Dirtyeggroll

Is it just me or has the fishing been tougher "round these parts" the last 2 years. I thought I was just off last year and not as focused, but this year is proving equally tough.

Okoboji is super hot right now. Tournament yesterday took almost 32 lbs to win and last year pretty much every tournament all year long took 25-28 lbs to win green valley 12-mile 3-mile viking anita lake of 3 fires blue lake (the south end lily pads used to be phenomenal) find the rock or brush piles and fish them with a jig or the grass lines with a chatterbait and you will have fun

that’s a good little lake and somehow still produces despite and enormous amount of pressure.

I think fisherman have a wide angle lens in their eyes. That explains the origin of big fish stories.

I cannot stand sunscreen, but I have a real fear of skin cancer. i try cover as much of my skin as possible.

For treats, we find that the most effective and somewhat healthy treat is cooked, cubed and then frozen chicken breast. Per pound it is actually rather cheap and my dog(s) will do anything for it. Low end milk bones end up being about $1-1.50 per pound and chicken breast about $2-$2.50 per pound. High-end store bought treats get easily get into the $10’s of dollars per pound. One of my dogs used to love the stem of head of lettuce. He would take it and throw it up in the air and pounce on it like he was taking down a small rodent. It was extremely consistent and hilarious. I miss that boy. The whole cat food thing is fine if you’re using it as treats. As long as it’s not the PRIMARY source of nutrition it is absolutely fine to give dogs cat food.

The poppers look nice. No joints.

The most budget friendly mixed with best image/user friendly system would be to get the Garmin 106SV with. GT54 transducer on sale for $999 paired with the LVS34/GLS10 transducer for $1699. There are some other options, but IMO that is the best bang for the buck by a long shot.

I just find it way too whippy for a 110.

WiFi networking live 360 by the end of the year with the new lineup… heard it from a little humminbirdie

The ad is now available. There are a few things I’ll be taking advantage. https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/shop-our-catalogs?guideKey=31C2564C-9435-459B-B607-4C8ECB24CD5F#/catalog/spring-fishing-classic-37-thru-327-1-6361

Still no leaked flyer?

In Texas ? Or tenneseee?

I’d start with a full inspection of the trailer. New tires, greased hubs. Make sure all electrical in order. Then I’d go for a gear oil change of the outboard. Next would be the battery system. Depending on your budget and what sort of trolling motor it has and what sort of plans you have for electronics, I’d make sure any sort of charger it has is functioning properly. Then I’d probably replace the starting/electronics battery. by this time it should be fresh of all of the typically consumables. the next upgrades depend on what sort of fishing you do. at 15 I recommend to really resist the urge to buy anything for it that isn’t working. If it has a working trolling motor and working outboard and it floats. Just fish the heck out of it. if you absolutely want to put new stuff on it, a trolling motor would probably be the first upgrade I’d be thinking of. Then I’d consider some USED electronics.

Anyone heard about BPS Black Friday sales?

An Osprey landed on the back deck of my boat and picked up an original DEPS 250, flew off with it and dropped it in the middle of the lake. It was a slow sink and by the time I trolled over it was long gone.

I have the benefit of having a Wyandotte county address so doesn’t cost me that much. Also it’s the closest lake to my house so us probably still pay it. you haven’t missed anything the last couple year because something has really changed and destroyed the water clarity. It seemed to get a little better this last year but nothing like 2020 when I first moved here and it was easily 10ft+ visibility

Finally got the keeper smallmouth I have been after at WYCO! This time of year I probably have a better chance at Clinton or Melvern, but lately I haven’t had the availability to go out to either.

Gets extremely tough in Nebraska in the small <400 acre lakes up there. That being said, I have caught fish all the way up to December 5th in Nebraska. My advice would be to concentrate on the high percentage lakes that seems to have a bit more water clarity. Spinnerbait, buzzbait, jig, ned rig and a flat side squarebill were my best producers in the fall.

I think I’m starting to get a bit off topic. im getting outside of tournament fishing.

Both Josh Jones and Ben Milliken have a vast amount of knowledge about fish behavior that predates FFS. So I don’t think their opinion about being able to just turn it on and find fish is all that relevant. Moreover, both of them have magnitudes more time in to using FFS than likely any of us will achieve. I certainly cannot do this and while I am no pro, I have far more than the average amount of time thinking and planning about fishing. Maybe I am just bad at FFS. now all of this doesn’t apply to crappie fishing. I’d never crappie fished more than from a dock and went for the first time this winter from my boat and caught a bunch using FFS. Maybe I could’ve done the same with 2D or DI but I think FFS probably helped. Regarding tournaments… I’m not really a fan of them anyhow. I grew up fishing well into my 20’s not knowing a thing about competitive fishing and the more I know about it, the more I dislike it. So sure, bam FFS for tournaments.

@Catt this is not even close to the truth. As an experienced angler and that has been using FFS for about 3 years I can tell you that it doesn’t work like that at all. 95% of the time of you find fish with FFS most anglers won’t have any sort of idea what sort of fish they are. Just because you can see some marks moving around on the screen doesn’t mean you’ve found active fish or even the target species. In most lakes if you point a live transducer into any portion of water you will see fish. At least for bass fishing definitely takes skill to learn the behaviors of those fish and even to start in the areas that might be holding bass.

Social media is 10,000x more detrimental to bass fishing than FFS. Fishing used to be a fringe recreation. now you got every Justin Bieber wanting to make a YouTube video like clickbait Billy did and broadcasting his catch at all the local lakes. For example, the molestation example of O. H. would have been magnitudes less bad not a Northerner made a video about. 60-lb bag. When the fad of fishing passes, and it will, the impact of FFS will be much less.

It’s extremely inefficient to be 15-30 minutes early for everything. I learned that as I became increasingly busy in work and home life. You could be using that time for something else. I used to be a 15-30 minutes early guy. Then I realized I was wasting hours of my life every month and in some instances it’s not feasible. I started shooting for exactly on time about 8 years ago. I’m now occasionally 1-5 minutes late, but not usually and not often, and when I can, I always inform the other parties and never to occasions where I am the limiting factor.

Caught 10 from 6:45-9AM. One keeper. Reminded me a lot of WYCO without the grass. lots of brush piles on points we didn’t fish because it was more of a “social” fishing tip and I wanted my co-angler to have visual targets to cast too. I’ll definitely go back. I feel like those brush piles need investigation.