Jar11591

Sorry for your loss, MN Fisher

@TnRiver46 @slonezp I never got any venison this year from my buddies who hunt. Normally I make stew every fall/winter. I wish you could buy it in stores. Here are a couple of my creations from recently: Tomato Basil Risotto Korean-style Boneless Wings

Wordle 12/24 ⬜️⬜️⬜️🟩⬜️ 🟨🟨⬜️🟨🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections #196 🟦🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦

Another vote for Magic Eraser.

Wordle and Connections every day. My girlfriend and I have a friendly competition with them. Did really well today. One of my best Wordle: 12/23 🟩🟨🟩⬜️🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Connections #195 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟨🟨🟨🟨

Don’t overlook a small ribbon tail worm as a trailer on finesse jigs.

That’s a great idea and good on you and everybody who adopts shelter dogs. My girlfriend and I have a pack of 3. They’re 14, 5, and 2 years old. I love the idea of the people they got to know at the shelter knowing what great and healthy dogs all 3 of them have become.

1. Rage Structure Bug 2. Culprit 10” Ribbontail

Nowhere near enough. I was getting out 3-5 times per week from April-July. But August-November I only got about about a half dozen times. Wrist injury, full time school and work slowed my fishing nearly to a halt. Next year I want to get out at least a dozen times every month. Saying it out loud, dozen times per month doesn’t seem like enough.

It seems like most state records coming from northern states with a growing season of only 4-8 months or so, are not typical by any means. What I mean is these fish to me seem like total genetic anomalies and must have an extremely rare disposition to growing to freakish sizes. These fish throw the typical growth rates for northern bass out the window. Couple that rare freak disposition with defying the odds of survival to predation or natural death and you may be left with a bass in a northern climate that is able to reach double digits. And even then, that bass needs an above average food source. But but all these things happening to the same fish probably accounts for 1 out of hundreds of millions. I think freak mutation plays a bigger role than anything else with a double digit bass in a northern state.

@AlabamaSpothunter awesome man. Well done. Do most of your doubles come during winter? I remember last winter you were nailing doubles and triples on the A rig.

Used to play in my teens and early twenties. Sold my guitars and amps over a decade ago, and I regret it every day. Still hope to get back into someday.

I second this. If the water is below 50 degrees, I’m most likely throwing a spinnerbait. Definitely my top cold water bait.

I don’t mind catching big pike or panfish. On the rare occasion I’m not targeting bass, I’m targeting panfish or trout with fly or spinning tackle. I get enough esox while bass fishing to get my fill without having to target them.

@TnRiver46 your hammer is frozen to the roof but you got smallmouth going airborne

I’d rather have a really nice rod and a decent reel than a really nice reel and decent rod. But really nice reels are fun as well. I’m just a gearhead I guess.

I’m seeing some “humble hammers” on this thread.

@gimruis I’ll be sure to buy double this year so the monkey still gets his quota.

I’m training to become an electrician. I’ve been told that everything becomes a hammer if it’s in the hands of a sparky.

This year was a shorter sample size than usual, and I did have a really good year size-wise and an average year numbers-wise. It’s not that high every year, but probably not too far off of that on a normal year.

And usually it’s both!

The regional differences in weight:length is really fascinating. Down in Mexico I was catching 5lb bass that were probably 18” and so stuffed full of tilapia that they looked like basketballs. And I just did some math. In 2023, I caught 1 fish over 19” per every 6.67 fish caught, and 1 fish over 20” per every 12.1 fish.

@ol'crickety Between the super clear water I fish, and the fact that I fish standing up in my boat, seeing bass is pretty common for me. But the giant ones I see are always in early spring. They will be pressed right against downed timber or wooden dock posts, not moving and totally uninterested in anything I throw at them. I saw a bass early April this year that made my heart stop. It was sitting in about 1’ of water on a log during an unseasonably hot day right after ice-out. Tossed jigs and senkos and swimbaits right at its face for 30 minutes until it got annoyed and slowly sauntered back to deep water. That fish would have easily beaten my 6-3 PB. Maybe 2024 is the year I get her.

Until I achieve it, my number one goal each season will be to pull a 7lb largemouth from the waters of NY. It’s a tall task, but I’ve seen fish in the water that easily eclipse that mark. And my NY PB had enough length to it that it could have gone up to 8lb, instead of the couple ounces over 6lb that it was. A 7lb LM from NY is the fish of a lifetime, so once I achieve that, I will move onto another goal, like possibly a 6lb smallmouth. Additionally, I set more minor goals each year, such as getting better or mastering a particular bait or presentation, visiting a new body of water, fishing in certain conditions, or a particular numbers goal.

Around here, 18” fish are usually about 2lb, 19” might go 3lb, 20” 4-4.5lb and 21” will go about 4.5-5lb. 22” will put you right at 5lb usually. I have one 23.5” under my belt in NY. It is my domestic PB and weighed 6lb 3oz. The length to weight charts I see online rarely match what I see with my own scale and tape measure. The weights are usually significantly less than what the charts say. If I’m on my number one lake, I probably catch 1 20” fish per every 8-10 fish caught. 21” maybe every 12? There are so many 19-22” fish in this lake. The ratio of big fish:small fish is very high.