Choporoz

My boat stays in the water most of the year, so I take 5-gallon cans non-ethanol down to the dock.... every 2-3 days lately.

Welcome. If you find yourself in or around Roxboro, drop me a PM and we can meet up.

Honestly, you may find you don't have to get all that big for any of that to come into play. However, if you really do find 8 or 10 like-minded guys and gals who mostly just want to fish on the same days, with a few bucks of skin in it, then it may be awesome. Like a poker group, perhaps.

The best club I was ever with had 3 main tenets, comraderie, competition, and community...probably focused in that order. The amount of work involved is hard to imagine. Until you are able to delegate all aspects of a tournament, acknowledge that you will likely not be participating. You will need to be tirelessly communicating, marketing, planning, bookkeeping, moderating, appeasing... members, potential members, sponsors, potential sponsors, conflicting 'groups', local (and maybe state?) authorities, etc. I know that FB can be a stupid, frustrating platform, but unless, until a club is well known, it is IMO a necessary evil for all the communication and outreach necessary. Once armed with outline of a plan, I'd start there to recruit, meet, gauge interest etc. Not trying to discourage... just acknowledging how much I recognize, appreciate and admire good club presidents, because I see what a commitment it is.

Umpqua Rivergrips. I really appreciate the forceps/cutter combination. I also have the White River version, but I prefer the Umpqua. (You can get exact same tool on AliExpress for less)

Rick, to me the best is the one that runs true. Not what you're asking maybe. But, it seems like any brand can have a few that spin like Cousin Vinny's tires in the Alabama mud. That can be the most frustrating thing about scroungers. Get one that runs straight and mark it and keep it separate. Otherwise, they all wobble, all have sharp, open hooks, etc. Baitkeepers vary. I find that those with no real baitkeeper are probably going to be relegated to slow, bottom retrieves, as they can be very tough to keep aligned and not spinning. So, I suggest getting a couple/few different ones and see how they act for you. Two seemingly identical heads from same mfr can give you different looks. As to weights, I rarely (never?) go under 1/2 oz. -Dave

20# - Punching, Swimbaits, A-Rigs 16-17# - Flipping Jigs, Heavier T-Rigs 12-14# - most everything else on baitcasters

Carp launching itself into bottom of my kayak; or a large copperhead swimming right at my yak....or boat, even

There are quite a few cigar forums if you want some deep rabbit holes, or just want more opinions/recommendations. I was heavy into a number of them, but left them all a few years ago. Assuming it hasn't gone downhill or died, I'd recommend Cigar Assylum. Lots of great BOTL (Brothers of the Leaf) and moderated well. I met members from many boards all over the country at dozens of herfs over the years. It is a pretty solid brotherhood.

@casts_by_fly, if you don't already do it, a regular 'purge' can immensely improve the experience of any cigar. By 'purge' I mean blow out through the cigar - fairly forcefully. Some cigars won't need it at all; some will benefit from 3 or 4 purges per sitting. Also, purge anytime you need to set it down long enough that it may go out before you return to it - and again before you re-light. May not help for the heat you are getting, but it should clear up the flavors later in the smoke. I've smoked with a lot of guys who quit a cigar well before the band, so your experience may not unusual. (I've also smoked with a lot of guys who use a toothpick to hold the last half inch so as not to waste anything. )

@Bird, I'm envious you get 39mph. Best I have gotten is 33 with a tailwind. Did you change the prop or add a jackplate?

Same experience. $199 to replace a broke Helium that I paid $199 new. That was pretty disappointing. I was also disappointed in the Heliums when they switched from NFC blanks. However, I will say that five of my favorite rods are all Kistler. I just need to avoid breaking them.

I got mine new in January 2023. 175C with Merc 60. Perfect for my 3000 acre lake. Haven't had it on bigger water. I've got 180 hours on the motor without a hint of any problems there. Will do 31MPH with no mods. Love the layout and the size of the decks. As @Scott F said, the trailer ain't much, but I don't use it often. Boat stays in the water almost year round. My biggest issues won't affect you. The Motorguide X3 70 trolling motor has been a constant headache. The other problem was that the dealer installed automatic bilge pump quit after just a few months. The compartments aren't exactly water-tight. A day of fishing in the rain isn't too bad, but get an overnight downpour without the cover, and there will be some water in some of the compartments. The rod locker is spacious; I probably have 13 in there now. But I'd prefer the center placement found on longer boats. I always have rods laying on deck over the rod locker, and it is a bit of a pain to access while fishing. I'm in that boat 4-10 hours a day - every day, and I really can't find much to complain about. I believe @Birdgot his around the same time, and he may have more to say about the motor. 😬 LMK if you have any questions.

