action, etc and usually just keep one and return the others.

I was a fluorocarbon hater of epic proportion for the first 10 years I occasionally used it. Now I fish straight fluorocarbon on about half my rigs. Uniform sink rate is a big reason why. Also it does stretch as much or more than mono/co-poly… but less so on the initial hook set, then if it stretches more near the boat helps keep the fish hooked. I’m a tad stubborn and it took me time, but I changed my mind, so there !

I was a St. Croix fan boy for many years… owned 20 some rods… Many LTB, Mojo, AvidX. Quality build, good warranty. But the rods tended to be heavy, thick, cumbersome and tip heavy when you get into the MH and Heavy models. Looking back, it’s hard to believe St. Croix publishes the weight of their rods on their web site, that’s an eye opener. Expride also are a great build quality and good rod actions, but the handles are disproportionately long. If your using it for heavy, winching applications that can be good - but if doing anything where you impart action for walking the dog, frogging, jerkbaits, finesse - they are awkward to fish.

Expride baitcasting rods, MH and Heavy St. Croix rods, Shimano MGL spools, and the Tokyo Rig.

I’m a fan of the 843 MBR for its versatility in a kayak… I’m not a fan of the 6-10 Expride for jerkbaits with that long of a handle in any boat, but especially a kayak.

I’ve only snapped 2 rods in 50 years of fishing - Orochi Braillist and Perfect Pitch. I thought both rods were a bit tip heavy as well for the price range.

Gets cold here in the winter in South Carolina too. 48 degree water at the launch, but 43 down by the dam today. But the Dry-Tec gloves make it quite comfortable !

By the time we got to late Oct/early Nov in Minnesota was end of season… water temps mid 40’s (air temp too) was time to cash it in. Water became hard shortly after that… So no I wasn't casting lures into an ice hole in sub-freezing weather!

I fished in extreme cold weather in Minnesota for years. Only one thing ever worked for me - Fish Monkey Dry-Tec Thinsulate gloves. Thin and good dexterity - you can cast, thumb the spool, reel, lip fish, thread plastics on a hook, get’em wet, etc. … and basically do anything with them on with the exception of tying line. I just take them off momentarily for that and fish the rest of the day with them on. Warm down to 40 degrees or so. Game changers - - https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Fish_Monkey_Stealth_Dry-Tec_Light_Weight_Glove/descpage-FMSD.html

It works, and yes it’s an old technique. Jimmy Lindner and others “Moped” and won tournaments in the old days. Spinning is great, but doesn’t mean you can’t with BFS either. Retrieves vary, the key is that it looks different and hovers or retrieves slowly at the right depth. 23 incher hovering on BFS hooked me.. yep it works -