A-Jay

When it comes to matching tackle to the fish & the conditions, I always figure I have three choices. 1. Accept the risk of losing the biggest fish by using 'light' gear'. 2. Manage the risk of losing the biggest fish by bumping up the tackle to something middle of the road. 3. Attempt to Eliminate the Risk of losing the fish of a lifetime by using really heavy gear. When I consider the time, $$ & Effort that goes into getting to & from any Really Good fishing destination, The Last thing I want to even think about is my gear. When you are holding up your trophy for pictures, no one's wondering what type of tackle you used to land it. Good Luck & Safe Travels. A-Jay

To the best of my knowledge, none of my dogs have ever purchased a single Lottery ticket. A-Jay

Thanks for the support, I certainly appreciate it. And while I totally respect your opinion, I don't share it. You catch so many great bass and in some truly one of a kind & just gorgeous places, it's a crying shame that it isn't being shared differently. Your writing is amazing but a great pic and especially even some short video, just an entirely different deal. If there was a single basshead on this board, that IMO 'needs' at least one GoPro, Young Lady - It Is You ! Yes, it 'adds a little to your deal; both physically & time wise. And so does everything you already post here. But come on, if there was a Gopro hidden in your rig, you probably wouldn't even know it. So there ya go. The next sound you hear is me stepping off my soap box . . . btw - I'm always available to answer any concerns, ask away ! A-Jay

Total Body 2 this morning. Performed 3 working sets of six movements. Showing one of each here. Been noticing perhaps a slight difference/decrease in my daily energy levels as my caloric intake declines. (fat & carbs) We're keeping an eye on all of it. Workouts are still going well. #borninfiftynine A-Jay

YES, I was going to use yours, but a ball cap & sunglasses are not permitted ? Just renewed mine in December. It's 'in the mail', so we'll see how that goes. They cashed my check so there's that. Glad I have one. Hope I get to use it a few times. And really hope I'm around and can actually use the next one ! A-Jay

In my canoe I am an anchor user & abuser. 10 mushroom gets it done. In The Pro-V Bass I use the Talons. One of most basic and non-negotiable rules in my own bass fishing is to always remain undetected; whatever that takes. Once I start getting bites, all bets are off but until then I'm laying low. Accordingly I do not anchor 'on' fish always a long cast away. I slip the deal in & out of the water vs the old heave hoe with hang time. Bottom line anchoring is just about a must for me. Presenting baits from a stationary platform seems far more effective and has put plenty of respectable fish on the end of my thumb. https://youtu.be/02fPoZHOri8?t=1151 YMMV A-Jay

Got this pic from the new owners yesterday. After some play time Aries just 'Crashed' hard. Didn't flinch for a couple of hours. Probably the Best/deepest real sleep he's had in 4 months. Read that again. Makes our hearts smile. Still looking for our next project . A-Jay

How about some Rod Pods for your new A.R.E truck cap ? https://www.4are.com/rodpods/ A-Jay

There's a little dust built up on this one but it is the 2nd week of January after all. To review . . . Stage 1 ~ I want to catch Bass – any Bass. Stage 2 ~ I want to catch as many Bass as I can. Stage 3 ~ I want to catch a Big Bass Stage 4 ~ I want to catch bass the way I want to catch Bass. Stage 5 ~ I want to help other folks catch Bass. Especially after this past season, I am displaying all the classic signs of being smack dab in the middle of stages 3 & 4. Anything change for you bassheads ? A-Jay

Black Bears do that for me. A-Jay

Not sure what he's calling 'offshore' exactly. Don't even know what part of the water column we're talking about here. Either way, a vibrating jig is still a jig, just with a blade on it. Jigs have been working pretty good 'offshore' for a long time. They work pretty good inshore as well. Don't claim to be a vibrating jig expert, but regardless of what depth I'm throwing one, fishing it 'like a jig', has easily been my most effective method of presenting them. Big brown bass up here choke them. On a separate note, a scrounger type bait & trailer fished low & slow is quite the deadly offshore deal, especially for big LMB. And we don't ever hear about that one. A-Jay

Total Body 1 this morning. Trained with no music. Sort of forces me to focus a bit more. I like it. Did 3 working sets of seven movements. Showing one set of each here. #borninfiftynine A-Jay

