FryDog62

After the 75, my second favorite is the Choppo 105. Like the medium size bubblers the best !

Big fan of the fatter 75 over the 90. The 75 just fishes bigger. It also has more of a "Baritone" sound to it that I think gets more bites without being as "in your face" as the 110 and 130 can be at times. I do fish the larger sizes too, but more and more I stick with the 75 for both LMB and SMB. The other topwater I use a lot is the Cover Pop. I give it a quick 3-4 pops like a traditional Popper when it first hits the water. If that doesn't get a strike, then I start the walk the dog action like a Spook. If there's a fish in the area, one of those two actions usually gets their attention.

Don't know that it matters that much skipping a weightless Senko... maybe T-rigged slightly better than wacky but close. The more salt/weight in the worm the farther it skips (although doesn't last as long). The other weightless option that "flies" when you skip it is a 5 inch Caffeine Shad on an Owner Twistlock Light unweighted hook. Its a heavy salt content plastic that will skip about as far as any jig... and it swims on its own after it lands under a dock if you let it sink for 4-5 seconds, unbelievable action that gets bit. Doesn't swim quite as well with just a wide gap Texas rig hook... the Twistlock with centering pin keeps it straight and swimming! The other reel I have had pretty good success skipping weightless lures has been the Daiwa Alphas SV from the JDM market. About $250 and probably 90% as good as the Steez SV TW with the weightless plastics IMO. I have it paired with a 7'1" inch Medium Light Phenix Feather, works well for lighter stuff ~

Me too, but maybe opposite - 5.5 months in Minnesota and 6.5 months in either Tennessee or Florida. Paid enough taxes to Minnesota over the years only to watch them mis-manage for too long. Hard to imagine fishing freshwater 12 months of the year, but something to shoot for!

I think they are regarded as good quality apparel and I know several people that wear them. Have heard a few guys say they either fit or they don't, especially if you wear with the hood up and a ball cap underneath (which you may or may not do). Apparently some feel the neck/back length with the hood up and a hat on is too restrictive and pulls awkwardly, especially when looking down at their graph. As they fish throughout the day are constantly adjusting and it gets annoying. Others have said its a great integrated way to get the benefits of a hood as well as the sun blocking of a bill on a hat.

Yes you can differentiate fish from structure - a lot of the time but not always. Here on Mille Lacs, we have a lot of big rock piles. You might see the fish swimming between or above them, but a lot of times the big girls just sit down between or next to the rock and bottom and wait for food to come by. Then they are hard/impossible to distinguish. But yes, if you know where a tapering point is, or some other high percentage spot - you can point Livescope at the structure and see if anything is moving around it... if not fish, maybe bait. You can usually see if someone is home, unless they are just motionless against the bottom.. then its hard to know. For pre-spawn bass, it helps to know where some of the flats near spawning areas are, or near a gradual point, etc... So before you take off, familiarize yourself with what your lake map/contour looks like, then go target the most likely areas. You might have an idea for depth so start there too. That's where Livescope is great - you suspect they are in 8-10 fow on a flat getting ready to move in to spawn. Can scan all around til you find maybe a stray but more likely 3-4 fish, and sometimes an entire school. Obviously start casting there and eliminate all the water around you that is unpopulated. Ha, I used to cast and cast a chatterbait, jerk bait, search bait, etc... just hoping to find where they are. Probably how I ended up with tennis elbow... Now I drive around on a higher trolling speed until I find signs of life and target just those areas. Much more productive.

I would add 360 in the Fall too - excellent when its "football" (jig) season... I do use Livescope in the post spawn/summer too, but I just don't see as many fish roaming, they are more on structure or inside the weed line. Livescope and 360 are both great for seeing exactly where the weedlines are, but neither can help you see the fish while they set up inside the weeds. As far as a system.. I have a busy job and limited time to get away - so I just want to spend less time guessing where the fish are and more time targeting the spot on the spot. If that's Livescope to find pods of fish in the mid-depths in the spring, or 360 when the big fish are feeding on crayfish in the rocks in summer/fall - its always a place to start and figure out a pattern that works hopefully on the rest of the lake/river.

