Scott F

In my lakes with hybrid strippers, aka “wipers”, the fish cruise around in open water chasing shad. One of my favorite baits is a blade bait in silver.

Could be a lot of things caused that. Maybe it was caught and dropped, and the slime coat was rubbed off there. I caught one with worse damage than that recently

You are definitely paying to have a person carry your groceries to the car at the checkout whether you use them to help you or not. Have you ever shopped at an Aldi store? Prices there are typically 30% cheaper than the stores that have people to bag and take your food the the car for you. At Aldi, you bring your own bags, or pay extra for them at the checkout. You pay a quarter for a shopping cart, which you get back when you put it back in the rack. The store doesn’t have to pay someone to gather carts, and the parking lots don’t have carts everywhere. You also bag your own groceries. If you are trying to save money on food, Aldi skimps on service to lower prices. If you don’t mind doing a little extra work, the savings add up. The stores are smaller and don’t have a huge selection. It’s almost all private label items. If you get something that you don’t like, they’ll give you your money back and, if you want, they’ll also replace the item free.

I have an inflatable personal pontoon. Very, very durable outer shell. As long as you have a quality boat and not a pool toy, no further reinforcement is needed.

How much bank access will you have? One of the secrets of successful river fishing is getting to the spots where they hold. Finding good river bank fishing spots can be a challenge. If the river is shallow enough, and the current is slow enough you might be able to wade which will up your chances dramatically.

If I had to have a lure taken out of me at the hospital, I’d want to get the lure back.

Between the Motor Guide ix5 and the Terrova, personally, I prefer the Minn Kota. The remote on the MK has a screen so you can see what speed the motor is set to. Also, you can have 5 spot lock spots set on the MK that you can return to where the MG only has one. The wireless foot pedal on the MG is nice, but if you forget to turn it off, the batteries will die. No indicator to tell you the strength of the foot pedal batteries. Keep extra AAs on hand. I also prefer to use the left-right and momentary on buttons instead of having to keep your entire foot on the pedal. Having the electric steer on a big pontoon is a big plus because you can operate the troll from anywhere instead of being tied to the cable steer foot pedal of a fortrex.

St. Croix Avid or Avid X.

I’m interested in hearing other answers but I don’t understand how the gear ratio on the reel would not pair with a particular rod. I get that high speed reels are not suited for some lures, but can be an advantage with others, but I’ve never heard anyone say that you must pair the speed of a reel to a rod.

A common way to mount spinning reels on some of the more modern rods is to have the rod blank exposed between the parts that grip the foot of the reel. This leaves a gap between the blank an the reel foot. I find these reel seats very uncomfortable. My finger tips rest on the hard edge of the reel foot. I’ll never buy another rod with that style reel seat again. The rod in the picture is a discontinued St. Croix Rage.

A few years ago, a gentleman caught a smallmouth that would have been the Wisconsin state record. He took it to the DNR to have it verified with the intention of releasing back into the lake where it was caught The bass did not survive. He absolutely did not want his name, when he caught it, or where he caught it, to be made public, so the current record still stands. He had zero interest in being listed as a record holder. He has a pattern where he catches a lot of big smallmouth that come out of Lake Michigan and wanted to keep it to himself. A friend of mine, who is in the freshwater hall of fame, chased down the story, the fisherman, and the DNR office where the fish was taken. He got the story on the condition that the details of the 10lb fish would not be released. This sounds like some sort of urban legend. If it wasn’t for me knowing the man who chased down the story, I probably wouldn’t believe it myself.

Why do shipments go by car, and cargo goes by boat?

Why do they call them apartments, when they push them all together?

During the summer, I wear nothing but the lightweight, quick dry, nylon pants. They are sold by many companies. NEVER anything cotton or denim. Once those get wet, they stay damp. The nylon pants get rid of sweat quickly. Even if you get a quick rain, or do a short wade, the pants will dry quickly. Very comfortable. Most have zip off legs that convert to shorts if you want.

The only thing wrong with the Banjo Minnow was that it didn’t get any respect because of the TV ads. It does catch fish. What is wrong with nose hooking a minnow shaped, soft plastic bait? If it had been introduced and promoted on a TV fishing show like The In-Fisherman, and maybe if it had a different name, it might have been taken seriously. I know guys who did very well with them.

Can’t beat catching nice smallmouth in just a couple feet of water in the middle of the summer.

That doesn't make any sense to me. Asian Carp are not the top game fish in any water they swim. But the were brought to this country, got loose where they don't belong and are destroying the fisheries they are now taking over.

I’m on a fishing trip on a river in the UP of Michigan. The water levels were high when we arrived on Tuesday morning and have steadily gone up. High, fast water usually pushes bass tight to the bank, out of the current. Tuesday afternoon, and this (Wednesday) morning, fishing was slow. The water was cloudy and even making casts to slack water along the shore didn’t produce much. One here, one there on wacky rigs, Senkos, and the Whopper Plopper. We took a break for lunch and to rest, and went back out for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Somebody threw the switch that turned the smallies on. The only real change that was apparent, was the cloud cover that came in advance of some storms due later tonight into tomorrow. The Whopper Plopper bite was on fire. The number of fish wasn’t remarkable, but the average size was. In the 50 plus years of chasing smallmouth, I’ve never had such a day. The biggest was “only” 19 inches, but only 1 of the 30 smallmouth was less than 16 inches. Almost every one was 17 inches. Getting them to the boat through the fast current gave us everything we could handle. A fish would turn sideways in the current and was nearly impossible to move. We never would have guessed after the previous sessions of the last day that such a change was coming.

I think that parents have a lot to do with the lack of young people entering the trades. Kids are told the only way to get a good job is to go to college. People don’t encourage their kids to work with their hands. Go to college today and bury yourself with a huge debt that you’ll be paying back for a very long time.

No rule of thumb. Do not be overly concerned with color. Once in a while, the fish may prefer a particular color, but there is no way to predict what that color may be. Always the number one thing about river smallmouth is location. When you put your bait in the right place, it almost doesn’t matter what the bait is. For me, the only baits I don’t like in shallow rivers are crank baits. The current messes with their action too much and they will be snagged a lot. Just go fish. Everyone here has told you what baits they like, they all will work.

My guess is that YOU are the one responsible for the lack of action. How many days in a row can you fish the same spot before you catch all the fish that were willing to bite? Give the pond a rest for a few days to a week.

As far as I’m concerned, the solunar tables are based on the same science as your horoscope. Go fishing when you can. Don’t stay out when lightning is present.

So did the DNR get the guy?

It has nothing to do with being black. Topwaters don’t work well in the winter or in cold water. To me, color is not an important part of the decision when choosing a topwater bait. Whopper Ploppers are great no matter which color you choose