Big Hands

From that paragon of true facts, Wikipedia: "Inanda Dam is an earth-fill type dam located on the Mgeni River . . . . It was established in 1989 and it's primary purpose is to serve for domestic and industrial use." No mention of any power generation taking place. Looks to cover about 3,600 surface acres when full. Lots of hyacinth present. Post spawn conditions.

It's really only in that corner where the ramp meets the dam. Probably 100 yards across the ramp, and about 75 yards on the face of the dam. Other than that, it looks pretty normal. If you need to launch a boat, that will get messy. Of course, if the wind starts blowing from the other direction, it could be gone pretty quickly.

I was told by the lifeguard on duty that over the years they have dealt with similar situations, except that the water level was falling, so as the water fell, they could clean it off of the ramp. But this is a little different in that the water is generally stable or rising, so that won't work. She said that they are attempting to find a way to get it cleaned up though.

Me too, that and a pair of Aftco Tactical shorts. Thrilled with both.

Another shot of the debris somebody took yesterday. They will let us launch though, but recommended that you use either a paddle or trolling motor to get away or into the dock. It has been reported that people have spent from a half hour to two hours to wash the crap off after they get home, and there is going to be some trapped between the bunks and the hull that will just be there until the next time you launch.

Just a pic to show what that wad of debris looks like as of 1/2/22. It's primarily from the wildfires that plagued the local mountains recently that has washed down the slopes, and by way of the creeks that flow into the lake. Combine that with the winds out of the northeast, and this is the result.

For the past couple weeks, it has been averaging over two feet per day. Overall, from it's lowest point just after mid-October, it has risen 46 feet and currently sits at just under 1,420 feet above sea level. October 21st it was at just over 1,373 feet above sea level. The last day I fished there was December 3rd and it was just over 1,387 feet above sea level. The average over the last few weeks is crazy. At this rate it could potentially fill up sometime in February. I may try to get out Sunday if the weather permits. It has been raining hard or blowing for several days lately. One day (the last time I attempted to fish there), they decided to not allow us to launch because of the debris that had blown into the ramp. Several boats got clogged up from it the day before.

Disclaimer: I am nowhere near being a good jerkbait angler. I fish with them, I have caught some fish with them, but they are not my forte by any stretch of anyone's imagination. I have four Phenix Feather casting rods: 7'1" H, 7'7" MH, 7'1" ML, and 7'1" L. They don't make a medium power, or I would probably have one of those too. Personally I think they all fish a little lighter than what other brand rods do. . . but just a little lighter. I also have a SLX 6'10" M/XF (SLXCX610M), which is one of the rods the TB guys recommend for a budget jerkbait rod. I also think it's a great jerkbait rod for the price you pay for one. The 8.5 pounder I caught with it using a Vision 110 makes it hard to say anything negative. It has an XF action which makes it easier to kill the forward momentum if that's the way you like to fish jerkbaits. I also fish jerkbaits with a couple of the Phenix Composite-X rods (X-13 and X-12) that have a mod fast action. I think the different rods could make it easier to do one thing easier than another, but a skilled angler could probably also use a single rod, and impart different actions to the baits to make them do different things. I will say that it never occurred to me to use the 7'7" MH with a jerkbait because I figured that the fast action combined with a MH power may not be the best way to keep a fish pinned on a treble hook. And the 6'9" Feather is an XF action so it might (in my mind anyway) have a little too much backbone for that type of fishing. I don't have the SLX MH, but have checked them out for general use, and wasn't particularly impressed. The balance seemed a bit bulky and tip heavy and I have read of others having the same opinion. If I was going to use a MH rod for any treble baits for jerkbait fishing, I would probably want it to have no more than a mod-fast action. You can certainly fish Texas rig plastics and crankbaits with the same MH rod, but that rod IMHO is not going to excel at both techniques. Maybe in a lighter action like a ML, but in my neck of the woods, a MH/F or MH/XF is not a choice small crankbait rod, nor is it a finesse texas rig rod. I have two of what I consider finesse casting combos, but neither is true BFS, more like BFS-adjacent. To me, what I call 'finesse' is not what I would call true BFS. I don't currently fish true BFS stuff.When I say 'finesse', I am referring to 12 to 15 lb braid with 6 to 8 lb fluoro leaders. TO ME, BFS is lighter than that, say 8 to 10 lb braid with 3 to 6 lb leaders. Two different animals. Both of my fineese rigs have Curado BFS reels with 15 lb braid and I use 6 to 8 lb leaders. They are both Feather casting rods (a L and a ML). I would throw smaller crankbaits with either, and I do throw finesse texas rig plastics with both. When I bought the L, I was looking to get a small crankbait rod, and was originally looking at the X-9 Composite-X, but side-by-side, they had nearly the same action and the Feather was noticeably lighter in weight. No brainer for me as I can use it for both techniques and the Feather is lighter. Texas rig plastics with 1/4 oz or less sinkers with either combo. I will say that the drag on the Curado BFS is not like your dad's baitcaster. They are excellent with 6 to 8 lb leaders, but I think 10 lb could put the hurt on the drag washers and you'd have to crank it down pretty firmly to break off 10 lb line. For night fishing this past summer I really liked the Feather ML with texas rig 7" Power Worms (with the first three 'bulbs' cut off) with 1/8 to 1/4 oz tungsten weights on 8 lb leader. I know I am kinda ramblin'. Verbosity is my super power, LOL. Bottom line is that I don't think a MH/F or MH/XF is going to be a good rod for finesse t-rigs, small crankbaits, or jerkbait fishing. But, I think that the SLXCX610M could be decent for all of those activities, as could the Feather FTX-71ML or even the FTX-71L. JMHO. Good luck with your search.

