WaskaCrank12

@FryDog62- Yes, I have been scanning the DNR site and local online maps to find some smaller lakes to fish (for weekends and also high wind days) - I really enjoy my local lake (decent size at about 9,000 acres) but getting out on other/smaller lakes will encourage me to use more of the way too many lures/baits I have 😎 and challenge me to try some different approaches - thank you for the nudge to do so !

I went to my local lake (9,000 acres) yesterday but the wind was significant (about 20 mph plus gusts) and white caps - so I went over to a much smaller (500 acres) more sheltered lake - lots of PWC's and Pontoons (the lake has multiple resorts) so I tried to find spaces where they were not buzzing by all of the time - I was not trying to, but I ended up catching 10+ pike (ranged from 17 inches to 28 inches) - I lost the first one as it chomped my lure/line off so I immediately went to wire leaders and was glad I did - once some of the PWC traffic settled down I made my way over to a shallow area and caught the biggest LMB of the day (18 inches) on the smallest lure I used all day - so the same small lure that caught a number of blue gill also caught the largest (of the bass I caught) - With the heat/humidity and wind I probably will not get out this weekend (and the lakes are packed with PWC's/Pontoons as I live in a resort heavy area) but hope to get out 2 or 3 times this coming week

My hesitation in doing this is that it's an investment of time/effort/energy to get the boat ready, hooked up, to the lake, and out on to the lake - to then toss one lure and potentially have a torpedo fish/pike saw it off the line - and then be done.... I would consider one rod and one style of lure/bait (maybe a 3600 box of them) so when a toothy critter decides to take it off the line to add it to their collection I would have several others to tie on.... The open water time here in MN is limited, add in thunderstorms/tornado warnings/high wind days - and limited days (due to work) - it all adds up to a no for me (to go out on the water with one rod/one bait/lure)

Thank you for all of the replies and information - @J Francho suggestion to find a local weather station was a good one - I researched and found that Weather Underground has a weather station within a mile of my most local lake, so I will load that on to my phone - and I will give WeatherBug a try, specifically for the lightning strike map feature (I had used WeatherBug years ago but at that time it drained the phone battery pretty quickly and had some malware issues, but with updated phones malware protection and apps hopefully that has changed, so I will give it a try again)

I was out on the lake yesterday and BOOM - big flash of lightning and rumble of thunder - so followed all the other boats and jetted off the lake ! The sky looked ok, did not look threatening - and my phone weather app (Google Weather) said "light rain" was coming up in a few hours, yet nothing else - an online look earlier in the day (on the computer before going out) gave no indication of thunderstorms. What phone weather app do you use and why ? (specifically looking for an app that that would indicate the threat of lightning/severe weather) Thank you !

You have a lot of good feedback here - best to connect with someone who has done it - ask them to be honest about the pros/cons of owning/running a shop - I agree with others, get an education - perhaps go work at a tackle shop for a few years to really get to know how it works and you can make connections during that time as well - as they say "Follow your heart/passion - but don't leave your head behind" - Good luck !

I was able to get out yesterday (Saturday) and endured the rain - the three largemouth I caught were - 17/17.5/16.5 inches Today I went out and caught two largemouth (both 16 inches) - before BOOM, a flash of lightning and then deep rumbling thunder ! - My phone weather app had said "light rain starting at 3:30pm and thru 7:00pm" - nothing at all about lightning and thunder - I fired up the engine and raced to get back to the ramp (along with about a dozen other boats) I have been using Google Weather (does not seem very accurate, certainly was not accurate at all today) and I have CodeRED text messages for my area (yet this is typically for severe weather alerts only) What weather apps or alerts do you use on your phone ?

Thank you for the update @gim ! I was hoping for an early/mid-April opener as that is probably the average date/s range the ice is fully off of my local lakes each spring, but a continuous season sounds good ! This way I could always travel one to three hours south of me in MN and as @A-Jay mentioned -------- pursue those beautiful Brown Bass !!

I have gotten out a few times in the past week - on the two closest lakes and then one (I had never been on) about 30 minutes away - I dodged a bullet on Monday as I was out on the lake and caught an 18 inch lmb and sent a picture to a friend - he texted back "Get off the lake NOW !", then he called me and said big winds/storm was coming in (when I checked weather earlier in the day it said storms starting at 5pm, it was 2pm when he called) - the sky didn't look too bad but I figured I better go - and good thing I did - I had to travel across the lake (a close to 9,000 acre lake) to get to the marina/dock - by the time I got there the wind had really picked up and my truck was the only one left in the lot and the local police were on their loud speaker instructing people in the RV Park to get inside and be prepared for the storm - I got the boat on the trailer just as it started raining sideways and 30 seconds later the tornado sirens were screaming ! - I know the area well so I tucked the truck/boat into a side street that was somewhat protected from the wind and hoped for the best - then my phone pings with the local CodeRED weather alert (a bit late !!) - Myself and the truck/boat were fine yet many trees/limbs down, many boat docks had their canopies blown off and a number of them (without boats on them) were flipped over - Thankful my friend texted/called ! Be safe out there people !!

