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After watching and loving the youtube series, 39 HOURS, in which teams to compete for both size and number of species, I decided to add some spice to a coming solo, wilderness canoe and fishing trip. I'll be fishing Ontario for 21 days next June and whereas I'll be focused on smallmouth as my favorite fish, I'm giving myself other goals, such as at least two 100-fish days, catching at least two 40-inch pike, and catching at least ten smallmouth over 19.5 inches. These three goals should be doable as I'll be fishing lakes that might get one visitor a year, are loaded with cisco, perch, and white suckers to fatten pike and bass, and I'll be there in the prime time. However, my biggest goal will be catching at least 14 species. Here's what in the 14 or so lakes I'll be fishing: brook trout, rainbow, aurora trout, perch, musky, splake, sauger, black crappie, pumpkinseed, burbot, bluegill, rock bass, whitefish, lake trout, white suckers, smallmouth, largemouth, and walleye. Aurora trout will be pert near impossible to catch, but I'm gonna try. Ironically, some of the lesser species, size and fight-wise, worry me, like white sucker and pumpkinseed. I just won't tender that much time to then and I'm not equipped to catch them. Pike will be impossible to not catch. I'm also pretty confident about muskies. Splake and sauger worry me. My one splake lake will be a drive-by and sauger are also found in only one of my lakes. I won't off-load the canoe to fish for splake, so I'll be making a few casts from shore. Burbot baffle me. I'll have to do some research to have a shot at them. Whitefish also worries me simply because I've fished for decades in lakes with whitefish and only caught two while targeting other species. These should be easy: largemouth, smallmouth, walleye, lake trout, rock bass, musky, bluegill, and black crappie. I'll be content with 12 species, but I'm shooting for 14! I will take photos of one representative of each species and post them upon my return. I'm already laughing at my likely getting more excited about landing my first pumpkinseed than my fourth musky.

Thank you Fishballer06. Awesome picks. I will definitely be putting these to use, plus I was needing new line in 12lb test. Merry Christmas

If you just want a fish on the line, it is hard to beat a 4" senko wacky rigged

Moose spit

Toledo Bend early pre-spawn Daylight Mid-February, cold, overcast, drizzling, northwest wind Shallow water point with timber & grass #820 Red Chrome Rat-L-Trap Result 12 lb 8 oz bass

Tw order. Came in flawless. Almost 40 items.. Swing impact and SI fat Live impact Crazy flapper Rage bug X2 (I'm excited to try the June bug) Space monkey GY hula grub (excited for this June bug too) Fat ika (no June bug =[ ) 2 lucky craft silent square bills 2 bandits , 100 and 200 black and pearl Stocked up on the kalins grubs, Terminal tackle.. I also got some JJs and mendit.

Cyber-dummy here once thought that I could buy anything I wanted through my Pay Pal account until I found out that everything came up on my wife's bank alerts on her phone.

I have cards for Amazon, so it'll probably be another Lew's LFS Speed Spool reel.

No - (as he goes out into the garage, sits in the Lund and Sobs) A-Jay

My wife and I fish a total of 6 Pflueger Presidents. Two are 6930s and the rest are 6935s. Both work great but I tried a bunch of different lines. My wife just had problems with wind knots, way more than me. My answer is to install a bit of mono as a backing then spool the rest of the reel with Berkley Original FireLine. I happen to have some eye issues, so I like the flame green in 14 pound test ( I think it is equal to 6 pound test and I add a leader. All of our line issues disappeared. Make sure you do feather the line with your index finger, always always, always flip the bail by hand. I stop the line, follow the lure down (allow line to come of the reel but under control) then flip the bail and lift the rod a tiny bit. This sorta tightens the line on the spool. Now you are ready to fish! I do this as a regular act so I never have to think about it. Give this a try. Lastly never reel in a fish when it is pulling line under the control of the drag. You will certainly add line twist. I use the same line/ leader combo everywhere I fish, which includes deep clear lakes as well dirty tidal water. My choice for a leader is P Line CXX in moss green. Their 10 pound line breaks around 23 pounds. I usually fish a 4 foot leader.

Okay, having used both of these, I have to choose Gamakatsu. Trokar hooks are as sharp as they say they are. In fact, I find it hard to keep the hook point buried in the plastic. To me they became a nuisance, constantly shredding my plastics. Not to mention, in my opinion, too pricey. Now, having said that, I fished the entire last season using BPS hooks. Never had a problem. Hootie

I find it funny that whenever somebody posts a picture of a big fish they caught, there is a segment of the angling population that spends an exponentially amount of time trying to discredit the photo, rather than simply congratulating the angler on a great catch....especially when they don't even know the guy.

when all else fails,and it happens. what is the one bait/lure you go to when you need that one fish that will make your day. since I started this my go to is a Manns Baby 1- . can't explain it, but it always seems to come through. so what you all got?

