michiganoutdoorsman

My dad and I made it out this past weekend, it was pretty windy and quite cold. It was so slow, I’m not sure if the rain had them tight mouthed or if we just weren’t where we needed to be. First bass trip of the year and I was just happy to be out. I got to try out my new Garmin 106sv’s and they worked awesome! Water was 45.5°-47°. We fished for a few hours until I finally caught about a 2 pounder. It felt great to land the first bass of the season. Not 10 minutes later my dad hooks up, then I hooked up 2 seconds later! With both of us hooked up, I couldn’t believe we had a double with how slow it had been. My fish felt pretty solid, and it fought pretty well. I was happy to reach down and pull this big girl in the boat! My dad’s was quite a bit smaller than this one. We fished for a bit longer before calling it a day because we were getting beat up by the wind. Can’t wait to see what this season has in store! I’ve got LSC and GTB on the bucket list to hit this year and plan to go after I tag out on a turkey. Hope everyone has a great bass season!

Right. I know how it works, he bought a rod last year doing the 1 for 1 swap. I personally don’t buy much from Cabela’s these days but he likes to shop around so I go with just to spend time together. I might buy some plastics or terminal tackle while I’m there.

I think he might try to take advantage of the Cabela’s sale right now! He’s got some gift cards and old rods he wants to turn in. Should get a nice rod for cheap.

I appreciate the insight, everyone. I’ll pass some of these along to him and see what he thinks.

Hi all, My dad is looking for a finesse baitcast setup like the title says. He’s so set in his ways that he can’t learn how to use a spinning setup, no matter how hard I try. He just can’t get used to the feel and he’s set in his ways. Anyone got a rod recommendation for around $100? He doesn’t want to spend a ton as he’s on a fixed income (retired) and would then obviously buy a baitcast reel as well. I’m open to recommendations on that as well. He’s pushing 70 and has been using baitcasters all his life so I guess there’s no changing him now. Thanks for any help!! michiganoutdoorsman

That is a bit scary. I have heard that when management changed a number of years ago a lot of people started to have trouble with customer service and their boats.

I’ll continue researching and I know it’ll be a few years. Us men like to dream ? That’s all it is for now. I know I’ll need to get more experience with bigger water and what not, but I’d like to maximize my chances for a quality boat as well as being as safe as possible. Thanks fellas.

Appreciate the insight and information everyone. Airshot, to answer your question, I'm not willing to chance it much lol. I don't push the limits too often. I don't fish if I think I'll be risking anything. Like I said, just searching around for my next boat is all. We'll see what I end up with in the coming years.

I totally get that. I don’t fish crazy weather too often. I do know that at times the weatherman is wrong with his wind speed predictions and sometimes an unexpected storm can come on in an instant. I was just curious if anyone had experience with it in moderately rough waters.

I like how the Lund Renegade (1875, 1975) is laid out, but can’t find much on how they do in bigger waters. I know it’s an aluminum, it’s lighter and will not handle rough water as well as glass. I have searched far and wide and find guys love them, but never say how they are on bigger water. It would occasionally be on Grand Traverse Bay, the glacial bodies of water in the greater Traverse City area, and LSC. I’m not currently going to buy a new boat right now as I just bought my Lund Rebel last year. But in the next few years I’d like to upgrade. I would love a Pro V Bass, but that’s crazy expensive for me right now. Should I consider the Renegade for what I’d like to do, or should I look at older, more reputable glass boats? I would consider looking at Ranger, Skeeter, Triton, etc. for a new (old) boat. And if I could find a Phoenix for the right price maybe that also, but I doubt that I’d be able to track one down that would be in the price range I’d have. Thanks!

I had a 13 fishing combo I got as a gift, never really liked it much. Reel was decent, rod sucked. After that it kinda turned me off from their products. Maybe I should’ve given them more of a chance, but I stuck to the bigger names for most of my rods and reels. We’ll see how this one pans out for the brand and the industry.

I remember when my dad was all up in arms about gobies making their way into the great lakes, as well as even the inland lakes. I was in elementary school and he was so concerned about them. He (like a lot of people) thought that they would invade fish beds and fish populations would take a hit. He also hated on the zebra mussels. Fast forward to now, and he thinks they're the best thing that could've happened to our Michigan waters. The quality of fish in our state has exploded ? It has made it fun to chase these monsters. Having said that, I'd think LSC has got to be up there with the best of them. Seems like a lot of fisheries have taken off the last few years, though. Never been out of state so I can't speak to that.

Well, unfortunately I’m back home. Had a great couple days of R&R. Lake Bellaire is a pretty cool lake and I enjoyed seeing how much wood there really is in the torch river and the stump field at Skegemog. Would’ve liked to have caught a few more, but no complaints from me. I’m gonna have to make another trip up there before the year is over. Biggest bummer of the trip is my trolling motor took a crap on me so I think I’m gonna have to figure out the wiring situation I think. Other than that, a fun 3 days in northern Michigan!

Thanks, everyone! Seems like a great group of guys.

Well, my father in law caught a solid 4 pound or so smallmouth today. Didn’t have a scale and not exactly sure how to post pics here, but it was awesome to see! Fish were hard to find but we caught roughly 10 smallies today with most being smaller 1-2 pound fish. Seeing him land that big fish made my day though. Couple more days left of the mini vacation!