CDMTJager

NO WAY I would buy a new fishing boat. In the area where I live there are more used fishing boats for sale than I can possibly ever look at. Went with a friend two weeks ago to southern IN near KT to look at a used 2001 21' Deep V fishing boat advertised as in excellent condition always garage kept. If he had not bought it I would have. Thing was in great shape obviously very well maintained. Yeah he looked a long time and the seller emailed him pictures of every foot of the boat and trailer. But there are a lot of good used fishing boats out there for sale.

Going to try CPF speed worms and Zoom Speed worms this year.

Whopper (3 different kids 3 different manufacturers) fished them to death got zilch then toss a Rebel Pop-R through same area slam the bass. Jigs. Invested $300+ in jigs and jig trailers in late 2023 early 2024 only to discover the bottom of every lake under 90 minuets drive from my home is 100% weed bottom and impossible to fish a jig in.

I wonder constantly is it the color or your confidence in it?

Unfortunately the only fishing goods store left near me is BPS or Cabela's and they don't run the best lure sales especially soft plastics sales which I catch over 70% of my bass on. It's wild how often times Cabela's will have a much better selection of lures and fishing gear than BPS and BPS is supposed to be THE fishing store. In a few months I will compile a list of must have fishing items and then start to daily check everywhere (online searches) for sales as thus far that's the only/best way I have found bargains. Don't know all what's in it but Bass Pro has a store wide clearance sale going on including fishing equipment.

I HAD planned on trying out jigs in 2024. Invested HEAVILY$$$ in jigs and jig trailers. Bought a highly regarded dedicated jig rod and baitcaster. And did same for "swimming worms" But I was enjoying so much success using 3.8", 4", 4.5" 5" and 5.25" soft plastic flukes and boot tailed swimbaits (rigged weedless) and chatter and willow chatterbaits, frogs and Pop-R baits and even tandem colorado and IND bladed spinnerbaits I just never used any other baits. 2024 was the first time in at least 3-4 years I even used a non-willow leaf spinner bait and holly crayolas did I catch the bass on them from mid April till post spawn. I had very little success using willow leaf SB's but on a whim decided to try a War eagle tandem CO SB in mid April and was shocked how well this particular bait worked. Literally I caught fish 90%+ of my outings from Mach till September using one of the above listed baits. I caught bass ranging from hand size to 5.75lbs. I guess I just don't have the discipline to put down a bait that is working well to spend time learning how to use a bait I have zero experience with. 2025 I am really going to try to fish swimming worms and various newer weedless rigs like the free rig and floating worms. Invested HEAVILY in Ned rigs and Shakey head rigs back in 2022 but never got around to trying either, will though this year.

Last two years I fished four luers that caught 100% of my bass in order of the most bass caught to least #1 Soft plastic fluke or boot foot swimbait #2 Chatter or willow bladed jig #3 Top water frog/Rebel POP-R #4 Tandem Colorado spinnerbait

For me I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever it is because I still have a VERY VERY strong even irresistible recessive gene of the 'hunter gatherer" that dominates my DNA. I have been fishing literally since 5 years of age and in over 50 years have never gone more than 6 or 8 weeks without fishing and that is ONLY from ice over till ice out. Once ice is out I fish at least 2 days a week till ice over. I wanted to hunt as long as I can remember and when I got my first pellet gun a Sheridan Silver Streak I STILL own to this day at age 8 I constantly snuck off to a wooded area about a miles bike ride from home by a large industrial complex and hunted pigeons that nested in bridges and rabbits in the brushy areas with impressive success. Once I worked and could drive Good lord I was going on 3-4 fishing trips a year in the lower 48 plus one to Canada and at least two canoe trips (one spring one fall) to the boundaries waters was bow hunting deer 30-35 days a year firearm hunting deer 7-14 days a year and upland game hunting at least 10 days a year. ALL my girl friends and including my wife all said I'd rather fish or hunt than be with them. Still true to this day. Only time with my sons is more important to me than hunting and fishing. Should have seen the look on my wifes face when I announced I had been drawn for LE elk in WY and would miss our first sons 1st Bday party then two years later happened again when I went to NM for a ML elk hunt and used 90% of my vacation time to take my sons on fishing trips. Wife KNEW before we ever got engaged I will not do tourist trap vacations no cruise ships no Disney land g*y days, no all inclusive south of the border or caribbean 3rd world vacations Told her will do anything lower 48 or even AK as long as I can do a little fishing or hiking. I even brought a fishing set up along on our honeymoon and yes went trout and bass fishing in UT, AZ and NV. ONLY things I did harder than drink and party in my premarital days was fish and hunt. Told my wife once married I'll give up either hunting and fishing or partying, but NWIH all three. You pick. I don't drink anymore at all since my honeymoon.

