Functional

"sad" ending to the trip. Bunch of last minute family plans and unpredictable weather had my off the water the rest of the trip. Was certainly a good time spent with everyone, no regrets! Not that anyone cares, I just dislike dead threads with no ending.

With the wake boats today and less than courteous boating behavior I worry about anyone who stands anywhere on my boat. I'm only 37 and I will still have plenty of times I get on my knees when some wakes come by. Hell! Look at Kristine Fisher's latest blooper. One wrong foot placement pulling up her TM sent her over. If you've seen any of her videos she nearly dances on parts of her kayak that would send nearly everyone head first into the water. People trip over flat ground, we are on 3 dimensionally moving platforms all while trying to fish and run a TM. Even the most acrobatic of us can go over at any given time. You've put in your dues in life, enjoy the respect that comes with it and let people worry about you.

That's the rumor... I'm curious too see if any deformities come up! Slight change of plans. House of 5 kids was a bit rough last night so I didn't get the start I wanted and had to be back by 12. Went to the pond i did yesterday for 3 hours and got 7. All clones of the above minus one pickerel. All caught on a purple ribbon tail worm and a jig. Started storming here so hopefully it ends before tomorrow morning and I'll be heading to Nuclear. It will be nice if I grow 2 more arms to work a 2nd rod at the same time.

Visiting my wife's (our) family to introduce our new son up in NY and hitting an old pond and a new one this trip. Going out early morning (not quite crickety o'clock) and fishing until late morning and I try to go out on the evening. I say try, because there is limited parking and all the d**n city folk moved up here during covid and there is zero parking within 1000yards of any access point (official or otherwise) unless I want to be Ragnar from Vikings Tried yesterday at 5pm, parking lots and roadway anywhere near the pond were chock full. Couldn't even drive through the exit of the parking lot, had to back out into traffic to leave (crazy). Got out at half past crickety o clock (530am) the next morning and stayed until 11. Got a bakers dozen, all small. Found out from a guy when I was leaving there was a big fish die off about 2 years ago. Low water level from drought, then winter hit killing a lot of bigger fish. Explains why there are no 3+lb fish to be found like they're was when I lived here. Caught them on a variety, a jig got 3 (woooo!), swim jig, ribbon tail, wake bait....all mostly carbon copies. End the morning getting what the south can't provide. A PROPER Italian combo with sweet peppers, sharp provolone and good Italian bread! Might go shore fish a reservoir here this evening but not sure. Unlike other states this part of NY is very strict on their reservoir access with a boat. They have to be steam cleaned by appointment at DEP only and any time you remove the boat it has to be done again. They also spray paint dep numbers on the hull. No kayaks, no motors of any kind. Pond on tomorrow's list is a crickety special. I'll be hauling my kayak 1 mile through the woods to hit it. Never seen anyone fish it ever. It's called nuclear lake from a watch making factory that exploded and had tritium fall into the pond. It's been decades since and deemed safe now.

I only have braid on a heavy/fast frog rod (also used for fishing in thick stemmed weeds) and a 7' mh/f swimjig rod. I do fish braid on all spinning rods with a leader though. All my other casting rods have Yo-Zuri hybrid, or mono otherwise. Most are a medium or medium heavy in Fast or extra fast with the exception of one cranking rod. I watch line diameter rather than # test and all are .011 to .015" depending on application. That will range from like 8lb to 17lb test pending brand. I dont like connecting knots if I can avoid it and I feel hybrid/floro/mono get me better sensitivity at slack line than braid does. Plenty on here who do straight braid or braid/leader though with great success, just personal preference.

