Sure enough, flippin’ feature is not gone, just changed to having to hit two different buttons – thumb bar to disengage, that pops up a button where the flippin’ switch used to be, then you have to move your thumb over to push that button back down to reengage the spool. A little cumbersome, but at the $60 price point, may be worth it to try and get used to it. I see backlashes happening to some folks taking their thumb off the spool when disengaged though…

http://www.basspro.com/Quantum-Accurist-PT-Baitcast-Reel/product/1310170640261/

Abu Garcia stopped making the budget friendly Silver Max with the flippin’ switch. Still make the Silver Max, just without the flippin’ option. I went around and bought up the leftover inventory at my area stores a few months ago. I also picked up four of these:
http://www.basspro.com/Quantum-Accurist-PT-Baitcast-Reel/product/1310170640261/

I’ve got about a dozen now as they are a big part of my fishing program, but suspect you won’t be able to get the Flippin’ switch on anything much longer as it was explained to me “they just don’t get used by anyone other than walleye fishermen anymore”. I could get about two years heavy use out of a Silver Max before it got tossed in the broken reels/parts box, but the Quantum Accurist seem like they are a grade higher in quality for sure – also almost 2x the cost.

Takeavetfishing.org

Lucky duck….

great buck, congrats!

POLARIS RANGER CREW XP 900-6 EPS

Haul yourself, your gear, your buddies, their gear etc… all comfortably, with one machine. The room in these is amazing. Can rig a 9″ Lowrance touch screen GPS with lake map chip on a Ram mount on the dash…25K can get you this & a trailer to haul it on.

Congrats Eric, great deer

Neither will snag much unless you have slack in your line and allow them to tip over. Bottom bouncers are a bit larger (longer) and may run baits higher off the bottom then bait walkers.

If forced to pick one, I would imagine since the design of a bottom bouncer has the weight farther up and a bait walker has it’s mass on the bottom, the bouncers may be a bit more snag free.

As far as size, that depends on depth and current. I would bring a variety of 1-1/2oz, 2oz & 3oz bottom bouncers.

mark-bruzek wrote:

Yeah, I don’t like Walker…
It was Menards. I bought a drill, bolts, washers, Drill bits and an extension cord and plugged into a light pole in the parking lot.
When creativity counts…

Gotta love a “solutions” guy. Improvise, adapt and overcome. Well done sir.

X2 If running Offshore boards with OR-16 releases, braid is no issue whatsoever. A single wrap around the front release will prevent any slipping.

Len, take a look at http://www.mycapcam.com/. I’ve handled them and I think they are quite good for the price. Lots of mounting options and good quality video.

Won’t officially call it a season quite yet as over 20″ of ice on Lake Wisconsin today, but she was getting sloppy out there. Possibly my last outing where I have to drill a hole for the year…

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JPeyes wrote:

Gary Sanders are you talking about the Scotty 254 Rod Holder Extension?

Yes, I believe that there is a set screw on each end holding it together. You can also use that Scotty rod holder extension design and modify other rod holders like Ram as well. I will be looking into sawing some Folbe rod holder extensions in half to create some for myself sometime before summer. My bird trees are just too big and heavy For my Ranger with how I have my tracks mounted.

You can purchase the regular extensions and take them apart. Go buy 1″ aluminum pipe. Cut it to whatever length you want, and use the parts to fit the new pipe.

Excellent video. Great footage, and I think you did a very good job of summarizing the muskie addiction. I hope you do find that “Super Fish” some day, but I really doubt that it will cure your addiction. It would likely just make you want to do it again, and that’s not a bad thing. Great job.

Dave Ansell wrote:

My only guess is a type of drift control or to slow forward propulsion

Thats a pretty good guess Dave.

I gave up my Maxxum kicking & screaming. The absolute precision that you have with a cable steer is still missed but the Terrova with Ipilot has so many features that get used regularly I would probably be lost without it now. The ability to simply leave the bow without getting blown off a spot is a very big deal to me, as is being able to control the trolling motor from anywhere in the boat via remote. Additionally choosing a heading and letting the motor drive for me allows me to be significantly more efficient and productive.

Since I spend the majority of my time these days fishing open water and using techniques that simply cannot be done as easily with a cable steer, the Terrova is indispensable to me.

If I was spending 80% of my time casting, I’d likely still have my Maxxum mounted on my boat rather than in my garage, for the same reasons that you listed.

castle-rock-clown wrote:

I’m still waiting for the ex~wife to pop up through the ice.

What kind of anchor line did you use?

Ben Brettingen wrote:

Here’s what I’m talking about with the fins. I think the detail Fittante puts into the work is phenomenal.

It’s just a picture I found on Facebook of somebody’s fish who went through Joe.

Fins look great but look at the paint job. The depth is amazing. Put that thing in the water and it might swim away.

