NYWayfarer

I have seen aquarium fish (Bass, Oscars, Groupers) grab a fish in their mouth head first, sideways or tail and hold it. They wait for awhile and then spit it out to reposition and then take it all in head first. This makes sense as when I grab a Gill I run my hand along its head back to its tail to brush the spines down. I very rarely if ever get spined with this technique. Fish seem to naturally know when a fish is larger than bite sized to take it head first.

http:// http:// The air temps in my area have been in the mid to high 30's overnight a few times this week. Tonight the temps going bottom out at a record breaking 18 degrees overnight. Then a rebound by the end of the weekend. I won't be going out tomorrow morning but Sunday looks promising. As you can see above the fish are feeding in my river. 36 degree air temps that morning at sunrise. I saw the Smallies chasing baitfish all the way to shore. I was quite the sight. They were jumping to get away from the Bass. I tied on a Storm 360GT 1/8oz swimbait in Houdini. I can only imaging I would have done way better with a live shiner.

I have some of their Clout Worms, Divine Swimbait and the Divine Shaky Worm. Great looking baits and colors, unfortunately I haven't caught anything on them. I used their squarebill and lipless (Quake) with success.

I have wanted to try them to see how far they really cast. For now I use cheap Comal Tackle weighted floats from Walmart. They help me launch a #4 Aberdeen hook with a live worm and a small split shot rig. A little over a buck for 3 floats. I have gone through a few packs. Some of the trees at my local river bank fishing spots look like Christmas trees with the floats hanging on them.

It’s three lines below your avatar picture <—————— on your left.

I have a few set-ups for the ned rig. The one I use the most is a 6'6" Medium Fast St Croix Triumph rod paired with a Lew's Speed Spin HS20 reel spooled with 8# Vicious clear blue fluorescent mono (same diameter as most 6# line) I use the 1/10oz Z-Man Shroomz jighead and the Z-Man finesse TRD in green pumpkin. I like the heavier pole when fishing the bank. It is not uncommon for me to catch 4 pound Channel Cats and 20" Pickerel while using the ned. The medium action rod gives me the confidence I need to fight these larger fish. I watch my line the fluorescent helps see it. When I am not straight retrieving the bait, I keep the least amount of slack that I can when the bait hits the bottom. I find that I am able to feel a small bump when fish take the bait this way. There are and will always be times when the fish take the bait and you don't feel it until you move it. At that point I do a sweeping hookset. With the hook already being exposed that's all you need to do.

In my experience the bait became deformed in the middle where the O-ring rested. It could have been too tight and that’s what caused it.

I watched both vids tonight while enjoying one or more adult beverages. Awesome trip and videos. Big TRD as a jig trailer...got it. Sorry you missed that big fish on October 18th, my birthday. I was hoping you landed your PB of the trip that day. It was my birthday and I could live vicariously through you. Great footage though, right outta the net. Big Fish Jeff was doing great camera work. Sun at the back no bueno! I would love to take a trip there sometime. Thinking about taking my son when he graduates.

I am on an iPhone and there is no “choose files” option at the bottom of my text box. This has been an ongoing issue that I have yet to figure out how to resolve. To answer the OP question I upload my pics to a third party website and use the attach links at the top of the text box. I copy and paste the URL link of my pic in box that comes up.

Spilled soup? Any party I would have gon to it would have been a beer that would have spilled.

I have fished the Ocho, 5”, 4” and the Ocho Ned worm. The 4” is one of my favorite baits for pond Largemouth. They are best wacky rigged and I still use O-rings so they don’t get shaken off the hook. Just don’t leave the o-rings on to long as they react with the plastic in the worm. They have the coffee and salt scent that Strike King uses. I am fond of that scent. The Ocho is in my top 5 stick baits along with GYBC Senkos, Yum Dingers, Berkley Maxscent the General and BPS Stik-O The Ocho Ned is thicker than your average Ned Worm. I have yet to catch a fish on it.

I have the $100 Lew’s LFS. It has magnetic brakes only unlike your Crush, which has dual brakes. I like my LFS better than my Crush. The aluminum frame makes a big difference to me. My Crush casts well but it is graphite and not a great quality graphite at that. When it comes to Lew’s baitcasters I will not buy another graphite framed reel from them. Their aluminum reels are much better quality. My tournament MB just finished it’s third season of fishing, it is always in my rotation. It still casts like the day I bought it with minimum care. Please note my LFS is an older model. The newer ones come with the extra bearing to support the pinion. The Crush does not have this bearing.

Kastking Superpower braid. I have used it for three seasons and have had no issues. I like green or gray colors

If you can’t get the Lew’s KVD baitcaster try the Lew’s Tournament MP. It’s basically the same reel with a different paint job and knobs.

I have a pond in my area that I love fishing. Every year its the first place I can start to catch fish in late March Early April. It is also the first place to shut down when the temps start to dip into the 30’s at night. What I did a couple of years ago is take my Vexilar T-Pod castable sonar device and used it to map the bottom. I found a deep spot, about 15 feet near the middle. That seems to be where the fish hang out in the late fall early winter. It’s boring but in colder weather I can usually catch a Bass or Bullhead by deadsticking a bait in that spot. I have had to get creative with getting a weightless stickbait out that far.

They have an isle with fishing related signs and Knick-knacks. I discovered it while my wife was in there getting he craft supplies.

My last three fishing sessions at the river have produced at least one quality Smallmouth catch. I caught this 16” Smallmouth today. With its fat belly I am surprised it didn’t weigh more. http:// http:// http://

I have absolutely caught the same fish this fall. I weighed it and it was the exact same weight as a fish I caught 3 days prior. I caught it less than half a mile away from the spot I caught it thE first time. Pic revealed it had a distinctive mark in the same spot behind it’s fin. First time caught http:// http:// Second time caught http:// http://

I am glad you are looking at St Croix. Don’t overlook the new for 2021 St Croix Triumph. At $99.99 I picked one up recently. It’s my third Triumph rod that’s how much I like them. Perfect blend of high quality and relatively low price.

Manually. I had to train myself to do this over a decade ago. Before that I used to love the Ka-chunk sound of the bail flipping closed by turning the handle. I close it manually now to save the bail spring and prevent any line twist from closing it by the handle.

I have caught Shellcrackers down in Florida http:// I don’t think we have Shellcracker, redear Sunfish in my area. We have plenty of Pumpkinseed. The lighting is better on this one so you can see the colors. http://

Sorry to hear that. When the temps drop like that I switch up to a straight Ned Rig instead of the tiny child rig. I want that exposed hook in those conditions. It worked this morning with air temps dropping to 48 degrees overnight. I caught a 2 pound Smallmouth.

Z-Man Finesse TRD, mushroom head neko weight, 1/0 worm hook. St Croix 6’6” Medium/Fast spinning rod Lew’s size SS30HS Speed Spin Berkley Big Game #8

Mine gives me some credit cause I buy different colors.

I wish you and your family the best. I hope your Dad pulls through soon.