NEVER purposely fished for carp, but I have caught some BIG ones purely by accident. Baits I was using was either night crawlers or fresh live soft shell crayfish. Place I use to absolutely slay the smallmouth was also absolutely infested with carp as in you'd see BIG schools of carp swimming all over the place. I fished on a brake wall in front of a power plant. The plant side had 90% of the smallmouth an only a few carp. The lake side of the brake wall had 90% of the carp fewer smallmouth but the smallmouth ran bigger in size. At least once a week I would hook a carp that sucked up my live softshell and then the fight was on. Takes a while to get a 20lb+ carp in when using 8-10lb Trilene XT.

No, No and no I do not fly and drive everywhere I do not have a passport but yes I do go to places I can not carry a gun like jury duty or the police Dept, but that is ONCE every 15-20 years I serve jury duty. And truth is unless I will encounter a metal detector I carry a gun regardless. And when I did do jury duty or go to a place I can't bring in my gun, my gun was out in my truck in a locked mimi gun vault. Same every day I go to work. What I meant by I will never not carry is I will NEVER not carry where I can. And I will go to states or to places I can not carry ONLY if absolutely necessary and even then unless I will encounter a metal detector I will carry. I own other concealed carry specific handguns that are literally the size of a credit card I carry in certain circumstances that are literally undetectable. I have had more than enough instances in years past when I was single and not a father where I was unarmed and it was no small miracle and pure luck I escaped uninjured. After the last such incident I had my sons with I swore before the almighty I will never ever again rely on luck or Devine intervention to save my butt or the lives of my loved ones. When I hunt or hike I carry one of multiple different HGs from my SA 5" XD45 W/14 rounds of 230grn Speer GD's or my 6" 629, or my 4.9" 9mm P320. Camping or road trip I carry a highly modified 12ga 870, a Keltec SUB2000 G2 as well several of the above HG's including my Shield. Guns are just like PFD's in you will likely never need either but if you ever do your life will depend on having one.

I carry a S&W Shield in 9mm since the year they came out in 2012 in a Desantis pocket holster. I carry it everywhere everyday. I chose the S&W Shield because it is absolutely easy to carry and shoots way better than a gun with a 3" barrel ever should. I love the Shield and shoot the heck out of it. In my pocket in its holster IF it prints and looks like its a phone or anything but a gun. With a 8 round mag more than enough room for all 4 of my fingers. I always carry because so do the bad guys and I have had more than enough past experiences that I will never not carry and do not go places that do not allow CC.

This is just my personal experiences. I have two sons that have really taken to fishing last three years and last two like crazy now they can both drive. I own no less than six Kast King Royal Legend II spinning reels and can not recommend them highly enough. My other Kast King spinning reels I can not recommend strongly enough are the Sharky II and Sharkey III spinning I own two Sharkey II's and four Sharkey III's and again IMO/IME excellent reels for their cost. Last year I was fishing off boat docks in lake Erie in hopes of catching my beloved smallmouth but instead in nine hours of fishing live softshell crayfish I got almost 40 freshwater drum on and landed over 30 of them and had at least 6 of them go over 28" in length. Was using my old standby 25 year old 7" medium fast graphite rod a Kastking Sharkey III, 8lb Yo-Zuri copolymer a #4 Octopus hook and a #4 split shot 14-16" above the hook. For budget or young adult fishing reels IMO/IMO yu can not beat a KK Royal Legend II spinning reel.

