Hammer 4

Lipless crankbaits.. Meh

I think I'll wait until it gets cleaned up. My Son hates anything dirt related on his cars/truck or boat.

Well, that's good to hear. Was thinking about heading up there soon, but I'll wait till I hear or read that it's been cleaned up. Thanks for the info.

Have you heard if and when they are going to clean this mess up ?

Simply stated, Yukkk... Sad to see stuff like that.

I'll second the recommendation for the Diawa Tatula 300 reel. $ 269.99 at TW, better price if you get during the sale.

I would highly recommend taking a look at the Irod Jr. swimbait rod. Would work perfectly tossing that 2 oz. bait I use mine the throw 1 1/2 oz to 3 oz baits. Check out the reviews on TW, plus Matt the owner is great when it comes to customer service. The Irod gneiss III runs $ 149.99.

Never bought any rods or reels because of any Pro's that use them. However long time ago, I would buy some baits that certain Pro's used. For the last 15 years, I buy baits that I think/know will work.

I give up on lipless crankbaits. I've tried every which way, more colors than I care to mention, and wasted a whole lotta time. Giving all of them to my Grandson, maybe he will have better luck with them.

I dunno, I like retirement. Much better than having to get up at 5 am, work for 10 to 12 hrs, go home grab a quick snack, then tend to all the calls I got that day, then do paper work until 10 or 11 pm. Yes, I was a " working " contractor. And I won't mention all the dang travel time... So yeah, I'm lovin being retired.

I have a half dozen different patterns, the shad is my best producer though.

1/2 oz spinnerbait in a shad pattern.

My wife of 50 years is really good about what I buy, as I am when she buys stuff. She asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I have enough fishing stuff, but I needed 2 golf clubs to replace a couple that are wearing out. She didn't bother to ask how much they would cost, or even which clubs I wanted,she just handed me $ 600.00 and said get what you want, oh, and is that enough $$. I said yup, gave her a kiss and said thanks. We don't even try to hide purchases from each other, never have.

So, to add a bit of, this ain't funny any more. 3 nights ago, the wife made hashbrowns and eggs for dinner, which was and always is tasty, anyway, last night I was thinking about that nights dinner, the scary thing was I could not for the life of me remember what the shredded potatoes were, then this morning it dawned on me, it's hashbrowns. This was not the first time this has happened. Even a couple years ago, I never forgot stuff like this. Very frustrating at times. Gotta stay tough in the golden years.

I would tend to agree with that. Normally I add a drop of oil to the spool bearings on mine. Speaking of light lubing a reel. I bought a Shimano citica last year, was a dry a s bone, first time that happened to me.

1/2 oz Dobyns shad pattern spinnerbait.

Likewise. Sitin at home enjoying a Quite evening so far. Happy New Year to all..

Only 3 times have I caught untargeted fish. Trolling a lipless crank, I hooked a 7 lb rainbow trout. Another time throwing a Rapala minnow, got a slab of a crappie. And lastly, was throwing a 6" Hudd, and stuck a schoolie striper. One I don't really count is I was dropshotting a 4" roboworm in about 3' of water from shore, I could easily feel that something was nibbling on it, turns out a little 5" bluegill, had all but inhaled the worm, but didn't hooked, as it nose hooked. Reeled it in and pulled the worm out of the little guy, and released to grow up. Fishing for bass in the salt is way different story..lol

Also, give the Hologram Shad a try, caught many a bass with that.

Mine are from 2020, except for the 300. Sorry could not find the one your referring to.

Which CT are you talking about ? I have the Fuego CT, the 100, 150, 200 and 300. All perform pretty well. My first time using Diawa reels since I sold all my upper end Shimano's years ago.

After all this rain, I wonder how far the water has risen so far ?

I hope to never be able to answer that. IMHO, lost it would be that the person isn't able to totally function without the aid of a normal person to look out for them.

I dunno, I just prefer a longer reel handle, makes cranking for me a bit easier. I've switched all of mine out to longer handles.

And...at 73 it gets even funnier. I tend to forget small things, like where the hell did I put my dang glasses, ect. Went to store the other day, and forgot my wallet, went through the checkout, and no wallet=no money. Ya know how embarrassing that is. ? The good side is, I can still fish, and drive a golf ball 240 yards on the fly, even with my bad back. I try to stay tough mentally.