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🤣 Boy this thread got off topic in a hurry. @Functional I like Jersey Mikes. And that Italian sub there is quite tasty to this ole untrained southern tongue of mine. 😂 But then, I’ve never had the pleasure of trying anything from something like a true New York style deli.

You nailed it. They can’t clear the roads before it melts and refreezes to ice. Then next day is impossible to drive. Our only hope is that sun comes out & warms/dries roads up enough to prevent the ice. Which happened this time, thankfully.

Those Nomads have my interest as well. Seen a few ads & watched couple videos. Let me know how they perform. Btw, think I have same exact kitchen countertops in my house. 😁

@TnRiver46 yep, I’m close too, live in MS just south of Memphis. I would say we def got 7-8”. Thankfully, most of it has melted & roads are good. @Jar11591 learn something new everyday. Did not know that fact about the Memphis pyramid.

Saw one of the local news outlets in Memphis posted this on Facebook recently. Shows the Bass Pro at The Pyramid during all the snow on Friday. Pretty cool shot. Supposedly we got around 7” of snow……… don’t laugh all you Yankees! 🤣 That’s a lot for us down here in the South. We don’t know how to drive in this stuff. 🥴

It was fun game to watch in person, especially when the U of Memphis fans started leaving in droves with 10 mins left. Hate we are favored against UK. We never seem to play them well. And State always seems to play the role of underdog much better than the favorite.

My wife’s sis & our bro in law have had 2 Teslas now. It’s crazy how fast they are. When he punches it, it’s a lil scary. And the self driving thing kinda freaks me out a little. 😳 They were here in early December and he let the Tesla self drive us into downtown Memphis for the Miss St vs Memphis game at the FedEx Forum. I was uneasy the whole time.

Berkeley Vanish for me as well. First fluorocarbon I ever tried. Pure junk but it was only thing available close by at Wal Mart. I had so many break offs & bird’s nests with that stuff. It’s a miracle I ever stuck with fluoro. But about 5 yrs later I finally settled on Seaguar InvizX - only fluoro I’ve used for 10+ yrs now. Oh yeah, and many yrs ago The Dance’s Eel. Never caught a single fish on that thing. 😂

@N Florida Mike One lure you might try is a Gambler Flappin’ Shad. It’s kinda a hybrid of a fluke style bait. Don’t know if you’ve ever tried em. You can cut a downward slit at an angle in the paddle tail and it’ll buzz kinda like the Zoom speed worms. They’re easy to keep on the surface and outta that slimy algae you mentioned. I call that stuff snot grass. 🤣 Hate fishing in it. Frustrating, especially when it gets really thick. 😬 https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Gambler_Flappn_Shad_Soft_Jerkbaits/descpage-GFS.html

Yep, Junebug works well for me in Spring when water is more stained. Early summer when water clears up, I do really well with Zoom’s watermelon magic color. But I’m in Mississippi. My understanding is Junebug is the deal in FL year round.

I fish 3-4 shallow weedy lakes, with bunch of lily pads too. I always fish topwater, usually Ribbit and Horny Toads swimming frogs. I added another to the rotation this past yr - the Zoom swimming frog that floats and made outta foam. You can pause it plus it’s a loud swimmer. Other good baits to use are weightless flukes & zoom ultra vibe speed worms. Love buzzing a speed worm over shallow grass. The magnum worms cast well and will slow sink in the gaps of grass & pads. Sometimes I’ll use a small 1/16 oz or 1/8 oz t rigged trick worm or magnum speed craw if grass is sparse enough. Wakebaits work great in sparse grass too & along weeds edges. Oh yeah, and as mentioned, weightless senko seems to always catch em. T rigged weightless doesn’t get hung too bad even in thick grass.

Had something similar happen to me about 15 yrs ago. Was fishing a very warm day in Feb. Bass were biting great as front was moving in later that afternoon. Had caught quite a few good ones in 5-7 lb range, then found an early spawner on a bank along the dam. Worked that fish for about an hr & couldn’t get it to bite. Stayed too long & looked up to see a huge, dark wall cloud moving in super fast. Threw the 30 lb thrust minn kota into high & had my jon boat going about as fast as it would go towards ramp about 100 yards away. Hit the bank just as storm was hitting me. I could hear pine trees snapping & debris off branches, pine cones & leaves blowing everywhere. Had split second to decide to run for a ditch over a small hill and ducked into a big rut in the fetal position. Lasted about 10 mins. When it was done, the smell of pine was so strong from all the broken pines trees. Scariest moment of my life. Turned out it was 100+ mph straight line winds. I was stranded too. Trees blocked my only exit. Had to wait to be rescued by a 4 wheeler about 5 hrs later. Left my truck and boat overnight til Forest services cleared gravel road the next day.

