Darth-Baiter

honey bee. maybe float a clean car washing sponge in there?

he will get suspicious if I ask. hahahha

he says downtown(?). and he is finding small rivers and such. some big rivers too..like the Mississippi. he has a youtube channel you can watch..I bet as a local, you can figure out where he goes. I'll send you his channel name if you want. yea...his wife is in the healthcare system as an RN. @FryDog62 funny you mentioned WINTER. my wife went to Grand Rapids for a nursing conference. she went as far as finding a luxury condo for sale, and go the RE agent name. hahah.. I was, "err..honey. do you know it gets cold over there?" the condo was SWEET and only $380k. but WINTER would kill my tropical born wife. hahahha

NOT deep summer. my ankles are kinda sunburned. hahahha. @gimruis. my friend lives in Rochester MN. i almost cant talk to him this time of year, because he goes on and on and on about the Fall fishing for him. he slays them!! it is awful, because my own fall events are less spectacular. his pictures and stories eclipse my own.

yup. i have a few Phenix rods that are amazingly better than the price point, in my opinion. on the flipside, people GUSH over anything that rhymes with "ROBYNS", but you know, i think they fish lower than the price point on some of the higher end models...in my limited and very humble opinion, not designed or spoken of to step on any toes of whomever that reads this will consider...:D its just a thought.

Rods are way to subjective. its like picking your favorite shade of blue.

i tend to gravitate towards shorelines that are getting blown into from the water side. i just seem to do better.

i know the moves. i just get so messed up when i am pulling it tight. what exactly am i pulling on to cinch the knot down? when i do get it miraculously, it is so strong with flouro for me. it just seems to tighten down prematurely, leaving me in a tangled loop-knot type of situation.

i was a Mathews guy. my Switchback XT was magical. like a fool, i sold it for the lastest/greatest and have been chasing the ghost of that SBXT every since. i should have kept that bow and NOT buy anything else. i switched to a lefty bow in a Hoyt and pretty much decided i was over bowhunting. where i live, it take monumental effort to travel and pack and plan to go hunting. i was way over it. i have lost track of everything in the industry, but i do know i love a smooth easy draw with a gentle hump. i need this so i can let down smoothly. i jerky let down alerts all the animals with the uncontroled movement. they see it!

worse than GOUT??!!!! wow. that must be awful, because a Gout attack flat out blows.. hope you get this figured out. get your lady to pull your finger?

i fished a lot of topwater this past week and that setup is my CuradoK. i forget how well that thing casts. it is wild. just brrrrzzzzkk..the lure flies!!! mine is underspooled as well, so i know it can do better. for $150, i think that is a good jumping off point. it feels burly sizewise compared to some of my later purchases. nothing else to add, expect all my spinning revolve around 2500 reels physically, a 3000 doesnt seem that much bigger these days (to me). i feel the 3000 just buys you more spool capacity which may be something you need. or not. your call.

hahaha..i just found a pic of me wearing my Natives. they really have been in my rotation a very long time. i bet this was 8 years ago.

i too use a goPRO on video mode and simply save the exact moment that i feel i am the most handsome and the fish is looking decent as well :D. i took a simple carpenter spring-clamp and 3M double sided taped it to a gopro mounting plate. i then clamp the camera that was on my chesty to my fishing net and rest it against my pedal drive. BOOM! for the record, 100% of my friends are the most krappy photographers on the planet.

i dont love throwing a plopper type bait. it is simply boring for me. thankfully, i havent beent hat successful with one anyways. bleck! i own four or so, and all they do at this point is tangle up in my box. haha..i should give them to my buddy, that LOVES them.

