Scott F

I’d keep my rods in the garage or my tow vehicle and not cut up the boat in any way.

Not a big deal at all. Launch the boat, straighten out the bunk, and tighten the bolts holding the bunk just enough so it doesn’t flop around easily.

When I was making spinner baits, I found wire that came in straight pieces instead of a coil. That helped getting a straight, finished bait.

Reduce the file size of your photos. Plenty of online sites to do it for you

I give solunar tables the same respect and trust as I do the astrological charts. (none)

If the guy If the guy running the motor couldn't position the boat, it wasn't the motors fault. I have a remote for controlling my TM, but I seldom use it. It also has a foot pedal that I use most of the time. The remote lets anyone run the motor from anywhere in the boat. If the TM companies could design a peddle that was flat, like my Terrova, I'd go back to using one. Forcing the boat manufacturers to cut a hole in the floor to make the cable steer pedals usable is crazy

I normally put little thought into the color of the plastics I throw. But with lipless cranks, The Red Eye Shad in orange craw is now just about the only rattle bait I throw anymore. I fish a lake with a big, weedy flat where the weeds in the spring are 2-3 down from the surface. On windy days I drift the flat, powered by the wind. Several times, I’d make a drift or two with minimal success using various colors of rattle baits. I’d make a third drift with the orange craw RES, and get 10. It’s happened on different lakes as well. Now I just start with the orange craw and seldom take it off

I use 8-10 lb braid with no leader. A ML rod has enough give that the little bit of stretch provided by a leader isn’t needed. Don’t overfill the spool. Line twist doesn’t show up as quickly with braid, but when it does, you’ll see the line wrap around the rod tip. When you get snagged, the no stretch makes it easier to pop your lure free. Hook sets are more sure with no stretch. I’m a big fan of light braid on all my spinning (and baitcast) rods

No, they just stay up all night.

Don’t you have to tie three knots when using a swivel? Two to the swivel and one more on the lure? Seems it would be even harder unless you are talking about a snap swivel. Many guys use the term swivel when talking about a snap swivel.

The simplest suggestion would be to stop trying to fish the bottom where you are getting snagged. In such shallow water, anything that dives is going to snag. I fish similar waters as you and my most effective bait that almost never snags is an unweighted senko. Cast it up stream and let it drift naturally with the current through fish holding areas. Bass are always looking for food drifting downstream. Keep most but not all of the slack out of your floating, braided line. You’ll see when a fish picks up your bait because the line will twitch. I T rig them texposed so even if I bump a rock or weed, the bait will come right through. Without snagging every 5 minutes, you’ll have a much better outing and you’ll catch more Smallmouth too.

I fish offshore reefs in the spring for prespawn smallmouth. The lake I fish has several underwater islands that top off at 3 to 5 feet deep. These "reefs" are the first place the smallies show up as the water begins to warm. I fish the edges of theses with jerkbaits. As the water warms, the fish move toward their spawning areas. After the spawn, they''l go back off shore but deeper.

In the normally clear rivers I fish, smallies tend to be sight feeders. when the rivers rise and get muddy, they don't seem to feed. The places they will move to in high water are out of the current. Often holding very tight to the shorelines in very small eddies. Along undercut banks, tree roots, logs, anywhere the current is blocked. If there is good shoreline access, it's a good time to bank fish. No casting needed, just cautiously, slowly, without making too much noise, walk the shorline and drop a small jig & twister right along the bank in those little no current spots. Fast, high flowing rivers are dangerous to wade or float anyway.

When you go to Canada to fish for pike, a set of jaw spreaders is standard equipment to help remove lures. Veterans of fly-in trips always tie the spreaders to the boat because all of them at one time or another, have released a fish back in the water with the spreaders still in the fishes mouth.

Big bowl shaped lake. Not a lot of structure. Tough to fish on windy days.

I've got in the neighborhood of 60 Plano utility boxes of all sizes, styles and age. I've got a few that have warped a bit, but it doesn't stop any of them from closing or otherwise functioning normally.

High pressure days are common and a few days in a row of constant, stable, high pressures can mean great fishing. My belief is that the CHANGE from low to high pressure along with accompanying change in weather, is what is responsible for making fishing tough. Except for storms and high winds, I won’t change my fishing plans because of other weather conditions. (Except for very cold temps)

I tried titanium spinnerbaits for pike fishing and I never had one that didn’t break. True, they don’t get bent, so you don’t have to straighten them out, but they are brittle and will break under stress. My advice is to buy cheap ones so you don’t break the bank when replacing them. I doubt the snakeheads will notice the difference.

JustJames, as the self appointed official who oversees these things, I hereby revoke your Man Card. ?

As popular as the Whopper Plopper is, it could be that Berkley is just trying to get more people to try the Choppo. I already own several WPs and I just ordered 2 Choppos that I'd have never bought if they weren't discounted.

The 3.5 inch Choppo, is the same size as the 90 WP.

I thought that total length of the fish caught determines the winner not weight in kayak tournaments. Short and fat don’t score more than long and skinny when a ruler is used. Fat fish like in your photo probably had recently eaten but not digested their last meal

I hope Korkers has redesigned their removable soles. Several guys in my club had those a few years ago. Everybody had problems with the soles falling off and getting lost.

Generally, when a storm rolls in, the air pressure drops, the cold air of the front, meets warmer air and you have a storm. Once the front passes, with a cold front, the air pressure rises, the skies clear, and the air is cooler. That's when the fishing gets tough.

I’ve got a Garmin of that same generation. It’s easy not to get the power connector pushed all the way in. Be sure you have it connected properly.