Michigander

On sale: https://www.westmarine.com/buy/garmin--echomap-plus-g3-73cv-fishfinder-chartplotter-combo-with-gt22-transducer-and-us-lakevu-hd-charts--19386564?cm_sp=Onsite-Recs-_-DY-_-PDP-Mobile I run a 7 at the helm and a 7 up front. These have the better transducers and wireless capabilities which I wished I had.

Use pliers to remove the hot tip, not your fingers. Seems simple but I neglected this pro tip the other weekend when I had to temp fix a rod at the boat launch. ?

If I had the choice, I would go with Walleye dinner in a heartbeat. I have to make a special trip to go get them as I live in an area that mostly lacks them locally. Well... at least from a body of water I would actually eat the fish out of. That's another factor for the OP, learn about your lake and see if it is even safe to eat the fish from it.

Bass taste OK... I think the bigger they are the worse the flavor. If I'm looking for a meal, I just catch a bucket of Bluegill and/or Perch, both of which are delicious and fairly easy to limit out on. Then I go back to sport fishing for bass. ?

I don't bed fish intentionally as it feels unsportsmanlike to me personally but I don't look down on those that do. Thanks for doing what you could to get that jig out of the fish.

These are pretty awesome: https://m.tackledirect.com/abu-garcia-vdtcltd70-5-vendetta-winn-grip-casting-rod.html?gclid=CjwKCAjw5Ij2BRBdEiwA0Frc9cQJmTGwf6OPHuqOiiNYOaUlkmoHdx4JuNpwRGDXnPcBb44W3si1HhoCaNkQAvD_BwE

Pure Romance.

I never really noticed a difference in hook angle vs hook up or snag rate. I tend to go with vertical ties in grass and horizontal in wood. Not that I won't throw both in either but it's slightly less of a pain to be tossing well paired tackle with the cover on the lake/river. My main thing is I want to make sure the hook thickness is paired with the line and rod I'm using. I like finesse jigs and big hook jigs, not much in between. They require vastly different line and rod power.

Michigan has been similar for me. Water temps between 51-56 and nearly no bass on beds. I found a bunch of bass suspending around the first major break into deeper water around the spawning flats last night but I was unsuccessful in getting any of them to bite. Seemed like they were in power saver mode until it warms up.

I thought this was a good read, but I like analytical stuff. ? https://www.amazon.com/High-Percentage-Fishing-Statistical-Improving/dp/1517384206

I use a 4000 as well for that same reason but not for the application that OP mentioned.

I like the 3000, I find the kayak fishing generates more line knots for me on smaller size spinning reels.

I feel that they are more weedless, by a little bit. But enough that I switched to them for my non-light wire applications.

There's some great blanks on that site for swim baits. Might order some and have fun with the airbrush!

I'm too much of a ginger to be in direct sunlight for long.

What jigs are you pairing those with?

The Biospawn Exoswim has clawed it'd way up to a primary trailer for my swim jigs. A given jig will have an ideal trailer, in my opinion. Some styles I use a Keitech, others I use a Biospawn. I think a reason that many guys struggle with swim jigs and others don't is the trailer pairing.

I've got a big head and a bit of a beard so a lot of the buffs run too small for me. The Glacier Glove one fits me great though.

At this point, knowing what I would be missing, I won't buy another trolling motor without a GPS anchor and I won't buy a sonar unit that can't draw its own maps.

Depending on the size of the swim jig, your trailer might be too short. You want the flappy/thumpy (technical terms) to extend beyond the end of the skirt so it can do it's thing. You can (and should) trim your skirts where necessary but getting a longer trailer is better. This is a picture of a VERY bulky swim jig but see how the flappers are beyond the skirt?

Frogs are a patience game for me, I love them so I'm willing to grind through the long periods without bites. What swim jig/trailer are you throwing? A swim jig is a primary fish catcher for me but I learned the hard way that the jig/trailer combo is the difference between getting skunked and being very successful.

Bondo you say.....

Calling it in to DNR, or Texas equivalent, and/or Sheriff is about all you can do unfortunately. It's a shame when people are awful.

I don't see bass intermixed with their schools very often. If you find perch schools and you know you have perch eating bass, I would try to get an idea of where the hunting bass are going to enter their area and be fishing the access points.

Never really had any problems tying directly on without a swivel. The Booyeah Toad Runner has almost completely replaced the Whopper Plopper for my fishing. I still keep them around for truly open water but the Toad Runner works better in the areas I spend most of my time in.