Big Al23

To keep it at $300, I recently purchased 3 new Shimano Crucial rods. Haven' got to use them yet but they balance nice with my Scorpion and 50E reels. Match it up with a new Curado or Chronarch? Monster Tackle still has the Curado for $139 I believe with code Curado40.

They maybe made at the same factory but Lew's is a totally separate reel company. They are headquartered right near BPS in Springfield Mo. If you notice, BPS does not sell Lews. From what I understand, Johnny Morris had a fallen out with them. Personally, I think he is using his business power to bully them. Anyway, I've used a few Lews reels and a lot of guys are going to them because of the lower cost and they are happy with them. I like them but not enough to shelf my Shimanos.

Always get a compression test on the outboard. A dealer will provide you with one because they won't take a boat in trade without doing this, therefore they will stand behind it when selling it. If private seller, ask them if you can have a compression test done. You can usually find a mechanic that will do one for you for a small price, maybe $50 -$100. If a private seller will not let you do a compression test then don't consider buying it.

Are you targeting largies? Any smallies or trout there? If largies, northwest part of the lake if the water temps are in the 50's. Slow moving baits, jigs or grubs would be my choice. Lots of parameters for sure.

Caught some 5+ lber's in VT but that one is incredible!

Here west of Worcester, the ice is melting but haven't seen any lakes fully open. Any reports?

My goal this year is to fish more and hope to break into the 7lb club

My advice to you is to buy a Shimano Citica G. I've always liked Shimano's 6 pin brake system because you can get it adjusted so you don't need to use your thumb to feather the spool. You can find these reels sometimes under $100. You may also find a Curado G for a good price. I think they are the easiest to use for beginners. I tried a lot of baitcasters and still go back to Shimano. Don't get me wrong, Daiwa , Abu, Lews, they're all good reels also, but the Shimano brake system makes them my favorite.

Don't know what year your boat is but when I had my 2009 Tracker PT190, I called Tracker and spoke with them about this. The boats are wired with 8 gauge which is sufficient to power a 24V TM up to 45 amps. All you need to do is add the second battery. Most TM's up to 80 lbs of thrust won't exceed a constant 45 amp draw. Some guys will tell you that you need to rewire with 6 gauge. Not true. I did a lot of research on this.

Are we ever going to get spring? I did see 62 degrees on my truck thermometer.

yup and sister lake Echo

Bow lake comes to mind for a good smallie lake. Not far from there is Swains Lake which also has a good population of smallies. BIP in Derry/Atkinson/Hampstead and Massabesic in Manchester.

Trip to the Northeast Kingdom produced some big'uns. We had five over 5, a dozen or more in the 4 lb range. The two smallest fish were 2.5 lbs. I was catching most on a spinnerbait. We also caught some on jerks and cranks.

As the rule is stated, yes the infielder could have handled the ball BUT, I feel the ball was in the outfield, not the infield and the ump should not have called it.

I had two of the 570 DI's. They did have problems with the early models. One common problem was they did not function properly on a Motor Guide TM. Mine never worked properly at all. Mine were swapped out for 728's.

Says you cannot receive new messages.....?

Thanks

Great advice above, with that said, I love to throw spinnerbaits. It is the first lure I throw when I hit the water. It is a good bait to throw when you are in a body of water you are not familiar with. You can cover more area with a spinnerbait than any other lure. If fish are aggresive they will hit it. As with jigs there are variations of spinnerbaits. I'll throw double willows if I want to go deeper and I'll throw Colorado or Indiana blades if I want more vibration. I like to slow roll my s/b's but sometimes I will do a steady crank with a stop and go.

The Daiwa Exceler isn't a bad reel but I agree with above post on the Citica. You can find one new under $100, if you look around. That would be the best bet IMO

Congrats. Now go get the Big one!

Chompers, they don't let go.

5" Kalin grub

Beautiful fish and the camera work is great.

Welcome Nick, I see you have Suntaug listed as your favorite. My buddy and I fished that a lot years ago. He has a 5 lb'er out of there. It has some good bass in it. Where are you located? I'm north in Newbury.