Goby

I wouldn't even know what DJI cameras are had I not asked a couple guys I know that film a lot about the cameras they had around their necks, they said they used to shoot with Go Pro and had so many issues with them, they switched to the DJI and never had issues since. They also really liked the neck mount that DJI has. I have no idea what models they had or have, etc... I have a Go Pro Max I bought a few years back to film me releasing Muskies, used it once, just not my thing, it worked really well though when I used it. I grew up watching Spanish Fly, Bill Dance, Al Lindner, etc... but no desire to be them I guess. My cell phone works just fine and the videos are really just for me so good enough for who it's for sorta thing lol Much respect to all of you that do it, I know it takes a lot of work to edit, keep the cameras rolling, etc... not to mention getting quality content.

DJI Osmo are said to not have such issues, have a few Friends that film a lot and they all got rid of their Go Pro's and went with DJI. YMMV

I never knew there was such a thing as a "Bottle jack stabilizer", that's pretty slick. I carry an actual floor jack with me, almost always, don't like to be stuck anywhere! I even carry spare hubs LOL A bottle jack and that stabilizer will free up some room for me as the floor jack takes up a bit of space, thank you for the suggestion!

I have an Ulterra 80 pound thrust, 24 volt trolling motor and I originally had two 100AH AGM batteries in my boat. Few observations, on extremely windy days, fishing sun up to sun down, you could use enough battery that no matter what, you really needed to charge that night before fishing a second day with the AGM's. They are also extremely heavy batteries compared to lithium, which to be honest, my tiller steer Lund Pro Guide actually handled a little better with the heavier batteries up near the bow than it does the lighter Lithium ones I put in there. That's the only downside though... I went with 100AH Dakota Lithium's and am glad I did versus two 55AH ones. The reason being, no matter how much I use my trolling motor throughout the day, I will never ever use all the juice in those batteries, one time my main motor battery which was almost brand new had a defect and failed me, I used my trolling motor to get me back several miles to the boat ramp, was nice to know that while it took a while, I was getting home without having to call anyone. I don't think my AGM's would have gotten me there after a full day of fishing like I had been doing on that day... I now carry a small battery pack with me in case of such an event to jumpstart my main battery to start main motor, but in this scenario the battery had a real failure and not even sure that would have worked on that day. If I ever go on a multi-day trip, which I do now and then, I don't have to worry about charging my 100AH lithiums, can fish 2-3 days no problem between charges. I would probably never feel confident fishing more than one day with two 55AH batteries. I have like 4-5 years on my lithiums now, still work like new and I fish with that boat 100-150 days a year at least... I also have a 55AH Dakota Lithium on my drift boat with a 12volt Minn Kota transom mount trolling motor, I can burn up that battery to the point it shuts itself off in one long day fishing a lake or slow river with the motor running more than half the time, which makes me feel like I would not have been happy with two 55AH batteries in my Lund... YMMV P.S. they now have "solid state" batteries that are even better than Lithium, but have never used one or known anyone that has...

4" of good ice is more than safe, but 6" of even remotely rotten ice, may not be safe. That being said, always, always, always check the ice as you go... Wear a float suit, for the love of God, wear a float suit, you can get them super cheap at the end of the season. I went through the ice a couple years ago, I had been fishing a lake all day, no issues, drilling holes through 6"-7" of ice all day. Went to move 20' to my right and just went through about 6" of seemingly rotten ice, the float suit did all the work. I went through the ice, my chin touched the water, about that time the flotation suit began to shoot me upwards and I just plopped onto the ice on my belly like a Penguin coming up through a hole. I was in the water such a short period of time, I didn't even get wet under my float suit. I wear one made by Clam, but many companies make them. Along with the float suit, a pair of picks around your neck to help pull you out of the water if you do go through and can't get out due to not being able to grab anything. If you have picks and a float suit, your chances of dying drop dramatically. You may get wet or cold, but you will be able to get yourself out in time, just stay calm... There are lakes that never get safe, they have so many springs that there will be soft spots here and there, so make sure you are on lakes that are proven to have safe ice year after year. You may have a lake with 6" of perfect ice and 2 miles away a lake that has 3" of unsafe ice, they don't all freeze the same, lot of variables. As far as catching fish, drilling lots of holes helps, mapping is huge, there are thousands of YouTube videos out there that will help you out. Speaking of ice fishing, about to go do just that!

