DaubsNU1

I re-spool mono when it gets low on the reel, or lots of line twist. I re-spool braid...well, I really don't re-spool braid. I have some old Fenwick Ironthread that has been on bait casters since the 1990's. It gets a little faded towards the end...but the bass don't seem to mind. Still casts great, holds knot...I guess it really is Ironthread : ) I do service my reels every spring...most are Shimano's from the 1990's...a few from early 2000's. All perform great and I see no need to replace them. My rods are all Cabela's branded from the 90's...I'm told they were made by Loomis. Hard to beat.

Brother has been saving, planning, and waiting for 20+ years to get his dream boat...a Lund Alaskan. He wanted this boat for the deep sides so our 80 year old Dad could fish safely and comfortably. Dad's old Lowe was not as stable, or spacious. Dad can't stand when fishing, and we have to hold him up to tick. This is the perfect set up for our crew. Yes, it's more maintenance, more $, takes up a garage spot, and we can't fish little ponds / out-of-the-way spots...but it's big enough to fish South Dakota reservoirs, yet small enough to launch at pretty much any boat ramp. And we eat like kings!

I use it with mono, FC, & braid...100% of the time. Last weekend fishing Smallies...30lb Power Pro braid with Alberto Knotted FC 10lb leader...and Trilene knot to my NED rig. Got stuck in the rocks...I was literally pulling the boat towards the snag...had to wrap oar handle around the line...when it finally broke, the breaking point was the Alberto Knot. Trilene knot held. When fishing straight 30lb PP braid and a Trilene knot, if I ever get really snagged...I cut the line. Breaking that knot has never worked for me.

Fished Frances Case in South Dakota, above and below the dam. Tried chompers, cranks, grubs, small spinnerbaits...none worked for me. Brother and Dad were catching smallies on minnows (lindy, bouncer, jig). I tried NED+TRD and started catching them like crazy. Good stuff.

Wow, great trip to Frances Case. Here are more details and a few pictures... Monday: Got off work, Dad and Brother were at my house, ready to roll. Brother's new Alaskan all hooked up to my Duramax, ready to roll. Always great to spend time with my Dad...this was our present to him for 80th birthday. We stayed in Spencer, Nebraska, at hotel we frequented when turkey hunting up that way back in the day. Tuesday: Got on the water around 8 AM, Dad was none too interested in getting up super early. Water temps were right around 60 above the dam. Air temp @ 63 degrees and sunny, climbed in to the 70's. Dad landed the first fish of the trip...small walleye on rocks right next to the launch, using lindy-rig with minnow. We fished some rocky points and landed a few Smallies on weightless senkos, cranks, and minnows. Tried to fish the dam, but the wind was blowing pretty good and it was tough going. Brother still trying to figure out his Ulterra and new boat. So we opted to get below the dam and out of the wind. Ended the day with 53 fish in the boat...mixed bag Smallies (x23), white bass (x8), crappie (x6), walleye (x6), and one each of pike, carp, saugeye, rock bass, mud-rocket. Wednesday: water temp was 62 @ 8 Am when we hit the water...sunny and the clouds started rolling in around 3 PM. Winds were north 8-15 MPH...and blowing right down the dam. We fished rocks near and on the dam pretty much all day...drifting down the face of the dam staying around 10 ft. mark. Dad and Brother catching them with minnows on lindy, Nephew and I using Ned , small cranks. Decided to only log Smallies over 14" on the fishing log...those smaller than 14" were just a tally mark. Dad had a BLAST! We boated 72 Smallies, and a 4lb/4oz. Carp. Twenty one smallies over 14", and Dad ended our day with a 18", 3lb/2oz bronze back! Got off the water at 6 PM...tired and happy. Thursday: Slept in as it was rainy and over cast, and we were tired from two long days on the water. Got on the water around noon, water temp 60.5 degrees, air temp 52 and drizzling. Winds NNE 15-25 MPH. Brother was soo excited to get fishing he forgot his Gore-Tex at the hotel. I had backup frogg-togg set in my truck...so he stayed dry. We tucked in around back of cement near spillway to get out of the wind...and immediately put five smallies in the boat on Neds, cranks, senko and minnows. Nothing showing on the radar...but intermittent periods of drizzle and rain the whole day. We drifted the dam face, then trolled back up...ended the day with 49 smallies and a nice 19" walleye. Fourteen smallies over 14". Friday: Packed our stuff and checked out of the hotel, and got on the water around 9 AM. Brother wanted to try fishing a hump near Svatos Point...when we arrived there were 12 boats in the area, all looked to be fishing for walleye. Water temp was 59.2, air temp 43 degrees...winds were NE @ 5-10. I had been fishing Ned exclusively after trying a bunch of different presentations on day #1. Now we were in 9-10 feet of water, and no rocks to cast towards...so I put a jig and minnow on and caught my largest smallie to date, 3lbs/5oz. We started catching fish and taking pictures, fun stuff for my Dad! The locals fishing walleye slowly fished near to see what we were catching, and when they realized it was smallies and not eyes, one by one they headed out. We fished for three hours on the hump. In addition to my fish above, we netted the following: 3lb/11oz, 3lb/10oz, 3lb/8oz, 2lb/2oz...total of 13 smallies, all on minnows deep. I threw on the Ned and landed one that way. Totaled 188 fish in 3-1/2 days fishing. Dad had a GREAT time! This was the first big fishing trip in Brother's new Alaskan...we had never fished this lake or for smallies exclusively. Learned a lot...and ate a lot of hard salami, ****-ton of deviled eggs, and had a blast. A few pictures: And one pic for my Sister...we are a super close family...we texted and sent pictures her way all week. Good fun : )