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I give them a mini hookset and then reel. I also cast my dropshot most of the time instead of fishing it vertically.

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Welcome to the forums Todd!

My dad used to have a floating foam snake head, it was meant to be put in front of rubber worms instead of a bullet weight. It'd keep everything on the surface to make the rig imitate a snake. He had caught a lot of fish using that.

You can make any reel work for it, but I'd say a 7+ would be best.

I've got the same type as ski. I've never had a problem with them getting clogged.

I'd check out the new St. Croix Mojo Bass rods. They've upgraded the blank on the new ones and are going to make for some nice rods. You'll even have a few bucks left over for more gear.

I hear ya! I've tried and failed to narrow down my selections. Even being a guide, I have stuff I don't use. For me though, I live in an area where within about an hour radius from my house, there are roughly 100 different lakes. So for me one day I might be out on a lake with 12' of visibility chasing smallies, and the next I'm fishing a mud puddle going for the green ones. That's the thing about organizing, it's all about trying to find something that works for you as an individual and it sounds like we've both got something that works for us

If you're around sparse cover you could probably get away with it, but if you're fishing any thick stuff it's gonna be a strugglefest to say the least.

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I've never checked max drag nor have I ever set my drag with a scale. I've really had no reason to. Learn to set it by feel. I set my drag tighter with single hook applications and lower with trebles.

I'd go with the breakers, they're so much nicer than caring extra fuses all the time.

I thought of that, but I still had too many. Even between just drop shot, ewg, and swimbait hooks, I was already past what the Plano TFO could keep organized so I had to find an alternative.

I use a spinnerbait binder. Mine is one of the old bass pro ones that I don't think they make anymore, but Browning makes one similar. What I like about it is they'll hold all my spinnerbaits and straight bladed buzz baits. It fits on top of my plano boxes in my soft sided tackle bag so when I'm not fishing out of my boat it can easily be tossed in the bag.

Those are awesome, I looked into buying one when they came out though and if I'm remembering correctly they were north of $500. Some day I'll have one, but it's a bit steep for just a toy right now haha. I'd also second these other guys in getting a gopro. They work great!

I thought so too, until I started looking more closely at it. I've got waaaay to many different styles of hooks and weights to fit into one of those. My solution was switching to the 3701 which is half the thickness of a regular 3700 box. I think they're still a little too deep, but I've got one for hooks and one for sinkers.Without any modifying, I haven't had a problem with anything slipping over or under the dividers.

People will occasionally catch them on musky baits up here, so there's no doubt a big girl would go for a big bass bait.

I'd be guessing they are migrating to their new seasonal area.

You will lose fish on a frog, it's as simple as that. You probably should have set the hook harder, but it's hard to say for sure. When I set on a frog, I usually bury it in them or the frog comes flying back past me.

You aren't one of those people who starts their motor out of the water are you? I've seen too many who have done that to not ask. If it's not the impeller, then it could be the thermostats. You might have got one that isn't calibrated correctly. Also if the motor has been run in any salt or brackish water, that can sometimes cause the t-stats to corrode slightly and not operate as smoothly. Also worth noting, they can get crap in them. My friend had a Merc that wouldn't pump water and when he took the t-stat out, it had a small piece of gunk stuck in the spring. Another possible cause is the water temp sensor that turns on just a little early.

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If I had to guess I'd be guessing your impeller is on it's last leg. They should be changed every few years as it's more a wear and replace part. The fact that when you gave it a little more gas makes me think it's that since at a higher rpm your motor starts to move a higher volume of water through it. Even if it's not working efficiently, a worn impeller will still move more water at a higher rpm. Leave the thermostats alone for now unless you're going to try flushing the cooling system with the lower unit off to get anything out of there. If you don't know when the last impeller was put in, that would be my first move.

I'm on year two with the same vest A-Jay has. The HIT technology is great and they are very comfortable. I couldn't stand wearing the foam vests, they just never fit right. When it's scorching in the middle of the summer there's no way I'll wear a foam one all day, but I have and will with an inflatable. I would strongly suggest them.

Yep I do, front one is basically fused in place and haven't figured out how to get it out so it stays. There's really not much reason not to. I guess if you were going on a really long trip, it might help to reduce drag a little and maybe bump up MPG. Not sure if it'd be enough to be noticeable though.

Just pull it off and put a normal amount of line on your reel. 70-90 yards would be plenty if you didn't retie very often but after your "few weeks of fishing" you've shortened it up enough you're hitting the end. Adding backing in't going to help anything since your main line is too short. Best option put new braid on and fill it just shy of the bevel on the spool. If you don't want to use that much braid, put on some cheap mono backing, but realize eventually you'll run into this problem sooner or later, if you don't use much backing it will be slightly later than earlier, but that's your call.