Junk Fisherman

Very nice video. I really like the point that moving smallies are following baitfish while smallies feeding on gobies and crawfish are more likely to stay in one area. This definitely matches my experience. On a side note BASS Times had an article a year or so ago that had Feider, Gustafsson, and some other BASS smallie guys discuss myths of smallmouth. It was a great article and some of the same points were discussed in this video.

Daiwa Steez 761 MML + Daiwa Tatula 3000 YGK Sol 14 lb braid + 6 Gamma Edge leader

I have a few extra rods that I keep as backups but for the most part I don't have any rods that do not get any use throughout the course of the season. I have sold rods before and have never regretted selling any of them. It is usually an excuse to buy something new which is an upgrade over what I sold. Plus, I carry a dozen or so combos so I always have a rig that can accommodate what I want to use. I've never sold something and then needed it. I say thin the herd and buy some new equipment.

Great job. Sounds like fun. I've only caught a couple on a jerkbait. It's definitely a hole in my arsenal. My favorite way to catch them is on a tube. Love setting the hook and feeling the weight and knowing you have a 4lber+.

The only problems I've had with fluoro and manageability have been when I tried 10 lb on a spinning reel. I do replace the line after a couple months. I've had 7 lb Gamma Touch on a spinning reel since March and have used it heavily and it was casting fine yesterday. If someone is having problems with fluoro I would look at the quality of line you are using, how long you are using it, how you are putting on a spinning reel, and are you overfilling a spinning reel. I've been using fluoro for years and have virtually no issues anymore.

That happened to a guy in my club too. He got a new hull as well.

A Senko has gotta be on the list somewhere.

Mango Magic and Smoke/purple are the only two colors I’ve used and I’ve caught good fish on both. The Goby color looks very similar to Mango Magic but just a little darker.

Just bought 7 bags. They have outproduced other dropshot baits since I have started using them.

I've had trailer issues and it sucks. Some was my fault, some wasn't. I feel your pain. I went years without any bearing issues with my old boat and it probably made me not respect doing preventative maintenance like I should have. Good luck.

Anyone get one this summer? What are you using it for? Can you compare it to some other rods you have? I picked up a Steez 761 MML rod last year which I love and I have really developed a lust for high-end spinning rods for my finesse fishing. Any info is appreciated.

Last year I had to use the Xpeditor service twice. Both times it was a rather easy process. For one rod it was an 843 GLX and they said it would take 3-4 months. It arrived in 2 months. So I'd be optimistic that you get that NRX before December. Good luck.

My avatar is my PB at 6.6 lb. Caught in 2015 and I was 41.

The only rods that only have 1 lure tied on are: 792 Dobyns- 4" swimbait on a 1/8 to 1/4 jighead 741 Dobyns- 3" finesse swimbait Everything else does double duty but most rods have one primary function: 742 Dobyns- dropshot 761 MML Steez- Ned (this rod has a lure weight range of 1/16 to 3/4 so I can use it for anything I throw with spinning rods but I use it for Neds 90% of the time) For casting, I have only thrown a dropshot on my 742 Dobyns casting. I specifically bought this rod for dropshotting and have never even had anything else tied on it.

I love a dropshot and fish it a lot but like others have said it wouldn't be my choice for shore fishing. If you are sticking to finesse and just learning, a 1/15th Ned rig with a green pumpkin TRD is a fish catching machine and a great place to start. You're going to catch a lot of small fish and bluegill. Hell, I have caught a lot of different species on a Ned rig. Just cast it, let it sink, watch your line, and fish it slow. If you are getting gunk from the bottom, fish it a little faster. It is a very versatile bait and can be successful with a variety of retrieves. You can do a search for Ned rig retrieves and get lots of suggestions. Good luck.

