LargeMarge

Maybe there’s a simpler explanation. First spot had smaller fish on it, second spot had larger fish on it. You wore them out on the second spot and the fish turned off after the morning bite. Maybe you would have caught even bigger fish at the second spot if you had stuck with the green pumpkin craw ?

I’ve used it weightless and reeled it across the top like a buzzbait. Caught 30+ dinks one morning doing that and it was one of the most fun times fishing I’ve had. I’ve also used them as a trailer on Bitsy Bug jigs as well as alone on a Texas rig with a 3/16 oz weight. I only use straight braid, on Med or Med Light spinning (:o) rods depending on whether I’m using a light or heavy wire hook. 2/0 fits well. Line is either 10 or 15lb depending on the hook. The braided line holds up just fine with the tungsten bullet weights. Also only keep one color - green pumpkin magic. Not because I think it’s the best, but because I only bother to buy one color of any soft plastic and this one looks cool. Pretty versatile baits.

Pinch your barbs and learn the “through the gills” hook removal technique. Makes releasing normally hooked fish trivial and gut hooked fish a very minor inconvenience to both you and the fish. Not letting the worm sit long enough on the bottom may adversely affect your fishing results .

What brand are those? Most standard ball head jigs I see have a huge gap in the eye of the hook. That looks like the eye is reasonably closed off. I use straight light braid and have had issues with the line slipping through. Also, is that a full size trick worm or a finesse worm? Perfect size for that jig.

Berkley Half Head jigs

I counted up my lures recently out of curiosity as I am weighing purchasing more baits (as always). I am trying to simplify my tackle, but I found that I still have a huge number! To me anyway..? 18 Topwater lures (poppers, props, buzzbaits, walkers, wakes) 7 Spinnerbaits 7 Inline Spinnerbaits 4 Crankbaits 4 Jerkbaits 6 Jigs 7 Spoons 53 Total This doesn't even count my soft plastics! But here I just have one bulk pack each of stick worms, ribbontail worms, and craws. I'd say I have 6 unique soft plastics. Since I thought I was a minimalist but still have way more lures than I thought I did, I'd be curious to see if you had totaled up what you have? I'm guessing there are a few collections that eclipse mine by a pretty wide margin..

I can vouch that this works! I used this method almost constantly during the first year I had a baitcaster.

I think worrying about line color and type is wildly overrated. I caught my PB in crystal clear water on the exact same setup (15lb green straight braid on a TX rig) that I caught my prior PB, which was in warmer, low visibility water a few states south. I've seen straight white and yellow braid do just fine. I have seen guys with leaders break off the leader plenty of times while casting or fighting fish. One more knot to fail. Also, black is widely considered a highly visible color to bass. Why are guys using sharpies to color the last few feet of their line?? To make it more invisible? Maybe to the fisherman!

How have you simplified your tackle?

My strategy for the winter is to not buy anything until after my first fishing trip in the spring. Cuts down on the impulse buys and gives me a chance to evaluate from the water instead of my couch. Buying too much just adds complexity given that I can only fish one at a time. I try to keep it simple.

Those look good! Would you consider using the same hooks that you've used on the minnows on the spinners or spoons? Or is there a reason to use different style single hooks?

I agree with you on not actually keeping a fish to mount, I have no interest in that. But you've posed a separate issue with people keeping illegal fish in your area ponds. Not much we can do about that from this forum. I'm sure a local game warden would love to know about that, so I would suggest you reach out and voice your concerns. Ultimately you gotta reach the right audience for this. If the issue is people who keep fish and don't follow the law at your local ponds, you need to reach those people in some way. I'm guessing there aren't many who are members or read this site.

Interestingly enough, I saw in another search that Way2slow said this 11 years ago: From other research I've done, it sounds more like my hull speed may be my limiting factor. A longer boat can go faster when not planing. My boat is only 14', so I have a more limited hull speed, so it seems to take more and more power (bigger trolling motor or outboard) to get to the max speed of the boat (before planing). Might be overkill from a cost/speed ratio. I thought the 55lb Maxxum was overkill when I got it! So far I have not had any battery issues with my current setup, but haven't fished a "full" day yet. Been out for about 6 hours with a respectable amount of charge left. According to the marketing materials for the Maxxum and a few forum posts, it can get a lot of use out of a 12 volt battery. I have a group 27 that seems to do pretty well, but if this ever dies I might go up in size. Not going to lie, the cheap outboards are what caught my eye and got me thinking about this...

I have a 1448 Grizzly with a 55lb Maxxum up front. I can get 3.5-4 mph out of that. Wondering if you had any recommendations for a cheap (ideally under $750) outboard. HP recommendation? I don't need much because the speed limit on all the lakes I fish is 5 mph, and I don't live near a lake where I would be able to go over that limit. Do you think it's even worth adding the expense of an outboard for an extra 1-1.5 mph gain? The lakes I fish are usually 175 acres or less, with the largest around 250 acres.

Why not just TX rig it? Very similar presentation with better weedless/snagless performance. It's a lot easier to have the right setup for the conditions instead of forcing the conditions on your setup.