T-Billy

I'm fortunate to have a great little shop locally. Awesome owner who know his stuff, is friendly, carries a good selection, good prices for a small shop, and he hooks us regulars up with a discount on pretty much anything over $100. I buy as much as I can from him, but it's been harder since covid, thanks to the supply chain disaster.

I hope you do brother. God bless ya.

I tried a bunch of different MH F rods for chatterbaits when I first started fishing them. Lots of lip hooked and lost fish was the result. Since switching to MF composite rods, choked is the norm rather than the exception. I'd recommend a MH 3/8- 1 1/2 as the minimum, and a heavy 1/2-2 as ideal.

Absolutely not. Reading the destructions is always the last resort after everything else has failed.

I know you didn't ask me but... Northern strain LM are the same wherever you go. They'll bite late into the fall. 38 degrees seems to be the magic number for me. I struggle to get bit on artificials below that. I caught this 6#, Flippin this, Into this, last December 13th. 40 degree water. 40 degree air temp. Bundle up and get after 'em!!!

Seems there's a restriction against them joining now? If that's the case, I say lift it. Let them come hang out and post if they want to, but be under no obligation to do so. I think that may have been the issue with James, it was an obligation he really didn't have time for, and folks would get unhappy when they didn't get a timely response.

Not YET, but being it's a Lund, it might be by the time you turn 125 or so!!! ? BTW, that's a pretty smooth looking ride considering the chop you were in. Awesome rig for the waters you fish.

I'm pure strain SE Ohio Hillbilly. Not even google knows some of my words!!! ? Her ya go Katie. Good rigging tutorial. 3/8 is my standard weight and I only go up if I need to in order to get through matted weeds, or need a faster fall rate to trigger bites. I'll ocasionally drop down to 1/4 in very cold or very shallow water, but day in day out, 3/8 and a beaver style bait gets it done for me. I've used a bunch of different flippin hooks including Owner, Gamakatsu, Mustad, and others. The VMC and the 6th Sense OX are my hands down favorites. Strong, sharp, and they have the best bait keepers I've found.

It gets REALLY interesting when you have one boatside on an A-Rig. Big angry fish with a mouthfull of teeth AND all those 4/0 swimbait hooks swinging around. They also like to play possum, then go ballistic when you least expect it. Most of the bass fishers around here despise them. I dig 'em and enjoy catching the occasional one while bass fishing. They love ned rigs right after ice out, and are happy to take you for a half hour ride!!! Interesting thing is, as long as the bait is on bottom, they tend to nip it and get hooked in the tip of the snout. I caught 7 out of 9 one day on a ned, 6# XT, with the biggest landed being 38". This is that 38". It was a fatty. My current PB. 46" caught on a tube and 15# XT.

^^^THIS^^^ If they want to do how to videos and such great, but I'd REALLY like to see them be able to start, and join in on discussions, and offer their 2c like any other member. Maybe have an "ask the pros" section as well, where only the pro's are allowed to answer a fellow members question. PS: Thanks for asking for our input on this Glenn.

Yeah, the frog bite will die off, but have no fear, that new setup will do a lot of things well. Jigs, Trigs, swimbaits all come to mind. A 3.5 - 4.8 keitech fat, or similar rage swimmer will work clear up until ice over. You can rig them on a weedless swim jig, or a belly weighted swimbait hook and just slow roll them around. The strikes are vicious and the hook and land ratio is high. Tossing a creature bait like a beaver into heavy cover will produce all fall too. I've gone to snelled straight shank flippin hooks, and a pegged tungsten weight on straight braid exclusively for this. Usually 3/8oz. They're as snag free as it gets and most fish are hooked in the roof of the mouth. #STRAIGHTBRAIDBRIGADE!!! You can fish that thing through the nastiest of tangles and pull the vast majority of them out. Easiest way to snell a hook I've found, and I've never once had one fail.

Same here. Mine is 30" deep. It's easy to hang it over the gunnel and keep the fish in the water while readying the scale and camera. The musky I've caught in warm water since getting this net have really benefitted. They get to recover while setting up the camera tripod. Come release time they're off like a rocket. This net works well for smaller musky up to about 3'. I just bought a 48" deep net to carry once the water cools a bit more and they flood the shallows. They love A-rigs and spinnerbaits. Having a large net appropriate for them will benefit both myself and the fish. It's kind of a PITA to carry in a 1648 boat though, so I'll only be taking it during the cool water periods when those big toothy critters are more likely to target my baits.

Absolutely, and a leaking or popped rivet is a much cheaper, easier fix than a cracked weld.

Beautiful musky ya got there. Love that color. Congrats.

A-Jay does a great job of showing a good way to go about it in his videos. Land, unhook, back into the net/water while readying the scale and camera, weigh, pic, release unharmed.

Might just be the nature of the beast. My Curados, Scorpions, and SLX XT are all a bit finicky to dial in and require more thumb input than my Lew's or Daiwas, but they're the longest casting reels I own.

@bulldog1935 probably has at least three of 'em. ?

It is, and it went completely off the rails. Digitaka just gained a new fan. I bought a Scorpion 71 on 9/13. It arrived via FedEx on the 16th. Amazing. It often takes longer to get stuff from stateside vendors.

Good to hear. Thanks for the update. You, Dee, A-Jay, and Lynn have been on my mind alot. Praying for you all several times a day. God bless y'all.

Thanks Katie. Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug. It's a lot harder for you in a canoe than it is for me in a boat with a foot controlled trolling motor. Hope you get the next one. That new rod and braid will help. You'll be able to really winch on em now.

XT green or clear, doesn't matter.

Sometimes it works, sometimes they come off. Success rate is roughly 50/50. If I can get to them with the boat, and they're hung up shallow enough to reach, I'll keep 'em pinned to the cover and go get 'em. It doesn't happen often since I started doing all my pitching with a H rod and straight braid. You don't want to give them any slack line, you just want to let off enough pressure for them to be able to swim away from whatever they're hung on a bit. Don't let 'em go more than a couple feet at most or they'll wrap you on something else.

I fish 'em on straight braid, and a H MF composite rod. Hook and land percentage is excellent. Honestly, my hook and land % was excellent with a MH MF composite too, but they were just too mushy on the hookset for my liking.

? The only way to roll!!! Ain't no fluoro crap woulda pulled her outta there!!!

FINALLY broke 5# for the first time this year pitching cattails this morning. The Sweet Craw strikes again!!! Bite and fight were awesome. I had pitched about 8' back into a cattail patch. She hit it and took off through the reeds before I even got the reel engaged. Had her pinned up against a bunch of stalks for a minute and couldn't move her. Wasn't gonna be able to get to her with the boat, so I let some pressure off her, and luckily she swam around that bunch the right direction and I was able to winch her out. She's a chunk. Weighed 5-4. It was a heck of a tug o' war. We managed to open up a 4/0 6th Sense OX flippin hook a little.