Ratherbfishing

I haven't quite "pulled the trigger" yet. I have an appointment with my/our retirement rep in early December which, unless I hear something dreadful, is more or less a formality as I really want to leave my work for a number of reasons. I'm unsure whether I'm more running toward something or AWAY from something. Probably both. I have some $ in savings and investments and between that and my pension (until the State takes it away from us-they've already tried once), I think I'll be okay.

I would have made my kid WALK home from school!

Proof that I'm getting old and not keeping up with the times. My schema doesn't allow anything over 3 bucks to be considered "cheap." : )

Years ago, I would have agreed but have you seen their prices LATELY? Even Rebel baits have gone up a bunch.

Generally speaking, if the air temperature is cold but the water temps are still reasonably warm, bass will still bite a topwater. But once water temperatures drop much below...45 or 50 degrees, bass are much less inclined to do so. It wouldn't be a technique I would spend much time on unless I saw bass busting shad or something like that. Note: Many power plant lakes, especially, have considerably warmer water than the air temperature might suggest.

Don't take anything but an assortment of ribbon tail worms between 6 and 8 inches long and of various colors. Drag them along at different speeds (but mostly slow) in and around vegetation. Don't forget to stop every now and again to tie your shoe or reach for a soda. This is when the bites will come.

Second measurable snowfall and it isn't even the 15th of November yet. Nine degrees out right now.

I was You-tubing and an older gentleman was going "retro" and using an old Zebco Cardinal 4. At first I though he misspoke because I remembered Abu Garcia as having the Cardinal line but no, it was a Zebco. Which came first and was one company eventually (thinking perhaps Zebco) required to discontinue their use of the name?

I don't think that's what he means.

If you can get part of the boat in the water, and your boat isn't toooooo heavy, you MIGHT be able to push it back far enough so it'll slide off without the wheels dropping down into the "washout". Just a thought.

I can't say anything more knowledgeable guys won't tell you but I have heard (and I believe it's true) that it taxes a deep cycle battery quite a lot to use it as a cranking battery. And running down a cranking battery by using it as a trolling motor battery is also bad for it. It's better to have separate types of batteries for each application. I have a 17 foot with a 12 volt trolling motor (probably about a 40 # thrust, though I'm not sure) and if the wind is so strong that I can't use it, I simply don't go. It's no funny anyway. If you want considerably more power, you're probably need to go to a 24 volt system.

Yours is a veritable giant compared to some of my "wallhangers." I've sent them flying straight at me before. I call it "astronaut training."

I've not tried it (switched to braid outfit when using "the plopper") but If I WAS confined to just mono, I'd use a swivel. It DID cause line twist with my mono.

Just how bad are we talking about? A little rain and wind is fine. Desireable, sometimes. But if there are whitecaps, no thank you. And not like the kind below: Got ran off a lake this spring. The lake we were on was trolling motor only and it ran parallel to a pretty busy highway. As luck would have it, we were about as far away from the ramp as we could get. The weather forecast was calling for storms in the evening but this was only around noon. I heard some light rumbling but the skies were still pretty clear. Hazy but clear. I asked my buddy if he heard anything and he said he hadn't but it was probably just semi trucks rumbling on the highway. Seemed reasonable. Until the rumbling increased and far in the distance, the sky was getting a darker blue. Checked the weather map on our phone and sure enough, a BIG bright red blob was moving our way. Oh crap!!!! Few things feel more desperate than trying to cover a LOT of water quickly with only a trolling motor (We had two on the boat but the second picked that day to quit. Yay!) We were just BARELY able to load the boat on the trailer before the brunt of the storm arrived. A few miles north, a tornado was sighted. So, that kind of bad weather I can do without.

My last trip out (a little over a week ago) was rotten in the morning (two small fish) and then stellar in the afternoon. We caught 18 bass from around 1:30 to 4 p.m. I blame a north wind for the morning struggle and credit a "fall bite" for the afternoon success. If it hadn't been a power plant lake I think it would have been dreadful throughout.

I'm unsure that the first frost itself is a major milestone but whenever the water temps drop in the fall, that can certainly be a good time to fish.

Me almost to a tee ("t"?)

You've got me stumped. (See what I did there?) The last time I was on a stump filled lake, I slid onto a submerged stump and couldn't get off to save my life. Fortunately, I had my bigger outboard on (wasn't supposed to use it) and had enough power with it to pull myself back off. If I hadn't used it I believe I'd still be out there (this was years ago).

Hold me!

My first thought when I see someone wearing a tournament jersey is that they are trying to impress other anglers with their fishing "prowess." BUT what I think doesn't really matter much. Wear what you want to wear.

A giant bullhead caught on a chatterbait. That one for the record books any day of the week.

The LAST time I waded, I stunk afterwards like a poorly maintained septic system. Safety issues aside (they're real enough), your success and satisfaction will depend upon how steep the banks are and likewise in the water. Also, as alluded to in the first paragraph, if there's a lot of sediment (mud) in the bottom, it will make your experience a pure joy.

The conspiracy doesn't begin or end with the bass. It is also mother nature. Any hint that I might be planning a trip and mother nature will muster up either a major cold front OR a hurricane (which is quite a feat since I live in the heart of the U.S.). That it correlate with the weekend is because that's when I usually have off. I try to stay one step ahead of mother nature by taking off Friday's but she'll kick up a small tornado if she feels rushed.

What he (and others) said.