FishTank

For me it's trout and maybe walleye. I grew up fishing for bluegill and crappie so both species are kind of boring. Trout though are a tough animal to catch and are a blast to bring in on light gear. They definitely are one of the cooler looking fish to catch and they are, to me, very rewarding. My hope is to bring in a nice size musky one day. There are too many awesome species and not enough time to catch them all.

It will sink but it does work if you keep up with the bait. Some bigger poppers, like the Pop Max, I might prefer mono for the little bit of extra stretch. I also will use braid to leader. I might start off with a big popper in the morning, cut the leader off, and go to a frog later in the day.

I like 10lb fluorocarbon for jerkbaits and crankbaits. For topwater, if it's a bait I want to let sit still, I go mono but if it's a walking bait or a popper, I go with fluorocarbon. Last year I caught a ton on 6lb fluorocarbon and this popper.

Not bad. My concern would be the springs to the buttons that pop the clear lids open. I have only had them a week so we will see. I liked them so well I bought one more in the next size up. I might downsize and use it for weights and hooks on my kayak instead of the much bigger Plano box I have.

I picked up two these on Amazon for $12 ($16 - 25% off). One is for small treble hooks and split rings. Up to this point, I didn't have a good way to store them. The other will be for some on the go BFS fishing. They seem to made pretty well for what I want out of them and you can't beat the price. What are you guys using for trebles and split rings?

That sounds about right. After I got a job my first job in 1986 at a video rental shop, my mom told me she made $1.25 an hour (around 1962) at a department store and not to fuss about the $3.50 an hour I was getting.

The more I looked into this reel, these are the kind of stories I am hearing. It's what stopped me from getting the Steez Air and the 1st Conquest BFS. It seems there was some tinkering needed to get it just right, which isn't a big deal to me but I would like to not have to chase things, except for a clean and lube, when the reel is new. I decided to hold off on the bargain I found. A shop in Japan had (past tense) a few in stock new for $250 shipped.

Kind of curious..... Which reel and how?

I wish those baits would work for me...... They let her out for good behavior and that didn't last long in my neck of the woods.

You can tell by looking at how close the wire is to the hook, that this might not work unless you super slow roll it. They should have copied the Megabass Uoze design and put the wire on the bottom.

So I went to Cabela's yesterday. There wasn't a soul working there that knew anything about waders. I ended up getting a pair of their house brand waders with stocking feet on clearance for $75 instead of $150. After looking into most of the big brands, it seems at some point in a short amount of time, they all leak. So for $75, I'm not out too much. It beats the $600+ versions I have been looking at. For boots, I tried on several at Dick's, Cabela's, Orvis, and a local shop over the past few months and went with the G3 Guide boots from Simms. They have for $150 instead of $300 on Simms' website. I looked at much cheaper versions. I was trying to stay around $100 but the ones I tried on at that regular price were horrible in quality. One boot split on the sides when I put it on and another had the lace guide brake when I tightened the laces. After doing a deep dive into this type of gear, it appears it is set up to fail. I tried to compare the quality I have in my NRS bibs to waders at the same cost and it's pretty sad. The material and quality of the NRS bibs just are way better than anything I looked at in waders, even at double the price.

I use to use them pretty much any time I was fishing stained water but have since moved away from it. I don't have anything against them but the bites started to slow one year on a jig and decided it must be the rattles. I haven't used them since.

We use to freeze lake water in ice cube trays, put in a cooler, and then add it as needed to the live well or bait bucket. It wasn't rocket science but it worked.

I am going to start fishing for trout and smallmouth in some local streams. I typically just use an old pair of hiking boots and I wait until the water is warm enough to wear shorts. This year I want to start in early spring when the trout are just starting to feed. What do you guys use? Any recommendations or advice?

I saw this. The thing I like is how the brake system is setup with the external dial. Its way more simplified than the 4x8.

Sansui and Tackle Berry. I have not dealt with them directly but friends, coworkers and family have purchased stuff there for me. Sansui has a little bit of everything and the staff is supposedly very helpful. Tackle Berry is a used JDM store. Things are hit and miss but most of the tackle will be a 9/10. The prices are great as well. Keep in mind, most stores are geared towards saltwater first and bass maybe second.

I caught a couple of nice ones last year on Karashi. There are a ton in a pond I fish. A guy supposedly caught a state record grass carp out of there. I saw a picture of it. They said it was 90lb+. The guy that caught it didn't want it recorded. He thought it would draw people to his honey hole.

I have used 12lb and 15lb FC. Both worked great.

You're right on both accounts sort of, sauger instead of pickerel. I like swimming them over grass instead of bouncing them off the bottom. I also don't fish them as often as I should. Plus, I do glue them when they get torn.

I think the Fat Impact I have one jig has been there all of last year. I've not changed it. There is one jig I have that has a heavy wire bent keeper with a hole designed for a toothpick. It is best keeper system I have seen. You thread it through and brake it off. I think it's from Evergreen but not for sure. It works great but I don't catch as much on this one for some reason.

I have had good luck with ones from 6th Sense. I couldn't tell you what makes them special for me. They just get the job done.

Bantam would get my vote. I've been using mine for frogs and big spinnerbaits.

I have been wanting to try this. I known of one guy that fishes them for smallmouth but he fishes in open water, no FFS. He uses the 0.9g Keitech ball heads with the weed guard. I don't think its his go to favorite but I have seen him catch some big ones on it.

I don't throw it as often as I should but pink has always been the best producer for me. Not sure why. I can't catch squat on a pink senko.

I had a 8' St. Croix Mojo Musky rod with around the same specs. I wanted to use it for A-rigs and swimbaits. It looked good on paper but in practice it was not the best idea. If I had a good size fish hit it, say 3lb+, it wasn't bad but when a smaller fish would bite, which would be most of the ones I catch, I had a hard time getting a good hook set because of how stout the rod was. A fish really had to hit hard. The way it loaded was just different from a bass rod. Also, it was fatiguing to fish this thing. I ended up selling it. The short answer for me is yes, you could use it but I would try it out with the idea you may need something else.