Clients that guides truly like, even if it's not intentional, typically get the best efforts... If you want to fish with him again and it not be awkward at the least, I would just give it to him, see how he responds, will tell you a lot about him right there... A fishing guide in NorCal, even a good one that is booked often is still living in poverty unless he has other sources of income... It costs twice as much to live out there as most other places one would reside as a guide... Assuming this guy has a real Bass boat that requires a garage, etc... He has to run a LOT of trips every year, just to break even, heck it's like a $1,000.00 a year to plate a 1/2 pickup in California alone... There are three types of seasoned guides... 1) Broke ones that love their job. 2) Ones that love the job with a Wife with a decent job that includes health benefits that make just enough money their Wife is fine with their guiding profession. Benefits are a huge one obviously as there are none for being a guide... 3) Retired or Trustees doing it for something to do, lot of Trustees are guides, especially ones where the Trust had a condition that they have to work to get the money... Some of the most famous guides and anglers in the nation, fall under that category, many of them would have never made it otherwise... No matter which of these categories you fall under, being a good guide is genuinely a fair bit of work, you have to wear a lot of hats to make a guide service successful. For every hour you are guiding, there is another hour of prep time on the back end, at least, plus a lot of expenses, fishing gear isn't cheap, boat isn't cheap, truck is not cheap, insurance, gas, etc... not to mention the thousands and thousands of hours it takes to learn enough to be a good guide... Most clients only see it from their perspective and they miss a lot of what goes into it... I lived a good life, wasn't wealthy, but wasn't broke as a full time guide in SW Michigan, it took one year in NorCal to realize even if I ran 200+ trips a year, I would still be barely making it and even then buying a home likely wasn't a reality out there. Something to keep in mind, I see you are in Santa Rosa... Crazy expensive out there... I can't imagine it in today's interest rates, cost of living, etc... I lived out there in 2017/2018 when your neck of the woods burned really bad, was truly sad to see all that devastation. Was the first time I had seen such a thing with my own eyes in such a populated area... Just to add a bit more perspective, many if not most clients would be all excited the guide asked to use their footage sorta thing, so from his perspective, he may not be thinking about it as you are, would keep that in mind. Building a guide service is a lot like creating a Family of sorts, most of my regulars I became Friends with to some degree, I fish with some of them for fun to this day now that I have not guided in years. Not all guides are like this, but many of the successful ones have pretty tight relationships with their people and frankly, it makes the trips more enjoyable for everyone that way... Video footage and that sort of stuff is certainly cool, but that isn't where you get the bulk of your clients from, in fact social media is one of the worst places to promote a guide service, you attract more anglers to your area than clients or worse yet, more guides... So while I am sure the footage you have is super cool, I wouldn't look at it like you are sitting on a gold mine... 75% of trips a good guide books, come from word of mouth, not advertising, not videos, not social media, etc... Party boat style charters that load up a pile of people are different, but your real guides that take 1-2 people out at a time, most of their trips come from word of mouth, guaranteed. The most sure fire way to know you have a legit guide, no website, rarely even have business cards, but booked all the time... I have Friends that are booked years in advance, literally, don't even have business cards lol If they are posting on social media and doing all kinds of that type of stuff, they either enjoy the attention or they aren't retaining customers for one reason or another...

March 20th for reservoirs, April 10th for landlocked lakes.