The rods I ordered did not take 5/6 months - more in the 3/4 month range (they were not in stock when I ordered them and EDGE was upfront in letting me know the next run of those rods was not scheduled for a bit) - yet I purchased them knowing that it would be a wait (and that the lakes here in MN would be frozen solid during my wait time, so even if I had them I would not have been able to use them) - so for me they were well worth the wait due to what I see as a very good value for the dollars spent (on an American made/manufactured rod, which is a plus in my eyes) - it all depends on what you value/what is meaningful to you - I could have bought another Evergreen Combat Stick yet chose to buy two EDGE rods for what it would have cost to buy one Combat Stick - if you know the wait time is going to drive you nuts/make you mad/cause you to stress out, then avoid it - it has worked well for me (enough so that I am considering purchasing another EDGE rod during this birthday sale) yet it might not work for everyone - as with many things in life YMMV (and I believe on the website it states that rods purchased during this sale will take a while to hit production/be shipped, so they are being upfront that there will be a wait time to receive the rods)

I have two EDGE Rods (both spinning rods)- Delta FSS MRB 705-1S and Delta FSS MRB 744-1 --- I would compare them favorably to the Evergreen Combat Sticks I have (which are in the $229 price range) -- so for $99 (I think I paid $119 during a sales event) I believe they are an excellent value for the price --- I may just have to take a look and possibly order another one (hey, wait, how did the Bait Monkey take over may hands and make me type that !!!) -- Please note that the rods may take a long time to get to you, I waited quite a long time for the first two rods, yet I went in knowing that and accepting that -- the rods are an excellent value at that price point

The two lakes closest to me (one about 9000 acres/one about 4800 acres) are pretty wide open (glacial lakes) - wind is omnipresent - so I have become (like @A-Jay) a forecast/weather hawk - if the wind is blowing in from the north I will make the short 10 minute drive and dunk in at the DNR ramp (located on the north side of the lake) - if the wind is blowing in from the south I take the 23 mile drive to get to the "Hobo" ramp area (located on the south side of the lake) - because once that wind and those waves travel all the way across the lake it can get very turbulent/rough, especially around the docks/ramps - My strongest preference is wind 10 mph or less, yet that rarely happens here - so 15 to 20mph is what I have to deal with the majority of the time, my tolerance for it has grown but I cannot say I fully enjoy it, it just is what it is - occasional gusts to 25/30 will keep me tucked in to the side of the lake the wind is coming from - once it's 25mph sustained/over 30mph gusts it becomes a bit unsafe (in my mind) and I will not head out at all or will head in - the DNR ramp/dock can present itself as a difficult spot to dock in heavy winds when the waves are crashing up and over the dock and the water is very turbulent - all this to say the wind is a factor here and dictates where I launch and land the boat

I am going into year three with a boat/trailer and my confidence backing the trailer has grown significantly - in year one I would go to the ramp and if there was a line I would just go home because I didn't want to be "that guy" who was having to re-adjust 5 times while trying to back in - I practiced in the yard, in the driveway, in a large parking lot - and I can say now I may have to adjust once but most of the time I am nailing it first time - @gim I try to make sure I pull my boat to the opposite side of the dock (I have ropes attached to the cleats so I can guide the boat around the dock) when I go get the truck yet it is not always available to do so in all ramp/drop areas - I do hustle and I do make sure I get the boat out as quickly as possible (and when dropping in I make sure everything is prepped and ready to go once I am in line at the ramp/dock)

I spent over 3 decades in intercollegiate athletics so I have enough ADIDAS/Nike/UnderArmour backpacks/travel bags to last several lifetimes - some of them have waterproof bottoms or flaps on them - for boxes I have mostly 3600 size boxes - Flambeau MAX Zerust Tuff Tainers (inexpensive at WalMart) and a few Plano Crankbait boxes

