PhishLI

Or a chandelier.

Except for when the trebles catch each other during splashdown or get caught in a joint which will happen. The bait gets smashed and you're left wondering how on earth the fish didn't get hooked.

Good deal, Just know, the Daiwa Aird 80, which isn't made by Daiwa, and the Revo, which isn't built by ABU, come out of the same Doyo factory. Both are built there. Chalk it up to a lemon if you prefer and don't imagine that all Daiwas have poor drag, or that Doyo builds are automatically bad because of your experience. Chit happens.

Yes. I'm often fishing at night, and I always have a plan. I don't want to turn on a headlamp while I'm in the water and spook any fish in the zone. Gotta try to be stealthy. Even footfalls can alert them and they're gone.

🤜🏻🤛🏻

There's no doubt that the 30 year old version me would beat the daylights out of the 20 year old version and me. Likewise, the 30 year old version of me would absolutely beat the living daylights out of the 61 year old version of me. I've always maintained myself well through diet and activity, but Father time is undefeated. Mentally, I don't know. I was never on any type of prescription med before the age of 59 1/2. Nothing. All of a sudden, I am, and a lot, so there're way more chemicals muddling up the works. I still seem to be able to find something in places where it's difficult to find anything due to rampant poaching pressure, but I know I'm simply not as automatically dialed in as I was say 5 years ago. Past a certain point, fishing's a headspace thing more than anything else. I'm just not as sharp as I was, but the will is still there. I can still grind it out, and I don't feel defeated by failure. It still drives me as much as it ever did, and I'm always plotting my next move. I'm still ate up by this thing.

I almost always carry a rig with a Lew's Tournament Pro LFS. Fantastic reel, IMO. But I'm not a Lew's guy or anything else guy. Tonight's lineup will be a Tat TW80, a Catalina TW, an ABU STX, and a Lew's BB1 Pro. For what I use the BB1 for it's perfect. 1/2oz-1 1/2ozs. Just a fantastic trouble-free bomber. Really smooth too. Tomorrow I might have a few Quantum Tour S3s in the mix, or whatever else I like. It's hard to buy a bad reel these days above $150. Fish with what you like.

Exactly

I carry rubbing alcohol 'cause I can't imagine eating samiches with bass juice or any other cooties I might've picked up in the water all over my digits. God only knows. Duck poop, whatever. Happens to clean off sunscreen too that I also don't want touching my food either.

I use them in conjunction with sunscreen and have had zero issues with them myself.

Yup. I keep a small spray bottle of alcohol with me and some paper towels. Always. Spray the alcohol on the paper towel, then wipe your palms clean only. Simple. Also, consider an oil free sunscreen like Neutrogena Clear Face Oil-Free sunscreen broad spectrum SPF 50. It'll change your opinion on sunscreen.

It depends upon who catches it. Is it a responsible person educated in fish handling and a quality release, or some dufus who dances around with the fish for 5 minutes before chucking it back into the water like a football? One can never know.

I have a closet in my storage room that has open studs on the inside. I stapled a few rows of wire to them and hang my baits there to dry that were used that day or any that got wet somehow. Rain. Whatever. Just a habit. I hope I never trip and get velcro'd to the wall via fish hooks!

I absolutely deny absolutely falling to pieces as I wrote it.✋🏻 I think you're right. It was unbelievably clear. When my wife asked the question in the dream I hadn't thought about answer beforehand on the way upstairs. I was simply thrilled that she was back. But in that moment when she asked, I just knew I'd made that deal. That dream is as clear as any real memory I have.

