IndianaOutdoors

Bucca trick shad in pro blue is $24 after coupon on Amazon.

Tatula SV at Scheels for $130

American legacy fishing has slx mgl 71 in left hand 7.2 and 8.2 for $99. Last year model daiwa revros lt 2500 and 4000 for $35 Also power pro is on sale as well as 20% off site wide.

Missile baits baby d bomb, baby rage bug. Trd bugs on a bitsy bug jig work great for me.

Mainly the cost. I already have the motor and gear for a jon. I'd have like $4k in a kayak and a torqueedo.

Sorry to not directly answer your question but when I think of long cast the first thing that comes to mind is a 5in 7/8oz super spook. I ordered a super spook not realizing how big it was. At the time all I had was a medium spinning rod. I tied that super spook on to straight braid and chucked it as hard as I could. It spooled me and broke off and kept going. I retrieved it after some searching and have never used it since.

Idk I've been deliberating boat choices for years. As much as I want a bigger jet boat I just don't have the water for it. I'm basically running creeks. A kayak would be easier to drag in and out of some spots but a powered jon gives me access to miles of river that I can't get to otherwise.

I catch walleye in the river in summer. Spinnerbait, swimbaits, jerkbait have all worked. Im just not willing to wade in the cold river and don't have access otherwise. There are a few lakes with walleye nearby. I have tried trolling weed lines and searching with side imaging a few times over the years but no luck.

It's an 80s merc converted to jet. The only problem I had at speed was leaves. I got the grate packed with mud just from a muddy launch ramp. Sand killed the water pump just from idling at the launch. I had the bow on shore and thought it would stay put but the stern came around to shore and sucked up a bunch of sand while I was moving the truck. Mainly it's just not the right motor for the tiny rivers I run. The little jon I run now is much easier to drag over shoals and logs and runs just as shallow as the jet would. I'm thinking of going even smaller to a 10ft next year so I can launch from my truck bed. There are several access spots near me that don't have parking for a trailer and one spot in particular that doesn't even have room to turn around with a trailer. Might do a kayak instead idk.

Crappie fishing is very popular in my area this time of year but I'm not any good at it and I get bored watching a bobber. Thought about trying for walleye but I don't know what I'm doing which gets old fast when it's cold.

I have a 25 jet that hasn't seen water in a couple years. It didn't like leaves or sand or weeds or mud. Been running a tiny Jon boat with a long tail in the shallow stuff. Use my 16ft sea nymph with prop 55hp everywhere else. I don't usually fish much in the cold months but I'm holding out since we're still having a few warm weather days here and there.

The last time I went I only caught 2. A few days earlier it was froze up. I tried breaking ice to get to open water but I gave up after a 1/4 mile or so. Time before that it was 34 and snowing and I got skunked.

All of my local rivers have been pretty low this year. Couldn't get the boat in much but I did plenty of wading and bank fishing. My normal fall smallmouth spot is gone. They knocked the dam out last month so it's just a muddy creek now. The new spot I'm fishing is closer to home and has a dam that makes a nice wintering pool about 2 miles long. I don't know if it's just bc it's cold and all the fish have condensed into this pool, but this is the first I have ever done well in this river. Wish I had stripers. Closest thing I have is wipers and that's a 1.5hr drive. I went twice this fall but only caught smallies. Been there man. At least it's during winter and hopefully will be done come spring?

You guys all hang it up for winter? I had an excellent day on my new favorite stretch of river. 18 fish if you include the sucker I caught. Nothing over 16" but I'll take it. Most came on a new to me lure, nedmiki. A zman streakz on a finesse eyez 1/8 jig head. A few more on a jerkbait and a football jig and I even got one the small shine glide. This might be my round for the year. I've been iced out once already and the forecast doesn't look promising.

Interesting. I would think this would be to fast for cold water. I usually use a 1/8 jig with a grub in warmer water. How deep and how fast are you fishing your 3/16?

