Turkey sandwich

Congrats! Those are great days on the water. I wish I put together a limit either day, but no such luck. We didn't have any electronics over the weekend. Friday we fished a lake I'd never been on before and Saturday was a lake that's produced big fish, but is really tricky to fish. Here are the pics from Saturday. The bass was 19" and just under 4lbs and the walleye was 17".

Nice! That sounds like you have a solid day planned. Hopefully the weather holds up for you up there. We hit up a second lake yesterday and picked up a few bass and my dad caught a dinner sized walleye.

No one else on the water with their dads/kids this weekend?

Oops

Happy Father's Day, fellas. We decided to beat the weekend rush and got out this morning. My dad is still skunked, but I picked up a few including this 18 incher. Looking forward to getting back out tomorrow.

I'm so sorry. Get things straightened out with your insurance. Nightmares like this are what insurance is for. Good luck.

Dear god. It out-fatted 85% of it's scales.

*busted my butt to make it possible.

Take a breather, man, lol. The truth is, you're going to make of your life what you want to make of it. If you want to constantly be financially strapped, have zero freedom to do almost anything you want in life - let alone things like owning a home or driving the car you want - you can probably get by doing the minimum. In 10 years, you'll realize you've wasted a lot of time and money, and that whatever bigger goals you begin to develop will be very difficult to achieve. On the flip-side, if you make it a point to either earn a degree or learn a trade early on, and put your time in working to minimize your expenses/education costs, you'll not only have short term money to blow on fun things like fishing/girls/being a kid, you'll also be financially ahead so that the next 50 years of your life will be easier. Working hard, and smart early - and learning what it is to be ambitious with direction, should be your focus now. That way, you won't be screwed later when you want a house/wife/kids and things actually do get complicated. When I was your age (holy crap - I just said that), i drove a beat to hell 10 year old Dodge Shadow that had a bumper that literally fall apart to the point where it was held on with duct tape. I worked since I was 13 (through high school and college), and once I got a good job - I worked even more to be good at it so that way I could afford the life I want. The thing is, I went from growing up very poor to being 31 and very comfortable with my life. I have a cool car. I can go on vacations to cool places. I had a sponsorship as an athlete in college that allowed me to travel the country and meet amazing people. Why? Because I busted I disagree to make it possible. Now, I also have fishing buddies who just worked part time jobs so that they could put gas in the car, get on the water, and buy beer. Some of them have gone to jail. All but one (that I know of) still live in the same small town, and most still work the same crappy jobs and complain that they can't afford anything/life is hard. I genuinely get frustrated talking to them when I'm home visiting family because almost 15 years later they still don't get it. They will likely always be unhappy. I'm sorry for using myself as an example, because it's not meant to be me bragging. It was just the easiest example I could give. Embrace the grind. You'll still have time for fun (hell, I did). Don't look back in 15 years and be angry. Nothing worth having is easy.

Thanks. Any other suggestions? Otherwise odds are good I'll end up at Slocum fishing in pea soup.

This. Similarly, I fished a ton of Texas rigged worms and was super confident in them before I touched a jig (no confidence in it). I just forced myself to throw it in place of a T-rig (which I usedbasically anywhere) until I started catching fish and building confidence. After I started catching fish, I noticed the size of the fish tended to be a lot bigger than the fish I was used to picking up with 7" worms. Dark water, dark colors. Light water, greens and Browns with some red/orange mixed in. And in terms of downsizing in ponds, consider using a smaller craw trailer or just tearing an inch or so off the back end.

Hard cover. Let it bounce and deflect off cover/changes in structure. You can really rip them in (with a bit of common sense), but part of what makes them killer is the pause after contacting something hard. They're surprisingly snag resistant, but if you're fishing windfall, brush, etc you're still going to have them wrap the occasional branch and hang up. The better you learn to feel them, the less often this will happen, but it's kinda part of the game. A lure retriever isn't a bad purchase to make.

Dude, all you need is a car battery and 6' worth of jumper cables. But seriously, figure out what the primary forage is for the lake, catch a sizeable one, stick a hook through it (make sure it stays alive) and drop it on a 3 way swivel or slip sinker rig just far enough so the shad/shiner/bluegill/alewife/whatever can't quite make it to the cover. Don't cast it, paddle, row, or troll out and drop it. Be patient. At this point, if you've tossed everything shy of a set of jumper cables at her, she's probably pretty weary and nothing you're going to present (since you've already found her, and odds are, 10 to 1 she's seen you) is going to look as tasty as any of the above, presented naturally. Sometimes live bait just wins.

My Speed Spool BB1 just arrived. I'm looking forward to getting on the water with it next week. It feels really solid for a $130 reel (on sale at Tackle Warehouse) and it fits my hand surprisingly well. Hopefully I can pick up some bass/walleye on crankbaits and give it a good workout.

Luckily they don't have much in terms of teeth, so you can lip them. In reality, they aren't that dangerous so long as you just stay aware of the fins.

The double Uni, Albright, etc are all good knots, and lots of folks swear by all of them. However, the take a little practice to master. I use double Uni 90% of the time to connect lines and if I have a break, it's almost always the Palomar or improved clinch breaking at the lure and not the double Uni attaching the leader. Practice your knots. They'll get stronger once you get them down. After, if you feel the knot is getting beat up in the guides (a concern I sometimes have with my microguide rods), try adding a drop of super glue over the knot.

