Junk Fisherman

This was something I thought of after posting. Not only fish at night but around the full moon. Throw that big black spinnerbait or big jig and pig in the middle of the night on the July full moon.

Fish big bass baits- jigs and big swimbaits are my recommendations. Also, you gotta be out in early spring. Once you get to postspawn it will be tough to get that PB (7+ lb Minny bass) till the fall. Good luck.

I used to struggle with wind knots but ever since I started tying a shorter leader (knot stays out of the reel), I have basically eliminated wind knots. I do tie longer leaders on dropshot rigs because like PGA said, DSs eat up line. For baitcasters I always want the knot out of the reel. And I've caught enough big carp, catfish, and lake trout on my spinning rigs that I don't even question my knots anymore. FG knot when tying at home and an Alberto when retying on the water.

YGK Sinking Braid with a fluoro leader (Gamma Edge 6 lb) on my spinning rigs (A+ performance especially on Ned, Nekos, DS, finesse swimbaits, ect). Straight fluoro on baitcasters for plastics and jigs (Seaguar Abaxiz 15-17 lb). I like the sensitivity and abraison resistance of fluorocarbone for these applications. I use P-Line Fluoroclear for jerks, cranks, and bladed jigs/spinnerbaits (casts very well and cheap; never use this line for stuff on the bottom). Big Game mono for topwater (reliable and cheap). PP Braid for frogs and punching. I'm pretty satisfied with my setup. I have been experimenting with braid/leader on baitcasters for plastics and jigs but I fall back to straight fluoro if I'm fishing a tournament. I like using Big Game and Flouroclear since I'll change it often since it's so cheap. So am I using fluoro or any of my lines because pros are? Not really. I experiment and stick with what works. This setup works for me. It would take recommendations from someone reliable to get me to experiment with something new.

I think my prime is still to come. While my physical peak is behind me, we all know fishing success is about knowledge. I am definitely a better fisherman now than I was 5, 10, 15 years ago. And with learning technology better, I feel I am only going to improve. I feel my prime will be between the ages of 60-75 when I am retired and I can spend time learning lakes better and when I can fish any day I want to.

That's the 203 Cougar. The 203 Hybrid has the hull of the old 203 Champion which is considered one of the best bass boat hulls for rough water ever. I fish a lot of big water so that was very important to me. I did a lot of research on the Stealth and it is probably the most reliable engine on the market. (Some people will say it's Yamaha but after the issues I had with my previous Yamaha, I definitely was going in a different direction.) But reading reviews and comments from marine shops that serviced Suzukis, it was near unanimous that owners loved their motors and very few issues were reported. There was a marine shop in the northwest that said they NEVER had a warranty claim on a Stealth in their shop. I had 3 on my Yamaha F175. And yeah- the black matte finish with matching black matte Powerpoles work for me!

Picked it up Friday! I'm running a 25" Fury on the Suzuki per Rick Pierce's recommendation. The engine is so quiet. I had a Yamaha gray 4-stroke and this Suzuki is considerably quieter while running. The side picture doesn't really do the colors justice. In the sunlight, the gray and navy blue sparkle. Looking forward to getting the motor broken in and letting the ponies gallop! Compared to my deep V this thing feels like a rocket ship! It definitely puts a smile on my face.

I've thought about this a lot and my disdain for hot weather and love of big water smallmouth makes my choice quite easy- Northern Michigan specifically outside Traverse City. This will give me 1-day access to the world class fisheries of Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Charlevoix, Torch Lake, and a half dozen other great lakes. Plus, Burt and Mullet are about 1.5 hours away. So with big water smallies and largemouth in smaller waters, I should be quite content. Plus, you have lakers, musky, and a variety of other species if you want to chase those. Obviously, I don't want to live there year around but I plan to live there from April till about early November when I retire. Take a big trip south in early February to probably Florida while I keep my home base around Chicago because of my wife and kids. That's my plan. 8 more years.

Not to be difficult but why does it really matter if you are fishing for fun? I don't weigh anything unless it's over 4 lbs. I keep track mentally what kind of weight my top 5 would total but if I'm off a little, no big deal. Generally speaking a 15"-16" bass is 2ish lbs, an 18" bass is 3+ lbs, a 19" is pushing 4 and 20" is getting close to 5 and depending on health and time of the year we all know it varies. A Rapala high contrast digital scale does a great job and it keeps track of your weights.

My suggestion is to not try a high-end rod. For years I was satisfied with St Croix Avids and Dobyns Champions and then I treated myself to a Daiwa Steez. I have now sold all my Avids and most of my Dobyns and I have 4 Steez rods, 2 GLXs, and a NRX+. To answer the OP's question, for rods it's probably in the $200-$250 range. A Steez, NRX+, or highend Megabass rod is likely 25% to 33% better in terms of sensitivity and lightness than those $200 rods but it is 3 times more expensive. From a pure value standpoint, the less expensive rod is the better value but as someone who is passionate about my equipment, I'm willing to pay for high end performance.

