stk44

How many guys that fish 200+ days are still married? I'll compile a list and plan on interviewing the top three.

Good to know. The perch I caught off one on arthur last weekend choked that tube. That was my first shut out at arthur all year.

For a crankbait rod, I would get something in the 6'10" to 7' range with a medium power and a moderate action. I fish out of a kayak and I have a 7'4" MM mojo bass glass, it handles lipless cranks, squarebills, and medium divers really well, up to but not including DT-10 or similar cranks. It's a little hard to snap grass off your lure with the longer rod medium powered rod, so I think a 6'10 or 7' would be better OR you could always bump your rod up to a MH-M if you plan on ripping the cranks over grass. WHEN you are ready for another rod, I would get a heavy powered rod (Dobyns 705 champ is perfect) in the 7' range for 3/8 and 1/2 oz jigs, pitchin, and t-rigs.

60 - 70 days per year. 10-16 hours per week. I'm done for the year. Below 45 degrees and increasing wind gusts make it unsafe in my kayak.

Wouldn't the active bass want to hang out in those spots then?

I was fishing in cold water yesterday. The water surface temperature was 40 degrees while fishing the main lake. I fished 2 main lake points and a ledge for about 3 hours a piece with Spoons, jigs, 2.5" tubes, and jerk baits. After having no luck on the points and ledges, I started looking for the closest man made structure to these points/ledges. I started targeting Porcupine cribs and Jr. Cribs. I marked one crib in 15 feet of water in a cove that drops off into some deeper water. I dropped a marker buoy and picked apart the area with a tube. I did catch one perch, but I'm starting to question the fish holding capabilities of these cribs. Are these good spots for bass? What about in winter?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving. Hopefully you didn't buy too much. TW is 20% tomorrow...

Thanks for the tips. In the fall I've chased the shad into the backs of the creek arms and I've caught some nice 3-4 lb fish. Over the last few weeks, the water temperature has dropped from 55 degrees to around 45 degrees (surface temp.) Do the shad eventually go back out into the main lake or do they stay in the backs of creeks for winter? I know most years there will be a shad die off, but I don't know at what point that occurs. Ok, great. Thanks for the help. Do you usually keep the fish icons turned on? I wonder if that would help me out.

This might be a stupid question but if I don't ask I'll never know for sure: Screen shot 1 would be an unorganized school and screen shot number 2 would be organized? And the reasoning behind this would be an unorganized school is currently being ambushed by predatory fish while an organized school may be regrouping with predatory fish hanging out until they get hungry again? The side imaging screen shots are awesome, I just don't have that type of technology yet. I'm not even sure what I'm looking at in the last screen shot I would guess anywhere between a black hole or some fish. Spring 2018... until then, no bass boat, no fancy sonar... AJ, I don't think this thing does that

The only use my sonar for me is solely as a depth finder. If I'm fishing a weed line or a point, I will tie on the appropriate lure based on my reading. My go to spot this weekend is going to be a long tapering point that goes into 20-22 feet of water. Will that be a good depth for my sonar to be used effectively? In short, would you say unless I see a ball of baitfish, don't even bother to stop and fish unless it is a likely spot to hold bass? Also, what about individual fish arches , should I ever stop to fish those? As always, thank you for the help.

I have some 1/2 oz spoons I might try out. I'm not sure if that is considered a blade bait or not. If I don't anchor the kayak I will drift out of position rather quickly, but I won't anchor if I can get away with it. You're right about the water temp. It's a risk I take, but me being miserable and not fishing is a lot riskier. In all seriousness though, I take every precaution to stay as safe as I possibly can. I wear a life jacket, with a whistle attached. I always have a buddy with me below 50 degrees and usually don't kayak alone anyways. I have extra clothes in a dry bag in case I fall in. One thing I've noticed most everyone post is to look for the fish lines Moving towards baitfish. Why do some people tell you to look for the fish arches then?

