Scott F

I fish clear, rocky, shallow rivers with 8 and 10 pound test braid and never use a leader. In the last 15 years, I can honestly say I have never broken off because my line got weak due to abrasion. I'm sure some guys who fish in zebra muscle infested waters or guys who fish in heavy timber might have abrasion issues but I never have, at least not in the waters I fish.

A personal pontoon is a lot more stable than any canoe or kayak.

Now that boats cost as much as a house, similar financing plans are to be expected.

I grab all but the biggest ones by the back of the head. Fingers go nowhere near the teeth. Where pike are common, use wire leaders. Losing lures is bad for you but generally isn't healthy for the pike when lures are left stuck in their mouths.

Take it back.

I'd post a picture of my tackle room but it would take me hours to get it cleaned up enough to share in pictures.

Do not overlook downed trees. If your river has lay downs, work them over. If there are few, it will concentrate the bass. I let an unweighted senko drift as close as I can get it. Toss jigs around the branches. On sunny days, a shade line will be a prime pattern. If you like jigs, bullet heads like Charlie Brewer Slicer heads or the Luck-E-Strike offset, wide gap bullet heads come though rocks better than any ball head or football jig I have never been a fan of crankbaits in the shallow rivers I fish. If you throw them upstream, you have to crank them very fast to get them to vibrate properly. Throwing them downstream, you have to crank them very slowly to get them to work right. Too many other lures that I can catch fish on to use a bait that is not as versatile for me.

Pre-spawn is the best fishing. Once the bass lock onto their beds, they stop feeding. You will do much better if you fish from the time the water hits 50 degrees until they move onto the beds.

I was on a fly-in trip in Canada to an outpost camp that had no running water or electricity. One of our guys used to go down to the dock every morning to brush his teeth. While rinsing off his toothbrush in the lake, a northern came out and bit him on the hand! Another time, we were all having a very tough time catching fish. At the end of the day, another fisherman and I were standing on the dock commiserating on our bad luck that day, when a gull landed on the dock, and dropped a small walleye. The gull looked at us, then picked up the walleye and swallowed it whole. He looked back at us as if to say, "See guys, this is how it's done" and flew off. This is why I don't like gulls. Smart__s birds. (Limiting this to true stories takes some of the fun out of this thread)

The Regal Inex vise has a spring loaded head that grabs any size hook and holds on strong. I used to fly fish and tied my own flies but only use this vise for feathered trebles and jigs. Runs $150 and will last forever.

Are you sure the charger is working? I bought a new battery once when my old one wouldn't charge. Turned out my charger was bad.

I'd like it if you could use side scan and down scan while running on plane. Features that are now standard on almost all units that are important to me are temperature read outs, and color displays

Have you tried an auto parts store?

Heidecke Lake is not in Morris. However, the Illinois River is and that's probably the water he will launch on.

My boat is rated for a 115hp motor maximum. I'm running a 75. I've been using a "whale tail" for many years. My fuel economy went up because the boat gets on plane much faster and easily and I am able to run on plane at much lower RPMs. Did I loose some top end speed? Probably, but I so seldom run wide open, I never notice. I have never been in a situation where I felt unsafe due to parallel waves. If the water is rough, I slow down. If I could afford to repower to a larger motor, I might not need the hydrofoil but for as much as I use the boat and the speeds I drive, I doubt I'll replace the motor any time soon. The hydrofoil does exactly what I needed it to do.

I know the pros do it. I spent a day walleye fishing with a guide on Rainy Lake in Minnesota. I know very little about walleyes, but the guy I was with wanted to so we hired a guide. At the end of the trip, we saw Al Lindner coming to the dock after a day when he was filming for his TV Show. He was being guided that day by the owner of Rainy Lake Houseboats, Billy Daugherty, who I know. We went up and met Al who was extremely friendly and had our pictures taken with him. He was asking ME about the walleye fishing that day. I could converse without looking too stupid as I had just spent 8 hours in a boat with a walleye guide. A short time later, we were walking near the boat ramp when a truck was pulling a boat out of the water, he stopped next to us, rolled down the window. It was Al Lindner wanting to talk to us more about the walleyes. I got a real kick out of that because I know as much about walleyes as I do brain surgery. Even the best there is doesn't know everything and some are not so proud that they are above asking others for advice.

The trolling motor will interfere with your depth finder. Keep them on separate batteries.

I see a lot of young guys who are looking for sponsorships. I get that being young and broke makes it tough to buy fishing gear, but I'm curious as to why you think that some company would give you stuff? Do you know anybody at all that gets gear as part of a sponsorship that is not already a professional fisherman?

None of the locals even fish for bass on my favorite lake so they couldn't give me good information even if they wanted to. Years ago when I first got my boat, I was on my first out of state fishing trip to a lake I read about but never fished before. We were checking in at the office of the campground we were staying at and the wall next to the desk was covered with pictures of fish that came out of the lake. There were a lot pictures featuring the same fisherman with lots of impressive catches. I asked the owners who that guy was and that I'd like to talk to him. He said he's staying here now but he's very secretive and was not likely to give up much info. A little while later, I was in my boat, at the dock, when a guy pulls up and ties off his boat. I recognized him as the angler from the wall of pictures. He looks at my still shiny new boat and he must have assumed I might know how to fish (not a good assumption at the time). We had a nice chat and before I knew it, he was marking my map with good spots to fish. His information was spot on and we did very well. I'm still not sure why the guy who was supposed to be so secretive was so generous with the information but I was very thankful he was. It made the trip a success for this novice fisherman and his partner. Ever since then, when given the opportunity, I pay it forward whenever I can.

Last spring, I bought 3 Rage rods for $200 while I was at the St Croix outlet store in Park Falls WI.

Try Eagle Creek Park. https://www.indy.gov/activity/about-eagle-creek-park

Was at BP first thing this morning. Big line of guys wanting the Garmin depthfinders. Because I signed up for a Bass Pro credit card, with the discounts, and gift card given with the purchase, I wound up getting the 73SV for $450 including tax. That's about half off what it was selling for. If I hadn't taken the day off work to go, I would not have gotten one. I think they may be sold out at the store I was at already

According to their web site, it is in store only.

The one that will be on sale is last year's model that does not have the Chirp technology

Wait until tomorrow, the 73di will be on sale for $399 and the 73si for $549 at BP