Junk Fisherman

This is the rod that Gary Dobyns specifically designed for fishing Staycee 90. Easily my favorite jerkbait rod. Works well for lighter topwater and midlevel cranks. Anything heavier and I use a MH rod but I bought 704 specifically for jerkbaits.

While it is neat, I got some on my carpet carpet twice this year. Simply Green gets it out though. Megastrike, Gulp, and KicknBass are what I use. I always apply it to baits without any scent such as Zoom. I like to put a squirt of KicknBass in a bag of baits the night before if I anticipate using them. Megastrike always on jigs since it hangs on the skirt. I spray Gulp on my hands or a drop of KicknBass at the start of the day. Had several partners give me an odd look for doing this.

I thought I had too many rods and reels until I saw some posts in this thread. Here are my main setups. And I fish probably 50/50 smallmouth and largemouth. All of my reels are Daiwa and most of my rods are Dobyns. Since reels are mostly interchangeable, I will stick to rods only. Spinning 702 Dobyns (medium lite) shakey head, Neko, blade baits. 741 Dobyns (lite action)- Ned rig and Hair jigs. I almost always have a 1/15th oz Ned Rig tied on. 742 Dobyns (medium lite)- Dropshot, secondary Ned Rig, versatile rod 763 Dobyns (medium)- cracking tubes any other heavy spinning presentation. I bought this rod for 1/2 oz tubes that I want to throw on spinning gear. Most lures suitable for this rod I prefer to throw on a baitcaster. Until I started cracking tubes I didn't think a medium action spinning rod had a place in a bass fishing arsenal. Why not use a baitcaster instead. And I'm not one of those anti-spinning rod guys. 792 (medium lite)- 3"-4" swimbaits on a ball head jig. Love the longer length. This rod because of its length is great for tubes and dropshot in open water. Very versatile. I use this rod for jigging lake trout and it is plenty stout. Casting 843 GLoomis- (medium heavy) pitching plastics, dragging swimbaits- very versatile 844 GLoomis- (heavy) 3/8 oz pitching jigs, C-rigs, heavier T-rigs 703 Dobyns- (medium) senkos, pitching light plastics, 3.8 Keitechs 7' MH semi-fast Croix Tournament Bass- chatterbaits, swimjigs, buzzbaits, bigger topwater 704 Dobyns Crankbait rod- (medium) jerkbaits, smaller topwater, squarebills, smaller cranks 735 Dobyns (Heavy)- frogs, football head jigs, C-rigs, heavy scroungers- I have two of these rods since it covers a big part of my fishing tactics. 8' heavy BPS crankbait rod- 20' deep diving crankbaits. I'll also use this for the couple times a year I throw an A-rig. Bolded my core rods. I have a few other rods that are backups but those are main rods in my arsenal. I don't really punch mats or throw anything real, real heavy. I am not much of a crankbait guy either.

The obvious answer is that largemouth are more prevalent from sprawling reservoirs and rivers to the small lakes and ponds that can be found across America. For me, my favorite type of fishing is Great Lakes smallmouth. I love catching them on light line tactics with the spectacular fight they give. I also enjoy boating and fishing in the Great Lakes and the scenery up north in Wisconsin and Michigan where I fish is spectacular. But it also comes down to what is the best bite when I can go. Being a teacher, I have time off in the summer which matches up well to taking long trips up north for smallies. June and July fishing for Great Lakes smallies is often spectacular which makes it the bite I will chase. In the early spring I am always fishing for largemouth in the natural lakes in my area and then transition to Lake Michigan once it warms. So for me smallmouth are more popular but I'd rather fish a good largemouth bite than trying to force it with smallmouth.

The Tippecanoe? My uncle has a cottage on the river. Caught my first bass there. I will say that it depends on the time of year as to whether I want to get there at daylight. During the spring or fall, rolling to the lake at 8 AM is fine with me. Last weekend it made a big difference. Our best fish came the first 45 minutes after daybreak both Saturday and Sunday.

