Boomstick

That's totally respectably. You've probably never done anything stupid that you regret because of alcohol. I was past the trying to drink as much as possible stage before I even turned 21. I learned I could handle scary amounts of alcohol at 19 or 20, and never touched hard liquor since. I still get a decent buzz off a couple of beers, and after not drinking for a while, even 5% beers do the job nicely -- so I go out of my way to keep it under 6% tops for the most part. I learned about drinking responsibly from my dad at a young age and that's not only not drinking and driving but knowing when to stop. The entire "I drank that entire 24 rack doing kegstands" stuff was never really my thing. It's stupid beer advertising and it's sad that people buy into that.

Good, because I rarely drink more than two in a day -- and I have been straying from stronger beers lately as well. I do love my beer though, not a fan of most mass-produced North American corn beer by any means though. For a while, I was big into the IPA scene, but I didn't drink for a while due to having gout in my feet, then got cancer and couldn't drink on chemo. By the time I could drink again, I have preferring enjoying stouts, porters and various lagers and European style pilsners more for the most part -- although I am drinking an IPA (Victory Hop Devil) right now, which is the first one I have had in a while. I started off drinking before the craft beer revolution and later the IPA revolution hit, and my current "go to" beers are two of my favorites before the local package store had a wide variety of options -- Samuel Adams Cream Stout (low in alcohol but not missing any taste) and Anchor Porter. Guinness is always good too, but it's much better on tap so that's the beer I may order out so I buy less at home - which is where I do the vast majority of my drinking so I'm not driving.

^7

Well I know it's not the best jerkbait for what you want, but I use a Berkley Cutter 90+ Shallow for my shallow areas, one of which is barely over 2ft and if I keep my rod tip up, I can usually keep it off the bottom. It's rated for 3-5ft, but I would say around 3ft when fished normally is more accurate. I use 12lb mono line for the shallow areas for what it's worth.

Well the first thing I will mention is that 15lb braid is way too think for that H/MF rod you have it paired with. 50-65lb braid is the braid I would pair with a heavy rod. Now given that it's listed as a moderate fast rod, that makes the rod a little unique. I would use a H/F rod for jigs and frogs as well as for punching and some people prefer moderate fast for these and that may be fine assuming it isn't too far on the moderate side. The MHX MH/F that you have is good for texas rigs, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, larger squarebills with larger hooks (especially in lots of grass), 3/8oz jigs, paddle tail swimbaits -- basically a lot of things although it's still a little heavy for treble hooks and too light to throw it in real thick cover. However, I would use the 6.5:1 gear ratio reel with this one -- the 5.4:1 reel is slower and good for crankbaits, especially deep divers where you want to go real slow but when fishing a T-Rig, sometimes you gotta pick up slack quickly and the faster reel is nice for that. For the MHX M/F spinning rod, I would think this would possibly be a good choice for Ned rigs, drop shots as well as treble hooked lures like jerkbaits, crankbaits and poppers (I usually use a medium casting rod with 10-12lb fluorocarbon for the latter threepersonally, but I started throwing these on a spinning rod once too -- it works fine). And for thee Falcon M/MF spinning rod, I would suggest 15lb braid as well (which will save you some money as you can share between both reels) and use it for treble hooked lures. It will share some territory with your other spinning rod, but the moderate makes it good for landing fish on treble hooks. As far as jerkbaits and poppers, you might find you prefer the action on the M/F rod and if that's the case then I would use that.

I got one 3lb largemouth, and one tiny walleye, everything else I caught were smallies. My youngest son got a few perch.

Well I believe I have found a vacation I'm going to book maybe in mid June. There is a campground right inbetween these ponds. Roughly 15 miles north is Echo Lake and Lake Seymour as well, which are home to some of Vermont's finest smallies and have been on my todo list for a few years now. And Island Pond has walleye! Lots of fish too and freshwater mussels so they must not have gotten the zebra mussel infestation.

Well my dream career was to either be a rock star or run a recording studio or do something to do with music since I was really young. I ended up becoming a software engineer instead, and with the whole self-inflicted downward spiral of the music industry, I can say I don't really mind. I'd either play music I can be proud of for 5 people or play music I can't stand for crowds of people. I would still like to work for myself someday though.

Thanks! We actually usually prefer cod to haddock most of the time, but haddock is good too hence why I was thinking of going south of the cape.

I would highly recommend any of them if you get the chance. Might be a good trip in the middle of the summer as it's a bit cooler here so the bass bite is much more active.

