Goby

I am saying that I disagree with the manner in which many of these types of rods are made, yes. Some of them are 18" or longer in the rear grip, it's excessive, even if you are bombing overhead long distance. It's even worse when it's designed to be stuffed under your arm as described, but they have a split grip so the bare blank section digs into your rib cage... If you are happy, I am happy, just my experiences, prefer the rear grip on the short end of the swimbait or muskie rod spectrum...

Yeah, many times, the handles are completely unnecessary. I feel the same way about baits two and three times that weight one would throw for Muskies. Not saying I would want them as short as say a sub 7' jerkbait rod, but most of the handles on those swimbait and Muskie rods are ridiculous, they stick many many inches out the backside of your armpit while fishing, vastly reduce your ability to effectively work the bait, etc... It's a 4 ounce bait, you can lightly sidearm them "basically an underhanded sidearm lob with both hands" a mile and in not hucking them overhead with a hard pull on the bottom hand as those long handles are designed for, you use a lot less energy and are much more accurate, less likely to get fatigued too.

Just one more "food for thought" type of input... I don't fish any crankbaits that dive deeper than 15' anymore despite having messed around with them a fair bit, for that, I prefer to use a wobblehead rig with a soft plastic crayfish or the like, you can fish depths to 20'+ easily with a 3/8 ounce wobble head, worm hook and soft plastic craw... To me it's a more pleasant and effective manner to fish the depths than the ultra deep diving crankbaits. You can let the bait sink to the bottom on a slack line and then about 95% of the distance of your cast, the bait is in the strike zone on the retrieve, where as best case scenario with a deep diving crankbait in deep water, the bait is in the strike zone, maybe 75% of the retrieve, if you are lucky. I fish them the same way I do a crankbait, just a slow retrieve, ticking bottom, much faster presentation than say dragging a football jig... Most of my fisheries are Goby or Crayfish type fisheries, not suspended Shad so this seems to be a more logical approach for my waters. If I am fishing suspended bait, I use jerkbaits, spinnerbaits or keitechs. Where as many guys may opt to drop-shot, etc... to cover the deep stuff I really just don't enjoy fishing vertically and I enjoy using baitcasters more than spinning gear for everything but jerkbaits, smaller Keitechs and topwater poppers. If the wobblehead is too fast, fish a football jig, tube or whatnot... I fish and love rock crawlers, DT12, the Evergreen CR 13, etc... but anything deeper, I have largely ceased from using crankbaits... YMMV

I guess I have just never noticed the light then, when I night fish in my Lund, my Helix units are still on so I can see mapping, despite being dimmed all the way, so my guess is, they drown out the light from the puck, I do hear what you are saying about the red/green lights. I guess night vision isn't as important for the manner in which I night fish in my Lund. I also have a drift boat that I float rivers with at night, for those purposes, I want absolutely zero light, night vision is pretty important for rowing a swift and tight river in the complete dark lol It's pretty amazing how well you can see in the darkness of night once your eyes adjust though, can be downright bright on moonlit nights, forcing you to fish the shade under overhanging branches and whatnot, just like you would in the daytime.

Interesting, never heard of Bow to Stern either lol I don't believe a wet cloth would work with Hot Sauce, would likely leave a somewhat smeared waxy looking finish, you basically have to re-wipe with Hot Sauce. It only takes a few squirts in a rag to do the entire boat, but it would be nice to simply use a wet rag. It may be fine on some colors, but the glossy black painted finish on my aluminum boat shows everything...

I spent most of my adult life fly fishing most of the time, as a kid I mostly fished gear, the past few years I have been doing a lot less fly fishing and a lot more gear fishing. I honestly prefer to gear fish for Bass, think it's more fun, especially on lakes. If you hit St. Clair, this is whom I would reach out to: https://www.greatlakesflyfishing.com/ Jeff is legitimately one of the best anglers to ever live, you would be hard pressed to find anyone in the fishing industry that would say otherwise... Might be tough to get 4 days of openings in a row with him though... Just First Class in every way... Zero ego, just a great human being that is crazy fishy and a great teacher. He will do gear and fly trips. I am sure there are many great guides there, but any time spent on the water with Jeff is something you won't forget, many guides that are great teachers, but so so anglers and many guides that are great anglers but so so at teaching, he is the total package and then some.

I night fish a lot and have never once even noticed that light lol You are talking about the white puck that you mount in your boat, right?