There's primarily one thing that I want to accomplish when I go fishing. If I accomplish that, the rest will take care of itself: Enjoy my time/have fun. The older I get, the more important this is to me. If I do that, the rest will take care itself. I'll want to do all the things that should allow for me to improve. I'll study, learn, practice, read, watch videos, organize tackle, maintain gear, try new things, get better at things I already do. Sometimes fishing is just about getting out on the water, maybe going for a swim and just soaking in the water on a hot summer day. Sometimes it's about helping someone catch fish, or learning from someone else how to do something. Sometimes it's about spending time with friends, or meeting new friends. Sometimes I just want to cruise around in my boat.

I moved to my current area specifically so I could fish easily and often, as in for three or four hours after work if I want to. It has been somewhat good in that respect because I can do that and fish all year. But, I think I am ready to try something different and be able to fish when and where I want for the most part. The cost of living for retirees will also be a reason for me leaving. My focus will be on somewhere in the central-southeast quadrant of the country. Basically, head east along the I-10/I-20/I-40 corridor and I'll know it when I get there. Texas seems like a good area for me, and I also hear a lot of good things about Tennessee.

The lake came up four feet yesterday alone and fourteen feet in the past week 8-) You better not take a nap if you're shore fishing.

And that's when the fight began. . . .

Split grip spinning rods? No fingers in front of the reel foot? Long fingernails? Unsealed cork? ;~)

I like spreadsheets maybe more than most, but not as much as others. My longest formula is 247 characters (it's an IF/AND formula). I made a spreadsheet calculating gear inches and top speeds at different cadences for bicycles for each gear combination just to see if I could do it. I'm also an aerospace refugee from a ways back (15 years at Northrop before they merged with Grumman). I have made mortgage amortization spreadsheets, NCAA March Madness and FIFA World Cup trackers, and lots of other odd spreadsheets just for S's & G's. I taught beginning and intermediate Excel classes for the past 12 years. All that to say that I have absolutely no desire to make a fishing spreadsheet.

Yes, it is the same park with what we called the 'Frisbee Golf' course. Bass, trout, catfish and bluegill.

