CrankFate

I need to go to Texas. One state I’ve never been to, but always wanted to go to.

That’s what I believe happens. With most popular fish where 10+ lbs is a trophy. They do sometimes. I don’t think they do, that’s the problem. Maybe a small amount, but not much. At least from my observations. You read my mind on that ... but most guys know that spawning with the hottest female because they’re the only guy around mostly happens in xxx movies. I can still hope though. I still can’t believe I didn’t get flamed over the 7lb male comment. But they do exist.

Yes. I missed basically last season. Between work and kids that are bigger and things to do for life, I was practically on hiatus. My bass catching was not good. But I had a good season for other species the few times I was out. It happens to everyone sometimes. Seriously, it was the Curado BFS ad that got me sitting here waiting for the water to warm up so I can get out and try my luck again.

Well then what I’ve seen is nonsense. If you are a fish who is better at surviving, you’d pick the biggest male to guard your fry. In the lake I have in my avatar, you’ll only see males around 7lbs guarding fry. Because the females aren’t going to spawn with dinks. If you find a lake with 7lb males you will find the big females. I have not heard one scientific report anywhere that even mentions size selection for bass spawning. So I can say anything is nonsense. Natural selection dictates that the female will pick the best male to protect the fry. An athletic 7 pound male is their best bet. Also, you can watch any and every program on TV and the Internet about fish. You will never see videos of mismatched fish spawns, except in rare cases like the deep ocean angler fish and when the little dink sneaks into a shell bed. Find the big males, that’s where you’ll find the trophies. Because the females pick who they spawn with. I know it’s not a popular belief, but a lunker female surrounded by dinks isn’t making many babies.

Could be the waters I fish. There aren’t many bass and they are extremely picky. I’ve never seen mismatched spawning. I have to think that’s why the biggest fish out there aren’t filling lakes with all future giants, like themselves, in most places. I also catch the bigger fish that I’ve caught alone. No, I never caught 2 fish over 5lbs on the same day. But I have also seen fish on beds in Mid August and others with tiny fry in Mid August. Where logic and temperature would have them spawning between April and early June. Edit: In my opinion, if we believe in natural selection, the biggest bass would be most likely to survive from birth. And would make the most offspring. But they don’t in most places. I believe it is because they won’t spawn with smaller fish that they consider weaker. This is why I believe the monsters are so rare.

7’ all day for me. But that’s not going to help. It all depends on how you’re going to be fishing and what your body mechanics are.

I would say if you’re learning, a reel without magnetic brakes is better. Especially if you don’t have several different rods to try it on to see which it works best with. I know a lot of people swear by magnetic brakes. I don’t. The only reel I’d say has a good magnetic brake is the Mgxtreme2. But I use it to throw 3 ounces, when people claim it’s supposed to be a finesse type reel......

When fish spawn in pairs, instead of in huge groups, they match themselves up as even as they can. Fish that protect the fry are more likely to do this. The less alive and swimming around as the bait is in the wild, the more the angler matters. Fishing bass with artificial lures is definitely more about the angler than the lure.

Use live shiners. This way you’ll at least know if there are any bass there in the first place.

It depends on where you’re fishing. Some places have smaller fish. They might have big ones (yes ones) that will be harder to catch. Harder to catch because they will hang around others in similar size. If there’s no others similar in size, they will be alone. There’s one part of fish behavior that gets overlooked. Especially in fish that guard the eggs and fry. They only mate with evenly matched partners. If there are no evenly matched partners, they will stay alone. A 5lb bass will not spawn with a 3lb bass. A 9lb bass won’t spawn with a 3lb or 5lb bass. A 9lb or 5lb bass might sometimes be around the 2-3lb bass. But not most of the time.

Around where I live people will take pictures of fish caught elsewhere and post them to the internet in very recognizable areas to intentionally make certain areas overrun with people. That is worse than spot burning.

Yes, they were good, but it was way more difficult to get the firebox to temperature than I expected.

I had to revive this thread. After watching this video a thousand times, while waiting for the new grill to arrive, I made my ribs competition style, today as Easter dinner. Not exactly the same as a true competition rib, because I start with a wet rub, but aside from that, I stuck to this technique (just using my own rub and bbq sauce). My whole life was basically for this. I’m not proud of how many innocent trees were killed to accomplish this.

The best way to get the grease off that reel is to throw in the water next time you go fishing. Mother Nature has a plankton and a bacteria in the water that will live off of it for the next 350 years.

I have done great with them with fish that bite the bait in their teeth and then throw it back to chew with the chewing teeth on the insides of their Gill rakes. Fish that inhale with large suction mouths are basically immune circle hooks.

In 2021 forcing kids to use those things should be considered child abuse.

^This

The guy that fish 1/10th as often as you do, for 1/10 the species you fish for, but then go and act like they taught you everything you know. OK, I’m done.

Burnt ends are awesome!

Just ordered supplies for smoking. I usually do ribs and bbq chicken. Have spent the last 6 months perfecting my homemade McRib sandwich made with Costco boneless ribs. This year I plan to, finally, do some brisket. 12+ hours is serious business, though.

Glenmorangie Original 10 year. Great stuff with a little ice. Around $40 a bottle.

Perfect equipment for cheesesteak.

Yeah, all those lockdown soft pretzels I made with the kids went right where my rod handle hits me.

Done deal preordered it along with a megabass levante jerkbait special and an LC 95 pointer. Not really for BFS, but whatever. You can’t tell what the spool looks like once the line is on it.

My best recommendation would be to not fix it.