Junk Fisherman

My last wet cell Duracell Batteries from Sam's Club lasted me 7 seasons. I was so pleased with these results that I replaced them with the same batteries rather than going to AGMs or lithiums. I think the key is maintaining the water levels and constantly leaving them fully charged. I check mine every month or so and refill. I have a buddy who never checks his water levels and replaces his every year. I didn't get as long on my starting battery- maybe 4 years. I did replace that with an AGM. I've always heard that 3 years was the benchmark for wet cell batteries but I've always gotten more years than that.

Rarely But I almost always use a trailer hook

Advantages 1) I have a multi-species boat that effectively fishes like a bass boat. It has all the amenities of a tournament boat with FFS. I also have a 9.9 motor I can put to fish HP-restricted lakes. I also own a non-pedal, fishing kayak. 2) As a teacher, I have a lot of time off to fish compared to the average working adult. 3) I have no family or financial concerns that impact my fishing. Within reason, I can pretty much fish anytime I am off work. Disadvantages 1) The water around me is heavily pressured with tournaments on most weekends. I keep a spreadsheet of all the local tournaments and avoid them at all costs. I have a couple small sleeper lakes I'll fish on the weekend but I need my kayak for most of those. This has become a much bigger problem over the last 5 years. I'm not a fan of the "Grow the Sport" mantra. 2) This is more of a "me" problem but I don't have any close fishing friends. All it takes is one good fishing friend to help inspire and motivate you. My dad would always go with me and listen to my stories but since he's passed I am always fishing solo. 3) Living in the Midwest, my fishing season ends around Thanksgiving and doesn't start back up till March 1.

My plans for 2025 are shaping up quite nicely. I decided to rejoin my bass club after a 2-year hiatus. I plan to fish the majority of the tournaments. The club made a couple changes that made it a lot more attractive to me; #1 Travel tournaments only consist of a Sunday tournament. This is great since I don't feel the need to necessarily take Friday off to prefish. #2 Our state man team will be determined by our top 6 events not the entire schedule and all our meetings. In the past, if you knew you were going to miss a couple events and meetings, you knew you had no chance for the state team. Now, you can overcome that if you do well at the events you fish. Besides all that, I have a great schedule lined up with club events (great schedule), a spring break trip to southern Illinois (there are actually some good lakes in Illinois that fish great in the spring), a week-long, summer trip to Door Co, WI for smallmouth, and all my local fishing where I have done very well the last few years. I don't plan on taking a trip to Grand Traverse Bay in June as I've done for the last 10 years due to be very busy with club events and a family vacation. I do have a small window I could squeeze it in if the weather forecast is perfect but that is probably unlikely. And I'm really looking forward to fishing locally. I often do better fishing my local waters during the week than I do when I drive hours away to some hot lake that I don't have much knowledge of. In terms of fishing, my plans are to be more focused and prepared with a well thought-out gameplan. I've been winging it the last couple years just fishing confidence baits and the spots I've always fished. I haven't really learned any new techniques and don't really feel that I've gotten much better. Fishing tournaments again will force me to prepare more and actively try to learn new techniques to gain an advantage on my opponents. I don't have any specific goals about big fish or placement in tournaments. If I am prepared, focused, and give 100% while on the water which are things I control, then the results are just part of the process. I can't control the results.

I always keep an empty plastic coffee container in my livewell. It works for a variety of functions.

When I compile this list, most of it is due to changing from being a weedy lake largemouth fisherman to a Great Lakes smallmouth guy over the last 10 years or so. Wacky Senkos (I have started throwing a heavy Neko a lot though) Swim jigs Pitching plastic (Used to be my most preferred fishing style but I fish for smallies so much that I have gotten away from it.) Topwater (Topwater for Great Lakes smallies just isn't much of a thing. Used to be a main part of my fishing, especially buzzbaits, when I primarily fished for largemouth.) Shakey head (End up throwing a Ned, Neko, or dropshot instead) Tubes (10-12 years ago all my big smallies came on tubes. Not anymore. Still throw a Stupid Tube in the weeds for largemouth)

Thanks. I haven't thrown a tube that much in the last few years. It used to be a staple for me. I'll have to give it a shot next year. Thanks for the tip.

