Functional

you guys get northern pike, musky and some incredible smallmouth fishing. I'd say thats a fair trade for the shorter season! We may have that available in the south but nothing like you all have it in the norther parts.

thats the biggest problem with just about all crime with the exception of minor infractions by actual hard working people just trying to get through life. Having cops in the family, hearing stories of crazy stuff and then hearing what they get off with is sickening. Meanwhile God forbid I sell too much with paypal or go 5mph over the speed limit.

Pretty cool to see the process. Kind of makes it make more sense when one lure performs great, you lose it and its replacement doesnt do as well as the original. As much as these are manufactured they are really hand made in the end.

With the nights dipping in the low 40s the past week and this week I'm hoping it keeps people out of the water and then it only leaves pleasure boaters and less wake boats/jetskis.

If you need a good net man next year I'm your huckleberry 😂. I'll drive the boat and fix the breakfast and dinner for ya too for a shot at a musky like any of those! ... just saying I got 3 weeks of vacation to burn this time next year 😂

my 2 largest bass I've ever caught have come at the end of November and beginning of February. I love when the leaves change and the water goes glass still and its like fishing in a Bob Ross painting. My struggle comes between balancing my time in a tree stand, time in my boat and time with my family. While I'll love doing any of the 3 I will always have FOMO for the other 2 I am not doing.

15lb PP slick and whatever leader I might need (if needed) Pretty much the same as all the above.

Only if my wife wants to swim off the boat and when I beach it to control my rear from washing around. Other than that its spot-lock.

Yikes, been there....only time in my 36 years I have ever asked for pain meds...and it was more like begging. Took 3 days to pass, hope yours goes quicker.

OK, we are actually going to be accountable this time around?! 1) I had 2 jigs tied on at all times and threw it every time I was out for a while. I did hook into more fish than I typically do but I dont feel I've gotten the numbers or quality I do on other baits. Work will still need to occur the rest of this season and for next years goal. I did however start using a senko pretty consistently this year and hooked into some good fish. 2)While I havent hooked a DD yet I can say the quality of my bass has gone up and my quantity decreased. So I while it wasnt achieved I will give myself some marks from improvement towards the goal. 3)I dont feel I've improved significantly on this, however I've also gone from just trying to catch any fish to trying to catch quality fish. From what WRB says that larger fish typically roam in smaller groups to solitary this may be a good thing?

This year the bulk of my fish can be accounted for (including my PB) on a Z-mann mini max in spot remover and a dirty jigs 3/8 swim jig in white. Typically big on spinnerbaits they just didnt work for me this year.

Cuplrit's grape shad color is my ideal purple. Fished with a 6" worm as a kid that was in that color and it always produced. Used to load up from a lady at "The Worm Bar" at a fishing show that used to sell them by the pound. Still have a small bag I save for memories and very very rare use. Edit: Well I'll be, just googled the worm bar and they have a website now. The lady apparently sold the business and I dont see the specific worm I used to use. Shame, hope shes doing well.

Im with Pat, upper 60s and even very very low 70s is peak fall. I think the more important thing to watch is consistent night temps. Typically there is a period of cold night temps then its back to warm for a few weeks, cold, warm, etc. Once the night is routinely in the 50s here its "fall" and thats when I start seeing the turnover on my lakes. Otherwise those short periods of cold only seem to effect the upper few feet of water and I dont see the fall bass behavior youd expect. Eastern/central NC.

I dont care what store it is if there is anything fishing I stroll through. Walmart sometimes has some good discounts. They had small ned rig kids from Strike King complete with heads and about 4 or 5 baits for $2 and some strike king cranks for about $3. Other than that I mostly pick up some of the plano style organizers they have at decent prices.

I was on there 2 maybe 3 weeks ago. Temps were mid to upper 70s. I found fish closer to the dam on main lake points with weeds and a decent drop. Fish were 5-8fow. Unless it dropped dramatically id expect them to be mid way up the main creeks. Let me know how it goes I'll be on it not long after you to visit the inlaws.