Mirrors mine about 95%. I also do not buy high dollar reels. I tried my first $125 baitcaster this year and my most expensive baitcaster before that was a $80 Abu Garcia Max Pro4 I bought for $51.36 TMD and in my novice opinion the $125 baitcaster didn't do anything that much better than my cheaper baitcasters to be worth 2.5x the cost. I did way back in mid-late 1990's buy four Abu Garcia 4500 baitcasting reels at about 50% off from a local fishing store that was closing and did yearly disassembly clean reassembly of them ever since and they all are going strong and finally had to replace the anti-reverse bearing on only one of them. I do weekly inspect my baitcasting and spinning reels that I am using and keep them free and clear of accumulating crap and remove any dirt or yuk thats sticking to them. Actually my most expensive fishing reels are my salmon steelhead spinning reels which are all Shimano's I bought so long ago they were all made in Japan and all cost over $100 back then. Those I make sure to do a once a year disassembly clean and lube.

Good Lord let me cypher this one, Hmmmmm🤔 For bass: 12 baitcasting 12 spin casting For panfish: 6 spin casting For salmon/steelhead: 9 spin casting For catfish: Three spin casting. I had to actually go down stairs and do a setup count. And I openly admit I am beginning to loath springtime reel maintenance as it takes at least 10-12 sessions to do it all. I did add 5 new baitcasting setups dedicated for bass fishing this year. To be clear, many of those setups (not including the salmon/steelhead) I bought for my sons to use whos love of fishing really took off now they can both drive and both have a vehicle.

I fish lily pads EVERY time I fish from May 1st till deer season takes me from bass fishing. Those ARE NOT lily pads. Best guess they are as has been suggested water chestnuts. I agree your options are: 50lb braid to a frog or JSM, or 50lb braid to 15lb mono to a fluke or other soft plastic rigged weedless. I catch bass out of 100% lily pad cover all year by targeting open areas in the pads even if that open area is only 1 foot in diameter. I would recommend a MH fast action rod as well. Some people I know that fish my lakes HATE lily pads and weeds, I smile as I absolutely LOVE them because when I am fishing the pad and weed jungles I am all by myself all other anglers I see are far away fishing the weed and pad edges or open areas. Now that I am using soft plastic flukes and other similar baits rigged weedless a D-11 cat couldn't drag me away from my pads and weeds.