Do I still get excited about fishing? Absolutely! And I get very excited as I approach the launch to one of my favorite lakes especially if I am fishing midweek and I have the place relatively to myself. Now, I am usually not excited when I wake up at 3 AM but I have learned that if I go back to sleep I will regret it later. I have really gotten to the point where I dislike the hassle of hooking up the boat and driving to the lake but once I get there and I am out on the water, I am always happy to be there. And having a good outing gives me a sense of contentment that lasts a couple days. On a side note, I'm never excited about the few tournaments I fish. I am anxious about something going wrong, concerned about boat and fishing pressure, and a little worried about performing poorly. I enjoy the planning, prefishing, and coming up with a strategy for the day, but the night before and morning of the tournament, I am never excited and often regret even signing up. If I have a good tournament I'll feel great afterwords. I've felt this way ever since becoming a boater a few years ago and am leaning towards dropping out of my club and just sticking to fun fishing.

I have done very well fishing it on a Scrounger head dragging it along rocky bottoms. DS too but I use the Baby Z Too for that.

So the forward-facing sonar journey starts here. I have already done enough research to know I am leaning towards Garmin. I have decided to get away from Humminbird due to too many issues with their units and I know Garmin and Lowrance are basically the same technology. I'm going to go with a 9"-10" screen and it's going to be at the bow. I don't really plan to use it for navigation since I have linked Humminbird units with all my waypoints and mapping software. So which units do you recommend? Any other useful advice is appreciated. Thanks

Exactly. Many hotels will not say "boat and trailer parking available" but if you call them and ask they'll have answers. At worst, you'll have to separate your tow vehicle and trailer.

I use a light action rod for Ned rigs (1/16th oz), finesse swimbaits (3"), and hairjigs (1/16th oz). The Ned and small swimbaits are major parts of my arsenal. While a medium light power is more versatile overall, the light action is much better for casting distance with those light baits.

I have thought a lot about forward facing sonar over the last couple days. I'll be equipped next year. I can definitely see how it would make finding fish on 30' deep flats the size of football fields much easier.

I can go back and at least start to answer these questions. I found fish both shallow and deep. Water temps were around 70 and I didn't see any beds. I only caught 1 relatively big fish (4.6) in water less than 12'. I did catch a lot of smaller fish including many in the 2-4 lb range in shallower water. Fun but I was looking for bigger fish. I did have a stretch one morning of catching 15 or so smallmouth on a shallow flat just fan casting swimbaits. Light spinning rigs with 17"-18" smallies in clear, shallow water is a helluva lot of fun. Thought how it would be great to have my son with me since that experience would be enough to get anyone hooked on fishing. Deep water between 20'-30' is where I caught more big fish but it was a grind and I had a lot of stretches with no action. So much of the water I was fishing was just a barren, sandy bottom. I need to plan on how to fish these areas more efficiently. I did fish some dropoffs (10' to 30') with a lot of action with smaller fish and a couple bigger fish mixed in. Fun but not exactly what I drove 5 hours for. Overall, it was a very good trip with a lot of fish caught. I would have had limits of 15-18 lbs each day. On the Great Lakes those amounts would get destroyed in larger tournaments but considering I am a newbie at this time of the year, I'll take it. Probably 50% of my fish came on a dropshot with another 30%-40% coming on swimbaits. Tubes, Ned rigs, crankbaits, and spybaits also caught fish. Next year we are taking a longer family vacation in July so I think I'll get a guide to help me key in on the most productive patterns at this time of the year.

Good luck Darth. I never worry about getting skunked. If I fish hard and make what I feel are good decisions and get skunked- oh well. I worry about my truck and boat. Having something break or having something go wrong with the boat or truck is much worse IMO than not catching any fish. lol- I am speaking from experience on this one.

What's funny is that a buddy showed me the knot a long time ago and said it was called the "Guide's Knot." I never knew it was the Trilene knot until I described it on a Facebook Smallmouth group and a member said it sounded like the Trilene knot. That knot has been so good for me over the years. I've had issues that I've had to work through with the FG, Alberto, Double Clinch, the Palomar, and several other knots I learned but stopped using. But the Trilene knot has been a mainstay for me for over 20 years now and I don't look at knots that would replace it.

In the last 2 weeks I have had smallmouth from Lake Michigan spit up crawfish around Chicago and then again in northern Michigan 300 miles north. I was really surprised at how bright orange the crawfish were. Got me thinking....