MassYak85

The Okuma guide select I have is rated 1-6 oz but I feel like that is a huge exaggeration on okuma's part. I wouldn't want to fish anything over 4oz with it which is why I went with the 68. But I'm not going to get another rod until I know swimbaits are something I want to stick with in the long run. *Update* Went fishing from shore with the new hudd today for about 3-4 hours. Stopped at the dam on the north end of whitehall and fished for about an hour, no luck. Then I went to A1. There were a couple of guys out in a boat and from what I could tell they seemed to be throwing swimbaits too (whatever they were using made a hell of a splash when it landed). I fished for about a half an hour before getting a bite. Bass weighed in around 2 1/2. He was on the skinny side but still easily inhaled the 68.

Got my first hudd (68 weedless) in the mail. I went to whitehall this afternoon to test it out, it was pretty windy and cold so props to Janderson for getting out there. I might try to fish on Sunday when it's a little warmer. I'm pretty sure I got a ROF 12 though even though I ordered and the package says ROF 5 (it sinks head tilted down vs horizantal and counting it down it definitely falls much faster than 5 feet per 10 seconds). Honestly I'm glad that mistake happened though after fishing with it for a little bit, half the fall rate would be hard to keep bottom contact with I feel like.

I usually associate those techniques with moving the bait with your rod not the reel, so for me as fast as I can get. No need to go searching for an 8 or 9 speed reel but if you had the choice between a 6 or 7 for those techniques I'd go 7.

I'm hoping for a Pats - Raiders AFCCG

Hey @Janderson45 How do you like your anchor wizard? Currently I just have a kite spool with some nylon rope wrapped around it and it's a mess sometimes. I want to get something else in the spring along with a stakeout pole.

I finally pulled the trigger on a hudd 68 ROF 5 and threw in a few swimjigs to replace the ones I lost this season to complete the order.

I might try and go out Friday (I know I've probably said "this will be my last time out" like 4 times already but hey, the water is still soft). Weather forecast is looking optimal. A few steady days beforehand in the mid/upper fifties and then Friday is supposed to be partly overcast with wind before a cold front for saturday and sunday. Hopefully it stays that way as the week goes on.

Yea it's going to be a double edged sword because if it snows and rains a lot ice fishing is going to suck, but if it doesn't and is just cold the lakes are still going to be low when they thaw in the spring.

I mean realistically 2-3 inches of solid black ice can hold a single light guy (I'm not saying it's safe), it's just that with all the other unknown variables that will affect and vary the thickness in different spots you can not take that kind of risk.

Unless the dude is just terrible with numbers and has no sense of weight I don't see how this makes sense.

Last year wasn't that great for ice fishing due to the unseasonably warm weather in MA, so we had a very late first ice. I watch the temps pretty close when it starts getting time for ice fishing so the first weekend after a week of 30's or below I went out with a buddy to test it out and do a little fishing. We get to the pond and I walk about 10-20 feet from shore to test it. My spud bar has water coming up through in one solid hit. Now it was pretty sharp and I can do that to about 5 inches of ice so I decided to drill a test hole. It's about 3 inches thick. I would have been comfortable had it been solid pure black ice but it wasn't perfect so i was a little nervous. I decided to put one trap out and then we decided it was too sketchy to venture from shore, we left all our gear on shore and put out one more trap very close to see if there was anything shallow but we didn't want to risk anything over our heads should it give. The ice was making sound while I drilled our 2 holes and not just the usual cracking a pond will make. We had a few guys stop and talk to us since many people scout the ponds around first ice to see which ones froze up best. Then this one guy pulls up with a little sled and some gear, asks us how thick it is and I tell him 3 inches but it's pretty sketchy. Without another word this dude takes his gear (albeit light) and walks straight to the center of the pond and starts fishing. Doesn't test the ice at all. I told my friend there was a good chance we might have to rescue this guy or call for help (there was an ice ladder on the shore the town provides). Thankfully he didn't fall in, but he walks back past us about an hour later and says he was fishing on about 2 1/2 inches of ice. Don't be that guy. People get eager to go out but make good judgement when you get to the pond or lake.

Again with the ice thickness thing....there are times where 3-4 inches of pure solid black ice will hold people for ice fishing, and there are times you will have poor quality white ice a foot thick and it won't hold. You have to personally determine the ice safety EVERY TIME you go out. Just because other people are out there doesn't make it safe. Just because you saw an ice thickness safety chart and it "should" be good doesn't make it safe. Just because it was good yesterday doesn't make it safe. This is some good advise, spies and a chisel are a must.

