TOXIC

C-rig when they're looking down, Dropshot when they are looking up.

For you small water guys, I used to be the expert on tiny water!! I fished out of a Bass Hunter PVC boat and a 40lb thrust TM. Here's my list: Brittle. Literally 5 miles from my house. Has boat rentals is stocked with Walleye and most recently someone intorduced Snakeheads. Lots of catfish, good panfish and crappie. Best areas are the coves around the 2 points that are in the center and the bank from the coves to the dam. Where the creek feeds in from the top there is a MASSIVE flat that is pretty much dead water. Germantown Lake/Crockett Park. I called this my "grocery store" lake. Whenever I needed to restock the freezer with crappie, I'd head there. Boat rentals. Good bass, catfish and sunfish. Best areas, creek channel of feeder creek for bass and I trolled for most of my crappie. Lake Curtis. No boat rental. I did fairly well there on a regular basis up in the back and at the dam. Lake Orange. Boat rentals. Good Bass and crappie, lots of deep standing timber. Lake Pelham. No boat rentals. Permit required. I caught a lot of white Perch, bass and crappie out of this lake. Another one of my "grocery store" lakes. Mountain Run. Same as Pehlam but smaller. Was less productive for me. I fished a few more that I can't recall of the top of my head because I haven't frequented them since getting the big boat. If I can help anybody out just ask.

I could go into a long explanation on Thermocline and Stratification and Gradients, but there are soooooo many factors that play into the answer it would be extensive and without knowing the body of water, clarity, bottom composition, location, etc., it would not be relevant so.......the short answer is yes, the deeper you go the colder it gets with the exception of the fall when most lakes "turn-over".

Do the vinegar and let them air dry outside in the sun.

Call your local DNR to see if they manage it. Swing by a house with a dock and ask if there are any rules/restrictions or if permission is necessary. Go to the local courthouse and look to see how the pond is described in land/title records. Even though it seems you are respecting the water, you need to also respect the landowners. Good luck!!

All things being equal, there's nothing you can do. I've gone to Lake St Clair for 14 years straight with the same group of guys. I travel up with a buddy here in Virginia, we take his boat pulled by my truck. His boat is rigged for big water more than mine. We drive 10 hours and rent a cottage on an island for a week with about 5 other fishermen. We have had unbelievable trips where 75 fish days were common. We ALWAYS find them sooner or later. One year, I went 2 days straight with -0- fish. -0-. I was beyond frustrated. Since I am a finesse fisherman, I usually am the one with the numbers. Not this trip. I just put it out of my head and kept grinding, doing what I know catches fish. On the 3rd day the flood gates opened and I was back in business. I have never been able to figure out why my first 2 days on that trip were so bad.

One of the many reasons why I don't like wacky rigging. Having been sponsored by Yamamoto for over 15 years and guiding, I see my share of gut hooked fish. I'm an expert at removal through the gill. No tournament fisherman is gonna bend a barb in to reduce hookups. Also be advised that there are other places where you can hook a bass that will kill it immediately. The tongue is a delicate spot as well as the gills and some other spots in the mouth. I have found no less bites and far less gut hooks with the Texas rigged Senkos on a 4.0 Gamakatsu EWG hook. Reason being, the EWG creates a bigger mass that the bass can't inhale as easily without either a line jump or it banging off the inside of the mouth. But, they can also spit a Texas rigged Senko easier. With Clients, I actually watch their line as they fish. If they are really inexperienced, I will move up to a 5.0 EWG. Here's a picture from last weekend and if these big girls don't swallow it whole then the smaller ones are safer. You can zoom in on the hook.

I have an auto inflate. I have a full vest. I put the auto inflate away. Seems I've been reading a LOT of accounts where the auto didn't inflate. Also remember, just because you don't inflate it, you still need to replace the arming kit. They have a shelf life.

Okay, so you are back to the F&S over a bass rig. It will be a good boat for rough water. Will get blown around more than a straight bass boat (higher freeboard) and you'll need a good long handled net for ease of landing fish. You will draft deeper and by the looks of the layout, your wife will not have a platform for sunning. I only say that because you can remove the rear pedestal seat in a bass boat and the rear deck is completely open. Fish & Skis have cockpit seating for 4 and a recessed front deck most of the time. My position on boat buying has always been to let someone else eat the "drive off the lot" depreciation just for that new glass smell. I buy a boat a couple of years old low hours and well maintained and get more boat for less money than if I was buying new.

