Smokinal

Thanks for the reminder! I loosen them all before storing. Looking forward to seeing some of your brown tanks!

My Menderchuck opened a couple of days ago; which is sooo surprising due to the long, long cold winter we had. I woulda bet no soft water until the 14th or so. I plan on going out next Sunday. Should whack em pretty good!

I'll be the odd man out here and say 360 easily. I can see so much more on it. I fish structure and I know there's fish there. I can't get into this whole "don't cast until I see a fish" thing. If there's a rock pile, there's gonna be fish on it.

I have Mega360 and FFS and I prefer the 360 honestly. It may be just the way and areas I fish but I'm always looking at it.

@A-Jay And anyone else in the area. My thoughts and prayers go out to anyone affected.

I'm so sorry to hear. Sending you comfort and strength. 🙏🙏

Just popped on here to see what's what and am just floored by this news. He's one of those guys who you just thought would always be there...be around forever...so sad. Yes, well said @Glenn and others. RIP WRB; my thoughts go out to his family.

Glad to hear that's under control.

One of the best things I ever did for my fishing was to keep a log...and yes, count fish. Not so I could post an e-brag on social media about how many fish I caught, but to tell me what worked and what didn't. For the past 25 or so years, I've kept a very loose log and it's helped me immensely. Date, lake name, weather, water temp. Areas of the lake I fished, what I used and how many I caught. This does so much for your fishing. It not only tells you what worked but also what didn't; you also start to learn seasonal areas, habits, baits etc... So then, I would look at this log before every trip (past 3,4,7 years of the same date) and I could put together a pattern before even getting to the water. If, in the past 7 trips out on a certain date, you can expect the water temp to be the same, and I show I did well, there's a good chance of repeating that again. DISCLAIMER: I know some will say, "Never fish history"...while that can be true, you also need to take that with some salt. True, just because I wacked em on a certain flat one fall, doesn't mean they will always be there. But, if I've done well with certain baits, at a certain water temp consistantly for the past 9 years out...guess what I'm tying on the night before? **Steps off soapbox**

Same Dunno why...actually I probably do. As mentioned, the "new thing" and "oooh shiny" gets me every time 🙁

You, sistah, are on 'em!! Well done Unfortunately this has been a very busy start to the eason for me; only logging 1 trip out. My usual "right after ice-out" trip. Did well but haven't been able to get out again. Hopefully this weekend.

I hear ya brother. This started long ago unfortunately. 40 years ago, when my Grandparents were alive, they owned a house in Boston and a summer place on Cape Cod. We would go down and fish lakes on the Cape. The fishing was amazing! We would seine up live bait when we arrived and 1 pass on the shoreline would give us far too much bait for the day. We would catch so many LMB, crappie, white bass etc... One day we noticed the green, green lawns flowing to the water's edge. Next we noticed tanker trucks literally labeled Chem Lawn spraying fertilizer on these lawns. Then we started seeing these huge wads of algae and started finding dead fish with this algae stuck in their gills. The bait went away and so did the predator fish. It got so we were lucky to seine up 10 or so minnows in as many passes. My Grandparents have long passed and I haven't been there since. I'm sure nothing has changed. The lawns are far more important than life in some communities.

Thanks Glenn; about 3 years ago I bought all the terminal to Neko....and have never even tried it. I will this summer!

I remember RoLo; very sad indeed

I hadn't heard anything A-Jay...what went on?? Are you and your wife ok? Local friends and such ok? Ice storm?

I know I've questioned the safety of that trip but I gotta get there! My wife is going back to school for her Masters so the funds won't be there for another couple/few years ☹️

Most lakes/ponds are open around me; if not, very close. My Menderchuck will open fully this week. I won't be able to go next weekend as I have a business meeting at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut next weekend. You can bet your asphalt I'll be out week ending 4/12-4/13; most likely Sunday 13th

Baseball players gotta have the most OCD rituals of any sport! 😂🤣 Just watch Nomar

I'm not superstious at all...I bring a banana if I want one, I have many different hats depending on the weather, I hope for a fish on the first cast...whatever. But, the one thing I have is a rock I found when I was around 14. I was helping my Dad launch our boat and was skipping rocks into the lake. I found a nice, flat, smooth rock and was just about to throw it when my Dad sternly reminded me of my duties. I put the rock in my pocket to skip later. That day I caught a 5+ lber. I got back on land, remembered the rock, decided it was that rock that helped, put it in my tackle box and it's been with me for 40+ years. Transferred from box to box, from box to bag, from canoe to boat to boat. It's in my current boat as we speak.

The last few days have brought a big swing in the weather here. Temps are now consistantly ranging from 30-50 every day; and the 10 day forecast shows the same. Web cams on my home lake are showing open water in the first 6-8 feet of the shoreline and the ice is darkening some. I estimate full open water in 2-3 weeks unless we have some sort of reversion.

Could't agree more Glenn. I use scent during a tournament or if the bite is tough. I do think it helps a fish to hold the bait a hair longer, giving me that split second longer to set a hook. An aggressive reaction bite does not require a scent imo. fwiw...ymmv

And I'm fishing the sleeper like a jig, not a swimbait; slow along the bottom.

Happy to share, although it's nothing out of the ordinary. Basically we fish a shallow cove on the north end of the lake with jerkbaits and dark sleepers...slow moving stuff...really textbook. Not sure why it works there so well; it just does. We alternate betweek a jerk and the sleeper to cover the column. Either bite comes and goes throughout the morning. You mentioned a shallow cove you were curious to try this spring; I'd be curious if this works for you. Oh, and you can use any color jerkbait, as long as it's gold. 😁😉

I'll be out the first weekend after ice-out...whenever that is. I've got a pretty consistant pattern that gives us 40-60 fish mornings for about 2 weeks after ice-out.

Fluorocarbon and its "no stretch" qualities 😅🤣😂 I've tried 7 different brands/types...spared no expense...bought the best stuff available. This stuff is an absolute rubber band. Never experienced so much stretch in any line. I had it on my jig rod and couldn't stick a fish to save my life. Went back to braid/fluoro leader and everything was fine again. At least I have a lifetime supply of leader material now 😉