Leaderboard

I'm fishing confident when I'm doing what I know and what I feel should be working, and it's producing for me. Nothing increases confidence like going out, fishing, and having success.

What about poppers haha My buddy's collection of limited colors with some not up yet since the shelf just arrived yesterday.

New reel finally came in the mail today, Shimano Metanium MGL XG. Got it in the mail and I cleaned it and flushed the bearings. Really smooth and is an EXCELLENT caster. Only problem is it is pretty noisy, maybe it just needs to be broken in or I may need to send it to DVL. For sure going to pair it with an NRX 893 but I really need to sell some gear before I do because I have a few rods and reels that haven't seen water in 2-3 years She sure does look good with her sister

Experience tells you what to do...confidence allows you to do it!

Another small order of Megabass hardbaits showed up today from the motherland.

Sorry I haven't posted on here in while, mostly because I've been to busy fishing.. Bass are still on a great topwater bite, namely frogs and the whopper plopper. The bass are on main lake points and weed beds in eight to twelve feet of water, but when the sun gets higher I move to main lake docks. I start out in the morning throwing a whopper plopper, and later on switch to skipping frogs underneath docks and flipping deep weed beds. Anyway, today I was skipping docks on main lake points with a popping pad crasher when I caught my pb frog fish that measured 22 inches and 5.34 pounds! I haven't caught one that big since the pre-spawn period. It was under this tiny 2 foot by six foot old dock on a point in seven feet of water, not exactly a great looking dock. Seeing big bass come up to the surface and smash my frog is an adrenaline rush, I don't know why I didn't throw topwater much last year.

That's what my non-fisherman father used to do... thread the hook into one end, feed the worm on until the hook was covered, then break off the excess worm. His crowning moment though, was when we were out for a family boat ride on Lake George, NY. I was a young teenager, and was driving the family Glastron bowrider w/65HP Merc outboard down the lake. My dad started rooting around for the telescopic spin casting rig he always kept in the boat. When I asked him what he was up to, he told me he was going to try trolling. "That's how the guys catch those big lake trout and salmon; trolling." He then proceeded to clip a Fred Arbogast Hula Popper onto the big brass snap swivel and pitched it off the stern at about 30MPH. He almost got spooled before I stopped the boat. :-) Tight lines, Bob

When I started fishing I used plastic worms like real worms, I put them on the hook and waited. I never caught anything.

Had an average evening tonight on my local sandpit, totalling five fish. All but one came on the hudd 68 weedless. This bait is hands down the most productive for size and often numbers bait I have fished to date, can't praise it enough. Here is a pic of a 4 lber that was absolutely HANGRY for a hudd. Lol choked it down.

The weather killed my fishing this morning. Hit the local Walmart just to browse and got bit by the darn bait monkey. I got some more flukes and my first Ralapa lure. The package was all beat up so it was marked down from $8.00 to $5.00. I get to the register and find out its actually marked down to $3.00!! I cannot believe this little guy is $8.00 originally!. Its called a Flat Rap and its made of Balsa wood. My grandpa used these back in the day and loved them. Cant wait to try this baby out! image sharing

Enjoy. The Flat rap is a great option when you want some added flash or if you want a tighter action like cold weather or anytime baitfish are sluggish. I use the Flat Rap and Original Rapala on every trip I take. Some days the flat sides work better but some days a more erratic action from the original Rapala works, but you can be confident that you have a Proven lure that will catch fish once you get the cadence right. 50% of the time they take it as it lands, first moves, or first pause.... Enjoy. I do better when I use the lightest line possible and keep in mind, the hooks are light guage since it is balsa, heavy line kills the action so diameter matters. Around weeds I just use braid since 20lb is 4-6 diamater but I prefer 8lb test since usually the Rapala Excels on edges and if it is just weeds you can another site with 8lb test. I forget the exact quote but I believe Rapala Lures own more world records for both fresh and salt water than any other company or all combined...Something like that. I believe the Original Rapala Series from Floater to Countdown is still the best seller in the world for a lure. The best part is the floating Rapala never get's fished since guys feel they can't cast it far enough, or use it on line that is way too heavy. Not every Rapala is a great lure, I have had bills break on the DT Flats and a few others but I will put the Original, Shad Rap, Flat Raps, Shallow Shad Rap, and the X Rap Prop as baits that are as good as they get in that price range and easy to fish. Shad Raps are life savers as well. Especially the #7 and the #5 suspending Glass shad rap.

