A-Jay

Congrats on the new place. I'll play. If there's already a way for you to access the lake without too much trouble and without altering your land, I'd do that. Remember that those 'paths' to the water work both ways. Good Luck. A-Jay

As a man who's job description included searching for, locating and eventually placing drowning victims and or their remains in large black bags, it's not something I wanted to do very often, if at all. Especially in warm conditions when there's been an extend time between the accident and the recovery. Being out there recreationally afterwards is a personal choice. The chances of ever 'catching' such a deal while fishing are fairly remote. However, if one was to recover a victim, besides the nightmares and the PTSD, you'd be doing the family a service by providing closure. Never located victims leaves a painful void in an already horrible deal. Stay Safe. A-Jay

Started off June with Workout Day 1. Felt pretty good. #borninfiftynine A-Jay

The OP has been using a Moderate action spinner - A-Jay

Is your Low Rider spinning rod the current model ? Seems the 7'3" Low Riders being sold now are Moderate action and designated as a crankbait rod. If that's what you have, it would explain your lack of single hook setting horse power. Because the rod is designed for treble hook baits, Flukes might not be the best application. A-Jay https://www.falconrods.com/product/lowrider#models

Pretty sure he did above. Such great pics too. A-Jay

Completely omitted the fish pictures ~ What was I thinking ? Not part of the top 5 but I need to add Miss Big Fin as an honorable mention fish. A-Jay

Smallmouth Ned Rig (Braid No Concerns) Braid to leader is my jam. A-Jay

Utter & Complete non-sense. That's what this site is all about. Bass, Bass & More Bass - I say post all day, every day. Whatever makes you happy. Views, reactions & replies - whatever. In the words of the late great Ricky Nelson, "See you can't please everyone. So you got to please yourself. " A-Jay

Those are such gorgeous smallies. MI regs do not legally allow me to hold them a bit in the pool so they can get their color back until late May. As for any whooping I might be doing, pretty sure that's a first and I certainly wouldn't expect it to last very long. If I have any chance to make an upgrade, it won't be until Aug/Sept. But you know if I can be, I'll be hitting it hard. Good Luck in Oct, hope you get the "right" weather. A-Jay

Past few years I've been keeping track of my top 5 Brown Bass. Info in the last couple of threads can be found here https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/258133-top-5-brown-bass-of-2023/ This season has been most decent so far and has enabled me to already surpass at least the last two entire season's totals. I'll need to go back into the archives to see just where 2024 sits when it's over. Currently we're sitting at 31.23 lbs for 5 fish. 7.05, 6.48, 6.26, 5.86, & 5.58 and most all of that happened on Lake Menderchuck over a 2 week period in April. Trip details are posted in the Reports Thread. There's Plenty of fishing left to be done so we'll see how it all shakes out. Very exciting. Fish Hard A-Jay

I use amber/light brown lens in low light/cloudy trip. Black for general use, sort works OK in most all lighting conditions except super low light. And Blue mirror for the brightest days. I have 'readers' in all of them. A-Jay

My braid to anything knot has been a uni to uni knot for a while now. Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night slows that deal down for me. A-Jay

Sorry to hear you're having some tough sledding. Hope it gets better for you soon Allen. A-Jay

Heck Ya ~ ! I'm all about that deal. Just need to sell the house, the truck, my current rig, most all of my tackle and one dog. I have two, but I gotta keep sumphin'. 🥴 A-Jay

That is never a good time. Hope the tetanus shot was fun. Heal up. A-Jay

Just buy a new one. It's 23 bucks. A-Jay

10 lb FC on a spinning reel will most likely be problematic. 10 lb braid will not. 😎 A-Jay

Good Luck ~ Hope you have everything you need to take home the Big Bass prize. Sorry, I had to do it. A-Jay

If you do come up north ~ Swim at your own risk. A-Jay

Tank is 3 years old today. He even got dressed up for the occasion. https://youtu.be/qzeE7NmMvoQ?feature=shared&t=675 A-Jay

While fishing Lake Minichuck in the Old Town Canoe yesterday with my wife, we were visited by a plus size pike. This one was longer than my rig is wide and super thick across the back; very healthy. Got some video and let her go. Been a while since we've seen fish of this quality on back to back trips. I don't hate it. A-Jay

I get it - am I'm sure you get where I was coming from too. A-Jay

After a day on the water yesterday, I was back in the home gym for Workout Day 5. Complete 3 working sets on the movements scheduled and finished each off with a drop set; which I often do but rarely show in the video. Showing it this time though. Also, my dog Tank makes a cameo at the end. Plan on taking the next two days off from training #borninfiftynine A-Jay

Virtually None. They play a Childs game for a living. My career required participating in real Life & Death deals almost on the daily. No question these men & women work hard to perfect their rare God Given athletic ability, but they are still playing a game, regardless of the press coverage and the misguided pedestal they get placed on. Their efforts often offer us a welcome distraction from the reality of our life's, however, there's usually very little there to emulate in my mind. Being able to pass, punt & throw is not an indicator of good character. Isn't it funny how "Being a Good Man or Woman" just doesn't mean that much any more. Unless one isn't. A-Jay