I started this year for the first time ever using soft plastic jerkbaits rigged weedless. All (other than lake Michigan) of the lakes less than 90 minute drive from my home are muck bottom and by May become choked with vegetation so weedless lures are an absolute must. Once I tried 5-5.25" flukes made by Zoom or Cabela's rigged weedless using first 3/0 then 4/0 Owner or Gamakatsu screw lock hooks I caught largemouth bass in numbers I never before experienced using any other type of soft plastic lure rigged weedless. I also really upped my knowledge on how to fish chatterbaits this spring and for the first time since I started fishing chatterbaits 5 years ago added trailers to my chatterbaits that absolutely increased the numbers of bass I caught on them. One of those trailers I bought were straight tailed Hog farmer Spunk Shad soft plastic baits. Well for reasons that still mystify me bass in the lakes I fish much prefered boot tailed trailers. So I had about $80 of 5.5" and 4.5" Hog Farmer Spunk Shads doing nothing. Last night before I went fishing decided to give the 5.5" Hog Farmer Spunk Shads a try. After all I had 12 packages of them doing essentlually nothing in a tote. After I took a pack of Electric Shad out of their packaging I did a side by side comparison of them VS a Zoom Super Fluke or a Cabela's Shadee Shad. I then rigged one on a 4/0 Gamakatsu Superline Spring lock hook and immediately noticed due to the design of the Hog Farmer Spunk Shad having a long very narrow concaved slot molded into the top of it, I thought it I could quite likely not have to textpose the tip of my hook to keep it weed free. Went fishing to my most productive shore area for this lake. Conditions were good for this area of the lake but I would've preferred a south, west or combination south west wind to the mild north wind and clouds varied 50/50 to 40/60. Water clarity was very good for this lake. Temps ware mild in the mid 80*'s. Fished for last four hours of light. Area is a section of shoreline 250-275 yards in length between a shorter point to the north that has three cattail sub-points on it with pockets lined with cattails and a significant point to the south with no visible cover or significant visible structure. Sore is nearly 100% cattail lined. Entire area is muck bottom and weed choked. Lake area off shore is dotted with isolated patches of lily pads. Catch 90% of my bass from this area by working a fluke between or through patches of pads. Cattail point to the north ALWAYS holds 2-10 bass and my five biggest bass so far of 2024 came from this cattail point four bass that weighed more than 4lbs but less than 5lbs and one bass 5.75lbs. Also my son and I both caught multiple pike one each over 30" from these same cattail points. Caught four bass in six casts from the three cattail points. All could have been same bass as all were identical sub 3 pounders. All hit like a full cement truck going down hill at 100mph. All were hooked in the top half of their mouths. Thought off to a great start, Did determine with certainty you DO NOT need to textpose a 4/0 Gamakatsu Super Line twist/screw lock hook point to remain weed free and I could fish the Hog Farmer Spunk Shad without textposing the hook tip if you rig the hook point to lay in the troth as I will call it on the flat top side of the bait. In three+ hours of fishing and dozens of cast I never picked up a single weed on the hook tip as it layed in the troth. And I am absolutely certain this particular design of soft plastic minnow/shad bait is notably more weedless VS a traditional fluke shaped bait as I had to remove vegetation from the Spunk Shad less than 5% of my casts VS at least 30% of my Fluke baits as I am fishing very dense vegetation now. I did make it a point to work the H-F/Spunk Shad multiple times to view its action as a wounded bait fish and as a darting fleeing baitfish and it's action is the equal in all ways to that of the Zoom and cabela's flukes I use. One other advantage the H-F/Spunk Shad has I discovered is after I caught three bass last night that put up a very hard fight (based on how hard they hit and fought, I was certain these sub-three pound bass were MUCH larger) the screw lock had been ripped out of the head of the bait each time and the damage to the plastic was so bad I couldn't screw the screw lock back in. So I took my Boomerang line shears and cut off the damaged plastic till I exposed undamaged plastic and was able to screw in the screw lock and continue using the Spunk Shad. Was able to do this at least 4x with the same single 5.5" Spunk Shad. Don't know if I can do this 4x with a 5" fluke. All In all very very satisfied with the performance of the Hog Farmer Spunk Shad as I went 7 for 8 bass last night in a little over 3 hours of fishing as I did do a little frog unproductive fishing for the last 70-80 minutes of light. I would recommend anyone who like me uses soft plastic jerkbaits rigged weedless to bass fish a great deal who isn't already doing so give a pack of 5.5" Hog Farmer Spunk Shad a try as a jerkbait, especially if like me you MUST rigg them weedless to use them. Right now soft plastic jerkbaits rigged weedless is about 80% of my below surface bass fishing presentation due to vegetation being so thick nothing else will work.

Thanks for the help. I know hard weed free bottoms from shore within 30-40 miles of my home is a tough find. That's why I use to fish the IL and IN portions of the Kankakee river so much from the 1980's till I discovered power plant breakwalls close to home in the mid 1990's and use to murder the smallmouth bass. So good was the smallie fishing off these breakwalls in IL and IN I stopped fishing anywhere else near my home for over 20 years and catching a largemouth in these areas was rare.

I wear a fishing vest 100% of the time I fish unless in a kayak. To this vest I tether (ultra HD retractable key tethers) a pair of Boomerang line cutters, a Donnmar hook sharpener, and a hemostat. For removing hooks deep in a fishes mouth or gut hooked bass I carry a pair of 100% HD stainless steel 8" 30* hemostats also tethered to my fishing vest. In my pocket or in a holster tethered to my jeans I sometimes carry a pair of 7" aluminum handled needle nose pliers with rust-proof jaws because occasionally a bass gets a hook in neither I or my hemostats can get out and we now catch pike regularly and hemostats don't have the rigidity needed to get a 4/0 worm hook out of a big pikes jaw. I have been carrying both a hook sharpener and a hemostat while fishing for anything for at least 30 years now and can not possibly imagine fishing without them. Like to add I now pack a small pair of diagonal wire cutters more commonly called 'Dykes" as I recently ended up killing several bass and pike hooked so badly in the mouth I couldn't get the hook out without severely injuring them and the hook tip was exposed but I had no tool on me I could cut the expose section of hook off with me. The cutting pliers are used for nothing else but EM hook removal, so I can store them without rapid access being a concern. I'd much rather loose a hook than kill a bass especially a bigger bass.

