TOXIC

The rules have changed for finesse. It used to be anything over 6lb line and spinning gear was not “finesse”. Then the overseas market picked up and manufactured baitcasters that could throw light line and small baits. I have fished the Senko for over 25 years and I have never thrown it weightless on any more than 6lb test. No braid, no leaders. If you think throwing a Senko on 12lb test and a baitcaster is finesse, then we will just have to disagree?.

If you can get access, the hot side is a life saver in the winter months. Since it’s private, there no public launch. The cold side is putting out some monster bags right now as well. That side is public with lots of launch options. Feel free to ask away when the time comes.

-0- None, nada, zippo, a rod and reel is a tool to me and performance is 1,000 times more important. Not to say you can’t have both but bling is not a consideration to me. It’s actually a negative because I am old school and it used to be you blinged out your products to make up for poor quality.

You have been given some very good advice to get you started. I will have to say that you can’t go wrong with a Texas rigged or wacky rigged Senko to get you some early success with plastics.

Crazy weather had us out on the hotside in 40mph winds and 75 degree temps. Water was between 60-65 and although we saw a lot of beds, there were no fish on them. Caught a few shallow on the Ned rig and a #yamamoto Cali Roll as well as a bunch that had pulled out deeper on humps. My biggest came on a dropshot rigged with a #yamamoto Shad Shape Worm. Was a 50 fish day with a lot of small bucks and we fought the wind but for some reason I think it really turned them on but if I had to guess, the spawn has not happened and with our predicted 40 degree temps and sleet this week, it might keep them pushed off. As usual, I’m probably going to miss the spawn because we are getting ready to head down to Florida to visit relatives. Here’s a few pics from our day.

I was lucky to get enough for a meal but when they were running, guys would cast net at the bridge pilings at the entrance to Doctors Lake off the St Johns river and fill their limit which was a 5 gallon bucket.

Weather has been crazy. 75 here yesterday with 40mph sustained winds. The fish were chomping! Same conditions today but rain moving in tonight and rain/sleet later in the week with temps in the 40’s.

Great perspective. Thanks. Are you talking about seeing in the boat in fresh or salt? If fresh then I agree both the boat and sonar probably contributed.

As a guide, I would take 2 plus me comfortably in a 20 foot bass boat fishing with normal bass lures. I have done 3 plus me and that requires constant attention. Also the newer bass boats have wider front decks than the older models. Fishing style also matters, my buddy with a 2020 Ranger 20 footer has a casting style that will put his rod tip within my reach on the back deck. I always have to be aware.

Do you really think the boat casts a shadow straight down in 30 feet of water? I doubt it. The water is clear but not that clear. It also was cloudy most of the day. As for bass in 60 feet, we catch them there a lot on that body of water. Along with catfish, white bass and even striper and bluegills. The other odd thing was that they did not disperse like they were fleeing something, they stayed schooled up and just dove deeper.

It’s not just the inner city that makes Chi town undesirable. I’ve been there many times and I have relatives who live there still. I have a relative who retired as a top level executive and owned a very expensive house in Inverness. He loved Chicago but could not get past the crime in government and the amount he was paying in taxes. When you can’t keep the big earners happy, there’s no way to go but down. It took him 3 years to sell his house and he is enjoying life in Florida.?

We have been able to fish the hot water side of Lake Anna all winter and our usual tactics are Ned’s and when the sun gets up we go blade baiting the deep holes. My buddies new boat has Live Target and a dedicated Lowrance 9 up front just for that purpose. He has 2 graphs up front, the 9 and a 16. The 16 is split screened into downscan and sidescan. He has 2 graphs at the console both 12’s. One is for mapping and the other is downscan/sidescan for me to see from the back deck. If we are fishing, the mapping is in standby. When we move, he puts the mapping on and the other unit in 2D sonar. When he got the boat our first trip was to Okeechobee and needless to say the Live Target was worthless so worthless he took the transducer off the trolling motor (ghost) because it was collecting copious amounts of weeds. Since we have been back, on our last trip I convinced him to play with the LiveScope and it was pretty remarkable. Here’s the one thing I noticed that really surprised me. If we were looking at a school of fish suspended in say 30 feet of 60 foot depth of water, as soon as the boat got over them, they immediately dove to the bottom. It happened almost every time. We’ve all heard that the big fish hunters all turn off their electronics when fishing for the big girls (amongst other things) but I can understand why now.

Just so you don’t get flamed, look up the difference between “invasive” and “non native”. Black bass may not be native but they are not invasive. We’ve had to key on this with our snakehead invasion here in Virginia.

Grilled shrimp tacos. Always a hit. Used to be able to cast net for them off my dock when I lived in Florida.