Good timing. LMB in my lake moved into the grass this week. Belly weighted hook with paddle tail is getting choked. This yesterday afternoon on Rage Swimmer

My father told me the same thing, but about bass, pike and walleye; probably around 1970

Related. I fished from a kayak for many years until recently. It got to where I hated fishing backwards. I rarely cast behind the boat now just because I got so frustrated fishing backwards for years. Another peeve is simply age. Loved kayak fishing, but it got to be enough like work that I almost never use it anymore.

Wise words. I would bet that all of them are.

That's what we paid from 2011 until we moved to the sticks a few years ago and had to get satellite.

Ned is (was?) about specific presentation with very light gopher/mushroom head. Less about the bait, if I understood Ned correctly. However, the fact that a grub has an undulating tail makes it decidedly not Ned. That said, nowadays ned rig seems to mean just about anything if it will sell more baits and terminal tackle. Check out videos by/with Ned Kehde where he explains what he does; that became called the Ned Rig.

Starlink is fantastic. We're rural, too. We had Viasat before and Starlink is far better in every way. Only lose it for moments during worst storms. Speeds are more than fast enough to stream on multiple devices. Costs less than previous satellite service. Viasat used to throttle us down to useless for half the month (when we exceeded 100GB, I think it was) PM any questions.

John Deere S240. Great little rider. More than capable of shredding a 100' contractor grade garden hose.

This. Occasionally gets bit when putting a bit of extra action on it during the retrieve. But if the hits come more during more horizontal movement, may as well switch to something that flutters, whether it's a 2" Little Cleo, or a 6" Nichols. Swimning flutter spoons get far better results than jigging spoons for me

I have chased commotion made by carp, snakeheads, bluegill, crappie, otters, turtles... worst was probably the evening many years ago when my wife and I spent half an hour trying to catch what turned out to be a beaver. When I kayak fished, I used to say chasing blowups, and chasing shad was a fools' errand. Fishing my current lake in a boat has-been a totally different story. I had multiple stretches longer than a couple weeks at a time when I could not catch a bass relating to cover or structure between 9AM and 7PM. It appeared as if every bass in the lake was offshore chasing bait. I was very successful fishing blowups and nervous bait. Either troll towards big areas of activity, or more often split the difference between two areas within 100 yards of each other. FFS probably would have been a big help, if I had it. Early summer and late fall are best when the gizzard are in bigger schools and loitering a bit. By mid-late July, the bait balls are smaller and moving.... a lot. Chasing works, but not nearly as effective. It is really amazing to me how fast and far feeding bass move in a very short time. That bass that came all the way out of the water a minute ago can be 20' down and 50 yards away in no time. But those times of big bait balls not moving fast can be amazing. A 5 or 6 inch spoon can be launched to a bass splash a long, long way ....and they get slammed. Spooks and poppers work, but for me, I usually get smaller fish on top in open water. If the bass seem keyed on threadfin, I like inline spinners. Casts a mile, and speed and depth are easier for me to vary than other baits. Seems the bigger bass are generally prowling deeper waiting for bait to fall out, while the 1-2 pounders tear through closer to the surface. If on shallower flats though, Super Spook size topwater will draw big bass. Takes a lot of patience to just sit without casting waiting for a sign. But if you start blindly throwing, it is guaranteed something will blow up in the opposite direction as soon as your bait hits the water.

Not AI, specifically, but related to my rant above about how I think info tech is negatively impacting us... I was talking with a reasonably intelligent 8 year old the other day. They mentioned some toy. I'd never heard of it and asked about it. This child had played with it, and was quite familiar with it. However, they wouldn't (or couldn't?) articulate a description or function. The only reply I could get, was "Just look it up on your phone". I was dumbfounded...couldn't even effectively bend it to a good teaching moment. I think back games my father often initiated, like '20 Questions', or Describe 'X' for me as if I had never seen one.... I am only now appreciating his wisdom and enjoyment in those

I am. Not afraid of technology. Afraid for us. Afraid for how easily we surrender... critical thought; appreciation for human creativity; how easily we continue to put massive faith onto something which few bother to comprehend (or care about the source data/info and limitations.) And just as few care whether there can or should be limitations... or whether controls, if necessary are even possible any more. AI isn't a hammer or slide rule or data compression program. It is truly rapidly changing the way people live, think, interact...not just making some tasks easier. I'd rather figure 'em out on the lake this afternoon than have AI bag 20 lb. for me.