Tackleholic

I never had a single tick bite until I moved to Arkansas; don't know why. The first 5 years in Arkansas I was sick from tick bites 3 times, and my dog nearly died from them twice. I now keep an extra prescription bottle of Doxycycline at home for myself. For my dog, even though I had always given her the best preventative available, she was still bringing them into the house, truck, and boat; most, but not all would die if they bit her. I came up with an idea that has worked 100% for the past 4 years; ticks do not even climb on her anymore. In addition to the oral prevention, I added an ADAMS FLEA and TICK COLLAR; wish I could treat myself the same way.

Hey Swamp Girl, please create a post on this site when you learn more about this vaccine!

$29.99 is my cutoff for hard baits. When it comes to soft baits I don't bat an eye at multiple purchases which exceed $100. Let us not forget how much we / I have "invested" in storage boxes as our masses continue to grow. This is a sickness that only death will us part.

Many lures "we" purchase because a top pro wins a major tournament with them are used once or twice right away, then go into a collection of disappointments which most anglers use less often. Casting mechanics are something most are lacking when compared to the top pros. Watch some of those guys cast, pitch, flip, and skip with pinpoint accuracy, left hand or right, casting or spinning. I watched Hank Cherry fish a 3" grub on a 1/8 jighead, using a bait casting setup, not BFS or spinning. I also watched Omori's incredible power fishing performance with a bladed jig and a reel with very high gear ratio, while quickly and perfectly maneuvering the trolling motor and power poles. I recall a number of years ago when he won a tournament on Lake of the Ozarks with a crank bait, while keeping his trolling motor at full speed. Pros are Pros because they can do things like that, and they sell a lot of lures because of individual abilities, not so much the lures they use.

I bit the bullet and bought the Brecknell Digital Scale. I previously had used several different ones but they all succumbed to dampness and usually did not last a season. I'm on my 3rd season with the Brecknell and it has been great; I do keep it in a zip lock bag when it's not in use.

I read about some Forum members finding bargains at Ollies, so I decided to check out a location which recently opened near me. Only a very small area was dedicated to fishing, and it was a totally disorganized mess; but the prices were lower than I could imagine. Berkley, Yamamoto, Netbait, Zoom, Strike King, etc.. What really got to me was seeing some baits which I had on order from a well known distributor, on Ollie's shelf for less than 1/2 of what I paid, same colors too.

Pulled up to a launch area to use the outhouse, about a five minute round trip; a recently purchased Loomis rod and Calcutta reel were stolen from my boat.

My younger self would have competed for the title. My present day self....UH, UH, nope.

FG Knot; practice, practice, practice. Alberto Knot; practice. practice.

I don't pay attention to live bait regulations because I don't use it; only exception would be if I'm taking kids or beginners Trout fishing, then I have used nightcrawlers. Live bait is mostly used by "catch and eat" fishermen; I'm not one of them.

Two spinning rods, reels, and Seaguar Smackdown in Stealth Gray to fill the spools. I don't use spinning rods myself very often, but always have about ten of them ready to go. I ran across an unusually good deal on the new ones and decided to bite. Whenever I take visitors, friends, and family fishing, my prized bait casters stay in the rod lockers and at home; that is when the spinning tackle is handed out.

Cut them some slack! It takes a lot of guts to open a brick and mortar store in today's retail climate; their bank probably made them guarantee everything they own as security for a loan. I spent 50 years in Retail and would not even consider opening an independently owned store today.

To me, deep fried fish and onion rings spell heart attack in waiting. I do enjoy a cold beer though, and I'm sure the main dish tastes great.

It will hold if tied correctly; smaller the leader diameter and slicker the braid, the more difficult it becomes. Takes practice and continual use. It is necessary to keep the braid very taught and pull each wrap tight; continue this when adding the half hitches, the more the better. A properly tied FG will not break at the knot because it is the strongest point of the line. Same experience, same method. The braid must be kept very taught and each wrap pulled tight. No need for a tool; I lay the rod flat and immobilize the tip. If not tied regularly, it is very difficult to develop a "feel" for the procedure.

The Karashi appears to be #1 with us BFS guys, I also put a lot of time in with a Gunfish.

From what I just heard on the radio, you may not have a good year on the Potomac; one billion gallons of raw sewage from a ruptured 6 foot pipeline recently went into that River.

Since we're on the subject of Grubs, after watching the Guntersville tournament I inventoried my stock of them, along with a few other baits for the rapidly arriving spring season on Bull Shoals. I don't know which bait brands and sources are allowed to be mentioned here, so I won't try. My source carries a huge selection of one brand of Grubs, but the number of "out of stocks" was greater than I imagined and I had to scratch for substitute colors. Another interesting note was they did have a lot of stock on the color that won on Guntersville, but that wasn't what I was looking for. I wonder if all the other suppliers are also dealing with sudden out of stocks on 3" Grubs.

6 inch Megabass Magdraft.

Get'um up, Scout!

Mine is a Mustang inflatable, trouble free; just remember to replace cartridge when needed. I carry two non-inflatable for passengers.

Those clouds will close and darken when you lose it (-$); check those knots!

My thoughts exactly; we follow the same principles. Great to know I'm not the Lone Ranger.

I have been a frequent user of Dredgers, my fav. being the 14.5. I have all the sizes, but wish they would update the colors. If Berkley ever reconstructs it to be a little more flat sided, I will stock up on those as well.

I fish bladed jigs a lot and don't see a need for tungsten.

I change out skirts and sometimes get creative with them. Z man skirts are definitely my favorite as well.