Trox

Was in a tournament once and the only fish I caught all day was on the first cast. But then again, the last time I had a banana in the boat I caught my PB so...

Saw 3 gators soaking up the sun together today at Choke Caynon in south Texas all over 8 foot... Typically I just fish through 'em in the boat cause they've never bothered me, but for some reason I was thinking that these 3 were conspiring against me so I decided to turn around... These are the things I think about when I'm by myself on the water lol

Ive only actually flipped maybe 3-5 times (because conditions rarely allow it), however, when you get on a flipping bite, it's just too much fun. The thing with flipping is that there has to be almost zero wind. You're so close to the fish so you cant be blasting the trolling motor ANYWHERE or even really even using it to "spot lock". if you can navigate near grass with your trolling motor at 20% or less power, then you are able to flip, and I'm not talking about 20% to stay still, but rather 20% to move 20ft, then have your boat still... That flipping is a funny game, and it is the one of the closest cumbat fishing strats out there. Rarely used now adays due to what @WRB said...

Not saying that there's any real correlation, but O.H Ivie just cranked out 4-5 legacy class sharelunkers (13+lbs) the week after one of the worst winter storms in recent Texas history... Both the largemouth and smallmouth lake records were broken. Smallmouth record was broken, then broken AGAIN the folowing day lol. It was rediculous... We were even able to pull out a healthy 5.5lb smallmouth ourselves... apparently it was the one of the only lakes without ice on it when this bite started. Coincidence?

There's not a lake worth fishing within 2hrs from me... Sucks, because most of my fishing expenses in absorbed by truck gas and vehicle wear, but you do what you gotta do! I rarely travel outside of fishing and I just hit the 100,000mi mark on the odometer and the truck is barely 3yrs old .

Just got back from ol' Ivie today... If we was fishing a tournament on the first day we would of had just over 20lbs with a 5.5lb SMALLMOUTH kicker. 30+ fish caught in 1.5 days and none lower than 2lbs, 2nd day, a few 4lb largemouth...No Sharelunkers for us, but it was a hell of a time!!! Especially for my first trip after the big Texas freeze. That being said, Thursday was relatively quiet out there, maybe 10 trailers at the boat ramp (kennedy)... but Friday (today) was a different story with well over 100, and it's about to get a lot worse... IMO, that lake fishes pretty small... and after this weekend, it's gonna be over for the most part. Those fish aren't going to eat after 2-3 weeks of getting pummeled by A-rigs, and it began today.

Anyone have any experience with it? If so, how do you like it? I just purchased in hopes of escaping the 2pm "hope my motor starts" feeling during tournament... It hasn't arrived yet, but am hoping that it will be a solid replacement for my current 3-bank Minn Kota charging system.

If fishing wasn't a grind sometimes, I probably wouldn't enjoy it as much...

Last year I dove in a couple of times while prefishing a tournament in August for a Megabass swimbait that kept getting hung up under docks... but if it wasn't 110 degrees outside and feeling like I was on the edge of a dang heat stroke, I probably wouldn't have done it... The swimbait was probably just an excuse come to think of it.

This right here... Even the quiet roads at 4 or 5am

Since you don't actually reel in or cast line when flipping, the technique has a very limited range and is used for (very) close quarter combat. A benifit to this is that you can get your bait in an out of areas much quicker and disect specific areas faster, but you gotta be CLOSE. Pitching is a little more versatile imo... has more range and is used when you need more distance than flipping will offer, but not far enough to require an actual cast. It also allows for skipping under cover when you are too close to skip cast... tons of uses to pitching. Not sure if I answered your question of "how" to use each one ... There are some really good videos and articles on this site about it though.

