TOXIC

Mornings are in the mid 30’s warming up to the mid 50’s. Normally I peel off layers as the day warms up but Sunday, we had a stiff NW wind and I never felt the need. @Choporoz aside from the Temu baits, most of the blades are all in that price range. Especially those that give you holographic or painted sides. I was actually throwing some from the “Glow” series that are supposed to glow in the dark. As with Yamamoto, I’m not afraid of a premium price tag for a bait I feel is worth it. But once again, I am vertically jigging and rarely lose any. Your mileage may vary. 😎

I have to give a shout out to a product line acquired by GSM Outdoors. Most know me as a hard core Yamamoto Baits plastics fisherman. My first choice for picking off bass in deep water was a dropshot fished vertically. My blade game was pretty weak but decided to really give it a shot with SteelShad Lures line of blades. Other than way too many options to choose from, here is my impression. First, we mainly vertical jig and the most annoying aspect of some blade baits is that they foul the front or back hook. When fishing 35 feet plus, it’s a real pain to reel up to free a fouled hook. The SteelShad blades rarely foul. Second, they have a totally different vibration and flash. Third, the stock hooks are wicked sharp, keep fish pinned and finally, there are options that are for all water conditions. These are not your old style of blades. If you are a dedicated blade fisherman or just wanting to try a new technique, go to their website and check them out. Just to be clear, I have a Plano box full of blades and spoons of all different manufacturers. On this very day my fishing partner wanted to try the SteelShad side by side with one of our old favorites the Damiki Shad Vault. It was no contest. We don’t normally fish blades until the water gets 50 degrees or below but on Sunday, we found them schooled up in deep water along with catfish and white perch in water that was mid 60’s. We had a 50 fish day easily. I’m still learning the blade game and have yet to master casting them but vertical jigging is a blast. We caught a slew of walleye in the St Clair River on our trip to Michigan last May on blades. I did an article on Yamamoto’s Inside Line for that trip and I believe I posted here as well.

Another thing to consider is the thickness of your facial hair. I have a very light beard growth and tried growing it out years ago. At full growth I looked like someone out of the Amish mafia named Jedediah. I settled on a goatee for a few years but when I got tanned in the summer, it looked like I needed a green card. I finally just gave up and went clean shaven.

Cast with left hand reel with right. Since spinning gear can be changed to accommodate either I switch it to match my baitcasters, cast left, reel right. I am ambidextrous in a lot of things but the sensitivity I have is geared to the above. While I can do it with either hand, I prefer a left hand cast and holding the rod.

I saw an ad where Costco now carries Harrys. I am a Mach 3 user with Nivea shave cream.

Join a local bass club as a non boater.

As an aside, my last truck had free oil changes for as long as I owned it. It was a 2004 3/4 ton, 6.0. The dealer still wanted it in every 3,000 miles. I traded it in 2016 for a new Silverado and I take it in every 5,000. I had 12 free when I bought the truck. They are on me now.

Believe me when I say I have tried a lot of different footwear. Keen sandals are leather and got funky after getting them wet, water shoes never gave enough support to be comfortable, crocs just never fit right and my foot slipped around in them when they got wet, I have high arches so tennis shoes had my dogs barking by the end of the day. The Evair’s have an orthotic insert that makes them extremely comfortable. They are European sized so that’s a pain. As for the tan lines……

I used that term the other day and my wife was offended. 😂

It’s funny because the trucks are supposed to monitor your style of driving, hi-way/city miles and oil condition and adjust the monitor accordingly. I’ve never had one dip below 30% oil life remaining when I change it.

My fishing partner and I break into “The Wreck Of The Edmond Fitzgerald “ every time the water gets “sporty” on lake St Clair. Fun fact, today is the 48th anniversary of the ship’s sinking.

I have never fished barefoot. Never. There’s just something about the sight of me at my age and girth trying to pull a treble hook out of my foot, that is somewhere between mission impossible and Benny Hill. I wear a rubberized sandal made by Shimano (Evair) that allows excellent traction, non scuffing on boat carpet, and easy drying. I will even use socks in very cold weather which believe it or not, keep my feet plenty warm which is totally illogical but it does. I have gone through 3 pairs in 15 years. I will admit it makes for some pretty funky tan lines in the summer.

