WaskaCrank12

@Hawkeye21 - I hope you will have great weather and fun fishing on your visit to MN ! I spoke with someone from Alexandria today and they said Elk Lake in Hoffman, MN (about 20 miles south west of Alexandria) is a small lake (200 or so acres) that they have had success catching some decent sized large mouth bass and some Walleye on (they said they have never caught a small mouth there) - I have not fished it so I am not sure - yet you had mentioned you enjoy fishing some of the smaller lakes, so it might be worth a look (you many have already fished it in previous years). My hope is that the wind settles down for your visit - Monday and today (Tuesday) were windy here and Wednesday/Thursday are supposed to be a bit breezy - yet Fri/Sat/Sun should be very nice weather. I have not traveled up to or fished at Pelican Lake - yet I have heard many good things about it - and with you having your greatest day of fishing on it I will have to make a plan to get there at some point (most likely not this year, but hopefully next year). Safe travels and enjoy you time in MN !

@roadwarrior - wishing you all the best ! Thank you for making me feel part of this wonderful community, answering my naive questions, and sharing your wisdom with everyone

EDGE Rods are having a Labor Day sale - discount code is LABOR35

Hello @Hawkeye21 - which of the lakes in Alexandria will you be fishing at ? I live a bit south of Alex and primarily (this is only my second year of fishing) I fish at Lake Minnewaska (Glenwood) and Lake Reno (just south of Alex) In the past two weeks I have caught several 17/18 inch largemouth (at Lake Reno) and 16/17 inch small mouth (at Lake Minnewaska) - and oddly, I caught a 33 plus inch Carp yesterday (at Lake Minnewaska, I had never caught a Carp, didn't want to catch a Carp, it put up quite a big fight) I have not gone out on any of the lakes right in Alex so I cannot help with that right now - I did go out on Lake Miltona but caught mostly 14/15 inch small mouth - it seemed most of the people out on that lake were looking for musky/walleye (as do many people in this area) Alex is a beautiful area - I hope you have safe travels, a relaxing time and catch some big ones ! PS - I will ask around and see if anyone has heard of a good bite on any of the Alex lakes -- Christopherson's Bait and Tackle in Alex may be a place that can give you some up to date information, all of the people that work there seem nice and helpful and in to fishing (although some of them are really in to walleye/musky, only a few seem in to bass fishing)

I recently had to use my 8 inch Harbor Freight bolt/wire cutters to cut the stems off of the two treble hooks that had been driven in to my thumb by a feisty 18 inch bass (so I could release the fish and release myself from the lure and eventually head to Urgent Care) - I was happy I had them on deck and within reach - they cut thru the hooks/stems easily - I believe they were $10 to $12 at HF (I have only had them for a year so cannot speak to their longer term durability, hopefully I do not have to use them very often) - yet if I were musky fishing or using larger wire hooks I most likely would invest in the Knipex as others have recommended

Thank you to everyone for their feedback and information - yet I still have a few questions: @bulldog1935 mentioned that a moderate action would be important for him in regard to using a spinning rod for jerk bait fishing - when I took a look at the recommended St. Croix rod (6'8" spinning rod, looks to be a very nice rod) it appears to be offered with an extra fast action ---- I am newer to fishing (only my second year) so I am learning by the minute - last summer I used some old yard sale rods - and am still using a few of them - yet I did purchase a couple of nicer rods for this summer (one from @NorthernBasser, a 7'1" MH/Fast spinning - Evergreen Combat stick, it has been a really good rod for many baits -- a 6'10" ML/XFast - St. Croix Mojo Bass spinning rod which has been good for lighter stuff and a 7' Hvy/Moderate - Daiwa Rebellion which has been good for deeper crank baits) --- and I am looking to potentially add a spinning rod to be used mostly for jerkbaits (110/110Jr. type baits) Would it be most important to have the moderate action when it comes to the jerkbaits ? Or would the extra fast action be fine for throwing/retrieving (hopefully with a fish on the line !) jerkbaits ? It seems something in the 6'6" to 7' length and a medium or medium/heavy power is the best for jerkbaits - How important is the action when it comes to jerkbaits ?