So... let me preface with the fact that I am not proud of what I did and it took me a while to climb my dumb a** out of it... but she still doesn't know that I was the one who purchased them... Thinks my tourny partener won them in a kayak tourney (like that makes sense), and since he always fishes trails with me, gave them to me so we can better compete in the boat tourneys... Anyways, I ended up taking up side gigs around my neighborhood until I paid off all 5k in secret... And I'm still not sure what was worse, the guilt, or the extra work that I had to do... never again... I still have both poles though Man, this had me cracking up

One time I got a little toasty, opened a credit card, signed onto TW, bought two power poles, then said "Screw it, might as well max this thing out", then proceeded to fill my cart until it was maxed... Boy that was a hard one to explain to the wife...

Last time I hop on this forum after a night of drinking! haha... Anyways, (I think) what I was trying to say with "apples to apples" was that the differences between them are pretty small now, and it really comes down to brand preference and what makes sense for you in an ease-of-use prospective... I didn't mean to imply that they were the exact same technology, because they definately are not... Initially when Lowrance came out with their version of Livescope, it sucked pretty bad, but they came back with a rather comparable device imo... Lastly, I don't think that Garmin put out the update to compete with Lowrance at all, but the users have been complaining about the "ghost tree" for like a year and it's all but gone now (finally)... Sorry about the confusing post!

Hey bass fishin' fam! As with anyone who follows this dark hole of the forums, I am sure you have compared Garmins LiveScope vs Lowrances Active Target as I have... I have had LiveScope on my boat for "roughly" two years now, and recently asked a buddy who had the Live Target system to let me tag along to take a peek of that new product... That was a month ago... At first, I was VERY impressed with Live Target and thought it was much clearer interference wise... Kind of made me upset TBH (lol)... but Garmin came out with an update just a week later that kills the interference that we [livescope users] called the "ghost tree"... and it's gone... In short, Live Scope and Live Target are all "apples to apples" now. It's now only what you are confortable with... Same tech, diff user interface (or whatever matches the units you already have whether it's Garmin or Lowrance)...

I just throw crap until I get bit and whatever they bite is the "hatch" for that day imo. Of course seasonal patterns, past experiences come into play, etc. In the end though, I can throw a morning dawn dropshot at my local lake w/ 20ft visibility and catch 50 fish/day when I've never seen a pink worm swimming around in my life lol

Never ordered reels, but have ordered a ton of lures. no issues.

I can tolerate a lot, but jet skis are not one of them... There's just no way to to truly be safe around them as unpredictable as they are. imo

7'11" XH Expride A... Light as can be, sensitive, and while comparable (for the technique), not the price of an NRX. Has never done be wrong, and I fish a ton of grass lakes Edit: not sure how, but I read this as "how to flip grass and heavy cover"... as everyone else has said, there are a ton of variables and that rod may not be the best for your application, as I "flip" with different rods based on a ton of factors

All. The. Dang. Time... But I am also my own biggest critic... Like even when I catch fish, I should have caught bigger fish kind of thing... Also, your friend is a punk for only throwing the Ned rig all day in Texas lol. I get skunked. My buddies who consistenly win money fishing from their kayaks get skunked. There are hammers here in central and south Texas that consistently win AOY's during trails that I've seen get skunked in tournaments with two people in the boat... The worst thing you can do is get your head down... Some of my best tournments finishes have come after being skunked while prefishing for them... Heck, there was a tournment one time at a lake that I had to drive 3 hours to, made that drive 3 times in a month, then prefished during official hours after off-limits, and GOT SKUNKED ON THE BIG DAY!!! lol... geez, that still hurts a bit. But that's the game we play.

Had a melagnant mole removed when I was just 25... No family history, brown eyes, and don't burn easily... Goes to show you that it can happen to anyone, at any age. I've gotten checked by a dermatologist annually ever since...

Catt was right with the Rayburn suggestion, there's no way y'all can go wrong down there... Feel free to PM me for a couple of great AirbBNB suggestions in Zevalla if y'all end up going that route.

I'm pretty sure I could fish from the bank with Gerald Swindle and it would be the best fishing trip ever... But if I wanted to really learn some stuff I'd probably go with Wheeler or Defoe

I actually second that... I mean, if you're gonna make the trip lol

For some reason this post has me thinking how I could catch a fish with the lure still in the box...