Fixed that for you

It means I'm content to concentrate on what I'm doing without question. When there is a question, I try a solution, and go back to the first sentence.

I've used Rod Wraps on my gear for years and I suppose that the Winn wraps are similar. What I like best about them is that I can color code the handles. Crank rods are teal, soft plastic rods are grey, single purpose rods have other colors. Makes i a little easier to look down and find the rod I want a little quicker.

Anti reverse ratchet, small drag washer, main gear, drag washer and drag pressure plate. That is the order to place on to the handle shaft. Google the reels schematic. While you are in there toss that drag washer and get some carbontex lol

The Commander is my second one. I had a 2007, traded it in on the 2015. This is the first problem I've had with either. The Cherokee is my wife second Jeep as well. We've had good luck with Jeeps. Up until now, that is. Mine will be ready to pick up tomorrow. $450 bill for a new starter. I just have get somebody to drive me 90 miles south to retrieve it. I'm just very happy none of this occurred on the road, with grandkids on board.

Think Okuma flies under the radar, I have their C340x rod and an Inspira reel, never been disappointed, great gear will buy more

Hudd 68 weedless ROF 5 in black shad and ROF 12 trout for the lakes you described. Simply cast, let sink about 5' and retrieve at a slow steady pace, pop the lure out of stuff by raising the rod high, continue the retrieve. Rod, take a look at Irod gen 2, Jr Swimbait 7'8" for 68 Hudds. Tom

Latest project

First thing you need to do is verify it's positioned properly on the trailer. To do this, have it loaded just like you have it when going fishing, gas in the tank and all. You want your normal load, right where it goes, and the motor tilted up and set in place for towing. Now take the boat to a feed supply or truck stop that has scales and weigh it with it just like you would have it fishing. Next you need to make sure you have your tongue height set properly on the truck. Check with you trailer manufacture but 13.5" is a good height on most. You set that by using different size drops on your receiver. Now you measure your tongue weight, for smaller boats this is no problem, just set a set of bathroom scales on something at the right height and set the tongue on them. Heavier boats can get fun trying to find a way to weigh them. Two set of scales side by side with a 2x4 across them and set the tongue in the center of the 2x4 will work most times. For conventional trailers with ball-mounted hitches, proper tongue weight is roughly 10 to 15 percent of the total loaded trailer weight. For instance, if a 2,000-pound conventional trailer is loaded with 1,000 pounds of cargo, the proper tongue weight of the loaded trailer should be between 300 and 450 pounds, or 10-15 percent of the loaded 3,000 pound total. Anyway, once you get a way of checking you tongue weight, you position the boat on the trailer by moving it forward or backwards until you have the proper tongue weight. Once you have that, you position your front stop so that it locks the boat in place at that point. Then you adjust your bunks and center rollers to ensure they are positioned to properly support the boat. Yep, it's a little bit of work, but I highly recommend you do it. I learned the hard way that dealers don't do a very good job at setting up trailers. The very first new boat I bought had the hull ruined by the way the dealer set the roller on the trailer. One roller was too high and after about eight months, put a hook in the hull. I noticed my boat was slowly loosing speed and after about eight months it had lost almost five mph. I was changing props and everything else trying to figure out why, until I found that that hook.

I heard once a good idea when cleaning reels.... Get an old egg carton, number the individual pockets and in order you take the reel apart (maybe just the intricate pieces) place them in the egg pockets. That way they stay organized. Springs don't go flying away, and it's all in order. I used that system and it works!

