MN Fisher

I've been out three times so far and all I've found is dinks.

Heavy rod for flipping/frogging? Yes. That's what my Fuego setup is primarily for...pulling them out of the weeds when they burrow in.

I've got 4# Yo-Zuri on my UL rig and 10# Yo-Zuri on the Trion which is my main crank/jerkbait rod. Long as you treat the line with KVD or something else, it's very managable, little memory and I've yet to lose a lure due to knot failure.

Here's the list as of last July https://www.bassmaster.com/news/2018s-best-bass-lakes-revealed

Turn the handle slightly to engage the reel.

How I control the spool is to lightly have my thumb on top of the line as it plays out on the cast. As the lure/bait hits the water, press a little harder so that the spool doesn't keep spinning - which results in a backlash. Only time I get backlashes is when I forget to thumb the spool properly.

Same here, my 4WD 2001 Silverado LS was bought used. I've got 198k miles on it now and it runs like a champ. My previous truck was a 1998 WT-1500 - had 192k on it before someone decided to make an illegal left turn in front of me. Ran great and was always dependable. If I have to purchase another truck...it'll be a GM.

I toss my 90 and 110 on my Fuego loaded with 50# braid, no leader. I don't have an issue with the line wrapping in the hooks and my 90 runs as smooth and trouble-free as my 110, so I don't know what the issue is.

Starts singing 'Short People'.

Exact same setup I have.

All but one of my reels went from box to rod to lake. All have been butter smooth. The one exception is the Pres-25, which was a gift from a member here...so I don't know what he did to it before shipping it to me.

Given my experience with my Aird-X and Spinmatic (UL) rods, I'd definitely give the Procyon a thumbs up. If my budget had allowed it, I might have gotten one of those instead of the Aird-X.

Well, the Aird-X comes in a 6', but is a 1-piece. Both models in the 6'6" are available as 2-piece rods.

I've been very happy with my Diawa Aird-X. 6'6" M/F For a little more you could go with a Diawa Fuego rod - again 6'6" M/F

I have a 90 and 110 - throw them both on my H/F rig.

Ya, on Minnetonka, Sheriff's Patrol is having a field day as with the high water the no-wake zone has been extended to 600'...some of the bays aren't twice that wide so the entire bay is no-wake.

My UL rig is a Pflueger President 25 reel on a 6'6" Diawa Spinmatic UL rod. At retail, the total for the pair is well under $100. The rig is responsive and a joy to fish with. The Spinmatic comes in lengths from 4' to 8', so no problem finding a 7' in that series. The next up from the Spinmatic is the Presso for about $70, so getting the better rod would still keep you under the $150 max.

Outside the no-wake zone on Minnetonka, the speed limit is 40mph lake wide. Some visitors get wake-up calls when water patrol pulls their boat over and hands them a ticket.

Yo-Zuri hybrid - I have 4# on my Pres-25 and 10# on my Trion...treat it with KVD and it's a well performing line.

For the lower end - my Ned/Drop-shot rig is the Avocet spooled with 8# Suffix Super 21.

I was out Wednesday for several hours. Couldn't find any of decent size either in cover or deeper. When I was launching, I talked to someone who'd just come back in...he hadn't found any either. This was on Minnetonka; Phelps, Cook and Spring Park bays.

Here's the work I did on mine.

There are numerous apps available today for the fisher-person. How to pick one over another is an exercise that I'm still working on. So far I have one - I-Boating has an app for their maps. The free version allows one 'quadrant' of maps. The one I grabbed includes all the lakes I fish. With the GPS active on my tablet, I can follow the lake contours, look for likely spots and even mark waypoints. For someone without sonar, this is invaluable to me. So what apps do you have/use/recommend?

Why yes, yes it is...traded it in for a Mitchell 320 not too long after this pic. Stayed with spinners for a decade-and-a-half before trying BCs again.

This was either 1967 or 1968 - can't remember exactly, but the car behind us was a '67 model, so no earlier.