Because you can does not mean you should. Bad form to do so in my opinion. No point in crying about how I was there first on a public lake. Happens all the time. Simply fish it when they aren’t there or move along. Plenty of other fish and locations to find them.

Yes. That is pretty much the last item to install in my new boat and I am at a toss up of going that route or getting rid of my radio and antenna and just going to a handheld unit.
[/quote]

I recommend NOT going with a handheld unit. In my experience, if you are on a water body that requires a marine radio, hand held units range is poor. Somewhat useless except for weather reports.

Randy they’d get tired of finding you at the back of the store talking to customers about the features of the rifles for sale instead of at the front of the store greeting the customers.

#1 in my mind is that you have to be absolutely passionate about doing it or you won’t make it work. We’re all a prideful bunch and probably put more pressure on ourselves than our clients do, but that’s what drives us to succeed. Most of us have “graduated” or taken it to the next level, from measuring our success by seeing how many big fish we can catch, to seeing how many big fish we can get others to catch. If you don’t find that rewarding, wait until you do. It’s about you getting them to get fish, not them watching you get fish.

You need to have the drive to succeed and willingly accept the challenge on any given day regardless of weather, because not every day is a Saturday morning fishing show, and often times clients aren’t aware of that. When you pick them up at the dock they often aren’t terribly interested in the fact that it’s blowing 20 mph from the East and the cold front has killed the bite. They just know they booked 6 months in advance, are paying hard-earned money, and have been dreaming about a successful trip.

I feel pretty strongly about saying that most of the guides that I know where I live, are so passionate about fishing, we’re going to be out there doing it whether or not some one pays us to take them, and realistically we are more or less offsetting our own expense by guiding. I don’t know many that are making it solely from fishing. The expenditures are hard for others to comprehend, but it costs a significant amount every year to keep at it. That passion justifies the expenses – at least to us. Finding a spouse/girlfriend that is not only understanding, but supportive towards this endeavor is like winning the lottery.

Another thing to note, is that you have to get over “fishing how you like or prefer to fish” and learn to fish however is necessary on a given day to keep up your end of the bargain for your client. Learn to be a more “complete” angler. This often means being both prepared for and equipped with the appropriate tackle (for everybody) for many different techniques. Many days start out with confidence because “they were here yesterday”, but they aren’t anymore – now you have to switch gears and start over with limited time. With time you get better at it, and learn how to fish more efficiently to capitalize on the short time you have with your clients.

So much valuable advice has been offered by others in previous posts, you’d be well advised to take it all to heart. Speaking for myself, it is absolutely worth the long hours, the crappy weather, the expense, etc… to see someone learn a new technique and be rewarded or to catch the biggest walleye of their life and to know that I made it happen for them. Sometimes just getting someone to look into the water rather than at it, can open up a new level of understanding for them. Getting to meet lot of great people from all over the country is pretty cool too. I’ve had clients from all over the country and almost every one of them has been great.

The rewards are many and great, but if money is the motivating factor, you’re likely going to be disappointed. Best of luck to you.

Thread a bait such as an ice jig or fly onto the braid line on your rod. Tie a small swivel to your braid below the ice jig or fly. Next tie on a length of fluorocarbon, and tie a snap on the end (the bottom end). Simply attach a lure such a a #2 or #3 jigging shad to the snap on the bottom. The ice jig or fly slides freely above the swivel hence the “slider” designation.

I am certainly not in favor of interrogating people at boat landings, zebra mussel sniffing dogs or any other in-your-face intrusive means.

As there are seemingly numerous ways invasive species can be spread that include non-human means, I think the only real tool is education. It won’t happen overnight, and I don’t believe it can be stopped cold, but ongoing education of the masses that use the resources is bound to sink in at some point. I am in favor of increased signage, media reports etc… that outline cause & effect of invasive species.

Total 17.3
Big Fish 7.2

When I was up at Sturgeon Bay a few weeks ago a simple slider rig was effective. Best bait was a #3 gold jigging shad on the bottom and a gold rocker jig tipped with a waxie as the slider above the swivel. Gold Swedish Pimple caught a fish or two also. Braid is highly recommended over mono as some bites are subtle and we were fishing in 45′. I used a 28″ ML St Croix and that worked just fine. It was my first time going after whitefish. It’s a lot of fun.

I believe Captain Paddlefoot posted previously a wealth of info regarding different baits.

That may be one of the best venison recipes I’ve come across yet. Looks amazing!

Seems odd the the update worked for 3 outings and then suddenly didn’t work. I’d verify potential battery/power issue first. If it was in fact the update causing the problem it should have happened immediately.

Mike W wrote:

A store that has crankbaits and clips for them.

Colored fishing line.

H2O jigs in bulk packs.

Draggin jigs.

Quality hair jigs at a decent price.

Randy, Just go to Everts and snap some photos of their walls.

X2 – they don’t have everything…but if you can’t get bit on what they’ve got, they ain’t biting.