Gazz

Anyone know about Joe’s Sporting Goods out of Minnesota? They have a pretty nice deal on a chronarch I’m considering with free shipping and everything. Just not sure how reputable they are and if the shipping would take a month or so given the current times.

How do you like the toadface overall? I’m in the process of likely getting one for my new chronarch. Do you use it for other application like swim jigs and bigger topwaters? I’ve also heard it’s great for underspins.

Haha no clue. I wasn’t there. But I’m guessing it wasn’t good.

Thanks everyone. I was thinking something along those lines.

A buddy of mine was bank fishing a small pond near his home that is located right next to a big reservoir. The reservoir is a state water supply that is strictly no fishing, boating or any other kind of use really. The pond is fair game. He came upon 2 vultures standing over this fish (or what used to be a fish). There was another one almost identical to it about 20 feet away. We can’t really tell if this is just a really big bass or what it might have been. Any thoughts? Really curious to see what some of you may think it could have been. The reservoir is in Rhode Island.

I believe there is only one d**n on the lake. Fire Road 19 is where the only dam is. In that northern basin, the bottom part under the words sunset ln there is actually a bald eagle’s nest up in the trees. It came down and took a small bass right out of the water about 15 feet away from my boat. I guess it knows where the fish are. It’s called eagle point here and I have heard stories of multiple 7+ pounders being caught there but I don’t know how true it is. Yes, I’m considering the northern side the shallow side. That’s the side I live on and it is pretty much 10-12 ft everywhere on this side. The other side I guess is still fairly shallow aside from the deep drop. I actually caught one of my best bass of the season in about 15 ft or so just outside of that deep hole at the very end of the season. I guess I got it to bite while it was making its way back to the depths.

I will likely be going there this season. My boat can be pretty brutal on bigger bodies of water since it's only a 10 foot jon with a trolling motor on it but it definitely beats standing on the bank. It has actually handled 3 grown men somehow. We were told that we looked like 3 men in a tub.

YOU ARE A LIFE SAVER! I had no idea that site existed. I'm still pretty new to real research aspect of it all. That map has already shown me a lot more than I already knew. I appreciate any advice and this map is a big help.

Thanks! I actually live in the Worcester area in a small town called Lunenburg. I and about 25 min from the Cabela’s in Hudson, MA. There is a Dicks in Leominster about 10 min from me and they were telling me that they will likely be close to doubling their fishing section and inventory once all the hunting is cleared out. I was also told the same thing about the Nashua, NH location. I hope they are right!

Another member recently posted a map of his lake asking advice for the upcoming season and it really sparked my interest. I started fishing this lake last season but I spent the first part of the season confused as to where to go. I know a lot more now but I’m still at a bit of a loss as to where I should be looking for the big girls. I’m mainly looking to pull in a bigger fish. I’ve been told by many people that there are a good chunk of big fish here. My confusion mainly comes from the fact that one side of the lake drops to nearly 40 ft deep but my side pretty much tops out at about 9-10 ft deep. I’m not sure if the bigger fish will be slower to come out of their depths and stay closer to the deepest part of the lake or if they will quickly venture over to my side as that water will likely warm up faster. I also discovered the small cove directly under the words Lake Shirley Dam late last season and there were a ton of bait fish but no bass. I think I was just too late to the party. Is that an area I should jump on early? I’ll be adding my new fish finder to my jon boat this season so that should help but I’d like to build a pattern and really track them down this season. Any advice from all of you seasoned vets would be greatly appreciated. (I know this map isn’t great but it’s the best one I can find for my lake.) https://www.lakeshirley.com/assets/lake-shirley-water-depth-map.pdf

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah I’m comfortable with a 7 speed reel for pretty much every application. I trust myself to adjust with what I’m doing. Just preference I guess. I was more thinking differences in weight, casting distance for different applications, line guides such as the t wing for the tatula etc. I was considering the curado I’m getting in 6x:1 to go with the dobyns for cranking mostly. I just know my SLX and Tatula casts farther and better than my lews reel and wonder if they would be best used with certain applications.

I am in the process of put my gear together for the season as I weed out some old junk and evaluate some new purchases. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do but I am curious what some of you might do with my current random pile of tackle. For rods I have: Lews TP1 Black MH/F (Micro guides) Lews Carbon Fire H/F Daiwa Tatula MH/F (Micro guides) Dobyns Fury MH/Mod Fast (Feels great for cranking) Kistler Argon M/F Shimano SLX MH/F And I am likely adding a Shimano Expride soon. For reels I have: Lews Custom XP 7.x:1 Daiwa Tatula 150 7.x:1 Shimano SLX DC 7.x:1 Quantum Icon PT 7.x:1 (Borderline seized up after 1 season of use) And I will be adding a Curado K Soon. I left out my spinning gear as it is a Lews Mach 2 combo and that won’t change for now. I am hoping to upgrade to a stradic ci4 next season. I am struggling a bit with which reels would work best with which rods (the Tatulas will likely stay togetherness possibly my jig rod) and also what would be some recommendations to use the Kistler medium for. I will be using mostly straight fluoro and a little braid. I hate tying leaders so I will likely avoid that. I’m interested in hearing any input you all may have. Thanks!

Where I live in Mass they are also expanding the fishing section into where the hunting section used to be. The employee I spoke to said that once the clearance hunting stuff sells the fishing section should almost double in size. There are not really any other tackle shops in the area except for a Cabela’s 30 minutes away so they sell a lot in this area especially for last second needs. I don’t love the store but it’s a good option when I realize I have no more keitechs or D bombs left.

Haha I’m considering an XT in 6.3.1 soon but maybe I’ll wait to see if I get my lady taffy to call them out if I don’t. Lew’s has actually taken great care of me fully replacing my custom xp combo that I bought last season because the reel seat in that line is faulty. Had a 3 lber on the the reel was swinging side to side. Sent it back and they sent me a whole new setup with a new reel and everything. Real seat was even worse with this one so they are going to give me a tier up TP1 black with another brand new xp reel and test it under load before sending it out. Not bad considering I got the xp on sale at cabela’s for $120 and now getting a $130 TP1 black free.

I recently got a Tatula 150 on a nice sale through Sportsman’s Outfitters for $99. Haven’t gotten to take it out yet but it feels really solid. I’m also in the process of getting a Curado K and SLX DC before the season starts. I really just want to give the DC tech a try and the SLX seems like a good entry level. I think it really comes down to whether or not you think the DC tech will benefit you.

Yeah chaser that is the video I came across which led me to check the specs on each rod and the only difference between the MH and LMH is the mod/fast action.

I don’t know if you’ve already made your choice but I was having this same dilemma a few days ago. After doing some research it looks like a lite-medium-heavy is pretty much a medium/heavy power with moderate/fast action so it has some real backbone and it has a more parabolic action that bends further down the rod. There is a YouTube video of Trey actually explaining the lite-medium-heavy exactly. I was looking to grab an argon while it is on sale to give kistler a try and I was intrigued by the lmh but decided on the medium/fast as I already have a dobyns med/hvy mod/fast. I love the dobyns but I’m still in the building process of my collection so I’m trying to get a little bit of everything. Hopefully this helped somehow. Does anyone else have any experience with the argon? I know it’s not the helium or z bone but it was right in my range and I’ve heard great things about kistler.