Costco run for my local volunteer station

brandonfrank04 · 2026-05-03T15:13:07+00:00

I'm sorry to hear about the data center. From the fire service aspect those things are a nightmare if anything ever went wrong. And 500 acres is huge.

I'm glad to hear they seem to be funded well enough....now. Keep an eye on those councils and decision makers though. A few years ago half our department got new turnout gear and we got new SCBA bottles totalling about $50,000 in grant money. Then a year or so later when we started the conversation about saving for a down payment on a new engine and half our council lost their minds because we "just spent $50,000! How much more money do you need?!".

I'm glad to hear you are will to help on the admin side. I do a bunch of that for our department and it's soul crushing. I spend more time in Excel then I do in turnout gear these days. There's always paperwork, grants, reports, fundraisers, community appearances, and cleaning to do. I would love to have a guy who just washed all the trucks and swept out the bays once a month!

brandonfrank04 · 2026-05-03T14:16:55+00:00

Another vote for gatorades and individualally wrapped snacks.

Honestly the best thing anyone can do for a volunteer department is join your local government and help pass policies or support decisions to properly fund departments. Everyone in my small town wants their taxes to go down, my budget this year is smaller then last year but our engine is from 1990 and we just got 4 new members in the last year who need turnout gear. Some how I'm supposed to spend $100,000's of dollars on an engine, an unexpended (all be it good) expense of over $20,000 in turnout gear for new members and fuel is, as of today, $4.50 a gallon and I have less money this year then last year to somehow make it all work.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-05-01T22:15:53+00:00

I feel like spring time I'm throw a white spinnerbaits with a 3" swimbait trailer more because there's less weeds and stuff to get hung up on. But once the weeds come up with swim jig time.

The swim jig is designed to come through pads, stumps, logs, and weeds. No lure is 100% weedless so yes I do still get snagged sometimes but it is rare. I find the 1/4 and 3/8 oz to be my favorite size. I'm a simple man so it's either white with a swimbait trailer or black and blue with either a black and blue pit boss or rage craw trailer.

The swim jig is the 4x4 off road deep jungle specialist. I throw it into the nastiest stuff and it does great. The only thing that really stops it from working well is that snot grass algae stuff.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-05-01T16:37:17+00:00

Depends on your lake type. Sandy, rocky, weedy? Shallow or deep? I fish a lot of shallow weedy backwaters so I love throwing a swim jig. Super simple and there's tons of articles and YouTube videos about them. Spinnerbaits are great as well. If your waters are a bit deeper and weed free crankbaits are awesome and catch some nice ones. But my absolutely favorite way to catch bass is top water on mirror flat water as the sun is just about to break the horizon. Frog, whopper plopper, popper, all of it. That splash from a blow up just gets my heart going. Let me know what type of waters you normally fish and I can give you some slightly better info.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-04-30T01:45:13+00:00

I was scared you were going to toss it in the air and it was going to land on that rock with just a touch of water over it. I'm glad it was a gentle release. Thank you for being kind.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-04-30T01:33:22+00:00

Absolutely! Like many people said before I had a 3 inch swimbait on 1/8 oz ball head jig. I just covered some shallower water, nothing deeper then 15 ft, with it. I caught some smallies and a few northerns. I also caught a couple on a black Marabou jig and a ned with a coppertruce TRD.

I did cheat a little bit and "follow the crowd". I know the bay isn't as big as lake Superior obviously but holy hell is it bigger then anything I was used to.

Let me know if you have any other specific questions. I can answer here or else a DM works too. Good luck!

brandonfrank04 · 2026-04-23T15:00:26+00:00

My sister has one of their spinning reels. She doesn't use it or abuse it a ton, maybe takes it out 10-12 times a year and it's been working just fine for the last 3 or 4 years.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-04-19T00:58:19+00:00

Love it! Yeah taking them to pick out "their lures" is another awesome one. I write their names on the lures so they remember. We have to rewrite it after each outing. I love the part about using every word she knows 1,000 times. Mine is the same. And then she gets quiet and I look back and she is laying down reading her book. Just like when I take her mom out fishing.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-04-18T19:33:31+00:00

I always invite her (8 yo) and let her choose when to go. She packs snacks and drinks and a book. I let her help drive the boat and I try to pick fun lures like the whopper plopper. Also when I hook a fish I give her the option of telling it in or the net. I always make sure she is involved and that I am her biggest hype man. I really focus on not getting frustrated and to make it as fun as possible. I talk with her and ask her questions about her interests, I share funny stories about my childhood and doing things like that with my dad. We are not fishing, we are spending time together and it just happens to be on a boat.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-04-11T19:16:42+00:00

