A-Jay

Perhaps you could offer your better half some of that "Special" Independence Day Punch. Have a good one my Friend. A-Jay

Hope everyone has a Fun & Safe Holiday. A-Jay

Granted the crankbait rod they're selling might be a little on the shorter side, but if anyone is in the market for a quality stick (or sticks) at a Very Reasonable price, several of the other rods they are offering in the Bargain Room could fit the bill. Many are under 80 bucks for a rod that was Much Much more that that a year or so ago. Just saying. A-Jay

That's Funny. A-Jay

Wow ! Didn't know about the Bargin Room. St Croix fans - Lock your doors & windows - The Bait Monkey is looking for YOU ! A-Jay

~ J I G ~ A-Jay

Congrats to you both ~ That's a great line btw. A-Jay

Yes - sometimes that's a Good Day. A-Jay

^^^^^^^^^^^ That's - gonna leave a mark. A-Jay

Ya Man ~ It doesn't get much better than that ! A-Jay

Nice job - and that second smallie is The Blackest smb I've ever seen. A-Jay

"We're on a Mission from God." It's 106 miles to Chicago. We gotta full tank of gas, a half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses . . . . . Hit It ! " A-Jay

We can usually count on that and routinely have this place all to our selves. A-Jay

Nice review - Thanks. A-Jay

Most definitely ! We do wait until the end of the year to submit them - just in case she upgrades. A-Jay

Nice Fish - way to make it happen up North ! A-Jay

At 21" long, it Lynn's first LMB that qualifies for a Master Angler Award in Michigan (Catch & Release category). Boga had her at a little over 5lbs. A-Jay

Will do ~ Thanks Dwight. btw - Lynn says it your turn to post up a Fatty. A-Jay

There ya go ~ you'll be tearing them up in no time. I'd really appreciate it if you'd let me know how you do - A-Jay

Nylon line - mesh bag with a draw string top - Feed the bitter end of the line into the bag first and the rest on top. Open the bag a bit and the line comes out as you need it. When done simply feed the line back into the bag. Line will dry just fine in the mesh bag. A-Jay

We got a bit of a late start on this trip, didn't get out on the water until 10 am. Air temps were a little on the cool side despite the brilliant sunshine. This particular lake has a healthy bass population but getting to them most days is a challenge. First off, every trip starts and ends with a mile or so of canoe portage and the dense weed growth requires short accurate casts. Hook-ups are real hand to hand battles. After probing in and around some of the thinner vegetation, we had connected with a few dinks. Shifting gears and committing the rest of the afternoon to fishing the thickest, nastiest weeds we could find. A Texas rigged jig / craw was the bait of choice. The quality of fish improved right away. A little after high noon my wife set up on a solid strike in a big patch of mil foil under 8 ft of water. Right away she declared that "this is a good fish". The bass never showed itself and didn't give an inch and after a very short battle had her buried down in the very bowels of a nasty mess this fish called home. It was a stalemate for a minute or two, neither one could gain an advantage over the other. I was ready with the net but honestly didn't think we'd be getting that fish out of there. With nothing to lose, she heaved on the bass for all she was worth and slowly but surely she started gaining line. It was hard to tell if there was anything more than weeds coming our way but at least it was moving. Well, the 30lb braid w/ 15lb big game leader was more than up to the task, and her spinning rod was definitely put to the test. As the massive clump neared the canoe, I anxiously watched for signs of life - a fin, a tail perhaps. It seemed to take forever for the last few feet of line to be retrieved but the swamp-like mass was finally along side. As the designated - "Clean the mess off the line guy" - I carefully began peeling back the multiple layers of grass, weeds, slop and slime. And what do you know - there was a bass under all that - and a very decent one at that ! I got the "I knew it" response I expected and there were smiles all around. It was a good day. A-Jay

Nice - and the anchor doubles as a pick axe. A-Jay

Yes a stopper knot will work perfectly - I just tie the uni-knot "around" the main line. Once it's snug, it essentially performs the same. The hubs are fairly inexpensive and are available on line, I get them from Tackle warehouse. I mount the skirts on the hubs at home and carry a "days supply" with me. It's a little bit tricky mounting the skirt on the hub. A-Jay

Ditto ~ I'd bet there is a good chance that might have been a beaver. I'm fishing from a canoe and at least 1/2 my trips in the summer are at night - the beaver tail slap gets me every time, especially if you don't already know there's one in the area. There are a few places I like to probe at night that are good spots but many times Old Buck-Tooth is standing guard. He'll let me know under no uncertain terms that he would prefer that I fish else where. I hate that ! A-Jay

I can't say that there is an advantage really. The skirt is an an attractor. A standard jig uses a skirt to add / reduce bulk to the bait which also aids to control drop speed. This rig does the same but instead of a fiber weed guard, a Tex-posed plastic allows this rig to penetrate into (and out of) most anything. A-Jay