Darth-Baiter

I was 18 when I launched my first boat. my mom bought it for us two boys. my bro was 14. older dude next to us, "you kids put the drain plug in?" "what drain plug?" it was still on the trailer so we pulled it out and he showed it to us. never forgot it ever again...I got that one done early!! I think my mom wanted to collect the insurance money on us. buying us a boat..like running with scissors!

..noted.

sorry. tell your sig-other sorry. hahah I'll be at Texoma again this spring!! love that trip. I might hire a LMB guide for one day, and take a break from harassing Stripers.

i call that a Thursday. (lately)

i love hiring a guide. wish i did it more often. i always learn something new. always. and i wear a GPS watch..jus sayin.

when i shore fish, i cant stand having too many rods. i will buy one to holster it to my pack or belt before spring time. two is my max..

Just me, but for me a 12" screen is too big for me and my kayak. my tiny one gets in the way enough already. i focus on keeping a big landing strip open for me to get back on board if i fall off. i practiced with mine and i think i can go to a 7" and still have room for my body to slide past and back on board. i cant alwasy predict where a fish will hit and where my rod is. i would hate for the line to get up into the screen.

i own a dry suit. i have worn it exactly ZERO times. i tried it on, and i was almost exercise putting it on, and it is NOT comfy. i also got bright yellow, so i look like a banana. BURPING it is about the funnest thing about the dry suit. it is much to warm for CA winters. i wear NRS waterrpoof kayaking pants, the tall NRS boundary boots, and a merino wool sweater and synthetic quick dry hiking pants underneath the kayaking pants. if it is cold, merino wool tights. i wear a hoodie and a puffy vest. i dont like puffy covered arms because i will get a hook into one of them and it is NOT fun to get out. i dont do bad weather and i tend to hug the shore. no cross lake treks.

solid 6 here. helps that i think my two friends are 4's. number rating doesnt change a bit if we are talking about our looks either.

the insulated food cup. my old one is discontinued. it is a Stanley. beat up but it works still. it works OKAY at best. after about 5 hours, my hot food is just warm enough to make me feel safe that I am not getting food poisoned. it isn't hot anymore. winter is coming, and out on a kayak, fishing...I love me a hot meal. usually a hot rice bowl, like Japanese curry over rice. my cup is okay, again..but I can't help wonder if 15 years later, technology makes a new one that is badtothebone. my coworker has the one I pictured below, but it keeps food warm like a paper bag. but leakproof and easy to clean are top marks. any ideas?

I admit, it would be tough to stomach it all. but in reality, you still don't really know everything. I keep my head down and work. when I hire, it really is a crap shoot.

I love to throw them. the size/weights are easily managed by my current rod arsenals (not perfectly). Magdraft, Magdraft Freestyle, Trash-Fish, Stealth Shads, etc. I'm throwing them on 16lb flouro, and they cast and swim awesome (to my eyes). I have had some luck, and the bites are dang addicting. I want to have MORE successes. in your minds, is this a seasonal offering? I was super slow dragging a TrashFish this weekend. super slow, with long pauses to let it settle back down in the silt, and slow retrieve again. I was going so slow, it was almost imperceivable the lure was doing anything. but once in a while,,SMASH! it feels like a fish body slams it. I couldn't get a hook into anything, and it was super frustrating, but I casted it for hours. about 12 feet of water, and I cast as far as I could up an underwater slope and would swim it down the hill. most of my success was spring with the Magdraft freestyle. the big 5 or 8/0 hooks stabbed fish effectively, if they bit. I want to swim a Hitch replica after big Clearlake bass this coming season. everything was sold out this year, so I want to shop early to be ready.

replace the broken rod. life is too short to fish with busted up gear. the entire action of that thing is off. stay with two, since you are on foot. one spinning, one casting. that's what i would do. all that money you're saving, buy google stock.

the single dumbest thing about my Hobie Outback is the underseat storage. it is ridiculous. I understand how the seat is "lowrider" to improve ocean wave stability. but you can't even slip a Plano under there easily. it hits the flap that protects the transducer wire. DUMB!!!

I don't collect anything. I almost started a vintage lantern collection, but I came to my senses after I bought two. I prefer my life streamlined. I don't want a bunch of anything in my home. not me, no not for me. streamline.

I get them occasionally. I close the bail manually have each cast. and I tug the slack off the reel before I start reeling. this is almost muscle memory now. feels weird if I don't do it. I was told that helps. I also really try to keep an eye on my bait. if I see my dropshot coming back at my whirling around, I invest the time to check my bait and adjust if needed. and if I do start to get a WK, I have been known to clip off my bait to drag the line in the water. my Tatula will booger up way more often than my Vanford. by a mile.

they pelleted the weeds in Clearlake. StatePark is usually a jungle by late spring and full of FAT BASS. this time it was weedless. sandy clean bottom. any grass I did find was brown. I asked and they said the dock owners complained enough they dumped in a pelleted herbicide. good times.

all good. I was delighted to realize I was still having a ton of fun. I get back after them, next weekend. maybe not Clearlake. I will head to the mother-lode lakes (around here) and I am a boat magnet. a bass boat came around a corner and had to steer away from me. I don't think he would have hit me, but he would have roosted me for sure. he was on plane, so the wake was a non-issue. he came back around and waved apologetically. I thumbup'd him back. all good.

I fished with my friend's yesterday. the grip is so comfy. his reel is a lefty reel and the thing was so comfy, I picked it up and was casting and retrieving like I just slipped into my house slippers. COMFY. I couldn't convince any bass of significant strength to munch the finesse jig, but it was a joy to cast and work. lets be honest, 90% of fishing is casting and working a lure, so it may as well excel in that department. the 10% or so, of feeling the bite and fighting the fish is important, but the frequency logically ranks it second fiddle to cast ability. I fished my own X-Bites and FMJ jig rod as well, and the DX744 feels smack dab in between those two. it is closer to the FMJ in the specs/numbers, and my FMJ feels downright nose heavy, and more,,much more of a fast rod. with a heavier jig or CoverScat, the FMJ is a lure slinging beast. the DX is super nice, and if I didn't have the FMJ I would buy one. I don't fish heavy jigs that often, but I do and will fish about a 100 of the cover scat next spring summer. I have a need.. I also love how I could go between a lefty and right reel seamlessly. it was a nice discovery. both my FMJ and the DX744 have the same reel and similar line. 16lb and 15lb flouro on a 22 Bantam.

Friend came along and he said a friend of a friend said Braitos was where to be. Tough! I got three smalls. No skunk and it was fun, but I could not find them. End of day I started super slow dragging a TrashFish Hitch (deep) and I was getting hard bumped. But I couldn’t connect with the hook. I didn’t have loose trebles to fabricate a stinger.

me. Chatter or lipless, ripped thru whatever grass I can find. or go slooow.

that handle looks SWEET!

I LOVE bass fishing about as much as you all do, but I don't think I can read a book about it. if my reading interest governed my life, I would be an international spy, or jewel thief...or Wizard. assassin.

my friend flipped his PA12 and it was impossible to right side up. a boat had to drag him to where his feet touched bottom. no thanks. my Outback, I burned 100,000,000 calories and kept rolling and flipping it back up in the water. I had to drain it a few times. I got this. I might have to cut a few beloved rod combos and gear loose to save my life..but I assume that is an easy decision when the time comes.

if you only have one bait option, the only choice is to change the speed/presentation. jerk it, speed it, go slow, crash it into things and kill it....