All of these Treaties are Federal. Michigan went through this same thing, Walleye are still closed, but you can fish Bass, no problem... My guess is, they will follow the same path as we did here in Michigan... I will just say this, I hear a lot of negative opinions stated here about the Tribes, as I have gotten more and more involved with such things and seen the actual facts, most of these opinions are based off actions of a couple bad apples and were not easily resolved due to Government red tape more than anything, which you can't really blame the Tribes for. At the end of the day, money makes everything more complicated, but as the Tribes and State have mended their relationship, it's been a win for everyone here for sure...

I am on a state committee here in Michigan regarding treaties and Native fishing rights, I am quite confident they cannot prevent you from lawfully fishing, despite any rights they may have. My guess is, you would be expected to co-exist, etc... Their nets would obviously be clearly marked, would just have to avoid them. No treaty gives them the right to prevent any of us from doing our thing, it only gives them the right to do their thing. The Tribes do a lot of good here in Michigan, frankly they do more real science in some ways than our own MDNR and for the most part, the Tribes and State get along well here though. Not sure about your state, but I am confident that any treaty would not allow them to hinder your rights. They may be working on a plan to address this, would say that's quite likely any way, but as you say, these things are always a bit complicated and can take a bit of time...

Hands down the worst customer service experience I have ever had in all my years of buying fishing stuff, ARK... I ordered directly from them at full price two of their highest end spinning rods, both had substantial issues, to include the cork was like rotten and wet for some reason as if the rods had been under water with the plastic still on the cork and was literally crumbling apart on both of them as I removed the plastic wrap, sent photos, was told to send them back to be replaced "I asked for a refund instead they were so bad, the blanks were horribly crooked, etc...", I did so, packaged in the exact same tube they shipped them to me in using all the same packing materials. UPS snapped the tube in half on its way back to them, UPS stated that there wasn't enough space between the rods and the sides of the tube to be eligible for an insurance claim, I shipped them exactly how they were shipped to me mind you in the same thin tube they sent them to me in... In the end, the guy at ARK literally laughed at me like it was funny I had just lost $700.00 plus the $60.00 or whatever it cost to ship the rods back. When I asked about making a warranty claim through them, he said warranty claims were only for customers and because I had initially requested a refund instead of replacement, I wasn't a customer... He of course said this in the most cocky manner one could ever do so in. I have never seen a staff member so cocky and rude for absolutely no reason. Like he took pleasure in my loss. The money means little to me, but his attitude has always stuck with me... First and last dealing with ARK, I won't even do business with anyone that sells their stuff...

I really like my Zillion for casting big spinnerbaits into the wind, pretty much idiot proof, but other than that, really like my Shimano baitcasters a lot more... I used to have a few of the current model Zillions and found myself getting rid of all of them but the one. If you are willing to spend that kind of coin, perhaps try a Bantam. I just really love the solid feel of the Bantam and it casts as well as anything I have ever used. Like it more than the Metanium...

Bass follow food, so do Muskies... Often times, Muskies are in the same places you would find Largemouth, on typical weedy Largemouth Bass type lakes anyway... They just tend to hold the more premium pieces of structure... LOT of variables, Muskie waters vary to a large degree... Some are ultra deep and clear, some are shallower and weedier with a tannin stain, etc... Southern Shad type Muskie fisheries are vastly different than many Northern fisheries as well, so many variables... If you truly want to make contact with a Muskie, go Bass fishing on Muskie waters... Pay attention to where you move fish... Fish something like a spinnerbait so if they eat, you likely won't lose them to a bite off... You don't need to fish massive stuff either, especially early in the year, Bass sized baits can be best. I fly fish for them, pretty much 100% of the time, it's a massive grind, but great when it all comes together... Be prepared to go days between fish, unless you are on some of the highly stocked Southern stuff, even then you can go days lol

