nomolites

Had not heard but I have caught more of them in the last two years than I can count in that same area; my be God's way of balancing the herd sort of like CWD and whitetail deer.... Mike

I fish from a metal 18' and as long as you are not a throttle masher it is doable in most conditions and the fishing is just darn good and at times unbelievable. Of course it is not advisable to undersize(shaft length or thrust) your trolling motor if you fish LOZ..... Mike

Cool. That's a good place to start...

There you go.

Nice WW! Those are two good ones. LOZ was like and ocean from 9-9 this weekend..... Mike

Sometimes the bleeding shad bill makes the difference. I know the Taildancers and Shad Raps are available with the them, don't know of any others. Mike

Now THERE'S a Rapala that catches fish, and they know it - priced accordingly. I prefer Eeriedescent.... Mike

That sounds right to me. I have always caught more on the SD as well. Thanks for the Info and again congrats on a beautiful fish! Mike

Nice! Crank bait?

Looks to be at the moment. Let's review in August.... Mike

That explains the ugly hat....the fish however is beautiful! Cards fan Mike

No, but you may just need a bigger boat... Mike

I have the Hound Dawg that I upfitted with 60' of heavy trot line cord(I troll and routinely hang up below 30') and I can recover my cranks in almost any snag. The cheesy line it came with did not cut the mustard. Mike

I use the old reliable CC spoons in 3/4 mostly but I swap the hooks for a red treble that I tie a translucent skirt on. Fish them horizontally in the evening during the summer at LOZ and it can be a real hoot with hybrids and walleye in addition to boatloads of white bass. I would certainly use the Binks if I had them; next time to Norfork may pick up a few manyshads - he really knows how to use that bait to catch fish. Mike

Replace the rod tip. That was actually probably damaging all of your line to some extent but the smaller diameter braid just got down into the jagged stuff. To Plug's point, it does not fare well with sharp objects where flourocarbon holds up best. You can run braid on steel cables or dock structures all day long as long as they are clean and in good shape but rusty sharp stuff will nick or cut braid faster than it will flouro. Mike

Nice!

Was just at a gathering at the clubhouse of Regatta Bay yesterday and it was clear to me as I took in that perspective of "my" lake that what these folks want and need and what I want are two radically different things. That likely extends well beyond the walls of their condo community; more power to them but I must respectfully pass. Mike

I have the book as well although I reference it less than nearly on - it( and tips from rps and others that precision troll) has increased my take home exponentially. I was out early(sort of, 0730-0930) before it got absolutely ridiculous this morning on LOZ and picked these up contour trolling #7 flicker minnows at 22ft. Had the usual undesirables as well(bass, drum, channel and blue catfish) with the walleye 20.5" and biggest crappie 13.5". Mike

I am guilty of laziness here as well; typically when fishing a derby or when the lake is a madhouse like a holiday weekend is the only time I have worn. I do have a good inflatable and I would be wise to use it on LOZ anytime.....and as a bonus my wife would be thrilled. Mike

Well done. You have the where nailed; that is most of the battle. Mike

I have an assortment as I too tried to flee Shimano for a time but in the end I must be honest and admit that these days I have a hard time selecting a spinning rod from my locker that doesn't have one of my two Stradic ci4s attached. I am very thankful to have tough choices like this and as luck would have. it, my Ned rod happens to be one of them... Mike

It works in all but the coldest water. As summer progresses you will need help(snap weights, lead core, down riggers) to get down to the thermocline where the fish concentrate. Mike

Every tournament boat I saw had at least one WP going; guys I talked to said there were some good bags coming in with many caught on top. Mike

I fish mostly LOZ which is roughly the same latitude and I never found them on beds this year either; closest was Mid-April when they were staged on the closest wood to the bank. I cleaned 30 over the weekend on LOZ(caught deep trolling in spawning basins) almost all of which were females; about half had spawned, a few looked ready to drop and the balance appeared to be reabsorbing their eggs or at least they had turned a lighter color and appeared to be shrinking. There were fry showing up deep already and these fish were feeding on them. Anyway, my point being I think the shallow window has passed. Mike

X2 on braid. Makes a huge difference and it lasts much longer than flouro or mono which balances out the additional cost. Have tried most, IMO Power Pro is the best - use it on all my jig and trolling rods including ultralights. There is no better hook set than when you stick it to them with braid. Mike