Touchy subject for me for a number of reasons. First, I bought my current boat (Z21 Ranger) from the brother of a gentleman who drowned while kayaking in a calm bay on the Potomac River. No PFD. He inherited the boat from his deceased brother's estate. Second, being a Guide and spending a lot of hours on the water, there are some very common problems that contribute to on the water accidents. Inexperienced boaters/jetskis/paddleboards/yaks/etc.. Whether motorized or not, the USCG Rules of the road apply to all and should be read by anyone enjoying the water. I could site numerous incidents where if I had not been fully alert and paying 100% attention, there could have been an incident. I see children with no PFD's, Operators with no clue on boating regs regarding passing and safe operation. Go to any popular body of water on a warm summer weekend and it's a free for all. All in the name of fun and relaxation. And finally...alcohol. Let me state upfront that I am not anti alcohol. I can put them away just a good as I did in college but I never, never, never imbibe on the water. Put me on-shore and it's game on (as long as I'm not driving). Obviously there is -0- alcohol allowed while guiding and I guess I've just seen the results of sun and booze on too many people. I am amazed that for a majority of people that it's part of their normal boating routine to drink. I get it, boating is supposed to be fun but stop and think about it, you are going out where there, for the most part, is no speed limit in a watercraft with no brakes and where operators are required to have minimal training (if any at all). Add booze to deaden reaction time, cloud judgement and you have a recipe for disaster. If accidents show an upward spike in the bodies of water that I frequent, I would assume there will be increased enforcement and that, to me, is a good thing. Until then it's up to me to be an operator of safe equipment, educated on the operation of that equipment and USCG regulations and in full control of my faculties while on the water.

If you have the money to invest, get the artificial "brush" that promotes bio-growth and is good for the environment. It won't rot and they are designed to minimize losing lures in them. I like the ones featured in this video.

Being a Guide, I only hand off the rod to children, to a fisherman it's kind of an insult to hook the fish and hand them the rod (disability aside). Nonetheless, I have had Bass latch on to a Senko and I've brought them all the way to the boat and belly landed them without ever putting a hook in their lip.

Anymore, the best information comes from the internet and YouTube. I swear there's a YouTube "how to" video on just about anything. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't one on how to self perform brain surgery.

The quality of the members here is much better than a lot of other sites I am on. No senceless bickering, not over moderated and a lot of information. Oh yeah, I had a first this year as well.......my first double digit Northern Snakehead.

Being a Guide this is a touchy subject. It's nice to have people that will help you zero in on a new body of water to you but let's be honest, the only way you get that knowledge is time on the water and for those that have put in the time and expense to figure out a body of water, it takes a very giving person to just give that information up to a stranger. Even if they are just visiting. I would give out patterns and and general areas to people who ask about my home lake. I have even taken locals out on a chain of lakes I fish on vacation when I go to Wisconsin every year and those locals found me posting on a website but to just give it out to anyone who asks, is asking alot.

Not really the UP but I just got back last week from a solid week on St. Clair. Weather was brutal but the spawn was on. The week after we left a buddy was up on Saganaw Bay and it took 25lbs to be in the top 10.

Have you thought about joining a local club as a non-boater?

Just a suggestion, telling your location might help.

Let me refine my statement. A sponsor of a website that has a selection of the same product from different manufacturers is sponsoring for views and click throughs. If a youtuber relies on his sponsors to fund his/her channel, how long do you think the sponsor will stick around if the youtuber starts using/reviewing competitors products favorably over theirs? And I'm not saying that just because you are sponsored you are a talking head for that company in all cases but if you rely on the sponsors money or product to survive then you have lost your objectivity.

Short answer for bass....no. Bass are instinctive and will be the same no matter where they are spawned. Now fish that migrate may be different but a bass is a bass and will hold true to the instinctive traits of bass. IMHO.

Well, a McNugget is just as fake as the plastics we throw so makes sense.

For the "Young Guns" making these vids, I have one problem (and it's the same problem with the pro's). Once you introduce "Sponsors" you loose your objectivity. You then become just another talking head for your sponsor(s) for all intents and purposes. True or not, that will be the perception, you can't avoid it.

There's a big difference between someone who can edit and relay relevant information via video and someone who puts up a home movie quality video. The drive to be recognized in the sport of fishing has drawn a lot of negative connotations. Boat Ownership, Tournament Fishing, Jersey wearing and on and on. I give a lot of seminars and have never had the desire to YouTube or otherwise try to profit from passing on fishing knowledge. But that's just me........

I have 3 sets of gear. I know I have to load 1 set before every trip. 1 set for the lake, 1 set for the river, and 1 set if I am going in someone else's boat.

Fluke or as I use, a Yamamoto DShad. Awsome bait that is always rigged.