You can fish the rivers all Winter long, extremely far North... They will largely stay ice free, some of the best steelhead fishing of the year, Walleye fishing can be stellar too... I rarely fish them in the Winter, but Bass will situate into the deeper holes and if you truly want to, blades will usually catch one, steelhead are much more fun when it's this cold though... I often ice fish and river fish in the same day... even here in Northern Michigan... When it's warmer out, I love Bass fishing, maybe more than anything, as long as they aren't on beds, but the colder months are the best time of year to put some fish in the freezer for fish fries throughout the year. They simply taste much better caught in the cold. I imagine which lakes freeze and where that line you speak of is, has much to do with their elevation and if they are part of a flowage or not... I remember many Winters when I lived in SW Michigan where the inland lakes hardly froze, was sunny and warm on Christmas and New Years even, a rarity, but it happens, the rivers certainly stay relatively ice free in the Winter... You also have to keep in mind, for some of us, the Great Lakes impacts this a great deal, for example, lakes close to Lake Michigan typically freeze much later than lakes in the center of the state, etc... the big lake keeps the areas around it, warmer, longer. Lot of variables... Michigan rivers are spring fed to such a high degree though, our rivers remain ice free more so than many other states as far North as we are... If you stay close to the Pacific Ocean, you will stay quite warm all Winter long too, so you can go quite far North and remain ice free, as long as you stick to the coast... Few I pulled through a hole in the ice yesterday... Nothing quite like a first ice dinner sampler, fresh from the lake... LOL

"Used" flies, catch more fish... It's the same principle as a well used bait... Typically used means, less consistent flash and colors, more importantly, wear that allows said bait to blend in to it's surroundings more, especially around the edges of a bait... A bait that you cannot see defined edges on when placed in the water you are fishing, will typically vastly outfish a bait that the entire bait sticks out like a sore thumb... Harder for a fish to define whether it is real or not, aids in getting that impulse bite, etc... That's my theory anyway after thousands and thousands of days spent on the water, 99.9% of the time if you take a well worn fly like a baitfish imitating streamer, it will outfish a new one and as that new one gets more well worn, it will get better and better at catching fish.... Most of my Muskie flies for example, I will intentionally catch a few small Pike on them right after I tie them, their teeth will thin the fly out around the edges and just make it more sparse in a manner that only a fish can really accomplish. These flies will always move more fish of all species than flies I didn't do this with, even flies that are exactly the same... I worked many years on Lake Michigan as a kid on a charter boat, 1000% of the time, the most chewed up "trolling flies" that you run behind rotators were the most consistent fish catchers, often times the ones that were largely just beads and a handful of strands of flash left from wear and tear, were by far the best fish catchers... It was so obvious, we would intentionally half destroy new trolling flies when we put them into rotation as it made a huge difference in catch rates... When it comes to a hard body bait, something as simple as a scratch in the finish will reflect light differently, that different reflection appears to the fish as "movement", it enables you to give off much more erratic flashes of light, etc... It increases the amount of fishiness, without forcing you to move the bait more erratically. I call this "movement without motion"... Thoughts from the obsessed LOL

One of the biggest mistakes I see anglers make when landing fish, which as you are describing this just might include you. They reel way too close to the bait, leaving say just a foot or two or less of line outside the rod tip to the lure. This also coincides with a lack in the ability to steer the fish properly which leads to slack. So you get a short length of line that takes away stretch and leaves less line to absorb shock which can in turn lead to pulling hooks, especially when you go from slack to taught, back and forth, etc... You basically need to learn to anticipate what the fish is going to do and thus, enable yourself to effectively control that fish and reduce the amount of slack/tight, slack/tight sorta thing that leads to losing fish boatside. It takes time to learn, actively thinking about such things as you fight fish and developing a better understanding of the way they react to your reactions will help, immensely. In time, it will become "muscle memory" and you will do it automatically, without thinking about it, will be able to "feel" the fish and remain a step ahead at all times, much more effectively...

Where a spinnerbait differs and part of why I fish them more and more every year, it has a wire leader built in for those toothy fish... I love spinnerbaits to begin with, but I love them a lot more as I virtually never get bit off when fishing them and catch some decent Pike from time to time. Sometimes a Pike eats the spinnerbait and then a Musky tries to eat the Pike...