I can tell you that at 68 temps, the smallies are still deep. I only caught 1 bass relatively shallow and instead caught everything on deep mainlake structure yesterday. Even caught 1 at 37' deep.

Sleeping in the back of your truck on a raised platform with a nice memory foam mattress gives you an excellent night sleep. I did it when I had a truck with an 8' bed and a cap and that is what I am looking to get back to. I would never even take a tent when I had that truck. With that setup, saving a night's stay at a hotel is a smart move and is money that can be spent on other things. I always have to stay at a hotel or campground after a day of fishing to charge batteries and take a shower but for the first night on the way to the lake, catching a night's sleep in your vehicle instead of waking up at 2 AM and driving tired is a wise move.

I'm surprised at the number of people who don't use an anchor. I installed an anchor trolley last winter and started using an anchor this year and wondered why I never had before. Boat control has been my biggest complaint with the kayak. If there is a little breeze you get in 1 or 2 casts before you have to pick up the paddle again. I prefer to get in the area I want to fish and drop the anchor and thoroughly fish the area. If you get a folding anchor make sure you tie it so you can retrieve it from rocks. I am on anchor number 2 this summer.

All that driving in one day? That's diehard stuff. I used to go on 1 day trips that were 2 hours away so I'd leave around 3 to be on the water at daylight and then fish all day with only a lunch break and then come home after it go dark. But nowadays I fish closer to home and rarely much past 3 in the afternoon. If I am driving much more than 3 hours I'd want to turn it into an overnight trip.

Hoping I can take a trip up north in a month and I've never taken a fall smallie trip before. At what temps are they feeding heavily in the shallows? What kind of depths and structure do they hold on throughout the fall and how does that change as the water temps go down? I know what they do around Chicago in Lake Michigan but that is all breakwall related fishing. I am wondering about natural areas such as Door Co, Erie, and St Clair. Any help is appreciated.

That makes all the difference but I don't want to drive a 3/4 ton pickup everyday. And I've looked at all the campers and it is cutting it too close for me with a 1/2 ton pickup. Most campers would make me exceed the payload limit when I tow my boat or at the minimum have me right at the limit. I spent a lot of time researching this because it solves my problem.

For most 1/2 ton pickups you are exceeding their payload limits. Most 1/2 ton pickups have a payload around 2000 lbs. Obviously, it worked for you but it's not something I want to do long term.

Nice to hear that this generally works for you. I am figuring the worst that would happen is you get asked to leave. I have the motion detector alarms from Harbor Freight. I put a couple sensors under my cover with the alarm in my hotel room or in the bed of my truck to wake me up if anyone is messing with my gear. Keeps me sleeping without worrying about my gear. I have looked at all sorts of truck campers. Too much weight with towing a boat. I have often thought that it would be so convenient if I was a kayak fisherman. I see you have a PDL. Considering buying one of those next year.

I know this is the best solution but I don't want to get a 3/4 ton pickup. I have looked at just about every camper and 1/2 ton pickup to see if I could make it work and it is just too close to payload limits or it's a truck I don't want to drive every day. I am resolved to getting a half ton pickup with a cap. It's good to see that this struggle with sleep is common. When I am taking longer trips while on vacation I always leave around noon and make it to my campground to get a good night sleep before fishing all day. It's when I am fishing a quick Sat/Sun trip and want to be on the water at daylight Saturday that the sleep becomes an issue. I know that my fatigue definitely affected my fishing decisions this past weekend. I didn't fish very hard and was just too lazy. I fished much better Sunday after a great night of sleep.