100% I am always wearing ear buds and would never play music in the boat while fishing. I have a pair of After Shock headphones that I wear while biking that allows you to hear background noise.

I always am listening to something by the end of the day. If I get out at daylight, I don't allow myself to listen to anything till 9 AM. Listening to some entertaining podcasts once I start getting a little bored will make the day much more enjoyable. Sports, politics, and entertainment podcasts are what I listen to. I'll listen to music when I am running the big motor.

A better question for me would be what is a type of lure you have a lot of but rarely throw: Cranks: square bills, mid, deep- all of them. Rattling Baits: Kinda like my cranks. I have a bunch of them but I don't use them very often anymore. Swimjigs: I just always pick something else- spinnerbaits, chatterbaitss, swimbaits Topwater: I have about 5 that I throw 99% of the time. I have a packed tray of them and most have never been tied on. Jigs: I have a tray of them but rarely throw them.

I've had a 14'er with a deck and a trolling motor and I caught a ton of fish in that little thing. I have a kayak nowadays and while I enjoy it, it doesn't really compare to standing in a boat with 4-5 rods and a bunch of tackle. Just about everything is more difficult in a kayak from boat positioning to retying to netting fish to skipping docks ect, ect. Now I know some kayaker is going to say he can do all that in his kayak. Sure, but not as well and not as easily. And we know that a jon boat or V hull is going to be safer. Granted, you have experience as a kayaker so you'd definitely know what you're getting into. Good luck with your decision and I look forward to reading about your adventures!

Boat 99% of the time. I do want to use my kayak a few times this year. 95% boat and 5% kayak would be ideal.

I know I posted this before but this was the video that taught me how to tie the FG. I had tried a bunch of other videos and had bought the FG Knot Assist Tool but nothing really worked (I am a knot-challenged fisherman). I've tied about 25 knots this winter using this technique and I am confident in it. True test comes next month.

Spinning combos stay intact. For baitcasting I will move reels around on occasion.

July is a great time to go to Door County. It's not as good as May but the fish are very active and still shallow in July. My club has been taking trips to Door Co during the 3rd week of July for the last 15 years. If I don't have a 15 lb bag, I'm disappointed. Our winners are usually 20+ lbs. We had a 26 lb bag two years ago.

Sounds like a plan! We'll keep in touch.

You use all that fancy stuff while I mostly stick to Z Man and Max Scent! I need to up my game!

Rods: 1) Daiwa Tatula Elite AGS Spinning Rod TTEL761MLFS-AGS: Hair Jigs, Finesse Swimbaits (Sparkshads, 3" Keitechs), Finesse Underspins (Sneaky Underspins) 2) G Loomis 902 NRX+ Purchased last fall but only used on 1 trip: Neko rigs, wacky Senkos, tubes, shakey heads; I have a 1st edition Steez 761 and that rod and the 902 will be used with a lot of overlapping presentations. I haven't used the 902 enough to designate it to a certain presentation yet. Reels 1) Daiwa Zillion SV TW G 100: Will become my #1 plastics/Sleeper reel; to be paired with a 7'3 MH Steez rod 2) 2 Tatula 3000: One to replace a retiring reel (Emblem X 2500) and the other to put on the Tatula above I also ordered a really big tackle box too. How say you?

We're just the opposite. I had a deep V, multispecies boat with a lot of floor space but went back to a bass boat for several reasons. #1 I did not like being so high up. Fishing shallow cover and working certain baits like jerkbaits was much more difficult in the deep V. While I do fish smallmouth more than largemouth, I was at a major disadvantage fishing largemouth tournaments. #2 While my deep V is better in rough water, I am cautious when deciding to fish in big water. In my 9 years of owning my deep V, I was only caught 3 times in big water that made me happy I was in my deep V over a bass boat. 2 of the 3 times I would not have gone out in a bass boat. #3 I wanted a wider, bigger front deck. We all know there is no perfect boat and they'll be times I wish I had my deep V. Hope your boat is treating you well.

Door Co Wisconsin in July is very good. Lots of guides. Most wives really like the area. While I've never been there, Big Bay de Noc is on my bucket list and July is when I'd go.

Wow! I did not think I would stumble onto a topic like this when I came here this morning. An AI discussion AND the mentioning of cognitive dissonance? Yes please! I'm not much of a jerkbait fisherman so I don't have much to offer in that regard other than I found the OP's post very interesting. In terms of AI, it is just a tool as BH stated BUT it is an incredibly useful tool that people would be wise to use. Obviously, it is not infallible but it is a wonderful starting point and can make people more efficient and productive. As an educator, it is easily the most useful tool I have come across in 25 years of teaching. But I use it in all areas in life and am continually amazed at what it can do for us.

I haven't found that leader line is noticiably better than bulk line for leaders. I've used a number of different fluoro lines for leaders and Gamma Edge in 6 lb is the best I have found. It has the diameter of most other lines' 8 lb.