papajoe222

Two things I'd suggest. The first is to cover the boat. Crimes of opportunity are the easiest to deter and an open boat at night is an easy target. You could add some sort of warning device to the cover so if a bad guy does attempt to remove it, he is then giving up the stealth that he was also relying on. Second, either keep your electronics in the Pilot with you, or lock them in one of your lockers. If you don't have lockable storage, put everything inside with you. I hang my rods from the ceiling of my Pilot and there is enough room on the floor and front seats for most of your other gear. On my Pilot, the rear window can be opened. If yours can be, leave it closed but unlatched. A quick push and you can exit quickly, or just point your Sig and chase the perp away. I wouldn't advise shooting as I don't know many states that would condone it.

I use the Get Bit 5.25in tubes, although I almost always use an internal jig. I find using a weighted swimbait hook, or T-rigging is fine for dragging a tube, or fishing it like a jerkbait,but I prefer using a tube as a drop bait and it has much better action with the internal jig.

I hang mine with the tips facing forward. I forget where I purchased the system. It consists of two strips of webbing, one with loops that connects between your garment hangers and a second with velcro loops that attaches in the rear area. I have three row seating and a second set of garment hangers, so I attached it there. It's strong enough to hold seven combos up out of your way. I have four rods over 7ft. and keep them in the SUV rather than the boat's locker. http://www.basspro.com/shop/en/rod-saver-vehicle-rod-carrier This one is similar

I'm making this one for sure. Maybe Gary and I can ride share. Only question for me is; Do I take my boat? Is anyone checking into lodging? If so, the sooner the better. I stayed at a resort last year that was, IMO, very reasonable for the mini-suite the wife and I stayed at. We booked for a week, but I believe they had daily rates also.

The only 'customizing' I do is changing out the line tie split ring to an oval one and that's only on baits where I've had my line slip in between the original ring. Around here, bluegill are a big part of the bass' diet, so I add a splash of orange to the belly of many of my cranks. For all but my really deep diving baits, I use a 6.3:1 reel spooled with 10lb. copoly or 12lb. mono. I use a different combo for lipless cranks spooled with 30lb. braid, no leader. As mentioned before, this goes for whatever depth you're fishing, unless you'll be bumping cover, pick a bait that runs deeper than the depth you're targeting. You can fine tune how often it contacts the bottom with your rod position and how fast you crank.

This. If you’re thinking of a bigger profile, try a FatFree Shad. Those two fill that nitch perfectly for me. I don’t recall the color names, but something similar to SK’s Sexy Shad is a good choice for stained water.

Try the mono. I’ve been using 10lb. on my jerk bait/small crank combo for years. You’ll find that you get more action from the light line, too. If you’re fishing around standing timber, try XT or original Stren. There is a little more stretch in the mono, but I find that beneficial.

If it works, I don't ask why. Life's too complicated as it is. Why add more to it questioning whether the scent made a difference? FYI, I rarely throw a soft plastic without some kind of scent on it, but that's me.

I'm not familiar with the waterway. Any idea what the water temp. is? Also, is the river at normal pool? Any current? Not knowing any of that, at this time of year I'd be looking for green vegetation, or a fairly quick drop to deep water. If the current is flowing from the shallow channel into the deeper main river, I'd start there and then look for anything breaking the current, or a change in depth.

I was using an app (ScoutLook). Took a quick pic and my location and weather conditions were auto recorded. I’d add lire, depth and anything else I thought important when I’d write it all down in my log.

My reasoning is that the fish didn't fully commit to the first lure and a slight change, or even a drastic one, will get them to. I always follow up a surface strike with a soft jerk bait or weightless stick worm. If that doesn't work, I'll change something about my original presentation. Often times it's just a matter of working it faster or slower. Sometimes it's a change to something different, but the same lure worked the same way more often than not, will result in the same result; missed fish.

