1simplemann

Never used knottable leader. I'l look into it. I was just thinking of using a pre-made leader. Only way to find out is to try. If people can catch em on a A-rig then I don't think a a leader will bother them especially at 25-30'.

I was just wondering how well bass can see in say 20-30' of stained water. The reason I ask is I just bought a deep crankbait setup and it's time to spool it up. Conventional wisdom states I should use 12-14lb Fluro. That's all well and good and I may do that but these 10XD's ain't cheap! My home lake is known for some MONSTER pike and they'll cut thru fluro like it's butter. So I was thinking of adding a short steel leader to keep from getting cut off. At those depths, I'm thinking I shouldn't see much of a difference and hopefully the bass won't either. My fishing partner did mention that the leader may affect the action. He may be right. I have a friend who specifically fishes for pike using a a steel leader. He catches smallies all the time with his set up. What do you think?

Is that a RAM mount? I like it. It may solve my own mounting issue when I mount the the 2nd FF at the console.

Right now it's like a kid outside looking into a candy store. All this ice will take a while to be gone. Snow is gone but everything is iced up. My intentions are to use it this summer for deep rock piles that I found this past summer. For now, I just have to wait for the river to clear, then it will be tube bait, hair jig time! Then the lake in May.

I went with the AG Revo Winch. Paired it up with a 7'10" KVD Tour Crankbait MH moderate action. I found it on sale at TW. $100 + $160 for the reel. Too many positive reviews to not give it a chance. Now I'm gonna have to learn how to cast it!

Nice reviews! I may have found a winner. thanks

$$$$$ Just a tad out of my price range. I love shimano reels though! Low profile is what I was thinking. I 've had no experience with Abu Garcia. I check them out. Lews????Heard good things about them don't know if they make a LH crankbait reel.

I've wanted a a deep cranking set up for some time. Basically I want a set up like KVD's. I'm not a huge fan of quantum. So other than his reels, what's out there. Obviously I'm looking for a reel that will cast a country mile and with a lower gear ratio. Here's the kicker. I'm lefty. so I'm looking for a LH deep cranking reel. Any suggestions?

Lots of choice's out there. You'll get the phone book for answers. Personally, I use FINS XS and Fins Windtamer in 15lb. My set ups are very similar to yours. Windtamer doesn't tangle as much because it's 4 strand and stiffer but it's noisy going through the guides. Drives me crazy. XS (extra smooth) is 8 strand and is much quieter, ties good knots but tends to get tip wraps. The tip wraps are causes by the twist spinning reels impart on the line from reeling. Lately I have been letting the twist unravel out the back of the boat. That has cut down on the tip wraps. You'll get that from any brand on a spinning rod.

I said most not all. Breaking rods and throwing rods is not OK. A-Mart personal issues are his. We all have them. I don't dislike him. If i met him, I'm sure that I would like him just fine. The whining on TV bothers me. BL breaking his rod bothered me as well.

Thanks for the input.. I currently have 2 transducers. One for sidescan/downscan and the other is sonar. The sonar ducer went haywire on the last trip of the year in 2016. I had plans of replacing it this spring. I was hoping the ducer that comes w/ the HDS 9 would be compatable. I tried calling lowrance yesterday. It said "you the 9th caller". I was pressed for time so I hung up. I like your idea of selling the 2 HDI 7's. NJot sure if I can swing that right now but that's an option down the road.

My fishing partner and I were watching MLF together several times last year. We both had the same opinion as you. He whines when things aren't going his way. Most the of the other competitors carry themselves very well.

Gen 3's are out of my budget. The sale price on HDS 9 gen 2 is in my price range. One of the featrures I like is the Insight Genesis. Being able to build my own map would come in pretty handy since my home lake is mostly unmapped especially in the area that i fish in. Just wonder if anyone here had some actual experience with them. Or any experience hooking the 2 together.

No showers,no deodorant? I knew he had some weird habits but those are new to to me. I just thought he was a health nut and liked to run. He obviously has the fishing credentials. Personally though, he seems to be a bit of a whiner though when things aren't going his way. Or at least that what I see on MLF. There are others that carry themselves better when they are catching them or not catching them.

Pretty good sale on Cabelas right now. $999. I want to upgrade/add because of vision issues. I currently have Elite Hdi 7's front and back. I have a Dr Sonar chip that maps my home lake. Since it's the only map currently available on my home lake, I generally like to have that on the screen especially when running around. Traditional sonar is faster than downscan soalso helpful as well as side scan/downscan. Problem is when I put all 3 on the screen, things get a little hard to see. It's also a pain to switch back and forth all the time. I was thinking about adding a FF at the console. It seem a lot of pros do this as well. I was planning on the HDI7 being the Dr sonar map and splitting the HDS9 between 2d sonar and downscan/sidescan. I've never installed a FF. Can this be done? Anyone have any experience w/ the Gen 2 HDS 9's?