First and foremost I enjoy being on the water - every. minute. of. it. I really enjoy my tango with the small but mighties - they dart, dive, jump, repeat - and challenge me to keep up and endlessly try and guess (virtually always incorrectly) what their next move will be - I love it when they give it their all out effort ! With that said I do my best to be a good steward in the process and return them to the water as quickly and efficiently as I am able to - yet this week I got two of the three treble hooks driven in to my thumb by a small but mighty who continued to thrash and fight once in the net/boat - I actually had to put my hand/the fish/the net in to the water again because I was struggling to get at my bolt/wire cutters and didn't want the fish to die - I eventually got the bolt/wire cutters and cut the stems of the treble hooks and then got the other trebles out of the fishes mouth and released the fish (the fish has a little smirk on it's face and I think she said "You, You got me --- but I GOT YOU !!) - the two hooks from the treble were driven deep in to my thumb - and as much as I would like to tell a story of ripping them out he-man style I ended up going back to the dock (and waiting for 45 minutes - due to a Weds. night fishing tournament starting) and eventually to the Urgent Care - the doc had to make small incisions to then get at the barbs and then cut the barbs and get the hooks out - got back out today, thumb all wrapped up - and caught two more small but mighties !

If you were limited to using a spinning rod for your jerk bait fishing (MB 110, MB 110JR+1 type jerk baits)- -What rod would you choose ? (in the $200 or less category) -What length/power/action would you choose ? Thank you in advance for sharing

I have an Abu Garcia Veritas Winch 7' M/Mod and it has been a fine rod - paired with a Shimano NASCI - I do fish from a boat, I am newer to fishing and learning as I go - When I was looking for a spinning rod in that price range there were many favorable reviews for the Daiwa Tatula XT 7' M/F, I chose the Abu Garcia because I had been given a gift card to a local shop and they had that rod in stock (otherwise I probably would have gone with the Daiwa XT) - I do not have any experience with any of the other rods you mentioned - all the best in your search

Sunday I was on the lake and trolling along and thought I saw two beavers/otters bobbing in the water - but as I got closer I saw that it was a big log/branch bobbing in the water (part of it out of the water part of it submerged well under the water) - I thought I might be able to pull it out of the water and on to the boat - I tried but it was slippery, waterlogged, very heavy, over 12 feet in length and some real girth to it - there were tons of boats and PWC's on the lake and I was surprised no one had hit it - it was certainly a hazard and would damage a prop/boat/PWC - I tried multiple times to get a tow rope around it and it kept slipping out and sinking into the water before bobbing back up - yet I did finally succeed in securing it so I could tow it behind the boat - I got it as shallow as I could and got about half of it up on a steep bank yet that was the best I could do (I hope it stays out of the water). My questions are - What is the proper protocol with something like this ? What would you do ?

I finally got out this weekend - I had been battling engine issues since prior to the opener (1992 Evinrude V4 90hp) , I chose to take on the challenge and do the work myself, had to wait for parts, figure out what I was doing, buy tools, got great advice from some Bass Resource people, watched many hours of YouTube - and now it is running (fingers crossed that will continue) - caught low numbers but was grateful to finally be on the water ! -- two SMB -- 16.5 and 20 inch both on a Megabass Griffon near weed lines -- then three toothy pike -- 17, 22, 24.5 inches on crankbaits -- they were about 20/30 yards out from the weed lines

