BrianMDTX

••Reminder set for first post in “smallest bag” thread•• 😂

Sounds sacrilegious, but my first tackle purchase of 2025. Did I “need” it? Probably not. But BM was in my ear and Academy was close by, so what the heck. Everything in green pumpkin lol. A Bitsy mini flipping jig, 6” Zoom Lizards, 3.75” Keitech Rage Swimmers and yet another pack of Strike King Rage Craws lol.

I was taken as a guest to hunt a leased property years ago. No deer killed lol, but I thanked the landowners and told them if they ever wanted to fly reduced fare to let me know. Six months later the wife asked if I could get her daughter tickets to Orlando (which I did). I was put on a waiting list to join the lease, at #8. A month later the husband invited me to a seminar at the property by some hunting magazine writer on how to improve property. I went, and it was informative. When over, the husband quietly told me that his wife had moved me into the #1 slot and they had an opening. I became a lease member that fall. That first year I e-mailed the husband (he ran the lease) after every hunt, letting him know how it went, and if I noticed any trespassing, etc. Once, I saw a group of three hunters (that were lease members) trespass hundreds of yards onto his neighbor’s land to drive deer. I asked the husband if we had permission to hunt his neighbor’s land and the answer was “Hell no!” So I let him know what I saw. They were kicked off the lease. That summer, the landowners asked to meet me, and offered me free access to the property if I agreed to take over running the lease. I quickly agreed. I weeded out untrustworthy hunters, made a large 3’x4’ laminated topo map glued onto sheet steel and mounted it in a sealed cabinet, mounted on wood posts. Every member got a membership card that was to be carried and shown on demand (as not all members knew each other), and every member was issued a numbered magnet, which they put on the map at the location they would be hunting that day (reduced conflicts and kept others from spooking game). I collected the annual fees and paid the landowner. I ran the lease for 12 years, until the landowners underwent a divorce and sold the land to developers. The point is…landowners own the land. They paid for it, they pay the taxes on it, and they have the liability for it. Any landowner that allows you to fish their waters or hunt their lands is a rare breed today. Don’t take advantage of their good nature, whether the access is free or a lease. Take care of the woods and water better than you would you own. As you don’t own it. And one day that access may disappear.

“Hmm…do I NEED another pack of Senkos? Do I?” 😂

Not on a boat lol. But if you find unfrosted brown sugar cinnamon Pop-Tarts, toast one well (starts to brown) and then take a small pat of butter and let it melt onto the Pop-Tart. It’s darned good!

I have coffee before I leave (if close) and/or on the way (if it’s a drive), and water on the boat. I never eat while fishing. It takes time away from fishing.

Even though a digital camera doesn’t waste film, I didn’t waste the time to take pics of the two dinks and one superdink bass I caught today. I beat the skunk but that was about it. Two on a Zoom Trick and one on a Yum Dinger. Oh well! It’s only mid-March lol.

All my baitcasters are spooled with mono or hybrid, except for my frog rig. All my spinning reels are braid-to-leader. I’ll never spool a spinning reel with straight mono again.

@Swamp Girl I love those lyrics!

The “schlorp” when a big bass sucks down a popper. Hearing my bait “skip-skip-skip” under cover and then watching the slack line take off and the rod bends. The buzzing of dragonflies in summer when casting baits around reeds.

I so agree that the Aird-X MHF is more of a MHMF. I also have a MF, and I don’t find a lot of difference between the two. Both have Black Max reels on them. One is spooled with 10 lb. Big Game (MF) and the other with 12 lb. Yo Zuri Hybrid (MHF). I use other rigs more, but still use them every once in a while.

I may lose out on some opportunities not fishing big lakes and reservoirs, but it sure is quiet and peaceful being the only boat in the pond 99% of the time!

I could. Getting back up? Nah.

Ok, so far it looks like zero use as a jig trailer. So it looks like I’ll be Texas rigging some lizards soon!

I seldom if ever fish a Carolina Rig, lol. Maybe I should start.

@Catt and @BassKat, how are you rigging them? I was thinking more on a jig than a TR but am open to either.

I have never been a big user of lizard baits. But the spawn is starting here in SE Texas and we do have an abundance of lizards here. So I’m trying to avoid the call of the BM and buying baits that maybe I don’t need, but his siren song is that a TR lizard or a jig with a lizard trailer may be just the ticket. So, do lizard baits really offer anything over and above other creature or craw baits? And do you right them more as a TR or as a jig trailer (or other?).

It’s one area where an inflatable does suffer. Although it did conserve battery power and I was making 5 kts easy!

Only had time to fish until 11:00 this morning. Very breezy. I had two 3.5-4.0 lb. bass hit an AJ Special, and another smaller one hit a Yum Dinger TR, but lost all 3. I don’t think they ever got hooked but were mouthing the bait. Beached the boat and decided to take a few last casts with a Zoom Trick weightless TR. The second cast was a far one, and as the line sank it took off. Not big, but avoided the skunk!

Imagine that at one time, Dustin Hoffman slept on Gene Hackman’s floor for a few weeks, after which Hackman set him up in an apartment with a roommate, Robert Duvall. Three great actors. All Academy Award winners.

Get well soon, Catt!

“Walking ‘cross the parking lot at H‑E‑B, Looked down on the ground and what did I see? Something long and brown that made me say ‘whoa!’ But it weren’t from a dog, it was a 5” Senko!” An old, bloated Senko at that. I’m sure many thought it was something else. I should have picked it up. Probably would have freaked a lot of folks out lol.

I’m with you. I am NOT a lover of fishing crankbaits. If I do, it’s a squarebill more than anything. I probably limit myself, but I simply do not enjoy constant casting, cranking, casting, etc.

Anyone can catch a big bass, just as any deer hunter can kill a huge trophy buck. Right place at the right time. But consistently is not luck, it’s skill. And knowledge.

So, I guess I lost sight of the fact that I actually do cut off a bit of the braid when tying on a new leader. Not much, but some. Probably less than 8”-10” at most. Evidently that’s been enough to avoid any issues. Probably going to put new leaders on all my rigs soon to get ready for spring anyway.