Joedodge

The lake I mainly fish here in Iowa is choked out with curly pond weed and chara grass. Tops out mostly to the top of the water. Grows from the bank and in isolated clumps. It’s dang near impossible to fish anything with a treble hook. Leaves so many lures off the table. But a Texas rigged worm, a swim jig a flipping bait weedless too waters all are super productive. Fish the edges, the holes the clumps. Look for areas you can find 2 different types of vegetation growing together. Bass love that. Pay close attention to grass or pads or cat tails moving when your air aren’t near them. You can learn a lot and see bass coming or moving to approach a bait.

So I’ve been fishing a few different buzz baits. A couple I modified and one stock. I’ve been throwing them on MH rod. But I’ve been playing with 15 pound big game. And 40 pound suffix 832 braid I’ve noticed with mono I miss a lot more fish. I don’t believe it’s due to mono stretch or any of that hoopla. I believe it’s my reaction time. I rarely pull the bait away or out of the mouth of a fish that fully commits to a buzzbait. But I’ve noticed with mono I’m just slow. I seem to do better with the braid. Just something to consider when thinking of line choice. I fish near a ton of curly tail pond weed, chara and just algae moss in general. So braid isn’t a bad choice by any means.

Nothing exciting. Rained here all weekend. So I modified some buzzbaits and went and played with them in the ponds near the house. Missed a lot. Experimenting with mono instead of braid. Saw a cool crawfish I helped get untangled from some line.

I don’t have many complaints. I liked the old bigger paddle knobs better. And I don’t like how when I palm it. It slowly tightens the brakes. Obviously the way I palm a reel and the way the adjuster is. But it’s annoying lol

I can’t argue any of that. I got mine on clearance at fleet farm for just under $100. If I’d paid the full $139 I’d be pretty upset. I like the accel rx basically same reel but not an aluminum frame and they recessed the brake adjuster to where my palm won’t change the adjustment. I may try one of those

I’ve been wearing the same Columbia long sleeve for about 10 years lol. Love it. Honestly I usually wear a cut off t shirt under it and if I get hot I take it off. When I kayaked in Florida and I sat in one place a lot. It was always long sleeves and a buff and hat and pants. I had a bad reaction to a medicine I was on when young and got burned baddddd. Mh own fault young and didn’t read the bottle. So that scared me for a lot of years. I’ve let up on that a lot. But I should cover up better than I do. I work outside a lot so I have a good farmers tan lol. But still the suns brutal on skin.

12,15 pound big game 40, 50 pound suffix 832 braid I like braid on swim jigs and frogs. And on flipping baits. I’ll fish mono for everything else mostly. Experimenting with mono on buzzbaits right now. I don’t think line makes a huge difference on a buzzbait. I like big game for its size to break ration. 12 pound breaks upward of 15 and 15 breaks upward of 18.

Haha I like that. I was considering painting the whole boat black lol

Yep lol exactly

Looks like a great time! I love a good braid hook set personally. Love the round reels. Very cool. Have fun!

Had some time this evening and was bored. The original paint on the cowl was awful looking and lettering missing and the paint was chalky. Someone tried painting it once you could see the over spray on the seal. So I sanded it down and cleaned everything up and painted it black. That’s gotta be worth atleast 3hp lol.

EVO for $10 is my go to. Or making my own. I fish either and both catch fish once ya figure out how they want it presented.

lol maybe one day I’ll get it down that fast

I’m planning to go Saturday morning as well. I was eyeing all the weather stuff as well. Looks promising

I just looked them up. Stuff looks nice and nicely priced. Ahhh ok. Yeah wouldn’t like the reel making noise lol. I can’t stand the dc reel sounds

While I have done it a long time ago. A MH spinning rod is always gonna be a tad light for frogs. Not only the rod but the way a spinning reel works. A baitcaster is more of a winch. Are you fishing really open water? Or a lot of cover?

That’s what I wanted to hear. Thank you!

Exactly I wana be able to enjoy fishing. Not constantly fix something. I can have this thing uncovered and hooked to the truck and battery and gas tank put in. In about 10 mins and off to the lake. It doesn’t need buffed. Polished, scrubbed any of that. It’s just pure enjoyment.

So I’m considering replacing the bearings in my lews reels with Boca bearings or something of that style. Has anyone had good positive results after swapping them? Better casting distance? Smoother operation? Or just not worth the money?

Suffix 832 has never failed me. Neither has good old 4 strand powerpro. I’ve used both for years and years. No need to over think it

No real changes to the tin rig. Planning to refresh the black paint inside the boat and replace the old green carpet with brown carpet this winter. ( I like the old school colors) motor could use new fuel lines and clamps they are stiff as a board. When I do those I’ll throw plugs and a fuel pump on it too. And change the lower unit oil when I winterize it. I considered painting the outside of the boat but honestly don’t think I care that much how the outside looks. I can’t see it from the inside fishing lol. But it’s getting me on a lot of fish. Here’s a pic from Saturday morning just because.

Thanks! Yeah it’s doing a pretty good job for sure.

I’m absolutely with @Pat Brown on this. My PB fish have always been caught on extremes. Dead middle of the afternoon 2pm bluebird sky’s when it’s 95 degrees, 38 degrees with 20 mph winds. Gotta be there when the others will not. I’m also a big believer in early early times. Like watching the sun break the horizon early. And I believe the big girls only bite once a year. That fish didn’t get huge by being dumb. They don’t feed like smaller buck bass. She’s not willing to possibly make her last mistake for a lackluster presentation. You have to be dialed in and present whatever lure perfect

Was the second one out on the lake today. Got there and in the water at 5:45. First cast caught a dink on the buzzbait. Worked the weed line and pockets down one side of the lake. Lost count and caught some really nice fish in the 2.5-4 pound range. They destroyed a buzzbait for the first 2 hours. I need to get more of this model bass pro buzzbait. Missed one that hit it like a missle coming out of the water. That would have been a good fish. Left early at about 9 place was packed out. When you are counting 20 something boats on a 270 acre lake it’s a lot lol. Only one bass fishing as far as I could tell all crappie guys.

I believe so. The things are a winch if locked down. Gen 2 or 3