I'm Blue

We do a family pool,,, my stepson knows NOTHING about horses,,, picks one, throws money in hat and wins EVERY DANG TIME,,, Last 3 years He has won 7 times. He picked frikking Country House to win Derby, Taking his arse to the track here in August when it opens.

yep,, used to love the Manns 6" Blue Jelly worms with a red tail,,, fished em wading in ponds and lakes as a kid on spinning tackle,,, no weight,,, would watch that red tail,,, when it disappeared JERK ! fish on !

dont see the point of using braid at all for this. Doesnt cast well, expensive, knots sometimes slip, get hung and pull hard to get it out,,, next cast line bites like snot, no need for sensitivity,, plus half the time braid is too stiff and gives no flex for fish to get lure. 17-20lb decent mono is cheaper, casts better, and will drag most fish outa most stuff. Screw braid,,, only thing I find it usefull for is carolina rigging and sluggo's where u are slow fishing and really need to feel everything. IMO only advantage of braid is sensitivity. Something of ZERO use on top

I fished Stick, about humm 18 years ago ? in Feb,,, was quite a few boats, but cold front conditions only caught a few, just getting back into it and thought about SM again, but Pulled Palaka FL out of a hat, looked to be good central area to fish St Johns, Lake George, or Rodman, Hired guide for Rodman,, ST johns was full of green slime and a dead zone from Palatka to where the river from rodman flows in,, think I saw a couple boats total,, we were just boat riding mostly and went to eat on the river, Rodman I caught fish cranking wood on my own, then caught tons with the guide shiner fishing. Including a 9 plus and a 10 plus. Again NOONE fishing,,, seemed good to me though,, know when to come down next year.

Noticed same thing at Rodman reservoir. My first time there. Fished it a couple days, and saw very few boats. 25 April fished it from 6-12,, saw 3 other boats , was weird. Up here in VA there are generally 3 boats withing casting distance.

Personally Id like to find an old OMC... My old boat had a 24 volt OMC that could fly,,, so far ZERO impressed with the power of this 80lb MK,,,

thanks for that bit, had considered the chick this weekend, now know not to bother. Cant believe how much that place has changed and how many boats pound it to death. Used to be my favorite place to fish. Think I will go to Roanoke rapids lake friday,,, was pretty nice and not crowded.

It's a gear ratio, not a speed. So I would assume there isnt a "best" there is only a best for individual. Ive been fishing baitcasters 40 years, kinda developed a rythm,,, that if I real a crankbait handle a certain speed the bait works ok and I occasionally catch something. Fast forward till now hand me an 8:1 reel, cant catch snot. Speed I reel is kinda ingrained. I imagine if you started with a 7:1,,, you would have developed a slower hand movement than I did, fishing 3 and 4 to 1's. Top water baits I can see and judge speed,... these new reels like the Lew's are working out great,, I can see the bait so vary my retrieve speed. I also seem to be catching my topwater fish lately just like back in my clear water days. LOOOOOOONG casts... So works out good make the LOOOOONG cast, reel through the productive zone,,, then can burn it back to boat for another cast. FOr me,,, I am liking Lews 7:1's for topwater, or baits I can judge by feel like blades rattle traps, and heavy colorodo spinner baits. For cranks I am liking the Dawia 5:1's Woulda bought 4:1's if anyone still made them from a brand I had heard of.

have 12 and 14lb

Ditto,, although I cant stream much, a show here or there, no decent internet. Watch football on broadcast,,, other than that, redbox, a few streaming shows from Netflix as they allow Standard def and dont eat all my data. occasionally I can get enough bars to mirror to my TV, usually late at night. Area I live in has no broadband provider. Pharmacy commercials we have now is actually a bad joke that back fired. Pharma companies petitioned to advertise drugs on TV,,, Feds said SURE, we set up a program where people can report side effects. So if you want to advertise you have to list ALL possible side effects valid or not. The thought was no drug company would ever want to do it, so the gov was basically banning drug commercials, by giving the ok,,, sorta back fired. Well at least thats how Cracked magazine reported it.

PM me a mailling address and i'll send you some , ive got *** suffix advance I just bought got some left on the spool too short to do much with can send u a few yards

dont think it makes a huge difference. I do like a trailer with skirt, I'll use a Mister twister split tail grup or the zooms straight trailer. For me its more about casting in the wind. I tend to use 1/4 oz to 5/16th buzz baits, trailer helps em cast. I use clacker style, 3 bladed strike kings or uncle buck inlines then Johnson weedless spoons with glued on skirts depending on weed thickness and speed. While the spoon isnt a buzz I fish it similar but can really slow it down and work over cover

look at changes,, shallow to rapid drop offs, weeds giving way to wood or rocks, any current ? If ur catching 3lb smallies ur doing good. If it was me Id get up butt early and throw a cear chug bug on light line far as u can cast it.

depends on area,,, look at local conditions. In m area the tourny guys pound snot out of the waters. They seem to always be prefishing a tourny,,, so launch at dawn and are gone by 1 or 2,,, I used to launch at 2 fish till dark did way better. That or you can do what I did.. Drive to FL Rodman reservoir and hire a guide

if it dont fit, u need a bigger hammer