CybrSlydr

That may be, but it also gets stupid hot the further south you go. I'd rather avoid heat than cold! lol

Ran into something I hadn't considered on Saturday - a frozen lake. I'd figured it'd be ok since it had flowing water and it'd been cold for a few days rather than an extended period of time. This is the first winter I've gone through as an angler in this area. Aside from taking an extended trip south and out of state, is there anywhere in this part of Ohio that remains fishable throughout the winter? I'm figuring no until the ice is thick enough you can drill it and ice fish.

Lol. Alaska seems quite nice - they also have salmon among others.

Three and a half... lol If only it wasn't as long as it sounded! I'm torn, I tell ya - between loving cold weather and hating heat and wanting to fish year-round. I think Alaska is where I'll eventually end up - maybe somewhere in Wyoming.

Today, the high was in the 50s. I thought to myself, "This might be the last chance I get to go fishing this year - screw it, after the Manchester United game is over (2-0 over West Brom! GGMU!) I'm going to take a trip up to where @740anglerlikes and see what it's all about. So I grabbed my new phone and some new line (bought some 8lb Nanofil 150yd [expensive!!!]) and headed out. GPS gave me a few routes, I chose to take a slightly less familiar route - it cuts through the AEP ReCreation Lands that I frequent but I've never gone farther north than it. Everything is fine until it tells me to turn off on this gravel road - at first it's ok, but after a few corners... There it is. A single, solid glare of wet ice. When I came to a stop, the car slid forward 6ft. Yikes. Eventually, I got turned around despite myself and chose to keep going north on the main road. Unfortunately, at some point you have to take what used to be a dirt road because that's what gets you to the lake. All told, I had to drive about 3 miles of gravel roads that were almost all wet ice. Thankfully, I know to drive slow and keep the revs low and light on the brakes so I managed to make it to the lake with no incidents. Then things went from bad to worse. Yeah, it's been cold the past few days to maybe a week, but this place has flowing water and it was warm today so I figured I'd be in the clear. Nope. Whole lake is frozen over with about an inch or so of ice. So, I drove 45ish min for nothing. lol Oh well, we live and learn I guess. Maybe it is time for me to hang it up for the year.

What's the difference between a spotted and LMB?

I thought it looked different - well done and thank you! Looks nice!

I really want to make this and bring my brother along. I might be able to swing the finances, but we'll have to see. (car is currently in the shop and I'm about 50% of the way towards paying off the $2k in work it needs...) Seriously considering arriving Friday morning/afternoon and leaving sunday night. Doesn't leave a whole lot of time for fishing, especially when we're looking at $375 for the cabin and $80 for licenses for my brother and I. Hmm...

I bought the 4000 because I figured it had room to grow if I should ever choose to chase something bigger than bass - and it was a similar price to the smaller ones. I typically throw 1/4-5/8oz lures - ned rig jigs are 1/10oz + baits. Since I'm a bank beater, casting distance is of utmost importance.

I'm currently using Trilene XT in #10/#12. Would I notice a positive difference in casting distance/feel? EDIT: This is a spinning setup, not casting.

So which would you folks recommend for a MH 6'6" rod, 4000-series Penn Battle 2 for bass fishing? Cranks/jigs?

The one in my picture might be a lot cheaper - it was destroyed in an IED. Later was told by the armorer who assessed it that the bolt was jammed into the chamber and couldn't be knocked out with a 16lb hammer. Barrel was also bent at rather severe angle and various bits had been destroyed (bipod, grip, etc).

lol Ouch - apply cold water to burn!

Yeah, we've read that Dillon is good for Catfish, not so much for bass. We've not made it over to Dillon Falls/Blue Rock - most of our excursions have been towards Athens and further South/South West. My brother and I are bank beaters as well - we just started fishing back in Late July/Early August. Still learning the ropes and pretty terrible at it. I've caught four LMB and one catfish (on a bomber crank none-the-less) while my brother still hasn't caught a thing. We're quite anxious for Winter to roll over and turn into spring now!

Hey, another from the 740! Nice to see you! I've been up to AEP's ReCreation lands numerous times. Haven't made it to Dillon yet, but we've hit up Wolf Run, Tycoon Lake, Dow Lake, etc. I've posted quite a few fishing reports in the Reports forum about the various locations my brother and I have hit up. What parts around here are you from? If Dillon is closest, I assume you're around Zanesville.

You poor man, at my tiniest when I was in the Army and had the vaunted "deployment body", I was still 211lbs. lol Right now I'm about 265.

My brother and I are currently wondering how cold is too cold to fish. Hasn't really dipped below freezing here yet (couple nights, about it) or hit that winter chill so... My days off work I'm sitting at home thinking... "Man, I want to go fishing..." That said, most of my time is looking at new gear and reading articles/watching videos (I'm becoming a fan of Jon B on YouTube and 1Rod1Reel ).

I've been to that one a few times - mostly looking for ammo since we were passing through (family in Pittsburgh and they have a Primanti Bros in Wheeling!).

As a moderator for another forum, I'm familiar with the use of the search feature and the desire to resurrect threads rather than start another.

Holy Jesus - that Boga scale is $125!!! That's almost what I spent on my rod/reel!

Aye, not really thinking about when landing, but after you've landed them and are handling them. I know from reading that less handling is best but was curious about what the best way to keep from harming them. So far, my bass have been tiny and I've only held them vertically as single-handed horizontal looks painful. Appreciate the input everyone!

Obviously not a problem I've had (haha) but got me curious after reading that 19lb NC bass. Is there a hard and fast rule or what?

Personally, I've not been at this long enough or consider myself experienced or "good" enough to purposely make catching fish difficult. You can see all my posts in the fishing report forums and 95% of them I came up empty. Once I can consistently go out and catch fish then perhaps - but for now, I just want to catch something and to make it purposely more difficult might just kill it for me entirely.

I assumed as much - I was mostly asking out of curiosity more than any actual concern. Thanks folks!

Was curious... I have a BlackOut spinning rod from No.*** and was wondering if temperature had much of an effect on the strength of a rod. Do you guys have a rule of thumb for if it's too cold for a rod? Also - how do you know if you're getting close to the breaking point of a rod? Is there an audible feedback or something before it gets to that point so you know to let off?