the reel ess

That stinks. But when our hobby is dragging bass out of their habitat by a hook in the mouth there's going to be some carnage.

One of those Quantum spinning reels with the trigger bail flip. It came off and the bail was out of balance forever. I was broke at the time so I just made it my crappie combo. I also had a heavy Quantum BC 6'0" pistol grip rod. It was too stiff to cast one handed, but you couldn't get another hand on it. If you looked down the blank you could see it was not very straight. It got little use and eventually I gave it away.

I dug up some boxwoods in the front yard this afternoon and drank at least 2 liters of water. Sweated most of it out/ I was talking about that with the wife the other day. She said "Remember when you were a kid? You never thought about hydration. Now we get cramps when we aren't even dehydrated."

Put a craw or even a lizard on and throw it around deeper structure. When I was learning to jig fish I used a plain weedless jighead and Rage Craws. It will get more bites on average than the skirted jig and trailer.

The Rage Craw will also do the job.

Yeah the only place I get bites on a frog are depths where a bass on the bottom could detect a surface lure. I fished a very shallow pond last summer. It's in a nature preserve with no less than 6 old ponds in a chain so I was able to be alone. The place looked like a frog fishing postcard. I couldn't buy a bite on it. I ended up getting all my bites on a weightless stick worm. Sometimes they simply will not go for the topwater but they're still there.

My sister and I were latchkey kids as well. The best deal in all of fishing. I keep a spool in my bag and it has saved my trip before after a terrible birdnest.

The "chainiest" pizza restaurant we eat at is Ledo in Rock Hill, SC. It's thin rectangular pizza. It's a chain that originated in MD and my wife is from there. But this one is so far from any other Ledo that it's like a mom/pop operation. There is never a big crowd and they have the usual local drinkers. It feels like home. Alas, we're dieting and there's no way to go there and not gorge on the pizza. I would prefer one serving size slice. I like those cheap frozen Totino's pizza in classic pepperoni. They get so crispy. And one is a good serving without really going overboard.

And it occurs to me I could wear the hoodie with a wide brim hat over it .

I have both. But sometimes the hoodie still doesn't cover your face.

We have yet to hit 90 in upper-central SC, which is pretty unusual. I went on vacation in Florida last week. It was 90 with a feels like of 100+ all week. Came home Monday and it's been at least drizzling rain since. I dare say our bass are not in their summer pattern(s) yet.

Yeah, I'm at the point where a piece of white toast tastes decadent. LOL. We (the wife and I) have a cheat meal once a week or every two weeks if she has not lots enough weight. She weighs in at WW every Friday morning. When the weigh in is good we're rewarded with a cheat. I'm OK with not eating out much. It's getting ridiculously expensive to eat unhealthy.

And if there's anything vertical there to run the bait into like dock pilings, do that. I admit I don't use the buzzbait nearly enough. It catches bigger bass. Since the WP came out it has taken up a lot of my buzzbait time.

My family thought I had lost my mind last week when I went to the hotel gym while on vacation. This room had it all. I told them they could get me all that stuff next birthday. LOL.

My balance has a head start on being bad

Yeah, cardio machines feel like walking or biking to nowhere. I don't have a good enough imagination to just mentally check out until it's over.

Likewise. I started drinking my coffee black while I was trying intermittent fasting (which works, BTW) and never changed. It's water the rest of the day. Cakes, deserts, baked goods, etc. are off the menu except on very rare occasions like high holidays or vacation. When I do have something like a desert in a restaurant it literally gives me a buzz. I limit bread to whole grain and one slice a day and try to get my carbs from fruits and veggies. Low carb is not a great idea if you have to work out. But there are good and bad carbs. Limiting empty calories is the goal.

I'm not without my aches. Shoulder issues are most common with the middle aged people I talk to at the gym. Hip and knee issues come later. Why do you say walking is good but treadmills aren't? Concrete hurts my feet, knees and hips more than the treadmill does. We're doing a boot camp style class 3X a week and I try to do weight lifting twice so I've mostly stopped walking for exercise. Walking is great. I've put many miles on my sneakers, but it does very little for strength anywhere except the legs. It does nothing for arms or core.

I'm almost 53. The wife and I joined a gym about 2 months ago and I'm getting in my best shape maybe ever. The wife does Weight Watchers and I just eat what she cooks. I was able to get off my BP med and lower my statin dose. My goal is to eventually get off that one. The only downer is gym time is taking up my free fishing time. I'm curious what others are doing in their middle age to stay or get in better health.

Is there a seafood restaurant dumpster outside?

Hey Bill! Welcome from Kershaw, SC. My aunt lives in Elgin. Those clemson extension bass lakes are near you. Just a thought.

I caught my PB on a black/blue Yum Dinger.

You mean another brand? Zoom's website only shows bubble gum for Trick Worms and flukes, both of which work quite well. https://zoombait.com/colors/bubble-gum/

Bubble gum, lime. I catch a lot of fish on Trick Worms in these colors, more than I do in more traditional colors. But they don't exist in Zoom's smaller 4" Finesse Worm.

It's a fishing rod, not a piece of furniture. It never even occurred to me to leave plastic on.