DaubsNU1

Found this little guy floating in the water this weekend. Eastern Nebraska reservoir. About 2" long. ???

220 acre reservoir in Eastern Nebraska, opened to public in 2018. Water visibility has consistently been less than 2 feet. This spring I was shocked to see my lures 8-10 feet down(!) Note: bald eagles built a nest next to this lake...heard rumor the lake got designated as "protected," they had to change drainage so run-off from surrounding neighborhoods cannot feed in to the lake. Could this be the reasons for better water clarity?

I've been running Shimano bait-casters since the early 1990's. Hated them with mono, lots of back-lashes and birds nests....then switched to Fenwick Iron Thread braid. Game. Changer! I'm still running the same old bait-casters, two Curado's and two Citca's...they are all spooled with 20lb Power Pro green braid. Keep trying...once you get the reels set up right, you will be back-lash free.

Nooooooooo! : (

Sounds like my home lake here in Nebraska...lots of wood. Relatively new lake, lots of 10-13" bass. I always have a spinner bait and weightless Senko tied on. Found good success with drop shot right in the timber last year...actually landed some 2-3 lb bass that way. Square bill and jerk-bait were producing this weekend. I love pitching a jig-n-trailer. Good luck!

Welcome! Great looking boat, congrats! I have a Pro Mariner, excellent unit. Electronics are very much a "what do you want" and "what you can afford" decision. I've been running Minn Kota 40lb All Terrain trolling motor for 20+ years...moves my little boat around well. Found a Garmin ECHOMAP 73sv on clearance for $499 at Scheels a few years back...does what I need it to do. My brother has the 112lb Ulterra and 9" Hummingbird finder...really cool! Very different price points. Get that boat on the water and chase fish!! Good luck!

Goals for this year: Boat: get lower unit seals replaced -- DONE Boat: get carburetor rebuilt -- DONE Boat: find leaky rivets, replace them (tired of water in the boat) Catch five Northern Pike this year, at least one 40"+ Catch one Musky this year, size does not matter Catch one 7lb+ largemouth this year Break my PB largemouth, needs to break 8.25lbs Put my 82 year old dad on a 5lb Smallie in May! Help my brother launch his fishing not-for-profit (I'm the web master)

Man, that's sad news : ( Thankfully most of the lakes I fish are 5 MPH / no wake. I do fish a lake that has water skiers and such, but I'm usually off the water before they start. My PFD is always on when the big motor is fired up. It's only a 20hp, but my little boat can make 20 MPH, and even that scares the crap out of me at times. This story is a reminder that it just takes one situation, one instance, one mistake, one slip, one miss....and it's time to meet the good Lord.

Yep, Cabela's started in Sidney, Nebraska. I met Dick Cabela about 25 years ago, nice guy. They made some fantastic products back in the day...still have a ton of Cabela's branded Gore-Tex coats, parks, bibs, jackets, socks, gloves, hats...you name it. Great stuff that lasts. There is a Cabela's, BPS, and a Scheels in Omaha area, they all do pretty well. I frequent them all for fishing tackle...and do order quite a bit from T-warehouse when I want specific things not found locally.

Cabela's is no where near the company they were years ago. Best buddy of mine worked there for 35 years, and many other friends did as well. They have all moved on to other things. Things change...

Sadness.

I think your arsenal looks good. I wouldn't worry to much about "technique specific" rods...I think manufacturers coined that phrase to get us to purchase more rods. Here are my fishing rods...all were purchased between 1991 and 2003. I can fish everything from crappie/bluegill, to smallies, largemouth, Pike and Musky. They work. I run braid on all my castings rods...and a few years back, switched out all my spinning rods to braid-to-leader. My CDH 602 pretty much always has a spinner bait tied on. The XML Ti is my Senko rod.

My wife doesn't travel...she's a nurse practitioner...and works 1-2 weekends per month. I fish my tail off those weekends : ) Enjoy your hall pass!