Jesse, I understand completely, and I'm sorry for your loss. I lost my black Lab Kaya of 14 1/2 years to cancer. I'd had plenty of dogs before her, but this time I 100% committed myself to training and raising her. With that, we became very connected. That bond somehow grew even tighter when I carried her up and down stairs for 4 months after ACL surgery when she was 9. Such a sweet girl. So smart and communicative. Very vocal. She was diagnosed with cancer at 14. We did everything we could for her. Surgery. Chemo. At about 14 1/2 the seizures started, and the cancer progressed. Most days were good, but some weren't. She was mostly just good otherwise which is what we'd hoped for. We promised each other that we'd let her go when the bad days outweighed the good. I was set on home euthanasia when the time finally came, but men make plans... One terrible night my mother-in-law collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. She needed emergency surgery in order to survive. By about 5 am we were told we could leave and get some rest and made our way home. We found Kaya in the bedroom seizing in a mess of excrement and vomit. I got her out of her seizure, but the decision had been made. Given what was happening at the moment with mom, and the extent of this terrible suffering Kaya had gone through by herself for who knows how long, we called the 24hr emergency vet where she had her surgery to make arrangements. As necessary as it was at the moment, I hated not being able to wait, and we left to go there immediately. She despised the car, so she shook the whole way there. I held her every minute of the ride, and every second during the procedure to help her pass. I had her wrapped in her blanket, so at least she didn't depart on a cold metal table. I was utterly unprepared for the amount of grief I felt for the next month. It was as bad as anything I'd felt previously. I was inconsolable really, and the suggestions of getting another dog was for me an impossibility. I even had a dream one day where I heard something rustling in the back yard, and when I looked out the sliders, I saw her there. She ran right to the door. I let her in, picked her up, then the tears started flowing. I put her down and had her follow me upstairs to our bedroom where my wife was watching TV. When she saw Kaya, she was shocked and asked how this was possible? I told her that I'd traded some of my time for her. Then I woke up. The tears were real. At that point in time, if there was a world where a deal like that could've been made, I might have made it as crazy as that sounds. I don't know exactly why this was so different for me with this particular dog, but it was. Maybe because the kids were out and we were empty nesters when I raised her? Who can say? A month or so after her passing, and after me refusing a few times, my wife finally convinced me to take a ride to see a foster family to take a look at a young dog who'd just been rescued from a kill shelter. After hanging there for 2 1/2 hours, I acquiesced, and we brought her home. She'd clearly been abused by a man as she was tentative with me and the foster father, and starved. She was a mess of skin and bones and scared of everything. I devoted myself to bringing her back, and it was a ton of work. She's a willful breed, but I raised her with patience, love, and respect and her fears evaporated. What an amazing being. That was 13 years ago, and it was the best thing we could've done. We often said back then that Kaya sent Lillie to us. They're so alike in so many ways, except that Lil loves the car. Loves going to Home Depot. But here we are again, nearer to the end. Just did PRP on her right legs and will do another round next month on her lefts. Were just buying time, we know, but besides the arthritis, she still very much herself. Yet, that hard decision is on the horizon once again. It will be a terrible day. But just like Lillie brought a light back into our home after Kayas passing, we'll slowly move on and do it all over again. I'm not suggesting that you do the same but try not to rule it out in time. I think it may be the best cure for a broken heart.

Not too bad tonight. Chilly with no wind and a big moon overhead is usually bad news but not this time. Lost a real jumbo trying to get the grippers on its lip. Would've been my best fish in years. Could've probably lipped it by hand, but with a Bucca Bull Shad flailing around in the dark I just couldn't risk catching a treble or two in a finger or two. Those days of cowboying it is over for me after the last impaling which was just brutal. Anyway, got some action on a type of night where I typically struggle. In order: The unmentionable by name too expensive Bladed Jig/Deisel Minnow that I proceeded to lose to a log the very next cast. G2 Shellcracker. 5" RI Skinny Dipper. 6" Little Creeper Trash Fish.

