Darth-Baiter

i practice "less is more". TRUE STORY. i was shopping with the wife. walked into a store and this mega hot sales lady just started chatting me up. she showed me a cologne. L'Occitane. she said, "this is what Brad Pitt wears.". she spritzed me with the tiniest amount and my wife walks up and says, "that smells good. what is it?". i said, "it's what brad pitt wears.". we laugh. and i bought the stuff. it is all i do now. just the tiniest amount. LESS is more. but most times, i go with whatever smell the soap leaves me with. that lady could have sold me a ketchup sandwich even if i was wearing a white suit.

i bought a few reel covers and promptly lost them because i decided they were not for me. i dont bash on mine, but i dont baby them either. i never plan on selling one. if they go, i give them away. a kayak life hammers rods and reels. my focus on them functioning perfectly, aesthetically, i can tolerate some patina. i try to remember they are tools. like a hammer. a mechanical hammer that holds line

Funny you should mention it. my least favorite color (to me) is Kinkuro. basically copper and black. i throw it all the time subconciously thinking i will be okay if i lost it. it has been really good to me and my Kinkuro is my most battered looking jerkbait. things just like to smash it in anger. i think orange and black would be a better color description..but Kinkuro works. maybe it means orange in Japanese. dunno.

i do this out of muscle memory. i do however think FC line could benefit from going thru the eye twice. i havent had any "rod slapping water surface" moments when i lost a fish, YET. but it could happen.

yea. i bought a few baits from a Japanese based company and i get constant emails now. the most common is the email containing custom V110 colors. i think i got one this morning.

i love their colors. their names, get confusing. but whatever. i honestly pick what my eyes like. i try to stay with the usual suspect. i think the MB V110 Elegy Bone is the newest i grabbed. it looks like real fish scales. not sure it will fool a bass, but it fooled ME!! i got the mat black at the same time. last i heard, Darth Vader wants his lure back.

big bass. okay. this is a peacock bass. hard charging in the native waters of the Amazon. the guide suggest we use 65lb braid. another guide suggested much lighter line. he suggested 20-30lb braid on 2500 series spinning reels, and we use the drag. i plan on using the guide's rods, except the one travel rod already bought. i will bring my own reels for the familiarity. i will strip all the line for the trip and spool it up with......ughh..the two guides advice couldnt be more opposite. mostly topwater baits. 10lb fish..(i might be dreaming). i feel 40lb braids is sooooo strong. i have taken large Stripers with 20lb braid and 14lb flouro leaders. nothing was snapping, i wasnt cussing in frustration, etc. is 65lb braid overkill? i do know my friend that is going is all about overkill, so i could poach one of his reels if the fish are indeed mutants with knives for teeth. i am leaning towards 40. thoughts? after the trip..in the happy afterglow, i will probably strip all the braid and go back to the light stuff i have grown accustomed to .

might be all a moot point. i just blew 150% of my fun money for the year, and it is only January. at this point i will be yelling at my buds.."how deep are we?!"

what pins?!! my wife and i locked our down a decade ago. if she passes away, i am done. she has the PINS.

my dog thinks the turd in cat litter box is an Almond Roca candy.

it might just be an outflow. up over the berm there should be a water gate. a huge wheel you turn to release water if needed. if it is closed, i dont see it as anything but a home for fish.

always. and the 1800 number the credit card company.

amen to that!! i would be blessed to need a few more updates. go time.

i stuff the handle end into the footwell of the passenger side, and the rods go kitty (catty?) corner to the drivers side back. all bets are off if i have a passenger. we all usually meet at the boat launch. but with gas prices, i may soon start splitting fuel cost. in that case, i have a 6' bed. all my rods are in sleeves cinched together with a rod mule. i run them alongside my kayak with a carpenter clamp pinching them onto the same strap that ties my boat in. i can never leave my truck unattended. so no lunches.

my face is always funny. but they dont let you to be honest.

i dont own any alpha type reels. i have the full spectrum. old hand me down Lews and Abus..and some new Daiwa and Shimano. with respect to strength.. i would go at ANY fish i care to catch with any of them. from 1lb white bass to a dream fish of a 10lb striper. any of them i would punch a bait into heavy weed mats. the reels alone are robust. just need to make the rest of the system match the technique somehow. i was throwing light lures with any of them at one time or another before forums like this told me i was wrong and needed light shallow spools i am going overseas to fish soon. i am bringing one of the hand me downs. haha..

its always bittersweet. without considering that i am now 10 years older than when i did it last time (time flies!)... my Passport is sadly kinda new looking. i have plenty of stamps in it. and i have lots of blank space as well!! one stamp is from the top of Machu Pichu. i wish i traveled more. lots more. i am going to fish Brazil to scratch that off anything resembling a bucket list. hench the need for a new book. i have 10 new years to batter this new passport. not mutilate it, but put a nice travel patina on it. bitter thinking of my plans i had in my mind 10 years ago. and sweet thinking of new lands to check out upcoming. crazy how 10 years blinked right past me. dang it...

i dont know about any crayfish smelling excretion...but there is definately something being excreted in this thread!! hahah..sorry, i couldnt resist that low hanging fruit.

i think the first time, i looked it was a typo. full pool at 451 feet just makes sense to me and my feeble mind. for sure, next time i find myself in the room with a few USACE types and i am gonna tap on their shoulder and ask. you my friend are a very interesting person to me. i look at a big pile of data and i could break out in hives.

Thanks everyone. Not gonna pretend I fully understand. But a lot happened in five days! But note the “full pool” is now 451 feet. Maybe the initial 200 was a typo? Same lake.

I have very little experience with Copper ammo. I tried it. I bought some for a 257 Weatherby magnum and it was a bit of a yard sale. total mess. I used the Barnes TSX. I remember shooting them down range and the guy next to me (total stranger) said.."where are you aiming?" hah..my rifle was very accurate with Weatherby ammo. it was like lightning (never hits the same place twice) with the copper. not only that, it seemed to really foul my barrel. it took some effort to clean it. my 30.06 is not finicky at all. I can go back and forth. weird.

I bet I could spend $12k mimicking any discussion on that Tiny Boat Nation Forum. this is turnkey. for the record, my wife said, "NO". justkiddingididntask.

Pillsbury is going to be sick!!! heheheh...such a fun lake.

Backup for blackouts I suppose. if I buy just the DL battery I don’t need a box?

I rarely scout out early. I’ll mostly bring my kayak and go for it. The one time did scout without my kayak, I have yet to fish. It does require lifting my kayak over a fence.