Craig P

With trout in mind, we all know the scene of a river runs through it. You may have even fantasized about doing it yourself. A beautiful stream in a remote setting, nature bountiful, an angler swinging a fly rod as the sun rises or sets. It would be hard to deny that scene isn’t art. A catch at that point is just a bonus. As a Bass angler, I don’t know that I would call the act of me fishing art while in the process of doing it but I am sure to anyone onlooking, they may just see it as a river runs through it. ps. Comedy is also considered an art, so if you ever see me out there yanking and cussing at a snag, hook a tree, slip and fall, I’m just trying to be a comedian.

That pond magic is magic because it doesn’t swim straight and those odd twists and jumps make fish react. Try going without, if you find a bite, put a trailer on and see if the results are as good….or vice versa.

No experience with the Victory but I use a Zodias 7’-0’ Medium Heavy Fast and love it for 3/8 ounce Texas rigs. It’s one of those things where you find the perfect rod for X bait and there is no reason to use anything else. Sensitivity and accuracy is good and control of bass in vegetation is superior to rods that I’ve paid double for. The handle is what sets it apart IMO from other rods. So much that it propelled me to look at the Poison Adrena, ultimately, I settled on a couple of St Croix Physyx as they introduced a similar handle in that line and have a superior warranty. At this point, I won’t buy anything if it doesn’t have that style of handle.

Never.

No goals yet but a pseudo-goal is to not stop fishing this year. We just got our first cold snap here in Pa so that and the holidays will keep me off the water but any found time I can slip out I will. The one place I fish has some really nice perch in it so I want to target them. They usually hang with the bass at this spot so a by-product bass will never be complained about.

This is pretty common for me as well when fishing with others, I just spend more time fishing than them so I see things they don’t and can hit spots where they struggle. In the case of my one friend, the one mentioned about making him switch with me, we are closely matched and our eyes and casts often see the same thing. Makes for some funny moments and good ribbing as well as doubling up at times.

I fish with a good friend often and make him switch to up front all the time. When we first started, he was not that good with the trolling motor but he got better. Being the first cast into fresh spots matters significantly.

It’s pretty important to me as my tastes have grown pricey. As A-Jay mentioned, I don’t expect them to pay for my mistakes but mistakes happen and since they’re building in warranty cost already, at least honor one mistake.

No! I will not buy anything else for the rest of the year....unless a really good sale comes out......or if something I've wanted comes back in stock......or just catches my eye while out, oh screw it, I'm online shopping now. In all seriousness, no, there is not much I want other than a few odds and ends and I am saving them to a list on my phone. When my wife and kids ask me what I want for Xmas, I will share exactly what I would like to see under the tree. No guarantees but this year, I will finally evade the "you are so hard to shop for" statement!

I was like you before I had a heading sensor…which is why I bought a heading sensor so you’re not alone in the confusion. My best suggestion is to find and mark a structure you are familiar with that also has a visual shore line reference. Once you get familiar with that mark (feeling it out with a football jig helps a lot!) you’ll gain some insight with your boat position on future marks.

When I bought a boat, I had no target species, I just wanted to go fishing……and then the addiction happened. I love what I’ve learned in this journey….not a big fan of YouTubers pushing products LOL. My wallet has hated that portion but I’ve learned to not believe everything you hear and see which leads me to my closing thoughts. Every day bass fishing can be what you want. Chase numbers, chase big ones, fish on top, bottom or in-between. So many choices to make every day fun and educational.

Original, sorted by type in $1.99 plastic file folders from staples. They last longer than zip locks. You can buy the good clear folder style fishing bags from BP, TW, etc for 4x the price but my boat stays dry so I don’t bother.

Welcome! Another SE Pa’er here. I’m about 25 minutes away from L.O. but oddly, I’ve only ever fished it once. I am a boater though and have a couple other lakes near me that are my quick trip bank beaters so that’s probably why. Let’s hope the rain tomorrow and next week get us flowing a little better.

Welcome from just a little south of ya. I remember fishing the Schuylkill when I was a kid, government cheese was our goto bait for large catfish. Fun times.