Oh that's cool, but like I said I will have no problem filling a private charter with a group of friends as well. If I do for haddock though, I'm going to go south of the cape so I can keep cod too

Yeah, you can only use lead weights that are above a certain weight, I believe that is 1oz

Hello and welcome. Those Tatula rods and reels are great too so you'll be happy with those.

Hello and welcome to the forum and sport, and should you pass on that boat give me a call, it looks really clean for its age!!! I started fishing only a few years back and from this site and these forums and BassResource's Youtube channel, I have came a long way. You will catch up in no time from the sounds of it.

Have you ever looked at Vermont State parks? You can rent a leanto for the price of a campsite at most state parks, and they have some very good fishing too! I particularly like Vermont state parks because they're quiet and the shoreline isn't overdeveloped. I'll throw out some of my favorites. #1) Branbury State Park on Lake Dunmore - the clearest water I have ever seen and the only cover is docks, so this is pretty tough fishing, but if you're after big bass, this is the lake I would go to. I believe the current state record for a largemouth bass was caught here. Another perk for Branbury State Park is right across the street is the Moosalamoo National Recreational Area in the green mountains and they have many great hiking trails, one to silver lake, a man made reservoir with no bass, but I have seen pictures of some large trout that people have caught there. They also have the Sugar Hill Reservoir which feeds Silver Lake which you can drive to and has some shore access (stained water if I remember right). I have seen pictures of views from the top of Rattlesnake Cliffs trail overlooking Lake Dunmore and they are absolutely stunning as well -- I didn't get to hike it because I got a nasty blister on my heel when I walked the Silver Lake trail, but I would strongly recommend that. You can see it from the swimming area in the lake. There is also a fire trail off of the Silver Lake trail, but I did not pack a flashlight and it was getting dark so I had to go straight back to camp. #2) Emerald Lake - small 20 acre lake in southern Vermont. One half is shallow, and one half has a fairly deep spot. The fishing can be tough at times, but also rewarding. No largemouths, which is a shame with all the lily pads on one side, but they have some good sized Northern Pike and smallies. I caught a 23.5" smallie, a fat hog there once! You can rent canoes, kayaks, paddleboards and a rowboat there and it's generally very quiet and the sites are generally in shade as well. Definitely a lake you could use a float tube with rather easily as it's fairly small. #3) Lake St. Catherine - larger lake in southwest Vermont, with 4 rowboats to rent so you'll always get one (plus the regular assortment of other boats). Mostly very clear water, the southern portion has a lot of lily pads, the north has a few spots of lily pads and lots of milfoil. Last year was tough fishing there, but two years ago I was killing it on crankbaits and spinnerbaits, caught two fish on the same hook on a crankbait, landed a pike that was well over 30" and right after lost a fish that I'm pretty sure was a bass and was no doubt the largest fish I ever hooked. It's not that far of a drive to Lake Bomoseen, Glen Lake, Half Moon Pond or even Emerald Lake from here as well should you want to explore other lakes. #4) Button Bay on Lake Champlain - no boat rentals, but I camped 4 or 5 nights there last year. There is a point you can walk to and as the sun goes down, smallies will hit topwater, spinnerbaits and crankbaits pretty aggressively. My last night there I was catching 3lb+ smallies just about every cast, which was a cooler day after a long heatwave. This 10 year old girl next to me was having the same luck on a senko on a red hook, lost her senko and they were hammering her hook! Probably not the best option for your requirements, but I have to mention this one... #5) Bomoseen State Park on Lake Bomoseen - you can get some leantos on the water where you could fish from your site! Big lake, once known for its largemouth population but sadly many have been removed from the lake but they still have good smallies. You can drive or hike to Glen lake as well, which I have been told is a good lake to catch bass on from the shore and might be good for a float tube as well. #6) Half Moon pond. They rent boats here as well, and it's generally quiet. I didn't fish when I went there, but they do not have the greatest beach or shore access but this would be a very good place to use a float tube on, and you can hike to Glen Lake and all the way to Lake Bomoseen as well on the trails, and you can easily drive to Bomoseen State park and rent a boat there for the day too. There are some others that may be worth checking out too, Grand Isle on Lake Champlain (the leantos on the water book out near instantly each year), Ricker Pond, Crystal Lake and Camp Plymouth on Echo Lake (Ludlow's Echo Lake, not the one in Charleston which is a lake I want to fish badly along with the nearby Lake Seymour) are all on my to do list. This year I am thinking of trying Brighton State Park which is between two lakes and near Lake Seymour and the other Echo Lake in Vermont, which have been on my to do list for a while now Anyway, there's something to think about. I just gave myself major cabin fever thinking about all of those places -- and I think I'm going to book another trip to Branbury State Park this year -- I gotta hike the Rattlesnake Cliffs trail and catch el mondo!

