Darth-Baiter

hahha. yup. lessons learned. i keep an insulated bottle in my truck stuffed full of ice. i fill the voids with water. by the time i am done fishing, the bottle has a few cubes left, but it is full of icecream-headache level cold water which i slug on the drive home. saves me the hangover. it so boring. a senko tex rig weightless. i just let it drop horizontal. the tail undulates. if nothing..a quick twitch of the rod tip to make it act fluke-like. nothing? i bring it back and target another weed void. i have to stand on my kayak so i can see the missing weeds poking out of the water..and i send it. there are still weeds, but they have yet to reach the surface. the bass are there. when they bite, they immediately dive into the thick stuff. they all feel huge covered in the daily salad mix.

i just went to a meeting. i wore a Simms button up. some people asked, "you going fishing?". apparently, i at least look the part. FYI, the Simms Big Sky shirts are pretty great. you can fish and then follow up eating at a restaurant without feeling out of place. SPF50 and it looks like a city shirt.

weighted beast hooks. i'm fishing the 3.8's and i use a EWG hook, and i put a tiny split shot on the line right in front. it spirals down. i'm impressed as all get out, but the fish think it looks dumb. zero bites here domestically. in Mexico, it on En Fuego. i think a weighted hook it would hang glider down.

my dad didnt fish. if i had kids, they would think we were Japanese.

very cool!! tiny nails?

zero challenge. agreed

was considering this one. " If you have peddles, I wouldn't bother spending what I spent on a Werner Camano." @Bass Junke that is solid advice. great advice. i do however, paddle quite often. more than i should. i like standing and paddling around looking for "proof of life" out on the waters. probably why my current paddle is creaking and cracking..from the strains of use while standing.

i use the OEM Hobie paddle. i think there is a crack somewhere. when i push off of rocks, i can feel the crack..or hear it. so the clock is ticking. i get notifications from Bending Branches all the time. I think their "Factory Seconds" deal is fairly appetizing. lighter, stiffer, better looking? is a better paddle worth the cost of admission? my OEM Hobie paddle drips so much water on me. hahah

^^^Shrewed!!! i kinda like the way she thinks!!! diabolical!!

they are a three day process for me here on the west coast. quick!! and my wife can recognize a TW box driving down the street.

everywhere i visit, i bring a bottle or two of Sonoma Distillery Cherrywood Rye. it is a great last minute gift. the stuff is delicious. when i drank, it was the deer camp booze of choice. we killed a bottle so quickly. i took one to OK striper camp and it was emptied by a group of fisherman at the camp next to us. they loved it. enough they even quit giving me crap about me living in CA. hahahha...

its a great fish. Elephant butte used to boil with them. the feeding frenzy was real. my brother caught one with a nail clipper he attached a hook to. they bit everything. but back in the day, it was the Sassy Shad.

true story. it was my second time fishing Clearlake. i was skunked the first time. hard skunk. i was flailing around the lake like doofus. i went back with a clear agenda. slow down and pay attention. it was Oct. another couple were loading in their kayaks as well. the husband (assuming) tells me they are shallow and to cast at the banks. it felt like a lie. i kept with my agenda. i found a tiny stick poking up out of the water way out deep. i parked my kayak on top and even my cheap fish finder at the time lit up like a christmas tree. i pull off that tree, do a uturn and casted out a worm. i got hit right away. FIRST CLEARLAKE bass. two young kids took my pic from their bass boat. i orbited that tree for 7 hours pulling out fish. so much fun. they were not against the banks. i would have skunked if i listened.

i throw the Grass piece way more if i am using stuff in that category. sadly, i only have one left.

you sold a suspect reel? haha in your price range, my Daiwa Procyon AL in 2500 is fantastic. great reel for the money. it shouldnt be that good and reliable, but it is.

I hit the fishing button. It tracks number of fish caught. I just have to remember to log it. It will track on a map where I got bit. Plus time in water, weather tides alerts, sunset. Etc. the things is daunting. Lots of features.

Bonus. They are inexpensive usually

I stuff a tiny bit of stick bait up inside there so the hook has something moe to bite into. Then just Texas rig it. I do cut a slit in the tube opposite the hook point do it is squishier and the hook sticks the fish easier. I have use a biullet worm hook but now I free fig it all.

hopping it. but the bass usually hit right after the cast and the thing is spiraling downwards. I was in 11 feet of water.

I have Simms wading sneakers. I bought them sized to wear without socks. Great boot. Offers great foot protection when I partially wade in to hop into my kayak. I’ve waded a stream with them. They take so long to dry! And the funk is atrocious. It’s not a foot odor. More musty? I’ve run them thru the wash w my car drying towels. They come out great, but once by I step them into a lake, phoosh. Funk city. This is my summer kayak shoe. I’d hate to step on a fishhook at the docks. Im soaking them in oxy-clean now. Then more sun drying. Any tips from you wader types?

Yay!

is it wrong that I now want bone-colored tubes? finger poised over "add to cart". these are expensive!!

Gah. I love bass fishing. It’s tough. And I have to do my part like cast accurately. it was a scorching day. My face was like smeared with sunscreen the whole time. The fish went deep. 10 feet deep water with 10 foot tall grass. Nobody could or wanted to navigate the mess with their boats. Me on my kayak had the north section all to myself. Water was invisible- clear. Long bomb cast into the grass pockets was fun. Lots of 4’s and 1’s. Not much in between. im still exploring salt water fishing, but I’ll never stop chasing bass. Ever.

Today was a grind. Lots of thick grass growing to the surface. I used a Tex-rig worm, weightless and got it done. This rod punches way above its weight class. I think I paid $110 for it (twice - I sank the the first one). Not good looking at to me, and it matches no reel ever. Ha! light, sensitive, easy to cast accurately, and it’s bendy enough to fight fish with fun. I’ve yet to replace it with a more $ rod. It’s my dropshot champion, and it flat out sends a SENKO like a dart. And the bait keeper is in my preferred location (rare) Its hardly ever mentioned here on this forum. Except by me?

that is an awesome bass!!! wow.