That sounds more like my style. I have some 5/8 6th sense 75's that can handle that well. That sounds good, It's always a little more complicated out of a kayak because I have to drop a buoy, re-position my boat and throw out the anchor, which doesn't sound like much but... it's always more complicated in a kayak. I would at least like to get some experience out of the kayak though. I have a plans to get a bass boat in the Spring of 2018, can't wait. I'm going to give this a shot this weekend. The fish are more than likely in their winter pattern's so I won't be too disheartened if I don't connect with any. I was still catching them last weekend in 47 degree water so hopefully I can get lucky. I really appreciate the help, and I always enjoy the feedback!

Thanks for the info. Do you slowly crawl the RES on the bottom or do you yo-yo it? I don't have much confidence in yo-yo-ing lipless cranks, but if that's what you mean, I'll definitely give it a try. In general, would you target these schools with a crank bait, and if there are no active feeders move on? Or do you do another passing run with a slower moving bait like a T-rig? Great- that is a confidence booster for me right there. I have a hard time visualizing what I can't see, but that definitely helps. This will be a little easier for me. I currently fish out of a kayak only. sounds simple enough- thanks The lake I fish is about 3,000 acres and it is fertile. only in shallow water after turnover can I usually see baitfish unless they are in the top 6 inches of the water column or busting the surface. Thanks for the help!

1.Primarily gizzard shad and alewife. I meant if I mark tons of baitfish all day, how do I know which spots to hit and which ones to skip. thanks sounds good Thanks for the help

Finding the bait fish is a very basic concept that I tend over-complicate in deeper water. I usually look shallow, and if I see a good bit of bait fish, I will fish the closest structure or cover nearby. I have a hard time when the bait fish are in deeper water, which for me is >12 feet. So basically, I either have a problem: reading sonar (I've researched all the screenshots and articles I could find), effectively fishing deeper water, or both. I'm using a Garmin echo 150, which is a portable, gray-scale sonar that I use on my kayak. It's not the best, but it's better than nothing. I don't ever recall spotting something worthwhile on my sonar, dropping a marker buoy, and catching a bass. This is something I would like to improve next year. Here are a few questions that I have: If I find bait fish, how do I know they aren't just passing by? How do I know if I should stop and fish an area that I've marked on my graph? What are some techniques to figure out if you are on an active school of bass before wasting too much time? How much time should you spend before you move on? I would appreciate any input on how I can improve this for next year.

Those are both fat fish. Congrats! I don't believe I've ever caught 20 bass in one outing. Trout is another story. I wish I got into bass fishing a LOOONG time ago...I have A LOT of catching up to do.

Thanks. I'll pick up a bottle of simple green and give that a shot.

Thanks. I wonder why the factory added grease to the bearings? They may have applied grease liberally elsewhere and it just happened to get on the clutch too. If I remove all the grease with a lint free towel then soak it in rubbing alcohol, would that be sufficient? Thank you very much for the help.

So....no refund, but they said keep the stx and they will send me a revo rocket for free. Kinda cool, it has the same anti-reverse clutch as the previous, but I guess it's better than nothing. I asked if this was a common issue and they said the only thing they could think was maybe it was too cold for the anti-reverse to work (it was 29 degrees that day.)Is there any validity to this? It definitely didn't make sense to me. It's not like these parts would shrink when cold and cause slippage or anything...

Well, I'm still on the hunt. I went out Saturday morning through afternoon. Coooold morning but it was sunny with no wind. Water was 45-49 degrees. I was still able to put 3 in the boat, but they are getting pretty sluggish. My best of the day 3 lb 6 oz. This ones head definitely was oversized compared to the body. I'm not sure how active they will be by next weekend so I may punch out to the main lake of the bays continue to slow down.

I'm asking for my money back. I doubt they will comply, but if they do, I'm buying a stradic. I still love the LP Revo's, I just have no faith in the spinning line.

I don't think I've ever fished that one. I'll probably give it a shot next year. The bass are still hitting SB's and lipless cranks in 45-49 degree water, so I don't plan on trying that thing out anytime soon.

This is the second time I've used the newly replaced Stx, it is backreeling worse than the other one.... what is going on?!? Anyone had this issue before?

That's a great idea. I've never used a foregrip before, but I would imagine it would take a lot of stress of the wrist and forearm.