Jar11591

Sorry to hear about the accident. It sucks to leave biting fish due to injury. At least you got a few!

When the BassResource servers are down:

A DD smallmouth. Amazing. Hopefully it’s still swimming.

My oldest dog has always been terrified of fishing rods. I started calling them “death sticks”. She’s come along way over the years. When I adopted her she was scared of many things. A few of those fears have persisted over the years. I can’t stomach the thought of her being abused by whatever owner she was born into. She’ll be 13 this month and I adopted her when she was a little over a year.

When was this caught? Any article along with it?

Going to be in the 70s this weekend, my birthday is Saturday, but instead of being on the water, I’ll be at wedding all weekend.

@ol'crickety still crushing them a month after you were ready to hang it up for the year! Really enjoyed the article as well. That’s the kind of fishing most people never get to experience.

My last time out, there was some ice on the edges of the lake. I have a Yeti brand travel mug, and it keeps my coffee piping hot all day long. Having piping hot coffee on the boat goes such a long way keeping me warm. Handwarmers, gloves, thick socks, and something wind-blocking help a lot as well.

I’m probably 75/25 casting to spinning. Casting rigs are usually more efficient and better suited than spinning to my fishing situations.

No, and I don’t plan on it. I’ve been fishing since I was a toddler, or younger. Always been my number one passion. Couldn’t imagine my life without it. Even during the winter when the lakes are frozen and I can’t fish, it’s always on my mind.

We had 100 king sized bars ready to go, and only got 10 trick or treaters. I’m gonna eat my self sick this week.

I don’t get hung up on frog colors too much, so a light colored belly and a dark colored one should cover all the bases.

Nice spot. Congrats on the PB ??

Nothing beats the excitement of fishing new waters and the unknown of what could be hiding. I like to have a balance of exploring new waters, and learning a body of water by fishing it repeatedly, especially through different seasons. This year I did a lot of exploring new water, so I’ll have a lot of spots next year that I will be picking apart and really learning.

One of my favorite smallmouth lakes. But also has lots of big largemouth.

I would say almost definitely yes.

Bunny poop. Lots and lots of bunny poop.

Drove a couple hours north to a small lake that has lots of big, beautifully colored smallmouth only to find the boat launch and only public access is closed ?. Ended up at another small lake a couple minutes away that I was unfamiliar with. Air temp was 28, and there was some skim ice on the water. Water temperature on the main lake was 44-45 at launch. My buddy got 2 3lb-class smallmouth, and I lost a lunker largemouth right at the boat. Could have been the best of the year. Was a little heartbroken. Finally was able to grind out this little guy dragging a ned rig: Not bad considering it was a new lake, frigid water that was very low, and even some skim ice. It had warmed to 52 by 3oclock, but it was a 2 hour drive home so we called it. Looking forward to fishing this lake under more ideal conditions next year. A busy couple weeks ahead could mean this little smallmouth is my last Bass before ice-in, but I’m not putting the boat up yet. If I have a spare hour, I’ll be out there bundled up, PB hunting.

Don’t throw swing jig heads often but they should be much less snaggy than a standard ned head. I think anything is less snaggy than a standard ned.

My left or the spook’s left?

If I’m throwing jigs into timber, rocks, or cover that isn’t super heavy I use 40lb braid to a 20lb fluorocarbon leader. When throwing to heavy cover or punching, I’ll use straight 40 or 50lb braid. The fluorocarbon leader is more abrasive resistant than braid so I feel much more confident with a leader around rocks, logs and toothy fish. I’ve never had a esox bite off a thick fluorocarbon leader but they bite through taught braid like it’s dental floss. When throwing to heavy cover, I go straight braid because I don’t have to worry about abrasions as much and I also want less to catch the slop on entry. A leader knot in heavy cover can get caught up.

I typically throw double willow Spinnerbaits, and they are usually some combination of copper, silver and gold. I’ll throw all silver in very clear water sometimes. Generally darker water gets a copper or gold blade with a silver tandem.

I’m partial to Booyah Pad Crashers. They have the standard, the popping version, a Jr version, and a popping Jr version. What they lack in durability is made up for by their collapsibility and price.

I enjoy Halloween and the festivities that come with it, especially the candy. For my girlfriend, it’s a whole month long event. She is very into it. Her father who recently passed always used to give the trick-or-treaters king sized candy bars, and she wants to carry on that tradition so we have boxes of king sized bars ready to go. The butterfingers stay in house though. Those are mine. @gimruis T-Rex-O-Lantern is hilarious. When Jack-O-Lanterns aren’t scary enough.

I have a small tack box and telescopic spinning rig in my emergency bag. The tackle box just has some hooks and spools of line, and a few inline spinners.