1) Dropshots and Neds continue to be my best techniques. I've started throwing spinnerbaits more often both burning them for smallies and in the wind for largemouth. Neko rigs especially in deep water are becoming a bigger part of my arsenal and one is always tied on. 2) This is the problem with my year- I didn't branch out and try many new techniques. I definitely need to prepare and have a better gameplan next season. 3) Overall, my season was average to below average. I didn't take my spring trip because of poor weather and actually had to replace my trailer in the spring so I was limited to my kayak for most of April and May. My trips to Michigan in early June and July were disappointing. However, I did well locally and had some excellent days.

7'6 ML for Neds and M for DS My main DS weight is 3/8 so I go with a little stronger rod. I definitely prefer longer rods. 7'4" to 7'6". 7'6 MML Daiwa Steez (The One) is fantastic for both of these applications along with most other smallmouth spinning techniques.

I had 56 temps in my river last weekend. It'll be colder tomorrow but they'll be active. I can still catch them till it gets down into the low 40s. That's when I go fish for lakers or go hiking.

This is a tough one since I don't think you really learn that much unless you are on the water applying and gaining confidence in what you've read and watched. But I will spend my time this winter organizing, planning, and researching. FFS/Daiki rigs, free rigs, hover strolling, and hair jigs are all techniques I'd like to experiment with. My problem is that I'll get on the water and instantly revert back to my confidence baits. Being organized with a well thought out plan is where I'm going to start. I need to rig up these baits and have them ready to go so when next March comes, I'm ready.

I'm not so sure about that- at least in my neck of the woods. A couple of the big tournament spots around me have significantly less fishermen when there aren't any tournaments going on. Spring is an exception since everyone is itching to get out but the water is definitely more empty in the summer and fall when there are not any tournaments going on.

I fish for bass because it's all I really know. It's what I did with my dad as a kid growing up and I just continued on when I became an adult. When I was in my 20s I thought I was going to move up and fish bigger and bigger tournaments until I realized I didn't want to spend the time and money to be competitive. After being a low participation bass club guy for years I took a couple years off and missed it. I didn't miss the crowded ramps and fishing busy waters on tournament day but rather everything else that went along with it- the preparation, the planning, the travel tournaments, the meetings, working fishing shows and talking fishing, ect. ect. A couple months ago I rejoined my club and plan to fish everything next season. And I'm not doing it for the tournaments as much as just wanting to be part of something fishing related.

Like I posted earlier, this was my first concern when I read 21' 250 HP and first boat. It's not fishing or even driving the boat that is the problem it is all the other things. Backing the boat into the garage, towing, launching, docking your boat, loading your boat in a breeze or with current- these are all potential areas to have little accidents. And all repairs on a glass boat are expensive. As a boater/fisherman, there are so many opportunities to make a little mistake that ends up costly. These are just things you learn over time. As someone who has had a boat for over 20 years, it wasn't until I had a couple boats and made several mistakes before I really started feeling confident in my ability to own a new boat and not beat it up. Maybe you're more careful or take care of your things better than me but I know I would have beat the hell out of a big bassboat when I was an unexperienced boater in my 30s. Thankfully, I had a used tin boat for a while before getting a new fiberglass boat and things have gone relatively smooth. In terms of maintenance, you can rely on your marine shop or just follow the owners manual. There are Youtube videos for everything. Good luck.

In the summer, I will often have 2-3 different drop shot setups rigged with different sized hooks for different baits. Plus, I lose so many dropshots in Lake Michigan around Chicago due to all the jagged concrete and manmade breakwalls that I usually have at least two prerigged setups if I think dropshotting will be a big part of my day. Besides a dropshot, I have had multiple Neds, spinnerbaits, and pitching baits rigged at various times when those were the patterns I was getting bit on. However, besides the dropshot this is rare for me.