I would love to give a bass lake a try that has sizable areas accessible from shore that are weed free and can be fished with soft plastics rigged with an exposed hoog or with jigs. All of the bass lakes I fish are muck bottom and full of weeds and lily pads. Don't get me wrong these are very good bass lakes and I count my blessings I have such productive bass fisheries near my home. I would just like to try something different. I invested a sizable amount of monet in Ned rigs, ned rig compatible soft plastics and jigs and I really can not use either in the lakes nearest my home due to the muck bottoms and being full of weeds and lily pad fields.

I envy those than can fish any soft plastic with an exposed hook. You're hookup rate must be 85-90% at least.

First greatest of thanks to all who replied with their help by sharing their experiences with me and educating me about braids lack of cut resistance. Had absolutely no idea whatsoever such fishing specific tieable wire leader even existed. I just ordered some in 12lb and 18lb to experiment with. I never knew braid was so susceptible to being bitten through by toothy critters. I used to use Berkley Fireline because my mono was getting destroyed constantly by zebra muscles while fishing for smallmouth bass in lake michigan. Once I went to Berkeley Fire Line I never again had zebra mussels be a problem for me. Based on that previous experience and the fact I couldn't cut Fireline, Power pro or Suffix braid with toenail clippers and needed a sharp tight pair of scissors to cut braid I assumed braid was extremely abrasion and cut resistant. I now stand corrected for my obvious completely wrong assumption of braid having superior cut resistance. My son went fishing by himself last night in the same area and again got bit off by a large in his estimation 30" pike. Again he was fishing 5.25" Zoom super fluke weedless with a 4/0 Owner screw lock hook. Caught one pike on a top water frog as well. I do not know what the deal is with all these pike, never use to catch more than one or two all year now its one or two every trip. Not complaining as we are happy catching any big game fish that bites, just trying to figure a way to rig so I can catch pike but not spook off bass with a leader and stop loosing rigs. Again thanks to all who helped out with sharing their experiences with me.

It has happened 5 times now in the last seven fishing trips that my son or I have been fishing weightless flukes rigged weedless and have hooked for this lake, large to very large northern pike. Last one my son hooked and I got a very good look at it and it was at least a 36 incher before it bit through the 15lb mono leader. That was the second one that trip as I caught one and managed to land and release it. I have while not huge in number still a significant number of what I thought were big bass take my fluke I hookup good and my line just failed, and now I'm thinking they could have been pike that just bit me off. Right now am using 12-15lb Yo-Zuri Copolymer as a leader and 20lb Suffix 832 braid as my main line but want to give a leader of braid a try. Does anyone know what the minimum LB braid I would need to use as a leader that a northern pike would have significant difficulty cutting with it's teeth?

