DitchPanda

Alot of good highly detailed info and explanation in the last few posts. If your asking about it I'm assuming you have little to no experience with bait casters...if you do I mean no offense by the assumption. So coming from the standpoint of offering advice to a novice baitcaster I'm in the camp of using something like big game mono. Its cheap, reliable and readily available. Lets face it with a baitcaster there is a learning curve..that means backlashes and lots of damaged ruined line that needs replaced. Braid and fluoro are expensive and you can waste $20+ in a short time if you don't know what your doing. A spool of 12lb big game is like $7 for 1175 yards...that's alot of practice and respooling for very little money. Once you become proficient with the money you can move onto a nicer line. Btw there is nothing wrong with big game...lots of skilled guys on these forums use it. I'm no expert at this but I've got 25 years of baitcaster experience...I started with cheap mono.

This year has been strange weather wise..we usually have fish able ice by Thanksgiving but we are 4 or 5 weeks past that and we just got enough to walk this week. I'm in this camp as well. I used to love ice fishing as much as open water but after 20 years that enthusiasm is waning some. I still do it mainly because I don't want to go months without fishing...but my trips are getting less frequent every year.

Got out with a buddy for a few hours Tuesday and the ice was kinda sketchy. Maybe 3.5 inches and some water sitting on top. Since then we have been well below Freezing non stop with the high the past two days in the single digits. Looking to get out tomorrow to hopefully gather the main ingredient for a delicious fish fry. I'm not a big winter guy but I've always tried to make the best of it...the best way I've come up with is a nice plate of fried bluegill fillets from cold clean water.

I started my year out fast for size...caught a 6 on a finesse jig and a 7 on a lipless the first few weeks of April. My best bait by far was a bluegill swim jig with a menace on the back. Spinner bait and kvd 1.5 shallow also did some serious damage for me. I spent alot of time in the dead heat of summer relearning the Ned and was very happy with the results. One bait that surprised me was the Berkley Frittside...had heard the hype so I picked up a few with interest but low expectations. Several times this fall it was all they would touch out fishing typical fall baits like lipless, jerk bait and shad rap.

Beer tenderloin? Not sure what that is but it sounds like the best thing ever?

Honestly I'm more excited for the cheesecake.

Ill tell you what that Redbreast I got the other day is maybe the best whiskey I've had.

Didn't see my parents for Thanksgiving so we are getting together for Christmas. Mom is making chicken and dumplings, a pecan pie and a homemade cheesecake.

I've never had pappy and doubt I will cuz either way it doesn't end well. Either its the best you've had but its to rare and spendy to get again or it sucks for the price and you feel cheated out of the money.

Still wanna try Murphy's...I haven't seen it around here.

I have several of the old Bucoo micro guide rods an they are great. From what I understand the original bucoos are better than the Sr but not as good as the lowrider. Get the low rider!

I've never understood this tactic...if you don't want to help somebody that's fine but no need to lie. When people ask for advice I help as much as I can and if I'm protecting a bite i just won't tell them the exact spot(s) but give them ideas of what to look for. I've never sent them purposely to the dead sea...but then again I'm not a d#$%. At least I dont think I am!

What's the tullamore price wise? What do you like about it over Jameson? I've been a Jameson drinker a long time

A few days ago I asked about blade baits from shore and received some good info. Now I'm wanting to pick some up for spring and I'm just wondering what colors to get?

Yeah ive lived in Northwest Iowa 20 years so a little humor helps process winter a little bit easier. Takes a tough mental attitude together thru a real winter...otherwise its pretty stark and depressing.

Yeah all that's great but you'll never get to experience dragging a 200lb fish shack a mile thru knee deep until you puke just to catch a few bluegill. Your really missing out.

Kinda...but how many officials even know all the rules? Anybody can sign up and pay $99 bucks to be a Bassmaster Marshal...its not like all of these people are trained officials Also its not like every competitor has a camera guy all 4 days of every tournament. If they have 8 to 12 camera guys and the first 2 days they have 100 to 200 competitors there's alot of guys not being watched...throw an inexperienced marshal in there and there's alot of guys on the honor system.

I have a pond about 15 miles from my house they stock with rainbows every fall. Ill use a silver or gold 1\8 oz kastmaster or a small lipless crank bait and wear them out. I've had several days of 40 to 50 fish in a few hours.

I have a Sierra 702 I use for Ned rigs and I absolutely love it...its light and fishes beatifully. For an all around rod I think a Sierra 703 would be able to do alot of stuff. Also its a steal with the TW sale.

40lb power pro is 10lb mono diameter...don't see a reason to go lighter.

I'm pretty content with my line choices. I am gonna experiment with braid on spinning this year for the first time but that's pretty much it for new stuff. I use Izorline xxx copolymer in 12 and 15 for most bait casting needs...and big game mono in 10 and 15 for treble hook applications. I have one rod with 50lb power pro for frogs and I'm going with light power pro...10 and 15lb...for spinning.

Been very weird here...a few very cold mornings but mostly stuck in limbo weather wise. Lots of lows in the 20s and highs in the 40s. Talked to a buddy Saturday that said we had fish able ice by Thanksgiving last year.Now we are 4 days until Christmas we have a few inches of ice so not enough to even think about trying it. Today is 47 and windy tomorrow is 54.

Depending on how long you have you should do both! That way if its a while before you get back out you scratched both itches.

Bout an hour and a half southwest of the lakes. My parents live in ! Milford.

Yeah it stinks but it is what it is. I've lived in northwest Iowa for 20 years and every winter I wonder why I'm here!