Poor vikings losing to the bears in prime time. That O-line looked terrible.

It depends on how accurately you think they rated the rod. For example I have an okuma guide select 7'11" rated 1-6 oz....and I wouldn't throw 8" hudds on it. Anything over 4oz feels like I am overloading the rod. It's sweet spot is really around 2-3oz. Okuma was being a bit optimistic IMO. Now if shimano underrated the rod then you might be good but like scarborough said, if a hudd is truly pushing the limits of the rod you might be better off with something else.

Same here. If I'm concerned about paddling distance I just scope out the lake and use their ruler feature to measure it. It's fairly accurate too.

Yes PLEASE be careful. The ice is never 100% safe. I don't care if there is 2 feet of it. You don't know where those underground springs are or where a group of geese decided to rest up. There was one pond last year that got to over a foot thick but guess what....there was about a thousand foot swath that NEVER froze because about 20 swans decided that's where they wanted to spend the winter. The type of ice is also important. Clear black ice while it may look the sketchiest, is going to be the strongest. I would recommend buying an ice pick so you can "test" the ice as you walk out. Go with another person if you can, or fish in reasonable distance of others if you are alone.

Not at all, think of it as just filler on the spool. The key is finding the right amount to put on so that you never go past your connection knot to your backing. Now maybe you hook a really good fish and it does get you past there on a good cast, just make sure the backing is not complete junk, don't use a bunch of 4lb 10 year old mono you had lying around. Use some that you would feel comfortable using but is still very cheap.

Another one bites the dust

Another vote for the tatula (I like the 7' 2" HF for jigs). They can be had on sale for around 100. I'd say 12-20lb fluoro depending how heavy the cover is you are fishing. If you do go with 17 or 20lb make sure to get a quality fluoro that has decent line manageability so you aren't fishing with a slinky.

I would personally target weedlines or large holes in the weeds to start. Bass can be found shallower than you might think in the middle of winter. I saw some big ones pulled out by people fishing in 3 feet of water last winter. A lot of the same logic from open water still applies in the winter. Bass will find spots where they can easily ambush prey without using much effort. Finding cover is often key. Bass also usually relate to the bottom in the winter a lot and fishing just off the bottom (usually 6" to a couple feet) above the bottom or the tops of weeds can be the ticket. If you are using tip-ups shiners do well. I don't know what the baitfish regulations are like in Minnesota but guys around here use BIG pond shiners and BIG suckers (8+ inches) to target the big girls. But many bass can be had on small or medium regular shiners you might get at a bait shop. Some guys also use perch and pumpkinseeds (again, check your baitfish regulations) as well. If you are looking to jig for bass stuff like a Lindy Darter can be effective. I might be mistaken but Minnesota has a pretty good population of Pike does it not? Part of me likes ice fishing even more than open water fishing (notice profile pic). There's nothing like seeing the flag go up on the tip up you put the BIG bait on and running 200 feet to get it, and then getting to the hole and seeing your spool screaming out to one direction. Then you turn around and 2 more flags are up and you've got yourself 5-10 straight minutes of frantic fun ahead, and you pull up one line with the possibilities lurking in your head of what's on the others behind you as you pull in a fish.

Yea use backing unless money is of no object. The braid spool is just there to help prevent the braid from slipping if you do end up using 100% braid. It's not like it helps you at all once you do end up spooling it, backing or not.

I would highly suggest you use backing (cheap mono before the braid) to save money. You can certainly use all braid but your wallet/bank account will thank you if you don't. A 125 yd spool will be more than enough if you do this, and depending on the size of the reel and braid you are putting it on you could even get another re-spool out of it. How much backing you use is going to depend how you plan to use the reel. You said dropshotting for smallies, is this a very light finesse setup where a 5lb smallie hooked in 50 feet of water could pull a serious amount of line on a run? Or are you fishing shallower with slightly heavier gear?

Minimum I would be comfortable with would be 14 probably. But then again I know there are guys who like to fish football heads on 8lb line so I would just say fish with what feels comfortable. Start heavy and downsize if you want.

River monsters is definitely more about the actual fish he is chasing and not the fishing itself. You can appreciate some of the techniques he uses but for the most part they never go in depth on that subject. I like the episodes he does where he is working with scientists like tagging that huge bull shark he caught, or the giant stingray.

He's definitely on his own path by himself through his whole career as a fisherman it seems, guess he was too focused on that and never settled down. I mean you hear him tell stories about getting nearly arrested while fishing in countries in civil war and such like the Congo, he was certainly not worried about someone else back at home from the sounds of it. The dude is definitely passionate you have to give him that.