What a beast! https://www.outdoorhub.com/news/2016/12/21/video-massive-mille-lacs-muskie-caught-cold-weather/

I take great pride in my weirdness!

I completely agree. I am always amazed at how some folks will love one of these products, claiming it is the best ever, while others rant on and on about how bad it is. We are all wired differently and some of you guys weird!

I use Trokars exclusively for punch baits. The trick with them is not to tex-pos them. Bring the hook point up just before it breaks the surface and you won't have that problem unles you're useing a D Bomb. . The hook will hold nicely in a rib. Mike

There is a little bit of Chuck Norris in every powerbait.

I don't know why bass anglers can't figure out that memory in mono or any single filament fishing line is directly tied to the diameter of the line. Yo-Zuri Hybrid mono/FC line is 3 lb test sizes larger in diameter the most other mono line. Sunline Super Natural mono. Yo-Zuri Hybrid 6 lb test = .008 D. 6 lb test = .010 D. 8 lb test = .009 D. 8 lb test = .011 D. 10 lb test = .010 D. 10 lb test -= .012 D. You all call Yo-Zuri "thick line" I call mislabeling to convince anglers the line is strong,it should be the 6 lb test line is actually 10 lb test line! Tom

4 lbs ( if you can find it ), even though YZH is mono ( as in monofilament ) it´s a copolymer ( nylon + FC ) and copolymers are slightly thicker and less flexible than for example straight nylon, the advantage is that their breaking strength is ridiculously high.

The lure specs on the rod will give you a general idea of the power but since there isn't any industry standard you really have to try the rod out. As for the stiffness, there really isn't any way to know if a rod is stiff or it is soft, not even taper can tell you that. The only way to really tell is to fish with it or ask someone who has fished with the rod, otherwise it is a guess.

"Capable to go on Erie" may mean something different to each boater. My own Lund Pro V Bass boat is just under 19 ft. It's an aluminum very deep V hull (when compared to most traditional bass boat configurations). Although this Lund is very capable on any & all of the larger inland lakes I fish, the big lakes get dangerously nasty fast. And although I'm surrounded by the Great Lakes, my boat will never seen one. There's a ton of other & safer water for me to fish so I choose not to intentionally take on that much risk. Just no need. The boat that is truly safe on the Big Lakes, may actually be too big for many of the mid to smaller waters I current fish. There are several "I'm looking for a new boat" threads available in the BR forum for a motivated searcher - I'd encourage you to read through a few. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/search/?q="New Boat"&type=forums_topic&sortby=relevancy&search_in=titles A-Jay

My favorite cold muddy water bait is turning off the alarm clock.

I will get them out to glenn so he can give them away as gifts

The best way is to limit your tackle to a small variety that can be fished with one rod/reel and fit in a couple of pockets or a small bag. Bass will bite on many different lures so you don't need to bring more than a few that you will be able to present effectively. Location is more important than tackle, so put your effort into learning where the bass will be. oe

Does it have the 2.5, 3.0, or 4.0. Auto or manual transmission. These little trucks tend to run for a very long time, and take some abuse. Personally, I had 2001 2.5 liter 5 speed manual. I literally ran the snot out of this truck and she'd just keep running. That is until one day. ...doing some country cruising, young and dumb, rail road tracks, 55mph, steep, 8 feet in air, bye bye ranger. Still wish I had that truck.

Yep, I would trade all 14 species for a 14 pound Bass!

I ultimately ended up sticking to st croix it's hard to change I was debating getting the seirra dobyns spinning 69 but the extra money made me change my mind, see what happens.

For bank fishing I agree there is really no best way, because we all fish differently. For me I go with a 3500 size bag and carry a small box of 5 cranks, a second box with rigged plastics, and a third box with rigged Zman baits. Also in there is my scent, pliers, hook cutter, extra snaps, a cutter and lip gripper. That is it for me. If you need more gear a backpack should work and you can still be very mobile.

4" wacky rigged Senko

I had a 2001 Ford Ranger XLT for about 5 years. I bought it in 2005 as my first ever self-purchased vehicle after I graduated from college and it had about 85,000 miles on it. I paid $7500 for it and it lasted until about 125,000 miles before things started to crap out. I got sick of pouring money into it so got rid of it in 2010. Thing was kind of a gas hog too for a small truck. Nowadays a light duty truck or compact SUV that's similar can get at least 25 mpg.