I know Dustan well, good dude, just wasn't sure if he would do gear trips at all so didn't suggest him, have never known him to do much else than fly fishing. He would be a great option too...

For the past couple years I have been wiping my boat down after each use with a rag with a few squirts of Hot Sauce on it, works great, if you do it each time you don't have to rub at all to remove the water spots from the boat/motor, they simply wipe right off with very minimal pressure and no repeated wiping necessary. I have a mostly black hull and a black motor so obviously water spots show very plainly and it only takes a couple minutes for a quick wipe down, it's by far the best product I have ever found for such things, it does a far better job than if you pressure washed it down and cleaned it with soap, etc... I have been seeing a bunch of hooblah online about this Boat Drip spray, was curious how it worked compared to Hot Sauce. Hot Sauce is most definitely a vinegar and liquid wax solution, but it works better than any home made vinegar concoction I have ever come up with. Was curious if this Boat Drip had vinegar in it too as vinegar is corrosive to some degree so if that could be avoided, seems like a win as long as it works as well as Hot Sauce. Anyone have experience with both? Thoughts? Thanks!

If Muskies is your goal, I think I would look for a guide on Lake St. Clair, it's also a great option for Smallies so could do a combo trip of sorts... If you are just going for a day or two, that would be by far your best bet to ensure you actually see a Muskie... I used to guide a lot of Indy folks on the St. Joseph River, Jay Anglin would be the guide I would reach out to if that system interests you, pretty sure he still runs trips and could put you on some river Smallies... The Joe gets looked over often as it largely runs through a bunch of farm land, maybe not quite as scenic as rivers to the North, but as someone that was literally born and raised on that river and made a living off it for years, it's an incredible fishery. It can be a bit of a pain as lot of dams that change flows often to the newcomer, there are nuances to that, but the fish are there, very fertile watershed... If you wanted to go further North, bit more scenery, some cool river fisheries on the Muskegon River, several guides that operate on that... or head South, fishing the mountains is never a dull moment... Dale Hollow is likely within 6 hours of you... There is a guy not all too far from you too, Chad Miller that runs Smallie trips too, in Indiana, don't know a lot about him personally, but sold him one of his boats and seemed like a really nice guy, been doing it for years which likely means he is a good guide. Lot of these guides will be listed as fly fishing guides, but the bulk of them will glady run gear trips, man it was always a welcome occasion when someone wanted to throw gear with me, crankbaits are super easy for the client to fish effectively which always resulted in some really nice fish that you may not have caught if the client was fly fishing... If you go in the Summer, can throw topwaters too!

I think the single greatest thing you could do is utilize crankbaits with a weight system within them that increases casting distance. Something the DT series does not utilize, but say an Evergreen CR series crankbait would have... Increasing the length of your rod, while it may have other advantages like increased line control and more cushion to keep the trebles pinned, etc... won't really have an impact on the overall diving depth like increasing your casting distance would do... I fish a 7'5" Javelin, by MegaBass, but at the end of the day, I can't cast any further with that rod than I can a 7' rod, not enough to make a significant difference in diving depth and length of time bait is in the strike zone anyway... This is assuming that both rods, regardless of length are similar types of tapers... I have never truly understood the whole extra long rear handles on swimbait rods or Muskie rods... If you need all that handle to cast a lure that weighs several ounces at extreme distances, there is something wrong with the user and in the end, all that handle does is get in the way of a lot of things...

Same, they work too, had to give one of my Wife's employees a jump this past Winter, started their vehicle right up, no problem, allowed us to get it somewhere warmer where I could replace the battery for her.

You ALWAYS should have some kitty litter with you in the Winter for boat ramps, and maybe some metal spikes in your boots so you don't go feet up when you step out of the truck lol If guys would just let their trailers drip dry a bit before pulling all the way up the ramp, wouldn't have such issues typically, but they never do...

While Bass see color, they don't see it as we do... You also have to take into account how colors interact with depleting light as you go down in depth, etc... Clarity of water, etc... LOT of variables to what a Bass sees. They have a hard time depicting say chartreuse from white, they largely look the same, but they can see reds and greens quite well. Basically if it isn't red or green, most light colors will look similar and most dark colors will look similar to them, key word, "similar", not exact. There are certainly scenarios where a dark colored lure will be seen easier and thus maybe catch more fish, but the same holds true for light colored lures, time and place.

