ElGuapo928

Has “Trailex” stickers on the tongue…..don’t know if that’s the manufacturer or dealer, but hopefully helpful.

Biggest this year (to date) was a 6lb, picked up at Canyon Lake on a 6XD in “Citrus Shad”.

Never had too many wildlife encounters on the lake at night……spookiest has been rattlesnakes cruising the shallows. Don’t like buzzworms on land, even less in the water. Funniest was a bat attacking my wife’s hair - thing took 5 or 6 good passes at her, I was laughing so hard I’m surprised I didn’t fall out of the boat.

August is great at night!

Believe me, Roosevelt Lake is called “the jungle” for a reason. Hangups are a constant event. Hell, you haven’t lived until you reel in part of a cactus. Here’s a pic representative of the first 30’ of depth (turtle is a bonus).

There’s a lot of different versions out there - I like the hound dog just because I’ve had it for 20 or so years. Let it slide down the line and knock your bait loose. The telescopic ones are best for above the water snags - I had a $2.99 Goodwill golf ball retriever for ever before I got a Dotline.

Pretty much spend all summer in 40-80 feet. Occasionally shear off a dropshot or football head, but never intentionally.

ProMariner 15x3 has never given me an ounce of trouble.

I don’t think I’ve ever been in a situation where I absolutely had to break it off. (Granted, I don’t run any braid over 30lb, and I’m down to 8lb braid on the spinning rigs). Usually I go chase the snag, deal with it and move on. A telescopic lure retriever and a “hound dog” have pretty much eliminated intentional breakoffs for me.

Same here. No matter how you slice it, it’s a failure point added in. I do use a leader when Mojo/splitshotting, but behind a swivel. I also will use a piece of mono or fluorocarbon for my “drop” below the hook on a dropshot rig (I pretty much exclusively use “Spinshot” or “Swivelshot” hooks).

That brings up another thought….. I’d like to see a tournament series with some old school BASS rules - 18’ boats, 150hp max, 2 sonar units max. Maybe go so far as to put the 6 rods, and “X” pounds of tackle rules in. Would be really interesting to see how everyone adapts.

Agree completely. I would actually pay to watch this on TV.

I’d be inclined to leave the outboard alone. Those old 2 strokes just flat out run, and really aren’t too problematic if you keep up on the maintenance. You’ve got a nice looking rig there, and sounds like you’ve got a pretty good plan for it. Nothing wrong with an “experienced” boat - my Ranger is an ‘89, and I’m not sure I would trade it for a new one.

Typically at night I work mostly points and steep banks, not too much targeted casting. The last night tournament we fished, we spent the whole night dropshotting on a little hump maybe 150 yards from the ramp. A little tip I picked up for night fishing is to cut the top off a Mountain Dew bottle then slip it over your stern light - makes it a more yellowish glow like a bug light, cuts way down on the insect swarm/involuntary blood donations.

I was digging through some old stuff the other day and found an old “Trimax” patch…..got me to thinking how I used to spool EVERYTHING with the old Berkley “Photochromic” lines, and wondering why they ever quit making it.

Abu Black Max - bought one as a stopgap on a road trip 10 years ago when my Revo took up diving, and have since acquired 6 more.

I’ve got a BPS “Pro Qualifier” that started getting that feeling after a couple trips. Took it apart and found the gears had a really sticky, almost like cosmoline coating on them. Cleaned it off with a little brake cleaner on a rag and put a dab of Reel Butter on the gears - been trouble free ever since.

Left handed, I cast right then switch over to the left and crank with the right. All of my spinning reels have the handle on the left.

Thanks all! I’ll be spending a few bucks pretty much all around and restocking the arsenal.

I still run mono for cranks, spinnerbaits, spoons, and jerks. It all boils down to what feels best for you.

That gourd green looks like a winner as well.

They don’t like 100 plus either. I’ve got a friend that bought a Model 3 as a commuter, and he declared that the only winner on the thing was SRP (electric utility). He said between the summer AC and charging the car pretty much constantly, his bill was bankrupting him.

There’s a guy I see at the ramp quite a bit has a really slick aluminum trailer for his canoe. All engine turned finish and even has a set of handlebars that stick up from the tongue between the coupler and bow stop. Next time I see it I’ll try and get the name off of it.

I can’t really buy into the whole EV thing, as they just aren’t practical where I live. That said, I’m a firm believer that we have strayed a little too far from automotive common sense….my ‘64 C10 gets better mileage than my 2017 Ram, has never had to get towed to the dealership for electronic issues, and has made it 60 years on the original radiator where the Ram is on number 3. Something doesn’t add up here.

If I were to sing, Game and Fish would probably arrest me for harassing wildlife. If I turn the radio on while on the lake it’s typically KUPD (rock station).