A-Jay

Emergencies can and do take many forms . . . https://www.acrartex.com/survivor-stories/ A-Jay

I can usually get a very good idea of what the lake & bottom contours look like in advance. But regardless of reports or 'reputation', I always need to fish them to find out for myself. Some 'good' places have turned out to be really bad, and a few 'bad' places have been straight up money. Takes a lot of time, but I'm fishing. https://youtu.be/jOxHsuV83KA?feature=shared&t=13 A-Jay

While the cell coverage up here is better than years past and getting better all the time, the PLB is an entirely different animal. Folks who are tasked with responding to this distress are ready, willing and able to handle it all. Additionally they will not stop until I am located one way or the other. Aircraft are usually involved. Satellite signal in my mind is very reliable. Responding to these was part of my job description for a while. It works. https://youtu.be/qwd7bFNTKwo?feature=shared&t=681 A-Jay

Michigan has 11,000 inland lakes, more freshwater shoreline than any other state in the nation, tens of thousands of miles of rivers and streams, and more than 3,000 miles of water trails. There are over 370 lakes in the county we live in alone. When I first moved here in 2007, it was overload. Currently, I routinely rotate and focus my efforts on about 10 or so. Plan on adding at least one special place in 2024. Haved learned what types of places I prefer and why. Big fish drives most all of that. 👍 A-Jay

A-Jay

We have an over abundance of poplar, birch, maple and Oak trees on and around the property. We mulch the grass year round as well as much of the Organic matter from above. Most years the acorns are wicked bad. Shovels & a wheel barrel bad. A-Jay

Funny this comes up 2 days after Christmas. But I follow the Scotts Lawn care programs pretty closely. Including a grub killer application to help control the vibrant mole population. Four feedings a year including many many tree spikes, seems to work well. Application timing seems be an important consideration Stay Warm A-Jay

Crazy Mild temperatures prevail here, but will be accompanied by damp, drizzly, and foggy conditions. This will carry into tonight as well, with temperatures slowly beginning their downward trend as lows dip into the 30s. Still almost 20 degrees warmer than the average for northern MI. I'm thinking about getting ahead of the game and just going ahead and dropping my spring load of lawn fertilizer now ! #feedit A-Jay

@KSanford33 Glad you made it back safely. Not sure what you were thinking going out in reduced visibility without some way of knowing your position. Done my share of operating in super low vis, recreationally & professionally. This was from a couple of years ago. It was pretty thick. https://youtu.be/S_Owp6ZVN0U?feature=shared&t=79 A-Jay

Good For you @Tackleholic Your commitment & dedication is surely inspirational. Here's to a most excellent 2024 in & out of the the gym for us both ! A-Jay

Thank you my friend. Sorry to hear you've been having a tough time of it. Looking forward to hear how you turned it around. Hope you & yours have a most excellent Holiday season as well. A-Jay

Personally, I see this as a huge benefit . . . #gosouthdudes A-Jay

Seems someone's taking a stand . . . A-Jay

Don't look now but the Touring Anglers Association is a non-profit fishing tournament designed to dramatically reduce tournament costs and significantly increase winnings for anglers. Their mission is to offer anglers a fishing tournament that pays out the maximum cash prizes. The world’s largest performance-based cash earnings. https://touringanglersassociation.com/ Some of TAA’s philosophies are set up to create a simple old-fashioned fishing tournament for the fishermen by the fisherman. One way they plan on doing that . . . . Wait for it . . . . . . Is with Equipment Restrictions: The following equipment MUST be REMOVED from the boat prior to the 3-hour ride around: * Live scope * Forward-facing sonar * 360 imaging transducer More here . . . https://touringanglersassociation.com/format/ Was only a matter of time . . . A-Jay

Total Body Day 3 this morning. Still adapting to this 'less is more' training philosophy. I can already see that as this moves along, self discipline will be tested. Seems it always is though. #borninfiftynine A-Jay

Wearing of life saving equipment has been a topic of concern for me for just about all of my adult life. When it was part of my job description, I witnessed the demise of many men, women & children who went into the water without any; recreational & professional alike. IMO, Seems there's two categories ~ Folks who know, care, are responsible and respect their lives and the lives of those who love them. Then there's Folks, who don't know the dangers, are mostly oblivious to any situational awareness at all, are supremely selfish and take their life and those that love them for granted. Personal feelings on this matter, one way, or the other have proven to be like a waste of time. This one resembles drunk driving in many respects. Folks just keep doing it. But the first time I handed over the lifeless body of a 12 year old girl to her hysterical parents on the beach, it changed me. Stay Safe A-Jay

