jbmaine

Strike King's swimm'n caffeine shad's are my go to in KVD magic color.

Feel the same way. Got a 50 on our 16ft. Lund. Maxes out at 30 mph, plenty fast for us.

I really don't feel bad for you guys My latest boat expense, A house with a garage so I don't have to pay to store my boat over the winter.

Whether you bed fish or not is up to everyone to decide for themselves. I like being on the water during the spawn just to see how many beds/fish there are. Seeing hundreds of beds with fish on them really kind of shows how healthy a lake is. And yes, if I see a bigger than normal bass, I'll catch it, snap a pic, and let it go.

As both of your grins show, It just doesn't get any better than that.?

I have a Lund Fury XL Sport, which is very close to the adventure. Can't say enough good things about it.

Salmon is my thought.

I'm a " all spinning rods fishing " guy. Been using 6# Yo Zuri hybrid ultra soft on all my setups for many years now. This line has never disappointed me.

Another lefty here but somewhat ambidextrous. I shoot lefty, golf righty, bat righty, catch lefty. As for fishing, I cast with my right hand, reel with my left, except for fly fishing, I reel with my left but can cast as well with either hand.

If you don't mind me asking, is it normal to have that tank ( I assume gas? ) way out far from the house?

If only jet skies would disappear like that.?

I would bring the rod in and try the reels on before buying. This way you will see what works for you. Some will say a size 35 reel is larger and heavier than needed, but as I said, if it works for you, that's really all that matters.

Around here real high water, over the ramp and onto the access road. Did manage to sneak the boat out though, and picked up the first fish of the year. A nice LM, 19 " just under 3lb.

Pick up an original floating Rapala. Go to your pond on an overcast day or early morning/ late evening. Cast it out over your favorite " fishy looking" spots. Let it sit, then twitch it, jerk it, pull it under then let it float back up. In general, make it look like an injured fish. This works great no matter how shallow the water is. You will get bit.

I use nothing but Yo-Zuri Hybrid ultra soft in #6. Love the stuff.

So the last of the ice out was a week ago. Today we finally got out. Water temp around 45. Couldn't find a bite, but man didn't it feel good to be out. Here's to the first of many, many, many, trips this year.

Thank you so much for posting this, you've really shown one of the kind of things that are truly important in life.

Good job. May that be the first of many.

Thanks everyone, Really appreciate the great information. Jim

Last year I discovered Ned rigs and how well they worked on deep water smallies 20+ feet or more. I was using a Shimano Compri MF spinning rod with 6# yo zuri hybrid ultra soft line for this. I did well but never really felt exactly when the fish hit. It was more of a "feeling the line get heavy" kind of thing. I suspect there were a lot of hits I never felt. Fast forward to today and I have a Avid AS69MLXF spinning rod coming my way, and think this would be a step up as a mostly Ned rig rod. So, confession time. I am a total braid newby, have never used it. So my question is-- in the above situation-- would braid ( straight braid, no leader) give me a noticeably better feel for when a fish hits my Ned rig at depth? if so what kind, dia., etc. do you recommend? And if using braid, any downside to look out for? Thanks Jim

Thanks everyone, You've given me a lot to think about. Jim

Hi all, We are in the market for a new house. We've always had oil heat, but some of the houses we are looking at have gas heat. We've always been Leary of gas ( never saw a house explode from heating oil), but lots of houses have it, so I guess my question is, why have gas over oil, what's the advantage? Thanks Jim

Senko, tight to shore as soon as the shallow water temp starts to climb.

Lived close by the KTP all my life. It's starting to show hints of " big store" attitude , but still a cool place.

It was on this day in 1963 that the submarine Thresher was lost. She had sailed out of Portsmouth naval ship yard ( which is actually in Kittery ME ) for tests, and during a dive was lost with all hands, both navy and civilian. I was only in third grade when it happened but one of my class mates I knew lost his father. To this day I remember his mom coming to take him out of school. Funny what your mind remembers. It seems every year tragedies like this are more and more forgotten so I was hoping we could take a moment and remember all the brave souls we lost that day. Thanks