A couple questions: 1) What is your experience with boats in general? Buying a 21' 250 HP bassboat can be daunting to operate and maintain if you don't have much experience. There is definitely a learning curve with many operating procedures such as towing, backing, and docking. Little mistakes end up costing alot especially with fiberglass boats. You don't want to spend 75K or so on a beautiful boat and beat it up due to a lack of experience. I speak from my own experience and issues I've had as an inexperienced boater. Spending less and learning on a used boat should be a consideration. 2) From a financial standpoint, if the election and possible fluctuations in the stock market impact your decision then you probably shouldn't be buying such an expensive toy. Once again, gettting a used boat for half the price looks like a good solution. 3) Do you plan on fishing tournaments? Is the 21' boat because of your 2 kids and wanting more space? The reason I ask is because from a value standpoint bassboats are way overpriced due to the demand and number of people that want to fish tournaments. If your major reason for buying the boat is to spend time with your boys, then a multi-species boat or a 19' boat would be a better value. Overall, considering this is your first boat and you have questions about the market, I'd recommend getting a used aluminum bassboat in the 19' range. You'd be getting a lot of bang for the buck and the aluminum hull makes it easier to operate and fix if you damage it. After a few seasons you can always get that fancy, glass boat and have confidence in your ability to operate it. Good luck.

I've done quite well in November over the last few years. And since tournament season is over, there are a lot less people on the water. Might even head to Clinton for a day if the weather looks favorable.

I suggest not putting the boat away yet. I'll be out several more times this year and maybe even chase some lakers on Lake Michigan.

I fall more on the spectrum that rods can be used for more presentations than the bass pros and expert articles will suggest. Location and presentation matter much more in your overall success than if your combo is ideal for the lure you are throwing. With that said, I have near perfectly-matched combos for all my confidence presentations. When you're a tackle junkie and have an arsenal similar to AJay's, you'll have well-matched rod set-ups for just about everything you throw.

I'm always prerigged with confidence baits that match the species, body of water, season, and expected water conditions. The bodies of water I fish don't have a major fluctuation with water clarity so I usually don't mess around with colors too much. Locally, I only fish 4 bodies of water and I know them quite well.

I have had better success in the sun. Some of the best days I've had have been when it was cloudy/rainy and then it passed and the sun came out.

Fluoro is the best line for those applications until you get to topwater which is definitely mono-. I have a topwater setup with mono- but everything else is either fluoro or braid. If the rod is primarily for the first 4 combos you listed then I would put fluoro on the reel and find something else to put mono- on for topwater. Sure, mono- will work for those other applications but flouro is better since it is more sensitive and most have less stretch than mono-. Good luck.

Lake Michigan I like the big water of the Great Lakes because they're beautiful, mysterious, historic, and dangerous. Plus, they have giant smallmouth bass. I enjoy fishing Lake Michigan locally, mostly Indiana waters, but I also love Green Bay and Grand Traverse Bay in Wisconsin and Michigan.

Thanks for the tip. I've been considering getting another battery just to run some electronics and take the burden off my cranker. I definitely was going the Amazon route. There is so much markup based on advertising with the well-known brands. I've read about many people having great results with knock-offs. The worst thing that will happen is that it craps out on the water and I can't use Livescope for the day. I'll live.

My Daiwa Procyon went south on me this summer (bummer!) so I had a hole in my spinning reel arsenal. American Fishing Legacy was blowing out the original Shimano Vanfords since a newer version was released this year. That's my favorite time to swoop in and get a great reel at a big discount! Shimano Vanford 3000 $181 with free shipping and no taxes. Plus I used $14 in customer loyalty points so the price was $167. That's a tidy bit of shopping IMO!