Choporoz

I like it. I have had battery jumpers with tire inflators for years. But they take forever to put 10 psi in a car tire

Just had a big 'gill spawn here. And the bass were shallow, even though the water temps were mid 80s. Nearly every bass caught around bluegill beds spit up threadfin shad. Take that for whatever it's worth. In my lake that is full of traditional bass prey, the only time I key my lures on a specific forage is when they are on gizzard schools; big, falling baits. Any other times, I'm more focused on whether they are feeding up, feeding on the bottom, not real aggressive, etc. Presentation means more to me than trying to match the prey.

Nothing comes close for me. Wish we could buy bulk packs. Sieberts generally has them for best prices, though colors sometimes limited. I have gone through ten packs this year.

Me, too. IMO, all arts (and artists) are in very serious jeopardy. Civilization will NOT be better for it, I am positive.

I understand. You may have to do some fancy googling, then. Most trails I have been affiliated with use FB pretty heavily. Looks like at least 5 or 6 active clubs in KY. Probably many more.

This is a great idea. Also, search for local clubs in FB. TourneyX is another app that some trais use (used?), but I don't know that it will be nearly as user-friendly as FC

Not sure about your chances close to DC. But Upper Potomac, up from Shepherdstown might be your best bet.

Yep. Also, when I started figuring how to fish deep, in mid-summer, I'd position myself shallow on a point and fan cast something heavy out to the abyss and slowly drag it up.

If they are at or close to the bottom, I like a heavy swinghead with a magnum Rage Bug, or Rage Tail Anaconda. If they are even a little bit active, I also throw 5 and 6 inch flutter spoons.

Quantum Smoke.. the old HPT's. Ten year old reels better than 5 year old Zillions

Three of my best fish the past two days bit after I casted out and then got distracted doing something other than fishing...tending to a cigar, picking out a backlash, etc. But when I try to go super slow on purpose, I become the Tootsie Pop owl; 'One...Two...Three..." Done. I just can't help myself...have to move it. I have cashed checks in tournaments deadsticking, but fun fishing? Forget it

Not dumb. Handles well. I've only used Suffix Elite last few years. Can't speak to others, though there are plenty of mono fans here that never remarked on bc challenges.

Through trial and errors, I've decided that I will not use anything other than mono for ploppers.

Many outings last month, more than half the LMB I caught were on Mepps or Panther Martin's cast just beyond schools of visible baitfish and/or busting bass

Agreed. Sort of a holy grail....but could possibly remove too much of the mystery/mystique AND....I believe that there can be a lot of correlation between land animals, birds, and fish. Can't explain why, but active bite seems to happen more frequently when there are active birds and mammals This one bugged me for long time. I was convinced I had to be on the water at or shortly after sunrise. Goes back 50+ years to my dad and grandpa. But, I've only in recent years determined that my early wasn't really early enough. By the time most tournaments start (often after 'safe light'), it is too late. I now believe the good morning bite is generally the really late 'night-bite'. An hour or two before sunrise can often be awesome, only to have things die down when it starts getting light. Not always, but enough to lead me to believe it is a little predictable. ... except....variables like weather, cloud cover, baitfish spawns, etc can make above sound silly some days

after hundreds of plays, my dog still barks at the dogs barking in Dogs from the album Animals

One of my favorite light t-rig baits. 1/8 unpegged in grass and surprisingly great in wood. I use 3/0 and 4/0 Owner Twistlock

For tournaments, I had a donkey leash on one side and a FishGrips tethered on the other. I did lose one fish from the donkey leash early on, so I only used the FishGrips from then on. Kept the donkey leash as a backup

Tungsten. Most from Siebert

Usually gar enough and accurate enough. What I will be working in this year is skipping. I get a little excited when I see a great skipping pitch. Except when I attempt it...no excitement....just frustration. That's going to change

I bought a DX744 specifically for jigs and hated it. It is a great spinnerbait rod, however. Tip is way to soft for my jig fishing.

@Pat Brown, I admit your remarks about bass 'spawning all the time' (my words...but something sort of like that) had me a little skeptical. No more. I caught at least 3 clearly pre-spawn females this week (same relative area), as well as a couple bucks with battered tails. Surface temps 84 yesterday.

None of the pre-retirement seminars or websites mentioned that going on 'vacation' is now more like work than it ever was.

I use Weather Channel app; mostly the radar. But cell service is weak on most of my lake, so I keep one eye on the sky every afternoon. If I'm concerned without enough signal for radio, but enough for a call, I call my wife and have her look at the radar. I'm getting pretty good at reading the clouds, but don't take chances with lightning

Admittedly keyed on the word sensitivity with little regard to the rest of your post. I've such a wide spectrum of moving bait presentations that I have trouble addressing. I don't like braid for spinnerbaits (except sometimes on inline spinnerbaits). Depending on the rod and the conditions, I sometimes prefer braid for chatterbaits. Crankbaits all get flouro. Most buzzbaits get mono, but lighter ones usually braid. Swim jigs, paddletails, and scroungers, flouro. Spooks, ploppers and toads, mono. Jerkbaits, braid with leader. Spoons, larger swimbaits and A-rigs, flouro. Poppers, mono or braid with leaders. The other thing in your post that I glossed over was that you are in a kayak. I fish from a boat mostly now, but I kayak fished for many years. I believed strongly that I achieved a better hookset with braid from a seated position in a moving kayak. (Part of the reason that I had over half my reels spooled with braid until recently. )