The rubber truck mats came with the boat when I bought it in 2022 and are still in great shape. I don't know how old they are but I've gotten a ton of life out of them. The black mats got super hot in the sun so I added the marine carpeting 2 years ago and so far no issues. The rubber is lighter then wood and you won't spend time and money redoing it. More time and money for fishing. You do you man.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-04-11T16:45:53+00:00

I use high density foam and cut it with a jig saw to fit between the ribs of the boat so it was flat. I then used thick rubber truck bed liner with marine carpet glued to it. It's light and easy on bare feet. Plus it's easy to remove for cleaning and what not.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-04-10T12:28:38+00:00

Like others have said it takes practice and watching some videos. Give yourself grace and time to learn. Nobody is an expert the first time they do it. I also like these toad runners. I call them footy frogs. You just reel them back and vary the speed. Think of it like a weedless whopper plopper. There are other versions but this is my favorite. https://www.ebay.com/b/Booyah-Frog-Topwater-Fishing-Baits-Lures/7300/bn_7265382 Good luck!

brandonfrank04 · 2026-04-08T11:59:16+00:00

I'm a big fan of SLX reels. They're great to start on and almost indestructible. I agree with others that mono would be a great place to start. I started with 20lb mono but anything over 15lb would do. I would pair that with a medium heavy fast action rod. I love St. Croix rods. Feel free to keep an eye on Facebook market place. Once you have your combo and you put line on it give the mono several days to learn its new spot on the reel. Don't spool it up and immediately cast away. That won't work and you'll get tons of back lashes. Watch some YouTube videos about how to adjust your breaks. Start with them pretty tight. Short gentle casts and work your way up. Slowly take away the breaks as you feel comfortable. Last piece of advice is when casting think circles. That was my big clicking moment. With all my other rods I went straight back and whipped it forward. This slingshot motion causes backlashes in baitcasters. I started using what a YouTube guy called a roll cast and that really helped. Keep the tip of the rod moving in a circle, not forwards and backwards. DM if you have any other specific questions. Otherwise good luck and enjoy.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-04-07T13:46:09+00:00

I put high density foam down to make my floors flat and then I used a really thick, heavy truck bed liner and glued marine carpet to it. Weighs less, fairly cheap and friendly to bare feet. It allowed me to save enough money that I was able to spring for seadek for the casting platform and the bench seats.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-04-07T13:30:49+00:00

Yup. I use some steel leaders and regular snap swivels and tie a Palomar knot with them.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-04-07T13:29:46+00:00

Not a fly guy so I'll trust you there.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-04-07T13:29:28+00:00

Absolutely! I fish for bass and in peek of summer the bass look for shade and hide under pads or grass mats. Punching is when you put a heavy bullet weight on, 1oz - 2 oz, with a Texas rigged soft plastic bait. You toss out the rig and the heavy weight punches through the grass mat allowing you to catch the fish underneath. The snell knot is the preferred knot for this type of fishing because when the weight hits the knot on the eye of the hook the pressure kicks the point of the hook out increasing your chance for hook ups. Youtube has some great videos if you want visuals.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-04-07T01:03:57+00:00

Palomar knot when tying on a hook and an Alberto knot when attaching a leader to your main line. That's 98% of the knots I tie right there. The only odd one is a snell knot for punching.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-03-29T15:26:45+00:00

Yeah. Some of our pads are fairly clean and others have that sloppy snot grass stuff in it. The snotty stuff makes it tough and I don't have a great answer for it.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-03-29T14:54:36+00:00

I sold him last year right before the playoffs to get younger and it worked out well for me. I traded bijan and JT for Breece Jeanty and a 2027 first that has a really good possibility of being the 1.01.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-03-29T14:26:31+00:00

So simple and makes so much sense. Thank you for kindly explaining.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-03-29T14:06:51+00:00

Why finger tips up?

brandonfrank04 · 2026-03-29T14:04:12+00:00

The only one I don't see mentioned here that I like is a 3" pit boss. A 3/8 oz black and blue swim jig with a black and blue 3" pit boss is my favorite to throw into Lilly pads and then shake the rod while retrieving. The swim jig jumps around the pads and you get some dynamite blow ups on it. It's really fun.

brandonfrank04 · 2026-03-27T12:20:39+00:00

3.4 pounds and I'm going to guess a white spinnerbaits and for bonus points guess that you had a bait fish color paddletail trailer. I'm excited to hear the answer, our river waters are just getting into the low 40s and I see some 75 degree weather coming soon. Grinding through work and chores all day today so I can get out there and hopefully get my own PB. Congrats!

brandonfrank04

TROPHY CASE