Goby

When a population of any species of fish is stunted/over-populated, you are correct it is an invaluable source to cull some of those fish to bring the population back in check. That being said, you would never ever ever want the fish you cull to be the largest ones, nor are you really benefiting that population by killing eggs. You have to remove a large number of those "stunted" Bass to make a difference... The reason this is occurring is, these watersheds lack a true "keystone species", which goes back to my comments on how Muskies have such a positive interaction with the watersheds they reside in. You have the right idea, just applying it wrong to some degree. I don't live near unhealthy fisheries, I don't agree with your comments that most fisheries are overpopulated either, but have absolutely no desire to sit here and debate over something that in the end, will make no difference to anyone... I don't like the ethics of bed fishing, I have never enjoyed fishing for any spawning fish, for starters they fight like crap when they are already exhausted from the stress of reproducing... This doesn't mean I feel everyone should do as I do either, don't really care. The real argument here is that catch & release is not necessary on all watersheds, every single time and at times, it can be a good thing to cull a few of the smaller fish... Anything that risks the largest females from not passing on their genetics is a bad thing for the ecosystem, such as specifically targeting the largest females on beds...

YouTube has some great videos on removing the Y-Bones while cleaning them. On that note, time to go fishing... Have a great one!

I am a board member and the Secretary of the Michigan Muskie Alliance, Minnesota and Wisconsin definitely have some issues with their Muskie programs, lot of baseless hatred for Muskies from non-Muskie anglers... Meanwhile in Michigan we are doing a LOT for Muskies, we just finished up placing 20 transponders in adult fish to research their migration patterns in and out of drowned river mouths in West Michigan, specifically but not limited to Lake Macatawa... We just installed laser bird deterrent systems at the hatcheries to better protect the fish in the earthen ponds too. Was funded by our organization and another non-profit... Next year we will begin taking eggs from our two new Great Lakes Strain broodstock lakes which will allow for an additional 6+ weeks of time for the fish to grow in the ponds before release, big things in the Michigan Muskie World... To be 100% honest, I think Pike taste just as good as Walleye, if not better on some fisheries, if they didn't have those Y-Bones, they would be endangered LOL

Son... I get it, you are passionate and have done some research online, but read the title of this thread.... It states bed fishing.... You are trying to add in all these additional variables to make a point that doesn't really exist... Are we talking bed fishing or fishing during the spawn? Big difference there, especially depending on where you are...

Fun fact... there are a plethora of studies that show how Muskies help maintain the overall health of ecosystems by controlling Pike populations... Pike are one of the worst species when it comes to over-populating and then stunting their populations, the average size of Perch for example are larger on lakes with Muskies present than not...

It is true bud, females don't stick around nearly as long as the males do... Generally, most Bass that are targeted on beds are males, obviously there are scenarios where females are targeted on beds, but it's not as common, obviously the females would be more likely to be targeted as they are larger on average, etc... if they are around... The true disadvantages to fishing the spawn are what can occur to the eggs if/when the bed is left unguarded... Obviously some fisheries this is of much more concern than others...

It's generally the males that are guarding the beds that are caught off the beds, once the eggs are already on the beds... Females aren't typically around long enough to be targeted on the bed...

You forget to address the single biggest "issue" with fishing spawners... What happens to the beds the moment the fish guarding it is pulled away? They get raided! LOL It's not just about the survival of the fish you catch bud... You are correct though, some fisheries can actually see a benefit from fishing being culled, especially if trophies are desired, but not all of them and not on a large scale...

I dislike "intentional" bed fishing as it's bad for the future of the fisheries... Plenty of science to back that up as well... Fortunately here, by bouncing back and forth between inland waters and the Great Lakes, you can focus primarily on pre and post spawn fish, or just go Trout fishing...

What an ending!

Thus far, Doit seems to be the only option, AI only offers a tiny 1.8" and 4" tubes with the splines so you don't need to cut. From what I can tell though, the Doit option is much more like the thinner diameter Gitzit style tubes and not exactly what I am going for. In a perfect World, whatever mold that Poor Boys uses for their 3" tubes would be ideal! The search continues...

I have watched a pile of YouTube videos of guys mixing and pouring plastics, but other than that, zero experience. Not looking to do bulk or anything so seems like a cheap microwave, some glass measuring cups, something cheap and metal to mix with like a butter knife and the materials/molds and you can start from there.

