J Francho

AKA, crabs. 🦀 😂

Those look pretty good. My gripe with cheap cutters of all types is blade diversion. So many crummy cutters that just give up and the blades flop over with the material stuck between like pork grizzle in between your teeth. You have to spend $30 or more on anything for cutting anything anymore.

Unless he's missing them. In that case, have a good follow up bait ready, like a senko. I've poached more than a few bass that way, lol.

I've always just used a pair of lineman's pliers for cutting hooks. I have 3-4 pairs of bolt cutters for various size jobs, but can't think of any time I'd ever need them for fishing.

Popmax, Avid AVC62MXF, Daiwa Alphas Type F, Tufline Supercast, usually a walking retrieve. As long as your line doesn't sink, none of the rest of the gear matters, so long as it's reasonable within casting and catching parameters.

I ran NMBs in my skateboards in the 80s, lol. They were way better than NHBB (New Hampshire Ball Bearing) or the GMBs (German). I haven't heard that name in decades - it's cool they are still around. As for your reel, the advice to locate the bad bearing is good, plus the good bearings will perform in top shape, once cleaned. I've played around with all sorts of fancy bearings, and whatever high grade SS bearings are being sold seem to work out to be the smoothest and most durable, if maintained.

I like Lucky Craft MS American Shad, or whatever other companies call their version, in all water clarity and color. It has just about every color in the spectrum, looks natural, is highly reflective, and simply does well for me. It's what I'd call a "safe bet" color.

I don't if there's some weird etiquette you should follow, but if I was tearing them up and you weren't, I'd be begging you to do what I was doing.

I came to post some of my experience, and found that Dwight nailed what I'd have said, and then there's an awesome report back. Congrats, looks like a good time.

As far as I can tell, they really only wreck the trees with their poop. Their roosting spots smell really bad too. Otherwise, fishing seems fine where I fish. I can see a flock devastating a pond or small isolated lake though. The problem with that is they don't seem so transient. It would make more sense for them to hang around a sustainable fishery. They aren't invasive, so they've been where ever for thousands of years. I'd say they probably aren't the main cause of a declining fishery. I'd be more concerned if they disappeared.

Looks like a two pounder. Good for it. Herons can eat even bigger fish. Koi almost 30" can disappear from ponds.

I keep bottles of GG Gel all over the place. The stuff works so well.

I use a Plano jig box. Some of my wire tied living rubber jigs are several years old.

I still keep two F-7s in my box at all times, a silver and black and a gold and black. Almost everything will strike it.

The Mako I caught in Ocean City, MD were just over 6' and some surface slashing but no jumps. The fight was pretty grueling, since they run all over the place. We caught them on jigs made from tall boy Budweiser cans.

@TnRiver46 epic.

I've done the snook and baby tarpon thing in Florida and those tarpon are about as nuts as stream run steelhead. I have a funny story about hooking a monster steelhead, probably around 12 lbs., in really tight quarters thinking there was no way to land the thing. It promptly launched 7' in the air, into a tree. Fight over, lol. Dumb thing. Let him go so he could get a rebate on the next fight.

I dislike any line bigger than 6# Tatsu on a spinning reel. My PB smallmouth was caught using this line on a ML rod, just a couple inches longer than 6'. Before anyone cries foul over catching in open water, it was from rocky, zebra mussel encrusted water in 38' is water and bulldog'd me the whole way up. No jumps, no dancing at the surface. Just held the bottom and eventually came up slowly. If I had lost it, I would have thought it was a huge drum. Not a great fight, but a great catch.

Bass fishing is more about the puzzle. Fishing for a fight is satisfied with northerns, salmonids, and in the past carp even. If carp jumped, I'd only target them. The last decade or so, it's northerns for me. They are miserable and I love them.

If you can get next door to Chaumont Bay, that place is magical. I've run from Henderson to Chaumont during tournaments and done decent $$.

Lake houses are year round cottages 😂

Is that what she calls it? Then she's right.

This will help clarify things: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9nSfRygHca/?igsh=MWd5M3dzZ3IyMWdieQ==

A cottage is on the water and a cabin is in the woods. That said, your wife is right. Go with that and you'll never fail.