Hawkeye21

With it being this early you may need to slow it down even more than you're use to. May have to leave a work lay there with a couple twitches occasionally. I'm not having any luck here in Iowa but I've also never fished open water this early in the year before. It's tough.

I bought a Columbia light weight jacket that rolls up inside of it's own pocket for packing away. I've had it a few years not and it's still in perfect shape. I think that cost about $30. The pants I bought were like $20 and work well too. They're both light weight like wind breakers but they are water proof. They have held up just fine but you would need to wear warmer clothes underneath if it's cold out. Don't let anyone tell you that you need to buy the heavy duty guide wear type stuff in order for it to last. You can keep dry on a budget and it will last as well.

Every year my goal is to fish more. I want to get out on my kayak more especially on new lakes and on the Mississippi. I want to learn how to locate bass on the Mississippi River better. Would like to get better at using big jigs. Would like to try the drop shot this year. Need to improve on using the Ned Rig. Want to beat my personal best. Just improve as a fisherman overall.

That seems pretty obvious, the type that keeps you from getting wet. Are you looking for something light or something for colder temps? I just have a cheap pair of water proof pants and a cheap water proof jacket. They are pretty light so I would need to where a sweatshirt under it to stay warm. The only purpose of them for me is to just keep my clothes dry. You can spend a lot of money and get some heavy duty gear but I don't think you need to have it.

Wait... people quit using braid just because they got cut by it? You guys are missing out. I can't imagine you quit using hooks just because you got stuck with one as well.

The Pelican Catch 120 has plenty of room.

Since I'm in a kayak I will troll while moving to a new location. Since I'm only going about 2mph I might as well have a lure in the water while I'm paddling. No reason to waste any fishing time.

I was able to get my kayak out for the first time yesterday. Parts of the lake were still froze but there was plenty of room for me to go. Water temp was 43. I never got a single bite but was out there to just spend time on my kayak and didn't expect to catch anything.

If they are bass jumping then I'd be throwing some top water lures for sure.

I use it similarly as a spinner. Usually I just cast it out and reel it in. I almost always have some kind of a trailer on it. Sometimes I switch it up some and change speeds. Sometimes I'll retrieve it like a yo-yo.

Strike King Red Eye Shad in Orange Craw

My favorite colors for cranks are these, Chartreuse Black Back Fire Tiger Orange Craw Other variations of craw colors Sexy Shad

It's called a loss leader item and lots of retails stores do it. You advertise a product that is of little quality that you have little stock of for a price that's at or below cost. This gets people's attention and brings them into the store. Once in the store sales people then proceed to up-sell you to the more profitable products or by the time you get that cheap product is already sold old leaving you to purchase something else. Don't forget the extended warranty too.

Going to be in the 60's here in Eastern Iowa tomorrow. I'm going fishing on the Mississippi River Saturday as it's opened up now. One of the earliest I've seen waters open here and I love it.

Looks like the same promotion as last year. I signed up last year and got the exact same lures.

Looks like I just found a connection for getting a deal on an Abu Garcia Revo SX baitcast so it looks like I'll also be getting myself a new casting rod. Most likely a 7' MHF rod.

I try to have specific set ups when I start the season but as the year goes on my set ups get pretty mixed up. When I'm out fishing on my kayak and I need to switch things up I don't really care or have the option of which pole I use so I may have a bit of a jumble. My most used pole last year was a 7' MHF Berkley Lightning Rod Shock with the tip busted off so it was more like 6'6" with a Pflueger President spinning reel spooled with 15 lb braid that was on it's third season. I caught more fish on this than any other spinning or baitcast combo. My favorite lure is the Strike King Red Eye Shad in Orange Craw.

MLF is by far the best fishing show I've ever watched. There are some other shows that are alright but most just feel like a long infomercial.

I've read some posts from past years about Scheels no longer doing it yet the person I fish with says he's been able to go in and get his replaced. I think he was able to do it with his ultra light pole last year after he accidentally fell on it.

I recommend the Pflueger President. Great reel for the price and has a history for being dependable.

1. Senko worm 2. Locally made inline spinner 3. Colorado blade spinner 4. Lipless crank bait 5. Square bill crank bait 6. Chatterbait 7. Flicker shad 8. Shad rap 9. Frog 10. Sinker, hook and worm.

I've always been afraid to spend a lot of money on a rod just because of how fragile they can be sometimes. Every year is seems I break a rod by accident or actually from fishing. Usually I just buy a $50-$60 rod or I keep using my broken one if it's just the snapped off. I lot of people I know have been getting some high end rods and custom rods and they tell me how much better they are. I think I'm finally going to splurge and get something nicer. It won't be a crazy amount but definitely more than what I'm use to. I'm thinking something in the $150 to $250 range. One of the guys I fish with a lot uses Scheels rods a lot and likes them. He lives close to a Scheels and he's always had great luck returning them if one breaks. The exchange warranty is really the main selling point for me. If I'm going to spend around $200 on a rod I want to know I can get it replaced at the store if it breaks. Do any of you have any opinions or experience with Scheels rods?

I will admit that I've bought a few lures based on what a pro was using. I don't usually go by what they promote on TV but read articles that discuss how they won tournaments. After reading how KVD won a tourney mostly using a chartreuse, black back square bill crank bait I made sure I had one in my tackle box. This was one time that it really paid off because I've caught a ton of fish on that one lure. Other than that I usually will look to see what types of lures they are using and the techniques. I don't really care about what brand it is because I'm not always willing to spend the money on their brand. I'll find a similar style lure from another brand that's more affordable and use it.

I just watched this video last week and it was by far the most informative and helpful video I've seen. I learn more in the first 15 minutes than I ever have before.

I'm pretty sure you can link two HDI units together if all you're doing is sharing waypoints.