All things being equal, it’s a good rod. Just check to see what else is available in the same price range and compare. I have a bunch of them and I am satisfied with their performance.

If it’s anything more advanced than a fuse or a bad ground, I’m out on wiring. I have friends that are excellent with that kind of thing so I let them handle it. Likewise, I can do the simple stuff on my motor, like fluid/filter/plugs, etc., but anything major and it goes to someone who is trained to handle that. I did have an issue that perplexed me until I took it to the shop. On my old boat the bilge was filling up and I could not find the cause. Not the rubrail, not the livewell plumbing, not the drain plug, transom bolts were snug. I was at a loss and one day after a guide trip and I dropped my client off at his dock, my boat wouldn’t get on plane. Opened the back hatch and there was water almost over my batteries. Come to find out the transom bolts had wallowed the sealant out around them and only leaked when under throttle. Shop found that. Also was consistently losing pressure on my oil injection and having to constantly pull the cowling and go through the process of having the motor pump oil to the remote tank. All my hoses and tank cap were replaced by me and it was still happening. There was no oil leak anywhere. Come to find out I had a small crack in my saddle oil tank on the motor and while not leaking, it allowed the system to depressurize and oil to drain back down to my main oil tank in the bilge. Sensor was in the saddle tank so it went off all the time. Shop caught that as well.

Generally depending on species of bass, they prefer different habitat. Also “off shore” doesn’t always mean deep water. I’ll reference smallmouth on lake St Clair since we fish “off shore” 80% of the time. With smallmouth, any bottom irregularity or structure like deep weed lines, wrecks, rock piles, channel edges, bottom composition and some local knowledge like underwater pipes that run the length of the lake and intakes will hold fish. Depth does play a role but in St Clair you can be in 10-13 feet of water 2 miles offshore. That means that everywhere you can find a depth change and ultimately the depth the smallmouth want to be in plus add in any weedlines rocks, etc., and chances are you find fish and be able to replicate it in multiple spots. Largemouth are completely different on St Clair and normally not our target species but we do catch a lot of them If the smallmouth are in the 4-7 foot range and holding on weedlines. Point being every body of water will be different as well as your target species.

Supposed to be 70 today in Virginia and I’m heading out to wash the truck and get the Florida slime off it from the heavy dew they get. Gonna get cold again so I have a small window.

I moderate a Ranger Boats page on FB and I am seeing ads for a company that rents out fully rigged bass boats for Okeechobee but he may be willing to let one go to Toho. Google search it around Okeechobee and see if it pops up. If I see it again I’ll post it.

You have control over how hard you set the hook. That’s where you have to be careful especially with braid and a leader. Just remember to use a sweep hookset and to not try and cross their eyes. That’s a fine setup for a lot of applications. Except for the braid but that is a personal preference.

Agreed. I bought my 2004 3/4 ton brand new and it obviously had truck tires on it from the factory. Funny thing was it rode really well even after I put Michelin load appropriate tires on it after the stock tires wore out. I’m not so wrapped up in ride quality that I’m going to do any more modifications like some of my friends have like Bilstein shocks etc., unless they wear out and I need to replace them. I kinda chuckle every time I look at the dash and see the electric brake actuator thinking I’ll never have a trailer that big. I pulled a 4 horse trailer with my 3/4 ton and loaded, that was all I ever wanted to tow in weight. ?

You would think the High Country (supposedly the top model) with included towing package would have come equipped with truck tires. No debate with me. I’m not brand loyal, I buy what works for me. I drove a King Ranch Ford, a 1794 Toyota Tundra and top of the line Ram before I got my High Country Silverado. I had reasons for liking and disliking each and every one plus dealer shenanigans and trade in values on my 2004 3/4 ton steered me. I got employee pricing on the Chevy which brought it down to the other models plus they gave me much more on my trade in. I know you were just joking on the debate but some take it pretty seriously. ?

My bad, you are right. There’s a couple brothers and extended family.

I’m not normally a fan but one of my fishing friends who used to fish the women's tour professionally and has come to Michigan to fish with us a couple of times (Teri Cindric) her brother is Austin who won the race. Her other brother is the head of Penske Racing. So, I took note.

I only had rodent damage to 1 truck. My 2004 3/4 ton Silverado that I traded in on my current 1/2 ton Silverado in 2016. Truck was always parked on my asphalt driveway and driven very regularly. Most it ever sat was a couple of weeks. I went out to put washer fluid and do a once over and found that something had shredded my firewall insulation. I started digging and when I opened the big fuse box, they had chewed the schematic paper on the lid that showed what all the fuses and relays went to. Luckily they didn’t go after any wiring. Since I owned a pest control company at one time, I took care of the problem pretty quickly. ?