Boomstick

To keep it short and simple: both. Early fall when the fish are still active and baitfish are larger, I learn towards larger baits and later on I tend to go with smaller baits, but there are some days where the opposite seems to work better.

I have been skunked so many times, especially this year. But I still go out whenever I have time. Once my youngest son's travel hockey games start (next weekend) my season ends -- until then, I'm trying. I only wish I had a boat...

I have been using flurocarbon for a couple of years now. Every spring, Bass Pro runs a buy one get one free on Berkley Trilene Flurocarbon, and it's been a solid line for me. For jigs and t-rigs I would use either 15lb or 17lb line. If you are fishing lighter wire jigs, 15lb is fine, but for the larger hooks, 17lb works quite well in most conditions. When I'm throwing in thick weeds, I will use braided line.

1. Jig 2. Jig and crankbait, spinnerbait, popper or jerkbait 3. Jig, drop shot and crankbait, spinnerbait, popper or jerkbait 4. Jig, drop shot and pick two between a crankbait, spinnerbait, popper or jerkbait Also throw buzzbaits into the mix somewhere.

Wow, grats! Nice call on the Lund too. My dream boat is a Lund Pro-V bass, but unfortunately that's above what I'll be able to afford anytime soon.

This holds true for my needs as well.

You're definitely overthinking it. It's my personal belief that pitching from a kayak puts you just above the water and thus you are able to pitch quietly into shallower waters and scare the fish less which puts you at an advantage, plus a smaller footprint overall

The main reason I'm hesitant to go down to 10lb mono topwater and jerkbaits is a few spots I fish sometimes are rocky and shallow, but jerkbaits have been effective and if I keep it shallow, I don't lose them in the rocks.

I just carry the $6 Cabela's multi tool. The knife isn't very sharp, but it's usable after sharpening it. My son bought me a KVD knife as well so I usually carry that.

So as I have slowly began creating my wishlists for black friday sales this year (which will be a lot less than I spent last year as I stocked up last year and replaced what I lost -- mostly replacement soft plastics and a few backup jigs), I have been thinking of what line I plan to use on some of my casting reels. My setup is as follows: Daiwa Tatula CT 7.1:1 - 65lb braid -- use this for frogs and jigs in heavy cover. Daiwa Tatula SV 7.1:1 - 17lb flurocarbon u- Use this for jigs most of the time and sometimes T-Rigs and spinnerbaits or chatterbaits Daiwa Tatula SV 6.3:1 - 15lb flurocarbon -- use this for spinnerbaits, shallow chatterbaits, t-rigs and even shallow ,cranks around grass Daiwa Tatula SV 6.3:1 - 12lb flurocarbon -- crankbaits and jerkbaits Pflueger Patriarch 6.3:1 - 12 mono - topwater and jerkbaits most of the time, simply because I like the way my topwater fishes a jerkbait. I'm more or less set on the first three, but I was thinking of trying 10lb flurocarbon on the reel I use for crankbaits in open water and/or 10lb mono on the Patriarch as well. I had one problem with break offs and that was my own fault. What do you guys think?

8 times the price but 6.5 times the amount of line, so it's hardly more expensive in the long haul.

I have thrown a weightless T-Rigged on 8lb line before on occasion, although would normally ideally use at least 15lb braid or 10lb mono/fluoro.

I second what many others have said, 120 quarts is too big! If you lived a little closer, I have a 70? quart ice chest I could give you (I bought a new one with thicker walls this year to replace it). Anyway, if you aren't looking to spend a lot then go to the local Goodwill or Salvation army or perhaps ebay and buy an old, cheap used one for maybe $10. I bought the Lifetime 77 quart cooler from Walmart that held ice for 9 days in the video above. It held ice during the hottest heatwave of the summer for 9 days -- not a whole lot left on day 9, but sitting in the sun in 88-98 degree days. Not bad

I have mine in a Bass Mafia 3700 box, 2 or three in each section. The hooks get tangled and it's annoying, but it works other than that.