Single digit temps with surface temps of the river at 31.8 degrees is probably the coldest temps I have ever fished in where I wasn't inside a heated ice fishing shanty. The coldest I have ever been was probably 30's and non-stop rain steelhead fishing in the PNW or there was this time in Louisiana where it dipped down to the upper 20's at night and only made it up to the 50's during the day or so, those morning boat rides at first light in sub freezing temps in all that humidity, insanely cold, had good cold weather clothing on too, cut right through it... On the flip side, extreme heat, muggy and 90 degrees can produce some amazing topwater fishing for river Smallies, but our heat pales in comparison to say Arizona or many Southern locales in the Summer months and I definitely don't travel to hot places in the Summer lol

The coldest I have ever been was in the Louisiana Salt Marsh in 30 degree weather LOL That humidity which Florida has too, mixed with some colder weather is absolutely awful, it was 3 degrees here this morning at the house and I still think that time in Louisiana was colder LOL

It puts the cayenne pepper on its feet ;)

Many many years ago, Simms had these socks called the "Exstream" I believe it was, they were the best socks ever made for cold weather, they were quite a bit thicker than anything they sell today and they were the best. Had I known they would get discontinued, I would have bought a lifetime supply. They finally gave up the ghost after 15 or so years this past year, they were the best, feet were always warm in them. Anything I have bought to replace them is OK, but nothing like those socks were. You could be standing in 34 degree water all day long in stocking foot waders and your feet would still be warm, if you wore boots or bootfoot waders, your feet were downright toasty... Everything they sell these days is thinner, marketed as better, but nowhere near as good, have tried all kinds of brands... My luck, somehow I would get the cayenne pepper on my hands and it would end up in my eyes. Think I will skip that one LOL

Every seasoned Muskie angler will tell you that fluoro leaders are great, until you lose the fish of a lifetime on it... I use 40 pound nylon coated 7x7 wire, and I have had fish that cut one or two of the wire strands, but never went all the way through it... I just put perfection loops at each end of the wire and the fluoro, then add a snap to the front end and loop to loop connect the leader to my fly line. I only fly fish for them though... I use about a foot or so of wire then 3' or so of 40 pound fluoro to create my "fly leaders"... If you are using heavy baits, etc... you will want to go heavier. This guy is pretty much the gold standard and I am sure could help you dial in the absolute best leaders for your task... https://www.stealthtackle.net/ Keep in mind, thin non-coated wire is really really bad for the fish...

Well I don't even troll for Muskies and have never used one, but have seen photos of such devices and they are praised as game changers on hard to release fish by some very credible individuals with long-standing involvement in Muskie conservation and state management of Muskies. So they can't be bad for the fish I imagine as you are thinking, but like I said, never seen one in person or used one. If it's between death or a sore jaw, I guess the sore jaw would be better. Trolling is pretty popular on some of our biggest, deepest lakes, lakes that you can see the bottom in 50' or more of water, so fish will come up a long ways to eat a lure sometimes I guess and can lead to difficulty releasing, these guys baits are 20' deep or less. I guess I was merely trying to nicely convey, probably a better option all things considered than an untrained individual "fizzing" fish with dirty needles. 🙂 The device I linked is similar, but not exactly how the ones I have seen are, to be honest the home-made ones I have seen are likely better on the fish. I don't have photos, but have seen them on a private message board for the Muskie conservation non-profit I am the Secretary for and wondered what the heck it was so I asked, otherwise would have never known such a thing exists lol Despite this ability, studies have shown they die from barotrauma almost as easily as everything else. More studies are underway here in Michigan, but they did some studies previously that showed a pretty grim survival rate of immediately released deep hooked Lake Trout... They swim away just fine to die in the coming days from damages sustained by the initial barotrauma... I believe it was something like 40% of fish died, fish that were brought up slowly and immediately released. Early Spring you can see Lake Trout in less than 5' of water in Lake Michigan, they occasionally even run the lower portions of rivers here.

