TOXIC

Anybody OCD enough to keep that many cranks organized would be an awesome DW Loader!! I have to reload the DW before I run it because there are things that belong on top, things that belong on the bottom, front to back according to weight and making sure there is enough room to get water through every dish or plate. Don't even get me started on the silverware basket.

Standard rigging is a 1/4 oz Gamakatsu football head jig for me but the hula can be fished on a ball head or as a trailer on any number of baits as well as c-rigged.

Just a fact to note, if you go back into the moot, you won't find any depth over 3 foot. Only a concern for a deep V.

Great Success in a lot of different water colors but deadly on smallmouth. SPRO ARUKU Shad. When on the bottom, the sit nose down to help with keeping free from snags and the noisemakers are tungston powder coated so they make a unique sound....more like a thump than a rattle.

From what you described, my suggestion would be a center console. You need to make sure that the boat you pick is designed and built for the salt environment. There are a lot of differences between freshwater boats and salt water boats. You also need more room than the average bass boat layout will give.

I was lucky enough to know my grandparents well and even both of my great grandparents on my mothers side. My grandfather was a great fisherman and went from Iowa to Canada every year. I got to go once before he passed since his requirement to go was that you could pull your own weight and do a lot of the heavy lifting the trip required. It was the trip of a lifetime. Growing up I spent a lot of my summers on the farm in Iowa and we would go catfishing in some of the local rivers and I would ride by bike to any number of ponds and big creeks to fish for whatever would bite (a lot of Bullheads). My father went with a group of guys to Minnesota about every other year and I got to tag along on a few of those trips. As a teen, a group of us would regularly take camping trips to the Platte River in Nebraska and camp on a sandbar partying all day and catfishing all night. Fishing has always been a part of my life and I don't expect that to change.

Due to their mass numbers, it would be very difficult to "overfish" a crappie population in most bodies of water. Since I like my freezer fish to come out of cold water, I am usually not fishing for spawning fish. Crappies will begin spawning when the water temperature reaches 56-60 degrees Fahrenheit. The crappie spawn will peak when water temperatures reach 61-72 degrees Fahrenheit. Although that may vary by location, it is a general guide to show the stage they are in when you fish. But I will say, even in the fall and late fall when I fish for them the females are in egg production.

Double fluke split shot Small ball jig head C-rig with a floating crank or jerkbait

I use a CastAway saltwater baitcasting rod for a lot of my spinnerbaits. It just feels right.

On boat shennagigans are always fun but if you are around serious fishermen I always make sure I don't do anything to cause them to lose a fish. I have gotten the most experienced fishermen by tapping the rod butt when they aren't looking or tapping their line. I've seen charter captians put an old 45 record on the end of a trolling line and let a client fight it all the way back to the boat. It dips and dives and runs right to left just like a fish. We were fishing St Clair one year and we were having a particularly tough day. My fishing partner and I in one boat and our buddies in another. We were fishing somewhat close and they were pulling in fish after fish and we couldn't get bit. We were changing baits according to what they were telling us and no luck but they kept pulling in fish. One of them yelled it was so easy he could catch them while taking a nap so he layed down on the front deck and sure enough......bam!! another fish. We were pulling our hair out. Then they started cracking up and we found out it was the same fish the whole time, they would just release it back into the water still hooked and acted like they caught it again, trading the rod back and forth. They were gentle with the fish and it was released unharmed.

As has been said....another proverbial can of worms. As is usually the case it is not a one size fits all. Lots of factors. Water temp/clarity/depth fishing/line size/blade used and a lot of other factors. It's hard to burn a spinnerbait and deep roll a spinnerbait without changing a few things. 1/2 oz.

My concern would be when mating glass and metal how that mating reacts to heat/cold and rough water running. I am currently getting ready (as soon as the weather warms up) to re-glass an underneath section of my drivers console on my Ranger because of the excessive trailering and rough water I run. One of the mounting bolts has broken away from the console to the topcap/hull. My concern would be if the hull/topcap were metal as opposed to glass, how will it react? Different flex rates would only contribute to my kind of problem or possibly stress crack all of that pretty glass mated to metal. Same inside the compartments. My other problem is the old saying "jack of all trades, master of none". When you try to do too many things you end up not doing any very well. Tin boats have their place and so do glass boats. With no real cost advantage I would have to sit on the sidelines a while and wait to see how the public reacts regarding performance and durability. One thing that does interest me is a good tin that is 20 foot and lighter than glass that gives easier towing and better mpg. I will say that Ranger has had their share of issues with their tin line. There were paint problems in the beginning and there have been a lot of reported weld issues especially in the bow/keel welds. Of course Ranger has handled the problems but it's still out there.

Line twist is inevitable. You can minimize it, you can try to control it or you can take steps to remove it. I don't like swivels or snaps (unless it's a c-rig). I cut and retie if I want to change baits. I address the line twist issue a few ways. Make sure your bulk spool is feeding the line so that it minimizes twist when I spool up, after spooling I ALWAYS put my rod in a secure holder and walk the line back off my spinning reel. Usually into my neighbors yard, then re spool it holding the line with my fingers at the reel to get any twist out as I respool it. When fishing, always close the bail by hand and if I notice a lot of twist I will feed out a bunch of line (with no lure attached) and then respool it back onto the reel. Finally, I change my line out after I've treated it a few times with conditioner and it isn't responding. And as a side note....if you are fishing plastics, make sure you rig them so that they don't spin and twist up your line. That's probably the hardest thing to do and the biggest mistake I see a lot of fishermen make.

