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Whoa That's quite a story @Lottabass . Talk about a killer swarm of bees.

I can't comment on the issue at hand, but I would highly advise against the Powerdrive. I used one for about 15 years on my family's fishing boat and it had constant problems, especially with the pedal. It's also very loud and takes forever to turn. Pick out another model is my advice.

Rock bass are an imposter in the bass family. They are not really a bass. Yet, they are not really a panfish either. They are just in between and having an identity crisis. No one is really that proud of catching one. It's like associating with that ugly, jobless, loser cousin of the family. You can't completely avoid him because he's family, but you sure want to because he's more of an embarrassment than anything else.

More AI slop I see KVD hasn't been on pro tour in years now.

You did not just call a drop shot a reaction bait, did you?

I primarily use these 2 plastic trailers: Strike King Rage Tail Zman Chatterspike I tried the zako but the pike ruined it way too quickly given the lack of durability that Yamamoto plastics have. I've heard pretty good results with a crush city free loader but I haven't used it.

A crank bait that bumped a rock every once in a while over deeper water would be my first "reaction" lure choice. If you are willing to try a slower, more finesse-style approach, a ned rig or a tube would be my selection.

He is not a mod anymore here. I haven't seen him post anything for a while, but I'm sure he's still around every so often. He has major beef with freshwater drum tho. Kinda like me with rock bass.

I wish @roadwarrior were still around to comment here.

How are items from the garden making it in the landscaping thread? lol

I also have not been out in weeks. Due to the extreme heat. But I went this morning for about 4.5 hours. It was not very good. Caught 10 largemouth, 3 pike, and a dog fish that completely mangled my spinnerbait. Biggest largie I caught was 17.5 inches. Water temp was 76 degrees. I have a derby on August 14. Hoping that we get some more tolerable weather by that date.

Like just this year, or every time you've fished it? The average smallmouth size in that lake is incredible. While not necessarily a numbers lake, it has more trophy caliber smallmouth than any other lake in the state. I firmly believe there is a swimming state record in there. My biggest is a prespawn 21 incher that was about 6 pounds, caught it back in 2021. July and August is probably the worst time of year to fish it though. I'd wait until late September or October at this point.

I don't want to be a Debbie downer here, but there's a lot of fires and smoke up there. I'm not exactly sure where you're going. Many areas in Ontario are off limits. Might want to look into that before you head out from Nebraska. Just a suggestion.

I've been there on the tour. Really hard to imagine that place as a functioning prison.

Lol 6 dollars a month is a bit of a stretch. It was 150 for 5 months. So 30/month. But it was indoors had security so that was good enough for me. Our lakes are covered in ice for 4+ months/year so there's really no point in having it at my house during that time period.

Haircut police approves.

Location is important here. The OP is in Georgia so I'm guessing with a quality cover, there shouldn't be much of an issue. I would never even consider storing my boat outside here all winter. When I didn't have a 3 car garage, I stored it at an indoor facility about 40 miles away for $30/month for 5 months. There is something to be said about just hooking up the boat in the garage and going fishing. All my tackle is already in there. My graphs are installed. It's 5 minutes and I'm gone. When I get home, I unhook in the garage and I'm done. No removing graphs, tackle, or other items. And no cover to put on and off either. That convenience alone is worth parking it in the garage for me.

Generator?

Yeah, I've already got that covered. Can't even make a dent. My dog used to be pretty good about chasing critters like this but Father Time has caught up.

Can you send Slash over here? I have a serious rabbit problem. Like in the hundreds. Not sure how frequently fox prey on rabbits though. A full grown cottontail is probably a sizable meal for a red fox.

How deep is it? I would punch something heavy through it to the bottom. A big soft plastic of some kind with a heavy weight to get through the mat of duckweed.

This is me too. At this point I'm not taking a second crack at it should it come to that. You can keep the cats to yourself tho

Full disclaimer: I am not a kayak angler. I'm a boat guy. But if I was going to try the kayak, I would also definitely go with something hands free. I need both my hands to fish effectively and the idea of holding the yak in a position while I can fish greatly appeals to me. Plus the pedal power of moving more distance across the water while burning some calories is also a bonus.

Perhaps in far northern MN. Most of the state is not covered in ice for half the year. That's nothing but a rumor. Generally speaking, ice develops from north to south around Thanksgiving and in recent memory, it's all been gone in the southern half of the state by the first week of April. So more like 4 months.

Great info on the growth with real world data @FryDog62 . When I was at the Bassmaster Elite AOY events at Mille Lacs a decade ago, there was a DNR Biologist on site to answer questions. I asked him how long it took a smallmouth there to reach trophy size (5 pounds/20 inches) and he said about 10 years, give or take. Mille Lacs is probably more fertile and has a better forage base than typical largemouth lakes, but that was a real eye opening stat. Removing just one mature female takes up to 10 years to replace.