VolFan

It' ok, at least you were properly attired. Nice smallie though.

That's a shat week. 1. Good on you. My wife's stepbrother robbed her room several times while she was in college,and then stole a bunch of stuff from her dad and his mom's house, and his mom's car. Twice. He's in jail now. Sometime's tough love is the best thing you can do. The family will eventually come around. 2. Very sorry to hear about the dog. I bet you know what the best thing for a lost dog is: a new puppy. I can wholeheartedly attest to that. 3. You can replace the pills and the pain'll gradually go away. What really matters is that you stepped in and stepped up and took care of you and your family. You're doing it right and good on you for that. Good luck and keep your chin up.

It's definitely coming down way faster than I thought it would, seems to be clearing more quickly as well. All this nice sunny weather should bring the temps up too.

I guess I don't understand how fish can get stuck in the canal. It's connected to the river in several places. But the other potholes and such, it sounds like a good idea. Sometimes people underestimate fish's ability to survive. It'll be a long few weeks back to "normal" fishing here.

X2! It's supposed to be fun. Relax. We're trying to outwit something with a brain much smaller and simpler than (most of) ours.

J Franco would say a FishGrip, or something like

Freshwater drum, they're great fighters, and, depending on who you ask, great eating.

"cause you can't look at BR 'cause you're banned again? :D

I wouldn't doubt it (ice locked); it doesn't get alot of sun. Good call

I think they were alluding to there were no reports because Thai got iced. The Potty was actually fishing well with the warming trend and probabl will be again once we get past tonight's cold snap. Jigs and ledges (with bigger strangely being better), with a little current as been $$, even when you're not near a warm discharge.

Great illustrative pics J. Especially on the fail. ANd I certainly agree with you about the accesibility of the Fishgrip at $12.

Or you could use a cradle, but with a guy that's new to pike/musky, I thought a net migt be a little easier, more familiar and more secure. But to each his/her own. I guess the point is, be ready to handle a big fish, with teeth, at the boat/shore.

If you do use the big baits, make sure you're heart is up to the exertion and the strikes, and get a BIG net. You'll basically be trying to land something the size of a very unhappy small human being...with sharp teeth.

I didn't say it was too big, I was just saying if he's going for action and size, the 9 might be a good compromise. If he wants size, by all means use the 12 or something even bigger from saltwater. It's hard to get too big for pike/musky, the limiting factor is usually being able to cast the big baits all day.

Sturgeon Ceerk Marina has small pontoons for rent if you go that route. Rates are posted on their website. We did this a couple times last year and there's plenty of good spots within a few minutes with the small motor, It's $100 for the day with a little toon. Also, there's some great cabins at the state park if ya'll want to make a weekend out of it.

10' might be a little big. You can get the 9" and/or 12" from their website. The 9" would be agood compromise of action and size.

7" Super Flukes are easy to find usually. Also, Sluggos used to be made in 10' version I thought,but I'm having trouble finding them. Big hooks, 6/0

Buzzbaits aer fantastic fun for action. I like huge soft plastic jerkbaits for more size.

If you're using braid that Mod Fast probably won't hurt you a bit on T-rigs, it might even help you depending on how hard you set the hook.

X2 on the mittens. You can get neoprene mittens that fold back to fingerless glove at some watersports retailers. REI had them last time Iwas theree for abou $34.

I fished Breckenridge a couple time 6 years ago. It really wasn't any better than any f the public res in the area. Civy's can get a QT base pass at the office just outside the gate.

If you go straight up 7 from Oxford you will copme to Wall Doxey St Park. The lake there isn't big, but has alot of standing cypress trees. It's your best chance for public big bass. They rent boats there, it's not big enough for actual bass boats. It's a great secluded smaller lake.

Craws with a green tint to hem or bluegill imitators always work good forme on beds. Don't you feel like it's too easy when they're spawning in that clear warm water at Anna? It's almost cheating, you don't really have to earn alot of the fish...But there are some hogs in there

No offense taken, but then again we haven't had much offense in a few years... ;D

First of all your screen name is offensive and awful and you should be banned for it, That said, it's normal, especially with lighter lures. You could smooth your casting stroke out some or increase the tension some to get it a little prettier, but it's not really an issue unless it backlashes.