VolFan

My fishing dogma is Labrador Retriever: Don’t worry about looking stupid. Have fun whatever you’re doing. Bring snacks.

I’ve been cooking since I was about 6. Mom worked overnight, dad during the day and there was some overlap so somehow I ended up doing a lot of cooking. I had the Betty Crocker/Better Homes and Gardens red and white checkered cookbook as my reference. I love to cook and even did it professionally for a few years. The America’s Test Kitchen Cooking School Cookbook is the single best reference for how and what to cook how. I use if for ideas, motivation, and reference. Buy that and read it. It will make a world of difference and you can tell what you’re interested in.

I went from a kayak to a 14 ft Lowe utility boat 5 yrs ago. Couldn’t be happier. It was under $5k already set up with basic electronics and a 20 hp tiller. I have added a TM with Spotlock and may upgrade the electronics eventually. I added a deck and then took it out. Kayak fishing is fun but I need to be floating down a river or on a smaller body of water. I’m not wasting an hour paddling to a spot, good on the people that do. Now my wife and/or teen can come with comfortably. It takes me considerably less time to prep my boat than my kayak and frankly is easier on my body. You’ve been headed this way for a while, just make sure you have storage space😀.

Yowzah! That’s a fish right there. Me and my teenager have been catching schoolie sized hybrid stripers and white perch on Lake Norman lately… we could use them for bait for that one!

It’s easier to fish with one kidney than one arm, and you generally get more for the kidney… Sorry you’re going through this - it has to suck. We burned a few Ks on a new main water line last year.

Check out Mountain Lakes Guide Service - great dude and great fishing on the western end of the state. Weather don’t matter. He has a Facebook page or call him 865-466-1345

100% agree with everyone on not feeding dogs cat food. She gets maybe five kibble/day of it and both our dog and cats’ foods are made of pure salmon and unicorn tears 😀. I’m not defensive you’re defensive… Our go-to chew for her has been elk antlers, which has been great. Her interactions with rawhide have been short-lived and, shortly later, disgusting. It’s all about what works with you and your dog’s digestive sensitivities.

Similar to AJ, I use our cats’ dry food as treats for our lab. She’d do the taxes for that stuff. Heading for an open gate? Stops her like she got sniped. All you have to do is grab the ziploc and say treat and she’ll show off every trick she knows.

I redid mine from wood/carpet to the Ultimate Bunk Boards, not that it’s the biggest boat, but the improvement is noticeable. It does slide off easier though, just something to be aware of…

You want to go to Jordan Lake and catch prespawners. Great big fish lake.

Those are the best size to catch…somewhere between 8 an 12lbs is where they are still athletic but still heavy.

I’d put it in the front section midway between the hook hanger and the joint as low and parallel to the belly as possible. Good luck

@Woody B - that’s just a marked up white perch. I caught a few wipers in Mtn Island last week (they’re not stocked there, they wash in from Lake Norman.) There was a group of them at the entrance of Gar Creek. And I’ve caught very nice stripers/hybrids below the Lake Wylie dam, but never any in Wylie itself. I guess they’re there kind of like yellow perch. Present but very tough to target.

They must be Italian…

I think @clayton86 may recommend 40 grains of .223 at 3300 fps…

That’s a groundhog/woodchuck right @TnRiver46? I don’t think they’re too hard to trap but what you do with it them might be the bigger question.

Catfish mostly lately. It’s a ton of fun dragging baits for double digit fish.

Small world right? We missed each other by just a few years

Sunny days and rocks or wood. I fish a 1/8 oz white roostertail in shad lakes, 1/8 oz gold spinner brown glitter body in creeks and lakes without shad. Or a weedless tube slow if it’s in cover. Pick sunny days and fish around stuff that soaks up the heat. If you see swirls or schools, an OG rapala very slowly worked on the surface with long pauses, especially late in the day… A few degrees can make a huge difference and really concentrate big fish.

I went to college planning to go to med school. Realized about 6 semesters in that it was probably a bad idea. Finished out my biochem degree and continued working in restaurants after college. Really loved restaurant work. I worked at the highest of high end places outside of Knoxville for a few years. Great place and great people. Joined federal law enforcement on a bit of a lark from there and now tomorrow it’ll be 20 years. Best job in the world. Time sure flies by.

Yep - L or ML and a 2500 or smaller reel. 4 lb test mono or 10 lb test braid. 1/8th and smaller roostertails, my favorite color is ‘Grasshopper’. I also use rapala OG floating minnows in the smaller sizes. You can go bigger out west; stay on the smaller side east of the Rockies. All bets are off in tailwater fisheries.

@Woody B - we had an overall warmer winter last year with a couple severe cold snaps. I catfished ever couple weeks Jan-Mar and barely needed a coat.

I can’t remember if it was here or TN but in one or the other you were charged more of a fee online for a digital license than if you got it in person somewhere. That’s the one that made me question my sanity.

They do have to pay the person that’s putting your information in and handing you the license…so you either pay a little fee or they add it to the cost of your bait and tackle. No free lunch, people.

@Woody B Wylie?