Doesn't seem like they have a mold in the size I would like, I will contact them and see, would be cool to deal with a Michigan company, thank you! Not having to cut the tails would be sweet!

Good Morning Everyone, For most of my life I have primarily fly fished, but the past few years I have been doing more and more gear fishing and less and less fly fishing. The one thing I always enjoyed about fly fishing was creating your own flies/patterns, something that is thus far missing from my gear fishing endeavors... I would like to start making my own soft plastic baits, figured the most logical thing for me to start with would be tubes as I fish them often. Something like a 2.75" or 3" tube would be ideal to start with, but I know absolutely nothing about this so was hoping someone could point me in the right direction for the best source to get a mold from, etc... Thank you very much for your time in advance!

Did not intend to derail this thread, my apologies to the OP, this thread just reminded me of a fishery that has long since disappeared... @Swamp Girl thank you for the kind words, lot of memories in those photos, good times for sure... My personal favorite photo ever taken, my old hound, Jessie Lee, this was how she rolled, bow riding, ears in the wind... She travelled the country with me, ran rivers in at least 20 states, from coast to coast... Miss her everyday!

That is a Northern Pike, this is a Muskie. I don't throw those massive flies as much anymore, getting old LOL

I learned the fishery from a good Friend that is a legit top tier professional angler, the location was extremely telling, wasn't really something you wanted to share with the World and doing so would have been quite rude to him, this was late 90's early 2000's so it was Nextel flip-phones and I didn't even own a camera. I really don't take many photos of the fish I catch, if I do they are generally in the water pics I use for various articles, etc... not hero shots... Few Michigan fish... all of these were caught on the fly... The Largemouth ate a 15" long Musky fly LOL

Before Gobies really took hold in Southern Lake Michigan, my home river that I grew up on would get some absolute giant Smallies in the Fall that would come in chasing bait out of the big pond. You could expect to get at least one a year over 7 pounds, without trying very hard. Once Gobies took hold though, the fish virtually ceased from chasing bait into the river in the Fall and those giant lake fish became extremely hard to find. Been trying to break the 8 pound mark for many many years, what keeps you coming back!

Spinnerbait 100%

Love my Daemos, love my OneTen Special, love my FMJ… Probably fish the Daemos the most, the FMJ is newer so not much experience with it other than it feels good in hand and was sensitive as anything I have ever used, still getting to know it. I love to throw spinnerbaits, Keitech's, larger deep diver jerkbaits like KVD Elite 300 type stuff and larger topwaters with the Daemos. Everyone should own a Daemos taper. I used to own a Windbuster but sold it, the grip just didn't feel great to me, was a nice taper though.

After using it a few times I think this is my favorite reel I have ever used. Just feels really good in hand, I actually put it on my jerk bait rod yesterday in some quite extreme winds and man did it ever just rock, so easy to adjust, I could cast dead straight into 20MPH wind and didn't even begin to backlash, etc... Bantam's are great reels, not selling the ones I have, but doubt I would buy another one, would definitely go with a Zillion instead in the future. The click drag is great!

The only snaps I use are size 00 and 0 VMC crankbait snaps. Highly recommend them, never had one fail.

Zillion it is lol

I have a new MegaBass FMJ rod that I recently picked up and want to get a new reel for it. I have been fishing nothing but Bantam's the past few years and while they are great reels, would like to try something different on this rod. I have been waiting for Bate's to get their GOAT 150 LH 8.1 reel back in stock, but can't get a straight answer as to when they may be back in stock from any dealers, so have been looking at some of Daiwa's offerings as of late... I want to stick with a slightly larger reel as casting distance is important, lot of deep clear lakes here and at times this will be used for fishing deep structure with long casts. I have sort of narrowed it down to the 2025 Tatula 150, the current model of Tatula Elite or the current model 2024 Tatula SV TW 150 casting reel. Anyone with experience with these reels that can suggest one over the others? I was really looking at the Zillions, but the line capacity on them is relatively low and really want at least 110ish yards of 15 pound fluoro at an absolute minimum. I will primarily fish 15-16 pound fluoro on this depending on the line model. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

KVD is legit, Reel Snot works, but not any better than KVD and is way more messy... I only use it on fluoro and mono... KVD is water based so not ideal for freezing temps... Typically using braid when it's cold so a non-issue for me...