tkunk

That's where I fish. Everyone I know uses braid with a fluoro leader for finesse lures. This isn't what you asked, but here goes. By July, rocks will be 100% covered in slime, so you can't fish bottom-contact lures unless you're around sand. So in the summer, I use a drop shot or spy bait about 95% of the time. If fish are shallow, weightless senkos are also good. If it's very windy, fishing jerkbaits and spinnerbaits very aggressively in shallow, wind-blown areas is a good approach.

I use the Expride jerkbait rod. I would like to go up to 3/8 oz jerkbaits. Would like more line capacity for two reasons. First, in spring, the average wind where I fish is probably 15 MPH, so when I cast with the wind, I get a lot of distance. Second, I often target species that are much stronger than bass, like brown trout, and I don't want to have to worry about getting spooled. Plus, there are normally many big bonus pike around. Currently, I'm using an old Metanium with 40 lb braid, which works fine, but I'd rather use a BFS reel if I can get enough line capacity. I've tried 30 lb braid on the Metanium, but it digs when I hook big fish. I like BFS reels because they cast really well and line doesn't dig. But maybe the line doesn't dig because the spool capacity is so low. Also, I can't use spinning gear like everyone else in the Great Lakes because it hurts my upper back.

Currently, I use 6 lb suffix braid. Ideally, I'd like at least 50% more line capacity than I have now.

I use the AFW leaders with small snap swivels, and they're great. In addition to not having to worry about bite-offs, one big bonus is you won't have to retie as often if you fish around sharp rocks and zebra mussels. If you use a snap swivel, another bonus is you won't have to retie when you switch baits.

Does anyone know of any good-quality BFS reels that can hold more line than the Curado BFS? I don't think it's possible to know by reading specs, because different companies use different types of line (Power Pro vs diameter vs mono) as benchmarks.

How are you guys using 20 lb braid or lower on bait casters without having your line dig in? I tried 30 a few times with PP, and I had a ton of issues.

With a 50-sized reel, it's easy to cast out the entire spool with a jerkbait. If you hook into any kind of big, non-bassy fish, you can say goodbye to all of your line and your bait. Even with a 150, you can cast out enough line that you'll notice the difference in inches per turn at the start and ends of your cast.

Door County is tough can be tough Fall--especially in September. It's usually windy, and there's a lot of water, so you get big waves. I normally drive around in 15-30 FOW and look for them on my graph. Windblown shorelines are worth checking too. Fish can be anywhere, and when you do find them, they can be very negative. It's no fun driving around for hours only to find fish that won't bite, so I always have suckers with me.

Where I fish, people only use hair jigs during prespawn. Not sure what's going on, but here, they're far less effective here than they used to be. Three years ago, it was my go-to technique. This year, I didn't even attempt to use them. Few people seem to throw them anymore, so maybe they'll be good again soon.

Wind makes things much easier, but I definitely wouldn't say that it makes things easy. I really can't catch them at all when it's calm. On calm days, the guides around here drive around for hours at a time looking for marks, but I don't have the patience (or fuel money) for that.

Seems like the different Great Lakes are very different. I fish Lake Michigan. On a normal day, I'd start searching in 15-20 FOW this time of year, but wind changes things. When it's very windy, the fish can get very shallow in summer. I've had many 50+ fish days fishing wind-blown shorelines in less than 5 FOW. They'll always be on the windy side of something, and it's great when that "something" is shore. There's nothing super difficult about it--They'll be where the bait is.

It depends on which lake. On Lake Michigan, wind-blown structure is usually good. Fish are often shallow when it's windy. In summer, I probably catch 95+% of my fish drop shotting. Spinnerbaits and jerkbaits are good when it's very windy. There's a lot of water, so the best place to start is the local tackle shop.

Based on my experience with catching pike on bass gear, if I had any shot of catching a 10 lb bass where I need a tight drag, I'd upgrade the split rings and hooks on all of my baits.

I've seen what you're talking about in shallow water: The bass mouths the bait and spits it immediately. I don't think bait size will help with this. An aggressive fish will keep the bait in its mouth for a long time, so you need to find aggressive fish. I fish the drop shot like an underwater senko. I start by pitching the bait out. Once the weight hits the bottom, I let the bait fall and lift my rod occasionally to see if there's anything there. If nothing's there, I let the bait fall again. Once my boat gets above the rig, I reel it in and repeat the process. It's rare to feel anything until you lift the rod.

PowerPro is great up to 50 lb test. I use it on all of my bass rods and wouldn't switch to anything else. But once you get heavier than that, Cortland is much, much better. When I first started musky fishing, I had multiple break-offs with 80 lb PowerPro, and I switched to Cortland. In the 3-4 years since then, I've never had a break off.