Inherited my dads 1984 Alumacraft Lunker Classic Deluxe last year. His pride and joy. Pulled off the old MinnKota 65 bow mount and put a new MinnKota Edge on. Unreal, same bolt pattern. Finally, somebody got it right.
I spoke with a seemingly knowledgeable rep at Bass Pro Shops in Springfield last year, he said All Stars were the most returned rods they sold. He didn’t try to push BPS rods although they aren’t bad rods if you like the handle. Personally, I would look at Falcon Lowrider and Cara, St.Croix Premier and Avid, and Shimano Compre and Crucial rods, depending on what you want to spend. I like all these rods in certain actions.
GET THE NET PORKY!!!!! bannered Porky’s hand drawn river map. My folks had a trailer a couple spots down from Porky’s house north of Lansing. I’m glad you had a chance to know him cause you don’t run into many like him. A true personality and fisherman. When I was just getting addicted to the bass bug 25 or so years ago, I was telling him how the bass weren’t biting. It was August and it was too hot and so on. Well, I’ve never forgot that next day when we went out. Shut my mouth. Something I think about now, he pretty much had the river to himself and a few other guys.
Fished Praire area Sunday for about six hours. Threw a Stanley Wedge Willow, my favorite this time of year, all day. Pads, pad stems on points, wind points, current edges and other likely spots. Don’t waste too much time if you aren’t getting bit. They are bunching up. Look for shad. Lots of dinks cruising edges but good fish are around. Caught about 15 keepers with several in 2.5-3 lb range.
Sunday AM the Wisconsin Bowfishing Assoc. was at the state ramp at Lansing, Pool 9. Looked like gator hunters from the Everglades. Airboats, generators and lights. These guys shoot all night. I didn’t know people did that. Looks like fun. Anyway, I believe they said that there were 140 less doggies in Pool 9. Way to go!!!
Absorbine Jr., the liniment. 2 or 3 dabs on your hat. Works.
Absorbine Jr., the liniment. 2 or 3 dabs on your hat will keep them out of your face. Has a smell, but they don’t like it either.
Took 17something both days. Saturday Bob and Tom you know who won it in you know where. Only 21 boats Sunday. 15 lbs didn’t get a check. Sunday was won just down river from you know where.
no, they aren’t connected. East and west Okoboji are. Spirit is much shallower and warms quickly as compared to west. Water temp in 60’s and I’ve had some great days in the little stoney, red nose point and south area. Lots of good smallmouth. They love perch/crawfish shad raps. On west, there has been a real nice school of smallmouth around eaglehardt, I think that’s what they call it, next point north of manhattan point. Doesn’t get fished as much.
I’ve used the toads and they work fine. Sharpen the hooks as needed. They’re similar to a scumfrog in quality and durability, little bigger. BPS sells them in kits for a good price. I’m not so sure I don’t have better hooking % with the toads and scumfrogs than with other baits that sport 5 dollar hooks. Not as durable as snagproof tournament frog, but half the price.
Could you repeat that?
When Fish Formula first came out I tried it and forgot it. Several years later there was Real Craw. Many times after several casts to a good looking spot, I would douse my jig with Real Craw and git bit the next cast. A couple of years ago the guys on the Bass Fishing Homepage were raving about a new scent, Kick’n Bass. Bought some KNB garlic that winter and on first trip that spring, I was fishing a rock point in a small lake. No bites, doused jig with KNB, 23″ largemouth. No I don’t catch a fish everytime I put on scent, and most of my success has been in cool water, but I truly believe it can make a difference at times. I was doodling a Power Worm in a tree, when they first came out, and the gills would grab it and not let go. I put on a similar worm in the same color and they basically lost interest. I thought it must mean something. While fishing and not wanting to hook the fish, I’ve pulled fish to the top of the water with Power Baits, but I’ve done it with other baits, too. That may have more to do with their mood than anything. But, I know they can smell, and when the going gets tough, the tough go for the Kick’n Bass.
I don’t believe I lose anymore fish due to tearing out the hooks. I have noticed I put more fish in the boat. I think that after the hookset, and if you moved the rod 3 feet, you moved the fish 3 feet, she is probably up on top where you want her. I think now is the time to adjust the way you handle the fish. It used to be a man against beast struggle to keep the fish coming. Now I feel more in control sooner and work the fish through the top to the pads. I don’t use superlines for flippin and pitchin partly due to the no stretch/tearing aspect, but for slop fishing I would hate to be without it. It’s definitely worth trying.
I have had a few days when I was able to get fish to hit a spoon buzzer hard, when they weren’t very interested in other baits. Have had poor success with buzzing texas rigged plastics so far. I have a couple old Lindy buzzing spoons but haven’t seen them for years. Nemire makes buzzing spoons for sale in BPS. Where these have worked the best is in lakes with fairly clear water and relatively deep weedlines, compared to the river. I think it will bring fish up better than less obnoxious baits. Sometimes. If weeds allow.
