Bluebasser86

The lake I grew up fishing was semi private, membership only type deal. We had a camper on the lake and from the time I was about 11 until I was around 18, I spent all my free time there. Bought my first boat from a guy on the lake, caught my first 5lb largemouth, my first flathead catfish, so many good memories. The guy that owned it decided to end the lease with the guy that ran the lake and built houses around it. I still don't understand that because the guy that owned the lake was an avid hunter and made good money leasing the lake property to all the members and it was well taken care of. So he lost a constant source of income and a great piece of hunting property that I know he'd taken many big deer off of, for one big check when the property was sold.

They do it here also. One guy claimed he cleared nearly 80k one year. He parks his older Cadillac around the corner and walked down the street to his bucket and does his thing every day. He says why get a job when people will give me money for free? I unfortunately deal with a lot of vets that can't readjust when they return to civilization. I feel so bad for most of them, it really makes me sad to see after all they've done.

I assume these are probably similar to the KVD Cranking rods that Quantum use to make, and if so, they were great rods. Still have a 7' MH/M that gets a lot of use.

The instant switching from forward to reverse instead of having to switch back and forth each time makes the choice to go with the Oldtown easy for me. I have a Passport and the 120PDL.

I bought some Gorilla Grip Max fishing gloves last year and really like them so far. They've held up well and not going to beat the price. https://www.amazon.com/Gorilla-Grip-Fingerless-Breathable-Gripping/dp/B08FCGZB9W/ref=sr_1_2?gclid=Cj0KCQiA2-2eBhClARIsAGLQ2Rm8FTIVOZlZge9pVDjd_u788kf39iYb1E-GlsAbXv3z01CPlv1CGVEaAtYWEALw_wcB&hvadid=432902818957&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9023835&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=3475848053717484209&hvtargid=kwd-902002031485&hydadcr=7466_9611873&keywords=gorilla+grip+fishing+gloves&qid=1675369497&sr=8-2

I agree with this. Dying fish tend to slowly sink, regardless of what flavor they are. We have lots of lakes with, and lots of lakes without shad, and the Stunna has worked well in both cases.

Nichols and the Booyah Covert are both really nice baits.

This past weekends finds. It was pretty cold so I wanted to get out and walk to warm up a little. Found a likely looking bank and paddled up, almost parked the kayak on top of the shad rap, then the perch jerkbait was 1 step up the bank when I drug the kayak up. Thought I was really going to find them but didn't find a lot after that. Found a busted Rock Crawler, that was disappointing. The plopper 75 was hung on a log I saw hanging down as I peddled by.

My largemouth PB would have been back in 2005, the year after I graduated HS because I asked for a trip to Mexico to chase a DD for my graduation present and I found one. It was an old, skinny fish that could have been in the low teens had she been healthier. My smallmouth PB was much more recent, in May 2019 at 5.83lbs, a pound off our state record. One of the most stressful fish catches I've ever had.

I use my normal jerkbait setup, Okuma tcs 6'9" MH/F, Fuego SV 6.3, 10lb mono.

I would tend to agree on the older Berkley baits, but this new lineup is well made and come with quality hardware. I have several baits from their new lineup and almost all have made it to the starting lineup.

Pretty much, or when everyone else is throwing a regular spinnerbait, when the bait is smaller, when the water is clear, when there's a lot of fishing pressure.

I've caught a lot of fish on an A rig, and a lot of doubles, but I've never caught a double on an A-rig, let alone a triple, that's pretty crazy. I've heard they're changing the law here from 2 hooks on the rig, to the full 5 this year, so hopefully I'll be able to change that before too long.

The War Eagle Finesse is the Ned rig of spinnerbaits. I've caught so many fish under all kinds of conditions with it, they're a really great little bait.

I'd second the NRS, that's what I've had for 2 winters of kayak fishing now and have zero complaints.

It's been best for me in really cold water when that slow sink right into the fish's face can really trigger bites. If you're looking for a Megabass KO, this isn't it, the Stunna is it's own bait. The Hankie Pankie color has been a winner for me.

Welcome!

It's a powerplant lake, water was in the low to mid 50's, air temps were in the teens, that's steam blowing and immediately freezing to anything it touches. My fishing line looked like white ropes on my rods not in use because of the steam frozen to the line. On the one selfie picture that looks like snow in the background, that's actually steam frozen to the ground and bushes. It will also soak people who don't dress appropriately when it sticks to their clothes, freezes, then melts.

I'd try another pair of guidewear, but I'll never buy a 100mph suit again. I've had 2, both fell apart at the seams and zippers. Returned the first, they fought me tooth and nail to return a barely year old, $500 suit, with obvious defects. The replacement didn't make it much longer. I still have it but only wear it if I need to be warm and not worried about it raining because I'm going to be wet if it does.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Gizzard shad mostly, so thick you can walk on them pretty much year round. The lake has a very high density of bass, but there's so many shad that they're still very difficult to catch. Funny thing about the Dottie reference, I occasionally catch fish with similar markings to Dottie from this lake. This one was a few years ago, 5.92lbs and just over 20". Here's the video of the fish in the pictures, plus a few more, from yesterday.

I was fishing all day, it's really cold here I promise. They said Butker was coming up short from 55 in pregame from the same end he kicked and that last kick didn't clear by much. The wind is still blowing pretty hard too. I'm sure he'd have given it everything he had, but I just don't think he could have got it out there much further without that penalty.

They might not have anyone left to play in the game, but at least they're going!

Single digit wind chills, high in the low twenties, freezing guides, and footballs.