senile1

They didn't even have records of who performed the sentinel duty when he did it. Fortunately, he knew things that only a sentinel would know and was able to prove that he had the position. This is pretty cool.

@Russ E, you will love the prescription sunglasses. I need glasses for reading and computer work. The nature of being far-sighted is one gets more far-sighted as he gets older, thus being able to see a greater distance while everything up close gets worse and worse. For quite a few years, I have been wearing progressive polarized sunglasses with a small sliver at the bottom of the glass for reading and tying knots. The rest of the lens is setup for normal distance viewing.

Interesting. I wish they had one with an Alabama rig sticking out of it. ? On another note, years ago I had my left ear pierced. I think I need to pierce it again and wear a fishing spoon as an earring . . . . or maybe a Ned rig. ?

@Paul Roberts, your take on the original post is similar to mine. Thanks for the additional interesting info on brown trout as well. ?

@Bartableman7, are you able to get enough of the bunks wet to allow the boat to be pulled off the trailer with a rope, or as @RatherBFishin stated, you could push it off? I never thought of power loading as a way for people to look cool, though there is always that guy, right. I believe power loading is the most efficient method of removing a boat from the water by oneself. To power load without creating holes at the bottom of ramps, I do the following: Get the bunks completely wet and position the trailer at a depth so that the boat slides right up to the roller with minimal throttle speed. Cut the throttle as the boat reaches a certain point on the bunks, allowing momentum to carry it the rest of the way up. Do not gun the motor to get the boat up to the roller. If you fall slightly short of the roller, winch the boat up. (If unable to winch it up, get back in your vehicle and back it down a few inches to allow the boat to be winched up. Believe me, doing this does not look "cool" but it is still quicker than other methods.) Once you do this a few times with your boat, you learn the right depth for your trailer to get the boat up to the roller without having to get back in your vehicle to adjust.

@scaleface, I missed this thread until now. Sounds like you did alright. I have to agree with you and Blue that chasing reports can be problematic. We all have our own way of doing things. I will watch reports to get an idea what the fish are doing and where they may be located as a starting point to find them. I do the rest my way.

A new vocabulary is required for these lakes. A-Jay's definition of the word, skunk, for Mexican lakes is no 10 lb'ers.

Awesome trip, Andy! Lots of great memorable fish!

My sentiments exactly. I really hope you and your wife can look at this in the rearview mirror in the near future.

I wouldn't want to be limited to one bait, but if I were, my choice would be a jig.

I agree with this for the most part. I'm not one of those gifted anglers who immediately takes to fishing like a fish to water. I have to practice and learn how things feel and move. Take jig fishing for example. I can watch videos all day but that doesn't give me the feel for the jig to know exactly what it is going through or if that bump was a fish or cover. I have to fish it and experience it before I learn it completely, and that applies for all lures though some require less time than others. Then there is the aspect of learning which areas of the lake hold fish and how to approach them. Without time experiencing successes and failures on the lake, it was just a guessing game for me. I do see how the videos and tools of today provide a base of knowledge to work from in a much quicker fashion than back in the day. But honing those skills takes time on the water.

The forecast yesterday evening only called for 20 mph winds and I didn't check it this morning. I hit Happy Holler at 8:00 AM, but by 10:00 the 40 mph wind gusts had kicked up and ended the day for me. I caught a short fat 4 lb'er (on the dot) and another standard sized bass before cutting out. Both were caught in 10 - 14 feet of water off of brush using a black and blue Siebert brush jig and Rage Tail Craw. I wanted to get out of the wind but the places that held the fish were out in the open. Water temperatures varied between 54 and 55 while the air temperature was 44 when I started. The surface temperature at this lake has dropped 6 to 7 degrees since I was on it 12 days ago.

I have only been fishing regularly since the end of June, due to surgery earlier in the year. This is all I have so far. largemouth smallmouth spotted bass white bass bluegill goggle eye white crappie black crappie flathead catfish channel catfish drum

Looking forward to a barrage of mutant fatty pics, A-Jay! I hope a new largemouth PB is in the offing.

Same here. A 22 inch fish is big for my area but usually when I catch one this length they are at least 6 lbs and that has been the case even a month or two after the spawn.

Nice fish! Blowups like that will definitely put your heart in your throat.

Wow! Those are some nice smallies. A spot like that is awesome, but I have a different word for it: Waypoint!

You got it, Tom. I have eaten Ibuprofen like it is candy over the last few months. The doctor prescribed 40 Oxycontin pills for me when the surgery was completed. I took them for 36 hours and then stopped. I still had tremendous pain but 40 seemed like a high number to take and I just decided to tough it out with what you recommended.

I have found the BPS fluorocarbon to be decent as well. Contrary to some of the reports, I have had good look with Seaguar Red Label as well though I typically use Seaguar Invisx. I also use braid with a fluoro leader also.

There is a saltwater catfish but unlike the freshwater variety it is considered a junk fish by saltwater anglers, or so my saltwater guides have told me. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardhead_catfish

Thanks, Paul. She was a long fish at 22 inches. I was actually slightly disappointed when I weighed her. Upon first viewing, I noticed the length and thought she was bigger. Once I got her in the boat I discovered otherwise.

I caught this 5 lb 7 oz fish on a black and blue Siebert brush jig and Rage Tail Craw in about 12 feet of water yesterday. Every fish I have caught from this particular location on this lake has been over 3 lbs so it isn't too bad of a spot.

Actually, I had a lot of pain when trying to do hooksets with that wrist. It would jar the plate and I suppose the screws would jerk in the bone and it hurt like hell. Now that the pain seems to have passed, I need to go back and see if I can hookset with that arm. I hookset with my left arm on baitcasters but with spinning rods I set with my right. I had to switch the handle to the opposite side so I could reel with my right hand and hookset with my left. I learned how to use these rods with the traditional setup which is why I still use opposite arms.

Back in June I created the post below describing some injuries and wrist fusion surgery that I have experienced over the previous months. I started fishing again during the last few days of June. At first, the pain limited me to only 4 or 5 hours on the water but eventually things became normal. I have noticed in the last couple of weeks that almost all of the pain has disappeared. I also had to learn a slightly new pitching motion since I no longer have any wrist flexion in my pitching wrist; however, that came around pretty quickly as well. I have been catching fish every time out but the size hasn't been there. The largest fish I had caught was 3 lb 8 oz until today. I landed a long 5 lb 7 oz fish today to finally break the 5 lb mark since my return. Below are some pics of some average fish I have been catching, as well as the large fish I caught today.

A Senko type worm is a finesse presentation for me just like a Ned rig, a drop-shot rig, a shakey head, etc. If the bite is really tough, one of those finesse presentations will usually be more successful at drawing bites. If it happens to be the Senko type worm on that day, of course I am going to use it. As for efficiency, how quickly I can cover an area doesn't matter if it results in no bites. I should add that when using a slow finesse presentation I am usually somewhat confident of where the fish will be located. I wouldn't typically use a senko type worm as a search bait though you never know what conditions may lead to on the water.