I had back surgery to support a collapsing L4 vertebra March 26 of '25. Two weeks later I felt great. Before that I was in true agony. The interventional radiologist who performed the Kyphoplasty urged me to procced slowly, and I thought I did. However, the rapid loss of 50 lbs of muscle during hospitalization and illness doesn't rebound quickly. I waited until May 25th of that year to go fishing. I thought I'd taken it pretty easy, but by the next day I was pretty sure that I'd undone my surgery. I was terrified that I'd really screwed up. It was that bad. I saw him a few weeks later, and after testing he'd assured me that the surgery had held, and that it was simply muscular strain thank God. Rehab finally got me back to where I was on May 24th. My advice to @river-rat is to take recommendations super seriously and don't fool around. One of my buds blew 3 different biceps tendons in three separate incidents. Out of work 9 months each time. Again, don't fool around if you can help it. Redoing the surgery is a nightmare and much more time lost.

Once I found Mend-it I use the same bait over and over again. I hardly ever dig out new ones from the package anymore. Also, the lakes where I wade at most often have a beaten path ringing them outside of the tree line. I often fish at night, so I need to keep my headlamp on while walking from one break in the tree line to another. The beaten path has crisscrossing raised roots everywhere, so to avoid faceplanting, I look down when walking. I pick up tons of discarded plastics, chuck 'em in my bag, then fix them during the winter or whenever I have nothing better to do. Even though totally repaired, they're well-worn. I've ended up catching tons of fish using these "trail baits", so my opinion is cemented in thinking that new or old doesn't mean shiznit.

I do. My originals came from Field and Stream, by they're OOB. Just ordered Reaction Tackle 10pk of 8.4x4.4". Nice thick clear pvc. Once I get home I unwrap the baits to avoid rusting hooks.

The fluoro leader definitely adds weight to the bait and it's noticeable.

Put almost any bait in the face of an aggressive, feeding bass and it's more likely than not that they'll bite it. It's hard to know what'll trigger an inactive bass or what might turn it off even more. I bet largemouth really don't care either way.

We expected to lose the weekend to rain as it was forecasted, but it ended a little earlier than predicted. The big lake we wanted to hit is impossible with the wind which was cranking, so we opted for a smaller, better wind-protected spot. It was still brutal to deal with, and the cold front had us dressed in multiple layers to cope. Threw the kitchen sink at every submerged bush, laydown, and any juicy looking spot worth hitting. Not a whiff! Spotted two swans out in the middle azzes up. This place is way behind in growth. During the warmer months it's nearly topped out shore-to-shore. Very few emerging pads and next to zero emerging weeds so far. I yak'd its sister lake only ¼ mile away on Thursday and it already had explosive weed growth in places. Strange. The swans told me fresh grass must be in that zone, so we hit it. Threw the kitchen sink at them again. Underspins, Cranks, which snagged fresh 6" chutes of milfoil. Lipless. Spinners. Swim jigs, chatters, etc. Zilch! Tied on the trusty Zedman 6" Swag LT and hooked up on my second cast. Go figure. My brother followed suite with the Swag and got his shortly thereafter. A few more hits but misses for both of us but we cashed out. Wind was really whipping at that point anyway and it started white capping. Anchors are basically useless with 2" of compressed muck on the bottom, and we were freezing. Bonus roadsdide-pond swimbait eater for my brother.

I have a big pickeral problem here, so I use 10 lb Seaguar blue label mostly. 8lb Sufix Advance mono/copoly if I'm chucking poppers, floating jerks, etc. Could probably get away with the 8lb Sufix. It's pretty tough.

I have this one. Comes with a weight for calibration. Amazon.com: Weigh Gram 200g Digital Pocket Gram Scale 0.01g Accuracy, 200g x 0.01g Mini Digital Grams Scale, Small Food Scale, Jewelry Scale, Ounces Grains Scale With100g Calibration Weight: Home & Kitchen

I'm using Varivas Max Power PE # 0.8 which is rated at 16.7 lbs I think. Regardless, it's super thin for the rating when compared to Power Pro SS V2 15lb which feels like rope in comparison. I only spool on 165' of braid though as that's what 200m spools break down to in increments. I don't have dig in issues with that little mainline. Amazon.com : VARIVAS Max Power PE x8 (28.6 lb (#1.5) 200m) : Sports & Outdoors