Nice to know. I'm planning next year's vacations, likely going to get a cabin at Button bay state park (there's an amazing point for catching smallies up there) and maybe spend a week in a lake in Western NY somewhere as I have family out that way and was thinking Seneca Lake.

I have been pretty good at beating the bait money this year, only replacing lures that I lost (that work and are worth replacing) but talk to me after Tackle Warehouse's black friday special. I plan on buying all the line I need (aside from my fluorocarbon -- can't beat BPS's buy one get one free on Berkley Trilene Fluorocarbon) but I don't need too many new lures. I bought new storage boxes and a new Bass Mafia tackle bag, lures to full all the new space and it's mostly full so I will be buying mostly a few backups I can leave at home for lures I tend to lose often -- mainly jigs and that's all I really need. I need to get better at actually catching bass on the lures I do have. I did so well last year (especially considering I was knocked out on chemo) but this year, tactics that produced for me have not produced.

I bought a 73 quart Lifetime at Walmart earlier this year for $150. It kept ice for a 5 day camping trip where the coolest day was 88 degrees and still had some ice left a week later, so it's worked very well for me. I considered Yetis too, but looking at the construction of this thing, it's nearly identical and a fraction the price and works quite well. The cooler I use for a day trip or for a weekend of fishing is a cheapo 50? quart cooler that my dad gave me. Ice retention is not great, but it's smaller and holds enough ice for a weekend so it works for what I use it for.

My season ends in later October for two reasons. #1) My youngest son plays travel hockey, my washing machine died last year and died again this year so it's extremely hard to find time to do anything and #2) I went through chemo last year and my hands and feet go very numb in the cold. I am hoping that doesn't continue forever.

^8. This song seems appropriate for 9/11.

When the weeds are really thick, the only way to go is a hollow body frog something similar. You can try a swim jig too bit you may pick up too many weeds for it to be effective.

^^^ That is one sexy ass boat. I hope to land a boat half that nice someday.

^ This is very true. Some years ago, a local competitive swimmer fell overboard and drowned because he couldn't get his shoes off in time.

After the entire transmission line leakage problem from Nissan, I do not think I would buy a Nissan. Literally every single person I know with a Nissan truck or SUV from 2003 to 2011 had a transmission failure within the first 50k but usually 30k. To make things worse, they failed to issue a recall to fix the issue which shows how much they care about customer satisfaction. If there was ever a non-safety related recall worthy issue, this was it. Here's some more information, but the problem is certainly affecting more vehicles than just 2005 to 2010 models unfortunately, although I don't know if or when it was fixed as I don't know anyone who has owned anything newer than a 2011. http://www.nissanproblems.com/coolant-leaks-destroy-transmission/ So I bought a GMC Sierra, the only other truck I do not hit my head and/or knees in. That said, I would probably trust Nissan ahead of Ford or RAM. I owned a Dodge Charger for a year and the only thing that did not go on that was the engine and transmission. The transfer case, cruise control, power windows, fan (for AC/heat), thermostat, backup camera, backup sensors, CD/DVD player and many other things did and the car only had 40k on it. I can find Toyotas for less than a comparable Chevy or Ford quite easily. I have a friend who was able to purchase a brand new Toyota Tundra back in 2014 or 2015, fully loaded ($47k MSRP) for only $34k by purchasing at the right time of year with the maximum incentives. At the time, a Tundra that was extremely slightly used would sell for $38-40k, so if you buy at the right time you might be able to get a pretty sweet deal.

I virtually always run a 6lb or 8lb fluorocarbon leader with my finesse setup, but when it comes to fishing a jig, I will either fish it with 15 or 17lb flurocarbon on my MH/F rod in lesser cover situations or on my H/F rod for heavier cover, and then I often fish it on 65lb braid -- and still have landed a few!

For the most part, I often use flukes as trailers but use the Senko (and cheaper brand knockoffs) when bass fishing. However, I hear flukes on small jigheads can be deadly when targeting Walleye.