TOXIC

It just so happens we were fishing a power plant lake yesterday and noticed there was a small tournament going on. We were in a cove with some docks and a feeder stream in the back. As we started into the cove, fishing from the outside, a tournament boat came roaring in the cove, driver jumped on the front deck and dropped the trolling motor in front of the docks, made a dozen back to back casts with a spinnerbait, stowed the TM, and roared out of the cove. We proceeded to the docks, made about 4 casts with Ned rigs and put what would be 2 good keepers in the boat for this lake. We also caught a few more smaller fish but as I said, we were just fun fishing. That’s why I gravitate to finesse.

I was always impressed with the ride of my 2016 1/2 ton Silverado. Put 60,000 miles on the factory tires and a fair amount of towing. Just to be safe I was going to replace them this year. When I pulled up the stats on the factory tire I found out Chevrolet puts PASSENGER tires on their 1/2 ton trucks. ?. I replaced with Michelin light truck tires and although I feel much better about towing, my truck now rides like a truck.?

Here is his display.

Nice feature on my buddies 2019 Silverado is when he ordered it with the trailering package, he got 4 extra tire monitors to go on his boat trailer. They show pressure and temperature right on the display screen in the truck.

Just got back from Okeechobee and we had all 4 seasons plus some in the week we were there. Hot, cold, bluebird, cloudy, rain, wind….lotsa wind…..and flat calm. We didn’t know if we were coming or going. You know it’s bad when the shiner guides are blanking. At least we caught a few and got sunburn and windburn when we weren’t in our gortex gear.

Not saying it doesn’t happen but I have never seen a bite go from finesse to power. I will fish more power based baits if that’s what the fish want and by that I mean crankbaits and a few larger baits but I most often fish finesse because that is where the numbers are for me.

I hear you. When our last one went I was a mess. This time it’s my wife. As a dog owner all my life, you “know” when it’s time. I was totally at peace with it and I really think he knew as well. He was ready. He was 14 years old and for a big dog, that’s a long life.

Loading up and leaving for Okeechobee tomorrow but as fate would have it, we had to put our dog down last night. I am not sad. It was done here at home and he went very peacefully. He was the most you could ask for in a dog. He has been slowly failing over the last few months. He is our second Weimaraner and both have been fantastic dogs. The first was really my dog and he bonded 100% with me. This dog I got for my wife for when I was traveling and out of town a lot. Through his training, I made sure he bonded with her first. He was 120 pounds of protection for my wife and house. He did his job well and was also a very loving pet to my daughter who basically grew up with him. The house seemed a little empty this morning having my coffee and him not laying at my feet. Rest In Peace Cobey.

Probably less durable. Reason I say that is that even though I don’t fish the Super Fluke, the DShad is made out of the same formula as a Senko. Also my choice of rigging on a 4.0 EWG hook leaves very little of the bait just behind the hook eye where the offset shank is. I have bitten the end off and re-rigged the bait when the bite is fast and furious and the fish are not being picky. You don’t want to make the mistake of putting too much bait forward of the hook or your line will cut the bait and it will rip when you retrieve it.

Vertical drop Cast and retrieve Dragging drift fishing

Thanks for the tips. We will be hitting it hard and will for sure report on our success or lack there of.?

This is a good guide for most anywhere the water gets cold enough to freeze or close to it. Moon phase and the dogwood trees have something to do with it ? but water temps can over rule most everything.

A few of us are leaving Thursday for Okeechobee. It’s been cold. Warming trend predicted for the next couple of weeks should help the fishing. Can’t help you much on spots or bait since we haven’t got there and we will be fishing the main lake. 3 days on the north end and 4 days on the south end. Good luck to the both of us. ?

I heard from a client who had a bunch of high end fishing gear stolen that his insurance company required an original purchase receipt before they would cover at any more than an underwriter assigned value.

