FryDog62

I fished without my Fish Monkey gloves today and it felt weird without them. I prefer the Free Style custom fit gloves that you can cut the fingers to any length you want. I cut 9 back but leave the left thumb in tact so I avoid getting "bass thumb."

I'm usually 1/16th, or 3/32 oz. for Neds. Rarely do I go to 1/8 unless it's deep and/or current. If I need to go to 1/4 oz or more because of depth or current, then I switch to a finesse jig.

Casting, but you can use either. I find the preferable MH and Heavy 7'3" to 7'6" length rods a little easier to find in casting rods though...

The reason I’m against braid for BFS is because it is so lightweight and hard to cast. Fluorocarbon is dense and adds weight. To me, casting a 1/8 oz lure with fluorocarbon is more equivalent to casting a 3/16 oz lure - and using light 8 or 10 lb braid makes a 1/8 oz lure feel like 1/16 oz. It’s harder to cast, especially if you have wind. Mono is somewhere in the middle, maybe closer to fluorocarbon, but still preferable to braid in terms of casting IMHO.

I primarily use 7 lb Sniper fluorocarbon on 3 of my 4 BFS rigs. On the other one where I throw treble baits which might include topwater - I use 6 lb CXX Co-poly since it isn't as dense and doesn't sink like fluorocarbon.

I still like "neutrally-buoyant" mono/Co-poly - over sinking fluoro. That plus a floating plastic gets the lure slightly up off the bottom after the drag. The sinker tends to kick up silt/debris and a plastic that comes up above that gets seen/bit easier by a fish following the grinding noise of the sinker. 10 lb Trilene XT mono is about the same diameter as 17 lb Invizx fluoro and what I typically use.

I've had some success with hot pink, but not much of the other brights. The one universal color I have that works - for smallmouth/largemouth/Spots/Peacocks in lakes/rivers, northern US/southern US, perch/shad/herring lakes, Minn/Florida/S Carolina, SoDak, Ontario, etc. is one color that various lure manufacturers call something like: Elegy Bone, Northern Lights, Hot-Blue Frost. A bit bluish-purple on top and the key - chartreuse on the bottom.

I agree with the mono leader (I like Trilene XT) and a plastic that floats like a BBB Flying Squirrel, or BPS Floating Lizard.

I delivered 3 eulogies of family members a few years ago and didn't fare as well. I practiced ahead of this speech to make sure I didn't do that again. Its okay if you do but yeah weddings are meant to be a lot more fun!

Haha, so true.. would love to have a little fishing partner again. Okay, this borders on "TMI" but my wife turned to me when the new couple headed to the airport to fly out on their Honeymoon - "You know she's ovulating next week!" 😳 Stuff us dads don't even think about, and I responded - "You mean it's pre-spawn...?"

Got my baby girl married off to a wonderful guy this past weekend in Greenville, SC. I was able to deliver to "Father of the Bride" speech without any waterworks LOL... Then it was up to us to do the Father-Daughter dance in front of the crowd. Anyone that knows my daughter knows she's nuts about fishing and has caught some absolute whoppers of all species as a child and now young woman. Many hours spent siting next to her on the dock or in the boat as a toddler, teen and adult. So it was fitting that we picked our slow dance to Trace Adkins - "She Thinks We're Just Fishing" song. During the song, behind us were 20+ different fish she caught from tiny to HUGE over the years. And then it bust loose with a transition to one of her favorite childhood songs - LARGER THAN LIFE, by the Backstreet Boys - because so many of the remaining fish pictures were so "Large." We then broke out into quite a wild-ass choreographed dance she came up with including a backflip (one last time) for this 64 year old former gymnast LOL. No muscles pulled, no blubbering by dad... just pure joy to see your little girl so happy ~ A few from her "Stringer" over the years... And the list goes on..

Everything I learned from my friend that used to do the "Knot Wars" competition on North American Fisherman - was that statistically the strongest knots (by far) were those that ran through the eye of the hook/lure twice. These knots always won head-to-head over the single loop knots. Every.. time... In fact, a year later when the show changed hands, a new host came in with the knot that was going to knock the Palomar off its top spot. The single loop SDJ knot got smoked by the double loop Palomar quite easily.

Swindle knot, also known as the 3 tag knot. Its a little bit different knot than the Grigsby knot and others similar to that because 2 of the 3 tags face backwards. The other knots have 3 tags facing forward and catch a lot of debris (and less fish;)

Try Faka Union Canal on your way to Everglades City. Some bigguns there, gators too so be careful. Tick'em off with jerk baits in perch colors. X-rap and Zumverno 95 are my favorites.

Still one of the most underrated freshwater species to catch... fun!

Great PB Koz! That there is one "ROTUND" fish - sounds like the foundation for another Suno Song!

I did try that but didn't get a response... I think I have some work for him if I can track him down...

Looking to locate Dave Beasley. I heard recently that he left SOLitude and am wondering if he has landed anywhere else or is doing work on his own now? If anyone has any contact information for him would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

There are opportunities to live both north and south that will allow you to fish year round. If you can work remote and don’t have kids and/or a school system to work around opens up a lot of doors. If you don’t have the finances or flexible schedule quite yet to own a home in 2 locations, think about keeping one where you want to spend the majority of your time (or for tax purposes) and consider renting a second place either a week here and there, or for a chunk of time (months). Stash a kayak and a few rods in location #2 and transport your GPS between the locations. Two weeks away from old man winter in Minnesota will do a lot for you more than just catching some fish. If there’s a will there’s a way!!

Caught an 8 foot gator doing that once!

A-Jay, have you heard of the "Quad Hover" rig that is being used for big brownies on Mille Lacs? I had one for awhile on some spotted bass lakes down south. At $50 a pop, they are kind of a niche thing, but has a loyal following... Performance Fishing InnovationsQuad HoverWARNING: This is NOT a standard "Alabama" rig!! The first and only truly Hovering Flourocarbon Umbrella Rig, built with our proprietary "Hub and Spoke Armature" kinetic energy transfer system on a

Didn't he go on to sink the final shot for U-Conn?? Conflict of interest right there !

The "Chug Norris" popping lure. I guess in honor of the passing of Walker Texas Ranger.. lol I never really knew when to throw such a loud lure and really create a disturbance with a wide-mouth popper like that. Until a guide I met encouraged me to use it on Lake Lanier. You have to spot schools of fish and chug it over the top of them, but everything I saw was 15-25 feet below the surface... and being a Northerner I said "they're too far below it." He said "THAT" is exactly when you use the chugging lures - Spro e-Pop, Chug Bug, and of course the Chug Norris. It absolutely "calls them up" out of deep clear water. And not just Spotted Bass - largemouth and Stripers. Never thought I would catch a 5+ pound largemouth on topwater in 42 feet of water. The ferocity of the strikes and how an entire school comes up to smash the lure is an absolute drug!

Greenville, SC might be the best city in America IMO... that said I would drive 2:15 to Lake Lanier over 45 minutes to Hartwell any day. And I did that many days...

I moved from 30+ rods when I had a bass boat... to a kayak. And I have traded in and upgraded my equipment to just 13 rods. Hard to part with some of the rods/reels but now I'm leaner and maybe meaner? Doubt it, but easier to travel between 2 different homes/states anyhow. I have a Blackpak Pro in my kayak, it carries up to 8 rods. If its a body of water I know, I may only bring 4 rods... if its a new body I'm unfamiliar with, its likely all 8.