I rarely use anything but regular/light wire hooks like @Choporoz. With a drag set right I'm not bending out a hook before snapping my line. Exception is using braid in some nasty thick stemmed weeds. Either way you should be setting the hook properly by reeling down and a firm sweep with a bit of follow through. Dont just stop pulling once you feel your rod bend up a little, keep a good sweep going past that point. Never had a problem with mono, hybrid, floro from a kayak doing all the above.

every fish I catch is the same way, always get an impromptu shower. I often wonder if these youtubers keep them out of the water so long they really "need" the recovery and swim off slow.

something like 5 ft leaders. I like my connection knot just outside the reel (spinning or casting) when the lure is dangling at "casting length" from the tip.

I use VMC's drop dead weighted hook in 3/32oz in 4/0 size and 1/16oz in 3/0. Keeps it oriented right and keeps it from breaching the surface when I'm twitching it. Light enough to make it act weightless on the twitch. Cant answer your question though, I never fish it off the bottom. Only use it to target different depths in the water column.

I've been able to fish a ned rig with a SLX MGL70.

heard a bobcat kill a rabbit not more than 100 yards from me when I was like 10 doing an all night fishing night...what a time. For a period in my life I owned night vision and if you sit in the woods quiet enough the activity at night vs day is noteworthy. We all know it but to see it was pretty cool. I'm sure my smell tipped them off I was there but wasnt bothered and didnt seem to deter them. I'll be in NY this coming week and its scheduled to get to 98 by friday...crazy I go north expecting some milder temps and its actually hotter than NC.

I cant meet any of you for a while. My wife recently redid our insurance and asked if $1000 in fishing tackle coverage was enough....well now she knows what I have in the boat and I cant afford any of you talking me into something else 😂

when you are night fishing in pitch black, half asleep at 2am and get your top surface lure right next to the boat and they explode like you just hit an anti ship mine. The mix of excitement, rage, fear and choice words in the air make you question your actual health afterwards.

Good timing. I just did my groups safety meeting on this yesterday. -Hydration starts at least the day before -You need SOME salt/electrolytes to replenish (salted peanuts/sunflower seeds) -Cold water cools you but room temp water is believed to absorb into your body faster. -Set an alarm on your phone if you have a hard time remembering. 15min, 30min, 1hr. Depends on level of heat/humidity -Chugging water to catch up can possibly cause more problems than benefits, drink it consistently not all at once. -Gatorade is good but is loaded with sugar which can make dehydration worse if you load up on too many/much. Personally, I bring a 30oz yeti packed with ice and water and then keep a bunch of water bottles in the shade. I'll alternate drinking the ice water and the shaded water. Once the ice water is done I do half a bottle of gatoraide and the rest water (mid/late morning). Once thats done I do the rest around 2. If you stop sweating you have something to really worry about. CDC website has a lot of good info for once on something.

my neighborhood has its own boat ramp and dock. My house is less than 1/2 mile from the ramp. I've kept my boat at the dock for a week to see what it was like and honestly I prefer to pull it back to the house. -easier to do maintenance -easier to charge batteries and not leave hatches open to public -I can rig/organize without really "leaving" the house -boat stays cleaner -boat isnt beat up by wakes (no lifts on our community dock) -dont have to remove all electronics that can walk away -no sun damage (no cover over our docks) -no stress if the bilge is working during a rain storm -no stress over rapid changing water levels (ours can swing wildly either way) if the convenience of having our own boat ramp wasnt there I'd prefer leaving the boat at the dock. As for the house itself (aside from normal house things)... -Cost can be significantly less. The one house on the water with a dock in our neighborhood is double the price of the average house on our street -If the house is on the water and no dock built yet you need to make sure you can actually build one. Sometimes old docks are grandfathered in and the governing body no longer allows dock permits. Sometimes the ground is not stable enough for a stick built and youll need a floating dock, etc. -Snakes. We looked at a lot of water properties before buying our house and everything we heard from potential neighbors on multiple bodies of water were the presence of snakes making their way into the garage or around the house. -flood plane. This will be huge in insurance and your own personal risk assessment. -Check to see what the water level fluctuates between. Our lake typically can swing +/- 2ft and during a drought can go low enough my boat would be in the dirt at the dock.

