galyonj

Cosigned. Especially if the rise is accompanied by a drop in clarity (I've never seen one without the other here, but @TnRiver46 probably has because he's secretly an otter ), I bet you'll find them up and/or holding real tight to something solid.

Never done that, but I did use the back-half of a Cut-R worm on a swim jig the other day. Didn't get bit, but it looked really nice in the water. I don't see why it wouldn't work. It might be fun to use a magnum trick worm or something that has a lot of mass and floats a bit, and then you could treat the whole thing like a massive shakey head.

The only time I rig a paddletail/boottail upside down is when I'm using it as a chatterbait trailer. And, realistically, it doesn't matter what I do with a chatterbait because I never catch anything on them. I only ever throw them when I'm bored and frustrated because I think they're neat.

I've never used their stuff and I don't know why because some of it looks really good (especially for the price). Their version of tilapia is a really nice color.

I figured the word choice was safe given the richly-deserved reputation many HOA get of becoming tinpot dictatorships. That being the case, though, I guess we're going back to Operation Saint Nick, and covertly adding some cover to it. And then you could maybe accidentally fling a mess of pondweed seeds into it. Whoopsie daisy.

Chuck a dozen or so Christmas trees in there when nobody's looking. Real talk, though: depending on what specific brand of megalomaniac sits on the board of your HOA, you might be able to sweet talk your way into appointing yourself minister of pond health or whatever you wanna call the position, and you can go crazy with ideas that'll make the fish happier and healthier and bigger and more fun to catch.

I grew up here in the Tennessee valley, and I had to accept very early on that anything that has me outside between April and October means that I'm gonna be pouring sweat. Guess you just learn to live with it. I've lived here 40 years and I think if I was gonna acclimate, I would have by now.

If it were me, I'd use as light a jighead as I could get away with given the sitch vis a vis current strength and vegetation. I'm learning that the weight I think I need is usually quite a bit more than what the situation actually calls for. You don't necessarily want it, like, rocketing down to the bottom. @plawren53202 suggested Creek Fishing Adventures, who is super legit; and I'd like to add a rec for Online Outdoorsman, who is ALL ABOUT kayak fishing and small lures. I've been watching a lot of Ethan's stuff trying to learn about ned rigs and such.

Where in TN? Not cause I wanna give super secret recommendations, I'm just nosy.

When I put a new leader on, I'll take the cut end and stretch my arms out so that the untied/untrimmed leader length matches roughly whatever my wingspan is. I've tried long enough to go into the spool, but that juice never seemed worth the squeeze to me. Never had the line break outside the knot in the way you're describing because of it, though.

I'm not ready to step to the price point of a Vision 110, but I'm happy to report that those H2O jerkbaits will flat out catch some fish for me. The hooks are alright. I don't rush to change them, but I much prefer a gammy short shank EWG.

Are you me?

Man…now I want some churros.

Man, I love those Airtail Wigglers. They move enough on their own that there's no reason to do anything but deadstick.

Respect. Small details make or break a project. Also I'm stupid jealous that you have legible handwriting.

This is the truth right here.

Found this over the winter, the hooks were trashed, but the rest of the metal on it looked okay. Cleaned it up, threw a treble on it, and have yet to catch anything on it.

@Bluegillslayer I would be willing to bet, if there truly aren't many public spots, that there are a lot of people just like we're complaining about in this thread trashing that place on the daily.

So I have MS and I work in the medical industry. I'm beyond serious about it, and you better believe that I wear a mask as often as prudence would dictate. But I don't wear a mask when I'm out fishing, because one of the primary goals of going fishing, for me, is to be as far as I can reasonably get from another human being and, in fact, any reminders that other human beings even exist. As a shut-in, this pandemic is my time to shine.

Dude, every time I come back to this thread I remember something else that hacks me off. It's kind of cathartic.

I will catch a water snake one of these days. They're adorable. Got close to one that didn't notice me on the bank above him a little while back, but as soon as I loved he noped out of there.

Says you. lol

I mostly look like I wanna be left alone – which is okay, because I do – but every so often someone clueless or determined enough comes along and I have to deal with them. And it sucks, because I'm lucky if I ever get a full hour stretch to do any fishing at all, so every second I spend humoring some obtuse moron is a second lost before I have to go back to the things I that I fish to escape from.

Yes. To expand on that, how about anybody attempting to start a conversation while I'm trying to fish? I don't mind saying hi and a quick good luck as we pass each other, but I'm out here to fish, as you can plainly see by the fact that it looks like a tackle aisle exploded at my feet. Go bother somebody else.