Well, here’s an update & some good news. I thought Academy had discontinued these wakebaits so I didn’t mention in my earlier posts. But maybe these were on hold until they had completed their house rebranding from “H2OXpress” to “H2OX”. Looks like these will be available soon. I’ve caught many fish over shallow grass with these wakebaits. They dive only about 6-8” max, loud rattles, cast well, and good quality stock hooks. 1/2 oz & 2.5” length which is spec originally posting was asking about. https://www.academy.com/p/h20x-wake-bait?sku=blue-gill

Really?!!! Well that’s unusual & refreshing to hear. Could be why their hard baits are above the normal quality of the house brands of other big chain retailers. How did you find this out?

🎉 HAPPY NEW YEAR! 🎉 Only 1 resolution. Fish more, work less! 😉

10-4. Might be the ticket for these 3 lakes we fish. Thanks.

So you’ve got 2 ninjas installed at once? Or do they make a dual bladed option?

I’m not sure anybody was under the impression that Academy makes their own crankbaits. Pretty sure it’s common knowledge that the big chain outdoors companies all farm out their lure making to 3rd parties and its branded under their “house brand” name. That being said I still like a bunch of the H2OX hard baits. Just as good or better quality as Strike King and a lot of other big name brands.

I’m right there with ya. Never caught a DD but love seeing the pics. My biggest 2 are a 9.12 and an 8.15. Mississippi is not known for its trophy bass waters. I think the one in my profile pic was 8.12.

I hate to hear “The Egg” is discontinued. It’s one of my fav inexpensive wake baits. I have 4-5 left in my hoarding area of lures. I just change the garbage stock trebles & these are fish catchers! I’m hoping they are just rebranding under what appears to be their new house brand “XPS” instead of the laser eye BPS brand. I don’t think Mann’s ever made The Egg for Bass Pro. The Egg has a different shape/mold design and slightly different action than the Baby 1 Minus. Speaking of which, Academy recently did same with their house rebranding going from “H2O Express” to “H2OX”. I just saw on their website Academy is about to re-release their wakebait under the “H2OX” brand. These are great baits too. I’m also big fan of the Academy house brand hard baits. They come with decent stock sharp VMC hooks that don’t require replacement. Like mentioned, I’ve only found a couple “duds” in their hard bait line up. Their magnum poppers are pretty good baits too. Also found the Magellan Outdoors fishing apparel to be decent quality too. I have quite a few of the hooded, long sleeves quick dry fishing shirts.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 🎄🎅🎄🤶

@Junger thanks for info. Yep, keeping the TM lower unit higher in water column helps overall even without the Ninja grass cutter. Still at times, gotta raise it & physically remove the slop & salad. But for around $30, I’m willing to give it a try. Thanks again.

Anybody ever use one of these Ninja Grass Blades on their trolling motor? This video shows it on a transom mount TM. Looks like it works really well. But wondering if it would work for a foot controlled TM as well. I’ve got a buddy that we fish some heavy, dense grass lakes. It’s a constant struggle with pulling up the TM to clear off salad. Doesn’t matter if it’s my lil Jon boat with my transom mount TM or his Bass Tracker with his foot controlled. Both trolling motors really get bogged down with grass. But it’s worth it. There’s also tons of bass in these lakes. 😁 Any experience & guidance would be appreciated. Video below. Thanks!

Talk about these got me intrigued & had the bait monkey knocking on my door. 🤣 But just saw the price tag. Wow, those are high dollar. I don’t mind occasionally snagging or losing an $8 wakebait, but I might have cardiac arrest if I lost one of these bad boys. 😂 These sure do look good tho.

Used to wonder the same a lot in my high school days. I grew up in Columbus, MS and we would fish the lock & dam there on the Tombigbee River a lot during late winter/early spring when the crappie were moving.