back when I lived in NY we got a call to come take care of some coyotes after they killed a deer AGAINST the side of someone's house. Scared the life out of their younger kids. Living in the south they are cautious to come up to even a caller thats 150 yards from a house. Think it depends on if they are used to population or if they are more country. No idea where you live but that's a guess.

corporate America is still the same. Every meeting is 3 meetings, sometimes 4 if there needs to follow up. When I return from a trip I always put my boat back to the condition it needs to go back out. This way I never have to sweat if I have anything I need. The only things I double check are keys, boat plug, charged batteries and my lift vest is still in working order. At any moment I could find a window of opportunity to go fish and I dont want to waste part of it fiddling with crap that doesnt need to be rushed.

Not sure you want to go this route but the Z-man stick baits have been a LOT more durable for me where normal brands get tore up pretty quick.

My tundra battery died in 2 years from new. Started up for the drive to work no issue, went to go home and it was dead as a door nail. Was summer and didnt need lights so couldnt have left anything on. On the other hand I've had other cars 3-5 years and never had a single issue with a battery. Now I have a jumper pack and will wait until it dies and drive to the nearest auto parts store. Sometimes you just cant tell.

Elijah Craig. As far as a bourbon goes its my #1 and I've had some stuff thats considered decent. Goes great neat, with ice and is cheap enough to mix.

I got a plastic tote from walmart and just cut cardboard for dividers. I organized by size for my worms. I have a few smaller ones for; creature baits, trailers, fluke/paddle tails, misc. only my hard baits and hooks are in plano style cases.

Just went through the amended pics. Pretty incredible and you havent even had a full season on it yet! Whats even more cool is the smallmouth. I have a feeling with a simple depth finder you could find some honey holes of SM offshore with how healthy that one seemed. I'll have to see if I still have the original depth finder from my tracker. If I do its yours to do with as you please.

I start with my highest confidence bait in areas I know it should work and I start there. I'll give it an hour or so over 2-3 similar locations and if I get nothing then I start switching. Pending the day it may end up being a frog or trig/jig/worm. Recently added jerkbaits to the rotation but as of now thats my mid day, hot, clear sky cant get a hit tactic. Fish are everywhere on the lake, just some take a bit more firing up than at other parts of the lake.

A lot of rapid bites or rapid bites as its moving away to me always point to blue gill or perch. When I say rapid I mean like automatic fire bites. 1-2 slower thumps is more likely a bass. I wouldnt call it short striking but when I fished a rubber worm almost exclusively we would get some bass that would grab the tail and fall just short of sucking in the hook until they start swimming away with it for a minute then inhale it. We always used to let them swim with it for 2-3 seconds before setting the hook for this reason and our success rate went way up. You do run the risk of hooking in the throat though if the fish is aggressive enough on the first strike. I still do this practice with rubber worms, but not creature baits or jigs. With creature baits that are shorter and fatter I've not noticed them do the above as much and they either take it and spit it instantly or take it and go. I dont have enough experience with jigs to comment but I'd imagine they are similar to creature baits since the profile/length is similar.

Not sure why anyone has to put a label on it. Priorities change as life goes on. Some periods you have more time than others. If you are like me and Fishing is something you do to help regulate yourself you can find a window of time every so often to get out there and fish a bit. It may not be an all day event, half day, may be on foot, may only be 2-3 hours but it can really refresh you. Burnout is real and for me, a job is only meant to support your family and what you enjoy doing. Your job will replace you in weeks, you and your family will never get back the time you dedicated to a job in your prime years. The second I can retire I'm gone. Coming from a guy with a 3yo girl who is glued to my side, a 3 month old boy we just had, house to take care of, closest family 3 hours away so frequent trips and 2 other hobbies than take up as much time as fishing. My year has certainly been slower fishing wise but every so often I get some time in. I'm sure it will pick up when my 3yo can starting coming out with me, she already has her own rod she loves to practice casting with and plays with my jigs when I'm pre-rigging.