Krux5506

Some things I disagree with off the top of my head: - Bass won't hit top water when the sun is out - They won't hit spinnerbaits when the sun is out - $20+ dollar lures - Mono sucks

I wish I had a good go-to fishing partner but it's just not the case. Yes, I have friends I fish with, but with pretty much all of us having babies/kids now it's d**n near impossible to get anything lined up. I've always fished by myself probably 90% of the time, but I'm at the point now where I can just as happily ease off on the seriousness of the fishing if it means getting out with a couple of buddies and just having the time together.

I'm sorry to sound pessimistic here but I had what I assume would be the same MG trolling motor on my 2010 Lund, also 46# thrust and I couldn't wait to get rid of it. I had nothing but problems with it, and upgraded to an 80# Fortrex and it's a night and day difference.

I'm honestly not a sonar guru myself but I could see RTS being beneficial out on Lake O fishing deep. Any idea if this mode is even possible on my Garmin Striker 7? If it is, I've yet to figure it out.

Nice, I'm not sure if I've ever seen that water look so clear. I was out in Fair Haven this past Thurs/Fri with limited time to hit the lake with not a whole lot of success. Located and caught a few little smallies in spots I already had marked, but really nothing in between. The high lake water has visibility down a bit and with that goes my confidence out there.

Good luck teaching an old dog new tricks. You should just shame him for being a bad fisherman next time. Tell him to step his game up, to quit embarrassing himself, or just quit fishing altogether. Just kidding. Honestly, just do what you do and remain humble about it, as it sounds like you were.

It really depends what you're fishing. Like others have said, if you're fishing clear shallow water with easily spooked fish then yes long casts are imperative. I do prefer long casts when I'm fishing something like a Ned rig.

Sounds similar to a place I used to fish almost daily until it was purchased by a private party who cracked down on the fishing. Anyway, I'd consistently get summer time smallies there on top water, even during the afternoon with the sun high. Occasionally a largemouth would go for top water but for whatever reason it was mostly smallies. If there was a nice breeze with a bit of chop to the water, it would help a ton. Sun did not play a role. I'd always throw Heddon torpedos, smaller live target frogs and if there was a really good chop to the water then buzz baits.

I've tried all sorts and keep coming back to the Strike King Banshees...For whatever reason they just consistently catch me fish. I've tried all sorts of other high end makes and models and I just always come back to those Banshees. They are by no means high quality but I'd say middle of the road. I've had the wire break right outta the head before after catching maybe 30 fish on the same one. I guess for me this would be my confidence spinnerbait.

Doesn't get much more detailed than a lot of ww2farmer's posts.

I live about 5 mins from there in Penfield. Only hit it up a couple times earlier in the fall. Didn't feel like dealing with trout fishing this winter.

He's not really wrong. There's no good for a fish that comes out of being caught. It just comes down to how much thought/emotion we really put into it. I've often wondered why certain militant catch and release fly fishermen even bother to fish. Many of them now are scolded for even photographing a trout out of the water, hence the "keep em wet" slogan. I understand caring for our fisheries but it seems if you're on that level then catching a fish is hypocritical.

I like the show and their accents are pretty funny, particularly Al's when he gets really worked up. I think it's one of the better multi species fishing shows. I don't think I'd buy a DVD set since everything is on youtube anyway, and a whole first season on Netflix. Unless the DVD's are different.

Black Friday is coming up, keep an eye out for the online sales at places like GPS Store or even West Marine who sells Garmin and often has decent sales.

I'm gonna have to go ahead and say NO, I wouldn't go through with that deal. Sorry to be a buzz kill but if you got the money for a brand new boat then why settle for something like that?

I have it through Progressive for $150ish a year but not the full equipment coverage they wanted to sell me (I think it covered 2k in fishing gear). Not really a big fan of paying for insurance but the reality is that accidents can happen and when it comes to insuring toys like boats/snowmobiles/atv's the price is cheap enough to not really care much.

You're not entirely wrong, especially considering some guys who are what I would call gear whores who have every latest and greatest bait/lure, but in my experience with shops around Rochester, unless you go in with the general mindset of "buying anything to catch a bass" vs "I'm looking for some spinnerbaits" then you're probably gonna be disappointed. A great example is the last time I went to a local shop that's been around forever (great owner by the way, the kinda guy you can meet once and feel like you've known for years) I was specifically looking for skirted spinnerbaits. He told me he hadn't gotten any in in almost a year because his rep never calls him back, but he's been trying to get them in. Ok....so what does the customer do? wait until they are back in stock or go around the corner to Walmart and buy a bunch of Strike Kings? In other words, I'm not one to shop brand specific and I'll try anything that looks to be of decent quality, but if a shop just doesn't have anything of a specific category of lure then it gets frustrating. I think the shops around here survive on live bait sales and the salmon/trout lake guys.

I love a family owned mom and pop tackle shop but there's one thing all the surviving ones around here have in common....they BARELY cater to bass fishermen, besides maybe carrying some basic Rapalas and Power Worms. The only stores keeping up with bass fishing around here are Dick's and Field & Stream. Obviously Cabelas and Bass Pro but we don't have those close by to Rochester. I hate to say it, but whether it's tackle shops or hardware stores or whatever, there's a reason why I buy stuff online and it's not for the convenience of not having to leave home, but rather that 90% of the time stores do NOT have what I'm looking for in the first place. Can't tell you how many times I've had to chase around looking for specific items only to just go home and buy them on Amazon which would've saved both time and headache in the first place. Typically though with baits/lures I'm buying from big box stores to avoid shipping costs.

No expert here either but it sounds low, and I'm a little surprised it's too low to power the units but then again I keep mine on the cranking battery and typically after I shut the engine down they are reading 13v....After a while without the engine running they are usually between 12.1-12.6 volts. How often does your house battery get charged?

GPS store was good to me as well, but also West Marine is often forgotten and I got my Garmin from them for a great price. In fact their fish finders may be the only good deals they ever have in that store.

I'm not any type of pond expert but in my experience I try to fish spots like this with a bait caster to be able to cast as far as possible from shore. But even more important than that, I would say to try and target this area on a cloudy and windy day when the water has chop. I would assume the fishing pressure would be lower on those days but a similar area I fish around home has a night and day difference between calm water conditions and rough conditions. Don't be scared to throw top water when it's choppy either.

When my parent's bought their cottage this crappy old Agway lawn tractor came with it that ran horribly. My Dad did some basic tune up stuff, still ran bad. He ended up running two cans of sea foam through it and it ran better and better with each treatment. Must be a crazy coincidence I guess if that stuff does nothing.

I'm usually a leisure fisherman and have had numerous jerk moves pulled on me by tournament guys, but I've also fished tournaments and there's just a whole different mindset going on and with me it isn't even about the money, it's just the competitive nature of a tournament. You are way more driven to fish and not take breaks, time seems to go by way quicker, etc. You're basically just in a rush to get the best bag possible. So really it's no wonder these guys could care less about cutting someone off or being a jerk, they probably have tunnel vision. I can't believe I'm here half defending bad tournament dudes...I hate it as much as the next guy, I just see both sides of it. But you're right, it certainly gives them a bad name. In fact, around here we call them bassholes.

Not sure where you're fishing but the big lake is cold right now and fish are everywhere...deep, shallow....very shallow...

A buddy of mine recently got his first bass boat, and when I was out with him one day on it, I was the one who told him to not step on his seats. So yeah, don't step on the seats !!!