DaubsNU1

Like @A-Jay and @gim, I take great pride in taking care of my yard and property. Live on the edge of a small villiage..our ~3 acres back up to corn and bean fields. Best part, I get to drive this bad-boy for roughly 2 hours a week. It's equipped with a Yanmar 23hp 3 cylinder diesel engine, power steering, power deck lift, water cooled, cruise control, two wheel drive (I looked at a 4 wheel drive...but this one had less hours). In the winter the 60" deck gets swapped out for a 54" two stage snow blower. I fish mainly on weekends, so weekdays the yard / property get lots of attention.

I'm almost always standing in my boat...so I never have the TM set above 5 for fear of throwing myself out of the boat. I use the hand-held remote control ~75% of the time, rarely need to get above a 4 on scale of 1-10. I use spot-lock and auto-pilot a lot. Have been using cruise-control more this spring. Good feature.

The Helix 12 prices are dropping...I currently two Helix 9 MEGA SI+ G4N's Could I replace my Helix 9 with a Helix 12 MEGA SI+ G4N, swap the cards over (Lake Map and storage), and be good to go with all my waypoints and maps?

Whelp, I'd seriously re-consider Mrs. Daubs #1...but if I went back in a time-machine, and did not date/marry her...then I would not have two wonderful daughters...and would most certainly not have met Mrs. Daubs #2 (She's a KEEPER!).

I run PowerPro 10lb high visibility yellow braid on all my spinning rods. Serves me well.

Terro has worked well for me.

I had some ancient life jackets in the old boat. When I upgraded to the Adventure, figured I had better get a good PFD. Went with Mustang Survival Corp Inflatable PFD with HIT (Auto Hydrostatic) for $279 on Amazon. I like it very much. Yep, a bit out of your budget, but what price put on safety?

Early 1990's in Northeast Missouri...small pond just outside of town on University property (I worked for the Univ, so had access). Throwing a rainbow trout colored Slug-Go on a 4/0 worm hook, weightless. Medium-light spinning rod with 10lb mono. Twitch-twitch, pause...BANG! Measured just over 8lbs on this... Did not have a tape measure with me. No cell phones at the time. So I'm calling this an 8lb LMB, and my PB.

Yea, wind can be a real factor...but not as much with spot-lock. I really like that feature. But when the wind is blowing a consistent 25-35 MPH, with gusts to 45 MPH...that is for sure a stay-at-home-day.

Could not agree more @TnRiver46!! I have been logging my fishing trips since 1991...tracking everything from air temp, water temp, barometric pressure, moon phase, water clarity, wind speed and direction, sunny/cloudy/overcast/fog, etc, etc., etc. My goal was to somehow "crack-the-code" and figure out the best and worst days to catch fish. About all I figured out was this...if I'm fishing two days over a weekend here in Nebraska...and catch fish on the first day...I will likely struggle the next day. And vice versa : ) Your results may vary. Fishing on the Churchill River system up in Canada last summer...our results did vary. Of course.... It was Canada Fishing pressure was non-existent (I think we saw one other boat in four days!) We were catching Walleye on our 1oz. pike spoons with 18" steel leaders(!) So I guess this really doesn't count...

Roger that! I won't be going beyond 6 years in the future. We picked up this 5th wheel a in 2020...never really thought about the tires, as they looked good. Glad my buddy suggested I get them replaced. Nine years is WAY too long! I've got almost 6 years on BFG AT/KO's on my 2019 Duramax 2500HD. Got them with the truck new...they have 56k on them, still have tread. They will be replaced this summer.

100% agree with @WRB, tires will likely age out before they wear out. Last fall I checked dates on the four tires on my 5th wheel. They were NINE years old, so decided to get them replaced. Tire tech showed me a bulge on one tire that I did not notice...said I dodged a bullet with that one(!) Whew! I got the best tires they had...I believe they are 8 ply Carlisle trailer tires.

I have mad respect for kayak fishermen. That is hard work. @dickenscpa sometimes simplifying is the answer. Strength to you through the tax season, that's VERY hard work! Good luck with your kayak / boat decisions going forward.

Not yet, but I'm sure it is getting close.

I've been out two times here in Eastern Nebraska. Water temps were upper 40's to low 50's. Just one bass, and a few crappie so far. Weather has been up and down. Keep us posted @Joedodge

Agreed! I love the old WKRP in Cincinnati skit..."as god as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly..." Why yes, they can fly(!)

I've got some old school Cabela's Gore-Tex bibs and a coat. They are camouflage and not 100% water proof...I use mainly for the wind-stopping ability and in light rain. When it does rain, I throw on a cheap Frog-Togg set to keep me 100% dry. If it's really going to rain, I go home. Boat doesn't have waterproof storage, and I really don't want to dry everything out.

Couple years back was fishing just after dawn. Another fishermen boats over to me and asks for help...he had embedded square bill treble hook in his shoulder. Tree snag...fired back his way...managed to turn around and avoid the face shot. But he couldn't get it by himself. I was able to remove. He thanked me with a few lures (I initially refused...but he insisted). Said I saved him from an embarrassing trip home and and giving his wife ammunition to tease him : ) I try to keep eyewear on when fishing...low light polarized in the early morning or cloudy days, standard when the sun is shining. Thanks for the reminder @AlabamaSpothunter!

I believe he got unlucky in all three instances. We landed plenty of Pike in Canada last summer on 12 and 18" steel leaders. Strangely all of the Musky I have every caught were with braid and no steel leader (Missouri and Nebraska). All were caught inadvertently while bass fishing (rattle traps, spinner baits, jerk bait, and one on a jig-n-craw).

Congrats on the PB! And I loved the "spike"!!!

KVD 1.5 work well for me. I really like the 6th Sense Crush 50x, have a crap-ton of them. They catch fish! Last spring a buddy recommended Rapala DT series...that was a bad thing for my pocket-book. And they catch fish as well! Local Scheels was clearancing out a bunch of Shad Rap Elite's last fall....Ooops, they found way in to my basket @ $9.99 each : )

I'm pretty close to @A-Jay's method of 1/3 - 2/3 method. If a spool is running a little shallow, I will peel off line, then tie on new line via Alberto, and spool back up. I think it really helps with casting distance when the spool is darn near full. I did pick up a Shimano Citica used via eBay...pulled off about 1/2 the mono already on there...then spooled up with Braid. But that wasn't enough to fill the spool...so tied on another braid and filled her up. It works.

@10,000 lakes Bassin For the fish this weekend...Brother is speculating. For the two Pike in Canada, he actually saw the fish inhale the bait past the leader...happened right next to the boat(!)

Last summer on our trip to Canada, using 12" steel leaders chasing Pike...Brother had a huge pike inhale his lure past the leader and break off braid right next to the boat. So Brother ties on 18" steel leader. Next day an even bigger Pike did the same thing...inhaling lure past the leader, and breaking him off. Yesterday I get a call from my Brother...he stopped for a quick bank-fishing opportunity on his way home...throwing the big swim-bait with 18" leader...and the same darn thing happens...huge Musky inhales lure past the leader, and breaks him off(!) Dang! Time to order up some 24 and 36" leaders.

I don't remember making a guess...but yesterday, 22-March-2025, I landed my first LMB of the season. Water temp was 46 degrees. Fish was on a flat near some standing timber in 3' of water...right next to a creek channel that drops to 12'. Bluegill colored 3/8 oz. spinner bait. Fourteen inches long, 1lb-8oz. Three casts later I had another strike, but failed to hook up.