DaubsNU1

@A-Jay

I hopped back in to bluesky and was going to screen shot some messages (and bleep out the expletives), but apparently I have been blocked...so those message are gone. That's a good thing! So I'm back here at BR, looking to hone my pre-spawn techniques. Oh, two of the three Shimano Citica CI-200's purchased via eBay have arrived this week. Just waiting on the third : ) Love me some old bait-casters!

My starting and electronics battery compartment is pretty small. here is what I store in that area: Spare TM prop Block of wood in case need to remove the Mercury prop Backup baseball cap My wedge for the Mercury (backup to my transom saver) I just have one live well. I keep the Lindy bait tamer in there

Want to say thanks to Glen, staff, moderators, and the great people of this community! I ask lots of questions and get great, helpful answers. I post pictures and people "like." Feel like I am able to contribute at times, and help out my fellow anglers. This is a great place! I am thankful! I have had an account on Twitter|X for a while...but never really followed much. In the past few months I have logged in more...and it's pretty eye opening. Rough crowd at times. Savage and hurtful sometimes. Downright nasty in some instances. Two weeks ago I opened an account at bluesky. And I thought Twitter|X was rough. Zero out of five stars...do not recommend! Bass Resource = FIVE out of FIVE Stars!

@Texas Flood, HA! Whelp, if Iowa is the land of 10 lakes, Nebraska must be the land of 5 lakes : ) I'm no good with jigs...usually start with chatter baits, wacky or t-rigged worms. Good luck @Joedodge!!

Hmmmmm....interesting. I am amazed at how I can absolutely LAUNCH lures on my medium light spinning rods. All are spooled with 10lb power pro bright yellow braid, then Alberto-knotted to either 10lb or 8lb fluorocarbon. I so fill my spools very close to the lip. Seems to help. Heavy braid might be your culprit. Run most of my casting rods with 20lb power pro braid. It's more than enough for anything I'm throwing (and I went to Canada last summer throwing 2oz. lures at pike)

Mid 60's yesterday...got the boat on the water for the 2025 maiden voyage. Everything worked on the Lund...great to be back on the water. Water temps were in the 39-43 range. No bites. Wife joined me later in the afternoon...she brought snacks! : ) It was a good day!

Spinning reels are all new, and all Shimano. Casting reels are all Citica's or Curado's. Four OG's were purchased back in the 1990's. And four "newer" found via eBay or swap meets. I really love these reels. Rock solid, get the job done, great feel.

@Joe E message me and we can talk details. I really wanted Alumacraft...loved the layout. My brother got a new Lund Alaskan in 2020. Excellent boat. @A-Jay has a great Lund, but that was a bit out of my price range. Looked at a bunch of different boats and was fortunate to find my Adventure used in NW Iowa. One of the keys for me was dealers near by. Lots of Lund dealers in my area. Only one Alumacraft dealer, and his inventory was not great.

Thanks @casts_by_fly!

Fished with a Minn Kota cable steer 40lb bow mounted trolling motor for 20+ years. It served me well. Strapped the Garmin Echomap transducer to the TM motor...again, served me well. When I upgraded boats, seriously considered the Garmin Force. Also considered the Ultrex and Birds for fish finders. But after fishing in my Brother's Lund, I went a different direction. Side and down imaging on the Humminbirds seemed much better than my Garmin. So I sent that route. I really, REALLY love the Ulterra matched up with Helix 9's, all networked. Spot lock is amazing! Go-to-mark gets used a lot. Autopilot is great as well. I really like the auto-deploy and stow for the Ulterra. I don't use auto-deploy and stow if I'm the only one at the loading ramp, or weather is bad (it's old school rope on those days). I had to swim once when the deploy got hung up. Thankfully it was in June, and the water was warm. I fish Saturday and Sunday's from April through October. Do two or three longer fishing trips a year...the Ulterra gets used a lot. Brother and I drove his Lund to Canada last summer...five straights days on the Churchill river system...no issues whatsoever. One downside of the Ulterra, I cannot attach FFS to that trolling motor.

In my old boat, I had a 10lb mushroom anchor tied to ~30ft of rope. End of the rope was not tied to the boat...some days I would tie anchor to front of the boat, other days to rear...depending on wind. One afternoon I found a good spot and decided to anchor up and pick that area apart. Dropped the anchor over the side...and watched the rope spool out...then disappear over the side...as it was not tied to a cleat. Doh!

Strong work @MikeB24!!! Congrats! Now the really fun part starts...getting to know the boat/motor/trailer, organizing things, upgrades, etc. Enjoy!!! And post more pictures!!

I am always a little cautious | apprehensive | scared | nervous from launch, to boating, to fishing, and then to load out. Remind myself to slow down, be patient, be careful, and be cautious. Better safe than dead.

Slug-Go for sure! Caught my PB bass on a rainbow trout colored Slug-Go in the 1990's.

I have a few Edge boxes. I like them very much for things like hooks, weights, jig heads. They have a nice jerk-bait box. The remainder are basic basic Plano 3600 & 3700's like @A-Jay.

Wife and I were in Costa Rica a few weeks back for vacation. Rented a car...saw some kids fishing like this off a bridge.... Of course the smarty-pants wife said, "hey, look at those kiddos fishing with bottles...I'll bet they catch more fish than you with that fancy boat!" HA! Well played!

Thoughts and Prayers....

I am fiercely brand loyal...but only in certain areas: Reels: Shimano Truck: GM Car: Honda DSLR: Nikon Garden tractor: John Deere Everything else, I'll try to balance price | quality | availability | durability, and find the best fit for me. But for reels, it's Shimano and nothing else.

Back in the 1990's, buddy read a book that talked about scent.... For comparison: Human's can smell a drop of vinegar in a 2 liter bottle.... Dogs can smell a drop of vinegar in a 50 gallon drum LMB's can smell a drop of vinegar in an Olympic sized swimming pool True? I dunno. Did we use scent back then...yep, all the time. Did we catch more fish? Again, I dunno. Throw it on if you have it.

It ain't glass, and it ain't sparkly...and I really didn't care for the color at first. But it's grown on me quite well. @RLinNH get yourself that sparkly bass boat! You only live once!

I have not fished Okoboji. It's about a 3-1/2 hour drive for me. I fish mostly local lakes in the Omaha area. Occasionally take my Dad to Frances Case in South Dakota to chase SMB's and Eyes.

On my home lake, 95% of the time I am fishing, or moving to a known spot to fish. I will spend a little time graphing new areas...but not much. On new-to-me lakes, I will run side scan to find some off-shore brush piles, structure, or cover for a while...then start fishing as soon as I can.

Great question. I am interested in replies. I fish a newer reservoir that has a lot of off-shore brush piles. I'm not great with drop-shot, and looking to learn.

I'm going to follow this thread closely...I stink at early spring bass fishing.