I’ve never, in any of the trucks I’ve owned relied on the oil use monitor to tell me when it was time. My old 3/4 ton Silverado it was every 3,000 miles. My new 1/2 ton Silverado is every 7,000 miles.

As I responded in another post, Tackle Warehouse lost my business when they had the credit card breech and a bunch of customers got hacked. They initially denied it and then ultimately admitted it. I didn’t get hacked but it spooked me away from their site.

I will admit, Tackle Warehouse lost me with their big credit card data breech that affected so many of their customers. I used to buy from them and I wasn’t affected, but it spooked me away.

My oem tires on the Silverado went 65k. It’s now wearing a set of Michelin LTX all seasons. Just put tires on the wife’s Highlander. Went 75k on oem. Went with Michelin Defenders that have an 80,000 mile warranty. Priced them out at tire rack, discount tire and a few other online warehouses. Our membership club (BJ’s) had a sale on them plus free mounting and balance with lifetime free rotation. It did beat the online prices once you factored in mounting and balancing. As an aside, I put a set of Michelin LTX on my jeep wrangler that went over 100k and I only replaced them because they were dry rotting and cracking. Jeep has over 450k on it now.

My boat sits out all winter and the charger stays plugged in all winter. Most modern chargers have a maintenance mode that will keep them topped off. No fear of them freezing, a fully charged AGM will freeze at -80. I will throw a cheap blue tarp over my regular cover because it sheds snow easier than my factory cover.

When I used to close banks and were transitioning over to a new owner and were performing the 10,000 hours of accounting work necessary to insure a smooth transaction, we would disable atm deposits and limit withdrawals so we could keep a handle on the transactions. There were a whole lot of peeved people. And for those who think cashless society is a positive, I’ve got news for ya….it ain’t.

Yeah, the river still has some days left before we have to abandon it but my new sponsor SteelShad sent me a bunch of new blade baits and lake Anna is the place to try them out. I tried them on the river in one of our smallmouth spots and all I got was Mr Whiskers.

Just watch any Bill Dance video on YouTube and you’ll see how he does it. As a matter of fact when we see someone sitting up front, we call it the Dill Dance seat. 😎

Had an appointment with my financial planner today or would have been on the Rappahonock River. My fishing partner is a retired Marine and employed as a civie. He is going to the USMC Ball on Quantico so after a day for him to sober up, we are transitioning to the hot side of Lake Anna where the nuclear plant cooling water is discharged into 3,000 acres of cooling pools. We’ll be there for pretty much the rest of winter.

Oh, I know the research and beyond all of the hype and whether Charger got the molds or splashed an existing mold, fact is they are a direct descendent of the ChampioN line. I’m not going to debate sources but I know mine were on site during the Platinum Equity deals and at the original plant. All of the backstory is kinda not relevant.

I am in the spinning rod camp for Ned rigs. 7ft Medium Quantum Smoke, fast tip, 6lb mono. BUT…..lately I have been stepping up the weight on my Ned’s to get bigger hooks to match some of Yamamoto’s new bigger bait offerings and Buckeye lures bigger Ned heads. I may step it up and go up to 8lb test for smallmouth and a bit heavier rod.

All you ChampioN fans do know that Charger acquired all of their molds correct? They are kicking them out everyday.😎

@casts_by_fly our last Weimaraner, a blue, was 115lbs and not chubby at all. Vet was amazed at how big and how in shape he was. I got him for my wife because I was traveling a lot and he bonded with her from the beginning. Make no mistake, I was an alpha but he naturally protected her and the house with gusto. 😂 Our first Weimaraner was my dog and I took him everywhere with me. As you probably know, weims have a propensity for separation anxiety because they are a Velcro breed. Luckily neither one of ours destroyed anything from the time they were puppies. I have thought about other breeds but always come back to Weimaraners.