burleytog

Where's the southern accent?

PLine Spectrex IV bleeds colors during it's first use. Afterwards it is all good.

You can lip a cat, just be prepared to lose some skin. Think bass teeth multiplied by 20. I wore through the fingers of a new leather glove last summer running a trot line.

Anyone have experience with both? I'm starting to get Shimano overload. Need something to throw swimbaits with as this 5500C3 just ain't cutting it (throws well enough, just can't used to the d**n tiny spool release).

5BL, try the Bagley shakey head jig. No spring or keeper, but the worm stays on quite well.

You only need 3 colors. Black/blue, a brown/green, and white. Sizes depend on the water you're fishing. I like 3/8 oz. and 1/2 oz. for lake fishing. 3/16, 1/4, and 3/8 for river fishing. Brands? Micro Munch Grass Jigs, Mann's Stone Jig, Strike King's Bitsy Jig. Trailers? Netbait Paca Chunks.

Braid is just a noisy line. I got used to it a long time ago.

No, my trailer is less than 80" across, center light isn't required. Tube frame will make for a tougher re-wire job.

Went out today with my newfound knowledge of bed fishing. Set the TM on 5 and away I went. Water was nice and clear and the sun was perfect. Visibility to 9', although the wind made it a bit tough. Cruised about 2/3's of the lake's shoreline without seeing a single bed. Went back into the last arm and started seeing a few beds. Found one, sat on it for about 15 minutes and stuck this one. About a pound and a half. Actually hooked it twice before I got it in. It kept throwing the hook. Cruised along, marked a couple of spots where I saw fish swim off. Came back about 15 minutes later, only one of them had a fish. The other was in about 8' of water and a bit stained (close to the head of the fork). Never saw anything swim off. Went back to the other bed, fish was too skittish, never could get close enough to work the bed. Went across the fork and found one small bed tucked under a laurel. He was small, but very wary. Had a very very hard time getting him aggressive enough to bite. But bite he did. 8-) Running out of daylight, I started heading back towards the ramp, making sure to skirt the banks and be on the lookout for beds. Found one back in a small pocket. Fish was holding tight and I was able to get pretty close. Put the jig in there a couple of times, got him riled up. Threw in there, waited, then tried to hit him with the jig. Unfortunately, it didn't work as planned. Yep, snagged him. Seemed to be fine as he swam back to the bed upon release. Saw a couple more beds on the way out, but my wife needed to get home and I was pretty tired. Ended up catching 4, the three above and one other that was about the size of the last fish. Don't know if it came off a bed or not. Did catch it shallow on Mr Drop Shot, but I didn't see a bed anywhere. Water was in the mid 60s, hopefully the fish are just starting to move up rather than just finishing. Given the weather we had just two weeks ago, I would say that they're just starting to move up. Wishful thinking? This is a tough lake to fish beds as there aren't many shallow areas. 2-3' of water at the bank, then go ten feet out and you're in 10-25' of water. Randall, you've created a monster. ;D

OKUMA! OKUMA!! OKUMA!!!

The ground coming off the lights is there for a reason. On my trailer, the ground coming from the plug is grounded to the tongue. The side markers are grounded to the mounting screws. The tail lights are grounded to the mounting studs. All lights are LED. Is the frame on your trailer a channel or tube?

Is that a factory wiring job? :-?

Can't really get a handle on what you're saying. 3 grounds? There should be two wires running down each side of the trailer. A brown and the corresponding color for the brake/signal lights. The brown will be spliced at the side marker lights (if you have them). The white wire coming from the trailer plug should be (and sounds as though it is) screwed into the tongue. Any way to take photos?

Trout in the New? News to me.

Did the tail have a severe fork? If so, channel cat. If it was rounded (and it appears to be so given the photo), bullhead.

Should be 4 wires going into that plug. The symptoms you describe sound like a classic ground problem. You can buy a wiring harness & wires from any place that carries trailer accessories (Tractor Supply, Northern Tools) and have it rewired in about two hours. Less if you use the quick clips rather than solder on the connections. http://www.accessconnect.com/trailer_wiring_diagram.htm Ground those tail lights to the studs ASAP!

