FryDog62

Power drill can work on the newer models, mine being 6 years old may have to be modified - but something I am Definitely exploring for next year.

Very true. My public service announcement for all who do push ups is to do them on your fists, not on a flat palm. This I was told by the top hand surgeon at Mayo - about 2 weeks too late for me. Flat palm push ups unduly stress the Scapholunate ligament resulting in a tear over time. This is an unfixable ligament tear and why I can only fish left handed now, and will eventually have my wrist fused permanently. Be careful with any exercise, especially those done repetitively.

Maybe worth a try. FWIW I did also try CBD oil. Didn’t help the elbow and I got the munchies... Gotta do what you gotta do... My Lund PVB with motor down and turned to the left, tongue swung open, and wiggled with Trailer Valet to achieve the perfect angle... leaves 3/4 inch room in back and 1/2 inch up front to get the garage door down. It’s TIGHT.. ...What we do to fish ?

I like it too... but it wasn’t available when I bought mine 6 years ago for $299. This new one is $4000 so I may have to save my pennies awhile..!

Maybe some of you have seen what a Trailer Valet is..?? It allows me to push my boat up an incline and angle to just barely fit in my garage. And also to pull it out without hitching to my vehicle so I don’t scrape the sides (or my wife’s nearby car). Works great, only one problem... you really have to crank it with some strength to fit it like I have to. And after 50 trips to the boat ramp this season (x2 each time in/out = 100 cranking sessions) I got the dreaded tendinitis aka “Trailer Valet elbow.” Anyway, that was early Sept and I only trailered a couple more times this Fall. In October I had “dry needling” done. No improvement. Now in November I’m trying some exercises and ice but not a lot of improvement there either. Any favorite exercises or recovery methods that work? Or does it just take 3-6 months to heal?

Never figured out if it was a specific incident or two, or just big egos that didn’t care for each other..

Yo-Zuri Hybrid fanboy here for many years... great all-round line if you want to go with one primary line. However this last year I started using Sufix Advance mono and it would be a tough call which I prefer now.

I stand corrected MNFisher - it was late April this year, May 5 in 2018 and I think May 2 a couple years back. Either way, with Winter starting early again this year, I’m sticking with my May 2, 2020 prediction. I honestly hope that I’m wrong and it happens in April again (or even March)!

The last 2 years here in the Minneapolis area have been ice out the first week of May... yes May not a typo... So I will predict our ice-off date at May 3, 2020. Which is 172 days. Argh.. I do try to sneak over to South Dakota in April most years as their ice goes off a little earlier and they don’t have a closed season like we do here in MinneSiberia. Here’s a couple pics from SoDak last April 25:

When I bought my boat, it was recommended to me to get a quality on-board charger and leave plugged in year round whenever the boat is not in use. Was told in doing this the batteries would likely exceed the typical 5 year life expectancy as well. So the boat sits in my unheated garage on the trickle. I considered storing the boat at a facility this winter as we prepare our house for sale... but when I found out I would need to remove all the rods in my locker to get under the floor and take all 4 batteries out and haul inside then set up a charger... I decided nah just leave the boat plugged in the garage.. not worth the hassle for me. And save the $300 storage fee for the Bait Monkey of course..

Or wait till today's snow clears off the pavement, then pull the boat down 35w until you either take a right to Tenkiller, or a left to Table Rock...

I like watching the Angling Edge, Lake Commandos and Weirdtoofish videos because they fish where I fish. How they approach a body of water is what's most helpful. Weirdtoofish just did a clip comparing various crayfish imitators that I though was really good, and they aren't tied to one bait manufacturer. Glenn/BR is always good and I watch a little Tactical Bassin. Anything with Swindle is more entertaining than instructional, but I really enjoy playing some of his stuff for my wife. She has a hard time deciphering some of his redneck slang but gets quite a kick out of him. And her eyes get as big as saucers when I play his Dude Wipes promotions.

I use both neon yellow/green and ghost braid - tie a fluorocarbon leader with both. Both lines provide good visibility above the water. I will say this though... on those really bright mid summer days, the neon colors almost glow in a way that distort them IMO... hard to explain. While the ghost seems more true and easy to see, judge depth, etc. Again my opinion but both seem to work well...

I was 100% braid guy until about 10 years ago on a walleye fishing trip to Canada. Semi-clear water with light green stain. Two boats circling the same “honey hole” for 2 hours. Three guys in our boat using 10 lb moss green braid, sinker and a leech. The other boat with two guys, mono, sinker and leech. They caught 20 fish we caught 2 despite having the extra angler. We circled the same spot within 20 yards of each other and even traded bait buckets at one point. I had one similar situation a year later with friend who was more of a novice angler, using mono... and I was using braid and we fished plastics for smallmouth. He out-fished me 3 to 1. Ever since then I still use braid a lot but took the time to learn how to tie a mono/fluoro leader. Also switched my drop-shot rod and Neko rig to 100% fluoro main line for invisibility and uniform sink rate (it’s denser) to bottom contact. Probably doesn’t make a difference 90% of the time, but I decided not to take a chance...

Fair to partly $hitty here in Minnesota until the day after Memorial Day... which is good because that’s when the ice will go out ??

I may have figured it out... Sitting on Tarmack looking at lake maps... sometimes boredom can work to your advantage Too bad it’s too late into the season to explore...

"Hits" for me were: Post-spawn Neko fishing was absolutely lights out. Hadn't utilized the technique fully in the past and now can't wait for next June! Re-connected with a college friend of mine that had lived out of state. Hadn't seen him in 25 years until he moved back - found out he has the same passion for bass fishing as I do. Lot of good times on the water this year. The big "Miss" for me is: Our Minnesota climate is finally getting to me. This past winter was 8 months long and the year before was 7 1/2. Then back in 2013 our fishing season "opener" was cancelled in much of the state due to ice still on the lakes. 2014 was even colder with 57 days of below zero temps and ice on til May. Over the past 10 years we've had one very warm winter, 2 average and 7 terrible, long, cold, snowy seasons. I've about had it - staring out the window for 2/3 of the year, then trying to cram 12 months of fun into the other 1/3 of the year. Crazy...

X2

Like Tom, I also like the smallie beaver, but also Maxscent Creature Hawg.

For me, I’d opt for the Tat XT or the Shimano SLX... of the two I’d lean the Daiwa combo given the SV reel. Throwing lighter lures in the wind helps to have a forgiving reel...

I think the Clarus/Regal spinning outfit would work well. An alternative to a smaller spinnerbait might be to try a Chatterbait Mini (1/4 oz) or Micro (1/8 oz) a different look/vibration anyway. Being a baitcasting guy, the rod I use for those weights if not around cover is a Phenix Feather 7-1 MLF. If cover/current I’ll throw a 1/4 oz on a Phenix Feather 7-1 MHXF. Wish they also made a Feather in a Medium-Fast, but the other two are awesome/versatile rods for a variety of smallmouth applications.

It’s somewhere here in Minnesota... but I’m not sure where. Looks a bit agricultural, maybe central/western or southern part of the state? Some unique looking water anyway...

3/4 oz Dark Sleeper... yep, catches bass but other stuff too. Great for getting big waldos out of weed beds..

Looks good - do you have a link? Thx

Aaron’s a hoot... one of the reasons I got Panoptix...