punch

I'd give the Blood knot a whirl, and if you don't like that go with the Uni.

I took my new Topwater rod out this week a few times and tied on a spook with some co-polymer and it performed REALLY well. The rod felt a little stiff for a topwater but I was easily able to walk the dog and get some hook sets on a few fish.

This combo goes on sale ALL the time. I have a ML setup that I use for live bait and lindy rigs. Stout combo for the money.

I hit my local lake Tuesday night at dusk for a few hours. Pulled this guy out of a weed edge in around 7 feet of water with a texas rigged rage tail cut-r worm. \ Once the sun started to set I hit a bay with the calmest water and tossed a chrome zara spook and caught 3-4 more fish on topwater. Nothing big. Not bad for 2.5 hours of fishing after work.

I'll play.. Lake George in St Francis https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lake+George,+Oak+Grove,+MN/@45.3556464,-93.3378756,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x52b310faf4c9dedf:0xf476f65b91b72448 Mid afternoon until sundown Water Temp - around 63 degrees This lake has above average pike fishing (by sheer numbers, not size) and i'd just say just average bass fishing. We found fish in the 8-14 feet weed lines straight out from the public beach. Rapala DT4 & DT6's caught both bass and pike. DT4 was the hot ticket all afternoon, but I did catch some fish on a KVD red eye lipless. I've always done well on this lake with crankbaits because of the looooooong stretches of lake with no depth changes or structure. This lake is round and really flat with very little points or structure. I've had the most success by tossing spoons/cranks along weed edges.

I have both a president and a Orra S and honestly they both are pretty good. It's apples and apples in this case at this price point. Get the one that feels better to you and is CHEAPER. haha

I have two ZX rods. I have the jerk/topwtaer and the crankbait. I really really like the crankbait rod, but the Jury is still out on the jerk/topwater as I haven't had enough time with it yet. These rods are pretty killer when you get them on sale, they are light, look good, have nice guides, AND the grips are way cool. They seem to go on sale pretty frequently, so keep your eye out.

How did everyone do?

Nice! I fish clear a few times a year and always pull something outta there. Great lake.

So it looks like there's a new Diawa reel in Cabela's house reel lineup.. http://www.cabelas.com/product/Home/Cabelas-Reels%7C/pc/105625080/c/508746780/Cabelas-Pro-Guide174-Casting-Reel/1916269.uts?destination=%2Fbrowse.cmd%3FcategoryId%3D508746780#BVQAWidgetID Seems like it's a cousin of the Lexa 100, what do you guys think? I like the color combo. This and the Arachnid/Tatula are both on sale right now.

Anyone get out this weekend? I hit some metro lakes Saturday & Sunday with light tackle and crappie minnows and ended up pulling in some LMB. They were fat and ready for the spawn. I bet the spawn's going to happen in the next week or two.. water was already in the upper 50's. When opener hits I'd guess we'll be right at the end of the spawn or already in post spawn in the metro.

I think we're all pumped for the Opener. I've been getting out here and there lately with the nice weather, running around with Crappie jigs and some ultralite rigs. This is a great time of year to chase crappies around, killing time until the opener. Always get the occasional LMB that hammers the crappie tube. I have ZERO tips for Minnetonka. I never fish it. Too much traffic for me and my little 14 foot tiller.

I know "live bait" can be dirty words around here but I've really had fun introducing people into fishing with simple slip bobber rigs + a fathead minnow (or leech). This works great on the wife/girlfriend and it's fantastic for kids. Bobber fishing means they don't have to worry about technique or gear, and they can sit back and chill with a beverage/snack and just wait for the action. I rig a few medium spinner setups with a slip bobbers, anchor the boat in a nice spot and wait for the fish to come. I do a rig as such: slip bobber <> bead <> swivel <> floro leader w/ some split shot <> hook. Pro tip: I always push the barbs in on live bait hooks when going for bigger fish with noobies. Mostly because they don't react very quickly to a bobber going down so the chance of the fish swallowing the hook is a bit higher. I have a lot less fish fatalities with the barb down. You can hook into crappie, bass, pike, catfish, walleye, and the occasionally really hungry bluegil. It's a low key, fun way to get people fishing. Nothing's more entertaining than watching kids freaking out when the bobber goes down.

