TOXIC

I travel to Michigan every year for the smallmouth spawn. We go the last week in May. Been doing it for 16 years. Depending on the weather, the smallies can be in all phases of the spawn. Pre-spawn, on the beds, or post-spawn. If we time it right, they are in all 3 phases which opens the door for all sorts of techniques. Like it or not we are catching spawning bass. It is "catch and immediate release" season so there are no tournaments but plenty of fishermen. You fish during the spawn because the fish are more predictable, larger and easier to locate. While we don't spend all of our time "sight" fishing, we are still catching them off deeper beds a lot of the time. One year we were early and were limited to catching the pre-spawn fish, they were still scattered. Then on our last day we were in a shallow bay and the 1st wave of spawners came in (there are multiple waves). The school that we saw swim into the bay had to contain 50,000 fish, the water was black with them as far as you could see. They were moving in. While bed fishing may be distasteful to some, it is in no way un-ethical. Science has proven that it does not harm the spawn. If you caught and kept every fish off shallow beds, there are literally thousands you don't catch in deeper water. And as has been said, even though you don't sight fish, if you fish at all during the spawn, you are catching spawning fish.

Be patient and check back with the seller to see if the sale falls through. There are a lot of tire kickers out there. Better to miss a good deal if that good deal ends up a nightmare because you didn't get it checked out. There are a lot of boats out there for sale.

I have known some that do. No different than a center console. You will just need to net your fish because the freeboard is usually higher. I think they draft a little more water than a bass boat as well.

Be like me with plastics and buy 10 bags of each!!

Most all of the bladders are orange when deployed so visibility is good regardless of what the outer shell is colored. The full vests have reflective strips on them and aid in visuals, especially in low light conditions. I guess the takeaway here is that you need to use SOMETHING every time you are on the water and for us boaters (even with a hotfoot installed) ALWAYS use your kill switch.

I met Charlie Case Years ago when he owned the company. It is owned now by Fishing Complete out of Michigan. If I had not gone with Yamamoto I would be using Case Plastics. I was a very early user of the Jack's Worm (named after a longtime friend of Charlie's that passed). Great company Great Product. Well worth checking out.

Few things to remember. I'm coming from those of us in boats. Inflatables have to be worn to be counted as an acceptable PFD (in Virginia anyway) an inflatable alone will get you ticketed unless you also have a standard PFD on board for every occupant. Inflatables have a backup manual inflate pull cord and most have a manual fill tube you can blow in. I have gone back to a vest, I was disturbed reading a lot of accounts with inflatables not working properly. In the case of being unconscious, there are specific qualities you need to look for in your PFD and I do not think any of the inflatables have a "face up" or the ability to right you if you are unconscious. Not every vest style has that capability as well. PFD and Kill Switch are 2 things I never, never, cut corners on or fail to make sure I have accounted for.

Moving baits work because as has been said, the bass are feeding up before their spawn. Although they are feeding, the water is still chilly in most places and that slows their metabolism down and you need to slow your presentation down as much as possible. That's why you hear so many say that the pause inbetween jerks on a jerkbait may need to be painfully long.

I'm forcing myself to fish them more just because Yamamoto has a trailer made just for the "bladed jig", the Zako and it gets rave reviews. I am still deciphering the hype between all of the jig manufacturers trying to figure out if the Jackhammer is just as good or better than the cheaper options. To be honest, I've struggled with the bladed jigs and can't figure out why.

I would take the discount and keep the Yak. Those scratches look pretty minimal to me. I'd wager the first time you coast in on a rocky bank, you'll have a lot more just like them.

Short story: I was having a conversation with Kim Stricker of Hook N' Look last year in my buddys garage on St Clair. He told a story of filming a guy dragging a crankbait back to the boat. Said he watched a largemouth hit and spit the crankbait 4 times and the guy never felt it or set the hook. Wonder if he didn't have a sensitive enough rod?

I know you pre-qualified it as no commercial use but as a guide, people rented me, my boat, my gear and my knowledege every time I went out. They abused it all.

On St Clair with Smallmouth, it's about 10 seconds. Put a bait anywhere near their bed and they will attack it instantly if they are "Locked-on". Release and repeat same fish over and over. Not very sporting.

Made me go look and I found this.....Looks like they will be doing the trade in as well. https://www.cabelas.com/category/Fishing-Classic/540348480.uts

Most "Sanctioned" trails require $100,000-$300,000 worth of liability insurance on your boat policy.

I "believe" that sensitivity is germane to the fisherman and his or her experience level. The "skill" of fishing improves with experience. I also "believe" that at some point you have reached the maximum amount of sensitivity that our hands can receive through the rod. It's no different to me than buying a big screen TV with 1 million pixels of HD viewing capability but the satellite signal I receive only transmits at 500,000 pixels. I wasted money on a product that far exceeds what is needed.

