Sam

From Louisiana. Make that 70* for me.

My thoughts: Her #1 is population, the bigger the city the town the better. City property on lakes and rivers is expensive due to the fact that there are only so many lots available to build and demand for waterfront property is high. My #1 is I want a dock. Best bet is a lake with a stationary or floating dock. Plenty to select among. Get a realtor in the area you are considering and have them tell you what is available. I want to live on the water. A bonus for her and somewhat me would be close to the beach as well. This means Tier One Windstorm areas like the coastal areas from Mississippi to Florida and then up the coast to Virginia and Maryland. Forgot Louisiana as the state does not have beaches. Also, the water can't freeze, ever. Limits your selection to Dixie from South Carolina down to Florida and across to Mississippi, over Louisiana, and then into Texas. Having the possibility at fresh waster and brackish would also be a bonus. Tidal rivers are your best bet unless you want to fish the Louisiana marsh. Check out the tidal rivers in each state you are considering or a place that has brackish water in your area. A sub 500k house by today's money standards. Yes, affordable housing under $500,000 is available. Just remember, waterfront property is expensive and limited. Good luck and let us know what you find out and where you are considering moving. Happy New Year! Realtor Get your maps our; do your research; boil down your options to specific areas and get a realtor.

Alabama Rig. Not very productive for me and it wears me out.

Excellent. On of the best explanations of available jigs and how to use them.

Any cold fronts moved through your area? If so, give them two days before heading back out. Is the 58* you mention above is the water temperature. At 58* water temperature they should start to actively feed to fatten up for the winter months. Water clarity must be clear as you state they can see you. So stay back from the bank as far as possible to get a good cast and work your bait s-l-o-w. And walk as far away from the bank as you can when changing places while being as quiet as possible. Be a ghost. Try a wacky rigged Senko fished very slowly. Try a drop shot with a 4-inch worm kept in one place for two or three minutes. Try a shaky head with a Zoom trick work or a Swamp Crawler fished slowly on the bottom. Have you tried a lipless crankbait? A Chatterbait? A spinnerbait? A buzzbait? A popper? A frog? A jig? A hair jig? A creature bait? Rage Tails? Live minnows under a bobber of the size of your choice? How deep is the pond? Would a Carolina rig produce results? Try going to a smaller presentation and then to a larger presentation. Try live bait, including Nightcrawlers, until the smaller fish eat them up. Your job is the find the "pattern" for that day and time. So go out and experiment. Concentrate on what you are throwing; how you are working it; where you casted it; what retrieve you used to bring it back; what depth you got a bite; any cover around; any structure on the bottom; etc..... And remember, if the bass have already eaten and they see your presentation they are known to pick it up and hold it in their mouths. So use some MegaStrike or other scent on all of your baits and if you feel any pressure, no matter how light, or see the line move or twitch a little, SET THAT HOOK!!!! Let us know how you do and good luck

Should be a good game with the kid from Jennings, Louisiana, leading Clemson.

My uncle had a 42-foot Chris Craft yacht that we used to go into the Mississippi Sound and the Biloxi Marsh areas via the two 16-foot skiffs we pulled behind the boat. We would throw out the big net behind the Chris Craft, named Louise after my aunt, and my cousins and I would pull it in to get live baby croakers and shrimp. Speckle trout hate baby croakers and they make a fantastic bait for anything in the water, as does the shrimp. We would put the croakers and shrimp in the skiff's live wells. Just too many wonderful memories of fishing in southeast Louisiana, especially the Biloxi marsh. Bull reds over 25 pounds; big 3 and 4 pound speckled trout; drum; sheepshead; gafftop catfish; big croakers; and every now and then we would hook something that would take us for a ride in the skiff until the line broke. Having the dolphins race along side of the Chris Craft as we headed out; running back into the marsh when a storm popped up; seeing the stars at night without any city lights; catching white trout and having the sharks hit them on the way in leaving us with only the heads. Harvesting some of the trout and catfish out of the live well and cooking it on the boat for dinner. My cousin and myself dropping the brand new lantern my uncle had purchased the day before into the water as we sat in a skiff trying to grab the trout and catfish for dinner. We got cussed out really good, too. Brings a smile to my face thinking of him walking on the back deck and seeing us with our rods in our hands dragging the hooks on the bottom. He then asked us where the new lantern was and my cousin, Harry, replied, "we are trying to find it, Unck." Actually seeing the redfish and sheepshead in the marsh as the water was so clear. Swimming off the side of the boat without any regard to what was in the water with us. And last, shrimping. If we caught a lot of shrimp my Uncle had us cousins take the skiffs into the marsh with the big nets and ride to catch shrimp. We would average around 400 pounds a trip and I still have the scars on my fingers where the shrimp stuck me. We once caught a baby hammerhead shark and of course, we had to stop and repair the nets when something big swam through them. Those days are gone. The boat was given to his captain after my uncle died. My cousins have their own saltwater boats and they still fish the area in addition to bass. Frank Mohre (Fish with the King) has a guide service out of Shell Beach so you can look him up: http://www.fishwiththeking.com/ He changed the spelling of his name so people could find him. Now it is just a pleasure to take my Ranger out for a day of fun fishing for bass. Great memories. Great times.