Got on the water for two hours yesterday...conditions were rough...39 degrees, winds out of the north 20-25 with gusts to 35 MPH. Water temps were 52.5 degrees. I had two base layers on, insulation layer, and gore-tex shell...and I wore my 1200 chest waders, neoprene gauntlet decoy gloves with chemical hand warmers tucked in side. Ugh! Smaller lake, there were a few areas where I could get out of the wind. Managed seven small bass on a white chatter bait in two hours. Called it quits...I was really cold. When the wind is blowing that hard I try to throw something heavy that I can work with gloves on.

Excellent video Glen! Retired Dad / carpenter gave me a HUGE extension cord he used to run table saw with. This is my boat charger...and it stays plugged in 24/7/365. Boat is in my unheated shop all year. Batteries are 3+ years old and still going strong. Side note: I use these for my John Deer x750, two Polaris 550's, portable generator, spare truck battery. Again, they are plugged in 24/7/365, and live in the unheated shop.

I'm 55...noticed ear ringing / tinnitus about 15 years ago. Likely too much time in the duck blind. Yes, head to ENT doc, they can check you out and recommend solutions. Mine is not horrible... I wear ear plugs for EVERYTHING now...even running the shop vac. Do not want this to get worse.

Man, this brings back bad memories! In my high-school years, we spring turkey hunted in northern Nebraska...the day was warm as I was sitting next to a creek under shade trees. Decided to take a snooze. Drifted off...then something didn't feel right.... Woke up to see a big green snake traveling right across my chest!!! Bout pooped my pants! It was a non-venomous snake, but long...close to four feet. I've not been a fan of snakes since then. Two years back I was deer hunting in the Sandhills of Nebraska in November. Looked down and noticed this little friend just crawling along...NOPE.

Back in the day did many presentations, gave two "keynote" addresses at end-of-year banquets for groups 100+, got to introduce concerts and comedians to auditorium of 1,200+. I was young enough not to know... Now I do get a bit anxious when addressing large groups. I am out of practice. Friend told me that nervous and excited are essentially the same bio-chemistry in your body....if are anxious or nervous...physically saying out loud, "I am really excited" will help. And it does.

Boat holds 6 rods...take three bait casters, and three spinning rods pretty much every time. Started braid to fluoro on my spinning rods two years ago...It REALLY opened up my options and got me loving spinning rods again. I have one always rigged with Senko, one with drop-shot, and the final with either NED or finesse set up. Bait casters have spinner bait, chatter-bait or crank, and jig-n-craw or t-rig. I am a pretty simple man.

Lakes around her have visibility between 6-12" max. Pretty standard.

Weather has been nutty here in Nebraska...four inches of snow last Sunday...melted off by end of the day...high temps ranging from 60's to 20's. Dusting of snow again this morning...then high's in the mid 50's this afternoon. Finally got the old Merc on the water today. Started on the third pull (pretty standard for this motor). Ran great, and topped out at 21 MPH, 1 MPH faster than previous. No leaks. Money well spent! Should be good for another 20+ years : ) Water temps were right at 50 degrees. Lake I was fishing down 2' from last fall. Managed one 13" bass on a drop shot in less than 1' of water near dock. I'll take it!

Funny!! I keep in touch with former students through FB. And also advertise for my photography business through FB. I do not post much personal stuff, and absolutely nothing political.

Caught my personal best largemouth on a rainbow trout colored Slug-Go in Missouri about 30 years ago. Still keep an assortment in my tackle box. Love them!

I ran Fenwick Iron Thread for years, 30lb braid. Worked well. They stopped making it a while back...have since moved to PowerPro 30lb green. Tie with a version of the Trilene knot. It's this...and one more step...take the tag end, and go back through the big open loop. Seems to work well.

The only time I have caught Musky is when fishing for bass : ) Caught them on a spinner bait, rattle-trap, and strangely enough, on a pumpkin green jig-n-craw(!) Each time on medium to medium heavy casting rods, spooled with 20lb braid. And no steel leader. Landed them all without a net. Does help to have good set of pliers.