Functional

I think people significantly under value the impact your own attitude can have on your health. It's a different type of strength but it still needs to be practiced and "worked out" just like a muscle. Despite all your own things you have going on, you can appreciate it and feel it but always remember someone is wishing for what you have even if it seems like your worst thing. EDIT: not directing this comment specifically at you, just using "you" and "your" in general terms.

My peak will hit the day after I start retirement. Until then I'm at the mercy of available time and crowded weekends.

Might be inexperience here but I don't pay attention to that degree with regards to wind. I pay attention to what kind of storm or past storm is causing it and how soon that storm hits. Other than that I just pick my spots like I would if the wind was blowing from the west or any other direction. Haven't noticed any big difference in fish from wind direction. Maybe I'm just dumb.

This is exactly what I did. So far it feels locked in but I need some load on it to really see. Took 4 layers of tape to get a snug fit. The bottom foot was loose in the pocket and it also seemed like it wouldn't go deep enough to hit the fatter part of the foot. For those wondering its a Abu Garcia Revo Rocket.

It's my main frog rod. I put some tape under the reel seat legs and on top of the back leg to sit in the grips reel seat more snug. I wrapped a ton of Teflon on the threads and it seems to hold tight so far. Overall though everything is just sloppy on this rods reel seat. I'll have to fish it and see how it does with load and repetition. Backup plan is to wipe some wax on the inside of the reel nut and use devcon/marinetex/jbweld and cover the seat threads and screw the nut on. I'll let everything harden and the wax should be like a release agent and let it unscrew. Hopefully that gives me a durable enough thread that engages better. The nut itself is very flexible though and I can feel it flex to slip over the threads when it no longer wants to grip. Maybe a wrap of fiberglass would help too? Going to turn into an experiment because otherwise this thing is useless.

I'll give it a shot. I thought maybe with the slickness of Teflon tape it wouldn't stay tight.

Had a fish on last night and the reel nut lost grip and the reel came off (lost a nice frog fish because of it). Rod is a diawa procyon casting. The threads on both look fine but it will not tighten to a lock and flexes and skips threads. When I fiddle with it enough and get it to grip any pressure on the reel makes it pop. I'm out of warranty so any thoughts on how to get this thing working or am I SOL?

Was just me tonight so tried something different. Liked the idea of Mexican barria tacos but never had any I liked so tried my own. Venison hamburger meat Jalapeños Sweet/hot banana peppers Fresh grated mild cheddar Corn tortillas Au jus mix Minced up a bunch of the peppers and cooked it on the Blackstone along with the venison. While that was going I had the tortillas heating up on a bunch of melted butter. Flipped them after a few minutes and buttered that side again before one final flip back to the original side. Layed down some cheddar until it started to melt and then put the venison/pepper mix on and folded the tortilla. Gave it a minute or 2 each side to make sure the cheese stuck to everything and called it done. The Au Jus seemed like it went well but I think something with similar taste but hair thicker would do well. Overall I really liked it.

Right there with you. Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. Perfect weather, excellent food, just seeing family and appreciating it. It's a shame its taken for granted as much as it is. Part of thanksgiving weekend though was going out to cut down a tree while everyone was out black friday shopping. Thats one tradition I do miss being in the eastern part of NC, "tree farms" down here are trees lined up in parking lots. Gotta go out to the mountains to get a real tree farm and I dont see that as even an option this year.

@MN Fisher how bout that. Never even heard of Samhain but doesn't surprise me being in a Catholic school all the way through highschool. @gimruis I dont like the focus of current Christmas, its gotten way out of hand. Seeing family around that time is what I enjoy. New Years is the biggest over rated day to ever exist though...valentines day can go with it.

After my parents moved they forgot it was halloween and didnt put anything out. Got a nasty note like you and so the next year they just put out an empty bowl with a sign "please take only a few" and never had a problem. 😂 Like you guys above we used to run around with a pillow case and had way more than we should have. Had houses with home made rice crispy treats, candy apples and others. You always remembered the houses that gave out full sized candy bars! At about 10 or so our parents would let us go by ourselves as long as we were in a group with our friends...times have changed and im not even that old. Taking my 3yr old out and this year my inlaws are walking with us. First year she really understands the process and is excited. They really need to just move Halloween to the closest Friday though, its not like its really a holiday.

