Team9nine

Wordle 931 5/6 🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ 🟨🟩⬜🟨🟩 🟩🟩🟨⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #209 🟪🟩🟩🟨 🟪🟩🟩🟨 🟨🟪🟨🟨 🟪🟨🟨🟨 My Connections should make @Choporoz feel better 🤣 It’s all or nothing with that game for me.

Wordle 930 4/6 ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨 ⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #208 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟦🟦🟦 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟪🟪🟪 Never did figure out yesterday’s Connections after getting the first set correct. Better today.

Easiest thing to do would probably just be to restore the unit to its factory settings. In most cases this will be auto settings and standard scales/units. Per the Lowrance website: Hook-4x GPS Reset Procedure To restore the unit to default settings - go to Settings Menu/System/Restore Defaults Then the next time you turn it on, it should be just like you installed the unit right from the box. Usually easier than trying to diagnose what exact setting might be the culprit.

A cold, cloudy day, but winds were light, so I headed west to pick up tags and permits for the two reservoirs near me in that direction. That left me just over 2 hours to launch and explore one of them for the first time. Wasn’t overly impressed with what I saw, but got to mark over a dozen spots in the GPS, and scored one keeper to avoid the skunk, which came on an A-rig. This now gives me 4 reservoirs to rotate around on this year, one of which I still haven’t been on yet. All are pretty much very different, so it will be fun learning and comparing these new waters this year.

Despite throwing it several trips this winter now that I’ve moved, thinking things might be different, I still have NEVER caught a single bass on an underspin in 40 years of fishing - not even on the original underspin, the Roadrunner 😆

Wordle 928 4/6 ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨 🟩🟨🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #206 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪

On the board in ‘24. Landed half a dozen cookie cutters today on a mix of Ned and jerkbaits. Hoping to get my permits for a couple more new lakes, maybe even this week still, so I’ll have a few more close options to fish this year. Water was about 46-47 deg. and clear.

Ned rig - 1/2/24

Wordle 927 4/6 🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩⬜🟩🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #205 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪

Wordle 926 3/6 🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #204 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟪🟪🟪

Well yeah, there's that, too

My emergency backup pair I finally had to switch to this summer. I bought them in 2022 for the day when my original pair got so holey I wouldn’t be able to post pics on forums due to the backlash and harassment I’d receive 😉

Only had 2.5 hrs, so back to the mudhole to look around. Water looks like it has stabilized at between 4”-8” of clarity. Decided to just fish shallow with a jig the whole time. Was able to catch one decent bass which made the trip worthwhile. Jig got trashed 2 hours in by a pickerel, so spent the last 30 scoping open water to see how the crappie are recovering - still too muddy for them to reschool out in open water, but seeing more out there than I did a few days back…caught 1 and it had no color at all.

Wordle 923 3/6 ⬜🟨🟩⬜⬜ ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections Puzzle #201 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟨🟦🟦🟦 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟨🟨🟨🟨

Changed lakes today because I needed to see if the next reservoir over reacted in the same manner as the one I usually fish. Got my answer pretty quick after pulling up - water was in great shape. Clear and about 49 degrees. Had only been here once, so had a few spots found and marked. Someone was on what I thought might be the best spot, but fortunately a similar area just uplake was open, and a school of bass was using it. They weren’t big, but picked up 7 or 8 fish in about 60-75 minutes on a combination of jerkbaits and jigs. Need to spend more time looking around and fishing this body of water this winter.

Lake was trashed as expected (see pic in ‘Photo A Day’ thread). Pretty much an inch or two vis about everywhere. Did find 6”-8” in a couple areas, mostly way back in the ends of pockets far from any deep water wintering areas. Dam had a small area of similar clarity water, but very limited. Will probably move to another rez next trip that I think will have held up better. Did get 1 bass and 2 crappie, but it will be a bit before things start to settle and the bite picks back up, I’m afraid.

A total of nearly 2.75” of rain the past 24+ hours has the local reservoir’s dam really working overtime…

My first winter down here, so no idea what is normal or what to expect. Coming from the Midwest, I’m used to fishing and catching in partially frozen/iced over conditions, so I’m guessing I won’t see anything quite that severe. This particular reservoir is small and relatively shallow - about 25 ft max depth - so it is probably pretty susceptible to these sub freezing nights more than others. I need to check out the neighboring water that is considerably deeper and see if it holds the heat mass better.

There’s a lot of wisdom in this simple statement, as you can really waste a lot of time ‘chasing your own tail’ around in a circle trying to be different or clever. Most days I simply stick to the basics, often the same stuff everyone else might be throwing, but I just try and fish them better (more thorough, precise or intelligently, if that makes sense). Otherwise, if I throw different, it’s often just slightly different (color, size, profile, depth, speed) - or fish the same baits, but just “boldly go where no man has gone before.”

Less than 2.5 hours on the water this afternoon, and the first two were spent chasing crappie. Got near a bank I hadn’t fished before on this reservoir and it looked pretty good with some deep water cutting in really close to shore…so, picked up a jerkbait and caught 4 bass in the last 25 minutes. Now I can’t wait to get back out there again to see if I can expand on this bite a little. Did have 40 crappie to go with them up to about 1.3 lbs., so it was a fun afternoon. Water temps down to 45-46 deg.

Quoting myself: I'm sure you'll get a lot of theories on this, especially the crawfish eating connection. It definitely seems to be most prevalent in colder water temps from early winter through very early spring. That said, I've spoken to several of the leading fish physiology experts in the country about this, and none of them knew about this condition and could only speculate as to why, the predominant opinion being hormonally related due to season. I've done a few experiments myself to try and tease out an answer, but to date, have largely come up empty. I’m thinking physiological in nature. And from another previous post reply of mine on the subject: "We’re still trying to figure this one out. The main person to start the “red lips/teeth” inquiry was Paul Roberts in Colorado. He and I have been in contact trying to figure it out, and we have theories and anecdotal evidence, but nothing exact yet. It definitely seems to be related to cold water, the colder the greater the degree of red, and Paul suspects it might be hormonal. As temps warm, redness fades. Very prominent immediately after ice-out. I contacted one of the best in LMB physiology and spoke with him about it and he had no idea either, suspecting length of fight might come into play (we've tested and shot that theory down). We were hoping we might intrigue him enough to study it, but nothing yet. Fairly safe to say it is not related to spawning or crayfish eating, IMO. I’ve even run some tests by putting bass from warmer water that didn’t show the red much into severely iced down livewell water (at 32-33 deg. F) and held them for a couple hours to see if that would cause the red to return, but it didn’t. This is partly why we believe it might be hormonal in nature. See also:

Will be 35 years in June…

Looks pretty much covered above - spin the spool, release the bail or pull against the drag. I’ve done all 3, though my preference is to use the AR switch 😎 Only bought 1 reel by accident that didn’t have it…won’t make that mistake again, but I’m a fan of backreeling.