Steveo-1969

My uncle did the same thing, he would have a live minnow on a bobber swimming around the hole. He would occasionally move the decoy through the water to try and attract a sturgeon's attention. And he put white objects (like paper plates) on the bottom so if a sturgeon swam through you could see it more easily. He never speared one while I was in the shack and I never saw a sturgeon in the hole, but lots of other fish. What a cool experience it was.

I grew up near Lake Winnebago in WI where there is an annual sturgeon spearing season. I never had a tag myself but went with my uncle a couple times. When the water was clear it was amazing how well you could see everything while sitting in a dark shack.

Bank. Or preferably wading.

Agreed. That's why I only went with friends who already owned all that stuff!! I'd pay for the beer and away we went.

There's really no right or wrong answers here, just everyone's opinion based on what works for them. You'll form your own opinion too. 1. Is it worth spending more on a premium line if you only intend it as leader material? The general belief seems to be that higher end fluorocarbons handle better than cheap ones but does it matter for leader? My opinion is "No". I only fish braid on a spinning rod but always tie on a leader. I tried actual fluorocarbon leader material first and it worked great. It's harder and stiffer and more abrasion resistant than mainline, but not enough for me to keep spending $8-$10 for a 25 yard spool. So I started using filler spools of fluorocarbon mainline for leaders. Now I use whatever is left over after filling baitcasting rods. It was 10# fluoro, right now I'm experimenting with 10# mono. 2. Does fluoro really have any benefit over mono in short <3’ lengths? People extoll the slack line sensitivity and reduced stretch of fluoro but I don’t see these things mattering in short lengths. Most fluorocarbon stretches as much or more than mono. I don't see any advantage in using a fluorocarbon leader over a mono leader. In limited testing this fall I did find I prefer fluoro mainline over mono mainline for bottom contact sensitivity though... 3. I’m not sold on fluorocarbon being significantly less visible than mono. I’ve never had issues getting bites on monofilament line in crystal clear water. In many cases I’ve had fish in clear water strike lures on straight braid with no inhibition. I'm not concerned about line visibility either. I use a fluorocarbon (or mono) leader for some abrasion resistance, easier to break off a snag, and conserve braided line. 4. How long of a top shot do you normally tie on? From my experience tying a long one on negates the benefits you get from spooling braid. I'm assuming by "top shot" you mean "leader"? Personally I start with a leader about 3' long. When it gets to less than a foot I'll tie a new one on.

When I lived in the ice belt the only time I went ice fishing was if I went with someone who had an ice shanty. And a heater. And a cooler of beer. Come to think of it I don't remember ever catching a fish!

He said "ice drinking". Heh heh heh heh heh heh...

This won't necessarily help you, but would hate to see you fall into the same trap I did. About 5 years ago I hired Kick'n Bass Guide Service for a guided bass trip on KY Lake. At the time the (then) owner had a Ranger that he used for bass only, but also had a pontoon boat guided by another gentleman for larger groups and mainly crappie and white/yellow bass. I called him to book a trip and explained I had three fisherman and we wanted to fish for bass. I was told he only took 2 customers max in the Ranger but he could book us on the pontoon. I reminded him we wanted to fish for bass and he said "Oh yeah, he'll be able to put you guys on bass". Fast forward to the trip. As we are idling out of the marina the pontoon guide says "I don't normally fish for bass. The owner gave me a couple waypoints to try but if we don't catch any bass we may need to fish for white/yellow bass instead". Sure enough, after an unsuccessful hour we switched to white/yellow bass for the rest of the trip. It was fun but not what we paid for or expected. I'm pretty sure there are a couple KY Lake guides that only guide for bass, I would suggest hiring one of them.

The simplest way I know of to save $$ on fishing line is to buy less expensive line than you are currently using.

Rods: G. Loomis Reels: Shimano Lines: Braid - Sufix 832 / Fluoro - Seaguar / Mono - Not sure yet... Leader: Seaguar fluoro Hooks: Gamakatsu Soft Plastics: Strike King Jigs: Strike King Bitsy Bugs Hard baits: N/A (I'm allergic to treble hooks)

Whenever I lose a big fish that I didn't see, I always tell myself it was a catfish.......

Almost for me. I have a BPS Carbonlite (black) that sees less than 50 casts a year. The other rods I use are all G. Loomis.

I'm assuming the OP is asking about footwear while fishing in a boat? I rarely fish in a boat, but if I do and it's warm then I wear flip-flops (with sunscreen on my feet).

Apologies to @JustJames and your wife, but that looks like something contestants on the show Fear Factor would have to eat!!!!

^^^ This ^^^ If you give us more details on what size jigs you will be fishing and how heavy the cover, you will get rod spec suggestions. And if you give us your $$ budget you will get very specific suggestions.

New bait/technique/presentation for me this year was the good old spinnerbait. I'd never caught a fish on one before, so I bought a couple this spring and caught half a dozen or so river smallies on them this summer/fall. It's not going to replace my small paddletail swimbait anytime soon but it was fun to catch them on something new!

I think you might be onto something there Mr. Choporoz. Go Badgers!!!!

It's funny how people have different experiences with how much fight a fish has. For me in the river I fish, the Rock Bass has the least fight of any species I catch. I set the hook, get one little tug back and they come right to the surface and don't move. Those I ski in across the top because they don't fight back at all. Walleyes on the other hand give me a great fight provided they are 16+", often pulling drag. I love the heavy headshakes and steady pull their broad tails provide and how they dig for the bottom. Now if the walleye is a little 12-incher I can just reel 'em right in. Like a Rock Bass.

I definitely enjoy the fight and don't horse fish in. For me, the enjoyment of catching a fish is 1) sensing the bite, 2) setting the hook, and 3) fighting the fish. On the other side, I've read that if you fight a fish too long it will build up lactic acid in it's muscles and it may kill the fish. Or that you can exhaust or stress a fish out too much which could also be fatal. I'm NOT a fisheries biologist, this is just what I've read. I want the catching to be enjoyable but I also want to give the fish a high chance of survival after I release it. So I enjoy the fight, but also try to land and release the fish in a timely manner. Whatever that means...

I just read on another forum that Gopher Tackle is out of business.

Yup. I mainly fish smallies in a river and I use a 7' MF baitcasting rod for every lure weight and presentation that rod can handle. Jig, swimbait, T-rig plastic, spinnerbait, etc.....

I was born and raised in Wisconsin and I never knew anyone who owned a baitcasting rod and never saw anyone fishing with one. Everyone used spincast and spinning rods. Baitcasters were only used by Southerners, not us Yankees. So when I got back into fishing in 2010 I bought a spinning rod because that's what I grew up using. And it worked fine. But when I bought my first baitcaster it was love at first backlash. I now own more baitcasters than spinning rods and fish with a baitcaster the majority of the time.

Co-anglers have found it to be no 'big' deal...

I mix crawfish Smelly Jelly into my coffee every morning instead of creamer. Then when I want to scent a lure I just pee on it. I get coffee AND crawfish smell on it at the same time. I say GENIUS!!!!!

You mentioned talking to fishing guides for that reservoir. What lures did they suggest using during the pre-spawn on that particular body of water?