I like all of the above. Tossing a jig loaded with rattles is rarely a bad idea, either. What kind of slop? Bottom growth/cabbage? Duckweed on top? Frogs and buzz baits drug across duckweed have caught me quite a few 5lbers here in PA.

Good luck! Be sure to post after pics once you get her cleaned up!

d**n, dude. It's easy to stress, but let's take a step back. EVERYONE ELSE is dealing with those conditions! So essentially, you're competing against 50+ boats that all have to figure that mess out. Odds are good you aren't going to be seeing a whole lot of 20lb limits, so you won't have to compete against that, which is a relief. I don't know what my opinion is worth, but I'd try to simplify things and just try to find fish. Is there anywhere unaffected? In current, I've done had success fishing the edges of where the mud meets clear water. As the creeks start to go down, they're going to clear up. Maybe look for structure/deep water access near creek mouths? Any flats near by? I'd be throwing cranks with rattles, spinnerbaits, etc to locate anything active and then pick them apart with soft plastics if need be once I can figure out a pattern. This might also be a good time to look at sunken islands well offshore where the water won't be as dark if you know of any. Good luck!

From all I've heard, those are great options. For that, I'd look into a med/MH with a fast tip. One thing to pay attention to are the weight ratings for each manufacturer since there is no "standard" for medium, medium/heavy/etc. For example, I love St Croix, but I also know that typically they run a bit heavy and if I were to compare my Medium St Croix rods to my Medium Abu rods, the St Croix have a lot more backbone. Hope that example helps. The good news is that all of the rods you've mentioned are good rods, so even if you end up hating them for spinnerbait fishing, you'll no doubt find them useful for soft plastics/jerkbaits/etc.

I'll be heading to the Wilkes-Barre area to get my dad on the water for Father's Day weekend and I've been out of the loop up there for a few years now. Outside of the Susquehanna, what's been solid the last few years that's accessible with a trolling motor and won't be madness over the weekend (ie Harvey's Lake)? I'll be in Luzerne County and have looked at Lily Lake, and of course Frances Slocum, but I can't find any depth charts for Lily Lake and would be up for options other than fishing 2 feet of visibility in Slocum if anyone can suggest any. Any ideas on lakes that have been productive? Any idea of any local bait shops where I can get hydrographic maps? Thanks!

I grew up on e Susquehanna and stone cats are amazing bait! And their sting is terrible! Funny story involving a high school friend of mine, stone cats in a plastic bag held in the waistband of a pair of mesh shorts, and one of the most horrific screams I've ever heard. We were picking bait and sure enough, the bag came loose when he fell to the ground with one of the pectoral fins sticking out... covered in blood. Yes. It's exactly what you're thinking, exactly where you're thinking. So, don't do what John did.

I tend to take a lot of reviews with a grain of salt. People write some crazy things when they're anonymous and looking to find problems. I don't own any Shimano rods, so I can't offer an opinion, but I've heard nothing but good things about the Crucials. That said, I'm a huge St. Croix fan and for the price would probably go with an Avid or Avid X - the blank is awesome for the money.

It's all feel and personal preference at this point. Are you looking to lob the spinnerbaits for distance? Are you looking to make tighter, more accurate casts? Are you going to use them to feel structure/cover? Are you concerned with short strikes (stinger hooks are a great way to fix this problem, btw, without necessarily changing the rod)? Realistically, you can take advice from some of he best spinnerbaits fishermen on this forum, but if they don't match your style/use of the rod, you could be miserable with it for spinnerbaits. What is important, is noting the lure weight ratings and feeling which rods feel most comfortable (grips, reel seat, trigger/no trigger, etc). Some lures really benefit from a specific rod type, others are largely taste. Spinnerbaits are a matter of taste. Drastically over simplified break down with some generalizations: Almost all major manufacturers have good rods in that price range. - softer tips may increase casting distance, though faster tips typically help control accuracy - faster tips help you feel the bottom and are typically more sensitive. - softer tips can create a cushion for hook sets (again, a trailer hook on a faster rod can help, too) How do you fish spinnerbaits? What do YOU want out of the rod?

My .02... I think of baitcasters like I think of fly rods - learning on something cheap is difficult and can ruin your experience. Buy the best option you can afford. It will be worth it. A cheap real that's hard to control/has a cheap brake will leave you spending a lot of time picking backlashes. Which brings me to line... Backlashes are much worse with high memory line. Also, the backlashes themselves along with the process of removing them will beat up your line. The lowest memory, most resilient lines are going to be braids. They cost a bit more, but they'll make your life easier. Thick diameter mono lines will have much, much more memory, and the mono will take a lot more damage from the friction. If I could go back in time 15 years, I would have bought a better reel and run braid. Also, much like casting flies, casting a baitcasters takes some practice to get the basic casts down. Find an empty field/park and spend a few hours working on your basic casts, learning how to use the brakes, and and learning how to use your thumb. After this stuff becomes second nature, you can learn how to adjust brakes for wind, and ultimately learn how to cast with little/no brake. And you know what? Even if you become a pro, you'll still have the occasional backlash.