RipzLipz

@JediAmoeba Out of reactions for the day. Thank you!

@JediAmoeba or @Derek1 is that the 7" Slobster? Are they still making those?

Hello from IN & welcome to BR. Would you mind sending me a large pepperoni & sausage pizza from Giuseppe’s? 😎

@CDMTJager No problem. I’m sure you’ll get the timing down on when to set the hook. I encourage experimenting. Not all jigs fish the same & you may need to set the hook a bit later or earlier. Do what’s comfortable to you & if you lose fish, make adjustments on the fly. If you end up having any issues, come back here & post some info & we’ll get it figured out. There are plenty of great people willing to listen & offer suggestions. We’re in the same state - don’t wait too late into the year before getting that jig wet! Those big females can come up to gorge on crayfish much earlier than you might expect for IN. You’re up 2-3 hours north from me I’m guessing, so unsure if you’ve iced out yet. We have but I’m waiting a bit longer to let muddy conditions settle down from ~7-9 days of rainy weather. Get after them with that jig soon - you may hook into a big ‘un. Tight lines bud!

@gimruis I like it, but I’m experimenting with vibration a bit - plus I’m fishing a completely different lake the past 18 months which produced some pushing 7lbs but most were caught during the day. Trying to adjust night presentation to see what they prefer. I may be choosing lures & combos with too much thump, if that’s even possible. I know there’s panfish in this place but they’re gorging on something else & I’m almost convinced it isn’t shad. This year I’m going to try & get that figured out or at least add more pieces to the puzzle, hopefully with assistance from a little ‘bird whose call is a distinct pinging sound. 😉😎

I’ve used them with success as spinnerbait trailers in MM Moonlight on big black spinnerbaits at night. Zoom now makes a black split tail so that will probably become my primary night trailer. Have also used them as jig trailers with success (the Menace). Planning on seeing what happens with them on a chatterbait in different colors this year. Will also see what happens with speed worms on both SB & CB as trailers.

@12poundbass

@senile1 Who knows. Former athletes seem to often have the attitude that they’re above the law or rules don’t apply to them. Big babies due to instant gratification nation & all the hype they’re seemingly surrounded with starting in their teens.

Seems Mahomes Sr. was either celebrating an early Kelce/Swift wedding or Super Bowl victory. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39460077/patrick-mahomes-sr-arrested-texas-dwi-charge

@PhishLI If you use those, do you have an estimated length of time for it to give an accurate temp reading? Would be perfect for my 2 man boat, just hanging over the side.

@gimruis Reactions when anyone or anything screws with walleye fingerlings in MN:

@Dogface I usually throw them every year, post spawn & either evening or late at night. Both the musky (now marketed as XL or Magnum) & next size down (650 - 3" 5/8oz) non-clicking version. I also have a weedless version with 2 fixed hooks coming out of the tail & rubber or vinyl skirt. Haven’t fished it in years but I should. When a bass does decide to hit one, they absolutely hit it to kill it. Both jitterbugs & paddle foot frogs have received some of the most violent, hard surface strikes I’ve encountered while bass fishing.

@throttleplate Other birds will also do it from time to time, usually in wide open areas. Watch for hawks flying slightly erratic vs their normal circling or straight line paths.

@Woody B I’m a firm believer that the absolute dumbest questions are those which aren’t asked. Great topic. From what I understand, shell beds can be gold mines in certain systems & worth seeking out & marking. They can be found using both 2D sonar & down/side imaging/scan, if not already shown as waypoints on your FF mapping or on a hard map like Hot Spots, etc. Search YouTube for more information about it & how to set up your particular unit to help locate them. Another possible source would be Google searches & reading forum posts related to using sonar units. I was down at Guntersville last fall & quite a few nice bass were caught dragging football jigs through shellbeds by some of our friends. If you’re interested & need help finding the YT videos or forums, shoot me a PM.

