Bird

New lake today, water temp 69". Murky water, caught 9 on spinnerbaits and chatterbaits in sparse grass.

Never cut mine off until I leave the water but I'd likely reconsider if I had those " new fangled " units.

It's as simple as this. A Plano box laying flat on a boat deck in direct sunlight can deform soft plastics and other baits. Storing them vertically in a tackle bag, no problem.

Talking about OCD, I know a guy that refuses to use any soft plastic after it caught a fish, claims that bass release a pheromone that other fish can detect and the bait is rendered useless until it's been recycled. Last week I caught 13 bass on the same worm, idk

I figured up in my head a rough estimate. If you take all those " new fangled " gas nozzles being used all across the nation. That's roughly 10,000 gallons of gasoline being spilt on the ground and on garage floors....... daily 😳

Yes they do 👍

Well you said north, I don't like the cold ❄️. But obviously a med and med heavy with braid to fluorocarbon leader 6'8 - 6'9 ....... assuming clear water.

They were a hot item many years ago but I've not thrown one in decades. Prefer a buzzbait or whopper plopper due to better hookup ratio, imo

2 years ago while bass fishing I caught an 11 lb Striper. If that's a skunk I'm good with that. Yes bluegill and Crappie may ease the pain but I wouldn't argue that it wasn't a skunk.

Welcome Jordan 👍

I completely understand the frustration. As mentioned, got the kits and drilled the vents in all my gas cans.

I throw them on a Dobyns Sierra 6'9 med fast. Like one poster said, when I throw Zman diesel minnows I go to MH casting gear.

You went from not catching them on jigs to putting on a clinic 😂

I have the 703, really like it. Something I often hear on this forum is that Dobyns rods are on the softer side with their rod ratings, something to consider.

Years ago when I stayed up half the night catfishing we'd occasionally hook some big snappers. They'd end up on the back of the truck to take home.

I remember the snail darter stories from many years ago. Still don't know why such a little fish made the news, endangered maybe. Looked like a pleco if I remember correctly.

My " leave it on the rack " combo is an old Zebco 303......man that thing sucks. The drag is jerky and the rod is terrible flimsy. 😁

I did this over 4 years ago when I retired. Had it narrowed down to lakes in NC and Tenn but the wife crushed my dreams 😭. I'm 63 and she ain't leaving her business she built for another 6 years. 😳 That puts me at 69 and perhaps a catheter and a nursing home. Ha Ha On a more serious note, I'd consider Texas as well for the serious bass fisherman.

As stated in a recent thread, I use a little of this and a little of that at every fill up..... ethanol free.

In the heat of the summer I'll look for offshore structure, ledges but mainly use the electronics for depth, water temps. I like having them but would rather be fishing then looking at a screen.

An over abundant population of bass could be an issue. I always look at the DNR electro-shocking report of each lake I fish and always surprised when I see 90% of bass are 13-17" long and maybe 1 % were 20" or longer. When a lake reaches this state, best thing to do is keep a bunch and break out the frying pan. Your pond doesn't appear to be dink infested though.

@Catt Ahh yes, fish formula was all I used back in the late 70's. I see David bethshears " inventor " has something called bait-pop....... makes your bait show up better on live scope.

No need to use scent on reaction baits like cranks, spinnerbaits. Imo Been using it for over 40 years " baitmate with anise" on all soft plastics that require a slower presentation. Never had any negative effects from storing after use, just the pleasant odor of anise.

I pretreat every bag of plastics with anise oil.

Do you deliberately want to spend much on a bluegill rod ? Wife catches bushels on Zebco bullet. They are a blast on an ultralight though.