TOXIC

It has a strong smell but man o man does this stuff work. Off the top of my head I’ve used it on rod guides, truck cover, multiple ceramics, boat carpet touch up, siding on my house, wood, stone, metal and of course shoes. It’s clear, waterproof and flexible to some degree. I can’t attest to its overall strength but I’ve not had anything I have repaired with it fail.

You are going to think I’m crazy but I have used this stuff to repair hundreds of things. It’s a clear epoxy that is what I have dubbed the miracle goo. It takes a while to set and you really don’t need much but this stuff works.

All you can do is dress for it. 😂

Way to tough it out!

This color thing has been bantered for a long time and has had me totally confused. I was told by an Elite Series pro who stayed with me on multiple occasions that color isn’t as important as “Hue”. He chose his colors in 3 categories, clear water, stained water, and muddy water. None of which were bright colors. In my 24 years of going to Lake St Clair to chase smallmouth, it seems that there is a definite color preference from year to year with some colors that will produce every year. I’ll use Yamamoto’s Shad Shape Worm as an example because I throw it a lot on a dropshot. Color 297 (green pumpkin/black fleck) almost always will catch some, last year it was the only color they wanted. This year it didn’t produce nearly as well as the gold hues, goby, perch, and smallmouth magic. There was a year they only wanted natural Shad, or smoke salt and pepper. But I will say this, there was 1 year the only bait they wanted was a bubblegum DShad and I mean it was the only thing they wanted and we went through an entire brick of baits. So I’m right back in the confused camp.

As an avid dropshotter, that’s really good info. Also, I bed fish a dropshot by shortening the tag line down to 4 or 5 inches. There’s nothing that will entice a strike like a dropshot bait hovering over a bed.

Responded to your private message before I read this. Good deal on making the reservation now. You are on the northernmost part of the lake. Considering your boat size be very, very weather aware and for some of the spots I gave you, you might want to consider trailering to a closer launch. Good luck.

Just got back from St Clair and the spawn was defiantly delayed. Should be on like donkey Kong right now.

We call lake St Clair the smallmouth fisherman’s Disneyland. It definitely is one of my happy places (except when we have to run across the lake in 3-4 footers😂).

Just an FYI, I was told by GSM management that there was some previous problems with the Mongrel and they have been addressed. Full disclosure, I have not thrown one yet.

Just got back from Lake St Clair where we normally spend 1 day jigging for walleye so we have filets to bring home but this year we concentrated on big smallmouth. We normally get a by catch of walleye throwing flat sided cranks and tubes in smallmouth areas. This year I caught some on a dropshot which was a first. Light spinning on 8lb test.

Here’s another one to consider, Frog Factory Mongrel. Walking soft plastic with frog hook designed for walking in grass.

Those are the exact dates we go. Get with me to trade phone numbers and I’ll be glad to clue you in on what we are catching them on when we are there. I can give you a list of the baits I take every year and it always seems to be one bait that will rise above the others, I just never know which one it will be until I get there. Also it seems that one area always produces better. After 24 years we have covered most all of the areas on the American side and it usually takes us a couple of days to pattern them on location and bait preference but we always find them.

Hard to figure out where to post this. Is it a fishing report? A smallmouth report? A general fishing report? Everything else? Anyway, just got back from a week on Lake St Clair. My 24th year straight. Although we are gunning for big Smallmouth, we catch a lot of other species as well. Last year the weather was horrible and this year the area had experienced a prolonged period of wind and cold. Last year there was a warming trend and then they got tossed back into freezing weather. The prolonged cold this year just meant they were a bit behind schedule and the wind just made our trips across the lake painful. Side note, we did have a severe storm roll through and some boats got damaged. I threw a bunch of baits but 98% of my fish came on a Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm on a dropshot. It was what they wanted this year. Color changed depending on area but that was the bait. I personally caught smallmouth, largemouth, rock bass, perch and even a walleye. I have a load of pictures and you can zoom in on any one of them with a bait still in their mouth and see it’s a SSW. I would estimate I caught 20+ a day from 3 to 4.5lbs. Had a blast and already looking forward to next year.

