TOXIC

I don’t know about your specific motor but on my 2000, 225 merc 2 stroke, the oil injection system consisted of 2 parts. The remote oil tank in the bilge area and a saddle tank on the side of the motor. The oil injection system pumped oil from the bilge tank to the saddle tank on the motor. If the bilge tank ran low and subsequently the saddle tank was not getting filled, an alarm would sound. You fill the bilge tank not the saddle tank. Possible failures are a plugged filter in the bilge tank hose. It periodically needs to be cleaned and a failure of the oil pump to pump oil to the saddle tank on the motor. Generally speaking the oil injection systems were very reliable but some opted to pre mix oil and fuel directly in the tank. This requires removing some injection equipment and plugging some vacuum lines not just adding the oil to the fuel.

?? I know now with the “bubba shot” and a few other iterations, there’s more than 1 accepted Dropshot application but I can assure you I am totally old school and have fished the same rig for 40 years. The only thing that changes is the bait I choose. 7 Foot CastAway Skeleton Spinning Rod medium/fast. Quality spinning reel in 2000 or 2500 size 8lb BPS Excel mono. #1 Gamakatsu EWG Hook. 1/4 oz QuickDrop Dropshot Weight Plastics have been varied and change over the years but high on list is the Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm and my old school bait a Yamamoto Pro Senko both rigged Texas. ?

Bite your tongue!? That was the hot bait on St Clair this year for our annual trip. It was pretty steady catching all daylong once I figured out what bait they wanted.

As I have posted, we had 30mph gusts on St Clair and ended up walleye fishing in the river for 2 days. Not as fun but we got lots of table fare.

When the spinnerbait bite is on, it’s on. Have used a Nichols white, chrome willow bladed spinnerbait with great luck. This year on St Clair, one of our party flew in from Australia and had limited gear. A new bait company in the states is Bassman spinnerbaits, he sponsors Carl Jocumen and our buddy knows him. He threw that spinnerbait a bunch and caught largemouth and smallmouth.

I have a product called the Grass Goat. Not epoxied.

Need to know year and make of motor. 2 stoke or 4 stroke? Motor oil or lower unit oil?

Good to know but sadly it’s a rule included in a bunch of others specific to the chain we go to. It includes identifying no wake lakes, skiing restrictions by lake and time and a few others I am forgetting. Might be worth asking the Sheriff who regularly patrols when I am up there.

Nope. Here is a pic of the line but not in photochromic color.

I’m sure you know that you are going to have to try different ones out to know. I have for years, summer and winter worn Shimano Evair. Simple wool socks in the winter. I have a second pair one size up for wearing socks underneath. I have a high arch and a wide foot so finding comfortable shoes was pretty difficult.

When I go to Wisconsin, trolling is not allowed on the chain of lakes we are on. I just happened to leave a crankbait out and caught a good sized Tiger Musky.

It was a neon orange that totally disappeared in the water. It was perfect for weightless Senkos and line watching.

I’m sorry but posts like this really make me laugh. Why? Because a rod that feels like a million bucks to me and does everything I want it to, could feel like a wooden broomstick to you. We don’t fish the same way, have differing experience levels, and a thousand other factors that make me different from you. That’s why fishermen usually find a rod or series of rods that fit them and stick with it. That’s why marketing is such an important part of rod choice. The cost of the rods on your list is pretty steep just to find what works for you. The number of rods that have infinitesimal differences would be mind boggling. I understand the thrill of buying and trying lots of different rods and the collecting factor as well but asking what is someone’s recommendation is like making a list of every rod manufacturer out there. If it were me, I would put some qualifying factors on your search like cost and if you want to take a short cut, just go to a custom rod maker and have exactly what you want made for you. Good luck on your search.

I used to be a die hard Trilene user for years before I went on Bass Pros pro staff. The price of their Excel line for me was free so I switched over. For all I know it still could have been Trilene.?. In my original search for the “perfect” line, I tried XT and XL and like Little miss Muffet, one was too stiff and one was too limp. I found Trilene Tournament Strength in Photochromic to be the absolute perfect line for me and they promptly discontinued it. I was able to find it for a while but it got to the point I knew any I found would be getting close to being too old to use.

In Michigan, we all prepare a dinner, we had chicken pot pie, enchiladas, mule deer backstraps, hamburger casserole and a walleye feast. The wife of one of the locals we meet while there is a baker and we get homemade apple, peach and cherry pies. We eat good!

I have never felt that mono has a low sensitivity level. It may increase as you step up in test but I am a finesse guy first and foremost so 6-8lb test is my go to. I will spool some 10-12lb on baitcasters for moving baits and vertical jigging. I don’t have a gut hooking problem at all with mono for Neds.

Last year the Ned on St Clair was killer. I fished it with a 4 inch Senko and a Yamamoto California Roll. This year some of our group nailed the smallmouth up to 5lbs on Neds, I was struggling. I switched over to my backup which is a dropshot with a Yamamoto Shad Shape Worm and a short tag. Still struggled and decided to go old school and rigged my dropshot with a 5 inch Pro Senko. For whatever reason, that combo drove them nuts.

Haha. One of the pics I stepped up front the other was from the back. Here are a couple of pics with me n the back and one with the other 2 who were in front of me.?

We call cormorants sh—t birds and you learn to stay a good ways away from them when they take to the air. I was fishing a creek off the main lake in my area and there was a small cut to get back to a pond like area. Whilst fishing my way back there I spooked up a flock of Canadian geese. I watched them all take flight, I would estimate 15-20, slowly gain altitude and then bank back. When they got directly over me, a large number of them decided to use me as a target. There was goose poop dropping all around me. I can’t believe it wasn’t intentional.

If it’s during the spawn you’d be surprised to know that those deeper fish are probably also on beds. Not all bass spawn shallow…..only the ones we can see. ?

When it’s just me and my buddy and he is throwing a crankbait and I am throwing a Senko, I have a non-verbal way to signal him to slow down……my Senko whizzing 2 inches from his ear heading out the front of the boat.?

I make a few long trips every year that put me in hotels overnight. I’m of the school of thought that there’s only one way to be 99% sure your gear is safe and that’s to bring it in with you. I’ve seen most every type of lock defeated, some easier than others. Easiest are rod locker locks, you can bust them bare handed. Next are the electronics locks that you can break with a hammer, I have a Lok r Bar that is a bit better but I have never locked my trolling motor or my prop and I know they make locks especially for them. I know it’s impossible to strip your boat but it’s a matter of priorities. I don’t put them in my truck either for obvious reasons.

I will comment when they are put up but won’t link to them in order to comply with the no promotion rule. Here’s another example where even if you are all fishing the same baits, multiple anglers in a single boat can be a challenge. On my last trip to Headwaters Lake in Florida, we had 3 anglers in a 20 foot Ranger. We were fishing grass lines and scattered grass clumps. With 2 good anglers who were friends in front of me, I had very limited fishing angles and targets that weren’t already fished thoroughly. My solution…..I threw a weightless Senko behind the boat and in open areas the other two were not hitting. I was catching some quality fish.

I am doing a series of 3 articles for Yamamoto’s Inside Line online blog called “From The Back Deck” that goes into a lot of the different adjustments you have to make fishing on the back deck. With a guide/In a tournament/Fun fishing. You fish the same baits as me and if your front ended won’t pause long enough to allow you to work your baits as intended (common courtesy) then you have no choice but to switch to moving baits. Your only other option is to cast ahead of the boat to give your bait time to work but with 3 in the boat that’s not possible.

If it’s new, there should be a Schedule in the owners manual for when to change. In my 2 stroke it’s always cheap insurance. At least twice a year.