"Fizzing" fish, doesn't alleviate many of the issues that derive from barotrauma, even if you do everything right on really deep caught fish, the chances of them swimming away just fine, only to die at a later date increase substantially. It also opens the door for infections and of course their swim bladder doesn't work properly for a while at the least... Even fish that have the ability to burp their swim bladders, like Lake Trout, the chances of surviving catch & release when pulled from more extreme depths decreases considerably. Lake Trout can be caught much deeper than Bass, so something to keep in mind, but you can visually see a big difference in a Lake Trout of any size that is hooked less than 50' down and more than 50' down, it's a night and day difference, no matter how slow you bring them up. It's hard for me to justify fishing ultra "deep" for Bass, depths exceeding 30ish feet anyway, not here to judge anyone else, frankly don't care, but a trophy sized Smallmouth Bass typically takes a decade or more to grow, so when they go real deep, I switch to river fishing or just fishing shallower lakes and maybe fishing more Largemouth... or targeting Smallies on the deeper lakes after dark when they may be shallower or more active in the sub 30' range anyway... Fishing at night would also help you achieve your goal of avoiding people, many portions of the year, this may be when the largest and smartest fish are most active too. :) If you are going to fish ultra deep, might consider another option than fizzing. Muskie guys will use a weight with a clip on the end of it, attached to a 20' or so piece of rope, they attach the clip to the jaw of the Muskie, drop the fish down to 20' of depth or more and allow it to revive there, this negates the need to fizz and is supposed to be a better option, the clip easily pops free the moment the fish begins to struggle and wants to take off. Never seen anyone do anything like this with Bass, but the guys trolling deeper diving lures for Muskies swear by it. Something like this: https://www.seaqualizer.com/

I always like to have something bright, something white and something black. This is pretty much how I look at all topwater lure choices, usually have three colors of each bait I like to fish... I prefer the bright one be a bright version of a realish Frog when it comes to Frogs... YMMV.

Heddon Torpedo, some of my fondest memories as a kid were fishing this lure. White 3" Mister Twister with a black 1/8 ounce jig head. I have caught everything from huge Smallies, Walleye, Steelhead, Gar, etc... on that bait, since I was a kid. I would get excited to go grocery shopping with my Mom so I could check out any new lures at Wal-Mart, you could buy a Rapala for like 4 bucks back then LOL I haven't fished either of these baits in years, but were pretty much my staples as a kid, remember it like it was yesterday, mowing lawns, saving money for fishing gear. You used to be able to buy pretty nice rods from Bass Pro for like $30.00 LOL Fished their IM6 series a lot as a kid, Quantum Energy spinning reels and Stren line, the good ole days... The blanks were straighter and the guide train mounted on the blanks straighter than most $200 rods sold today... Good cork was no big deal, most rods had it, etc... I will never forget how excited I was for my first "nice" rod & reel, from Bass Pro, replaced the South Bend stuff I had bought from Wal-Mart and fished most of my pre-teen years.

Man, the top 3 are destroying everyone else. Are they not limited to 5 fish per day as far as scoring goes? Edit: I see now "Every scorable Bass counts". Is this new or has it been like this for a while? Never watched much tournament fishing, Ron Nelson is from my hometown, always pull for him, but rarely watch. It seems like every scorable Bass counting would really give an edge to FFS, but never fished that body of water and don't know anything about it.

Regarding the short butt on the Windbuster, it is definitely short, as it's designed for applications where the tip would be down for the most part. The material the blank is comprised of is very high-end with fast recovery, which makes it sensitive, but it's not designed to be used for tip up applications really at all. When used as designed, it's awesome, when not, it feels tip heavy for sure. 3.3" Keitech's, 110 Jr +1, Vision 110 Silent or Standard these are my favorite things to use the Windbuster for. Just picked up some Shimano Zumverno 95SP jerkbaits to try this year too, should be great on the Windbuster. The stiffer tip on the Windbuster is really nice for subtle, short distance movements with a jerk bait as one typically employs in the cold. The slightly deeper flexing attributes of the blank work well to keep the small size 8 trebles, etc... stuck in the fish throughout the fight and won't bend out the stock outbarb hooks on the Vision 110. You can fish a jerkbait hard and fast on it, but when fish get in that sort of mood, I prefer a spinnerbait or crankbait, depending on scenario... or a 3.3" Keitech, the 3.8" version is fine too as long as you don't go crazy with jig head weight... It also works exceptionally well for fishing topwater poppers and casting them a long distance... If you wanted a dedicated jerkbait rod for fishing hard & fast with 1/2 ounce or larger jerkbaits, or wanted to fish walk the dog style topwaters, the 110 Special would be my choice, but more technical, finesse type stuff, like spinning gear and lighter line, love the Windbuster.