blckshirt98

The state-level fish and game agencies do a good job of resource management, you can see it with the fishing and hunting opportunities available now. Where it gets kind of dodgy are at the federal level where it's often lobbyists and politics that have heavy influence that may not have everyone's best interest and welfare in mind. Even at the local level I see a lot of differences in management, for example in the East Bay and Contra Costa County, the water districts there stock and emphasize the recreation value of their lakes and try to market and draw in visitors, while in Santa Clara county the water district sees fisherman as an annoying nuisance and if they had their way would drain the reservoirs dry and kill off all the fish even though other options are available.

Because that's not to be confusing as sh**. I checked a local map and it looks like San Luis Reservoir/Forebay are the only local waters I really ever fish, but I can see some other parts of the country where there's going to be a lot of "didn't know this was federal land" fines being handed out.

I don't really like the narrow profile of the Swarming Hornet underspins, some trailers just don't look right once attached. Check out the Picasso Double Barrel underspins - they have a fatter head that blends in more naturally to more trailers (I used a Keitech Fat Swing Impact style trailer), and it runs great a slow retrieve with one of the lighter models. Only threw it for the first time last November, but I liked the look in the water and have it marked down for more use this upcoming year.

On a side note, cold pizza is always a luxury and maybe the best fishing food there is. Edit: And when I know it's going to be a hot day I'll force myself to drink a ton of water before leaving the house, even if I'm not thirsty. It makes a huge difference later.

Shore guy so I can't really bring any perishables. I always get a hot coffee at one of the 24 hour gas stations and they always halfway through brewing their 7 different pots fresh when I get there. Sometimes I'll grab their 3 for $1 cookies. From home I'll usually bring a Clif Bar or a pack of Belvitas from Costco, and beef jerky as well. The Perky Jerky is good but my favorite is the Krave Black Cherry BBQ Pork. If I plan on staying for a long time I'll usually pack a sandwich or two with mustard, and bury them in my backpack so they stay cool. For fluids I always just bring a 32 oz water bottle that I fill with plain ol' tap water but if it's a really hot day I'll bring a cooler with extra water or coconut water and just leave it in the car to drink when I get back.

I tend to buy anything with strong reviews that are on sale, but I do have a preference to brands. For reels I like to stick with Shimano, but do have a few Abus and Daiwas mixed in. No Lew's or Pflueger's though I know they both get great reviews and recommendations. For rods I started out with a preference for Shimanos, but after their warranty change I became a big fan of Phenix and St. Croix. I've got a few one-offs from other companies as well but Phenix and St. Croix. If all my fishing stuff got stolen and I had to start from scratch, I'd stick with Shimano reels, and Phenix/St Croix rods. I did read a pro write somewhere that you should try to stick with one brand so you can get familiar with how to cast/adjust it since there are differences between brands. This makes sense in the way that when you drive your car you get familiar with it where it feels like an extension of yourself and you can drive it almost with your eyes closed; and then if you have to drive say a rental car, it feels foreign when you first drive in how it accelerates/where the features are/adjusting the mirrors/etc.

The big chains I've been to have never carried the high end rods. BPS is 80% in-house brand rods, they don't even carry all of the rods they have in their catalogue. I'm guessing it's because like people have said it doesn't move quickly and they can't have all this money tied up in inventory that won't sell that they'll just have to mark down when the newer stuff comes out. I've always had better luck at the local tackle shops. One carries the high end Phenix/Loomis rods and even carries the Megabass Orochi and Destroyer rods for you to handle and feel.

It's always been a 4" soft plastic on a dropshot for me, though this year I might take Matt Allen's advice and throw a big ol' swimbait as soon as it's warm enough to wear shorts outside.

I'm pretty terrible where I'll keep the leftover line and wait until I cut off enough line from snags/tying knots from the reel I spooled to require more line to fill up the spool. This can take a couple of seasons depending on how often I use the combo but I'll then just run a double-uni and spool on more line from the rest of the spool.

You can always remove the line guide and spool it by hand like the saltwater guys do.

I'm no Rat-L-Trap expert but I use one when I need to fish a crankbait either when it's cold, or, when I need a relatively straight retrieve without much wandering but still want the crankbait vibration. I've heard/read the really tight wobble of the Rat-L-Trap is good when it's colder and fish are less active so I've had some success with it in the late fall. I've also tried throwing it when trying to thread the needle between closely spaced vegetation. No luck there yet but it's an option I've tried and I'll probably try again at some point. I've still caught enough bass in the few times I've tied it on that I bring one with me whenever I go out.

Thanks for the group setup! FLW is usually www.fantasyfishing.com but right now it's going to the FLW home page. I see the link for Fantasy Fishing on their home page so I'm wondering if it's just too early in the season and they don't have the fantasy site up yet.

There are no Cabela's near me, but I've found of the best deals around in their Bargain Cave. Important thing is to check often because a heavily discounted quality item will usually be sold out in a day or two.

Is anyone else a little disappointed that there are so few Wikipedia pages for pro fisherman? There's a small handful of the big names but for the most part you need to go to the Elite or FLW or an angler's social media to find out any information or history about them. Anybody here a wiki editor that's able to create some pages for some of the pros? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_fishers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Fishers_by_nationality

Awesome recap, glad you got to marshal all three days and experience that epic weekend at Mille Lacs!

I do the Bassmaster and FLW ones each year, for both sites you can just make one fantasy team and join as many groups as you like, we just need someone to create a Bassresource group on each site and let us know the group name/number and password to join.

How many people with boats drive without their kill switch hooked up? A friend of mine uses his uncle's boat and says he never attaches the kill switch while he's driving the boat.

People who don't throw away their own trash is a pet peeve of mine. This goes back to when I was in 8th grade as a timekeeper for my junior high school's basketball games. The scorekeeper who was a parent of one of the players was eating a candy bar. After the game as I was leaving I put on my vest that I had hung on the back of my chair, put my hand into the pockets, and found his candy wrapper. What kind of an a**hole parent puts his trash into the vest of a 13 year old. So yeah, take care of your own trash.

Drop shot or a neko rig!

In California or other states where there's a hook limit, just replace three of the five spots where you're supposed to attach a hooked swimbait with a Centering Pin - https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Eagle_Claw_Lazer_Sharp_Springs_for_Soft_Plastics_8pk/descpage-ECSP.html?from=BASRES https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Owner_CPS_Spring/descpage-OCPSS.html?from=basres and attach a swimbait by the nose and it'll be legal.

Another option instead of paying more for Zerust or special tackle rustproofing features, just buy some dessicant on Amazon in bulk, and just toss a couple into your Plano/Flambeau/anything you want to keep moisture down.

I use 8 or 10# Seaguar InvisX too, it should be the crimp on the brand of dropshot weight you're using. Switch to a different brand and you should be fine.

Some crimps tend to cut line easy, other crimps offer some resistance then lets the line fit snug. What # test are you using? I buy my dropshot weights in bulk from eBay sellers, they use the gunmetal/nickel finish crimps that seem to work getter than the brass/gold crimps that I've had issues with cutting line. You also might want to go to a heavier line on your dropshot, I use 8# and don't see any issues with declining strikes. One other thing with the cylinder weights is that some people will bend them into a ) shape with pliers to make it less likely to hang up.

Check out 6th Sense - made in America, Japanese quality, domestic price.

Guy who works at the local tackle shop throws crankbaits a la Keith Combs 365 days a year, even when it's freezing cold, and catches them. If cranking is fun for you, gets you out on the water, keeps you there, and catches you fish, no need to branch out too much.