Don't hesitate to call another angler out for their bad behavior. We all share the same waters and sport. If I see someone doing something that's detrimental to either, I speak up. I feel my silence is the same as condoning their behavior and just possibly, It may make them think before doing it again. The worst that can happen is they blow me off.

I stopped keeping a fishing log a couple of seasons ago. Big Mistake. I was reorganizing my den and went to move my stack of logs only to open one up and glance at it. Two hours later (I have a lot of free time), I discovered something I'd overlooked all these years: Other than a jig/trailer, a much higher percentage of the fish I've caught have come on soft plastic baits not lures (hard baits). I was surprised because for quite a while now I have been throwing soft plastics only when lures failed to produce and that typically is after a few hours of probing the water column with those lures. I just assumed that my numbers have gone down in recent years because I've basically been targeting big fish. Guess what I've caught more fish over 5lb.with? Okay, I'm hard headed. So I figure maybe there are a few on the site like me, or some that could use a smile in their day knowing there are others that think they have it almost figured out, but are basically just as clueless as they are. Happy Thanksgiving

You may need something a little more abrasive than ketchup to bring back the luster. Any metal polish like brass or chrome polish will have a similar affect when it comes to removing the tarnish. The other plus is they contain a mild abrasive that'll remove some of the minor pitting. What ever you use, give the blades a coat of wax to delay the onset of more tarnishing.

I do the same as MckD unless it's a football jig that I'm dragging along. More often than not, I'll switch to straight fluoro for that even though I really dislike the stuff.

I would venture to say that you're fishing where the fish aren't. By that I mean you're likely fishing below or above the fish and we all know that under tough conditions, bass won't move far to take a bait. Yes, you may be over working the rig, but I'd venture that your leader length has a lot more to do with your lack of success. If you aren't sure where the fish are in relation to the bottom, you need to adjust your leader length until they tell you that you have it right.

Dang! They're up to $250? I'm glad I bought mine when I did, although if I lost them I'd pay $250 to replace them. I like them that much.

You know you have a problem when everyone but you is searching the net for Christmas presents and you're searching the net for a deal on that reel you've had your eye on for all of a day.

LOL. Looks to me like somebody's spending a little too much time on the net and not enough fishing.

I don't believe what you feel would be considered paranoia, but more like a negative feeling based on your increased knowledge. Whatever you learn here, the purpose is to increase the odds in favor of you catching fish. That line, because of the increased angler visibility, makes strikes easier for you to see. Look at that as a +1. IF the fish can see it, give it a -1. Now do the math. You haven't gained any advantage, but you also haven't lost any. IMO, that makes it a good choice. You can take all the increased odds obtained from the gear you use because you are better educated and put them to use and all that can be negated by sloppy casting, or using the wrong retrieve speed. Work on your skills and you will tip the scales a lot more in your favor than any equipment upgrades could ever hope to do.

I lost two this season, both fishing at night and both were due to toothy critters. I'm going to loose at least a dozen next year as I'm all but eliminating their use in the future and will be selling them off.

If the money designated for fishing includes the cost of boat fuel, yea. Otherwise you're gonna spend a lot of time dead in the water.

I roll my own now and have both better and cheaper to shoot with

I used to tease my sister that her Yorkie would make good muskie bait. The thing disappeared a few years ago and the first thing she asked me was if I'd finally done just that. I showed her a pic of me and a 52in. muskie. You know, girls hit harder than you'd expect. I have a nephew that just turned one................I don't think I'll show her this. Playing it safe just in case.

If you look at the market as a whole, the cost of lures hasn't increased, proportionally, any more than rods, reels and other tackle. Even a spool of Stren or Trilene has increased in price around 35%. A lot of that has to do with advertising costs, but another reason is the average wage of that same target group you mention has gone up along with the younger one's parents. Live bait costs, on the other hand, fluctuate based on supply and demand. It was a rotten year for Canadian crawlers. Will we see crawlers at $2 or $2.50 again? That is a lot more likely than seeing a crankbait go from $7.99 back down to $5.99. Many of those lure companies moved their production out of the country only to raise prices anyway.