Jeff Browning

I know I'm a little late to the party but I throw the popper a lot and I use a Ducket 7' medium crank bait rod w/ 10 lb fluorocarbon and rarely lose a fish on it, I feel like the MH is too stiff for the 90. Even caught some decent large mouth, yes - large mouth, on the main lake of Lake Erie. If continuing to miss strikes was a problem I'd look at upsizing the hooks by one size. My .02

I saw a video, over the winter; may have been taken down, that explained how to set the water depth so that it includes the depth from the transducer to the surface (am I making sense?). I know the depth should be different between the TM and the transom mounted transducers. Running Helix 12 Gen 3 Mega SI and Helix 10 G3 Mega DI. Anyone bother to set their units up to include the 1-2' of difference? Jeff

Pixburgh before the snow. 143B62D5-6D68-47B1-96A0-620CDCF1E5DE.heic

Gonna be a long winter. Watermark at the bottom is the little woman's photography // Tabitha Kachinski Photography mark. She took this from the boat.

When the fish aren't biting you still have to make it fun! (Look where he's looking - he's 4)

Man, if he doesn't delete that fast he may have to answer to more people than just the public. Stuff like that goes viral quickly. As the owner of a small business if someone I sponsored acted, or posted something like that, I'd be livid. As a parent I'd have issue with my kids saying that. Even if it's how you truly feel, you have time before hitting the send button to read and review. Image is everything to these guys. This does nothing to boost his image in anyone's eyes.

21 Years Air Force

I wouldn't say BASS needs names. They guys who came over from the FLW last year, and the guys who stayed on the tour, really showed well and in my opinion. I haven't enjoyed watching the Elites in the past nearly as much as I did this year. Clunn, Fritts and Elias didn't quit the tour, they didn't qualify on points. To me that's not the same thing. BP and Swindle showed no allegience or appreciation for the organization that gave them the platform they had. BASS was under new management and, maybe, if they'd stayed and tried to affect a change instead jumping ship things would have changed. I don't know. It's nothing personal for either of them. I enjoy watching their videos and attending their seminars at BU. I just think that if you abandon ship and try and take all the talent with you, you shouldn't be able to use the legend rule. I don't feel it's a grudge, just what's most fair to all of the guys in the Opens or Nation who are trying to get to the top. They had the top seat, chose to leave and yes, should have to face a consequence for their disloyalty or actions. So - do the bottom 10 or so anglers drop off the Elites to make room for the guys who qualified from the Open and the Nation? I can't find anything online about how you stay on the Elites once you get a seat at the table.

I think I'm in the minority, but if you quit your job can you just come back?? They didn't just have a bad season or two and not qualify for the Elites; they up and quit, BP was one if the first to go. I wonder if they went to try BPT knowing they had a bridge back to the Elites before they made their decisions. My opinion is that ALL of the guys who jumped ship for greener pastures (AKA Quit) should be forced to re-qualify. 70+ of them left BASS without regard for what happened to the tour. I watched both he BPT and Elites last season and enjoyed it. But don't think the Elites should have a revolving door if you quit. They made a choice and actions have consequences. What about all the guys trying to qualify the right way? If they are really better than everyone else; qualifying shouldn't be a problem.

Though I have several iterations of swing heads in my tackle box, I've only rarely used them. I guess since SMB seem to be the most prevalent species here to fish and, since I'm learning about bass fishing, I never though of them as a bait for SMB (but it makes sense that they'd eat them). Thanks for the great write up! I've learned a lot by reading and rereading this thread. I'm actually catching fish more consistently in the jack pots and weekend tournaments I get to fish. Thanks for sharing your experiences/knowledge. BTW I'm loving the Lund! It's a family fun beast. Kids came down from Alaska and it pulled a tube around the lake with no problem.

Work schedule permitting, I'd be open to a North trip. I enjoy meeting new people, especially if we share a common interest.

Red Fish - Small ones and big ones if the conditions are good enough.