Don't do pools. But my home gym is rarely crowded and open 24/7/365 ! Still the biggest battle happens in front of the fridge. A-Jay

Visit Bass Resource Forums daily. Tweak Baits & Tackle as needed. Spend time with our own & foster dogs. Focus on being healthy. Working to stay lean, balanced, flexible & strong has been a life long journey. A-Jay

It's a HAPPY DAY ! One we've been working towards and hoping for. Aries was picked up this afternoon and taken to what we expect to be his forever home. Being together almost daily for 4 weeks was our privilege. Aries a great dog with a spirit to match and we're betting this one works out well. Good Luck my friend A-Jay

Turn around the line's behind you.

Seems legally binding on every Lake Menderchuck. And since no request for a stay is pending, if any deadline for requesting a stay is designated by statute or regulation, it has passed. So ya, I'm locked up Jack. ? A-Jay

I'd like to respond to this one, I really would. But my 2023 New Year's resolution and attached confidentiality agreement strictly forbids me to respond to any braid to leader line connection knot threads. Maybe next year. Good Luck A-Jay

No music in the boat for me. Just not my style. A-Jay

SUNSHINE vs The SMALLMOUTH BASS Back in Chapter II of this deal, I penned the following paragraph . . . “SMALLMOUTH BASS LOVE FEEDING IN THE SUNSHINE - to disregard this statement will lead to many, many, many fishless trips - over and over and over again. Can they be caught on cloudy and or overcast & rainy days? - yes. But if you want to improve your chances of getting bit - At Least Some sunshine will always help.” That was in December 2018. At the time, I believed in that philosophy very strongly as so much of own brown bass results (or lack of) seemed to conclude this was mostly the way to go. Well, after 4 more season on the water and quite a few plus sized brown bass later, I am singing a different tune. Besides some nice smallies, these local lakes are home to big trout, deep water walleye, pike & muskie. About half the water’s I fish regularly have largemouth as well. The green bass seem to populate the skinniest water, perhaps out of self-preservation. And when I get a few LMB, there’s rarely any brown bass mix in with them. This is sort of what discouraged me from even looking for SMB shallow very often. Shallow in these instances means less than 5 feet or so. While First and Last light have been eternally productive, I’ve still slipped my Frabil under plenty of good ones with the sun shinning very brightly; all be it usually deeper than 5 feet. As a retired human, I can pretty much pick & choose when I am and am not on the water. Once I got over my ‘cloudy skies phobia’, there has been at least as many brown tanks on the scale hooked with a decent layer of cloud cover or even no sunshine at all. In fact cloudy might even be better for big bass. Either way, the more it happened the more it made me rethink my approach and in a big man way. As I did, I realized that I needed to adapt my presentations, timing & mostly locations to fit the conditions. The biggest factor has to be that, almost like night fishing, I started finding bigger smallies much shallower than I would have ever believed. So the cloudier it would be, the shallower I would fish. Dark bottom area’s turned out to be just as key as when the sun was shining. Stealth & long casts became even more important. Admittedly, none of this is exactly rocket science. But it has opened both my eyes as well as my own big brown bass fishing opportunities quite a bit. Especially when one considers ALL the cloudy/overcast days I spent on the beach when I could have been yanking on trophies. Frankly, I’m a little embarrassed by the whole thing. #knuckhead But that’s how I learn sometimes. Fish Hard (Rain or Shine) A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

I agree with @Team9nine plenty of variables. But I do lean more to the slow sinker than the slow floater. May be related to the environments I fish them. Might be 'several' versions of what works best offered here and they are all correct at some point. I fish mostly MB & SK baits with a few LC and Smithwicks mixed in. Get any of them around biters and it's generally a good time. Fish Hard A-Jay A longer version of this is here https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/211811-brown-bass-tools-~-questions-answers/?do=findComment&comment=2564979

I hear ya ~ That vent deal should really be avoided. A-Jay

When & Where applicable regulations allow, I totally do that. And to the best of my knowledge, it hasn't ever made a bit of difference, one way or the other. But I still do it. Because I'm a crazy person. At least I'm not in denial. ? A-Jay

Been studying this here anatomy chart. Seems they left out that crawfish excretion zone. A-Jay