On Monday I took the boat to the lake and just backed the trailer in to see if the engine would run after the long winter hibernation.....thankfully it cranked up (it is still cold-blooded and still does not like to idle)....docks were not in so I didn't attempt to take the boat for a ride...Yesterday (Saturday) I dunked the boat in, she cranked up, so I did take her out on the lake...water is cold (45 degrees) ...the DNR lot was full and I filled the last spot in the overflow lot (a number of ramps in the area are being worked on/fixed so more people than usual went to the DNR ramp), there were quite a few boats out in the shallow bay areas searching for pan fish...I cruised around and put the boat thru the paces, ran the trolling motor (runs much better with a fresh new AGM battery), did a full loop around the lake (22 plus miles of shoreline)...I then tossed in a line, I have a 7'6" Ultra-light Okuma Celio and a JDM Shimano Miravel (which I purchase on the recommendation of @MN Fisher, a nice set-up !!) and floated around for about an hour, no luck but it was good to be back on the water !...the wind really picked up and it was extremely choppy around the DNR area so I (along with a line of other boats) decided to end the day a bit early...it is supposed to be high winds (and some rain) today so I will not go out, but already looking forward to next weekend (and hopefully some good weather !)

Most of the rods I own are in the $100 to $200 range - when I started out I did so with low end/yard sale rods - the two differences I have found between the low end/yard sale rods and these middle tier rods I have are: -My shoulders and elbows don't scream at me and ache like they did from using the lower end rods -Once hooked, my getting the fish into the boat ratio has jumped quite a bit with the middle tier rods (so technically I am catching more fish with them - or probably better to say landing those fish) I do not have any higher end rods right now, but my guess is, like many have said, there is a point where there is a diminishing return once you get above a certain level of rod/price -- some people enjoy the luxury of driving a top of the line Lexus, while others get to the same destination in a well worn 25 year old base model Corolla

Update - Ice is "out" on the larger local lake (over 8000 acres, "ice out" was declared April 9th, over the past 109 years of records it seems the average "ice out" is approx. April 21/22 - yet is has been as early as March 20 and as late as May 15) - I saw a few boats out on the water and a guy near the ramp taking his boat out of the water - he said the surface of the water is clear of ice yet there is still some ice floating under the water, so he was careful and went slow, basically just to check out his motor and make sure everything on the boat was in working order The two other lakes closest to me (4000 acres and 1800 acres) both still, surprisingly, have ice on them - the 4000 acre lake still has about 80% coverage (not sure how thick it is) The temps are supposed to be in the high 50's this weekend so I hope to "un-winterize" the boat and hopefully get it on the water to test out the motor and make sure everything is in working order - none of the docks are in so it is a bit tricky to secure the boat (when parking the truck/going to get the truck) with nothing to really tie it to or keep it from getting in to the rocks (I don't have power poles) - so I will see - at the very least I could back it in and run the motor a bit with the boat still on the trailer

From Amazon Japan - ordered and received a few weeks ago - with the tariffs coming it seems like a good move now (at least that is what the Bait Monkey is telling me)

A Shimano Vanford and some SeaGuar line from Amazon Japan Ordered and received it a few weeks ago - with tariffs coming it seems my timing was good (at least that is the story the Bait Monkey is telling me....)

@gim that would be great if getting on the water in the boat could happen in the next 10 days or so.....but as @10,000 lakes Bassin mentioned many of the lakes (my guess is central MN and north) still have quite a bit of ice on them and night time temps are still around 20....here there is some open water showing yet there are also large areas where there is still a foot or so of ice....the big winds in this storm helped break up ice closer to the shorelines....if the sun comes out that will be a bonus as we now have over 12 hours of day light and that light is having more of an impact on melting the ice/snow....even mid to high 30's with full sun would be good

We ended up with about 14 inches of heavy/high water content snow...as usual here it all depends on the wind...the top of the driveway had over 22 inches, the lower portion only about 10 inches...it's the first time in my 19 years here that the snow thrower struggled a bit to auger/toss the snow because it is so heavy/wet...cleared the driveway and downspout areas but I am going to take a break before clearing the deck/truck/boat cover...might use the roof rake as well as this is a big snow load on the roof

Smallmouth Bass above was caught with a Megabass Griffon MR-X in GG Baby Bass color My PB Largemouth was just shy of 20 inches and caught on a Netbaits Paca Chunk Sr. in Sun Gill color on a 1/16oz CORE Tackle Hover Rig (if I can find the pic I will post it) **I have purchased a cheaper scale and will look at using that this coming season as it seems weight is preferred over measuring ?

Well...spring was trying to arrive....we are getting hit pretty hard with this snow/ice/wind storm....we have about 7 inches of snow right now and they are saying another 5 to 7 inches will fall thru tomorrow morning....wet/high water content/ heavy snow and a glaze of ice mixed in....good thing I kept the snow thrower gassed up and ready !...although it won't be throwing this heavy snow very far....

Although there has been ice melt around here and some open water (maybe 15 to 20 feet from the shoreline) I saw between 20 and 30 people out on the ice auguring holes, sitting on buckets and fishing....I think they are nuts !!