TOXIC

20+ Years ago I was on a website called the Nitro and Tracker Owners Website (NTOWS). I owned a 929 CDC NITRO. On the same website there was a guy named Carlos Hathcock who also owned a NITRO and lived not too far away. I was guiding on Lake Anna and he was just really getting into bass fishing and I offered to take him and his son out to show him around the lake. Long story short, we became best friends and it wasn't long after I learned who he was and about his father the Marine sniper (White Feather). Carlos was just getting ready to muster out of the Corps (I went to his retirement ceremony at Quantico. Since then, I have been fortunate enough to shoot some of his fathers rifles and he has become one of my best friends. We just got back from our 15th year going to Michigan to fish smallmouth and we fish the Potomac together almost every weekend. Carlos lll has an unbelievable resume as a sniper as well as being the captain of the Marine Corps shooting team with many National titles under his belt. It is my honor and privilege to call him a friend.

I really noticed a difference when I was guiding with clients who were less experienced. The bigger hooks helped me tell them when they had a bite...?

A lot of hesitation is due to everyone trying to come out with something "new" at the expense of it really adding any value to catch rate. The old made to catch fishermen game. That doesn't mean that some of these new and innovative designs don't produce but it does explain the hesitation from tried and true producers.

Yes, the Gamakatsu EWG's are thin wire but I still cross their eyes with 6lb test unluess they take it close to the boat then it's more of a snap hookset. Because I use mono, there's more stretch and I have never broke off on a hookset because of the line size. On the Potomac I will go up to 8lb test because of the grass. I used to use 3.0 hooks but I have found that I have just as good of a hookup ratio with the 4.0 and reduced deep hooking with them. You'll feel the bite faster because of the larger profile of the hook bend hitting the fish's mouth. They'll suck a 3.0 straight down.

I fish weightless Senkos on 6lb test Texas Rigged with a 4.0 Gamakatsu EWG hook as my main presentation. No problem. Actually, it's my preferred setup.

I'm a month short of 61 and just got back from a solid 7 days on lake St Clair fishing from sun up to sun down. I had one day where the wind/waves were large enough that I cut my feet from bracing in my fishing shoes (Shimano Evairs). Other than some stiffness I wasn't in any real discomfort. I fished with a buddy that had a sit down chair on his back deck and just for giggles, I tried to fish sitting down. Just couldn't do it. Keep in mind I was a guide for 15 years and the only time I sat down in my boat all day was to occasionally eat lunch. I am a firm believer that fishing works different muscle groups from different angles than what most people are used to and are hard to replicate through workout routines. Stretching seems to be the best.

Yamamoto Sanshouo Salamander

Just had a friend in from Australia and he flew in with 8 rods packed in his suitcase. All were 4 piece rods. He is a high roller in tackle and he said they were fine.

Let me just add to get the biggest screen you can because when you start splitting screens, it gets really small really fast.

I'll wave if I see you. We will be all over the lake weather permitting. Renting a cottage on Harsens so we will be in the moot some but will venture over to the mile roads I'm sure. Gunmetal 2016 Ranger 520 with black poles. Will probably be in a group with another Black Ranger 521, a black ChampioN and an older Red/orange ChampioN. Possibly a Deep V Tracker tin rig as well.

I normally take an inch off one side and an inch and a 1/2 off the other. I don't really cut them short. The different lengths allow it to walk better. I do not cut the legs on popping frogs. They buck (for lack of a better term) better with longer legs. I am not really trying to walk them side to side as that would defeat the popping.

Will be there Sunday through Monday the 28th. It is what it is.....but it would be nice to know water conditions. ?

Yep. Look at the different sizes but they should thread right into the hook eye. Some use them on Senkos.

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/owner-twistlock-centering-pin-springs?hvarAID=shopping_googleproductextensions https://www.cabelas.com/product/Bullet-Weights-Screw-In-Weights/744548.uts?productVariantId=1598853&WT.tsrc=PPC&WT.mc_id=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=30033497&rid=20&ds_rl=1252079&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0PTXBRCGARIsAKNYfG3bDlqqFufgncHoCHdq6xBE_ksbJ3K3IiWE01j2zAyMP-1-bKXLocQaAtzlEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds Just to give equal time to BPS and Cabela's. ?

Fluke or more specifically, a Yamamoto DShad is what I would have thrown. Especially if I could see them. 2nd would bee a dropshot so that it was in their face for an extended period of time.

You can always add the screwlock to the hook you want. They sell them individually. I like them on the belly weighted Gammy hook. Personally, I like the non screw in for pitching/flipping because I use a screw in Bullet weight instead of pegging it.