Fireline does fray. I would use 50# Power Pro. One important feature of superline is, you can feel the fish immediately and if you don’t you can let your bait sit instead of sending it flying by your buddy’s head.
There are a number of props at this site to look at.
bassboatcentral.com/props4sale2.htm
Yes, we should have more respect than that for the resource. But we live in a hooray for me , to hell with you world. I paid my license and if I can catch a five gallon pail of big gills, a limit of 5-8 lb spawning walleyes, or a hundred little saugers that came out of 32′,not 35′ of water and first you must prove to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that the mortality is above this or that, I’M GONNA.
Most regulations in our lives were put in effect to deal with that type of thinking. Protecting the rights of the majority.
There’s no doubt that siltation and it’s effect on wintering areas has contributed to this problem. But, it seems there must be more to this than that. Without knowing the rate of infection or how soon these lesions appear, without knowing if this is a bad situation that has gotten worse, etc., I don’t have an opinion as to the cause. Let’s hope for the best. I fish pools 9 and 10 weekly and a few things I have noticed over the last couple years has me wondering about the overall health of the pool 10 bass fishery.
In the last couple of years we have had one of the longest snow cover winters in history. We have had extended periods of high dirty water. It has been rough on this pool. Just prior to the 11-14-02 survey, the pool was high and dirty again. We haven’t had good water quality. In the Sny Magill bottoms, Norweigan gets pounded. Limited weed cover, easy to fish. Over pressured? Methodist, on the other hand, had large areas of pads with plenty of water under them. Not so easy to fish. Did it contribute to the stress on the Norweigan fish? I don’t profess to be the best bass fisherman on the river, but I have talked to several proven tournament fishermen about the pool and they have had similar results. Catch rates are way down the last two seasons. Pool 9 fish are healthier. Heavier fish. Does this have something to do with Team Supreme and Bass World Sports abandoning Pool 10. Maybe.
If overcrowding was the main reason for these sick bass, why didn’t it show up when populations were seemingly higher? More stress due to water conditions? We all know there are more bassers today, with more knowledge and more equipment, plus every other pontoon you see has a spinnerbait hanging over the side. Do we as anglers contribute to the spread by handling one fish that is infected and passing it to the next one we catch? Was the fish that started the problem in Norweigan a local fish or one that moved there to winter? Who knows? Just seems to me there are alot of things that may have contributed to this problem.
By the way, I can’t see any logic in loosening regulations to further pressure an already stressed population. Tell fishermen to only take the sick ones? I’m afraid you’d see the ice littered with 12 inch bass. I think it’s a terrible shame to waste such a wonderful little animal by pulling it through a hole in the ice in the first place. What a waste.
The Iowas DNR must believe that the average Iowa fisherman loads up the wife and kids on Sunday afternoon and drives down to the river to catch a mess of walleyes to eat. They get on local TV to proclaim the success of their stocking efforts and that these fish have reached a “catchable size” of 13-14 inches. Slaughter. Well, that’s what has happened this fall in the Shell Rock and Cedar Rivers area. Stringer after stringer of these beautiful little walleyes have been taken. These fish were stocked in 1999 I believe, when the DNR tripled stocking in many of the historic walleye rivers, plus stocked areas of these rivers that they hadn’t in the past. I was overjoyed. Having lived my entire life between these two rivers, I couldn’t wait. It’s my understanding that this area has been one of the best stretches of walleye fishing in the state. I won’t argue. Over the last 15 years or so, after bass fishing on the Miss. is over for the year, I rarely go to the big river after walleyes. I fish often during the week and weekends. I have seen dozens of these cigars taken this fall. More fishermen with better equipment and knowledge fishing more often. Same as evertwhere else. Many of them must have been educated by the Iowa DNR, catch them as soon as you can, as fast as you can and tell us thanks for the great fishing. When you talk to the DNR, all I have heard is “our studies show blah, blah, blah”. My studies show that if you don’t jerk them out at 13″ they will grow to be 16,18,20″ and so on. They know this too. In the winter of ’86-87 while they were tracking fish implanted with transmitters, there were huge, for the Shell Rock, schools of 100 or more walleyes with most of the fish in the 18-22″ range. I talked to these guys several times about the potential of the rivers. In the late ’90s the Cedar was loaded with good fish. Anyway, PUT A LENGTH LIMIT ON THESE FISH. Preach a little catch and release for walleyes. Most of the regulations and catch and release of bass was created by B.A.S.S., and it’s members pressure, influence and example. Now the state DNR’s are beginning to over-regulate that too, but that’s another subject.