“High school tourneys should be in jon boats with 10hp limit. This would simultaneously increase safety, and decrease barrier to entry. I've fished local tourneys with nothing but a trolling motor.” None of the high schoolers are operating anything other than the trolling motor. I’ve captained many high school tournaments and practice days. In order to put your focus on these tournaments, you’d have to look at who’s actually running the boats. Not that you shouldn’t but it’s not the kids.

That’s another product. In Florida we all wear buffs. Covers ears, neck, nose and face. Hat covers forehead and sunglasses meet buff on cheeks. Added advantage is protection from massive swarms of grass gnats.

I didn’t start wearing fingerless fishing gloves until 5 or 6 years ago when I decided to up my sun protection program as a whole. I wear Cuda brand and they have the dots for grip that I wore off in 3 months of use. I don’t notice any reduction in sensitivity or ability to tie but I do have a problem with the fabric where it goes partly up the fingers being exactly where I grip my spinning rods. At the end of the day I can have a pretty sore finger where the material ends if it’s been a lot more casting than catching. In cold weather they are warmer than bare hands.

Most all of the areas I catch them in are within kayak range. They are pretty much populated most everywhere on the river. We never target just them but it’s rare not to get some every trip. I would take you out in my boat if you made the trip all the way here.

We consider our best areas from Little Falls to Port Royal. We launch in the middle at Hopyard and depending on the tides go up or down. On the other side of the river there is Hicks to launch from as well. Hopyard just happens to be on the closest side to us and it’s free. The ramp is good too.

Final trip out to the Rappahonock River before my southern swing of no fishing. Going to Georgia for a wedding, then to relatives on Crescent beach in Florida, then on for a week in an Airbnb on Vilano beach. I get back and leave the next day for St. Clair. I was blessed with 5 Snakeheads and a couple nice bass. Got bit off on a few more snakeheads as well.

It’s from experience I can tell you how many miles you can drive with a 50 foot extension cord before it wears down to the height of your transom.

We call those, “dues paying days”. Now you are due for a banner outing, get ready!

You have 2 options. Take it to a trusted shop and pay the premium to have a mechanic look at it……or….learn to do it yourself. I consider myself a middle of the road mechanic and can do some things but prefer to let the more experienced do the harder stuff. I have a 2 stroke and can do most common maintenance on the boat/motor/trailer but I also have a fishing partner who was a crew chief on helicopters in the USMC. Currently, I am waiting for a replacement trim relay that I pulled because it was acting up. I have a 2005 model year boat with all original trailer and 250 2 stroke Yamaha motor. I just got back from pulling it from Virginia to Florida with no issues. It’s good to be cautious and concerned but don’t let it paralyze you. Google and YouTube can be your best friend.😉

I have a dedicated dropshot setup because I fish it so much. It’s one of my oldest combos and I would replace it immediately if something were to happen to it. I do not do braid to leader so there’s no pre rigging. Straight 8lb mono to a #1 EWG hook and a QuickDrop 1/4oz harp dropshot weight. If I ever break off, which is very rare and almost never unless a toothy critter gets ahold of it, I just retie and go. I just loaded my bulk bag for our annual trip to St Clair and I’d wager I have 25lbs of Yamamoto plastics dedicated to dropshotting.

@Bluebasser86 most states have a certification requirement to operate any motorized watercraft. I know Virginia does. Minimum age is 16 and ALL operators must pass a boaters safety course and carry that certification with them on the water. With that being said, it won’t solve the problem. My own personal experience, there are some who are more wrapped up in speed than they are fishing. But I will say, the speed freaks I know are good boat drivers and are safety conscious. One of them decided to bring his go fast boat with us to St Clair and found out just how different a pure fishing setup handles big water. As has been said, it’s the less experienced put in a high volume group with some heavy horsepower that can cause a problem. If a college age and above have passed the safety course, then it’s all on them. You can’t legislate common sense. 16 year olds can drive autos and even with speed limits and licensing requirements, there are still accidents. I am not for punishing all by lowering speed and horsepower limits. I maxed out the horsepower on every one of my boats when I was guiding to insure I could get off the water in case of emergency or weather and to make sure my boat could perform as designed with a full load of people and gear. If you look at the statistics, I’m sure there are far more accidents from pleasure boaters who’s day on the water include heavy partying. They just don’t get the press. I had to avoid them many a time guiding on a weekend.