Here is something I posted on another site, hope it helps you in your plans: 360 Imaging VS. Livescope ~ First, I’m primarily a bass fisherman but have targeted pike, walleyes, white bass and crappies at times this past year. I have had Livescope for 3 seasons and 360 Imaging for one. This was the first year I used them together. Much of my opinions below are generalities and there are always exceptions. Livescope: Absolutely excels in the spring pre-spawn period where for me, 360 Imaging isn’t worthless but not very useful IMO. Outside of spawn beds (which I don’t target much, and you can just sight fish with good polarized sunglasses anyway) fish aren’t set up on/near structure yet, they are roaming and that is where Livescope kicks tail. Seeing schools of crappies, white bass or other species moving around is lights out on Livescope with a jerk bait. You not only see the fish, but also what depth they are at, how far down they are suspended, etc. I also found walleyes just off the emerging weed line on Opener and caught a limit. I’ll post a picture below of a large school of white bass in 16 fow, about half way down. I could figure out whether to use a shallow or deep jerk bait a lot easier once I knew their depth. Livescope also is awesome in down view for drop-shotting as the season goes on. 360 Imaging: I didn’t get much benefit from it until post-spawn when the fish set up on off-shore cover, drop-offs and rocks. Before I had 360 Imaging I could always find a concentrated boulder field but struggled to find broken/chunk/scattered rock even with side imaging (I could find them many times on SI but didn’t always successfully pinpoint it when fishing). I was amazed this year how I was able to find some isolated areas and catch more than the usual one fish. Finding the big boulder field is a no-brainer, but with 360 you can really key in on specific rocks – the biggest one, or one on the end of a point, etc. I even found a sunken picnic table on the Mississippi in 18 feet of water and could drop my jig right right through a missing plank after a few tries. Was great target practice to learn depth perception, distance from the outer rings on the 360 graph, etc. When it got hot this Summer/Fall and fishing was really tough, finding bottom structure with a Ned or football jig was sometimes nothing short of incredible. Both: Livescope didn’t come much back into play for me again until Fall when fish started to transition and move again. But at that time, it was a great combo with 360 to see rocks or sunken trees and then see fish (or baitfish) moving around it with Livescope to see if anyone was home. The second photo below are the 2 units working together around some scattered boulders that I may have found with side imaging, but would have struggled to pinpoint cast to them without these electronics. I had my best smallmouth trip of the year on that day (see Avatar picture). A few other general observations: I was surprised how little the two technologies overlapped. Rarely ever got benefit from them simultaneously. But one usually would really shine. Both technologies were good to see/track the outside weedlines. I had heard some people previously say one or the other is better – but both work well. Sometimes big fish (or 2-3 together) look too good to be true but you can’t get them to bite. Wish I had an Aqua-Vu to determine if they are rough fish which they probably are. Besides a jerk bait bite, I seem to catch more fish now when the lure slowly gets into the bite window and gradually moves versus – fast retrieve. Confirms I have always fished too fast. I now have overall better results with finesse applications. I have been a long-time critic of the Nerd-Rig (slow, tedious, last resort) but I learned it this year and it absolutely saved my bacon time and time again when I put it in the spot-on-the-spot. Fish rarely sit still in one location very long. You have to be in the right spot at the right time. These two technologies absolutely help you do this. Slight edge to Livescope there because it is real time and you don't have to wait for the screen to refresh like 360 to see which direction they are heading. ——————————————— So the question I get a lot is if you had to buy one, which would you? Wish I had an easy answer, but I don’t. If you fished one way or the other as described above – roaming fish vs. fish set up on structure/cover – you could pick one over the other. Unfortunately for me anyway, the expensive answer is both. Neither is cheap, but kind of like when you added automatic locks (and later auto windows) to your car in the 90’s, you’d never go back to a crank up/manual system now… Glad I purchased them both and am looking forward to next year to learn them more ~

I like Maxscent Creature Hawgs, or a beaver style plastic on finesse jigs. However, if its a super slow football jig drag (which I also use a lot in 40's degree water), I go with a Twin Tail grub.

I think there was a percentage pre-Covid and one today - two different numbers. With all the added pressure I've seen a big change in many lakes the past 2 years...

I’m a 3/8 oz. Cavitron guy - but with the “Clacker.” I usually take the skirt off and use a Zoom Z Craw “Jr” which at 3.5 inches is just the perfect length. Black buzzer, Black-Flash Z Craw Jr. Kapow! ?