Took my son out at sun rise to two of the best spots I know of accessible from shore to day to teach him what I know about fishing both weightless and weighted soft plastic flukes. It is an area with patches of lily pads with sub surface weeds that form lanes in between the pads. The weather originally predicted mild winds and mostly cloudy conditions. I awoke about 30 minutes prior to sunrise to 15mph sustained winds with gusts over 20mph and these winds would be blowing hard in our faces with a strong angle to our left. I mostly didn't fish as I was to busy instructing him on the finer points of casting accurately in challenging winds. He did quite well first time out fishing SP flukes and only second time fishing SP's, had 9 bass hit his fluke, hooked six got four in. Also caught the biggest fish of his life so far a best guess 37" Northern Pike, I don't think you could've gotten the smile off his face with an axe. Unfortunately for my son, after we got the hook out of the pike's mouth, the pike wriggled violently and got out of his hands fell into the water and escaped before I could snap a picture with my phone. Only problem we had is the weeds are really thick now and we were using 4/0 Owner Screw Lock Lite hooks as and we were coming back with weeds to some degree on the exposed eye of the hook 8/10 casts. Am planning on trying Zoom Speed worms next outing as my order of them arrived at my local Cabela's can not believe how my local Cabela's and BPS has been out of most popular soft plastics and the most popular soft plastics for weeks now. ONLY way to get the more popular soft plastics or their hooks is order online and pick up at the store. Literally no stores in my area have any makers speed worm and are out of 90% of the most popular colors for flukes. I have some concerns about selecting the correct hook for Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed worms as I have seen and handled them and they are at least 2x as thick and any other worm I have ever used and I am concerned about the hook I use having sufficient gap between barb and shank to allow good hook penetration. Was wondering if anyone who fishes soft plastics specifically flukes and speed worms in VERY heavy weed cover can recommend a non screw lock hook that picks up as little weeds as possible but still has a hook up rate equal to my Owner and Gamakatsu screw lock hooks. Was thinking of trying what I have on hand 4/0 and 5/0 Gamakatsu G-Lock or Gamakatsu O'Shaughnessy Offset Worm Hook, and burying the hook eye 100% in the soft plastic, but am open to trying any hook that anyone has had very good over all success with hookups and remaining weed free. It's gonna take my son a while to get over I was too slow to take that picture of his PB ever fish before it escaped. It was an absolutely beautiful northern pike.

The DNR does do a farm trout release each spring of rainbow trout, but they can not grow anywhere near this big and there aren't any other species of salmon or trout in this lake. Koi is a possibility as there are a ton carp in this lake and carp 2' long and longer cruising within feet of shore are a common sight. When I was much younger and fishing with nightcrawlers for bass I caught carp purely by accident that were at least 24" long. Fought like mad. I see carp every time I fish this lake some are average sized some are absolutely huge 3'+ specimens but never seen a koi. Back when I still had access to a great smallmouth spot on lake Michigan I use to fish using soft shell crayfish and about 1 in 4 or 5 outings I would catch a carp. Several were absolute monsters over 30" long. Heck of a fight on 8lb mono and a 7' medium fast spinning setup. Thanks for the feedback.

Was bass fishing a lake from shore walking distance from my home last night in northwest Indiana. Saw some minnows leaping out of the water about 30-40 yards away to my right in some pretty heavy lily pads close to shore in 2-3 feet of water when I saw about the last 30-40% of the side and belly of a very large fish for this lake at least, I would estimate was at least 3 feet long likely longer come partially out of the water in it's pursuit of bait fish. The portion of its belly I could see was white but with a wide vibrant red section on its very bottom area of its belly surrounded by bright white definitely not a dingy shade of white but brighter shade of white. but so bright was this shade of red it was almost orange. Bare in mind I caught only a glimpse of this fish talking at most a glimpse that lasted less than two seconds. When I saw it, it was laying almost flat on its right side and I didn't get a good look at the side of the fish due to the extremely brief glimpse I got of it and my sight mostly focussed on the red color of its belly but the color of its side while not light it was more dark than lite. One thing I am certain of is the fish was very similar in shape to a tiger musky or northen pike which both a common fish in this lake. If not for the vibrant red color of this fish's belly I would just have assumed it was a big pike or tiger musky. I have caught a great many northern pike during past trips to other states known for northern pike and I catch 2 or 3 pike every year from this lake while bass fishing and just caught and released a 30-33" pike, but in all the many dozens and dozens of pike I have caught and seen caught I do not recall ever seeing one with a red belly. My PB northern I caught during a canadian fly in trip was 45" long. I have never caught a musky or tiger musky, but they do stock tigers in this lake. I Googled pictures of tiger musky and none of the pictures that came up showed muskys with a red belly. My best guess is it was a large tiger musky or northern pike as that's the only predatory fish in this lake that most closely resembles the general description of the fish I saw, but the bright red belly has me baffled and hesitant to positively ID the fish as a tiger musky or northern pike. And I am not exaggerating in saying it was a very bright radiant shade of red. Reminded me a great deal of the shade of red pacific salmon exhibit during their spawning phase when they spawn in Alaskan rivers. Ideas?