Boulderman

I had a bass-x rod with the reel seat issue. I filed the claim on their warranty page, they called me a week or two later to discuss options, and I received a free, current-model replacement (no fees or shipping or anything) a week or two later. Customer service was outstanding in my book.

Thanks for the info and response! I ended up taking the nephew to Mantua on Thursday, then my dad and I hit Pineview on Friday. Had success both days! At Mantua, my nephew caught his first largemouth, I caught a handful, and we had a great time. My dad and I caught a bunch of smallies at Pineview, and I caught a 36" tiger muskie that jumped out of our small net before we could lift it into the canoe...bummed, but a great fight. Saw a boat lose its prop going over that really shallow bar on the east side...dangerously low over there. Hoping to get out again this week!

Visiting family in Utah for a few weeks and my nephew is getting into fishing. Wanting to take him out on my dad's canoe (with my dad's vintage gear because I didn't bring anything!) and get him on some bass. Thinking of going to Pineview but not sure about water levels and where the smallies might be right now. Any tips on Pineview or any other nearby spots? Considered Mantua or Willard too, but never done much fishing here in UT.

Yes.

7 up and 7 back, and one or two overhand knots with the braid tag then clip.

I'm a new bass angler (within the last two years), and this is my first winter fishing as often as I could (1-2 times per week). I have been skunked more often than not, but I think the skunks have taught me more than success could have. Seasonal behavior, water changes, lure techniques, etc. I think the greatest improvement I made through the skunks was my skill and aim with a baitcaster. I grew up using spinning reels, so getting my reps in with the baitcaster has resulted in much better control and accuracy (for me!). I try to learn something new every outing, and I hope it pays off this spring ?

Four. But looking for ways to take more! I don't like retying even though it takes a minute.

FINALLY got the 2021 bass skunk out of the 'yak! Had been bass skunked a couple of January outings dealing with pretty cold water (37-39 degs), so I was happy to catch this first guy, even though he was a dink. Caught him on a ned rigged grub slowly moving through a creek channel where I was marking fish pinned at the bottom. Switched it up to a blade bait with short flutter/drops and caught this 17.5 incher who had thick fishing line coming out of his anus that you can see in the second and third pics. Poor guy had been living like that for some time based on the condition of the line. I tugged on the line a little bit and a snelled hook eye appeared. I worked it carefully and was able to extract the rusty hook and get him back in the water. Amazing how the hook and line could pass through all the way to the end. Glad I could get it out for him. He did me a solid with a winter bite, I did him a solid, man and fish living in harmony! Kept using the blade bait but no more bass, only a little perch. Had to call it a day so I loaded up the kayak but wanted to get a few more casts in, and pulled in this additional bass with the ned rig. All in all a pretty good cold winter day for me! Being a pretty new bass angler, and with most of my previous catches coming from moving baits, I think the skunk days have been extremely valuable for actual skill development. I have had to exercise extreme focus on what the bottom-contact lure should normally feel like and what a bite is not. My feel and intuition have definitely improved through the slow times. There have been a few occasions where I knew something was not normal so I set the hook and pulled up a little bit of line that I had snagged and it was causing my lure to move differently. This feel and awareness is something I did not have a year ago. For the bass above, I did not feel any obvious bite (I did with the perch!), I only felt slight weight or unusual tension when moving the bait and my hook set was quick and almost involuntary given the combo of stimuli. So, I'm happy to see progress and catch some winter fish! Still seeking that first jig bite, and hoping for an active spring.

Battery in a small Pelican box with 12v plug. I use a nite-ize gear tie to quickly secure the pelican handle to my Hobie sail tube in the front hatch. Don't know if his kayak has anything like that to attach to.

Looking for a Stradic in 2500 or 3000. BPS has 10% off for military right now so I could get the 2500 for $180 (3000s out of stock). Question is will I be able to find an in-stock, substantially better deal on black Friday? Or should I pull the trigger on a sure thing?

Caught this guy on a yellow and black spinnerbait in a cove. Marked a lot of his friends on the ff but couldn't convince them to come aboard. Still figuring out this reservoir and bass fishing in general!

I had the EXACT thing happen to me! Thought I was crazy. Mine also involved a small reel - a Pflueger Supreme 25x (which is probably similar in size to a 1000 or 1500 - it's small) with 10 lb power pro braid. On a 7 foot trout rod, I never had any issues. I threw lightweight spinners for trout using a leader. One time for a backpacking trip, I put the reel on a cheap two piece 6 foot pflueger rod so I could pack it. When we got to the campsite, I assembled the rod and went fishing. Within a cast or two I experienced the same crazy knots you described! The knotted mass was so bad I had to cut and retie. It happened a few more times on hard casts right after releasing the line. I was so frustrated! The only way I could avoid it was to really ease up on the cast and not whip the rod. Once I put the reel back on a different rod, I haven't had that problem again! Also, I've used that pflueger rod in the past with different reels and had no problems. The pflueger rod has a really big first guide, but the others I've successfully used the small reel with do not. The pflueger rod has worked great with larger-spooled reels So, I chalk it up to a really bad rod/reel/lure weight/cast combination. I think that strong casts, light lure, the small spool, and that large first guide somehow all interacted together to create the crazy knots. Could be a form of wind knot, but it wasn't windy and the knots weren't like the minor wind knots I've experienced before. I think it was just a bad combination.