TOXIC

Nice! I assume I hooked one jigging for walleye last year in the St Clair river in Michigan. I absolutely couldn’t move the fish and finally broke 2 arms off the treble hook I had in him. Another dinosaur that is fun to catch are from my old home state of Nebraska in Gavin’s Point dam, spoonbill/paddlefish. Woow what a fight those put up.

I could see the weim influence immediately. That’s our choice of breeds. Our last boy left us about 2 years ago and I’ve been stalling the wife on replacing him. He was our second Weimaraner. First was a standard, second was a blue. Both lived to around 13 and we really like the breed. I won’t be able to hold off too much longer as the wife is slowly wearing me down. 😂

I’ll admit,mi am a technique specific guy. I have rods rigged for the specific technique. I’ll have multiple rods rigged for some techniques for example, a shallow crankbait and a deep crankbait setup. It’s not unusual for me to have 3 Senko rods rigged. Obviously none of this would be possible if I was bank fishing. I will then open my tackle to changes to the technique specific baits. Crankbait and Senko colors for example. I will also have multiple baits for specific techniques. Like Ned’s and dropshot. Add to that break offs or lost or worn out baits and I am into my tackle pretty regularly.

Got a pretty cool shot when my fishing partner and I went out Saturday. It’s what happens when the air temp is 37 and the water temp is 55. As soon as the sun came up it burned off and we were able to run normally. Turned into a Senko day which hasn’t been the norm.

Hot food on the boat? Never heard of such a thing. 😂 My boat food is simply something to keep me fueled for 1/2 a day. My boat food is all required to be un heated or un refrigerated. I don’t even take hot coffee. My coffee is hot all the way to the ramp and after that it’s water only. I have to force myself to stop and eat whatever I bring so it’s usually crackers and Vienna sausages, crustables, foil tuna packs, lunchables, or maybe a sandwich if I was feeling creative the night before. 🤣

My guide motto was always “ You will be safe, I will do my best to put you on fish and no matter what, you will have a good day on the water”. There are so many facets to a guide trip that it would take 10 pages to explain. What I thought would be a great side gig because I am a pretty good stick, turned out to be one of the hardest jobs I ever attempted. Is it worth hiring a guide? Unequivocally yes if you hire the right guide. And that’s regardless of your experience level. I had something in my playbook for everyone.

We’ve been a little frustrated the last couple of times out on the Rappahonock. Fishing has been tough. Got out Saturday for probably one of the last hurrahs. Will be transitioning over to the hot side of Lake Anna for the winter fishing months soon. We had a pretty good day for numbers but size was down. The bass wanted a 5” Senko, weightless. Threw cranks, Ned and dropshot as well but the best producer was the old reliable. Water temps were in the mid 50’s and incoming tide was the most productive.

While we may not get an annual snowmageddon, we were predicted to get our first hard freeze, so I had to do my winter plant movement. We have always had a large plant collection on our decks and a couple are beyond just picking up and carrying into the house. We have an avacado tree that my daughter sprouted from seed and planted when she was 4 years old. She’s 26 now. There’s a corn plant that is 10ft tall and probably 150lbs that’s well over 30 years old that my wife has tried to kill multiple times. Both require a moving dolly to get into the house and maneuvered through the house without taking out lamps, tables and all sorts of indoor treasures. I make sure the wife is not home so the endless profanities can roll off my tongue. Pics are of the corn and avocado. We had a Ficus that was as old as the corn plant but finally got so big it wouldn’t fit in the house anymore. Rather than let it freeze, we donated it to my daughters greenhouse at her high school.

There are so many gives and takes in bassboats that it boils down to what you put your priorities in. Speed, fishability, ride, rough water ability. Are you including tin in the mix? I tend to look past all the peanut gallery recommendations because there’s sooooo much misinformation that I don’t trust it to form my opinion. No, Ranger hasn’t been cheapened up since White River bought them, no, NITRO’s are not all crappy boats, etc. I have a friend who works on my boat and has crawled through almost all of the major brands and can rate them at a professional level on their build quality and he can pinpoint everywhere the manufacturers have cut corners. I’ve gone to Lake St Clair every year for 21 years. All those years I looked at what brand dominated what I saw on the lake and what the locals ran. I wanted reliability in big water, good ride, easy rigging and quality construction. My current boat is a 21ft 2005 Ranger. I had a 2000 929 CDX NITRO before the Ranger and it never let me down or left me stranded on the water. I have put hundreds of hours on both. I have spent time in a lot of current and past brands. If I wanted to buy tomorrow, I would start the evaluation process all over based on my current needs.

