ThatOneBigKid

Thanks for the follow up. Cool to know. I had never heard or seen that before.

That is a crazy looking Largemouth. Never seen one like that. I wonder if it is sick?

Nice one. From all I have heard, finding Tonka smallies is like finding them on WBL. They are like ghosts. Here's to hoping they are still there for you.

Had a tournament on White Bear Lake on Sunday in the downpour and ended up getting 2nd place. All my fish came in the first hour and a half as the rain was rolling through. Had numerous back to back to back cast fish catches. Short of it raining cats and dogs it was a fun morning. Ended up weighing just over 14 lbs and got beat out of 1st by .08 of a pound. All my fish came on deep hard bottom on the edge of the weed line in approx. 18-20ft of water. All finesse tactics between 1/8 and 3/16 of an oz.

Had an 8 hour tournament out on Green Lake (Chisago) on Sunday. Ended up with 19.1lbs and landed in 2nd place. Also missed out on the big bass side pot by only .01 of a pound. Was a really fun tournament all together. Caught all my fish on deeper off shore structure with a 4.3 Kietech swimbait and a Football jig.

Nice work catching some hawgs guys! Got out on Sunday and managed 18 and change for my best 5. All my best 5 were under 4lbs as well. Just couldn't get a real good one to bite. I caught probably 30 fish for the day, no of which were under 2lbs, and 20 of them were between 3 and 3.79lbs. great day overall. a vast majority of the fish were on drop shots. Couldn't seem to get them to go on moving baits.

Interesting thought I am going to have to give a try the next time I am out idling a weed line. My theory is if an old, wise 5lber gets fooled by it, there must be something there, but I might be giving the fish too much credit. Also, if it helps to find one more school on a weed line while idling I am in!

Sounds like an awesome lake there umdivx. Never have thought to troll a Neko rig. How fast are you idiling when your doing this?

Ended up placing 3rd on the GH Sunday Series on Minnetoka yesterday with 15.4 lbs. Had the trim/tilt solenoid on my motor go out mid day so I lost the latter half of my day dealing with that, but still had a great day. Also caught the Big Bass of the tourney as well.

Got out on Bald Eagle last night for the second tournament of the GH Advanced Wednesday night. Ended up 8th out 21 teams. Got plenty of bites but struggled for that big bite. Sounded like the M.O. for a lot of the teams. Still a fun night even though the wind was ripping.

Sounds like an awesome day, umdivx. Got out Friday prefishing for a Sunday tournament on Coon Lake. It took all day but I finally found something I had confidence in for the tournament. Sunday was rough with the wind blowing 16-20 all day. My primary spot was so blown out you couldn't fish it. Scrambled around to a few other spots that had the same shallow grass on them and was able to scrape together a 10lb limit. Luckily a number of other teams had a rough go too so I ended up in 9th(solo) out of 22 other teams. Didn't completely blow my AOY/TOY chances with this one, but I defiantly dug a little hole. Next tournament is Minnetonka so I am looking forward to getting back to milfoil flipping.

Had our first Wednesday night tourney last night and my Bro-in-law and I pulled out a 1st place finish and Big Bass on a tough grinder of an event on Big Marine. Fish were in that tough post-spawn in between funk, but we were able to squeak out 10.5lbs with the help of a 4.66lb stud. Caught all our fish flipping 3/4 and 1oz jigs in developing patches of Milfoil in 8-12ft of water. The milfoil was for sure the key for us. We didn't get a bite unless there was milfoil there. Great start to the season. Looking to keep it rolling with my first solo derby on Coon Lake this Sunday.

Went out to Mille Lacs on Sunday. Caught 6 smallies, biggest went 4.1lbs. Caught more walleyes that I could count. 3 of them went 24". Almost everything was on a 4.2 Kietech on a 3/8 head. Perch color. Water was 58 degrees by the end of the day.

Got out to Mille Lacs last Saturday and cracked on some smallies and wallies a bit as well as got a chance to test out the new Mega 360 unit. Bumped up my PB smallie to 4.65lbs. Thought I was going to check off one of this seasons goals(Break 5lbs for a PB Smallie), but it was just shy. The smallies and walleyes were hammering the jerkbait. Great first trip to Mille Lacs for the season. Water temp was 49.5

This is the kind of input I have been looking for. Thanks a ton Fry!