Get it right...In your neck of the woods, they are called Fish Flies not the Fudgie name of Mayflies.?? I have been on St Clair when the Fish flies are like oil slicks on the water.

Totally depends on the weight of the boat. Even with foam pads I'd be afraid of denting the roof. Most of today's auto's seem like they are made out of recycled beer can aluminum. 2nd problem would be getting it up there without trashing the roof. After all, you can't just pick it up and set it straight down on the roof. 3rd problem, I'm OCD about my vehicles and would probably have a seizure before I could even attempt it. ?

Easy solution...Don't put Fluro on spinning reels. I don't. I just do not like how it behaves on a spinning setup.

Creek off the main lake. Every place where there was a cow path entering the water (where they came down to drink) I caught fish. Pattern held up all day and in different creeks as well. Dead banks until you got the the cow path.

Ahhhhhh Pike. Expert lure theifs and spinnerbait destroyers. ?

Excuse me if I am getting a little excited. For the last 15 years straight a buddy and I have made an annual trek to Lake St Clair from Virginia for a week of pure fishing hedonism. We, along with 5 other friends (some in MI and 1 other from VA this year) rent a cottage on Harsens Island and spend a week eating like Kings, partying like Rockstars (never on the boats), and fishing like fools. We have had 100 degree days, been snowed on, hailed on and outrun tornadoes. We have had days of 50mph sustained winds and we have had some magical days, actually a lot of magical days where we catch 75-100 fish each. We have caught tagged fish, eater walleye, 50inch musky, and smallmouth (our real target) up to 7lbs not to mention all of the other catches like Pike, White Bass and Goggle Eyes. I have got to meet KVD, Kim Stricker (Hook n Look program) and Zona more than once. We have caught them on just about every lure known to man and in pre-spawn, post spawn or on the beds but we ALWAYS catch them. We leave this Sunday and I am sooooo excited I can hardly take it. For those who are close to this gem of a lake, I envy you. We only get to experience it once a year but I guarantee you that will change when I retire. I will smoke 6 racks of ribs starting Thursday to go along with the 20lbs of crab legs and the grilled bacon wrapped Russian Boar that my buddies bring. I live for this trip. And as an added bonus we have a friend flying in from Australia this year to join us. I'm sure I'll have some great stories to report back with. I attached an article that was written about our trip a few years ago. Sadly one of our friends has passed and we have added to the group the the main "core" is still there.

Bass are opportunistic. Don't forget, they eat birds squirrels, snakes, turtles, baby ducks and just about anything they can get their mouth around. As for lure size.....I have a saying. Sometimes you just gotta throw them some groceries.

Are you ready for this story? When I was a young pup and showing off to some girls, I jumped up on a horse out in the field with no bridle halter or saddle and was galloping him back to the barn. Well, he decided he was going to go into the barn and there was really nothing I could do but duck (which was fine). The barn was constructed out of corrugated steel (like corn storage bins/silo's) and all would have been fine......except........on our way in, there was another horse coming out. The two collided and it threw my horse up against the unfinished steel doorway, cutting in behind my leg bone and severing my calf almost completely off. I pushed back off the horse and was hanging upside down by my impaled lag....until the tissue ripped and I fell to the ground where I could plainly see both my leg bones and my calf held on by a strip of skin. Long story short....all of that pain I could handle. It was when we got to the small town Doctor's office where I discovered what real pain was. I was laying on the table and he comes in and asked what happened. I told him the story and he informed me that he was going to have to clean the wound, which I understood. What I wasn't prepared for was him flopping my leg open and squirting Lux Dishwashing soap directly in my leg and scrubbing it with a brush. I prayed that I would pass out. I didn't. It hurt. Really Hurt. I actually bent the rails on the table from the pain. And to add insult to injury, I still got a staff infection in it and spent all summer in the hospital with a machine hooked up to my leg that circulated hot water through it to try and help with the infection. I was 1 week away from them taking my leg at the knee. Thanks be to God it finally cleared up in that final week. 2nd worst.....Migraine. Throw up, pass out migraines. Haven't had any more for a few years. Doctors gave me nitrous pills to put under my tongue when I felt one coming on. 3rd worst......Impacted tooth/dental. I had a Dentist give me a shot of Novocaine directly into the nerve of a tooth he could not deaden one time. Only once....never again.

It's all about perspective. First and foremost, there is no such thing as a bad day fishing. ? There are good days, better days and exceptional days.....but no bad days. Put that in your head and run with it. ?