Is that the Crystal River? Edit: I see now, you already answered that LOL I have floated and swam it many times, never fished it, but from what I have seen swimming it, you may have caught the biggest Bass in the river LOL I live like 20 minutes from there, we manage a few properties on it, not many rivers with Smallies that look like that one... You ever come back this way, let me know, can point you in the direction of some other floats that you and your Wife would love.

1) Switching from primarily fishing baitcasters when jerkbait fishing to primarily fishing spinning rods. 2) Fish more "new" places, but also focus more on truly learning the finite details of my locals. 3) Just focus more on unwinding my internal rubber band. 4) Help people in need more, maybe spread the love of fishing to someone that has never done it. There is a guy in Florida that takes kids with no Father's, fishing. I would love to do something similar someday.

If you are losing a notable number of fish on any rod, you are likely allowing slack when you shouldn't be and the softer rod bails out your inability to keep the line taught where as the XF rod does not. You can buy all the rods you want, but if you don't fix this, you aren't fixing the root issue. An XF rod would not typically be described as "whippy", a more parabolic/softer action would be "whippy". One aspect you didn't describe that could be increasing the issues present from slack in your line during the fight. I wouldn't fish treble hook baits on an XF rod, maybe that is part of your problem? Stick with single hook baits with the XF rods... Trebles on the softer tapers... If you aren't doing that, I would definitely do so and see if your issues go away... You also didn't mention the baits being used, etc... could play a huge role as well, lot of variables... At the end of the day, you shouldn't be losing many fish per year, at all. Slack is the enemy when fighting fish, the stiffer the rod or the heavier the bait being used, the more this is exasperated and more prudent you don't allow it to occur... The opposite is also true though, too stout of drag can pull hooks, if you are using low stretch braid with the XF rods and have the drags a bit tight, could be your issue as well, but if I had to guess based on your statements, slack is part of your problem and probably most of it. The worst thing that ever happened to the fishing rod industry was terms like "fast" or "extra fast" being used to describe steepness of taper, humans being humans think faster is better, it isn't always the case and realistically, "fast" isn't even the correct term anyway, fast should only be used to describe rate of recovery of the blank... You can make the steepest taper on the planet, but it doesn't necessarily mean it has fast recovery, the tonnage of graphite, ID/OD of the blank and the wall thickness largely determine that. One company's "fast" can be very different than another companies "fast", etc...

I will never forget the first time I saw a true clear cut forest, was in Ontario, for miles and miles and miles, brown dirt and a stump here and there, that was it. Left quite an impression on me, that's for sure. You can find some pretty cool videos on the Smith on YouTube, but here is a photo I have that the file says is small enough I can post it on here. You get the general feeling of the green I speak of. That river can come up several feet in a day from intense Winter rains, just gets greener and greener, couple days later will be back to normal flows like nothing ever happened. While I never saw an actual Mountain Lion, saw lots and lots of tracks over the years along that river, lot of Lions out that way they say, but they seem to have enough land to roam they stay away from humans... The cinnamon colored Bears out there are another story, you see them all over, but they are all relatively small and never bother you. Big Elk herd just down the road from the Smith too... If you ever get the chance, that little NW corner of California is without a doubt the most unique part of the lower 48 in pretty much every way. Winter is the best time to explore it, don't go in Fall, too much wildfire smoke every year, settles along the coast, awful, your truck will have ash on it every morning from fires far far away... Your lungs won't appreciate it either... It stays about 70 degrees, year-round on the coast up that way, you can get hot or cold if you go inland over the first pass, but the coast is always the same, within about 5 degrees of 70 degrees.... Ocean keeps it that way.

