T-Billy

Are those new reel seats on the Invoker tour's the same as the Tharp series? They look the same to me on the website. I was disappointed to see them changed from the Invoker pro series. I found those seats VERY comfortable.

I have a Dobyns Sierra Panfish 7'4" UL. If a crappie farts within 6' of my bait I can feel it. 😁

Maybe it's both? All I can tell ya is, there's a couple weeks every June when I catch channels up shallow on chatterbaits at night and early morning. They're everywhere, rock, laydowns, weed flats... Couple weeks of that, then they're gone till next year.

My guess is they're spawning. Channels typically spawn here in OH in June, and Flatheads in July. I catch some big channels every year on chatterbaits while night fishing for bass and eyes.

None. All my gear gets rode hard and put away wet.

The cheap brands on Amazon tend to have a looser weave, and are un-coated. The few I've tried have proven strong, but don't handle the best. I've tried quite a few braids, and all my reels now have 832 for bottom contact, and either Fins XS Big Game, or Fins Infinity for chuck and wind baits. The Fins braids are very smooth, and the 832 has proven to be the most abrasion resistant of all that I've tried. Both brands handle great.

I pretty much just fish jigs on structure and moderate cover anymore.A flipping rig with a snelled straight shank comes through the gnarly stuff way better than any jig, and gets more bites IMO.

Redhorse was my first thought also, but the snout/mouth didn't look right to me. So I thought maybe a large species of chub. Looking through some pics on the interwebs, it looks like the down turned mouth gets more pronounced as they get bigger. That might be a young Redhorse.

That's not a carp. I dunno what it is. Looks like a big specimen of some kind of chub. Hey @TnRiver46, what is that?

I've become a big fan of ARK rods over the last couple years, but in this case, given the two baits mentioned, I'm gonna recommend the Dobyns Kaden series 744. It's a very versatile rod being a bit on the slow side of fast. It's a solid choice for both bottom contact and moving baits.

Y'all have WAY bigger lakes, and WAY more of them up there than we do. I can't imagine the cost of stocking at the density OH does in MN. Our lakes are in the 1K to 3K acre range, and we don't have many. You also get some natural reproduction in most of them don't you? Even so, we have a much higher population density than y'all, and still grow some biggins. We have good numbers of mid - upper 40's and a few 50"+ fish swimming around our lakes. Average fish is mid 30's. I wish I'd known what was possible as far as muskie fishing catch rates here earlier. I'd have started fishing for them long ago. I just never knew any good muskie fisherman until I met Chad a couple falls ago. Hopefully our stocking program continues without decline. The DNR says the cost of minnows to feed the hatchery fish has skyrocketed since the covid bs, and is now underfunded.

@TnRiver46 intentionally targeting carp. 🤦‍♂️ Never thought I'd see the day. 😂 Kidding aside, I bet that rubber lipped bass was a hoot on 4# line. I had a 13 pounder eat my ned on 6# and take me for a half hour ride a few years ago. That fight ended a few hundred yards from where it started, and there was no current involved.

I'm with ya 100% on this one brother. Fortunately my work schedule allows me to fish on week nights much of the time through the summer months. It's often just me and the critters out there. Bass reproduce naturally in our lakes, no need to stock them. Muskie can't successfully spawn in most of them due to winter drawdown. I fish Leesville and Piedmont mostly. Both have healthy bass populations, even with muskie stocked at one fish per acre on average. Our little lakes get PLENTY of pressure, that's for sure.

I have 1 ML and 1 L Phenix Feather that I bought for neds based on your recommendation. I've been very happy with both. Plenty of rod for bass in open water. Heck, I've landed big carp, cats, and muskie up to 38" on 'em. I use a #2 hook on my ned heads and even the L sticks fish with ease, and due to the fact that they load deep into the blank with light line they do a great job of keeping fish pinned. Especially important for those acrobatic brown bass. OP your MH/MF is indeed a versatile rod. It'll work for jigs, Trigs and such, but it's better suited to moving baits. Cranks, swim jigs, chatterbaits and such.

Same blank, same taper, the lighter action rod will give you a better feel.

Chatterbait. In the dark.

The man is an amazing shooter and a class act.

The struggle has been real for me with the esox this spring. Actually not just me, everyone I've talked to has had a tough time of it since March. Things seem to be coming around though. The weed beds are coming along nicely, and the muskie are transitioning off of wood, and setting up on them. They're still not very aggressive but they're beginning to chase baits a bit. A friend of mine caught one, and raised two others the other day on a chatterbait I made. He's a nice old fella who's lived on the lake for 40yrs and has been a big help to me getting started in this pursuit. It makes me happy to see him catching fish on baits I made and gifted him. I had a mid 30's come in hot on a Medussa today. It went round the 8 a couple times, but wouldn't commit. Then I missed one on a Cowgirl. It knocked a bunch of slack in my line, and by the time I caught up it was gone. I caught the chunky 32" pictured below by dangling a big redear on a quick strike rig about 4' below the boat. That's one thick little ski for post spawn. It's built like a late fall fish.

I love pitching brush like that. Bushy stuff like that, especially if it's still alive and leafy, or choked with weeds, is some of my favorite cover to fish in summer. Bass love that overhead cover.

All that flooded brush....

2024 night ops are officially underway. No bigs, but decent numbers of these guys running the inside weed edges. Got started at 02:30 this morning. @A-Jay, I thought of you this morning at 03:47. Didn't connect, but I got a bite that startled me so bad I got goosebumps. Given the lake and location, I'd wager either a small muskie or a big eye. I don't know the reason, but my hook/land percentage isn't good on those super hard bites. My theory is that they have it so tight in their mouth, that it's hard to move the bait in their yap enough to bury the hook good. Dunno, it always leaves me wondering how the heck those fish didn't get hooked. Anyway, the night bite should only get better from here. In a couple weeks we'll have lots of topped out hydrilla beds up shallow, and the girls will be getting over their post spawn funk and come shallow looking to fatten up on spawning gills.

Right backatcha brother!!! That's a given since I caught the muskie bug. I love fishing for them in the dark too. Every time I hook a good one at night, there's a "oh crap what have I got myself into" moment. 😂

3. I'm always looking for big's. After four+ decades of catching them, a pile of dinks doesn't excite me. I'll wade through a pile of dinks hoping to run into a big, if a finesse presentation is what's required to get bit, but that's not my preferred way to go about things. 4. I enjoy catching them the way I want to. Sometimes to a fault. I made my first pre-dawn launch this morning. It was a scouting mission, night operations don't usually start until late May or early June. The weeds are up early this year, and water temps are also a few weeks ahead of schedule, so I thought I'd see what's going on before the lights come on. The first weed bed put 6 small LM in the boat in about 30min. I bailed on that to go fish some rock structure until daylight. Nothing going there. Spent the rest of the morning checking spots. Lot's of fish shallow, some on beds. I now have a game plan for the wee hours of tomorrow morning. It'll be all about the flippin stick and the chatterbait rod from now till fall. Two of my favorite ways to catch 'em, and both baits are top shelf big bass producers. 5. I'm always happy to share info with folks, and enjoy helping them get on fish.

😂 It's actually pretty good. I've been eating this breakfast regularly for a couple years now and really haven't burned out on it. Several different flavors of yogurt. If it makes ya feel better, I had waffles and bacon this morning. 😁

I roll with "Two Good" greek yogurt and a handful of almonds four or five days a week. Lots of probiotics and protein, only a few hundred calories, and low in sugar. Good stuff, especially for the gut. 8 cup pot of black coffee is a must, 7 days a week.