A-Jay

Not real excited to see this. A-Jay

Perhaps check out the Lund Pro-V Bass line. Nice Rigs. And yes, I am Wicked Bias. A-Jay

@The Maestro - No offense taken. I am not on TRT, nor have I ever been. Never had it tested and have no clue even what my level may be. I do know that body fat (especially excess body fat) EATS T. So keep that in mind. Everyone's T declines with age - it's part of the deal. My mind & spirit are still pretty strong, so I'm rolling with that. I take creatine, glutamine and a few other over the counter standard weight training supplements. I drink a couple of protein drinks a day, morning & night. I have been at this since the 70's. There have been many & various versions of me along the way. The big strong super smooth me, the super lean & running several miles a week 165 lb me, The I would eat a whole chicken at 10pm 210 lb me, The Drill Instructor 185 lb me (that was a good me and I did that in my early 40's), btw - that's my wife behind me . . . And now the retired me. I am eating very clean; perhaps cleaner than I ever have. By clean I mean, no breads, no alcohol, no sugar, no white flour, & way more vegetables. And NO means NONE. This is not any harder for me than whatever I was doing previously, it's just different. Take out & dining out are kept to minimum (OK rarely) What I eat, is far more important than what happens in the gym. My ability to build muscle has dramatically declined over the past 8-9 years. When I didn't diet - I was comparably strong, just couldn't see any of what I was working hard on. Now that I'm leaner, I can and it keeps me motivated to stay at it. I can not say with any certainty what you can expect at 59. What I do believe is that we can only do what we can do. Genetics has already dealt us the hand and what we do with it, how we play it, determines the out come. I chose not to fold. We are all going to get weaker, our bodies are going to shrink, and our muscles & bones will degenerate. Some of us will lose our hair, lose our hearing & some of our eye sight. I've experienced most all of that to some degree. Currently I am 5'8" and weight 160 lbs. In the past few years I have gone from wearing mostly a size large to now, it's usually a small medium or even a small. My pride took a hit. So I decided that I better take care of whatever muscle I could build, or at least hold on to. And it helps if I can see it. Over all I feel really good most days, there's some typical Old Guys aches & pains but I have solid balance, decent flexibility and enough stamina & strength to do what I ever my day may bring. Last week I changed two 34 inch overhead garage door springs and yesterday changed out the wheels on my truck. All that is a serious confidence builder for me. Without that - feels like I lost my Mojo and that is really bad for me. My days of dead lifting a ton and bench pressing a ton and squatting a ton - were over a long time ago. And the more I continued to try it - the more I got hurt. I've completely stopped that mess. Quality over quantity in the gym now and forever going forward. Father time is undefeated, but I do not plan on making it easy for him. So there ya go - That's my version of it. Hope this helps you. A-Jay

Not yet - but it's coming. Just hasn't been much in the way of interest or traffic here. Just me posting every other day. It's all good. A-Jay

I prefer M stick for the little bit of extra horse power. Also a 10 lb braid but with at least a 10 lb MONO leader. Better knot strength and it slows the bait a some on the fall. In the colder water that's a good thing. I like the Vault too but it is a small bait. A5/8 or 3/4 oz Silver Buddy works well for me. Both silver, gold and the plain non shiny tin one are producers. Finally, and I've mentioned this before but the Duo Realis G-fix 3/4 oz rattlebait fished like blade bait is KILLER. Gets bigger bites and has far less hook tangling characteristics. A-Jay

Hello Eric and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ Interesting first post. Good luck with whatever you're selling there. A-Jay

Interesting question Bill, As a grandfather yourself, you probably already have a good idea as to at least a few of the challenges we face as we get a little further down the road. The exact 'reason' for each of us may be a little different, and some seem to get there a little faster than others. I do not fish competitively but can certainly relate to how different three or four full days on the water in a row feels now compared to 20 or 30 years ago. Also, it's very interesting to hear these perspectives regarding 'what happens' to us as we 'get older' from humans who have yet to experience the joys of it. Be curious to hear if the perspective changes once they do. A-Jay

I thought the same thing ~ Bet that's it. A-Jay

Last season I fished my vibrating jigs exclusively on 7'4" composite Quantum KVD Cranking rods. These sticks performed as I had hoped; perhaps even a little better than I had expected. At the end of the season, I contemplated switching to glass, just to see. Prior to falling in love & eventually using these composite sticks, much of my 'moderate rod' needs were met by a couple of classic fiberglass rods spun up by Lamiglas. Always enjoyed fishing them but they had been sort of put up and forgotten about recently. Mostly because I always felt the handles were a little too short. Decided to fix that and place them back into active duty. After a brief stint in the A-Jay custom rod shop, the overhaul was complete. Matched them up with EXO 200's & 20lb Tatsu and we are good to go. Love the Hawg Tech handles on these btw. A-Jay

