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I had one of my most memorable catches on a rip-stop a few years ago. River fishing and threw the rip stop in a large, shallow bay on the river. Large smallie just smashed it.. from about 20 feet away. One of the few fish strikes that I really really wish I had a go pro running. Made a wake like a torpedo going after that thing.

I guess I'll start off the pics with my first bass of '23 Itchin' for open water season already. Picked up an 8wt fly rod to try for some bass / pike on the fly, and also a new 6'6 m/f baitcaster setup for jerk baits.

Buddy of mine just sold all of his Lowrance stuff (9" screen, active target) to switch to Garmin after seeing my Livescope setup. One thing that really changed his mind is that he's color blind and Garmin has way more color pallet options for livescope vs. the Lowrance.

I just considered the 50 years in MN as being native. If you've stayed put for that long in this hell hole that's the least you deserve

Montesippi park. Very popular, especially on the warmer winter days. It's gonna be packed this weekend. A lot of people up there use minnows on a bottom rig and do very well. It's really just shooting fish in a barrel at that point.. I've got a couple 18" or so smallies throwing jerk baits / crank baits from the shore, I'm not much of a live bait guy. It's fun fishing but be prepared for your warm weather gear to misbehave if you're fishing well below freezing.

That's still in MN, so I think it counts as staying put

Minnesota native and I can't ever seem to think of someplace that would be better than here.. I'd probably choose some place on the upper Mississippi. Really anywhere from Aitkin to Elk River, so many good spots to choose from. Otter Tail chain would be a very close second. River smallmouth are the best kind. I've got my eye on a few properties in these areas, I've already decided that if I'm going to have waterfront property it's going to be on a river. One that doesn't really flood all that bad.. and if it is in a bad flood plain I'll just have tent sites on it.

At least the opposite happens, buddy caught a decent sized smallie that puked up a catfish this past summer.

That's neat, but sounds like it's $8-10k starting price and 200 pounds. Not gonna drag that through the woods ?

That's why you get a kayak / canoe and get to all those places that you can't bring a boat loaded with electronics to ?

I've actually pondered that quite a bit while out on the water with my Jackson. It uses fiberglass rods to control the rudder, and replacing them with a linear servo like this would be relatively simple. Add a servo controller, build a small box to mount that and some batteries and there ya go. The linear servo is IP54 rated so if it gets dunked it would probably be toast, but should survive splashing water.

Someone may know where it is but I ain't tellin' ?

Never shared the water with wake boats in the canoe. No issue with ski boats, though. Been around some wake boats with the kayak, also no issue. I really don't like fishing boat infested waters anyways.

My first fishing vessel was an Old Town canoe, looks like it's out of production now. 2 person, 13 foot long, 40" wide, fiberglass construction. Not too heavy at 65lbs. I'd throw a cooler in the middle to use as a center seat. Could easily stand up in it. Biggest drawback was that it's not very maneuverable and slow. First few years I used it on the Mississippi, beat it up pretty good but it never failed me. Eventually developed a very slow leak. One winter season I sanded the bottom down and put another layer of fiberglass down the entire keel and repainted. Solved the leak. Messed around with a trolling motor on it for a year or two before deciding it was time to get a fishing kayak. If a canoe is what you have access to, nothing wrong with fishing out of it.

I use an 8:1 for ploppers and wake baits, I like it. I also mostly fish on a river so it helps if I'm pulling a lure downstream.

I'm with @NittyGrittyBoy If topwater isn't working, I'll switch to crank or jerk baits starting with shallow runners and getting deeper until a consistent bite. Then tube / worm / ned rigs if they're looking for something slow moving.

I rarely use my GoPro while fishing, but when I do I prefer the head mount. I find the chest mount just gets dominated by a view of the reel and it's tough to see what's actually going on.

About a year and a half ago I grabbed a Berkley Wakebull off the shelf because it looked neat, had never even heard of a wake bait at the time. Love it, it's been my go to not only because it works well, but for some reason no stores around here stock much for wake baits and I keep forgetting to order more online ? Black top / chartreuse belly color works great around here. Although not a wake bait, the Strike King Hybrid Hunter and Hybrid Hunter Jr have also produced great fish. Can run them slow and shallow, and I've had luck even trolling with them. Common thread between those two lures is they have a pair of big ball bearings that make a great knocking sound in the water. Really seemed to tick the smallies off around here.

I picked up a St. Croix Mojo Bass Glass in medium / moderate a few months ago, really like the action. Downside is it's a bit heavy and large diameter down at the reel. Can get a bit tiring slinging lures for an hour or two.

Every time I fish I'm pretty sure I lose at least 1 PB bass ? This past weekend I was out and having great luck trolling a little flicker shad, pedaling along in my kayak at about 2mph. Using my MF spinning setup with lighter line because the fish seemed a little finicky. I felt a *thump* and the lure just stopped, drag pulling out at about the same rate as I was moving forward. Figured I had stuck it straight into a tree, felt exactly like that. Stopped pedaling and all of the sudden the drag started screaming, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Whatever freight train that had my lure had decided to leave the station. Felt one head shake, then another.. then nothing. Really wish I had at least caught sight of that fish. Still had the lure on at least. There's some big pike and musky around there, I'm sure it was one of those. My theory is the trebles on the flicker shad were too small to really stick in a big fish. Went back to the area after an hour or two and threw a big glide bait around, but couldn't convince whatever it was to hit again.

I've got a few friends who fish occasionally but aren't as nuts about it as I am, and they never want to do any floats down the river. Luckily one guy I work with is willing to shuttle and float the river all day.

It'll spoil you up here. 17" is a pretty average fish for me, and the river smallies fight like they're twice the size.

Anything over 1.5 hours is saved for an overnight stay. My normal spots on the Mississippi are anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour depending on the landing.

I use the VMC duolock snaps or VMC crankbait snaps for bigger lures. I find if I get a really feisty smallmouth it can pop the duolock open if it thrashes around in the net. Haven't had it happen with the crankbait snaps. Gotta make sure to check the duolock after landing a fish.

Berkely Choppos are a few bucks cheaper than Whopper Ploppers and they've held up great for me. The Flicker Shads, not so much. Have had a few break the bills off and they don't come with great hooks. I like to stay under $10 for a hard lure. Getting tougher to do that..