HardcoreBassin

I agree with J Francho. 200lb braid is nuts. I have 12lb on my setup and sometimes an 8lb leader depending on where you are fishing. My setup was very inexpensive but I've caught many salmon and steelhead on it and its over 10 years old. I think it is a 9ft uglystick with an Okuma spinning reel on it. Fat Nancy's will hook you up with a good deal on the equipment. If you are wading the river, make sure you have a good pair of waders and a wading belt.

I got out again on Sunday for a bit in the morning. Caught 4 LMB. 4lbs, 4.6lbs, 2.5lbs and a dink. 2 smaller ones came on a squarebill. The 2 bigger ones took frogs. I'm addicted to frogs since my first 2 frog fish last weekend. I put in an order on Academy for a bunch of them, and a few wake baits.

What about Lake Towhee? Anyone ever fish that?

Yea. That is my thought. Thanks for all of your input on this. It's been really helpful.

That's something I'm looking into now and may be something I do in the spring. I'm not HORRIBLY concerned about it right now since I only live about 5 miles from the lake.

I heard the Giving Pond has a ton of fish, but all of them are small. Is that true? Would you go again? is it worth the trip?

I wanted a tow package, but we were looking for a used vehicle, and unfortunately a lot of them did not have tow packages on them. Most that did had a lot of additional options on them which made the price higher than we wanted to pay. So I was hunting for a vehicle that would be capable without a tow package. I didn't think it would be as difficult to find something as it was. I was used to a truck which you could buy an absolute base model and still have 7500lbs of towing capacity. Thankfully, the Explorer worked out.

Finally! I snuck out for a few hours on Sunday morning. It was REALLY windy, but I caught on a frog. These are my first and second frog fish ever, so you can imagine my excitement!

So? How'd it go?

Thanks for all of your help! We went with a 2011 Explorer.

Anything that has a "tow package" I'm not concerned with. My concern is anything with a high enough towing capacity, but no tow package. For example, I found a good deal on a 2011 Ford Explorer. Standard, they have a towing capacity of about 5000lbs, which is more than enough. But without the towing package, will it safely brake while towing my boat?

We definitely can. There is a lot of compromise that will have to happen here. We need something big enough to tow safely, but my wife (the primary driver) does not want to be driving a huge SUV. I'm hoping the pricing for a Ford Explorer or Nissan Pathfinder work out how I want them to. They both, at least on paper, look like they will do the job safely and effectively. I'm hoping this will only be for a year or so until I can sell our 2nd vehicle and get another truck.

Thanks for the replies here everyone. You all brought up some good points. There are larger vehicles on our list of ones to look at, like the GMC Acadia, Chevy Equinox, Nissan Pathfinder, Ford Explorer. The Jeep Patriot seems to be very budget friendly, but I wouldn't want to sacrifice safety or possible vehicle damage by hauling my boat. I completely overlooked the braking side of it. Yea I goofed up while typing. Too many things on the brain right now. I have the Storm 1700 with a 20hp merc 4stroke.

So, due to some lifestyle changes, I'm giving up my truck to get an SUV for my wife. Since our other vehicle is an unreliable 2006 Kia Sorento, I need to be sure that the new lease can tow my boat. I've never had anything other than my truck to tow, so I'm nervous about getting an SUV with too low of a towing capacity. I have a 2016 Crestliner Storm 1700 with a 20hp 4 stroke Mercury. The dry weight of the boat is 670lbs. Motor is about 120lbs. Plus electronics, gear and gas estimated at about 200lbs. Not positive about the weight of the trailer, but I'd say it is only about 250lbs or so. So the total that I'm coming up with for weight is about 1240lbs. The vehicle in question is a Jeep Patriot. It is rated at a max 2,000lb towing capacity with max payload of 1,230lbs. From what I understand, I should be OK on the payload because the majority of the weight of the boat and trailer is carried by the trailer axle, not the hitch. But is a 2,000lb towing capacity enough for me? Will the payload be too much on the boat launch? Thanks in advance! -Dale

Skunked. Threw a buzz bait and frog first thing in the morning, switched over to a spinnerbait once the sun got up a bit. Tried a squarebill over some submerged weeds. The only thing I didnt do is throw a t-rig or jig, which I probably should have done. Oh well, there is always next weekend!

Yikes. Hopefully I do a little better in the AM. Ill let you know how it goes.

The style of glasses you can use for prescription depends on how strong of a prescription you need. I have an astigmatism in both of my eyes, which limits me to only frames that are flatter than others. So I can't get glasses will full "wrap around" coverage like I would prefer. Since I need a flatter lens, my last pair were Ray Bans and my current pair are Oakleys. Are contact lenses an option?

I think I'm going to head out on Saturday morning. Anyone been out recently?

I'm heading out early tomorrow morning. Has anyone had any luck lately?

Thanks for the tips and names Dogmatic. I havent ventured to the dam yet. I'll give that a shot.

I'm not sure the lingo of the lake yet, so I'm not sure where "the bluff is" haha. But I caught 1 cranking in about 7ft-8 FOW in the big cove across from the 3 mile launch. Cranked just outside of the weed edge. Then hooked into another throwing a frog on the pads across from that cove near the launch. Anyone have any pointers on where to find some smallies?

I got out for a few hours yesterday morning. Got 1 small LMB on a crankbait in about 7ft of water. I missed a hookset on a frog. She jumped by the boat and spit it at my face. Looked to be 3lber or so.

It's been pretty quiet on here. Anyone catching? I haven't been out for a few weeks.

Are you sitting or standing while using the trolling motor? What brand is the trolling motor?

There are a lot of places that you can fish from the shore there, especially now that the shoreline brush is not completely fully yet. But, most of the "lower pressure" places will be a bit of a hike from any parking areas.