Seth

That net is pretty sweet. It's plenty big for big fish, but doesn't constantly get in the way like my long handle nets.

Here's footage of @JestersHK's big brown that he landed Sunday morning before we headed back home.

Looks like I get to add another check mark to the "co-angler that caught a 20"+ brown and not me" board! Before long, that board is going to start looking like the 11" portion of my CAM score card.

Good brown @Travis Swift! The nice browns were definitely active this weekend. Several thumpers followed our stuff to the boat, but only one actually bit. I think I have brown repellent on my hands or something. @JestersHK caught like 8 browns this weekend and I only managed a whopping 1! Had another hooked this morning on a jerkbait, but it threw the hook. It wasn't much anyways. At least the nice bows had some pity on me and wanted to play ball.

I know Joe Bass was at Pomme, but haven't seen the results anywhere online yet.

All Ultrex trolling motors come with Ipilot. The possible differences are whether it has with I-pilot link or not. I-pilot link allows you to connect it to your Humminbird graphs. There is also a version that comes with a built in mega down imaging transducer instead of the standard US2 2D version, but I doubt that is the case on this one since that is a fairly new feature.

I know they are pricey, but that setup with lithium deep cycle would be incredible!

One of my favorite ways to catch a bass! Watching that worm vanish isn't quite as exciting a monster top water blow up, but it still gets me fired up!

Dad burn Google! They see everything!

I plann on being down for CAM again this year. You’re welcome to play around with my Ultrex as well Phil.

Only if you're after deep fish. Nobody is forcing you to use electronics and video game it up out deep. There will always be bass up shallow where no electronics are needed at all, especially this time of year.

The Missouri and Mississippi Rivers are extremely high right now and that limits how much water they can push down the White River, which dumps in to the Mississippi. Keep that in mind.

You mean there is actually more to it than just tying one on and fishing it in any random spot? I'd have never guessed based on what these other guys say about it. 😄😄

MLF also has marshals in every boat to weigh fish, penalize anglers, verify that they aren't lying, etc. How do you pull that one off in a lower level tournament with your average Joe fishing it? Total length would work, but I doubt many are going to go for that when it comes to bass. A 20" female full of eggs will go much farther than a 20" male this time of year.

The guys I keep in touch with who snag the lake a lot are doing just fine. They take people out all the time and bring back 3-4 limits. I was up there last Friday and graphed plenty of fish at the heads of every major hole from Wigwam down to Mallard Bay. We snagged for two hours, hit five and then went crappie fishing. The fish were suspending at 20-25' over 30-60' of water though so snagging on bottom didn't do much for you. You had to be able to target that depth range. One of my buddies was up there and struggled, but he was only working the bottom even after I told him exactly what the deal was. I guess to answer your question, the snagging is fine for those who know what they are doing, but it's not so easy that everybody can go out there and pile them up right now. It's not due to lack of fish being around though.

Water temps were 49-55 degrees between the 66 and 54mm last Friday. Couldn’t tell you how the bass fishing was, but we did do well on the crappie and also caught five paddlefish.

Really? That's the opposite of what I've heard from guys I regularly interact with about fishing, but I understand that you also work with fisherman for a living so you deal with a lot more people than me. I've heard of far more Motorguides having a shaft get bent from striking something too hard. I'm not sure I've heard of anybody that I know experiencing this with a Minnkota though. I'm not sure about the mount quality. My Maxxum mount felt more solid than my Ultrex mount, but I can't say I've had any issues with the Ultrex mount so far either and I've been in pretty rough stuff so far. The bounce buster and shock system of the Ultrex mount is nice to have.

Hmm...I'm not sure on that one then. I'm running an old 728 bird on my front deck with the same cable that you should be using with your Helix 5. That same cable (MKR-US2-8) should work with all core and Helix units according to the website. https://www.minnkotamotors.com/learn/technology/trolling-motors/universal-sonar-2#HB

Being able to retie or move around the boat without being blown off a spot is incredibly handy. No more do I have to gripe about the wind blowing the back of the boat towards where I am trying to fish. I simply spot lock the trolling motor and go fish off the back deck of the boat now. This has been very beneficial lately while crappie fishing around docks on Lake of the Ozarks.

That's if you get the model with the built in down imaging transducer. The down imaging transducer is only compatible with the Humminbird units that have mega imaging. The model with the US2 transducer is still available and will work with any 2D sonar unit. You just have to buy the proper US2 adapter for your graph.

I bought an Ultrex this winter and it's amazing! Unless you go the Ulterra route for the remote stow and deploy, I highly recommend the Ultrex as it allows you to keep your cable steer foot pedal as well as giving you the I-Pilot features. Having to lean down and deploy a Terrova sucks....

You should be fine with the medium light setups then. If you don't have jigs yet, wait till you arrive and see what the water is doing. I personally fish a 1/16oz jig with 0-2 units, 3/32oz with 2-3 and a 1/8oz with 3-4 units. There are a couple of exceptions. If I'm fishing shallow, then I will go to a lighter jig. If the wind is blowing pretty good, then I will go to a heavier jig. There are some holes I fish down near the Landing that are 20' deep and will always use a 1/8oz jig there simply because it takes forever for a lighter jig to get down near the bottom. Of course if the fish are midging and hanging out near the surface, then I'll use a light jig and fish high in the water column. These are all things you'll just have to figure out when you get down there.

Just buy jigs at Lilleys Landing. They have a great selection. As for gear, I use a 6-6.5' light action spinning setup with 2# line for 1/32-1/16oz jigs. If I am fishing an 1/8oz jig, then I will bump up to 4# test and possibly a medium light action rod. If you don't have the proper gear, I believe Lilleys will also rent you the proper setups for a day for a reasonable fee. If you're not familiar with what you need, then I'd recommend taking them up on that offer. @Phil Lilley

Go to the trophy area and toss a white or sculpin/olive jig for a chance at both. If you strictly want to target a nice brown then tie on a jerkbait, head to trophy run and pound the bluff banks from there down to the Narrows and then switch sides and fish the rock bank side down to Fall Creek.

I’ve been on Taney a lot the past few years so it is very possible. I fish Phils winter trout tourneys and usually make a few trips down in the summer and fall.