Luke Barnes

Got the delivery confirmation email so @Gera you have a box waiting for you! I hope you enjoy it and can use what is in it! Give it the shake and rattle test if you want..... it will rattle!!

I opened my box and was very happy. I'm excited to try some of the stuff out when the water warms up but there are a few things I will use in the colder weather so a great box!!! I shipped mine yesterday FedEx Express so it will arrive to the lucky person Monday!

I got my box today and immediately felt bad that i forgot to take my box to ship off from work today. So I will send it tomorrow, overnight, to be there Monday. I work in supply chain so I will make sure it arrives Monday!!!

This year is the first time I have been asked for my license and did not have it. It was only the second time I have been checked in my life. My wife and I were at a small city lake on a Sunday. She was out on her kayak and I was bank fishing. On a previous outing I had given her my license to keep in her backpack because she was fishing and didn't have a license and since my is a lifetime disabled veterans license, if she got checked i was hoping the warden would give her some leniency. She never got checked and I forgot it in her backpack. So I get checked while I'm bank fishing and my license is in her backpack, out on the water, with her in her kayak. I tell the warden I'm a vet and I have a lifetime and he sees my drivers license with the veteran flag on it and says oh got ya. Thanks for your service and good luck fishing. I was scared I would get a ticket but he was super cool and trusted I had it.

You really know your fly fishing. Do you use flies where and when you would certain lures on traditional gear? Like do you use flies for bass in certain weather or locations only?

Heavier weights that your rod can handle. Don't exceed the lure rating on your rod but the heavier lures can cast further.

I work in supply chain and you aren't lying. It's everywhere, for everything that is hard to source or the places that have stock are charging a premium. Supply and demand makes things increasingly expensive, not just inflation. I don't have any local tackle shops but I don't buy any fishing related stuff anymore either.

Pitch em and start fresh

I second that. Get the KVD line conditioner. It works.

I know next to nothing about fly lie and all the flies i throw are pretty small. I'm thinking more about being able to maneuver a fish out of cover without breaking off.

Man you just described my life and thought process to a T! It is a challenge but my family is my top priority so thank you for reminding me, the fish will be there whenever I get a chance. My kids will grow and eventually want less and less to do with me so I will enjoy it while I can. But that cycle of stress is terrible and exhausting and like you I stay up way too late doing what I had been wanting to do throughout the day. Thanks for sharing with me!

What branch were you in? I was Army from 2003-2010 and got to visit the middle east beaches of Iraq for 27 months.

From what I have seen, live scope and the like, are allowing anglers to find these fish and target them. Whereas before it was a more of a guess about the size and all that. I could be very wrong though.

As some may have noticed in my posts, I tend to be negative alot and my mood towards fishing changes alot. I know why and that is clinical depression and ptsd that I deal with but....!!!! I finally figured out what makes me stick with bass fishing and it's you all. I don't get out to fish very often anymore because we had our third child, new job that is 5 days a week where my last job was 4 ten hour days so I ways had Friday to fish. So the actual fishing part has really been weighing hard on me and I've been very, VERY, depressed about not being able to fish much anymore. But I can't step away because I figured out I love the talk, the comradery, the investigating lures and bodies of water. The logic that goes into which bait to use when, where, and how. I like the community and the people. So I like alot of things about bass fishing and I'm trying to focus on those things and not the fact I don't get to actually fish. Posting this stuff here is like therapy to me, voicing my thoughts and feelings. So thank you to everyone who has taken the time to talk to me.

That's cool. Good for you!! I have my Disabled Veterans lifetime fishing/hunting combo so thankfully I don't need to worry about that!

I would like to do this, this year.

I think it would be awesome and I would love to do it. I would love to have a pro come with me to a local heavily pressured pond and use my stuff and teach me what to use, where to use it, and when to use it, instead of what I am doing. I would soak up all that like a sponge. What am I doing wrong at such and such body of water.

Thank you for the support. I am honored to have served and am a better person for it.

I've tried this on a swimjig and didn't like it but I did throw it on a belly weighted underspin type hook and caught one bass on it but haven't tried it stand alone since. If used more like a fluke it's pretty cool but if used like a swimbait get the paddletail version.

I'm a very novice fly fisherman. Have caught small bass under a pound. Maybe 10" or less. I want to target bigger bass and crappie with flies but I'm worried my setup won't handle it. I have a 9' 5wt Pflueger I bought at BPS as a combo. No idea what kind of line and backing it has but I have a 2# mono tippet on the leader. Probably will bump that up to 8# mono if I get more serious about bass. Mainly I use it to catch panfish and sometimes to use them as bait. Guess I should add I have a pretty decent assortment of flies. My favorite are hand tied ants, bees, and bugs that were given to me. I have nymphs and other flies but not sure what they imitate.

My take away from all the replies is don't be afraid go cover water so I will throw a swim jig to cover water. But if that isn't getting bit ill switch to a small paddletail like mentioned. I don't have any of the Owner Flashy Swimmers but I have some SK belly weighted and bladed swimbait hooks I may try with different paddletails. I rarely throw straight paddletails not as a trailer but I think I need to start. I'll definitely have a t rig tied on a rod, but my big question was really if they will be moving and chasing or shut down, but I also realize I won't know that until I get there.

Here is the situation. Northeast Oklahoma, small city lake, no idea how to judge acreage. It's been really nice and in the 70s or warmer during the day but gets low 40s at night. It is supposed to rain Friday night and I might have the chance to go fishing with my step dad on his Jon boat saturday afternoon. We always have a great time regardless, but I'm worried that it is going to be a cold rain and shut the bite off for a day or two. We will be there basically post frontal plus a possible cold rain, what would you throw at them? I believe there are shad in the lake, it's grassy and not very rocky. Has two or three creeks leading into it. I'm trying to give as much info as possible to help give everyone an idea. It's called Lake Jackson around Mounds, OK. My initial thoughts are to go slower with a t-rig and target visible cover with a wacky rig. If it was not crappy conditions I would throw a swim jig and try covering a ton of water but I feel like I'll need to slow down and probably end up just going finesse at high percentage areas. But I'll end with..... What would you throw?

I'm there right now. Sold 1 out of 3 of my best baitcasting setups and other two will hopefully sell soon. Life, work, kids, wife, projects, have all taken my time up and I don't see a whole lot of light at the end of the tunnel. I can't fish enough to satisfy my obsession or to stay practiced and feeling on the top of my game, so it's time to hang it up for a while. I know it is all or nothing but with depression and ptsd still floating around in my head, that's the way it is right now. Maybe in a few years I'll pick it back up but we will see.

That is my dilemma. I want the hooks to bend if snagged but not on a fish. I know I want my cake and to eat it too. Just trying to find a happy enough medium. I am convinced though that the next one I get will not have blades. Not sure I know of any within an hour drive of me, but my take away is that the clearer the water, the better.

To elaborate on what I was thinking, I feel I could get all of that knowledge and information from people already here and not have to weed through sponsor pushing to get the information. Do I think they could tell me anything that you or some of the other long time, super experienced people here couldn't tell me? No.