Judging by the other competitors weights, A-Mart was on the right lake,on the right day to break the record. Evers had almost 60lbs and some others had 40+ lbs. Those weights would have won most any other MLF event. It'll be interesting how rest of the field does in their rounds.

I just recently read an old blog of db's about himself and K-Pink. It made me think about a few things. It had to do with the 1st time they met at Lake Champlain. At the very end db witnessed a losing Elite angler who was packing up early because he didn't make the cut. The angler was obviously down and in a hurry to just get out of there. Anyway, in the midst of this a father with a young son approached for an autograph. The angler stopped what he was doing and talked to them. Before they left, the angler reached up under his boat cover and gave the young boy a rod and reel combo. To put a rod in the hands of a child can be an amazing thing. This act of kindness made me think of myself and back to when I got my 1st combo. (Zebco spincaster) It had such an affect and hooked me for life. It was different times back then and I was allowed to go down to the dock by myself. I fished every chance I got! Some of my fondest moments in life are of me fishing on that dock and if I could possibly return that gift to a child less fortunate than myself then I say I'm all in. $5 for any smallmouth over 4lbs brought into my boat this summer. This includes anyone else who may be fishing with. I will make certain they understand the rules.

My number one goal is to catch a 7lb smallie. 7's are starting to show up more and more. New state record is 7.4. It's doable. I have talked to angler's that have caught a 7+ on my home lake with pictures to prove it. Both were released. 2 others were caught this past summer but fell just short on certified scales. I honestly will take a 6+. My PB is 5-13 but I had a 6+ hooked that broke off at the boat. I was heart broken because I knew what I had on the line. It was a lesson learned. Too light of line(10lb) in that dirty of water for a reaction bait. My other goals are to learn the lake above and below the water as much a possible because it's so vast and to learn to use my Lowrance properly. Both of those goals go hand in hand. I also want to try to learn new techniques. Examples would be the A-rig. I own several but have never made a cast with one! Learn how to fish deep would be another. Right now, I drop shot these fish or throw a tube bait but there are several other methods that I need to learn or at least try. Deep cranking, I own them but don't have the right rod and reel setup. Using a scrounger head, again I own them but never seem to tie on one in deep situations. A-mart swears by them. Underspins, I own them but again never seem to tie one on. The last is using the flutter spoon. As a kid, I threw a spoon all the time in the shallow lakes and ponds where I grew up. Out here, I seem to gravitate to tube baits, senkos, swimbaits, spinnerbaits, dropshots, jerkbaits,and walking the dog type topwaters. I never throw the dang spoon especially in deep situations. So basically, one of my main goals this year to learn new methods and NOT get in a rut fishing only my confidence baits. Last year, I tied on a Mister Twister. The plain old grub that I threw all the time as a kid. I out fished my partner 3-1. He didn't have any and was stubborn and continued to fish his swimbait. So that would be a another goal, DON't get stubborn and continue to fish baits that aren't working.

I liked all of the anglers in yesterdays field so I couldn't just root for just one guy. However, there was a part of me that wanted to see Watson light em' up "jacking a spoon". this technique intrigues me ever since he demolished the field last year using that spoon.

This would explain why several names that I would expect to be on the show and they are not.

I haven't looked but the next time they're competing I will try to look for them. I'm not familiar with any of their brands except Lowrance. I'm sure they try to film and edit it in such a way so that any brand inconsistancies are kept a bare minimum.

You mention conflicting sponsor restrictions. That brings up something I've been wondering about. KVD is a Hummingbird guy. MLF uses Lowrance. There have to be other conflicts. How do they get around that? i would think HB would have a problem with KVD using Lowrance.

"according to MLF" is this on their web site? Just checked their angler list again. Just noticed Swindle isn't listed. He's a favorite of mine. Cracks me up with the stuff he says.

Has Wesley Strader fished yet? This last episode only had 5 anglers. I was wondering why there were only 5 so looked at the MLF Select Anglers list and I see him listed. I don't recall him fishing in the any of the rounds. Glad to see him on board. I hope he does well.

It's probably no doubt that some pro's don't care for the format but at the same time if you look at the line-ups, they are predominantly Elite guys with a few FLW guys sprinkled in. With the exception Wheeler,Suggs and Rose, there really aren't alot of the heavy hitters from FLW side. Canterbury, Martin, Morgan, Wendlandt, Strader, Johnstons',Kinney, Cox, Neal, Dudley, Arey, Robertson, Blaylock. These guys are all missing. If you look at the Elite guys are all some the best the Elite have to offer. A new guy comes in from the FLW side and I have to look him up to find out who he is. I would think some of those in the list I mentioned would just itching to prove what they can do against KVD, Hackney, Ehler, Lane etc.