Smokinal

Glad to hear it! Sounds like a great day for sure. Ya, they hit it very well. I, too, wanted to try a squarebill but this place has heavy grass 1 foot under the surface all over the whole thing so a lot of open treble baits are out.

The only reason I add the taurine with the BA is BA depletes your natural taurine in your body. Taurine is responsible for proper heart function and I notice my PVC's get worse if I add BA without adding taurine. But I really like the performance enhancement I get from BA so.....

Thank you man! Ya, it's a lifestyle for sure. Everything I do revolves around an eating schedule. and when I'm not eating I'm prepping food for the next 3-4 days. Ok, here it goes. Daily, all year: multi vitamin fish oil Universal Uni Liver (some of the most pure essential amino acids available) creatine whey protein BCAA's Pre-workout ( i alternate from brand to brand as to not create a tolerance; and I use non-stim types) And then I cycle these when I'm on bulk and sometimes on a cut too (along with all the dailies too of course): Beta Alanine Taurine I'm a supp junkie, I know. But when you're trying to put on as much muscle as you can, and then preserve those gains while in a caloric deficit for a long time, every little edge helps.

Yesterday I went to a small, secluded pond in the woods you have to drag the kayak into. It's a lot of work getting in and out of this place but it holds big fish. I go there in the spring and fall looking for better fish. The forecast showed clouds and rain so I was expecting a good topwater bite; and this place did not disappoint. I was throwing a bone 130 Plopper and a Poppin Pad Crasher and I got on them right away with my NEW PB!! A 6-8; which I know isn't huge for some you you slayers out there but for Maine, it's not a bad fish. And I usually fish for numbers so getting on a good one now and then is an accomplishment for me. Soon after I had another 5, a couple of 4's and some smaller fish. I went looking for more and changed up baits to a 3.8 Keitech and could have caught all the 1.5 lbers I wanted but that's not why I go to this place. So I abandoned that pattern, went back to where I knew I should be, with the bait I knew I should be throwing and continued to catch good fish. Ended up with the 6-8, 3 5's, 3-4 4's, a few 3's and a bunch of dinks. Probably the best big fish day of my life tbh. The 6-8 A couple of the 5's

^^^Good for you bud! I love seeing younger guys and girls get into and continue to exercise. Whether its bodybuilding, running, biking, whatever; just being active. If there was one old adage I could tell you about putting on size, and ask you to always remember, it would be that you don't get big in the gym; you get big in the kitchen. Gaining and losing weight is simply about calories in vs calories out. You have to eat in a surplus which can be hard to do sometime; I know. Find out what your maintenance is, and eat at least 500 cals over that every day. Peanut butter, oats, chicken (you may be sick of chicken...lol), rice, yogurt, cottage cheese...eat everything!! A great whole food weight gain shake I enjoy when I'm on bulk is: 1 scoop of whey oats nuts...any kind; almonds, walnuts, peanuts wutevr banana 3-5 tbsp peanut butter; I use a natural pb like Teddy top off with milk in a large cup and mix with a wand mixer/hand blender This has good calories, carbs and protein and is easy to make. And you can leave out the whey if you want; it has plenty of protein without it. Keep at it Meatloaf!

Looks like a largemouth to me. Debated it being a spot due to colors but it's lower jaw extends past the eye so I'm going with LMB....final answer

^^^Thank you. Ya it's rough when you're going through it but worth it when you see the result. I prepped for 14 months for that show; the last 9 months being on cut in a caloric deficit. I never thought I'd be sub 10% BF but here we are. I have a 7 month prep for my next which will be a little easier. I'll do a 3 month bulk and then a 4 month cut and hopefully come in a little better than that first show. BTW, I've had 1 of each 1st gen camaros; the '69 being my personal favorite. That one had a 383 that I used to drag 1/8 and 1/4 mile. 68 had a pretty stout 383 and 67 had a 355. All are my favorite muscle cars!

Not too graphic; just guys with shirts off. Bodybuilding...my other time consumer. Not sure who else is into it but i've been bb'ing since I was 14. Absolutely love it! There's the physical side and then there's the mental side of it; both very pleasurable to me. A few years ago, I had 3 surgeries in 2 years that set me back from my training. Well I healed up nice, got back on the horse and realized if I'm going to do a show, I better do it now while I'm in half-way decent shape. So at 48, I did my first show; now I'm hooked. I have another planned for April 14 2018, another that fall, then another the spring of 2019. Here's the vid for those who dare.... I'm 48 so usually there is a Master's class which is for competitors 40 and over. This show did not have a Master's class so I had to go into Open Novice and then a full Open class. The oldest competitor in each class was half my age. I placed 4th in both classes which I was very happy with, considering. The spring show will have a Master's class so I'm looking forward to that. Any other BB'ers out there?

I'm so sorry to hear about your brother man. Prayers sent for you, him and your family.

I know it's hard to tell what someone is thinking when you read it in text, without seeing facial expressions, hearing a tone of voice and seeing other body language. I have a warm, friendly smile on my face as I tell you that none of the quotes you showed appear to me as degrading keeping fish. Others were simply asking why the paper towel and I just pointed out that it looks like they are being kept. I have seen tons of threads talking about how good a bass feast was and there is even a member here who's "handle" is Catch-n-Grease; and he takes no flack for it; he's a good kid. I don't want you to feel like you were degraded for keeping those fish, because you weren't. This place is known for it's friendly, accepting members and will continue to be that place.

Those look like they are already at the cleaning table to me

I'll 3rd tacklewarehouse.com And Bassproshops for an option

I liked a lot of stuff they did. Sad story https://montgomerygentry.com/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/troy-gentry-helicopter-crash-blamed-on-engine-control-problems/

Well???

When asked what I catch them on: "Carolina rigged buzz bait..."

Something not touched upon here is the fact that you may have gotten bit, paused too long and had the fish spit it before you stuck him. Empty hooksets aren't always just grass, twigs etc... If you feel it was a bite but then empty hookset, try a product like Megastrike to help make the fish hold the bait longer.

I have a bunch of flat strand, living rubber jigs that I really like. I got away from throwing them for a while so they got all crumpled and wrinkled from being in the planos for the last year. How can I get them to straighten out and soften up a bit? Boil them and hang them maybe?

Great to see! Pass on our congrats!

Very nice Glenn! A "top" buttom would be nice to have at the bottom of a thread to take you back to the top of the page in a click.

Little Sebago would be a better option

I use the Blood knot on my rods with regular size guides and the Albright/Alberto for micro-guide rods. And as far as the FG knot; you know what the FG stands for? FuGetaboudit! Try this too https://www.animatedknots.com/knotlist.php

Depending where you are headed, the Androscoggin has some great smallmouth.

Red shad, Tequila Sunrise, black shad all work well for me in green water

Glad to hear you're on the mend!!