TnRiver46

Here's some pics from that camping trip, I bet @BassNJake might even know right where we were! Haha. The walleye was at lunchtime 30 ft down with a poor man's Shakey head

Some stretches are, some stretches aren't . A couple years ago in the middle of summer we were camping on an island in Norris lake (very bass boat friendly) and accidentally stumbled upon an awesome top water smallmouth bite every morning. It only lasted 2-3 hours but they would come up 20 feet to hit a spook

The lakes you mentioned will Be crowded after lunch time with pleasure boats and crowded with fishermen at all times. Chickamauga and ky lake would be good for ledge fishing in summer, granted some big fish will haunt the shallows all year. Dale hollow and priest are smallmouth factories, most guys would drag big jigs around all night in August and skip daytime fishing. They catch some monster brown bass by the moonlight. As far as my neck of the woods, there’s a lot of shallow water rivers. That’s the topwater smallmouth fishing I was referring to in my last post. Tailwaters as well as free stone streams, you can catch big smallmouth at noon with topwater when it’s 95 degree air temp. In fact sometimes they don’t hit it until midday. Guys that are handy with a fly rod can really catch some big ones other subtle topwater bugs this time of year also

It’s looking like my southern Alabama trip is going to be a little warm this year Maybe the 1mph breeze and only 93% humidity will make it better........ we are tent camping too haha

It’s a lot easier to skip a dock with a spinning reel as well. I always have two spinning rods (and countless round baitcasters haha. I love those things.....)

That’s a really good time of year for ultra shallow topwater smallmouth in my neck of the woods

No problem, except for get in the right lane !!!

I don’t much care for going fast, it’s kind of the reason I’ve only ever fished one bass tournament. I used to like going fast on backroads but apparently pickup trucks aren’t too nimble and a few trees and guardrails later I don’t do that anymore. I’ve also never been on a roller coaster and don’t care for airplanes, I’m a big wimp. Plus I’ve hit plenty of floating and submerged stuff at 25 mph and went through some lower units and props. I’m following Jacob wheelers YouTube channel for the BPT this year and he has been through at least 3 lowers

She will forget quickly thanks to the concussion

Sometimes retrieving your lure from a different angle will trigger a strike where you couldnt previously elicit one.

Reading that post was like looking in the mirror! Keep on fishing how you like to fish!

That's a largemouth

Hopefully you get to feeling better day after day. I’ve had some spasms lock me up once or twice but not that bad. Once I was pumping gas, got some strange looks laying down on the petrol soaked concrete. Another was getting out of bed, I just couldn’t put my feet on the ground no matter how I tried. Both instances occurred when I was renting a log cabin with no heat so I was trying to be He-man on fire wood all the time. HVAC and a foam roller have all but eliminated my spasms

I love the smell of na palm in the morning.......

Plastic worm

I’ve cut open bass full of eggs in June in south Alabama where there’s alligators

Only one way to find out ....... ive never experienced a cold front in the summer

People certainly scare fish and make them nervous..... but they still have to eat. If you make it to a place full of smallmouth where nobody fishes, it’s usually like taking candy from a baby. Then again you can still catch them in a crowd, sometimes very well if you figure out the the magic that particular day

I guess my invite to the pork cook out got lost in the mail??

Sunscreen also helps cover up sweaty fisherman odor if you go out to eat on the way home from the water.........

Ive been known to do that about midnight when I realized we had no bread

I fail to remember and am reminded every year in the late spring that it requires more carbs to climb up and down ladders the hotter it gets outside. I was climbing at the rate of a sloth by 4:30 the other day. Got home and ate supper, all better. Eating a hot meal with sweat dripping off your nose is not always fun but sometimes necessary

That all depends on how much cash you've got! I prefer trying to figure it out myself, which is ironic since I'm a part time fly guide. I'm suppose I'm more of a fly casting instructor . Guides will teach you a ton and shorten the learning curve. Then again some of us enjoy the learning curve part

I started working at a fancy resort as a fly fishing guide in ‘07. This was the first time I ever heard of a “fishing shirt.” I thought there were only t shirts and church shirts. I have to wear them to work up there and I absolutely can’t stand them. Long sleeve button down shirts made out of paper towels is not what I want to fish in. If I’m going fishing after work up there, I take off my “fishing shirt” and put on a cotton t shirt. Cotton has gotten a bad wrap in the outdoor industry but it’s still a multi billion dollar product and I love it. It breathes waaaaaay better than any of that new crap. The answer to the OPs question on why fishing apparel changed is simple: MONEY. If they convince you that you need a $30 shirt to fish in, they win.

Hahahaha! That got me pretty good, I laughed out loud when I read that one.