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I've watched smallmouth follow around carp that were feeding on the bottom in the Mississippi. Got this guy (while purposely fishing for carp) and then got a smallie not much later

I use one of these Scotty transducer mounts: Scotty Fishing141 Transducer Mount with Gear Head Adapter & 440-4 Low P...Designed for kayaks and small boat use - transducer arm telescopes from 11.5" to 18" and swivels 360 degrees - includes 438 adapter and low-profile track.I don't run sonar if I'm river fishing, so it's nice to take everything off and not have to worry about bashing the transducer on rocks.

Yeah, I'll agree with that. It's rare that I purposely troll, but I'll often do it when I'm lake fishing and heading to a new spot. The few times that I have trolled specifically to target fish (lake trout) I make it about 30-45mins before I gotta switch it up.

Choppos have always been my go-to, but I picked up a walking bait last year and while it hasn't been quite as productive as a choppo, they really crush the walking bait when they do go for it. I did pick up a few buzz baits to give them more of a try this season.

You should upgrade to a motorized kayak, it's easy! Hold the rod in your left hand, right hand covers throttle and graph if needed. Steer with the foot controls

Made it out yesterday, and it was tough fishing. Only managed one.

I wasn't going to add anything big, but once a year I get an opportunity for pro deals on Shimano fishing gear.. so I decided it was time to try out a Curado MGL 70. Only made it out once so far, but I think I'm going to end up liking it as much as my Zillion.

Yeah I've been a bit irritated that the low points in this rollercoaster weather have been hitting on the weekends. I'll be checking out some new waters this weekend.

When I was using straight braid I tied Palomar. Now that I've gone to fluoro leaders on everything, I almost always use the trilene knot. Easy to tie, and with heaver line (30-40lb) I just use 3 wraps.

Here's a good read: https://tforodscom.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/tom-kirkman-rod-failure-rodmaker-magazine.pdf It's so easy to damage a rod and not even notice. I think many failures that are blamed on manufacturing defects (from any manufacturer) could be traced back to external damage / mistreatment.

I'll throw in another vote for the KVD 1.5 Honorary mention to the KVD Hybrid Hunter. Not quite a square bill, but I still consider it a crankbait and it's probably the best producing one for me.

Must be AI, there's nothing like that around here.. should probably go bug @A-Jay on Lake Menderchuck.. Shoot me a message when you're in town, I'd gladly join for a float down the 'Sippi or St. Croix. Renewed the MN license. Wi expires at the end of the month, I'll renew that when I decide to head further east than the Croix.

My SLX DC has mostly just gathered dust since I picked up a JDM Zillion..

Too much wind? When I start getting blown back upstream on the river. It's happened a few times, and makes for a veeeeery long float when you have to actively work just to get downstream.

While I could go out and spend $1k+ on a rod and or reel.. I'm a cheap ass. Or frugal, if I want to be nice about it. Usually about $150 on a rod and $250 on a reel is my max. I usually spend less on rods because, for me, they're easier to break than reels..

For my "regular" day trip spots, anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours one way. If it's 2+ hours I try to save it for when I can do a multi-day trip.

I'm almost exactly the same way, except my list generally goes: *Plopper, walker *Wake bait, shallow running crank bait *Deeper crank bait, stick bait, jerk bait *Plastics or get the fly rod out if I brought it with.

I had one BassX with the reel seat issue. On the water, I just threaded some line under the reel seat and jammed it down, held the rest of the float. Picked up some epoxy on the way home and fixed it myself. Probably could have gotten a new rod out of it but it wasn't a big deal. The only unusual failure I had was with a Mojo Bass glass. I was anchored on one side of some fast current, casting to slack water on the other side. Hooked into a decent smallie, he took a run into the current and the rod just folded near the handle. I actually sent this pic in to St. Croix, you can see the cracks near the belly of the bass. There's a decent chance I had dinged the rod prior to this, I'm not the easiest on gear. But they sent me out a new rod. Their customer service is pretty great. I had another rod I busted that was my own fault. I started the warranty process and then life happened, completely forgot about it. They actually called me up a month or two later to finish the claim.

Reels stay on the rod. I'm irritated enough stringing up the fly rod each time I use it, don't feel like doing it with my other setups.

You could do an upper Mississippi -> Mille Lacs -> St. Croix road trip. July/August is a good time to be on the rivers.

I can't speak to the Legend, but I have a Mojo bass glass 7'4 MH-M and it's my favorite rod. I highly recommend picking up a glass rod if you've never fished one.

With the warmup this weekend I'm having a tough time deciding whether to go ice fishing or heading down to the driftless area for some fly fishing..

Glad I won't have to hoof it over to Wisco in the early season. Official wording can be found here in the 'Completed Rulemaking' section: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/input/rules/fisheries/index.html None of the online regs have been updated yet.

I've been out on the ice a few times in the -10 to -20*f range, and it just isn't worth it.

Copy and paste from my post on the Fluxjet thread - I've got a Jackson Bite FD and an Old Town Sportsman 106MK. I've had the Jackson for a few years, and picked up the OT last spring. They're both pretty similar for stability with the OT having an edge there. The OT also rides higher in the water, although bow splash is similar on both when the lake is rough. The flex drive on the Jackson is tough to beat when fishing shallow rocky rivers. Having it just fold in to the hull and not having a big hole open to drop things into is real nice. The hulls are tough, I've drug it over probably miles of rock at this point and haven't had any leaks. The keel is worn from loading / unloading on concrete ramps, but still solid. The OT is more maneuverable, the rudder works just a bit better. Interior storage is nice, but it's open to the whole hull. Fit and finish are a bit better than the Jackson, and the forward facing rod holder and built-in cupholder are nice. I can't speak to how the pedal drive compares to the Jackson as I have the MinnKota setup. Because I'm generally fishing shallow, I went with a power pole over an anchor wizard or similar. That's been the best upgrade for the areas that I usually fish.