A-Jay

February is often our 'coldest' month. Sort of glad it's also the shortest. A-Jay

A-Jay

Yea - we have a little deal were they come in the walk-out and spend the night down stairs. We do it when it's super hot or cold. It's funny too because they know when we're bringing them in. Open that kennel door and they Bold right to walk-out. I'll post up a pic of them down there - they get pretty 'relaxed'. A-Jay

Looks like it's going to be a little nippy this weekend here. -20 can get your attention. A-Jay

Looks like it's going to be a little nippy this weekend. -20 will get your attention. A-Jay

No Joke ~ Follow your doctor's orders and take care of this. Hope you can recover strong. I had my bout with it - pain, re-hap, getting off the pain meds, all of it - Brutal. I was conducting training at the US Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut, Mother's Day 2001 - Out of nowhere - perforated diverticulitis, lead to massive sepsis. I was 41 yrs old and probably in some of the best shape of my life (so I thought). Emergency surgery - 2 ft of colon removed, colostomy installed - 21 days in the hospital. Second sepsis - another emergency surgery. Lost wicked body weight - 195 to 160. Rode the couch for weeks. 6 months to recover and get strong enough to have corrective surgery. Corrective surgery went well - 3 months later - back on the job. (Drill instructor) Getting back in the gym was un-real hard - core was shot. Took 2 years to feel like "I was Back". So like I said, It's no joke. A-Jay

Mine Too ~ A-Jay

Best of Luck to you ~ Stay Safe. A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

Went into town today to 'stock up' - haven't had a good dumping like this one yet this season. Expect to lose power . . . hope it's not too long. Always blows my mind what 2 inches an hour looks like. Seems it should be 'louder' but it's actually eerily quiet. Bring it on . . .I still have plenty of reels to clean. btw - I think you're going to get more than me on this one . . Good Luck A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ Not exactly certain have far 'south' you're willing to travel, but this place is pretty good. A-Jay

Hope I'm pushing up daisies before they take over . . . A-Jay

I saw this ~ "The five-person team that will be the backbone of the MLF NOW! streaming broadcast for each Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour event will feature some familiar faces. Teaming up to call the action for the five-hour daily live-streaming broadcast will be Marty Stone, a veteran MLF anaylst and former pro angler, former FLW Tour pro and MLF Selects angler JT Kenney, outdoors writer Rob Newell, college sports announcer Chad McKee and social media personality Natalie Dillon. The inaugural BPT season begins Jan. 29 in Kissimmee, Fla. with MLF NOW! originating from MajorLeagueFishing.com." Read more: http://another site.com/docktalk_article/19530/mlf-goes-with-five-person-broadcast-team#.XD1kTPZFw7I A-Jay

A-Jay

Read post below ~ A-Jay

Perhaps some of this could help. A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ Nice Introduction A-Jay

The Banter is often one of the most entertaining aspects of being a sports fan. No different in this case, and you're right. Guess New England fans will simply have to figure out a way to be satisfied with being 5-3 in Superbowls since 2001. Oh the humanity A-Jay

Looking forward to next weeks AFC Championship Game KC's looks like the clear favorite. Either way, this has been fun . . . A-Jay

Been that way for a while. Interestingly enough, it doesn't seem to affect the outcome, one way or the other. A-Jay

