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That would just be awful if they started living shallow year round. Of course some do, and always have. Anything below 50' is pretty much not happening for me. I've caught some in the past on main lake deep trees down to 75' or so, around Baxter. Not much fun, whole lot of work, and can't be too healthy for the little devils.

Compared to across the last 26 years, basically. I'm a daytime guy, except for the odd summer run. The number of brown fish available was ridiculous, say 5-10 years ago. But that was with a ton of short fish being caught. You might go through 50-75 to get to 8-9 legals then. Now, I fish differently than most folks, no question. Weirder than most of you know. Not just slow and small, but a zagging instead of zigging type of thing. And I fish intentionally for smallmouth, every time I float it. Blacks and K's are the bonus fish in my boat. As to brown fish in derbies...my guess is a lot of folks are just scared silly of trying to catch smallmouth to weigh for a check. Still talk with folks who assign a certain mysticism to brown fish behavior. They're actually pretty simple critters.

Actually thought the average quality was up on the brown fish last year, and numbers maybe down a touch. Weather played a part in that (negatively), no doubt.

Prayers for his friends and family. That hits too close.

Jim Eakins passed about a week ago. Folks might know already, but I didn't until I saw it in Bass Blaster today. Changed jig fishing for a lot of folks.

The old big Rogue is a gem. The 5 1/2" one. Much different roll and flash than the regular.

The willow deal is something I keep around for spring/summer. Can be useful on school fish, especially when they get weird about bait size. Have some hard baits set up for the same thing. Haven't thrown it in cold water, but you'd think it would work. A Little George sure will.

No doubt. All of mine are out of a basic Do It mold, except for a dozen or so old Silver Buddies. You might look at the open shank trebles. They hook up fine, and eliminate the rings. One of those odd situations where a cheap bronze hook seems as good as others.

Here's a platform I'll run on: $3 flip jigs, at max

Yep. Brown fish will just crush it at a dead stop too. Have had a lot of K's get it on the end of a drop, I think. No thump, just there when you pick it up. Used to hop a jig spoon that way too. Back before the big spoon craze. It'll surprise you.

Well now. That's within my traveling range.

I'll give him this, he figured out how to sell a $10 flip jig 😂.

Little jokers work. Have had a lot of fun with them around Baxter in November/December.

Good for your club. Fished a bunch of 3 fish limit derbies in college (because the Iowa limit was 3). Makes for some fun, and tight, weigh ins.

Love catching them on that clinky metal junk. Nice work.

It's closer than Minnesota.

The pressure is nuts. The wood, especially the cedar wood, is not what it once was. And it's still an amazing fishery. The flood years seem to have helped the largemouth recover a little. Sort of think they just don't behave and live in all the same places they did before the kill. Lots of brown fish to play with. Just lots. That's why I keep coming back. He's a largemouth guy, who remembers the days when they were plentiful. That explains a lot of it, I think.

Good looking work. You need about three more hobbies though 😉.

Make mine rock piles, please. *runs away

The 7'6" is one they call the "Open Water" rod. I'll try to find an exact number. It lists as MH, but I would call it a nice all around M. Perfect Ned rod for 1/8 or 3/16 heads. Good all purpose...grubs/swimmers, split shot, senko/fluke, etc. Might be just a touch light for big tubes, like with a 1/4-3/8 head and a heavy salt tube. Haven't tried the others in the series. Rarely use anything besides one 7'6" or another now. Light, decently sensitive, stands up to the occasional very welcome guest winding one all the way to the tip top 😉.

That says it all. If you're so inclined, we could use your prayers.

The Lew's TP-1 Black rods are excellent, and decently priced. I do tape my grips, but you might not find the need. Their 7'6" is as close to my custom Ned rods as you'll find.

Prayers, brother. That's a close one.

This might help 😉.

This matches what I saw. Usually catch a bunch of gogs on brown fish places. Simply didn't this year, just caught a couple. Also have some pretty gog specific places they normally set up on. They weren't there, but some K's were. Little unusual. I joke about how I would treat a legal walleye, but only sort of. I have to wonder if their increase isn't moving some of the other fish around, cutting into numbers... panfish, young bass, etc.