For me fishing confidence has been developed over time. More time & experience on the water equates to more understanding. It's this experienced based understanding that helps enable me to apply concepts learned that provide confidence. Finding & catching fish "right where & how" I expected certainly boosts confidence. However, putting it all together in a way that's not what I expected and / or doing something different in a new location is a very empowering. I roll out of bed confident, doesn't guarantee anything, but it certainly doesn't hurt either. A-Jay

Rapala makes darn good lures .That one looks good , I would have bought it too .

I have never been salt water fishing in my life . I am confident that I can walk down one of those peers with my Bass fishing gear and catch something . I would be surprised if I didnt .

I put it back together, greased, and oiled it. It's working excellent. Thank you.

Honestly mono is still the most versatile line out there. Fluoro is great for deep cranks, hard jerks the size of a pointer 100 or bigger, rippin' lipless cranks through grass, and many pitchin/flippin applications. I only use braid for frogging, punching, and for smaller soft jerks. Mono does the rest for me, and does it with great effectiveness.

Never open a reel without a schematic. Also keep in mind that they are primarily a parts list and don't necessarily show part orientation or assembly order. The camera is a good tip.

Ii have been a professional mechanic for over 35 years. I have had a camera in my tool box since I first started. I know this is not much help now but for the future take some snap shots as you tear down. They are a lot of help in the long run.

Not a good idea. Please do not put this on a car if you care about it. First of all it will do nothing to help you at all. That small electric motor will not not come close to building enough pressure to create any kind of boost, Superchargers are belt driven because the amount of pressure they need to build is very high. 2nd If that thing breaks it will be in a position that debris can and most likely will get sucked into the intake and BOOM!

Welcome Home! We're glad you're here! btw - I'm glad you're not a noob to message forums. I think you'll find this one to be refreshingly different! Enjoy!

I'm pretty happy

The Octopus hooks in that size have a sort of heavy wire so it takes some effort to get good hook penetration with the barb. For the same size in a smaller wire hook, try the Owner Mosquito 5/0 and remove the barb. A couple more things is a line that has less stretch and a rod with some backbone to overcome hook penetration resistance. I prefer the perpendicular rigging for stick baits wacky rigged.

Save $50 more and get an Avid or Avid X and I bet you will think you are using a different company

Oh and lets not forget the INVISABLE in the water to fish

Yes. I've got two with that action and like the rods a lot.

same, although i used scent and it worked three times this year, i tried doing it last december and waited 4 hours in the snow with no bites

Keep it simple, mono for both.

The first decent bass I ever landed, I was about 5 years old. I have fished since 2 or 3, but caught only sunfish and tiny bass. This bass was the biggest one I had caught and I was super stoked. My dad was next to me helping me. In all my excitement, 5 year old me asks my dad "how much does he weigh, like 80 pounds?!". My dad, with a perfectly straight face and without missing a beat replies "Nah, about 2". Took the wind right out of my sails. I still remember this like it happened yesterday. But hey, I was 5 years old so I had a free pass

Keep the rod tip up, let the fish tell you what they want. And don't be afraid to fish it around docks or even in open water!

It's the paradigm shift that has been brought about in society by the connected world. Getting out and doing doesn't matter nearly as much as making sure people are following you. It's really pathetic IMO. People should have more dependency on themselves and less on what others think of them.

Steve, will you take me fishing... pretty pretty please...?

Thanks everyone! I will keep at it. Going to be throwing worms and creature baits for awhile.

Something Old: Something New: Excited as hell to try both!

2002 Lowe 180w 90hp Johnson

FedEx brought my Dobyns Extreme today.

 Great day on Walker Pond. Plenty of 6 and 5 pounders. I have never fished a pond where the bass had such psychotic energy. About 3 dozen LM this one was 6.4 biggest of the day. Black jigs with either black/blue or pumpkin green chiggers. Chatter baits with some copper in the skirts on a fat impact keitech and of course some waky senkos. All from off shore weed lines and sunken tree structures. My friend Ed got 3 5lbs largies in the span of 10 minutes which shows how good of a day it was there.

Also could use Slider heads.

I just use a regular t-rig set up with a 1/0 EWG hook and a 1/16 weight. I peg the weight depending on how much vegetation there is.