Same here. Literally EVERY bass I caught this year was caught on soft plastic. Not for a lack of trying though. I try different things for at least a little while pretty much every trip. My top baits were (the keys to my castle, LOL): Winter . . . . Fall Setup: Carolina Rig (3/4 oz to 1 oz weight with a 4 ft 8 lb fluoro leader and either Cover Shot or Rebarb hooks) Baits: Keitech 3.5" & 4" Swing Impact Colors: Electric Shad Other similar colors. . . . Keitech 2.8" and 3.8" Sexy Impact Colors: Electric Shad I tried many other various baits that were similar to the Keitech Swing Impact, and caught fish on most of them, but the Swing Impact attracted the most bites IMHO. Spring/Summer Setup: Dropshot (1/16th to 18th ounce dropshot sinker with Owner Wacky hook in Camo Green - weedless and non-weedless, 6" to 18" above weight, on M/F spinning rod with 10 lb braid to 8 lb fluoro leader) Baits: Jackall 4.8" Flick Shake - wacky rig Colors: Pumpkin Pepper Cola Green Pumpkin Pepper Roboworm 4.5" (straight, curly, and fat, nose hooked with exposed barb) Colors: MM-III Oxblood w/red flake Hologram Shad Yamamoto 5" Senko - wacky rig with #10 O-ring Colors: #297 Green Pumpkin w/black flake #953 Watermelon Copper Orange Red Laminate Setup: Weightless Wacky (no weight, with Owner Wacky hook in Camo Green - weedless and non-weedless on 10 lb braid tied to 8 lb fluoro leader, mostly spinning gear, but also on semi-BFS casting rigs) = KILLER!!! . . . . . KILLER!!! Baits: Yamamoto 5" Senko - wacky rig with #10 O-ring Colors: #297 Green Pumpkin w/black flake #953 Watermelon Copper Orange Red Laminate Setup: Texas rig (1/16th to 3/8 ounce tungsten worm weight on semi-BFS L/F and ML/F casting rig with 15 lb braid with 8 lb fluoro leader). Baits: Roboworm 4.5" (straight, curly, and fat, nose hooked with exposed barb) and 6" (straight) Colors: MM-III Oxblood w/red flake Hologram Shad Night Fishing (summer) Setup: Texas rig (1/16th to 3/8 ounce tungsten worm weight on semi-BFS L/F and ML/F casting rig with 15 lb braid with 8 lb fluoro leader). Baits: Berkley 7" Ribbon Tail Power Worm - cutoff first three beads Colors: Black

Well done! You can catch bass at 50 to 60 feet deep in the winter if that's where they are, but IME it's not necessary. Last winter, I caught fish every trip and never had to fish deeper than 25 feet. Tom's post above this is SPOT ON.

No biggie, but you can allow others to share the screen without actually transferring control.

We had temps in the mid-80's last weekend. Tomorrow, a high of 53° with a 90% chance of rain. I know, I know. . . . that's t-shirt weather for some of y'all.

Thanks, I appreciate the detailed, thoughtful response. We all have our own ways and theories, and it's far more likely that there are several paths up the same mountain that will all get us there. And those are two gorgeous smallies right there.

I imagine there are fine details to the selection of replacement treble hooks for all of these baits, but jerkbaits are the most perplexing to me, especially those known for being balanced in a particular way. The Vision 110 comes to mind for me because I had an interesting experience replacing the trebles on one that had become inadvertently attached to a tackle bag so badly that I was either going to have to severely damage the bag or sacrifice the hooks. The decision to sacrifice the hooks began my odyssey of getting the bait to be pretty neutral at rest in the water similar to the way it had been when it was new. . . . and I got to watch an 8.5 pounder charge it from several feet away and annihilate it. The first hooks and split rings I used were ST-36 or ST-35 (can't remember for sure) and some split ring that I don't remember the origin of either. What I do remember is that the bait would steadily sink instead of lingering at roughly the same spot. I suppose that there might be times when a sinking bait might be the ticket, but I just wanted my lucky Vision 110 to be what it was. I eventually found some original Megabass trebles with the outward barbs just like the originals. But that wasn't the end of the story. The bait still wasn't very neutral, and it turned out to be the split rings. I ended up getting some different sizes and strength split rings and really had to play around with it in my garage wash basin to get it to sit pretty neutral (not really sinking) and slightly nose down like it used to when new. the split rings are all different, but the trebles are original now. I never could find out what split rings Megabass uses so I had to mix and match on my own. So, you do seem to genuinely detailed deliberate in this regard, and I am curious why you do what you do to your jerkbaits and what concerns you have when replacing hooks on them?

I've got three different mod fast combos for cranking. In spinning, I have (all fast action) L, ML, M (3), and a MH. In casting, I have (all fast action), L, ML, M, MH (2), and a H. Seems like I have things covered, with a little redundancy in the most popular spinning and casting sizes. I think I'm good for a while. Time to just go fishing.