@CattWe try to avoid the parade line of boats fishing the same beds over and over but I was surprised to think that even our deeper fish, well off of the shallow beds, were still (more than likely) bedding fish. Yes we catch more pre-spawners on their way in to the bedding areas and some post-spawners leaving (depending on the weather while we are there) and that's why we plan our trip when we do because we "can" catch them in all phases and it opens the door for many more techniques. Last year we saw some out of staters (we are as well), throw a buoy out a small group of beds and sit there all day long catching the same fish over and over.

I'm not trying to be a smart alec here but do you stay off the water completely during the spawn? Because if you don't, you are more than likely still catching spawning fish even though you are not targeting them. They spawn deep and shallow during the season. I don't like catching bed fish either and on our annual trip the St Clair we will stay off shore and throw cranks and jerkbaits more but one of my good friends who grew up on the lake laughs and says that if we think we are not catching bedding fish we are sadly mistaken.

Should be fine depending on the specs of your van. Engine size? You might want to invest in a transmission cooler if it doesn't have one.

Moving into the realm of bigger bass boats is probably in your future just because you like to fish tournaments and as it stands, it sounds like you are somewhat hindered by your current setup. Some things to consider are towing a bigger boat resulting in more maintenance/gas/upkeep to your tow vehicle, higher insurance for the boat, maintenance on the boat/trailer, gas/oil/batteries for the boat and a few other things. Some positives are as you stated, more room, more and better gear storage and possibly opening up water you couldn't get to before and being safer on the water when your tournament day is affected by weather. I guess what I am saying is that if you are ready to step up to a bigger boat there are good and bad things that go with that decision. Sounds like you have a level head and are not trying to jump up too far and as far as the specific boat just have it checked out by a good mechanic and make sure everything works as it should.....lights/graphs/pumps etc. Make sure the boat is solid (transom/floors, etc.). Google for the same boat and compare prices to get a feel if the boat is in range with what the market is telling you. Good luck!!

Notwithstanding the fact that price doesn't always reflect quality, you have to be aware of what I call "information overload". That's the reason I don't like tungsten for dropshot weights. Too much information for my brain to process and results in missing bites or misinterpreting bites. There is a happy medium you need to find.

Everybody is going to have a "preferred" way to fish but a lot of times the preferred way isn't what the fish want depending on season and current conditions. While I consider myself a slow adapter, meaning I'm not jumping on every new technique, I always look at new baits and techniques to see if they really are "new" or just a modification of something that already exists. You do yourself a disservice by not being open to and trying all of the "proven" techniques to some degree. I used to hate cranking due to my love for plastics but found that I wasn't doing myself any favors by not learning and using cranks when that's what the fish wanted.

Yes, Cabela's is having a Spring Sale just like BPS both run from 02/15- 03/05 but I do not think they do the reel trade in promotion. I can let you know as soon as I get in the store, I am scheduled for the 16th of this month.

It's always a crap shoot to get the gear they have listed in the sale. Both BPS and Cabela's. I'll be representing Quantum, Gamakatsu, Live Target, Bullet Weights, Yamamoto, Gator Guards and a few other brands at Cabela's this spring and it sucks when there's a sale on them and the stores don't have any stock. "Usually" they will put what they refer to as a "door buster" product on sale (sonar or other bigger ticket item) to get you in the door and then hope you continue shopping for other things. Also keep in mind that BPS stocks their stores by sales volume. If the store closest to you is a big volume seller, they will have more of a selection than other stores. There is a pecking order.

I watched the coverage yesterday and technically, they did a pretty good job dropped the feed a couple of times but I was satisfied with the coverage. Here's where my jaw dropped open. When a Social Media question was asked of the panel and Marty Stone answered, I almost got on the homepage and started a rant. Remember, this tour is all about the "care and well being of the fish". The question asked was if competitors came across bedding bass, are they allowed to catch the fish more than once? Marty Stone's answer was that initially, the anglers voted "no" but reconsidered and voted to allow it. His rationale was that you are not going to catch the same fish again after being caught and released. This is simply not true. Depending on where they are and what species of bass they are fishing for (largemouth or smallmouth), you can catch the same fish multiple times. Not even up for discussion. It's a fact. I've watched it on St Clair and I've seen the damage done to the fish. We call them "hamburger mouths" from being caught so many times. So if an angler gets on a 4lb smallmouth on the bed, they can pole down and keep catching that fish multiple times until it finally quits biting or abandons the bed. So much for fish care. One of my sponsors is a banner sponsor on MLF and they asked on Social Media on our Pro-Staff page what our thoughts were and I had to uncork.