Further North

About half way between Chippewa and Bloomer...I can be on the north end of Wissota in 10 minutes...but I can be on better water in the same amount of time going north, and if I go 20 minutes...much better. With HWY 29 being all 4 lane, Boyd is probably less than half an hour these days. I work with a woman who lives in Stanly and it takes her a little over a half hour to get to our office in Chippewa Falls.

That's cool stuff... The Chippewa River around here was logging central for a while...the biggest mill in the world was on the river right in town for years. It is cool to be able to run the old channels in Lake Wissota and see stuff like that. Too bad it's mostly the Dead Sea when it comes to fishing....

Nope. Not up here anyway. What to throw? Depends on what the fish tell me. I caught a 40+ musky last weekend on a 7" Senko...Finesse seemed to be the deal that day...

I really don't think you can go wrong with any of the major brands. I happen to like Humminbird, the menus make sense to me and the new MEGA SI is just nuts...but I don't see it making any real difference in how I fish or how successful I am. It was just time to update after 4 seasons. Lowrance, Garmin, Raymarine (I think I got 'em all) all work great...I really think it's important to go play around with the units in-store to see what you like best...the "features" are just decorations on top of rock-solid basics for all the top brands and - IMO - won't make a bit of difference on the water over time.

Made me smile...we've got a fair amount of structure here, but nothing like down south with flooded timber, sunken bridges and road beds... I've got a rock pile on the outside bend of the Chippewa River near here that makes strong men sweat when it comes up on Side Imaging. Smallmouth guys have been known to fall to their knees, look to the sky and chant, "Thank you, God! Thank you!" ...then I went to Canada, started fishing Canadian Shield lakes. Oh, Baby....could you see structure... Gobies make good bait...

...so it's just a fly tied into a dropshot rig? Easy peasy: Any bunny strip fly in a color that works in your water. Been doing it for 3 seasons now...

Is the hair jig tied in at the bait hook point, or substituted for the drop shot weight?

I could do that...but I'd leave the boat ready to go out when I got back... ...just kidding, at least what you're doing makes sense now... I gave walleye fishing a shot, including a week on Lac Suel doing nothing but fishing for them...it's not for me. TOo slow, to passive...to something. That's not a criticism, I see it more as something I lack. I can't stand trolling either. Makes my hair hurt.

We have that up here too, on the Mississippi...about an hour and a half away. I've only tried it twice, it's almost exclusively walleye fishing...something I lack the patience for.

Bummer...really. Curious...they absolutely, 100%, won't take drop offs later than that? Even if you pay up front? The "boat garage" is the way to go, and I'm really bummed for you...in PA, you've gotta have another 8-10 weeks of open water, don't you?

Good question Sean...I typically wear XL (I can't get the shoulders to fit in L), but Simms shirts seem to need to be XXL to fit across my shoulders. The Simms coats and rain gear I have are all XL though...so I'm not 100% sure.

You're going to go south of Michigan? I guess I get it...but doood...you're breakin' my heart here...Big smallies are eating...big toothy fish are on the prowl... I'm hoping I can get six weeks...maybe seven...and living within a mile of the 45th parallel...I'd hope you can go longer. Man...you'se guys pull your boats early...

Why for you do that? You don't even have ice yet!

I use Simms. It's a brand that's mostly from the fly fishing world. Can be found below retail if you hunt around. Good, light, breathable, durable.

It took a little digging around...had to follow your Facebook link to your website...but you're not far from me here near Chippewa Falls... Spot on, around here. Weather and water temps are seriously weird this fall...and the fishing is weird because of it. I was on a local lake known for smallies last weekend and saw water temps as high as 62.4°! That's nuts for this part of the country, this late in the year.

Your first casts would undoubtedly wind up in the weeds...heck...plenty of mine still do...but fly casting seems to be like riding bikes...it comes back pretty quickly.

You can give it a shot, but it doesn't tend to work well. The weight of the line carries the virtually weightless flies. I've played around trying to throw some heavier streamers (sub-surface flies) and poppers with a long ultralight...but the distance is awful, accuracy is near zero...and if you tie into a decent fish you're going to have a lot longer fight on your hands than you want. For me, it's just easier to use a fly rod. Some folks use a clear bobber to do it...but to me it's just more work than it needs to be.

I switch back and forth between Diawa, Shimano and Abu Garcia all day, every time I go out without any issues...and I mix in fly rods too... I have to believe the issue is in the fine tuning and making sure your casting motions are nice and smooth.

Folks are going to want to know how you're using them, etc.

That's where I'm at too. I want to go lithium...but the $$$ don't made sense for me yet.

Good stuff so far, I'll add one thing: make sure the spool isn't too full.

I've had both; I prefer the Ulterra. While the self deploy is nice, it's the power trim that seals the deal for me. Being able to run super shallow is awesome. I've never understood the "need" for the supposed fast response of cable steer...but that probably has to do with how I fish...and being able to steer and trim up the trolling motor from anywhere in the boat is unbeatable. One thing I don't like: the 112 thrust, 36 volt version with iPilot and link is only available with a 60" shaft. If I recall correctly, you are getting a boat with a deeper hull than mine so that should not be an issue for you. If they made an Ultrex with power trim, I'd be all over it.

Probably not their dollars...

You've got my wheels turning... One of the rods I've been using is a Rage...but I'm running 50# braid to 30# Tyger Leader over an FG knot...and I'm throwing some...unique...baits at toothy fish...keep in mind the difference between the FG and other knots as line and leader diameter increase...

I wish we had that up here....