Bird

I've never put a range finder on a bait after a cast ? but feels like my Shimano's cast a little further than my Abus and Lew's. They all do what I want them to do though.

I occasionally fish with a fellow that works these baits with an abrupt JERK JERK JERK and a slight pause, he does really well. I'm mostly a steady retrieve with only an occasional pause. Caught the most on a 90 in Monkey Butt.

@Darth-Baiter @gimruis I did the elevated bird feeder for quite some time. Squirrels could shimy the cable upside down but then another issue reared it's head. A Red tailed hawk swooped in for a squirrel and broke his wing on the thin cable " sad " so took it down.

@Darth-Baiter This is the first time that a bear walked up a flight of steps in the back of the house and came to the front. Wife has hanging plants with feeders attached, bear simply ripped everything down and lapped up the sugar. I got something not so sweet on the menu ?

@TnRiver46 I scoop out the bird feeder every evening or it turns to kindling.

@king fisher Um what condition would you deem top water something to avoid ? ?

@Captain Phil Devil's Horse is my preferred top water presentation as well but find myself constantly tuning them for that perfect sound...... it's almost possessive.

@TnRiver46 Gotcha

@RRocket Impressive

Talked to several fisherman this weekend who have completely given up due to the heat. Gotta admit, August is tough. Won't your Bronco comfortably tow a 17ft Stinger ?

Reminds of Leupold hunting scopes. Everyone around here always calls them le-a-pold when the proper pronunciation is Leu-pold.

All my spinning has a braid to flouro leader and I also fish gin clear water. The only baitcaster I own with a leader is the one throwing a Devils horse, impossible on straight braid.

I can't say anything negative about OT products. The camping and backpacking gear is pretty sturdy for what you pay. Recently went camping on a lake with a friend who had one of those SPEED tents, setups quickly and had a mattress with built in compressor, was impressed. Oh, can't speak of their baits though, my cheap cranks have always been Bomber.

We live in an area that attracts an enormous amount of hummingbirds. I personally put out 64oz of nectar per day.......6 feeders. Have to buy sugar in bulk at Costco. We have a wrap around deck with the front of the house being elevated so feeders are 15-20 feet off the ground. Bears are eliminating the feeders one by one and making a mess while waking us up each night. The wife says it would be cruel to stop feeding the birds. Tonight will be interesting as I have fishing line , Christmas bells, a Remington and rock salt. DNR has been notified. Oh, been feeding hummingbirds for many years and this is the first year that bears have been an issue ?

@GreenPig Yes, a degree of relentlessness seems to pay off.

I've had the same best friend my entire life and from the same small town my entire life. Married my 1st girlfriend that I've been with for 40 years....... guess I don't like change.

Wow we have dinosaurs here, who knew ? Happy birthday fellows.

@Functional Beautiful bow, congrats. Dual cams is the way to go. Imo

Your posts are amazing, gotta admit ?. My wife is literally a clone of Rachel Ray, I captain the grill and that's it.

@ol'crickety Maybe my issue this year with top water. A reckless abandonment approach without observation. Thinking top water will pay dividends at daylight when it hasn't this year. Wacky has trumped. ? All I can add is....... you're putting on a clinic ?

Drop-shot is killer here in the clear water. I Use the Gamakatsu Octopus hook. I throw it on a ML rod, 15# braid to 8# flouro leader. Hookup ratio is very good. Is the knot your tying keeping the hook shank horizontal ? And are you nose hooking the bait ? Actually learned the technique right here on Bass Resources shortly after joining and always have one tied on.

This is coming from someone who has not done well on top water this year and I've been on the water at daylight 3 days per week. I can only attribute my limited success to the amount of prop baits the fish see. I did catch my best fish of the day yesterday on a top water jerk bait " Rapala" but just not getting hit like past years. Cloudy, calm and early is where I've had the most success with top water " in years past " ? Frogs in pads or mat can be all day if you can find it, our lakes are limited. My personal favorites: Devil's Horse - best this year Buzzbaits Whopper plopper - terrible this year Frogs - most consistent when pads are available. Top water Jerk baits.

Was a serious archer for many years. My most accurate compounds were Bowtech then after I turned 60, went to Ten point Cross bow. Now I hunt with an air bow, loud but deadly.

@Bankbeater Few years back I bought a truck from another state and promptly got pulled over for excessive tint. I sprayed the tint with Windex and covered with plastic wrap......an hour later tint pealed off with ease.

Silver with a black back does well here in clear water, clear skies. Bone color on an overcast......and I have no idea why.