softwateronly

Great Lakes, from shore most often, and small inland lakes, from a boat most often. From about 5-25' is my usual target zone. I can fish it relatively fast at 5' down in open water above where I think they are and I can slow roll it near the bottom in 25' fow. scott

@A-Jay you sure about the gar? Long nose and spotted are native to MI and widespread. I see them all the time and have been bit, but never hooked up with one down in SW MI. scott

Congrats @georgeyew!! A buzzbait bite from a fish that size in the dark is one of the best adrenaline dumps there is! scott

Yep. My most frequent weight these days with the spotsticker spinnerbaits. scott

A 30mph wind on a big bowl is just undefeated on making fishing darn near impossible. Sorry to hear it, hope the bourbon was good. scott

I play with that sometimes, but haven't ever hit on it. The suddenness of the reel rip seems to be the trigger in my experience. I mean it's been fast or fastest on a 7:1 reel. Nothing really subtle about it. scott

We have huge differences in water fished, so take it as is; Mid-summer my bass will sit on these large 20-30' flats avoiding all the pleasure boat chaos, fishing pressure, and probably most importantly following bait. My most successful hair jigs are big daddy's hair jig in 3/4oz in gizzard and 3/4oz northland tackle chicken jig in bluegill. I like a 7'6 MH/H to bomb casts, cover water, and be able to set the hook at distance on what are usually good sized fish. So bomb, let it fall vertical to the bottom, then I reel rip it 2-4 handle turns off the bottom and tightline back down. How many reel turns, if I give it a double jump, and how long I let it rest on the bottom are the only successful options in my bag right now. I'm sure there's more, especially for suspended bass. I haven't been able to crack that code. I need fish willing to follow it down. I fish the 5-8" flutter spoons the same way. In a way they are an either/or day or a way to hit a successful area with a different look. Our shad don't seem to approach these profiles, so my bass are probably crappie, perch, bream eaters, but this is a guess. When they are suspended on shad, I'm in the 2-4" profile size and work mid column. I start with a long cast, tightline to the bottom while counting down, hopefully getting a bite and remembering the depth and if not doing the math to figure out rof to get to my depth of any flasher marks. Then I usually work that depth and shallower with a yo-yo approach. Straight retrieves have historically been less effective. scott ps - Ben Parker and mafia larry are the big spoons that I've done best with.

Just some decent city and country bass from the last couple weeks and one bonus Skamania. I really rushed the pic on because I fought her on bfs a little too long and wanted her to kick off when I unhooked her. scott

^^^this keeps getting reinforced as truth the more I fish^^^ I'd maybe add slight profile tweaks, bigger/smaller. scott

I think your best bet for bank fishing for smallies is gonna be one of the great lakes (banks near deep water hopefully with current) or wading a river. Either of those an option close to you? scott

shaking a minnow, jig 'n minnow, moping, etc.... scott there's better videos, but it's a good start

Nice! I do the same with some under used bladed jig trailers and drop shot plastics. A t-rig or free rig of a big bites swimmon or gambler shakey shad is killer when everyone is up in the grass. scott

You kinda have to prioritize between frogs or treble hook topwater. You'll be able to do anything, but a softer rod set up is best for keeping bass pinned on trebles and a more powerful rod is useful for setting a frog hook at distance. A rod for both, will slightly compromise on one of these truths. Since you're comfortable with braid and leader, I'd lean toward a combo that's a MH/F graphite blank in the $100 range and a 150 sized reel. Then when it's frog time, remove the leader and really concentrate on reeling into your hookset with the no stretch braid. Unfortunately, I don't have any recent experience with combos in that price point, but I'm sure you'll get good recs from others on here. This is an option, especially the rod, I've seen people here like, 150-165 plus tax for the combo. I'd personally stay away from prepackaged rod/reel combos, I think there's much value to be had in mixing/matching. scott https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Daiwa_Tatula_XT_Casting_Rods/descpage-DXC.html https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Abu_Garcia_Max_STX_Casting_Reel/descpage-AGMS.html https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Lews_American_Hero_Speed_Spool_Casting_Reel/descpage-MHMH.html

I've barely used them as a weightless jerk. The times I did it seemed like the sink rate and durability were similar to zoom but the action seemed to have a little more glide per twitch. I spent more time with it on a free rig and carolina rig successfully. The 7" in gp on a free rig nabbed a beast for me last year. I still need more time to figure out if/how it can set itself apart for me. Curious to learn from others posts. scott

I fish your braid to leader theory and it works just like you describe. Most of my leaders are 10, 15/16, and 20, in both sniper and maxima ultragreen. I have been exploring more abrasion resistant floro because of zebra mussels, but this covers a vast majority of my fishing. I can't tell you if one ML rig will do everything for you; but if I cut down to 3 rods it would be one of them. scott

I can only directly compare 2018 PA and Expride A's. I agree with @Reel that the '18 PA's are more moderate than the exprides and that the old 7'2H/F is close to MH in feel, for me I'd say MH+. The 6'11M+ and 7'2H/F were the standouts for me in the old series and if the new generation hasn't deviated too far in action, the 7'2H would be the first I'd want to put my hands on. If you're thinking moving bait single hook or bottom contact, I can't see how you'd go wrong. scott

I don't own a nrx+, but my Conquest 904 is a great stick that is not exceptional in sensitivity. So I vote nrx. scott

I bought another willow vibe mostly for my smallmouth adventures in the city but have continued to forget to tie it on. Thanks for the reminder! The mooch minnow had all sorts of hype and for me it's actually over delivered. Shaking, swimming, underspins, scroungers, even a ned, it catches everything. Not a skunk buster, but it has opened up days from average to epic. I have found that the scottsboro finesse sniper head and now their finesse pro head with a 4-5" segmented straight tail worm is a fantastic tight vibrating shad/shiner swimbait for cold water bass. The finesse pro hook change seems to really help on the hook up/landing ratio, but I have less time with them. Geecrack revival shad and Deps deathadder have the best action so far, an incredibly tight roll and snake action with a vibrating pintail, but I'm hoping to find a just as good domestic option. Trout Trick and sluggo are close, but definitely a wider wobble and seemingly less effective in the cold. The 1/2 and 3/4oz in 2/0-4/0 have done the damage in 15-25' fow. Scroungers aren't new, but getting this smaller profile in a tighter action has really upped my bites on days when the wider wobble wouldn't get them to commit. scott

Probably want to seek out reviews of the FMJ and BMG if length is a major requirement. scott

I haven't been up there for decades, but I can still recommend you should get this to keep your smallie lures from becoming pike jewelry. Have a great trip! scott

Maybe a tiny bit that the US dollar is also currently being devalued, last I saw it was near 5% down. Only thing I'm betting on is prolonged volatility. scott

It's a fantastic free rig bait, maybe the best and definitely worth a foray. I've been using a 2/0 or 3/0 decoy dream worm15 hook and have been happy with my hook up/landing percentage. scott

No doubt! Absolutely rearranged sport fishing in Lake Michigan over the last 25 years and I'm all for it. Thanks Russia!! scott

@Jar11591 Super interesting, thanks man! scott

I've never fished there but I keep seeing giants pulled out of there. Crazy big for the North. Any insight on why the fishery has been on the upswing? Change in water quality? Forage base expansion, etc? scott