Cool stuff, I have fished all over your neck of the woods assuming you live near their showroom by the Clack. I picked this particular one up at their other location in Idaho, but it came from Oregon. I actually used to work for one of their competitors, but I dig this particular model, Clacka makes a solid boat and were super nice people to deal with. That is a skiff, so it really is not designed for waves, not like the rest of their models that have higher sides and more rocker in the front/rear. More like Western tailwaters with tiny chop, small waves and not catching the wind that is so prevalent in those places is truly what this hull type was designed for, very flat, very low sides, works great on most of our rivers in Michigan too so this model is pretty popular here. The flat hull motors well and is light enough I can haus it around to launch it anywhere. I don't really use it for the things it was designed for, hardly ever row it, but love it for off the beaten path pursuits. It's all grey, exterior is the same as the interior with the exception of the webbing. I took out the rear casting brace, put some padding down and it's basically like a giant surf board that I can steer with my hip using a tiller handle extension and the trolling motor, fishing as I go. Doesn't go anywhere fast but a great fishing machine...

Berkley Pro Spec Chrome has such little memory, I use it as running line for my spey rods "fly rods", you can take 30 or 40 pound, leave it on a small diameter spool for weeks, pull it off the reel and zero memory, no coils, etc... Even in freezing cold temps... That being said, for some reason, I have never tried it on a baitcaster or spinning reel in lighter pound tests. It's every bit as tough as Big Game, has similar stiffness to Big Game which may not make it great on spinning reels, it just has less memory than any other heavy mono I have ever had my hands on and my searches have went far and wide... It's better than the mono running line material the fly line companies sell for way way more.... I have caught more fish on Maxima Ultragreen than anything else, it's mostly what I used as tippet/leaders for fly fishing for all species, or leader material for steelhead fishing, most of my life. That being said, there have been a lot of fancy lab tests conducted the past couple years that show it as quite an inferior material to some others, when comparing others in the same actual diameter. None the less, there is no disputing it's long standing cult like following and track record of landing fish. Maxima Clear is slightly stiffer than the Ultragreen and the brown Maxima is stiffer than both, as you go up in stiffness, you also achieve more abrasion resistance in the Maxima lineup... I really did not like the Sufix Advance mono, ironically, the Sufix Advance fluoro mainline, is probably my favorite fluoro leader material, ever made, like it far better than the Sufix Advance fluoro leader material or any other leader material I have bought, to include ultra high-end stuff like V-Hard, etc... The Advance fluoro mainline has just the perfect amount of toughness, but a tiny tiny bit of exterior softness that just makes it hold a 13 turn simple Albright knot with 10-15 pound braid like no other material I have found. I can make that knot ultra ultra slim and tiny and never have issues with it going through guides, issues with abrasion, even in areas with mussels, etc... Most importantly, I can tie that Alrbight knot with my eyes closed darn near so can do it quickly, consistently and even in the dark... I have had issues with that knot holding well with other fluoros over the years, never once had a failure with the Advance fluoro mainline. Offtopic, but I have wasted a lot of money trying all these fancy leader materials and never found anything I liked more than the Advance fluoro on the bigger spools which surprised me as I thought the copoly Advance was a huge dud.

The puddle jumper, depending on intended use, have a 3.5HP 4 stroke for it or a 55 pound thrust Minn Kota. Love this thing, can launch it just about anywhere with or without a ramp, can float in 2" of water, run in 4" of water and go anywhere that doesn't have big waves. LOL I use it on everything from lakes to small rivers and honestly, find myself using it more than my Lund. Love this thing...

Like the Coastal Redwood Forests, easy to get around in, unless you have to get around a fallen Redwood lol My favorite place on Earth, the Smith River in NorCal, it's the only watershed out there that has 100% of it's drainage basin, intact, never been logged in the history of history. It can get a foot of rain and it just becomes this gorgeous green, every other river out there, goes brown from sediment in large rain events. Probably the best place on the planet to show the impacts of improper logging practices of the past, even places that have since largely been "recovered" are still nowhere near the same...

Love watching her Muskie fishing endeavors, Woman make great anglers, more finesse than Men. Probably less drama on the tournament scene than Men too LOL Hope she wins a few and continues her career in a positive manner, she is hooked on fishing, for sure.