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Same luck today. Cold front came through last night. Shad are all schooled up in the back of inlets and cuts. Right where they are supposed to be. Saw a few small bass, gar, and crappie chase a few around. But overall there was just little action. Talked to a few other boats who also hadn’t caught anything. It’s def been a tough fall so far. Really the only thing consistently biting the last few weeks are small spots

If you keep plastics in the original bag and out of direct sun they should be fine. Spinner baits, spook, frog, square bill, medium diver, lipless, jerkbait, wire wrapped jigs, and some terminal tackle. That would be my box. Maybe go for a deep 3700 size box. Worm binders are small and hold a good amount of plastics. They’d also keep a lot of the heat out. You can use one of the sleeves to hold hooks and weights

Just bought a Daiwa RG spinning reel for $34 after tax.

See that a lot in golf. Average strikers running to buy blades and hitting pro v1s when they’d shave 7 shots by playing the cast irons and hitting balls half that price

I have a couple of outdoor wireless cameras. They can hack them if they want. They’re mainly there to give the wife peace of mind. 80 % of the recorded activity is the ups man dropping off packages. There will never be a camera inside my house. I even keep tape across my laptop webcam

I’ve caught a number of 7+ pounders on much worse equipment. That Abu reel would’ve been a Cadillac 20 years ago

Lews LFS or Fuego. Both can be found in the 60-75 range.

Not going to argue that. But if you are trying to support a family good luck to ya. Need more than lagniappe to send a couple kids to LSU! Lol

Depends on what your business is. For a brick and mortar tackle shop? Yes. Less competition and fewer barriers. Higher profit margins. It’s basically impossible today without selling guns and flipping used equipment. Or processing meat. Fishing tackle cash flow isn’t going to sustain any business alone like it could have 40 years ago. Even then you weren’t turning huge profits with 10x as many people walking through the door

Going to spend more on the boat than tackle box this winter. Need two new graphs and a new on board batter charger. Black Friday may be a very good buying opportunity for both.

Hard to start a profitable small business today. Insurance, taxes, legal fees, lack of 401k/benefits etc. Cost of living is high. The economy is still not what it once was and the level uncertainty is high. Most college grads are also $50k in debt at 24 years old. I wish more children of store owners would be willing to keep it going. Most seem sick of working at the business their entire life and want to go their own direction.

Is the OEM factory where they’re made in China not a PRADCO factory as well? That’s just what I was told by a friend who used to work at academy. Regardless it’s not a bad product for $3

It seems most mom and pop shops suffer from two things: location and hours. They close at 5 or 6 and aren’t located close enough for people to swing by at lunch. I don’t know many who can go buy tackle at 10 am on Tuesday or 3 pm on Wednesday. And most of their clientele is on the lake during the weekend hours. Meanwhile Academy and Dicks are within 5 minutes of most office parks and open until 9 pm. Edit. It never made sense to me why my local shop doesn’t open until 9 on Saturday. 100 boats pass right by it on the way to the lake at 6 am every weekend. You’d think someone would be smart enough to take advantage of that time

I know folks who use KastKing braid and like it. Personally I have no experience with it. You can get 300 yards of Power Pro at academy for $20

Temp dropped from 84 to 59 today. Tomorrow is in the 60s. Should be the kicker we needed to get them moving

Theres one by me that I shop at occasionally. They’re alive because they also sell more guns than anyone in the state. But they carry a good selection of plastics in colors that work and have the basics in everything else. Their prices are on the higher end but that’s to be expected.

H2O uses VMC hooks. Pretty sure the lures are made by PRADCO who also make bandit, bomber, booyah, yum, heddon, etc

You can get about 8-10 H2O hard baits for $20. The Academy house brand. I recently picked up a few and was impressed for the price. Best quality bang for the buck IMO is strike king and zoom

It sucks that you can’t walk into most brick and mortar stores and hold the product anymore. The last time I went in Bass Pro they had about 6 baitcasting reels on display that weren’t their own brand. You really do have to buy blind. This is even more annoying with rods. I know what I’m getting when I order an Abu, Shimano, or daiwa reel. They generally feel the same generation to generation. However rods vary a lot. There are several rods on my shelf I would’ve never bought had they been available to handle in person

That looks handy. Link?

I think I paid $79 for a gen 3 SX last year. Even though I’ve seen many complaints about them I haven’t had any issues. In fact I really like it.

I don’t get caught up in colors but something about a white rod is offputting to me

Congrats! I’d be a nervous wreck if my PB was on the other end of a couple tiny trebles!!!

Don’t have a favorite. My arsenal is a hodge-podge of brands. There are so many quality items from different brands I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer. I’d say my favorite rod currently is the Falcon Cara and favorite reel is Lews. But I catch plenty on dobyns, st croix, ALX, daiwa, quantum, etc.

Way off topic but have tried one of those blade attachments for the trolling motor that are supposed to help clear pad buildup?