I do use inline spinners from time to time when I'm targeting open eddies and rock areas. The little pond magic spinner is for fishing cover like laydowns and weed lines and in fall, bouncing bottom where there is tons of leaves and debris. I just can't imagine getting an inline spinner back out of a laydown.

I think I'll have to try this. I have never tried a trailer on a hair jig. How effective are the wire weed guards? Can I get it through limbs?

I haven't figured out how to get caffeine shads to work. They always seem to go nose up and kind of fall backwards. I haven't tried a screw lock but have tried some heavier hooks. I have had my eye on these for many years but never could pull the trigger. I watched a video and wasn't sure if the action looked very good. Maybe I'll have to reconsider.

I guess I was too hung up on needing a suspending jerkbait to even consider a fluke. Do you weight it or just work it super slow? I'm used to running fluke just subsurface in warm water.

To be honest I haven't tried one this late in the year. Everyone always talks suspending jerkbaits for cold water and that what I use. I guess I should try a floater.

1.I just got done on a new section of river that might be my new favorite fall/winter spot. I did really good on a KVD 300 jerkbait in a few spots but it actually dives too deep so I'm looking for a suspending jerkbait that dives 3ft or less. 2. I have been playing with some different finesse jig presentations but I'm only getting bit on a bitsy bug with trd bugz for a trailer. I think it's getting bit bc of the compact size. What are some other tiny trailers I should try? Is there a football equivalent of a bitsy bug? Something small and cheap? 3 I throw a booyah pond magic 3/16 spinnerbait quite a bit. They are $3 and they work well for me most of the year but think they move to fast for current water temps. I'm considering swapping out the #3 Willow for a #3.5 Willow or a #3 Oklahoma/Indiana blade. Or should I just get a different spinner? I have been eyeing the z man power finesse slingbladez. I would like to keep the bait small and cheap as I'm surely going to be losing them.

I'm in a much smaller river but here's my experience from the last outing. Small groups of spots and smallmouth on laydowns, with little current in deeper water. I'll catch half dozen or so off of the same log but they're all 12-14". This is on a KVD 300 jerkbait. I need to find a jerkbait with the same large profile that suspends and dives only 3 or 4 feet. The big KVD bottoms out and brings up a lot of leaves. I have tried the little rip stop that runs shallow but it needs tuned to suspend or it's just not big enough to get their attention or something. My big fish (17-18") have all come on a bitsy bug jig with a trd bugz dragging bottom with an occasional twitch or pop over a rock or log. I have tried a few other small trailers but that trd bugz is the only thing working for me right now. The big fish bites have not come from the same laydowns full of smaller fish. They're have been within a couple feet of steep banks but no noticable structure or current brakes that I can see. Everything being relative, I feel I should mention that a 20" fish is a trophy here, max depth is 8' just above the dam and most of the stretch I'm fishing is 3-4' deep. Water clarity is, well pretty clear. I can see bottom just about everywhere.

I am actively trying to learn about this topic and how it applies to my rivers this time of year. My water was upper 40s last week. Im not catching huge numbers but I have been catching them on spinner baits, underspins and umbrella rig. I'm fishing rivers and they have been too choked with leaves to fish treble hooked baits. I caught one today on a finesse jig but I was moving it along pretty fast. I'm trying to find smallmouth on the upper end of impoundments and up into the feeding rivers. It seems I have to go upstream to cleaner moving water before I get any bites. If the leaves have cleared out a bit I'll be throwing jerkbaits next time out.

@TnRiver46Thanks for the reply on boat fishing. I'm still working on the methods and I'll figure it out sooner or later. @Darnold335I get your point about rivers vs creeks but all rivers have to start somewhere. Up here in Northern Indiana you can cast bank to bank in several spots on the biggest rivers. The Eel river which is close to me starts as a drainage ditch in a field. We don't call it a ditch because, well it's still the same body of water... It does get a bit confusing when your making comparisons with people from all over the place.

I know a guy that cat fishes the same river I fish. He's been catching smallmouth lately on bottom rigs with night crawlers.