Bluebasser86

Nothing like sitting on a perfect morning and watching your breath billow out in big puffs of steam and listening to the stillness. It's the closest thing to being on the water at sunrise there is.

My main hunting property was planted with corn this year after being beans the last several years, it really has my hopes up! I was going to put a camera out but I know where they walk so no reason to disturb it until that first morning I'm sitting out there

I went from a 4 stroke 60hp Mercury on a 16' aluminum to a 150 Pro XS on an 18' 9" fiberglass. I felt a little sick to my stomach those first couple times watching the gas pump rolling, and rolling, and rolling. Funny thing is, my old boat ran about 30 WOT, new boat will run 55-60 depending on conditions and the person I'm fishing with, but I usually cruise about 40-45mph, just feels like a comfortable speed to me.

Bladed jigs are big fish catchers no doubt. Congrats on the new PB! Did you buy a scale while you were at the store so you don't have to guess next time?

It does bare a bit of a resemblance

If you ever discover a way let me know. It's just one of the headaches you have to deal with.

Have to disagree with you there. Go fish most any body of water in southern Florida and you'll see why keeping fish you've caught in an aquarium isn't always the best idea. Those canals are like a tropical fish store because people keep fish in their aquariums until they're too big to keep and then dump them. Not saying that most folks with a fully functioning brain would do that, but there's lots of people out there playing without a full deck that don't think about little things like the repercussions of their actions.

The plain old spook walks as easy as anything IMO. Never owned any high end baits like a Vixen or Repoman though so can't compare it to those. The bigger spooks and sammy style baits are easier to walk for sure though.

I'm not a big fan of braid on my casting gear either, but I'd use braid no question in that situation. With that said, if you're set on doing it, yes it can be done.

Fish them with short rips. Like papajoe said, pretty much like a PopR. I don't fish them often for some reason, but when I do they seem to attract bigger fish than a popper.

I own 4, total cost less than $100, plus some extra batteries. Unless you just don't care what a fish weighs there's really not a good reason not to have one. The only experience I have a fish close to that size was 24" long but a skinny 14.5" around and went 7.51 pounds. That fish appears to be considerably thicker so I'd guess around 9 pounds but could easily be over 10.

Welcome!

I'm guessing Duct tape If you can't Duct it....

Dropped $.04 here today, down to $2.61. Of course I bought gas before it dropped thankfully it was just for the lawnmower though

If you're going to hire a guide you better get on it and hire a reputable guide. I made the mistake of hiring a "discount" guide once, never again. Bill Babler, Bill Beck, Pete Wenners, all would be great choices. You'll be able to find fish without a guide, but if it's in your budget I would 100% suggest hiring one, even if it's only for a half day.

Welcome!

Welcome! Summertime fishing can be a real challenge.

33 gallonsX about $3 a gallon for ethanol free=$99 I normally put about $20 or $30 at a time in though. The biggest lake I fish regularly is only 7,000 acres so even a really long run is only a few miles.

They use the baits they need to give themselves the best chance to win. It's pretty well known that Randy Howell used a DT6 to catch a lot of fish at the Classic at Guntersville, then used the Livingston Lures Howeller to catch some key kicker fish. I can tell you for certain that KVD was throwing a Megabass 110 or 110+1 at Grand a couple years ago, despite being sponsored by Strike King and having his own namesake jerkbait.

I need a job that closes for deer season

You could get glow tape or glow paint. Might be able to find a attach a small glow stick to one also.

War Eagle Screaming Eagle

Absolutely! The winter months are some of my favorite months to be on the Rock! Jerkbaits, ned rigs, shakyheads, spoons, A rigs, dropshot, and grubs.

Solid suggestion right there. I might switch the President to a Trion to save a few bucks and Lightning rod to another Ethos (they go on sale for $40 regularly).