I will add that after reading 'several' recommendations from @Dwight Hottle promoting the benefits of Sufix 131 braid vs 832, my interest has bean peaked. So when my various spools of 832 are exhausted, which may take a while frankly, that 131 will get it's shot on the Pro-V Bass. Be nice if Sufix began offering it in more of a bulk spool sizing. A-Jay

The following applies to when I pursue the plus sized local smallmouth population. I like spinning & casting for standard size jerkbaits ~ sticks are medium / fast and 6' 9"-7'-1" is routinely the the magic spot for me on both. For line, 10 lb braid on spinning gear (suffix 832) and an 8 - 10lb big game (green) mono or Tatsu FC leader. I prefer a 20 - 25 ft leader lengths in front of the braid on spinning gear. I use a 7' ML spinning stick for smaller baits (110 +1 JR) with 8 lb braid and an 8 lb leader. It's something I started doing several year ago and have stuck with it. I believe it offers a few benefits that revolve around casting distance and landing fish. For one, once a hooked bass gets close to my rig and is making her last few ditch efforts to earn her freedom, i.e. short runs, jumps and even digging under the boat, the longer leader keeps the connection knot on the reel for the most part. So I don't have to worry about the connection knot ripping on & off the reel and up & down the guide train 5-10 times under strain, during one of the most critical parts of landing a brown tank. On casting gear, I prefer straight 10 FC line. Tatsu or InvisX. https://youtu.be/AcsR1MWdSo8?feature=shared&t=423 A-Jay

I have not ever pursued SMB that didn't spend a significant time under the ice. Maybe This Is the Year. I could 'guess' what I might do, but there's enough of that on the web as there is. And very little of it's actionable. Either way, the conditions need to be reasonable for the basshead, namely me. So if the air temps and wind speeds stay within acceptable parameters, I may find out but I don't do iced up guides. Time will tell. A-Jay

Total Body Day 2 this morning. Been feeling like I haven't been recovering fully from many of the recent & more intense workouts. Decided to back it off a bit and started that with this one. Once I believe I am coming back right, I may bump it up a bit and see how that goes. #borninfiftynine A-Jay

Hard to fathom at this point, but I've already used mine a couple of times this 'winter'. And I'm using that term is the tradition sense . . . . A-Jay

Quite an assortment of very interesting responses & ideas in this one. While I've used different products (including some of what's mentioned above), few seemed great or poor. Most were effective and sort OK. That said, and because I always have a bunch of it on hand, I use vehicle (truck) care products. If it's safe and effective on the clear coat, usually works fine on the Blanks. The newer Ceramic containing deals seem especially good. (Don't use the leather care at all here) My cork all gets sealed when new so I rarely need to do any thing there. A-Jay

101 Days ~ But to what ? ? ? Well this is an interesting turn of events. For the FIRST time that I can remember, since we retired to northern Michigan, Some of the bigger Lake Menderchucks Are Presently OPEN Water ! At least the few that have 'live web cams' are. Not sure if they even ever iced over yet. Today and for the next two days, air temps are close to or above 50 degrees. #bizarreoworld My property looks and feels more akin to April than late December. Not exactly sure how this is going to play out but I don't expect it to hinder my hopes of an early ice out any. Great Lakes seem to be open water at this end as well. Locally, no one's Ice Fishing, what little skim ice there may be is, is way too sketchy for even the most brazen. Either way, I'm still waiting but expectations just took a jump. Might I be floating in Mid-March ? Don't even tease me. Still, it's 'Tight Line Sunday'. This pre-spawn fatty is from 2020 and was my biggest Smallie that season. A-Jay

If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done ? ? ? A-Jay

If Zigging is what everyone else does, my personal version of Zagging to catch bigger fish looks like this . . . . Be on water when/where there is no crowd. Fish presentations that I have confidence in, ignoring what others do, because it has zero effect on my results. Fish my own fish. Fish gear that is up to the task and perhaps even a little overkill. Either way, being at the right place, at the right time, using what has worked for me in the past, might trump zigging & zagging in my book. Fish Hard A-Jay