I’m relatively new to boat ownership so this may be a dumb question but here goes... I recently bought a Lund Pro V Bass and was thinking of taking it down to the Norfolk, VA area to chase puppy drum. This is a once/twice a year thing I’m thinking about, the boat is used in fresh water the rest of the time. Is it a bad idea to take a “multi-species” boat to salt water? Other than rinsing the boat and flushing the motor are there any other pitfalls?

Thanks - I definitely will!

I'm curious about the landmarks (lake marks) people use up there too. The "W's", the cribs, Camel Humps? Huh? Nothing on the charts look like that to me and there are cribs everywhere. This will be my first year going Erie as I finally have a boat that I think is suitable. Any help for a new guy would be greatly appreciated. I plan to try the Cleveland area too, I live about equal distances between Erie and Cleveland.

Just saw this. I'm in Western PA too. Fish a local club circuit when work schedule permits and try and hit the Tappan Tuesday Night for fun. Mostly though, I fish the river. Don't have a small engine boat to can't fish limited HP lakes.

Just got her home!

Meanmouth?

Totally agree with the comment about Ike. I'm a fan of the guy and know he's an emotional guy. But it's all part of the gig - time to grow up! Take the good with the bad and face the music man!

Watched some every day, couldn't invest the time to watch the whole thing. I've loved the MLF format ever since I saw the first one. The stuff at the end of Saturday was exactly why I watch it. Feel bad for Ike (yes, I'm a fan) but I'm sure he'll be fine (LOL). Every day was awesome! The way it worked out for me I got to watch the final hour or two each day. Can't wait until the next!

What makes the Ulterra so hard to clear weeds from vs the Ultrex? I love the auto trim/stow etc features but there are a few places that get pretty weedy it’s still so early on and no matter which TM I choose it will be a dealer item so I “have time” to make the decision. I’ve only ever had the Edge and I have no experience with anything else. The guys in my club have Ultrex’s but I suspect that’s because their Skeeters came with them.

So - one last question (I hope) if I knew how to PM I wouldn’t clog up the board, but...which TM shaft length for the ProV Bass; 60” or 52”? I may get to Erie once or twice a year, the other lakes are not as big. What are your thoughts? I was all set on Ultrex an then I saw Linder using an Ulterra with the ability to trim up and down and thought....maybe... I don’t want to waste money on the wrong one since they are thousands. It seems that walleye guys love the Ulterra and Bass guys the Ultrex. I primarily chase bass on inland lakes, but I wouldn’t rule out Walleye, just need to learn how to do it.

Definitely getting the Pro XS, never considered anything else after I decided to go with the brand new, configured to my wants/needs boat. Local club guys here say not to get talons or poles that the water we fish “isn’t deep enough, often enough to justify them”...I only had a 175 TXW before now, but I remember several instances when my TM was kicking up mud, and when the skeg on my motor drug bottom and I had to trim it up and use the push pole. Other instances where it was so windy that only the co—angler fished “the spot” because it was all I could do to keep my boat off the rip rap. Anchors would have been awesome that day and in the Ohio in all that current...never considered NOT getting them. Always thought the jack plate was a good place to mount them though. Didn’t like the idea of more holes in the transom; but that was the only reason I could come up with for needing a jackal plate. I never thought of space for the SI, which the motor did interfere with. Then again, I am new to bass fishing. Being from AK I’m used to wading rivers and creeks or drifting...

Okay - this is a newbie question but here goes... I’m building my Lund Pro V Bass...options and such...what exactly is a jack plate for? I get that you moved your motor back to allow clearance for the SI transducer, but other then your example; I see them (hydraulic and manual) installed on boats all the time. I’ve yet to meet anyone who’s actually used the hydraulic one except for messing around with it. The manual ones make no sense to me except for making the motor as A-jay did. It doesn’t seem realistic to think a buy would jump I the back, raise his motor, and then lower it again just for clearance. How much time would that take anyway. I guess I’m trying to make the best decision I can with the limited experience and info I have. Please guide me...

USAF 1986-2007