Hey, you have great fishing holes...your normal is not our normal. If I was conditioned for what you typically get I can see the same feelings. Great you still caught fish though! If you go out again at least you have some clues for the next outing. All part of the process.

Anyone other than me wonder how Crickety is doing on or getting on the lake while they get ready for work? Looking forward to the AAR!

double jointed big jitterbug close to shore and slowly retrieve it over the submerged pads. Black is the only correct color. Wake bait, large weightless fluke like a jerk bait, walking stick bait, spinnerbait run shallow, buzzbait. Sounds like excellent conditions...id throw every topwater and barely subsurface lure I had. Shallow will heat up faster but I'd cast shallow and work it out over the submerged pads. I'd take a guess the big girls would hide in somewhat warmer water in the pads waiting to ambush above.

Another thought came to my head. If you do plan on doing this get a big rubber maid for when you get to your pond. Put the shad in the rubbermaid with their water and slowly over the next 30min to 1 hour take a cup out and put 1 cup of your pond water in until all the water "should" be pond water. The chemistry and temp are very likely different and the shock of being dumped into the pond wont instantly kill them but will put a lot of stress on them. Agencies dump fish into lakes all the time without doing this so its not "necessary" but it will increase the survival rate.

Well to sum up the trip, appreciate the advice! We did the ghost tour on the USS Yorktown. Surprisingly that was my wife's pick and she was uninterested in the ghosts but really loved the history stories the guy was telling. Bit of a surprise to herself and to me so next time she wants to hit the carrier for the history tour through all their displays. We went to the aquarium which was nice. Chatted up a worker there and got quite a bit of really interesting information on feedings and some of the things they do behind the scenes. Spent almost 30-45 minutes talking with him. Their sea turtle hospital display is really cool. If you are into the rescue, recovery and rehab of animals that alone would be a reason to go. Other than that we walked around and explored. Ate lunch at the rooftop Vendu and NY City Pizza (close, but not perfect, best I've had in the south though). Had dinner at Poogans porch and prohibition. Forgot the last place we ate but all in all we didnt have any bad food. Tried a few ice cream places also that didnt dissapoint. Surprisingly driving into the market area and finding parking was cake. I was stressing a bit about that from my experiences navigating NY cities. Looked at fishing charters but it was more than we were looking to spend for just the 2 of us it would have been near 400-500 for 4 hours. Well likely go back with another couple next time and they like fishing, should make it more reasonable for all of us. We will absolutely be back. Still plenty to see.

I have one speed spool but its honestly a fairly under rated reel for the price. I feel it performs better than my slx mgls for anything heavier than a ned rid weight. As I replace reels it will likely end up being with another speed spool or 2.

You....you caught enough.... so you stopped? That heat must really be making you loopy bud! Awesome peacock... bucket list species for me for sure.

He had glide baits, s weavers and he called this one the deep belly or something like that. Says it's surprisingly slow sink. Well see. Nice guy.

I went pumpkin picking with my wife/ daughter and this time they had a handful of vendors. Of course the Monkey likes pumpkin picking too apparently. Custom painted swim bait for $40. He had a bunch but not in shad pattern other than this style but if it works well I'll be getting some more. He also had a boat load of hand painted crankbaits and does replica taxidermy. Asked him why he was so cheap and he said "if you have a $40 swim bait and a $150 swimbait and they work the same which one will you throw more? I'd rather you use mine all the time and get more than never use it".

for fish load in a fish tank (little different application) is 2" of fish for every gallon. So in a 25 gallon livewell that would put you at 25 fish max. That rule is for long term care and has a filter removing ammonia which feeder fish excrete a lot of so I believe in a short term travel cutting that rule in half to 4" of fish for every gallon you could get away with it making a max of 50 fish. The ride may only be 45 minutes but getting off the water and to the pond you are realistically probably looking at 1.5 hours. Id cap it at 50 fish and if you have the feature let your livewell cycle in fresh water from the lake just before you pull the boat. Along with your new aerator this should give you a better chance. If it works you can try increasing the fish but 100 is a HEAVY load and the sky high ammonia is probably killing most along with lack of oxygen.