It is a total mystery to me why in all the years the Senko has been produced, that someone hasn’t reverse engineered this simple stick bait. Everyone knows my association with the company and as part of my duties as a staffer, I was always tasked to try other brands and report back on anything that performed as good or better. I’ve been doing that for over 15 years and although I’ve found some close, I’ve not found any that matched the original. That includes not only fishing them where there are thousands of variables that make a direct comparison almost impossible, but tank/pool comparisons and rigging options. Kudos for making a more affordable bait more effective but is it really after you add in the cost of specialized hooks and weights? As has been mentioned, once you add weight to any Senko style bait, brand no longer really matters. The Senko shines brightest weightless or wacky rigged. And you’ll never settle the debate on whether or not the Senko is worth the price. My advice has always been to throw whatever you have the most confidence in.

Not downplaying the comfort level of heat added garments but I prefer to condition my body somewhat to the season. I have found that if I use artificial means (hand warmers, electric socks, electric vests, etc.) I have a harder time in the more mild temps as well. I prefer to layer with the proper clothing enough to be “reasonably” warm. I never want to sweat in colder months because of my clothing so I stay on the chilly side. The point was driven home when I came home from 2 years living in Florida back to Virginia, and I could not get my body used to the difference in climate. I was ALWAYS cold and the first winter was brutal even though it wasn’t that cold. I finally adjusted and it opened my eyes to how the body reacts naturally.

All of my cranks are SPRO. There’s a lot of different versions of the Little John. Originally known as a cold water killer, they are good at all times of the year. Just remember that the original Little John needs to be slow cranked. It’s not a normal speed crank.?

Are you trying to tell me that y’all don’t know about the “review” marketing game? Fer cryin out loud fellas there’s marketing companies out there PAID to do nothing but create reviews both positive and negative.

That’s why I stay with one type of line. I have had spools of line that was either old or UV contaminated. I occasionally spool fluro on a baitcaster but as long as I can still catch fish like this on a Ned rig and 6lb test mono, I see no need to change.?

I liked them in the guide service because inexperienced clients were always stepping on rods when they were fighting a fish. The recoil guides had no inserts to break out.

Yep. I throw a Texas rigged DShad instead of a frog. I may have to go get them if it’s really thick but the hookup ratio is a lot better and there’s the added advantage of letting it fall in between the mats in open holes.

Being on pro staff for BPS for 15 years, I used a lot and I mean a lot of their gear. With the guide service, I put it through the ringer. Granted, I used mostly all JLM Signature gear but had my favorites in all of their price points. It’s good gear for the price. When not using the JLM gear, I preferred another company owned by BPS, Browning. I had a lot of Midas and Citori gear and as a matter of fact still have some today spooled up and going to Florida with me next week. Gotta be 10 years old. I really liked the Wide Spool Technology reels.

Lunch.

Funny story, my wife wanted a garden when we moved to Massachusetts where we had 5 acres of land in an area that was in small mountains. She went home to visit her mother in Kansas City and I thought I would be a good husband and dig her a small plot about 50:feet square. I quickly found out that you couldn’t turn a shovel of dirt without hitting a rock. I labored for 2 days and made little headway when my neighbor, whom I’d never met stopped by and asked me what I was doing, with a chuckle in his voice. He kindly offered to come by with his tractor and till it for me. We got it done, he busted the blade on his single plow (he owned a metal fabrication shop so no problem) and after he was done, the bed was 3 feet lower than the surrounding ground, I had enough rock to build a wall half way around the garden and I had about 4 inches of soil before the next layer of rock. Come to find out my neighbor had a big garden that he had tons of topsoil trucked in by dump truck. We were able to raise some cold weather plants like egg plant, broccoli and some herbs/lettuce but that was about it. My neighbor was so impressed by my determination that weekly we would find a big crate of veggies, squash, tomatoes or whatever was ready that was dropped off by my neighbor. We became good friends.

When I lived in Iowa, I had a 2 acre garden, a 40 tree orchard of different fruits, with a ground crop of asparagus under it and grape vines. Went to the sale barn and bought cows and hogs and took them to the local butcher. About the only thing we had to go to the grocery store for was spices, dairy and things like flour. We canned and put up vegetables and fruit. Had a root cellar. Simpler times. Food was fantastic.