Sorry to say, but I like to see certain guys in my state finish at the bottom of some Region and BASS state tournaments. We have very few jerks in our Virginia fishing industry but the ones we have are really jerks.

X2

For the site member who uses Morgus as his photo, this one's for you. Merry Christmas. Wishing Sid/Morgus Merry Christmas. Dec. 25th is his birthday and he now belongs to the "90 Club". Happy Birthday Sid from Morgus-O-Mania and please try hard for the "100" one!! ?

At first, I thought I got a glimpse of a few guys in blue underwear in the General Bass Fishing forum link. It went away and did not come back so I was somewhat confused as to what I thought I saw but forgot about it. Then I realized the Glenn must have scored more advertising directed at us guys and is using an advertising scroll bar under the first post of the section. Pretty slick if I do say so myself especially as the majority of ads do not pertain to bass fishing. Way to go, Glenn. Keep up the good work. Merry Christmas!

X2 for Zoom Trick worm in Junebug.

The year is 2024 and the United States has just elected the first woman, Susan Boudreaux, a Louisiana State University graduate, as President of the United States of America. A few days after the election the president-elect calls her proud, yet humble, Cajun father and says, 'So Dad, I assume you and mom will be coming to my inauguration?' 'Oh sweetheart, I don't tink so. It's a Tirdy hour drive, yoo mother ain't as young as she used to be, and my arthritis is acting up again.' 'Don't worry about it, Dad. I'll send Air Force One to pick you up and take you home. And a limousine will pick you up at your door on both ends of your trip.' 'I don't know. Everybody will be so fancy. What would your dear mother wear?' 'Oh Dad', replies Susan, 'I'll make sure she has a wonderful gown custom-made by the best designer in New York.' 'Honey,' Dad complains, 'you know I can't eat dose rich foods you and yoo friends like to eat.' The President-to-be responds, 'Don't worry Dad. The entire affair is going to be handled by the best caterer in New York, I'll ensure your meals are salt free Dad. I really do want you to come. So Dad reluctantly agrees and on January 20, 2025, Susan Boudreaux is being sworn in as the President of the United States of America. In the front row sits the new president's Dad and Mom. Her Dad, noticing the senator sitting next to him, leans over and whispers, 'You see dat woman over dere wid her hand on the Bible, becomin' President of the United States.' The Senator whispers back, 'Yes, I do indeed.' Her Dad says proudly, 'Well, her brother played football at LSU.'

X2. If you do not use reasonable force to protect your personal property you are in deep doo-doo. Just lock the car and if you have to leave the car in your driveway when you go on a trip remove the garage door opener as suggested above.

You can go for numbers and load the boat or go for size and hope for five. The time limit makes you think about what you need to do and keeps the pressure on everyone to make as many casts as possible. Being consistent in the final standings of individual bass tournaments is an art that only a few can accomplish. I don't think any one angler would finish in the top ten for every tournament they fish. Some days you win and some days the bass wins. That's bass fishing.

Yep, and as you know, a pattern may last all day or an hour and you have to change your presentation or technique. Part of those little green monsters' harassment policy. I recall a story I heard from a pro (forgot which one) where his nonboater did not fish after blast off and actually went to sleep in his seat. He awoke around noon, ate his lunch, and then told the boater where he wanted to go for 2 PM. So at 2 PM the boater shows up at this one location on the lake and the nonboater stands up, stretches, and casts out. After five casts he has five beauties in the live well. For some unknown reason, the bass accumulate at this one place on the lake at 2 PM each day and the nonboater knew about it and had fished it before. Go figure.

I am one of four guys allowed to fish my friend's double secret pond. One outing I stopped counting at 60. On other outings I got skunked. Big pond at around 7 acres. I have learned that what happens in this pond also happens on lakes and rivers: it is impacted by wind, rain, cold fronts, water temperature, droughts, and time of year. So don't fret over not catching anything. Just keep notes on the weather, water temperature, etc. and after 20 trips to the pond you will start to see what happens under specific weather conditions. I took a friend's son with me one day and here is one of the ones what he caught. The young man is a freshman at Virginia Tech this year. (Don't be concerned with the date. I did not set the correct date on the iPhone)

No music. No outside noise. Too busy concentrating on fishing and enjoying Mother Nature's bounty and beauty.

Virginia Rick Morris Woo Daves John Crews Nolan Minor

We want our conference to do well in their bowl games. The problem is that they don't do well since they really don't care to be there. They want to be one of the four teams in the National Championship playoffs. And now the stars don't play to avoid getting hurt in a meaningless game. I remember back in 1985 when LSU went to Memphis to play Baylor in the Liberty Bowl. Coach Arnsparger let the guys drive themselves to Memphis if they did not want to go with the rest of the team. During the game we were wondering what was wrong with our safeties and corners. Seems they were hungover from drinking their way to the game and partying the night before kickoff. LSU lost 21-7 that year and unless you know what Arnsparger did you would never figure it out how LSU could lose to Baylor.

6'6" or 7' medium heavy for wacky Senkos.

Nothing. I have way too much tackle, rods and reels now. Did go overboard on grandkids fishing stuff but hey, you only live once and I want them to get into fishing.

Welcome to the Forum. Glad to have you with us. Geaux Tigers!

No matter where you go please consider using live bait.