All of my weekend trip destinations are a 3-4 hour minimum drive and in order to get there to fish daylight I am waking up at 1:30 or so. As I get older this is getting harder and harder. This past weekend I had trouble staying awake on the drive and had low energy throughout the day which affected my fishing and my mood overall on the first day. The answer is to leave the night before and find some place to sleep close to the lake and then just wake up and fish. My truck will soon have a cap and I will fix it up with a sleeping platform. Does anyone sleep in rest areas overnight? I know states have different laws but is it even enforced? Doesn't Walmart allow campers to stay in their lot overnight? Could a truck and boat stay at a truckstop? Does anyone have any other practical examples? I don't want to pay for a room somewhere since I am fishing solo and the cost would add up over a year. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Fished Newton this past weekend. Water temps were 80-81 on the cold water side and 83 midway up the warm water side. Great clarity. Fishing was slow overall. Kept trying to get a deep water bite going but it didn't work for us. Best fishing was the first 30-45 minutes after sunrise which is when we caught our biggest fish and had the most action. Best fish was a 20"er caught on a main lake point. Lost a hog throwing a finesse rig on a woody shoreline. She broke me off in some wood. It felt well over 5 lbs.

I agree but I have started using more braid with leaders on jigs and plastics over the past couple years due to the FG knot being small enough to easily use with baitcasters and having such good knot strength that I trusted the knot on hooksets. It was especially useful in a tournament when I threw a football head jig all day and I wanted that extra sensitivity. The braid helped and I think it put more fish in the boat for me. Just a thought.

You double the line as you make it. Only 5 twists up and back. Seth Feider did it on Knot Heads. There is a Youtube video for it.

Both I use an FG for thicker braid on baitcasters with 10-17 lb leaders. I have never had a slippage issue or knot failure with the heavier braid like I have with 8-10 lb braid that I use on spinning reels. I realize it is probably because I am not tying the knot perfectly but I have made enough of an effort to get the knot down. I'm done trying to tie it with spinning reels. But I want the thinnest knot possible with the thicker braid with baitcasters and that is the FG. On spinning reels I use a doubled Alberto. It is a thicker knot than an FG but with the light diameter lines it is still thin enough to easily go through the guides. Plus, I can tie the Alberto much faster than an FG.

I have given up using the FG with 10 lb braid and a 6-8 lb fluoro. A doubled Alberto holds well and I don't have any issues with slippage. While it's a bigger knot, the smaller diameter lines offset the bigger knot. Plus, I can tie it easily in the boat when needed. I use the FG with heavier braids on baitcasters and have never had a slippage.

That 20 lb braid on a baitcaster sounds like trouble. That line has the diameter of 6-8 lb monofilament and if/when you backlash it will be tough to pick out. 40-50 lb braid is the norm since it has the diameter of 12-15 lb line. 20 lb braid is ideal for spinning reels. But to answer your question- Gamma Edge is my preferred leader line. It is thick so I use 12 lb for baitcasters and 6 lb for spinning reels. It is very abraison-resistant and it holds knots great. And I have tried a bunch of leader lines. Good luck.

This is a great point. I have changed over to using longer rods over the past couple years and will never go back. My small swimbait rod is a 7'9" mL and the extra length is great for fighting fish and hooksets too if you need them. I hooked into a 20+ lb carp with that rod and the extra leverage with the longer rod was very noticeable. I also use that rod for lakers and it does the job well. Another example- I have two Dobyns rods in the same blank and action- the 7'4" lite is my ideal Ned rig rod while the 7' lite is too light and is for sale.

Favorite depends on the application Ned rig and Hair jigs- lite action; I use a DX741SF Dobyns Rod 1/2 oz cracking tubes- medium action; I use a DC763SF Dobyns Rod Everything else I use a medium lite action rod; DC792F for swimbaits, DX742SF for dropshot, and a DC702SF for everything else from shakey to Neko to lighter tubes to spybaits to blade baits. But to answer the question, my favorite action is a medium lite spinning rod. If it wasn't for cracking tubes I wouldn't even own a medium action spinning rod. I'd just use a baitcaster instead of a medium action spinning rod.

Braidwood water temps were 91 at the cold launch and 99 at the hot launch on Saturday morning. Are they really starting tournaments there next weekend? Wish the DNR would implement mandatory kayak-style tournament rules. Caught a bunch of small bass on plastics and swimbaits. Had a 5ish lb catfish get me excited till I saw it at the boat. Beautiful morning to be out on the water.

I do this with a Keitech once it gets it tail ripped off. Great on a dropshot.