FryDog62

Anyone know if there is an MLF Fantasy League?

Top 5 “Newer” things (past 15 years) to know IMO would be: •Jerkbait •Chatterbait •Wacky Worm •Neko Rig •Ned Rig

When I switched hands and had to re-learn finesses fishing, my 87 year old dad said it was good training someday for my first stroke!!

C’mon Spring... get here!!

Could consider the ALX Zolo Toadface. A MH frog rod that is also highly recommend for jigs, bladed jigs, etc.

I’ve never tried it but am interested. Do you need insulated waders? I just have some cheap hip waders for launching the boat..

I would like it more if you saw a variety of both large and small fish... but when the average fish at each tournament is small and you rarely see anything over 3 lbs, you do question the format a bit. I still think a 15 inch minimum would be a good compromise.

Dobyns makes a good, well-balanced rod (far superior to the AvidX IMO) but I would not rate it as particularly sensitive. I think you would find the ALX Zolo or Kistler Helium3 to be much “crisper” and almost on par with my Orochi Braillist. Or, if out of your price range, take a look at the new Tatula rods at approx $150... I would rate their balance similar to the Dobyns but better in terms of overall sensitivity.

One of the methods to get rats nests out of baitcasters is to tighten the drag all the way down, press down on the tangled line with your thumb, and crank the reel a few times. Repeat until the rats nest is gone. I have found on fluorocarbon lines especially (and sometimes co-polys like YZH) this can cause small fractures in the line - and you get break offs later. For this reason, I only use that method to free tangled line with braid - and I tediously “pick out” rats nests on all fluorocarbon and sometimes Yo-Zuri. Sucks, but it saves the line..

After a couple surgeries on my right wrist, I had to give up spinning rod/reels which I used for finesse fishing. I have been in a 2 year process of converting to all baitcast and here’s what I have come up with on the finesse side: •Majorcraft Don Iovino 6-10 MXF. Closer to a ML IMO. I use as my drop shot rod. •Carbonlite 6-6 ML I use for Ned rigs. •Loomis NRX 7-1 MXF, but only rated to 3/8 oz so close to an ML IMO. I use to skip plastics (wacky rigs, Caffeine Shads) I would think any of the above could work for Ned/Neko.

It’s been talked about but not formalized yet. It will be hard to schedule a date/location everyone can make, but below are best options. Everyone please weigh in and let us know your preference, and feel free to invite others on this site that don’t maybe monitor this time of year. Maybe we’ll need to do a poll/vote, and whatever majority we get we’ll go with: •Thurs Feb 7 dinner and/or drinks at a Twin Cities location TBD •Weds Feb 20 dinner and/or drinks at a Twin Cities location TBD •Thurs 3/21 late afternoon at a bar near Mpls Convention Center - then head into NW Sportshow •Fri 3/22 late afternoon at a bar near Mpls Convention Center - then head into NW Sportshow Whatever we pick, we should hit Glenn up for some Bassresource.com logo wear or customize our own as “MN-BR”

I wish they would raise the minimum size somewhat - doesn’t have to be 4 lbs but maybe at least 15 inches or 2 lbs or similar. Otherwise it can turn into a dink-fest. Don’t know about the rest of you but I’ve always viewed catching pound-and-a-half fish as a negative, where I need to adjust and find a different pattern and bigger fish. I like MLF a lot, but when you rarely see 4 or 5 pound fish, somethings wrong...

I take my reels to Tim at Wayzata Bait. Up North I think Thorne Bros might do reel work, I know they do rod repair..

It’s less about the jig weight than the cover you pull it through. I have both the Helium 3 in MH and Heavy... for jigs in/near the weeds I go with the 7-3 Heavy. Lighter Texas rigs I use the 7-0 MH. Both are paired with a Shimano Curado 70. I really like both set ups...

There’s a number of spots on that stretch that support a larger boat (with some common sense) but the farther you go downstream, the safer to navigate. Most every stack of laydowns or boulders hold smallies and/or walleyes. We were challenged that day because the water was high and the strong current made it really tough to get into and stay in the strike zone. We were both really surprised the topwater wasn’t more explosive early in the day, but again I think the current had something to do with it. We can discuss more location specifics at the MN-BR get together later this winter..

That’s the one I’m looking for Nice fish keag..!

Two biggest for 2018: •5.5 lb largemouth on a jig/trailer •20 inch smallmouth on Caffeine Shad Being an “up-North guy” I’ve caught a few hundred bass over 5 lbs but have yet to crack 6 pounds. My humble New Years goal for 2019

One other thing I thought I’d mention is that my hope/expectations are that Livescope excels in viewing out in front of the boat, or 45 degree angle. I had Panoptix before and thought it was excellent when looking straight down (i.e. drop-shotting) but just so-so when looking out in front of the boat. I didn’t “see” many fish when casting out, even when I caught them. At times yes, but not consistently. The Livescope view appears to be more encompassing of structure and moving objects, so we’ll see but that is a big “hope” for me with the new technology.

I added Livescope a month ago but we were icing up here in Minnesota so I haven’t tried it yet... ask me in the spring. I have heard the next closest thing to Livescope will be by Lowrance so stay tuned there. No idea about Hbird or anyone else..

Might eventually YouTube..

My last bass of the year was Nov 7. 21 inch 5.5 lbs. Had planned to fish more that afternoon but it was a raw, cold day and 2 casts after this fish I got a rats nest which I tried to pick out for 10 minutes with numb fingers. At that moment, realized I needed thumb surgery more than continuing to fish that day. Dam, winter sure starts too early in Minnesota... C’mon Spring, get here ...

Spinning: Nano-Fil

I walked into Cabelas today and found one last remaining Lews Custom Plus Jerkbait rod- and it was on Clearance price, so I bought it!

This show will air the first week of 2019 on the Sportsman Channel and World Fishing Network - if you want to tune in and dream of open water, 78 degree weather, and river smallmouth: Lake Commandos Season number: 6 Episode: 1 Air date starting January 1, 2019 Steve Pennaz and river smallmouth expert Chris Fryer square off on an unknown stretch of river targeting big smallmouth. Sportsman Channel Wed, 1/2 5 AM Central Sportsman Channel Fri, 1/4 3:30 AM Central Sportsman Channel Sat, 1/5 9 PM Central Other times World Fishing Network

Was the *** above reference to Walker Smith? I did see that one, sounded positive..