Muscle memory is a funny thing ~ I grew up using primarily spinning rods - cast and hold the rod with right hand and do the easy part and reel with my left. That's a "Right-handed" spinning set up. As I got older into my 20's - I picked up on using baitcasting equipment. Still the same - cast and hold the rod with my right hand and hold reel with my left. Why switch? Leverage the use of your dominant hand. Crazy but that was now considered a "left-handed" bait caster. I read something about 10 years ago that said most right handed people have only about 80% strength and dexterity in their left hand. So why would I change to a right-handed baitcasting set up? After the switch, I enjoyed being labeled a Southpaw - even though I was primarily using my right hand for the dominant part of my fishing mechanics. Go figure ~ About 7 years ago - after several hand/wrist surgeries, I could no longer be a right-handed spinning guy. I tried switching to left-handed spinning but felt like an old granny throwing a baseball. So, I switched to 100% "right-handed" baitcasting (Yes, holding the rod in my left-hand) - for power fishing, finesse, everything. The advent of BFS has helped me with some of the finer motor skill fishing techniques - Ned, drop-shot, etc. Now after 50+ years of fishing I use my left hand to hold the rod and work the bait. Yes, I was probably 80% or less the strength of my right hand when I switched 7 years ago - but with "Muscle & Brain" training, feel like I'm closer to 90-100% now. When I made the switch my dad said it was good training and recovery for my first stroke and learning to use both and your brain and muscles differently. Hope he's wrong, it hasn't happened yet to test his theory - but it does prove you can improve muscle memory even in middle-aged guys. Adapt or die! ~

I ventured to the dark side of finesse fishing after years of power fishing. Small/light lures and BFS saved my season this year...

Wondering if it’s a Lund product that fits into the Sportrak? Or another aftermarket, but good idea -

I'm going to be in FLA Jan/Feb... not sure what our schedule will be yet, but if you have a guide and/or body of water to recommend then let me know, or feel free to PM. Thx

8-2 is a great benchmark, let alone a DD?

I have a number of different models, but if I had to break it down... I would start with any of the following Daiwa reels: 1) If you plan to skip lures or throw really light stuff, go with any SV reel, i.e. Tatula SV TW. 2) If you want ultimate casting distance (20-30% farther) go with Tatula Elite. For standard size crankbaits, jerk baits, buzzbaits... 3) If Flipping/Pitching - Tatula Elite P/F. 4) If heavy cranking - deep cranks, umbrella rigs, etc - 300 series.

Wowsers - looks like you found 'em. As good luck fishing there this year as in year's past? Some things don't change, nice fish Dwight ~

Be on the look out for this one too - -

7 lb Sniper on finesse spinning rigs (for my "clients") and also on my bfs set ups. As long as people close the bail manually on the spinning rigs, the line twist isn't usually too bad. Although after certain people use it for awhile I stretch the line out with a swivel on dry land after a long day on the water. That and a squirt of some KVD keeps it somewhat manageable ~

I kind of wondered if the FTC was going to step in during the BPS-Cabelas merger. A bit like GM and Ford merging leaving just Chrysler to compete at 20% their size. But the emergence of online retailers gives this all a big twist since that is largely the direction the fishing industry is going. BPS may not be in the top 10 someday.

Mainline Abrazx 15 lb ?

My favorite river/smallie rod is a Phenix as well. I find the 7'1" MHXF Feather to work well for many lures - flukes, caffeine shads, tubes, Rugby jig/Hula Grub, Neko, Shaky, etc. It fishes somewhere between a Medium and MH. The extra fast tip paired with 10-12 lb fluorocarbon is great for sensitivity, bottom contact, etc. and the backbone can get fish out and away from cover or heavy current really well.

For me and needing 2 batteries on a small boat - small size and light weight of the second battery just to run the depth finder is the priority for me. This is a second boat that I will only use for a couple months and then put away and/or limited use.

I did stop by the local Cabelas today and asked my series of questions. Guy really thought a 10AH is all I need for the Helix 8 for 4-6 hours of fishing. But then he said SI burns more and if I ever added 360 Imaging, etc. he said go with 20AH. I thought I was getting an "upsell" pitch but they did have a 20AH on sale for only $2 more than the 10AH. Still haven't bought anything yet -