A-Jay

Purchase what you have confidence in. Run and maintain them correctly. Replace them before they need it, And you'll probably be good. A-Jay

On Man ! Now I'll be using a very Bad German Accent for the rest of the Day I'm off to The Russian Front Thanks A-Jay

As if this past season wasn't humbling enough When it come to hunting down big Brown Bass, I'm like Sargent Schultz in the old TV series Hogan's Heroes: "I know Nothing" The graph below covers this topic for me ~ I can drive a boat little bit though. A-Jay

@Krux5506 Been using this cart to haul my 120 lb canoe (plus gear) in & out of a few place up here. I take care of it and I think we're going on 10 years with this one. I use TWO straps that lead forward & aft of the cart to secure it. Proper cart positioning under the craft to achieve zero gravity balance in my hand is the key for me. https://smile.amazon.com/Seattle-Sports-Paddleboy-All-Terrain-Carrier/dp/B06VTMKD4X/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=small%2Bboat%2Bcart&qid=1638277501&qsid=144-2056929-9022325&sr=8-8&sres=B07JQMZJLM%2CB07H2Y6224%2CB07X3C67CL%2CB06VTMKD4X%2CB0082365AQ%2CB077189ZC5%2CB06Y63WT9K%2CB01DAALD8E%2CB009PZ0K4M%2CB08JH768GC%2CB01KETV7PS%2CB072JXPQ1R%2CB07486N9D5%2CB082PNLMDS%2CB071G5BRYF%2CB074CJ7G57%2CB009PZ0ZL0%2CB00FOTIBHG%2CB01N997IOD%2CB0978PDSKN&th=1 A-Jay

I'd keep the wire there regardless. Might help with rotor balance. I fished my surf reels like that for years. Having an unexpected bail closing in the middle of launching a 4 oz bucktail into orbit with an 11 ft rod is like crossing the streams on Ghost Buster's. The no bail eliminates that A-Jay

LOL See I should have known that. I love that bait btw ~ That 300D has accounted for 'several' plus size brown bass for me. A-Jay

I always follow the instructions included with (or on) the garment. Also these products come in pretty handy. btw - I think there's a whole thread about caring for outer wear. A-Jay

You would freeze fishing in the kind of early and late season air temps and north wind we have here. Btw, cotton is just about useless in true cold, especially as a base layer. #ironballs A-Jay

Still have a healthy assortment of the HUK gear. All good stuff but nothing I have from them is insulated. Tried to re-home the HUK Leviathan Jacket & Bibs last week but they didn't go. I'm going to hold onto them for now. Got the new Simms gear from Thousand Lakes Sporting Goods in Grand Rapids, MN Looks like some of the sales are over though https://thousandlakessports.com/product-category/shop-by-brand/simms-shop-by-brand/ A-Jay

Medium in both the jacket & bibs is 'Roomy' on me but It's still a keeper. A-Jay

Not exactly tackle but I scored a great deal on the Simms Challenger Insulated Fishing Jacket & Bibs. I'm ready for early open water and no more freezing my arse off to fish. A-Jay

PSA ~ Cable Sissy Squats are pretty challenging. A-Jay

Have it here as well. A-Jay

Thank you my friend. I put most of these clips in the 'motivational' category. Still with the 50 - 100 views they each get and the 20k views on this thread, hope folks are getting something out of them. At 62, I know I surely am. A-Jay

I generally don't go straight overhead with my hooksets and I use a net more often than not. Some of that has served me well when it come to breaking rods but I've still blown up my fair share. Mostly travel rods though. In the clip below I 'hooked up' close by and almost directly under the boat. So a sweeping hookset to the side wasn't really an option. Still, I went way too far overhead with the tip and totally over loaded the blank. It failed. 100 % User error. To add salt to the wound, my giant bass turned out to be not that. https://youtu.be/1to6ti-tlZY?t=620 A-Jay

I just read that one too Margarita's & Double Digit Bass A-Jay

Thanks for that one. I laughed right out loud ! A-Jay

Even though the lakes up this way aren’t exactly frozen over yet, we do have 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground, it’s snowing right now and there’s another several inches on the way. Accordingly, there’s very little chance that there will be any boating happening. So dropping this one now still feels like good timing to me. In 2020, total open water happened on local Lake Menderchuck on 28 March. https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/233472-a-jays-3rd-annual-ice-out-open-water-countdown-thread-~/?do=findComment&comment=2693780 A record early date, in A-Jay history anyway. Love to see that happen again. However being perhaps a little more realistic and yet still somewhat optimistic, this time around I’m shooting for 07 April 2022 as The Open Water Date. That leaves 18 weeks, 4 days, 16 hours which I hope to use productively while I wait. https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20220407T12&p0=5787&msg=A-Jay's+4th+Annual+Ice+Out+%2F+Open+Water+Countdown+~&ud=1&font=slab&csz=1 So there it is. Right out there for the whole world to see. (Not sure why I wrote that) Either way I’m pulling for a ‘reasonable’ hard water season that includes plenty of sunshine, butterflies & rainbows for all of us in the great white north. As always, please feel free to add your comments, support, and yes, even the jabs; as I know they're inevitable & always quite entertaining. And for those folks that can & will get out on the water while I shovel my roof, don't forget to add a few pics of recent catches. All of which may help to pass the time while I day dream of doing this again as soon as possible. Stay Safe A-Jay

Yes sir ~ And it's especially memorable when that deal needs to be completed in reverse ! A-Jay

Do you get many bites in the bath tub ? A-Jay

Oh it's a bear my friend ~ LOL And you just haven't lived until you've shoveled a few feet of heavy wet snow off your roof ! Good Times indeed. A-Jay

Almost seems like the cost of doing business these days. If the Big Banks banks were pushing for some type of regulations that penalized the customers for each event, (like the auto insurance industry) then I'd say it was costing them. But they are not, so whatever it's costing them to pay for the scams as well as the preventative measures on their end, it must not be taking a big enough bite to matter. Sure they still don't like it but they continue to make their money. Over the years, I've had to 'get new cards' so many times, I actually lost count. A-Jay

Triceps, Biceps and some Abs this morning. Still Brig-20 inspired. A-Jay

Seems there are so many scams on the interwebs these days. And if you send me $29.95, I'll tell you how to avoid them. ?? A-Jay

Hope it works out for you my friend ~ Best of Luck moving forward. We'll be here . . . . . A-Jay