Yea, my most expensive spinning rod right now is a Phenix Feather. Super light and more sensitive than anything else I have ever fished with, spinning wise. I am curious if these super expensive rods are really that much more sensitive than the $169 MSRP Feather. Honestly, my mind can fathom how they could be any more sensitive than the Feather, let alone more sensitive enough to justify the $400 MSRP difference. Obviously there is something to be said about the resale value and lifetime warranty on the NRX, but still. Hopefully I have my mind blow by the sensitivity in the NRX and then it all makes sense, but we'll see.

Yea, I am typically in the same boat. Again, I just want to see what the "hype" is about and if there is really that much difference. If I couldn't get back what I was paying for the NRX I doubt I would try it, but if I can get one new for what I would resell it for on the aftermarket and essentially just be renting it for a season if I don't like it, then why not.

I have been talking to him a good amount to get his input. I was able to negotiate the price on a new NRX down to just over the MSRP for an Expride, so it's not too crazy. No way I would ever pay MSRP on a NRX. Great thing is, if I don't think the NRX is worth it, I know I can sell it for what I paid for it without a a problem. I just want to see if the high end rod game is really all it is hyped up to be in terms of the sensitivity people rave about. I guess we'll see. Thanks for the input man!

Thanks for the input man, I appreciate it. I do think I am going to go with the 822DSR NRX. This is going to basically be a dedicated Drop Shot Rod for me, plus I know I can resell it for what I am paying for it if I don't like it which is super nice. I just need to find a good deal on a 3000 spinning reel. What are you running for spinning reels. Likes and Dislikes? This will be my first real high end spinning combo so I am tying to get all the info I can.

Which Expride did you get? Are you using it for drop shotting? I was wheeling and dealing with Capras and I would have pulled the trigger on a 822 DSR NRX and a 3000 Stradic had they had the Stradic in the size I wanted in stock. Oh well will wait a couple weeks till they are back in stock, but that is likely what I'll go with. I was also interested in the Daiwa Elite AGS Ehler DS Rod, but of course that was the only one Capras didn't have in stock. Got out for a full day on opener targeting bass. Took a good portion of the morning to figure out that the bass were still deep and prespawn feeding. Water was 54-57 degrees throughout the day. Once the sun peaked out around 11 and we put the pieces together we had a decent day. Managed 20 bass for the day between the 3 of us. Biggest was the fattest 3.88lber I have ever seen. Also caught a bonus 22" walleye to take home too. Could have been warmer, but all in all a good opener.

Thanks again! Question for everyone. I am looking to take the step up into that higher tier of spinning rods ($250 -$350 Range) for throwing a Drop Shot and Ned Rig. What is ever bodies recommendation on what to look at? The Shimano Expride has caught my eye. Will be pairing this rod with one of the new Shimano Stradic 3000XGFL reels. Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the temp info. what bay way this in? The surface temp will likely drop a few degrees with the 31 degree low Friday night, but northern bass aren't as phased as Florida strain by that so we should still be okay. I am hoping the sun is up and the wind stays down so we can maybe find some good ones on bed. We'll see.

Planning to be on Minnetonka for opener. Yearly tradition with my Bro-in-law and Uncle. Cold morning on Saturday is going to make it interesting. I was hopeful that we would have some warmer weather with the full moon just days before opener (If the females aren't up they should be now with the full moon), but it never fails. I can count the warm weather openers I have had on one hand. Regardless, so happy to be able to get back out on MN waters again. Good luck to everyone and tight lines!

Nice @afree. I fished WI for bass for the first couple times this year with the lift of the preseason restrictions. We were on a lake last weekend that was 56 water temp and there were a pile of fish in the shallows eating and staging before moving to beds. Biggest was also 4.4lbs. My guess is there will plenty of fish on bed this weekend with the warm week we have had this week. Wish I didn't have to work this weekend. It have been a cool minute since I have been able to bed fish up here in MN/WI.

Went over to Cedar Lake in WI on Friday chasing Bass. Managed one smallmouth and a couple largies. Also managed to boat 3 Muskies and lost another. Muskies boated were 36", 32", and 28". The one I lost was easily 40". Bit me off after trying to get my hands in his gill plate to get him in the boat. Of course no net. Caught all on 8lb fluorocarbon crackin' a 4" GP tube on steep breaks. Fun day overall.