Bone/White and Black. i have one or two other colors. but i only seem to catch with a light colored one, or a Black one.

irony alert. we have in invasion or Argentine ants in CA. the odd thing, they hate carpenter ants and will jack them up. we are seeing less and less carpenter ants. my friend married an pro exterminator and that is what he told me.

yea. we get a "fix it " ticket the first time around here. i am not going with an attention grabbing dark tint. i work with a gang of CHP officers and they all are symthetic to our heat. dont be a rude knucklehead and... this is what they tell me at least. my sassy friend gave a CHP person lip, got a ticket and simply paid it. she is still tinted. i am not worried about the ramifications. i will cross that bridge when i need to cross it.

i wear the oldest pair of Native Sunglasses as my daily eye protection. fantastic inexpensive sunglasses. they fit my gigantic melon of a head perfectly. i have worn them fishing and they are fine. my fishing glasses i believe are a pair of Arnettes. i love them for the comfort. i have replaced the lenses with aftermarket. but the fit and protection are awesome. both are about $60 - $70 IIRC both sunglasses keep my glass lens Costas at home. i keep the Costas mostly for the ocean these days.

I have an appt coming up next week. I’m going to ask.

Unwrap a package today. Socks! Appropriate for this thread.

Come and visit me! I’ll find you a fiver!

go to DIY pest control and type in "Carpenter ants" in the search function. they are a GREAT source of info. i have ants as well. our ants run out the Carpenter Ants, but they are still an annoying ant. i cant leave out any food and i keep my kitchen surgical ready clean. i spray a non repellant spray and bait with Avian bait. my ants are the Odorous ants. i keep them at bay, and that is all i can do. i am contantly sealing cracks i find them coming out of. bait, spray, seal. my yard pest control guy said we dont get the winters needed to knock them back annually.

the Reel is the Daiwa Zillion. Line is garden variety Sunline Sniper in 12 lb. i have fished weightless Senkos with it, and some 3/8 Keitech Jigs..but MOSTLY a 1/8 bullet weight with a 3-4 inch creature. i have gone down to a 1/16 bullet on occasion, when i didnt want to bury the bait into underwater grass mats. i've fished rivers, lakes and Tidal waters. the rod is friggen sensitive. i can feel the tiniest line-nick when it hits the first guide. i felt me slap a flying insect once. bites are very noticable. i love it. yesterday's Clearlake bass felt like they were sending a written invitation for me to jam the hook home. Subtle was not on the menu. the rod tip is surprisingly moderate. this allows me to backhand, forehand, roll cast very easily. ALL my rods had a "learning curve" with casting. you all know what i am talking about. as a righty, all my cast go left on super fast rods. i have to recalibrate my timing on the release. the X-Bites was super intuitive. i looked pro in a very short time. i just about "Bonked" a Cormarant yesteday when i sent my bait to it. i swear there was a bass hiding in it's shadow. ACCURATE!! the rod is stupid light. CAST ALL DAY light. my biggest bass on it so far is a 5.5lb fish. no problem!! i actually hate the sitiation when a bass dives deep and hard and i cant keep up, resulting in my rod pinned against the side of my kayak. in my mind this cuts the length in half and all the load is on the front end. SCARY. the backbone when i am fighting a fish correctly is awe inspiring. i never feel panic enough to rush it. yesterday, i hooked two bass very gently. at the corner of the mouth. the hooks almosh shook out of the enlarged hole/rip. the X-Bites pinned them. the new-rod look and smell is gone from my X-Bites. i need to wipe it down with a silk diaper or something. it is beautiful. the F&F is perfect. the rod is understated and looks like a regular rod. i might wish it had a bait keeper tab, but i will "Borrow" one off of a friends Daiwa AGS or something. i dont know how i feel about that tiny trigger knob. i think i wish it was bigger. (but this affects my grip, maybe not yours) i'll put together another set up soon. Shimano Bantam and MB Madbull or something. maybe the FMJ..:D the FMJ makes sense for my love of the pitch with big worms.

yup. but they are kinda fun, rigged weightless as well.

ahhhh...i get it! you can find Hula's at a Luau..i totally see what they did there. personally i would have called the new and innovative bait the "fire juggler to jungle drum beats"