Ingredients Meat • 2 lbs Ground turkey Produce • 1/2 tsp Coriander • 2 cloves Garlic • 1 Green bell pepper • 1 4-ounce can Green chiles • 1 Jalapeno • 1 tsp Oregano • 1 Red onion • 1 Sweet potato, large • 1 28-ounce can Tomatoes Canned Goods • 1 cup Chicken broth Condiments • 1 14-ounce can Tomato sauce Baking & Spices • 1 tbsp Avocado oil • 3 tbsp Chili powder • 1/4 tsp Cinnamon • 1/2 tsp Paprika • 1/2 tsp Sea salt Nuts & Seeds • 1/2 tbsp Cumin

The difference between scientific studies and opinions is almost always opposite. No different than eliminating the seasonal dates for smallmouth on lake St Clair. Opinions said it would ruin the fish population because it would be legal to catch them off the spawning beds resulting in higher bed mortality from gobies and other predators eating eggs and fry, delayed mortality from stress catching them during the spawn and on and on….Scientific studies showed the approved year round open season with immediate catch and release during the spawn did not adversely affect the spawn or the population for a number of documented reasons. Nonetheless, you will never convince some that the studies are correct.

I learned about “real” sweet tea when I lived in Florida. Real sweet tea with have your teeth rotting out before you finish the glass. 😂

Good deal. My wife entered a chili cook off a couple of weeks ago where there were about 30 entries. Don’t tell her but I voted for the venison chili, it was fantastic. She did get an award for the most unique ingredient, she put sweet potatoes in her chili. Runner up put pickles in their chili.🤢

@airshot remember, there’s no bass boat made with snaps. Likewise none of the bass style tin rigs have them either. Snaps are normally only on the deep v multi species boats. I’ve seen them added to bass boats but none come that way from the factory.

Good advice given. I will tell you trailering with a cover is a dangerous proposition even with a custom one. A loose belly strap or ratchet strap or if you didn’t get it on exactly right, it will take the paint or decal off your tin rig and marring your finish on a glass boat. I only use a cover when parked. I never trailer with a cover.

The only way I would wear an auto inflate is if I could not swim and was standing on the deck fishing. I prefer full jackets and also prefer those that turn your head right side up in the water. Currently, I have the full jacket and I take it off to fish. It stays hooked to my kill switch so it’s on every time I start the big motor. My fear is not of an auto inflate inflating, it that it won’t.

I was very lucky. I could get back to the cottage on my trolling motor and my brother in law towed me to the marina with a pontoon (oh the agony). The marina did not work on Yamaha so luckily I found a Yamaha dealer not far away from Waupaca, Wisconsin where we stay. Second big stroke of luck was there was 1 oem lower in the state of Wisconsin sitting in a warehouse and could be shipped in. Third stroke of luck was that with a few extra $$$ and a case of Spotted Cow beer, the shop moved me to the front of the line. I was back on the water in 3 days.

There are a bunch. One of the locals needs to get on this thread to give you better info than I have at my fingertips.

Truth. Going to Florida end of January to Headwaters and we’re going to St Clair in May.

I’ve had them come out of the livewell like a rocket. 😂

@Hollada can give you some more current info. I’ve been going to St Clair for 21 years but we always rent a cottage on Harsens Island and launch over there. Look at Selfridge, and Metro, they both are close to bays that offer a break from the wind depending on where it’s blowing from. You didn’t say what size/type of boat you have and that will determine a lot on the conditions you can safely operate in. You did say you were a new boat owner and if I read your post right, somewhat new to boating. You picked a real tricky lake to hone your skills. I would not venture out in anything over 10. Luckily for you it’s not summer and prime boating where the lake is a madhouse. Wait for Dan to chime in. If you get impatient, message him directly.

I have a 2 minute video of the lower letting loose on my 250 Yamaha. I just went and watched it again. Brought a tear to my eye and made my wallet $4,000 lighter. 😂

Having a job when I was required to get up at 4am and commute to an office and then return home at 6-7pm, then when on assignment in the field working multiple 24 hour days to get the job done, has made me a sleep opportunist.

Couple of things come to mind beyond the obvious hardships of life on the tournament circuits…..all of them…..It seems to me we have gravitated away from fishing ability to entertainers. Not that everybody on the pro trails can’t fish but the ones that seem to be successful are more in the entertainers camp. VanDam retiring as probably the most talented angler and the emergence of FFS throwing relatively unknowns into the limelight as well.

Lotta wall hangers for a lot of guys and gals in those pics!👍🏻