Are there any decent ipad fishing games?

All of my baitcast setups at the moment. Laguna, Tatula, Revo SX, and two Chronarch's.

Cool, I'm just over in Andover and I have a little boat. Shoot me a PM with some of your info and maybe we can hook up for a outing. I bomb all the north metro lakes as much as I can, usually by myself haha.

Where are you located?

I usually go out the Monday after opening weekend! Skip the rush like Jeff says.

Honestly it's hard to top Leech. It's got every species, beautiful shorelines, and some crazy nice resorts. The fishing on Leech can be epic as there are trophies in every category (monster Muskie, come on). Like if I was making a list of lakes worth traveling MN to fish Leech would likely be likely #1. We have tons of Great Lakes, but Leech is that great mix of diversity and beauty. Can you tell I love that lake? It's something special.

You will encounter pike quite often so i'd really suggest having some long pliers and maybe even a mouth spreader (which comes in handy when they really inhale the lure). Pike occupy the same weedlines and feed on the same baitfish as LMB so you can often flip a coin as to which fish will strike when you're fishing fast moving baits. Pike will even nail the occasional plastic bait and dropshot on the bottom. I've had pike nail a texas rigged plastic minnow as i was reeling it in to make another cast.. they're just aggressive fish. They really just eat everything and they roam everywhere, so you can't avoid them unfortunately. The general rule is if there's weeds, there's pike somewhere. Smaller pike has become a problem in a lot of MN lakes and the DNR has been talking about regulations to help reduce some of the "hammer handle" pike populations. The plus side of the pike abundance is that the medium to medium-smallish fish are fantastic eating fish. Their fillets are meaty and delicious so consider keeping some fish for dinner if you run across them. There's lots of videos on how to clean them on youtube.

Oh, another thing I would suggest is to keep a dropshot rig ready to go. Dropshot is a great way to get down into the deeper weedlines. You don't see a lotta people drop shotting around here either (at least I don't), so it's a presentation that usually produces. I've had some nice luck with the dropshot in weedlines like 8-15 feet deep when the water warms up. Also, ripping a shallow running crankbait over the tops of weedlines works pretty well BUT expect to have a lot of pike hammer your bait. You'll get to know our friend the northern pike pretty well! Anytime you fish inside the weeds in MN lakes with a faster moving bait you're gonna end up with a pike 100% of the time. They love the weeds and eat everything. Pike are like that annoying little brother that wont leave you alone when you're fishing weeds. They are fun to catch, but they do have a habit of running off with your bass lures once and a while. At leats they taste great.

MN lakes are always full of vegetation and weeds.This gives fish lots of cover, but also makes fishing with treble hook baits kind of a PITA. You can be fishing "the edges of what you think is a weed bed only to find more and more weeds. Crankbait fishing can be a lesson in patience and determination after cleaning off your bait for the 200th time in an afternoon. I'd say the best adjustment you can make when fish are holding up in the weeds is to slow down and start tossing texas rigs, jigs, senkos. or whatever weedless plastics you can get in the thick stuff. It's also good to have some spinners and swim jigs at the ready to just plow through the weeds when you want to fish fast. Personally, I also like to pull bass out of shallow weeds with a slip bobber rig with some live minnows (fatheads usually).. especially fishing with kids or newbies.

Aint that the truth. We have some fantastic bass lakes but you'll find the bulk of anglers going for the walleyes.

I have a 200E6 and had to pick up another one at the sale price (plus I found a $20 off $150 cabela's coupon on slickdealds). These reels feel so good and are so easy to use. My reels are still pretty newish, but could you guys point me to any good bearing reel/bearing maintenance tutorials for keeping these chronarchs running well?

Link?