@Way north bass guy Kestrels are pretty cool looking birds. I’ve not had the opportunity to see them hunt, just see them perched overlooking farmland & grazing pastures. @gimruis I’m not an expert by any means but I believe both are closely related to falcons. I kept seeing a bird gliding at high speeds & low levels between houses around here. It was too short to be a hawk & I could see banded stripes on the undersides of wings & tail feathers. If it landed in a nearby tree, it would always fly off before I could get a good look at it. Finally, I was able to see one while looking out the window from inside the house. If it wasn’t a merlin then it was a falcon. More of a shade of gray or black on the back vs. brown from what I could tell. I mainly see them go after other birds, on occasion flying at high speed straight into tall brush/bushes around houses where other birds (sparrows, house finches, etc.) are living in large numbers. You can hear the birds chirping loudly sounding the invader alert calls. Last November, I spotted another merlin, perched about 10’ up in one of our trees, quietly watching 2-3 squirrels feeding below around the tree. The squirrels were either oblivious or just didn’t care. I grabbed my iPhone & took a video as I walked out into the back deck & snagged some images of it flying off as I walked closer. The kestrels I see around this area more colorful compared to a merlin & practically match the pic I posted above in coloration. I usually don’t see them in the neighborhood but rather in rural areas, often perched on telephone/electrical wires overlooking fields. These birds, to me, are noticeably shorter compared to the merlins. Very neat little birds. I see many birds of prey while driving around. Probably the neatest I can recall was seeing a small hawk or merlin hovering for 15-20 seconds in mid air over a ditch along a winding 2 lane state road over by the strip pits I fish. It finally tucked its wings & dove down into the ditch & landed on something to kill it. Vicious little thing.

@gimruis The bird of prey you’re describing sounds like either a merlin or kestrel, both of which resemble a falcon. Other than color differences, the merlin is larger, anywhere from 8-14" tall. The kestrel is slightly smaller, 8-12" tall. Merlin: Kestrel:

LMAO - Krispy Kremes. My "culinary" kryptonite. Didn’t realize they were available so far north. I ran across a YT video the other day with many Darwin Award winner types in it the other day. One featured some of your Red Army getting their due justice of sorts. Will try to find it. You iced out yet? We should be opened up. Might have to make a recon trip this week to check water conditions. Will definitely be fishing in the next week. Jigs will be the main course, followed by scrumptious helpings of spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, lipless cranks, & FAT Swing Impacts. Hoping the fat girls are ready to chew!

@DitchPanda Sorry for your loss. Condolences.

@PhishLI Thinking of adding onto the bait room yet?

I loved Galyans, especially the one in Plainfield. IIRC it was a family owned business & after their Greenwood store was hit by a tornado, they were soon selling to Dick’s. Bought my first Falcon Original UL spinning rod at the Greenwood store & it caught hundreds of nice smallies up north before my dad rammed the boat into the bank, breaking the tip. Was replaced, so all is well. Gander Mountain wasn’t too bad but they went away pretty quickly, or so it seemed. Most of my purchases are online anymore.

Not sure. HCT is usually a bit higher on their prices compared to the big online stores, though the gap is closing. I stop in there when I want to see something in person or buying minnows. I love the convenience but the owner changes brands on the shelves quite often or just doesn’t carry what I might be wanting. Was great before he added all the hunting & guns but happy he’s doing well. Lots of outdoor stores & bait shops in this area have closed over the years. I miss Galyans the most - but might have been before your time here.

@FrnkNsteen Looks like they have those rods at Honey Creek Tackle which is about 10 minutes away from me. I might check them out sometime. I’m ~20 minutes from Mooresville.

I don’t fish them often, something I plan to address this year. However, the Bait Monkey Financial Advisors, being the vigilant group they are, have forced recommended I have some Owner Flashy Swimmers (both willow & Colorado) along with Picasso Smart Mouth swimbait jig heads, of which lighter heads can be used on A-rigs as well. I like these because they’re offered in weights from 1/16 to 3/8oz & hook sizes 3/0 to 5/0 for each weight, and with either a 90° Gamakatsu or 30° Mustad hook.

I see lots of birds of prey around here. Bald eagles, a few different kinds of hawks, merlins and kestrels sitting along power lines when driving through the countryside. Most of the hawks around the neighborhood seem to target other birds, even with all the squirrels & rabbits around. I was out back mowing during the fall a couple of years back & noticed what appeared at first to be cottonwood seeds blowing around, but I was fairly certain it was the wrong time of year for that to be occurring. It eventually bugged me enough to take a closer look & it ended up being down feathers coming from one of our trees. I looked around & found this guy up in our silver maple just tearing into a bird. After a minute or so it noticed me & turned to get a look at me. Due to markings on the chest, I think it’s immature & either a Cooper’s or sharp-shinned hawk.

https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=chiweenie 😎