Bucky205

Put a good pair of binoculars in the boat. If you see them catching fish, see what they are doing. I've bass fished for over 40 years and I still do it.

I think the motor on my trolling motor is dead. It's a 2003 Motorguide Pro Series 12/24 that has served me well. We have a great trolling motor shop here and I should find out what it will cost to repair tomorrow. I am tempted to go ahead and replace it. If the repair is going to be over $500 I will definitely replace it. I have been looking at the Motorguide Xi5, and the Minn Kota Ulterra and love the idea of the GPS, wireless, and remote. With the boat being 15 years old, the more I read about the problems they are having with both the Xi5, and Ulterra, the more I think I will just put a cable controlled Motorguide X5 back on the boat. Any opinions or experiences with these trolling motors?

Pitching is no more than an underhand cast. The advantage is that pitching keeps the bait low and it lands softly. I don't know how far I pitch, probably 30' average, as range increases accuracy decreases. A lot of my pitching comes from having a target that's farther away than I can hit flipping and to close to cast. Pitching is also effective for getting under things. I hold the bait in my left hand and load the rod slightly when I pitch, this gives me an exact reference as to where my bait is at the start. If you backlash, your spool tension is probably loose. Find a kids hoola hoop and put it 25' away and pitch a 1/2 oz bait into it for a couple of hours. Pitching jigs and creature baits around grass and deep water docs is one of my favorite tactics in the summer.

Put a spool of 20lb braid and some hooks in your grab bag. You can use the braid for a number of things outside of fishing. You can even use it to stitch up a cut. Forget the rod and reel, a stick or cane pole will suffice.

I love the FG. When I first started using the FG I had trouble tying it. The secret to the FG is the right amount of tension on the braid. I couldn't keep the braid from slipping through my teeth half the time. I found a small soft plastic key ring somewhere that is easy to hold in my teeth, I connect the braid to the key ring and drop the rod in a rod holder. Problem solved, I can tie an FG while talking to someone.

Rapala DT6 in either shad or crawfish.

Talked to Mike Holley one of the Alabama Fisheries biologist and he agreed with @ScottDB. Either Epistylis or some type of bacterial infection that is harmless to humans. He stated that a lot of fish pick up abrasions and lose slime from being hoisted into the boat and flopping against the carpet The loss of slime makes them more susceptible to infections. I had never heard about hoisting them causing issues, I hoist almost everything I catch unless they are very large. He recommended grabbing the line after hoisting them aboard so the fish didn't flop and rub on the carpet, I am going to try and use that method if it's easier on the fish. Really nice guy, he spent almost an hour talking with me about our different reservoirs and what was going on with our fish.

Is this from the spawn, or some type of parasite?

Water here is pretty clear. In daylight I tend to use a white spinner bait with silver willow leaf blades for searching. I can throw it most places on the water without hanging it up. I'll fish it deep and jig it along, rip it along near the surface, bring it through the weeds, or throw it under a dock. I think I like it because it is so hard to hang up and bass will definitely hit it.

Most of us have come close or gone in. I always manage to land on my most expensive rod or reel.

I will pitch to a spot bounce it several times and move on.

As a guest I carry a small back pack that holds three Plano trays and has two side pockets. One box is nothing but spinner baits and buzz baits. Side pockets get plastics, hooks and weights. The other two depend on how were planning to fish. I also try to carry no more than three rods if fishing out of someone else's boat.

I keep seeing everyone in the TV tournaments using the colored floats to help them cull. I'm still sight culling and using an old culling beam. Am I missing out on something?

Back in the early 90s my patch came as part of a welcome package for new B.A.S.S. members. Many of us over 50 have one. LOL...Now I'm feeling old.

My grandfather got me started fishing with cane poles and crickets when I was young. I don't remember when I started bass fishing. I've chased bream, marlin, and even sharks. As long as something may bite the hook I'm willing to fish for it. Bass fishing has over time become my favorite. For whatever reason I find bass fishing the most challenging. IMO It is more difficult to catch a 10+ lb bass than a 500+ lb marlin

You could get a livewell timer from BPS for under $50. You run your power wire between the timer and whatever you wan't to cycle. You can set it to off, continuous, 1,3 or 7 minute cycles. Each on cycle last for 1 minute. I helped a friend do one and it works very well. You can use it on a 12V aerator, or to cycle your main pump. I would probably put it on an aerator. just so it was functional out of the water The frozen bottles really help as well. He and I crappie fish sometimes and I've seen him keep minnows in his livewell for several days.

This is high on my wish list, my balance makes it difficult to steer with foot control.

Halochef, sorry to hear she is having a tough time, I know it's hard on you as well. My wife didn't leave the hospital for 36 days when I was admitted last year. I know I would have a really hard time knowing she was struggling medically. Saying a prayer for your wife's recovery.

LOL, Spell check happens to me a lot also. There is a site on the web that show some spell check corrections that went horribly wrong. I'm jealous of where you live. I spent time in Jacksonville back in the 90s. Between the St Johns River, and Rodman Reservoir you have some of the best bass fishing in the US.

I have one. The transducer should come with it. For chips I like the Navionics.

If you want to go a little over $60, the BPS Carbonlite is a very good rod. BPS puts them on sale occasionally or apply for a BPS credit card and get the $20 off coupon, pay it off and close the account.

For under $50 I like the original Berkley Lightning Rods with the IM6 blank. You see them on sale all the time for $29.

As some of you have probably noticed I occasionally drop a letter from a word, or misspell something a 5th grader should know. LOL, "Winy Days", I did go to school, BS from UAB in Computer Science. Nineteen years of military service left me almost completely blind in my right eye, anything that requires vision is more difficult. Not complaining, happy to be on this side of the grass and still fishing. Crossed my mind that maybe sharing how we adapt and still participate may help someone else enjoy the sport with a similar disability. Mine is being blind in my right eye. Having one eye makes balance in a boat and depth perception when casting more difficult. Daylight is not so bad, night time is tough. One of the things I do at night is cast underhand (pitch). Pitching doesn't help me hang up any less, but when I do hang it's not fifteen feet up in a tree and I can get my lure back. Pitching at night I find to be more accurate for me, pitching a 1/2 oz bait I can pitch it far enough to be effective. Flipping also helps with the depth perception, on a 7 ft rod I can tell how far the bait is going to go by the line remaining in my left hand, then I only have to judge the left right. Balance at night I keep my butt on the seat. I still catch a few fish and have placed or won several local tournaments this year, so I'm still in the game. I think that there are a lot of people out there with disabilities that can still enjoy fishing. Maybe discussing how we overcome our own limitations can help someone else with a disability enjoy a great sport.

I'm retired military which leaves me a lot of time to fish, if I were only able to fish one or two days a week I would fish every day I could. Severe thunderstorms and hunting sometimes gets in the way of my fishing, but not much else.

I like the Navionics app on my phone. It is less than $10 and has 1' contour lines on most US lakes. The app works without cell or internet service as long as you have downloaded the lake your going to fish. Tke app will also act as a chartplotter to put the boat on top of the spot your targeting.