I am so bummed. The weather hit my area like a sledgehammer and with the wind and ice, I didn't get to fill my freezer like I wanted. That's the risk of waiting until they have been in colder water for an extended period of time to firm up the meat. There's still an outside chance we will get out to the crappie spots again but with this crazy Polar Vortex that keeps splitting and dropping into Virginia, I doubt it.

If I had to choose between a straight Bass Boat hull and a Multi-Species hull (both are made in glass or tin), it would totally depend on where I was going to spend the majority of my time fishing. While I do love my glitter sled, if I was going to be spending the majority of my time on big water then I would lean to a multi-species hull just because of the safety factor. I have spent a lot of time in 20-21ft bass boats in nasty water and although they will handle it, you need to be on your game and a good driver to be safe. With that I will also say the most beat up I EVER got was on Lake Michigan riding with a Professional Walleye Tour fisherman in a Ranger 621 multi-species hull. That was due to his driving though and I think if he drove a bassboat the way he drove that Ranger, he would have sunk it. I literally had blisters on my back from the seats. Likewise I have been on St Clair in true 5 footers (and I know how to measure wave height) in a 20 foot bass boat and stayed dry while we crossed the lake. It was slow going and the guy behind the wheel grew up on the lake and could really drive a boat. Was it scary....yes! Would I have done it in my boat.....NO WAY!! I know my limitations.

Yamamoto's cinnamon is a light earthworm color. It is brown though.

I could put up a lot of pictures with no boats in sight for miles but St Clair in the summertime is a crazy place!! Given my choice I would rather be on Lake Manderchuck.

The State of Michigan has over 1,000,000+ registered watercraft, which is more than any other state in America. The densest concentration of boat ownership is in the city of Saint Clair Shores, Michigan on Lake St. Clair. LSC is the busiest freshwater lake in the United States of America. At 440 square miles, LSC is also the busiest body of freshwater per square mile in the world. It is repeatedly voted one of the top lakes in the world for hot girls and boat parties. Lake St. Clair is 26-miles long, 24-miles wide, has 160-miles of shoreline and an average depth of 10-feet. As a comparison, Lake Superior, has a max depth of 1,332 feet. When we go in May, there aren't that many boaters out unless they are fishermen.

Style is something you cannot mimic. It's something you develop. Style can be different for every technique. It is unique to every fisherman. Sure, you get the fundamentals down but it's what you do with them after that which can refine your style.

Nice little gathering. This is what happens on Lake St Clair every year. I had the "pleasure" of experiencing it one time before we moved our annual trip up to spring. Funny thing is that where they hold this event is one of the best smallmouth spawning grounds on the lake. Of course, the smallies have done the deed and moved off by the time this takes place. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5P3Hqi5yXQ

Terrible situation to be in Tom. We can only control a certain amount of our natural resources. Have you considered advocating for fishermen on your home waters by pursuing positions on governing boards or water authorities? Seems like you have a wealth of knowledge that could benefit all involved and possibly help rectify a direction that is detrimental to the sport we all love. Your situation is exactly why I decided to retire this year. I am still in good health and I want to experience more of what fishing in this great country has to offer. I can still launch and load my 21 foot boat solo and I'm not afraid to trailer anywhere so it's time to get it done!! I've spent 34 years as a provider for my family and very soon it's going to be "me" time while I still have the health and desire to do it. As an aside, you are welcome in my boat anytime our paths may cross!! Come East and fish the mighty Potomac!!

Spring, all of the normal spawning grounds....Little and Big Muscamoot bays, the Mile Roads and Selfridge will keep you more than busy. Summer you need to move out deep and find the deeper weed lines. Dropshot, Ned rig, Fluke, Senko and SPRO Little John cranks. Never go out in the spring without a Jerkbait and a tube either.

What time of year?

All of my fly fishing for smallies has been on rivers and wading. I throw an 8wt Scott Brightwater for smallies and try to keep my fly selection as simple as possible depending on current conditions. 1. Any beaded nymph. 2. Any streamers/minnow imitators 3. Poppers. Where I fish I have the pleasure of having a great fly shop fairly close by that is/was operated by Harry Murray. https://www.murraysflyshop.com/ Get with a local shop close to the waters you will be fishing to get specific information on flies, current hatches, etc. Good luck!! Smallmouth are fisherman's crack!!

Growing up in Nebraska, I was used to the cold and as a kid remember going sledding and playing outside when it was below zero on a regular basis. You do get used to it. I was in North Dakota for a while with work and it was -30 air temp. Everywhere you went there were plugs to plug your engine heaters in so your car would start, even the rental cars had plug in heaters. What really made me laugh was that one of the "locals" came into the office with a lined windbreaker on and told me it's not really that cold yet. I spent 2 years in Florida and when I came back to my home in Virginia, it took me 3 years to bet re-acclimated to any kind of cold weather. Since I will be retiring this year, I will start my quest to find a place to hide from old man winter for good. I also lived in Massachusetts for a while and while I was in the middle of relocating, staying in a Residence Inn, I remember getting up one morning after a snow and seeing nothing but car antennas sticking out of the snowbanks. After we bought our house which was on 5 acres out in the woods, we had a snowfall where when I got up in the morning and went to open the garage door to "dig out" and there was 1 foot of clearance between the snow and the roof. I climbed up on the snow and my knees were even with the gutters.