The only technique I repeat is Spin Baits. A BFS setup for small spin baits and your typical MHF 7’ for larger spin baits. The rest are individual to the techniques I want to use on that body of water…..based on past experience of what works during what season. Usually around 5 rods total.

I suppose I am not at my bass peak yet as I still enjoy it. With my personality, once I master something, I get bored and move onto the next thing. I’ll never stop fishing mind you, I’ll just move to another species. I use to be a wild trout nut for many many years but it got boring for me, there wasn’t much left to achieve there so I moved to Bass……not realizing how much pricier it was! lol

I don’t think one way or the other is “better” but it does affect the baits I start with. If it’s bright and clear, like you, fish don’t want to stare up at the sun so I start with deeper baits. Cloudy days, not so bright, I’ll start with top water baits. It’s not a golden rule, fish will always surprise you but it helps set a plan to finding a bite. FWIW, shade lines on bright days are usually good to me.

Never owned a boat, young kids and unsure about the economy. I would wait it out a year and see how things develop. I have a friend who bought a Ranger a couple of years ago, he talked about how the family was going to love fishing and spending days on the lake. Fast forward, they rarely get a chance to use it, school, sports, activities and daily life get in the way and when they do go, they rarely fish, they just enjoy the time together on the lake and now want to trade it for a Pontoon so they can bring more family. He kicks himself for not making the correct decision in the beginning and fears the financial hit coming.

Coke / Pepsi, Bud / Miller, Ford / Chevy. You get the picture I will add, when I was looking for a BFS reel…..after being a long time Shimano user, I thought I wanted the Daiwa but when feeling it in hand vs the Curado BFS, the Curado just felt like the better machine. I even handed them both to my wife….who knows nothing about fishing and I asked her to reel and press the button and tell me which one felt like the better machine, she chose the Curado. So did the guy selling me the reel even when the Curado was cheaper. I refer you back to my first sentence.

I’m using the casting version PHXC68MXF as a pseudo BFS small spinbait setup. Hands down, this has been my favorite setup this year, catching most of my bass. Super sensitive and casting is a dream, at times, it seems like it’s almost magic, there is not a cast I can’t make tight to banks with brush. I am also running the spinning version PHXS71MF for senkos and swim baits but honestly, I don’t use it much as I can’t stop using spinbaits but it is the only spinning setup that I make room for on the boat. I don’t know the weight but these rods feel lighter than my Dobyns Champion XP 702C. In hand, you won’t be able to tell a difference when comparing these to the Poison Adrena. Unlike the Poison Adrena, it has a nice long warranty too. I would buy again if needed.

A couple from outside of Raritan Bay NJ yesterday. We boated 7 with two in the keeper slot, the rest were overs. We dropped a few others, caught a few dogfish and sea bass while waiting for pods of fish to move. Fun day!

I have the Crestliner Storm 1600. With a 20hp mercury and a folding tongue, it fits in my garage the exact depth of yours. I wrestled with your exact situation before I bought it. I was also thinking of just getting a hull and outfitting it with an electric outboard and TM but this was a better solution as my lakes are either electric only or 20hp but there are some unrestricted places around me too and this setup gets me 23 mph. Plenty for the unrestricted yet small lakes. It’s a great size for a 2 man boat. 2 guys and a child works but gets tight at times. Worth looking into. I see you are in NJ, look up Hiway Marine in Quakertown, Pa, they carry “Nockamixon Specials” with a 20 but I’ve seen them there with 9s and even unpowered so you can do it yourself.

I am using 2 Curado BFS reels that I just tried 2 new lines today. One is PowerPro 15 as specified on Shimano’s site and the other with Sunline Super FC 6lb. They are both .008 dia. and both behaved very well in 15-20mph winds today. I see no reason to deviate at this point as I am very happy with the results. I use the braid one for spinbaits, the floro one for t-rigs and such.

Definitely but there are several places I can start. If I can start where the juice is, why not.

Quick follow up to prior post. Just need to line it up and fish it tomorrow. Can’t wait!