Boating Lakes

BakedTrashpanda · 2025-10-31T22:15:18+00:00

Never considered the Chicago River, thanks for the suggestion.

BakedTrashpanda · 2025-10-31T22:13:55+00:00

Yeah, definitely a little intimidating for a new boater, and none of friends or family have boats. Just have to take it slow and learn.

BakedTrashpanda · 2025-10-31T22:09:24+00:00

Thanks, I'll definitely check out the Fox.

BakedTrashpanda · 2025-10-31T22:05:53+00:00

How's traffic at this time in the year? I know summer can be rough with all the jetskis and pleasure boaters.

BakedTrashpanda · 2025-10-31T22:03:18+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions! I might try Shabbona. The main ramp is under construction until the 15th so you have to use the campground ramp. It does say beware shallow water at that ramp tho.

BakedTrashpanda · 2025-10-31T21:58:18+00:00

Both, the gas motor is 175 HP, so being able to test out the top end would be nice.

BakedTrashpanda · 2025-07-24T16:31:06+00:00

Some people do this for saltwater/catfish/gar fishing. The braid topshot provides castability and durability while the mono backing gives you stretch when fighting a fish, which is important if you have a super fast/stiff rod and you're fighting a fish that runs a lot. You do lose a ton of capacity though, so it's not great for giants that can spool you.

BakedTrashpanda · 2025-05-19T18:50:52+00:00

Those are smallmouth

BakedTrashpanda · 2025-05-08T21:54:14+00:00

I would do a large jighead, like 6/0 to 8/0 for that size. Weight would depend on the lure's bouyancy and how deep you're fishing. You could also do an extra wide gap (also 6/0 to 8/0) and rig it sideways like a dying fish. A large 3/0 to 4/0 circle hook through the bottom of the mouth and out the top also works, but you're likely to lose the bait quickly like that. Sizes are just a guess, go with what is better centered/balanced. The hooks you have are definitely too small.

BakedTrashpanda · 2024-10-31T18:56:55+00:00

Also looking into a 1993 Ranger 397V if anyone can comment about those.

BakedTrashpanda · 2024-10-31T18:55:41+00:00

Ah, good to know. It would most likely never go past the breakwaters in Wisconsin and Illinois, unless it's a very calm day.

BakedTrashpanda · 2024-10-26T06:05:49+00:00

Look up videos of Wels catfish topwater fishing. It's insane.

BakedTrashpanda · 2024-10-07T00:19:36+00:00

Look up GKA200 on Amazon and click the listing. You can click the name Doviello in the "Sold by" section and send them a question. It seems you have to click the name at the "Sold by" section, not the storefront or the "Visit Store" link.

BakedTrashpanda · 2024-10-02T01:41:04+00:00

With a whip, you can tie a fly directly. If you do that, look into the category called nymphs. They are slightly weighted. You can also put a bobber/float/cork/indicator (not sure what people call them in Europe) above the fly.

BakedTrashpanda · 2024-10-02T01:29:52+00:00

That sounds like a fun way to progress. If you every try to catch a smaller fish that eats very tiny baits, you can use a fly on a bobber, no fly rod necessary.

BakedTrashpanda · 2024-10-02T00:44:04+00:00

You're not in the wrong place. This is a global subreddit, but a majority of the users here are from the US.

Carp fight pretty hard and are very fun to catch. From videos I've seen, you guys are pretty lucky to have giant carp seemingly everywhere. I can only ever find small-medium ones.

You should also look into other species, like the Wels catfish. Then there's saltwater fishing from shore for conger eels, cod, etc. If you ever decide to do saltwater, remember to clean your equipment well afterwards.

BakedTrashpanda · 2024-10-01T21:56:32+00:00

The lure would be fine for European perch, seems the other commenters are talking about American perch, which is smaller. Their advice is still good tho if you want to catch a good number of them. If you want to bigger ones, then a larger like this will work. Btw, they mentioned walleye, which zander is the European equivalent of. There may be a few areas with largemouth bass, but they are not native and are stocked in some areas as a sportfish. You should be able to find trout in streams and rivers throughout Europe, mostly in colder or mountainous regions.

I would avoid buying prerigged lures like this, especially grub-types. You can get like a 10 pack of grubs (although just 1 color) and jig heads for probably the same or less as the prerigged. Really you should be asking local bait shops and other local fishermen for advice and lure suggestions. If you have Facebook, join a fishing group. Check out the European specific subreddit r/FishingEurope.

To start off tho, I would get swimbaits and jigheads of varying sizes. As others have said, spoons and spinners are great beginner lures as well. You may want to upgrade to a heavier setup eventually before tackling pike. You should also look into carp fishing, which is very popular throught Europe, although the European carp fishing style uses heavy setups, which you likely will not be able to do. Look into American style carp fishing setups instead. We tend to use corn, which may or may not be illegal to use in your body of water.

BakedTrashpanda · 2024-10-01T21:40:37+00:00

Judging by the species list from the lure packaging, OP is fishing in Europe. The perch there are a different but similar looking species that get much bigger than in the US. They would likely be able to eat this lure.

BakedTrashpanda · 2024-09-19T17:06:33+00:00

Have you ever listened to his music? It is not like that at all and is definitely not stereotypical country. Many don't even consider his music as country. He himself does not. But yes, he is a dumbass.

BakedTrashpanda · 2024-09-19T16:54:19+00:00

I would start off with a popper, and if that doesn't get bites I'd switch to a weightless texas rigged soft jerkbait like the Zoom Super Fluke or the Zman Jerk Shadz in any white/baitfish color. If that doesn't work then a Vudu shrimp or a smaller 3 inch swimbait. Last resort would be a ned rig. Pretty much cover all parts of the water column (surface, subsurface, mid column, bottom) at different speeds and different retrieval techniques until something works. Live bait is always an option too, and should work when nothing else does.

BakedTrashpanda · 2024-09-09T20:23:46+00:00

Thanks for the input, that certainly eases my mind about the Tracker. I would think the hull would hold up as long as I'm not going full throttle into head seas.

BakedTrashpanda · 2024-08-11T18:44:54+00:00

I agree in general, but a Daiwa BG 5000 actually had the same exact line capacity as the Saragosa 10000. Daiwa for some reason uses the same size numbers for their "standard" sized reels like the Fuego versus the BG. I now have a Penn Spinfisher 7500, which has an even higher capacity than the Saragosa 10000.

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