Well, here are the photos and my story. I'll let TB fill you in on his catches. We were staying about 2 miles from the lake at the Days Inn in Covington. It was cheap enough, but it wasn't the cleanest place. If you're fishing Varner, look elsewhere for lodging. Their 'breakfast' isn't worth a plug nickel. Anyway, Saturday morning we head into Covington to find some food. As we're getting ready to cross under the I-20 bridge, we pass a little car pulling a boat. TB says that must have been Randall. I laugh. Wasn't laughing when we get to the ramp and there's Randall in the same car we saw. After loading our massive quantities of tackle into the boat, we launch. Chilly morning with the air temp hovering around 50*. Randall made the mistake of putting us in the boat before launch, so we thought for a minute or two about just leaving him at the ramp. ;D Once Randall was aboard, we headed out on the quite expansive Varner. 3 trolling motors will really get you going. Started off the morning going for pre and post-spawn fish. TB hooked the first fish of the day, but it got off due to a loose drag. He did boat the first fish though just a minute or two later. I missed a couple of light bites and then boated this whopper. Then Randall got into a good one. He caught a smaller one before that I think. Then I got another. We stayed there for a while longer, then once the sun got high enough, we started looking for beds. Found a good string of them along a bank. The first two had some very very skittish fish. They just wouldn't bite anything. Very wise those fish were. Then we located a bed in some deeper water. The female was holding very tight and the wind helped us stay pretty close. Like I said, I'll let TB fill you in on the details of the catch, but this is what he ended up pulling out (that sorry SOB ) We ran around for a couple of hours looking for and fishing beds with not much luck. TB did catch a couple of small ones while I tried for a big one. The first time we ran by this one spot, there were two guys working it. 45 minutes later they were gone. Never saw the female (at least I didn't), but this guy was there. Took quite a while to get him aggravated enough to catch. Moved out a little further and TB pulled this one off a bed (after I ticked it off with a Mattlures bluegill ) We moved around some more, finding fish but fish that were unwilling to do much but spook. We finally found this one on a small shallow bed. If I had to guess, I'd say between the three of us, we threw to this fish about 500 times total. We moved around a bit more, TB got lucky on one fish in a very very shallow pocket. Forgot to snap a photo of that one. So after almost 11 hours on the water, we came in. The wind was howling and the batteries were almost dead. So Tom, did you have a good day? All in all it was a fun day. I didn't catch much, but I learned a lot. Randall is a great guide. He will put you on fish. I'm sure clients like myself (who can't cast in the wind) frustrate him a great deal. I went to Varner hoping for a 5+, but it just wasn't in the cards. I had several chances at TB's big fish, but she opted for Tom's jig and not mine. The final tally was TB with 7 fish, me with 3, and Randall with 2. If you want a chance at some big big fish, then don't hesitate to give Randall a call. Just be sure to book him early. I know I'll be back. Next time I'll leave TB at home though.

Next time, less photos of the fish, more of the woman.

That second one is a football!

Patience grasshopper! Even after all the time on the boat Saturday, I was ready to do it again today.

This is the greatest rod in the history of rods. Casts a 3/8 oz. jig just as easily as a 6 oz. swimbait.

I've got a boat Brad, just not much storage in it. Only 2 compartments. One is the rod locker which is overflowing and the other is full of rope, fire extinguisher, extra prop, etc. I would kill for a boat with more storage.

TheBeast and I set out for Varner Friday afternoon. Rolled into town around 12 Saturday morning. After 5 hours of fitful sleep, it was time to hit the water with Randall. It was a long weekend, a long drive home today, and I can barely type because I think I've got carpal casting syndrome. Here are a few photos. More and the rest of the story will come tomorrow. Randall's got something! I thought Varner had BIG fish Have gun, will travel Twas a very very windy evening. Can you say whitecaps on an electric-only lake?

New lights won't help if you don't have a good ground. What type of plug do you have on your trailer? 4 way? If so, there should be a white (ground), a green (right stop & turn), a brown (running lights), and a yellow (left stop & turn). I was having a lot of trouble out of my lights last year, so I re-wired this winter. Turns out the ground wire wasn't even attached to the trailer.

Dug it out of the shipping box, wife asked me why I bought a suitcase. ;D Sad thing is that this is the fifth time in the last year I've had to buy a new bag. This is the biggest one I could find, so I hope I don't start using any different techniques. L-R Swimbaits, terminal tackle, spinner/buzz baits, tubes/brush hogs/sweet beavers, jigs, trick worms, senkos/lizards, finesse worms, shallow cranks/topwater, deep cranks, jerkbaits The good thing about this bag is that the top cover has a zippered storage pouch on the inside. Got it crammed full of assorted plastics. I hope Randall's boat is plenty buoyant.