TnRiver46

I knew I liked you, this only confirms it

At least you’ll admit it!! Since I work with wildlife everyday, people always want the creatures to follow human patterns. “I see the skunk every night at 9:30 so that’s when you’ll catch it if you put the trap right there. Oh and put some cantaloupe in the trap, google says they like that.” It’s mildly infuriating to have someone who has never caught a skunk tell someone who has done it 40 hours a week for 15 years just how it’s done. the same thing applies to bass fishing. If I’m fishing a shallow cove in prespawn with a rattle trap, automatically I should catch a 12 lb bass because I read it in a magazine or on google. Creatures are unpredictable and most people refuse to admit it

That’s just on the upper end of my particular reservoir, and there is rarely a tournament competitor anywhere around. 15 miles downstream from my house the water is in the mid 80s and that’s where all the tournament traffic is. When they had the classic here in 2019, not a single competitor went upstream from Knoxville. Water on the upper end is in the 60s and 70s all summer, downstream it can get to 90. Apparently the places I fish suck if you want to fish a tournament haha another lake I fished two weekends ago was 66 degrees on the upper end. I drove downstream about 4 miles and it was 83. The water has to slow down in order to warm up and it doesn’t slow down until the mid portion of the lake most in most cases

Those doggone jacks will hit everything and then go bananas once hooked. I’ve never even caught a big one and thought I snagged a porpoise a few times. I’ve also heard the jack is good shark bait

Big worms are the “logical next step for you” -Tim meadows from the movie “walk hard”

“All bass” never do the exact same thing in the extremely overfished heavily stocked trout waters, a lot of fish spook before the fly lands. Then others will literally sit right next to your feet and never move. I poked one with the rod the other day and it didn’t move. The fish that won’t move even though you are right next to it is a fish that won’t bite on most occasions. I call it the “I dare you” posture and I always just leave that fish alone because he knows I’m there

That’s hilarious, I would have hollered to the lady that it was hot and I needed to swim, and that backpack was my new fold over your head style life jacket

He said over two but never said under 3……… it could be a riddle anyway you slice it, nice smallmouth(s)!

Even if it has been proven that the tournament weigh ins don’t effect the health of the bass population???? Just as it has been proved that cold water holds more oxygen than warm water, it has been proven that the weigh ins don’t effect fish populations I don’t really enjoy the weigh and immediate release format, it can’t be as accurate weighing on a handheld in a boat as scales on dry land

Good luck on the final day!!!

Love me some humid nasty hot weather, and some moderately cold weather too. (Nothing under 20 degrees please) I like being out on the boat when it’s “too hot” or “too cold” for everyone else

I’m a proponent of JB weld, I’ve got some at least 10 years and holding on my boat

I agree with you but still yet, a fish released has a better chance at surviving than one you eat, even if it’s a 1% chance of survival

Once or twice a week is a lot of fishing!!! Sounds like you’ve mastered the O ring method

There’s plenty of statistics out there. Some tournaments have almost zero percent mortality, some have over 75%. The ones where fish die a lot are typically in hot weather. All those competitors could legally eat the fish they catch and it wouldnt hurt your fishery at all

You buy 4 bags of senkos per year, I read earlier where someone said they buy 10 bags of zinkerz a year………. Myth busted !

If fish are eating bluegill, I would fish with a live bluegill! (Check regulations first )

Even my little $20 3 amp maintainer is a smart charger that won’t boil them over If you leave it plugged in

After reading more replies and trying to recall what I typically do (I fish a lot), I’m the opposite of most replies. When I come of plane and reach for one of my rods, I usually grab a flemsy spinning pole with 6 lb line and a little worm or tube. I want to say my thought process is get rid of the skunk and then swing for the fences but I usually catch the home run fish on the worm or tube and nothing with the swing for the fences lure

My gal LOVES them but she’s from Ohio so it checks out I’m with you although I’ve eaten 2, it was pretty plain and the only significant amount of meat was on the upper part of the hind legs

Shew!!!! Hahahaha. That bowl of popcorn would be smeared in brown mud @J Francho, I think my boss bought some cat food yesterday so I won’t have to use my lunch for bait today actually the sunflower seed we keep for squirrel bait but we get almost zero squirrel jobs until it cools off . Then we deal with them Non stop all winter long

This sounds like something a fish wizard would do

Well that depends on if they are tap dancing or standing still

Well that’s wild, usually trebles are the easiest hooks for a fish to throw. Keep after it, you’ll get her again. I never even get them to eat a spinnerbait so you’re ahead of me!!

I’ve only used CXX in 6 and 8 lb, and it would cast across the river into the top of a tree. I bought moss green and couldn’t really see it, but it performed well. I would get a different color if I ever bought it again, I think I also recall it cutting through my hand before I could break it with the 8 lb