A-Jay

I have to admit it ~ it's pretty killer. A-Jay

A-Jay

The pay off is pretty decent. High Risk = High Reward A-Jay

~ Some Drop Shot info ~ 12poundbass ~ I got some more "Brown Bass Tools" Tuesday (my TW order). The only thing I can think of at this point I still need is hooks, I'm going to order in bulk this year. What's your recommendation for drop shot hooks? I have a few small ones I received in my MTB last year, I know you had mentioned you were going a little bigger. A-Jay ~ OK ~ So Drop Shot Hooks I've been through quite a few makes, models and even more sizes past few seasons - I've settled on these. Reasons are - they match my baits, they match the tackle I'm fishing them with, and most importantly, they HOOK & HOLD the Bass I'm Looking to Catch ! Both the Brown & Green models. Supplemental info - over the past say, three or four years, much of my drop shot fishing, especially mid-late season, has migrated to using 'bigger baits'; relative term. Where in previous deals I was using, the standard skinny 4 & 6 inch Sculpins, Robo worms & Dream Shots - and they catch bass for sure, I started drop shotting a baby rage craw, and then a full-size craw and then 4 & 5 inch Fluke and started getting bites from more bigger fish. But along with that, I was losing a few fish, because the hooks & manner I was using them was apparently inefficient. First off, in some instances, my hook selection was too small. Secondly, while I like nose hooking, seems it's not the best way when I'm targeting bigger smallies - which is ALL The TIME pretty much. Nose hooking also picks up eel grass when it's there and the little hooks have a tendency to skin hook a lot leading them to come unpinned too much for my liking. I do Tex-pose my drop shot plastic when needed but all things being equal, I prefer not to if I can. ***Note *** regarding the Hooks Pictured - I use SEVERAL DIFFERENT sizes - I offered these to allow for the name, brand, type, and model number identification purposes. So we've ventured into using a little bigger, longer shanked hook. So if you look at the Picture provided, the bottom row - those are all GREAT DROP SHOT OPTIONS and ones I still use a ton; mostly for nose hooking. That whole top row of hooks are what I go to for bigger baits and when I want to 'top hook' a bait; meaning inserting the hook like you would put say a swimbait on a jighead. Where the hook goes in the front/nose of the bait, is threaded into & down the body of the bait BUT comes out the top. Still a drop shot, but when a fluke or a caffeine shad is rigged like this, the hook up to land ratio goes way up. Brownies are generally impaled in the top or the roof of the mouth and they generally Do NOT come off. I definitely use a little 'beefier gear', like M instead of ML and 8-10 lb fluorocarbon leader instead of 4-6 lb. The bigger Hook size demands a bit more pressure to sink it successfully, but after that, it's just a matter to playing that brown tank into the net. This works GREAT for Green bass too. Think Rage Craw ! 12poundbass ~ Finesse fishing is going to be a struggle for me. The Senko is my crutch and I probably don't fish it as slow as I should and that's painfully slow to me. So to slow down, even more, is going to be really really difficult. I'm glad you recommended bigger hooks because even though I've never used the small ones, they just seem too small, that's probably my inexperience but it would take a lot for me to gain any confidence in the little hooks. A-Jay~ The single best piece advice I can offer when it comes to drop shot fishing is . . . To present your plastic like it was LIVE BAIT - regardless of which drop-shot plastic you're fishing. Meaning, one does not generally do much with live bait other than throw it out there and . . wait. So I'm rarely shaking, wiggling or 'working' my drop shot presentations much if at all. Clearly, there are times where imparting a 'little action' to the bait is the deal and bass will gobble them up. And I'll do that if & when it works. However, I'm usually fishing a drop shot because I believe the fish are either in a neutral or negative mood - meaning they may not chase a moving bait. So a subtle, do-nothing approach can put a few in the net. Finally, if I have to turn the drop shot into a moving bait to get bit - I'm probably going to fish something else. My versions (especially for those 'tough bite days') . . . . . . . Cast it out, let the weight get to & settle on the bottom on a slack line - then softly take up ALMOST ALL the slack so that your bait will be suspended over the bottom cover if there is any. Places where there is little to no bottom weed, or I'm drop shotting a Rage craw - I let the bait sit on the bottom. And then just hold it there, on a semi-tight or slack (however you say it) line and commence 'bite detection mode'. After sitting for some time with no bite, drag it a bit and start the process again. How far I move it and how long I leave it, is almost always dictated by water clarity & temperature as well as the 'mood' of the fish; unfortunately, it's tough to know 'the mood' until I put a few in the net. Until I hook a few, I play with the drag length & wait time until the magic happens. But in general - the clearer & warmer the water, the farther I move it. Conversely the dirtier and or colder the water - I may not move it more than a foot or two at a time. How long I let it sit is pretty much guided by the same parameters mentioned above. I can cover some decent water doing this. So Mr. Senko fisherman - what I just described seems eerily similar to how most all of my very best STICK BAIT bite days end up - cast it out & let it sit - the magic happens the less you do with it - Including DEAD STICKING the thing. Seems you've been "Training" to fish a Drop Shot for a while now . . . . I'll get some drop shot bait pics up tomorrow - A-Jay