This is the newest offering from Mustang Survival. The Khimera has dual flotation, a slim design and no re-packing required. Interesting. The freedom to move on or in the water. The ultra-slim Khimera was designed to keep you nimble and fluid on the water, with a dual flotation design that levels up your gear by adapting to your situation. Mustang engineered an ideal balance by offering just enough foam to stay sleek for dynamic movements while saying protected, with a hidden inflation chamber that quickly inflates should you need more buoyancy. Ultra-slim and form-fitting, it's the perfect accomplice for any activity that requires you to move athletically on the water. The Mustang Survival Khimera Dual Floatation Personal Floatation Device (PFD) is a unique design giving you the best of foam and inflatable floatation in one PFD. More than just protection, this vest changes the rules of the game by elevating performance both in and out of the water. With enough foam floatation to provide neutral buoyancy a and back up manually-activated inflation cell. The Khimera PFD provides versatile function without compromising safety. 7.5 lbs. (3.4 kg) foam buoyancy keeps you afloat without creating bulk. Pulling the manual inflator boosts you to 20 lbs. (9 kg) of buoyancy. Lightweight and low-profile design offers greater comfort and range of motion, and eases re-entry into your boat from the water. Over-the-head slip-on design for easy donning and doffing. Adjustable side and shoulders make for an improved fit. PFD has multiple lashing points for accessory attachment. Front storage pocket, & slot to hold extra https://www.mustangsurvival.com/en_US/khimera-dual-flotation-pfd/ A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resources ~ I like jerkbaits quite a bit in the spring. If you don't have any, well fish what you've got. Good Luck A-Jay

While I will continue to work to be lean, the previous video will be my last offering here for a while. #fitforlife A-Jay

Hard to say for sure. Something that helps me when the water temps are that low (high 30's & low 40's) is to remember how SLOW bass move in that. It's like slow motion a lot of times. So if I'm not fishing 'in slow motion' often times I don't get bit. Check out the attached clip. It's an ice fishing deal but it shows how slow the bass are in cold water. And even though the lake shown is frozen, the open water here is probably close to the temp you were faced with. So maybe slow down - pause that jerkbait for 10 or even 15 seconds - Slow crawl that jig with long pauses. I know it's hard to do but sometimes it works. A-Jay

Now THAT's A W E S O M E ! ! ! Congrats to you both . . . . How'd it go ? A-Jay

Like I said - we are trending in the right direction. Hoping it will last long enough to do some real damage . . A-Jay

Well, at least you got to float around for a while. Here's to more fish catching next time. Oh and btw - I'd encourage you to learn how to retie effectively while you're on the water. It's fairly easy and not returning to the launch each time to do it, will most likely earn you quite a few more casts at the end of a day. A-Jay

Well that's something. A-Jay

After a couple of decent days off I’m back in the gym. Put the walking sticks to work. They did good. This is a clip of the first & last set of each exercise. A-Jay

Or perhaps nail them right in the head with a wicked big Gaff ! ? A-Jay

Nicely done ~ Your conditions looked pretty Primo too . . Congrats A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

I have the Slasher Jerk bait stick ~ Totally Love It. Consider providing an email to them and get on 'the list'. They offer limited run / quantities of specialty rods not available any other way except through the link they send you. Some very cool, & specific builds have come out recently but they go Really Quick. So if you see something you like - Jump on it. Good Luck A-Jay

All solid points and I can see where this approach can help pay the mortgage. However, depending on the 'gig', it seems a lot like selling your soul. But hey, it's worked very well for The Geico Lizard, The AFLAC Duck & Ronald McDonald. A-Jay

Presenting a frog with spinning gear is usually no problem. Setting the hook can be tricky if the blank does not possess the horse power to sink the steel. Braided line is a must IMO. But it's fighting & landing a hefty bass in heavy cover where many freshwater spinning rods can run into trouble - fast. Almost any decent mid-range 4000 spinning reel could work - as long as it some strong internals, is higher speed to pick up line quickly along with sufficient capacity to hold enough of the 40-65 lb braid. And with todays braided line diameters getting smaller & smaller - you should be good there. Very few 'typical', off the shelf fresh water spinning set ups fit the bill here as a Heavy action without being overly long is not the norm. You may want to consider looking in to brands that carry inshore spinning blanks. These are often just a bit beefier - and in every way that would seem to benefit what you'll be looking to do. St Croix offers the Mojo inshore rig, a decent quality selection and at a price that won't break the bank https://stcroixrods.com/collections/saltwater/cf-power-heavy+cf-action-fast Finally, feed your Dad his Wheaties before your trip, he'll need them . . . Good Luck A-Jay

Nicely Done ~ Bet that felt good. A-Jay