If you want measurements of a tracker 175 let me know. I think the 170 is your best bet from what you said, however if there are bigger lakes you will go on often I'd just get a strong TM and get the 175 with a 75hp motor and use the TM on 9.9 and electric only lakes. My Force trolling motor on only 24v gets that boat moving....36v it would cruise well.

Not hard to do when all the information flies out of your head the minute you get on the water! Honestly though my approach has just focused on how I like to fish. I started reading up on all the different techniques and "offshore is less busy", "fishing grass is exciting you fight them out in the slop", etc. etc. etc. I ended up with 15 different rods with stuff I didnt know how to really use and zipping all over the lake. I was a "Chicken on a tractor" as I've heard the term lately. (Cute but has no idea what its doing). I just ended up finding a handful of lures I enjoy fishing and picking areas where I could fish them effectively. Things have been going ok with that approach and I enjoy it.

Excellent year and I appreciate more photos of where you fish! Makes me miss the north a little less and a little more at the same time.

If treble hooks are out of the question I'd go to the outer limits of the shad balls and fish the edges of those almost like they are structure themselves. I've been able to pick off a few straggling fish looking for an easy meal like that. I'll only spend like 5 maybe 10 minutes max rotating baits and if I dont get anything I just leave to hopefully find another spot that hasnt quite activated yet.

Every year its something different. First year on my home lake I dont think I fished anything but a spinnerbait. Second year was year of the chatterbait, third was swimjig and this year has been jerkbaits. I still fish all of them but I'll be honest I've turned into @TnRiver46 with a spinnerbait the past 2 years. I dont think I've caught 5 fish on one recently. Not sure if its your own personal style changing or places you start keying in on from year to year or if its a fish thing. It does happen to me though.

I throw a chatterbait vs a spinner when I need one or a few of the following: 1)more vibration 2)smaller profile 3)more sticky grass around Has nothing to do for the season for me. I'm with @Swamp Girl but I'd even take it a step further and head out just before sundown and stay out until sunrise...or at least until as late as you think you safely can. With all the pressure and shallowness of your lake I'm betting they become animals at night time.

every morning I'm driving to work I think...d**n, Katie is probably out there hammering bass and I have to go babysit adults. 3 days out of the week I'm right.

I have the Marshall and its an excellent all around rod. Its one of my 3 I pick when I have to limit myself to just a few.

let me know how it goes. I dove deep into Ebay after my post and wound up with a potential purchase of almost $80. Had to talk myself off that ledge 😂. Still might end up with some though.

when I was a casual fisherman I can confidently say I couldnt tell the difference from one MH-F to another. Fishing much more consistently I can absolutely say I feel the difference. My MH-F dobyns sierra micro is completely different from my ARK MH-F rod. Even the ARK MH-F is different from my Expride MH-F. Unfortunately you have to fish the rod or line of rods to know (this site helps some) but its caused me to start matching up rods and techniques much more. I've seen it effect my hookup ratio more than anything and in some cases how well I can fish a present/fish a lure. There are some rods that I'd consider "all around" like my Kage MH-F rod. Typically when I only take 2-3 rods somewhere I'm taking what I feel are all around rods and can fish everything I bring effectively enough.

recently tried tripping a jerkbait through that mess during a feeding frenzy and I couldnt get my lure back in the water fast enough. No lie 3 casts was too many without a fish. My dad had an important phone call sitting in the back of the boat during one blow up....got so frustrated he pulled the bad service technique and hung up to get fishing 🤣

Fishing and especially owning a boat is nothing but driving on a bunch of toll roads...hand always has money out for something.

my 2013 is a 21 gallon. I believe the 08ish tracker is pretty much the exact same boat. Personally I wouldnt be confident fitting 10 bass in there and expecting many to survive.