Hello @Way2slow Thank you for the info. and expertise - yes, I had a friend guide me though doing a compression test - and the numbers for the 4 cylinders were all within 5% to 8% of each other (we did have to do it one at a time) - I took the boat out yesterday and it went pretty well - some puffs of smoke at start up but then it settled in - it started much easier than it had prior to the work done on it (the previous owner had said it was "cold blooded and sometimes hard to start"), I think replacing the throttle/carb rollers helped it start easier as I did not have to crank the throttle forward nearly as far as I had prior to replacing the rollers - I went out relatively slowly at first and stayed somewhat close to the ramp as I didn't want to be too far away if the engine didn't work well (it was again a pretty windy day at 20mph) - ran it for 15 minutes at medium throttle, turned it off, started again and repeated that cycle a few times - I checked the hoses (did not see any leaks) and wires - it seemed good so I then got it up on plane and took it on a longer run - there was a very slight hesitation at about 3500rpm, yet it was very slight, and then it ran well - It was the first time out and I certainly will check everything again and keep and eye on things when I take it out again tomorrow - Thank you again for all of your time/knowledge/expertise ----- Yes, your friend needs to listen to you !

Hello @Way2slow @WRB Update - 08/9/24 My journey with the motor has continued - yet I took your advice and looked at the symptoms (collapsing primer bulb was not happening - took someone on the boat with me to pump the bulb to see if it would help - ect...) - and in the end I narrowed it down to the VRO pump (I have only had the boat a short period of time so I don't know the history of the engine/VRO pump yet at 32 years old all indications were that the pump was failing) - getting the parts was not as straight forward as I thought it would be (given your thoughts on it I sought out and bought a Johnson/Evinrude fuel pump and as many Johnson/Evinrude parts as I could -- more expensive than aftermarket yet it is too important to skimp on) -- I bought all new fuel lines -- the most difficult piece to source was the manifold (the VRO manifold is oriented differently than what is needed for the fuel pump) as it seems that specific manifold was discontinued years ago, yet I was able to source one from a salvage yard -- I also purchased new throttle/carb rollers as those were worn/broken ----- and with the help of many YouTube videos/the Johnson/Evinrude manual and may favorite music motivating me -- I took out the VRO, replaced it with the new fuel pump, all new fuel lines, new rollers, new fuel filter, filled the tank with gas (so I know it has 20 gallons in it) and added the appropriate amount of oil and I am sure I am missing some things -- it was many hours, I made mistakes/had to re-do things, I learned a ton, I built confidence and the motor is now up and running -- I had it on the water only about 15 minutes yesterday (winds were 25 mph plus) -- and it started/idled/accelerated -- this afternoon I will look to give it more of a run on the water (yet I will have my batteries charged and trolling motor ready if needed) ----- thank you again for providing me with information/sharing your knowledge and expertise !

Hello @Way2slow -Thank you for the information and advice -- I will go to Harbor Freight and purchase the vacuum/pressure gauge and give it a try -- yes, excellent advice to take the trouble shooting one step at a time vs. guessing (which I have been doing) -- parts for a 1992 engine can be harder to find and expensive. I will update once I purchase the gauge and check things -- yes, I have read that the pulse valve can go bad (and it seems might push too much oil into the system ?). Thank you !

Hello @Way2slow @WRB Thank you for the excellent information. Yes, I have been guilty of the shotgun approach.... Next week I will have a chance to have someone come out on the boat with me so they can pump the bulb -- and I will also bring a remote tank with a few gallons of gas in it so we can try that as well to see if it makes any difference if the gas is coming from the built in tank or the remote tank. I did look into a new VRO pump set-up ($700) and a similar "gas only" pump ($693). Pricey. I will look into Carter Vein pump -- thank you for the link. I did not know about the anti-syphon valve - so I will take a look at that as well. It makes sense that it could be the anti-syphon value/ball getting stuck/malfunctioning -- because I can accelerate, start to get up on plane and then the engine bogs out (maybe I am using the wrong term, the engine just stops, it does not sputter or surge or buck) it just stops, as if the gas supply has been cut off -- I timed this multiple times and it is happening between 10 and 12 seconds of acceleration, consistently in that window of time. Ok -- I am going to take one step at a time. Thank you !