Gotta be a tube, have caught them deep, shallow, docks, cold, warm, you get the idea since I started bass fishing. Other baits have come and gone for me, but the tube is always there. A very close second is a 3 to 5" grub, preferably a kalins, pretty much same deal as the tube maybe a touch less versatile.

Down here the water belongs to duck hunters from sunrise til about 9:30 when they pack it up Last few years I was one of them... But this year I'll be fishing all winter cause I lost my dog and I'm just not in the mood to hunt without her Winter fishing has me scratching my head, and I love it... I can't catch anything, so I can't wait to get out there again next week and try something different

If I just need to feel a tug on the end of the line a ned rig is hard to beat. But if I just can't figure them out that day I could toss a spinnerbait for hours and hours on end and still have confidence it would eventually get me bit if I just kept hammering the right areas.

It's shocking how heavy the Montana state bass was at only 22.5 inches in length.What was the girth on that bass, 20 inches? Reminds me of the current Texas state record bass which only measured 25.5 inches yet it weighed 18.18 pounds.These are some truly thick bass.

Finesse worm I suppose but normally its not the bait that needs changed its the speed of my presentation.

For me it's a Cut R with a 1/16 pegged weight. Mike

I agree that it seems high unless it's both mechanically and cosmetically sound. At 120,000 it is on its second set of tires and they are at the end of their life, unless you got lucky and the guy selling it just replaced them. A new set of tires are going to run you another $800.

"When All Else Fails" my fall back is a Drop Shot with either a SK Rage Craw or a SK DB Craw. Nose hooked or on a tex-posed on thin wire ewg. If this doesn't do it I go to a wacky Senko ~ ( just Please don't tell @Darren.) A-Jay

If you use a log of Z Man baits, this is the best way. Of course there are other worm binders out there, but their bags are pre punched for the binder. Nice.

Just size and line capacity, its a personal preference choice. Some may try to say the 50 size reels cannot handle some heavier applications but its not true. You can punch, frog, jig, etc with a 50 size reel with no issue.

If your reel has a capacity of 6# 90 it's probably got a very small spool (some reels have a large spool that's shallow) and a small spool is not going to work well with mono over about 4lb. I like 6lb P line CXX on my ned rod, it's a springy line, but has very little stretch and is very durable. I fish it on a shallow spooled Daiwa 2506 size reel, a normal Daiwa 2500 size would work too, but you'd need some backing or spool up with a lot of line. In the winter though, I switch to braid as the mono gets stiffer and less usable in cold weather. I've been using Daiwa J braid in the 0.10mm size recently with no complaints, but like you I hate it when it's windy. BTW One really important thing with braid, especially in the wind, is to learn to feather the line during the cast so that it's pretty taught when your lure hits the water. Feathering the line and stopping it when the lure hits the water not only stops the big bow of line from the cast forming, but it helps enormously in stopping the "wind knots" forming on your spool. Flip the bail manually and keep half an eye on the spool for loops forming across the top of the spool. I cast by trapping the line against the open spool with my finger and releasing it as I cast, the finger can then feather down on the line as the cast progresses and can trap the line against the spool again at the end of the cast to straighten everything out.

There's no right or wrong. Take the rod and mount a few reels to see what feels good. IMO the whole balance thing is way over thought and obsessed on. St Croix uses great blanks and tend toward the shorter side on handle length. If you decide adding weight is an absolute must don't do it with the reel. Go the cap and washer route.

Here's my submission. It's a bed fishing jig

Never said the guns were cocked, locked, & ready to rock! The gun is just a tool, the soldier is the weapon!

Before spending money trying to make a new reel better, do a complete tear down, clean and lube. You will be surprised by the improvement. At that point you can decide what to upgrade. Or not.

When I can not get bit on ANYTHING ANYWHERE................I head to docks with a spinning rod and a 4" yum dinger on a 1/16th oz wacky jig. More times than not, after 2 hours of this, I'll have a limit.................they may only be small keepers, but I WILL get a limit on that.

I have several of the Pflueger XTs and really like them. I've never held the Shimano and have no desire to. All my spinning reels use to be Shimano until I went to Pflueger.

My general rule of thumb is to give someone a gift that they would not buy for themselves. So, I'd go with high end lures.

Yup, I've been fortunate at times to catch big bags of FLMB by the end of the first hour of fishing, conversely, I've also fished all day long, and caught a big bag the last hour.. I've been burned more than you can imagine in Florida, Kentucky, & Indiana.. In other words a big fat 0.. Bass fishing is not bluegill, crappie or catfishing. It can & will frustrate a angler. ( that might well be the alure of it for me )