A lot of rock bass and even smallmouth bass have red eyes but I don't think I ever saw a largemouth with red eyes.

On my 7'1" heavy jig rod, my max distance is 30 ft on my best cast of the day with a 1/2oz jig -- and that rod launches 1/2 jigs. I have tried pitching on my 8 ft catfish rod, and I can make 30-35' every cast if I'm trying because of the longer rod.

I found that I love targeting bass between various presentations, fishing weeds and they put up a good fight too but on some days where I'm not getting bass, I can target trout, perch and crappie (good eating too). Catching a big trout on an ultra light rod is like hooking a mondo bass on your medium or medium heavy too! In one lake if the bass aren't biting, I can fish a small spinnerbait and I might get a dozen chain pickerel. I have also targeted channel catfish (also good eating but unfortunately most areas I can land them are very polluted). Targeting northern pike and muskies can also be fun, and at times especially in the summer months a real challenge too. I want to try some deep sea fishing in the next year or two, maybe catch some cod, stripers or tuna -- not sure what I'm going for yet but that sounds fun

So I have never really fished the ocean aside from catching squid on a pier. I live roughly 3 hours from the ocean on a good day (usually much worse with traffic) but I usually opt to fish at quieter lakes in lower populated areas -- there's something peaceful about those spots. But that said I have been thinking about getting a charter boat or two, if not this year then next year simply because I'm buying kayaks for myself and the kids and it may be hard on the wallet. So what I'm trying to figure out is which charter boat I should use and what species I should target. Up here the boats typically target stripers which also have a chance for bluefish, fluke, blackfish, sea bass or porgy, tuna, sharks or cod and haddock. I was thinking of trying for cod and haddock (south of the cape where we can keep cod) because they're good eating fish, but so are tuna and I hear stripers are fun (and a coworker loves bluefish too although I never tried striped bass or bluefish). I also have friends who would go if I get a private charter as well, so we could fill our 6 person quota easily If anyone has any recommendations, that would be appreciated.

I went through 6 months of chemo in 2018. It wasn't fun by any means, but I know people who had it much worse. I had the folfox treatment, and while I know some people who had far worse reactions than normal on it, I actually had far fewer side effects than most people. And while everyone in my office was sick with the cold and the flu, I never got sick the entire time, which under normal circumstances is very normal for me. When I started, I had an extreme sensitivity to cold and was pretty fatigued at times to point I was afraid to go far from home because I might fall asleep, but then I missed a week of treatment due to my vacation schedule and the fatigue let up and the cold sensitivity never returned but instead I was fatigued and everything tasted gross -- there are some things to this day I can no longer eat or drink. If nobody explained this to you already, should you get the gross taste (which I think is normal with most chemo) my advice is avoid your favorite foods unless they are spicy -- for example I love Mexican food and use a lot of hot sauce or cajun catfish, and as long as it's spicy enough, it seems to cut through the gross taste and you don't even notice it. And hot sauces with large chunks of hot peppers seems to get rid of the taste for a while after too, where hot sauces without the chunks of peppers only lasted a few minutes after my last bite. Finally, good for you for going out and doing everything you would normally do. As soon as I got out of the hospital and I felt good enough to sit up, I took the boys and we rented a boat for the day and went fishing. I think that was really important for keeping my own spirits up as well as the kids and maybe to a lesser extent, my girlfriend. If there's anything else I could help with let me know.

^9 Here's something a little different:

People used to tweak the hell out of those things too back in the day. A lot of them had an "adjustable turbo" which could greatly increase the power of the engine but at the engine's long term expense.

Brian Latimer's channel is also great. So is Scott Martin's as well.

I back off my brakes, drag and cast control knob for the winter when not using my reels. Once I get them setup, I largely leave them setup with the exception of spring when I get out their earlier than normal -- but sometimes don't get out for a couple more weeks.

Got my youngest son a Crankster (the 7'2") version this year, seems like a very nice rod and cranks are his confidence lure. I have been using a Daiwa Tatula M/MF glass and sometimes the MH/MF glass for the aforementioned crankbaits.