Functional

@Pat Brown agreed on NC lakes. You do have your muddy ones but there are also a lot (not just in the mountains) that are very clear. I'd be willing to bet a rod or 2 I had a good 8-10ft of visibility on the lower part of Gaston when I was on it 2 weeks ago. Also despite my muddy home lake bass have had no problem finding senkos and even ned baits. It may be subtler for the bass but with everyone and their mother power fishing these muddy lakes I'm convinced the fish bite the finesse approach more since its less common.

I dont like rating myself, I typically always will devalue myself more than I should. Regardless Its hard for me to judge because its my consistency that is lacking. Its rare I'm skunked and when I do catch a fish a 3.5lb is on the smaller of the average now BUT it can take me a while to find the fish. My gut instinct is horrible most times guessing where fish are but I do have processes to find them. Some days takes longer than others but when I do start catching I can apply that to other areas of the lake. The quality of my day really comes down to how quickly I can get on them...which I guess is the bulk of the battle.

Is it really that cold up there its the end of your season? Incredible year for you for sure! There are some heavy ladies in that lineup of yours.

Ozzy's delivery method to the human system proved to be non-effective. There is hope for one day though!

@NorthernBasser makes one of us...

Siebert Supreme Arky Siebert Mini Jig SK Bitsy Bug 6th Sense Divine swim jig I had been using dirty jigs swim jigs but I have a horrible time with the bait slipping down the hook. 6th sense fixed that but otherwise the dirty jig was a nice jig, caught a lot of fish on them.

its a few more clicks for me to navigate but I'll adjust. What is unforgiveable is when you click the shop by brand and they list IS NOT IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER!!! I dont get enraged very easily but this is a waste of my d**n time and LAZY. What is it one or 2 lines of code to get it in order?

Felt like I was reeding a Yahoo! article....he got me.

I get it and it's a huge deal. The peace of knowing you have 2 weeks to enjoy your time instead of counting down the next few days does a world of difference in your mental health. Congrats to both of you! Celebrate every win.

Any other person, anywhere the silence (and dread) after you swish your rod to get a jig out of the tree branch The sound of said jig hissing through the air right past your head The sound of my lure hitting anything other than water The silence when I turn my motor key and nothing happens EDIT: Those d**n flying dinosaurs

The other weekend I had a pontoon boat loaded with women partying and 1 dude driving the boat. They came close but had a respectful distance, yelling and "wooo" ing trying to get my attention, tried to throw me a beer (would have preferred they not throw a beer into the water) and then show me some "omelettes" on their way past. I'm not entirely sure why but the breakfast burrito reminded me of the event. Was a fun boat....never did find the beer though.

when its night and all you have is a little moonlight, hearing the blub blub blub blub of a jitterbug with a hopeful crash of water. This is peak fishing for me just ahead of the violence of a spinnerbait bite. Hard to name the nature sounds...just about all of them are calming with the exception of the GBH dinosaur. I also talk to all the dogs that come greet me...I so badly want to bring treats for all of them but with todays crazy people I'll probably be accused of poisoning their dog.

I use a shaky head head but throw a 10"+ ribbon tail on it. Only adding in addition to whats been said above.

only 2 lures have worked for me when the shad are doing that and its a Spook or spinnerbait around the size of the baitfish. cast past a more active bait ball and twitch it into the bait ball usually gets a strike or 2 (got my first double catch this way). Spinner I slow roll to around where I think the bottom of the bait ball would be, again casting past the targeted ball and pulling it through at the target depth. Very tough condition though when that happens. I'm also with @AlabamaSpothunter and finding out what they eat. One of the best things as a kid when we used to eat bass was cutting open the stomachs to find out what they had been eating. When I lived north the majority of the time you would find a crawfish or 2 shoved in there and occasionally a shad. Only ever seen bluegill in pickerel.

All depends on the person. One of my best friends is like you. Every time we get together for dinner we bring a bottle to try and convince one another and it never works for either of us. Fun times.

@Darth-Baiter solo-cams are now sold in the "vintage" section in the forum I frequent ?. That said they are still held in good regard.

@LrgmouthShad ahh it's fine. I've used it on no pressure lakes and average lakes and it's just not my lure. Give me a walking bait or jitterbug and I'm golden!

Put me in the camp of braid to leader. 15# or 20# power pro slick to an appropriately heavy leader for the bait I'm fishing. Never had luck with floro on spinning rods and mono didnt fair much better.

personally, I tend to pick fingers off the main lake that have promising points and also promising features up/in the finger. I'll work from the back of the finger out towards the main lake (fishing into the wind, whichever side this takes me). Typically I'll hit a spot where youll find balls of shad or start hitting bass. The further up they are the closer into fall pattern they are for me. Pretty big over generalization but this at least starts giving me clues of where to start targeting. Temps are dependent on where you live. Typical summer temps for us are mid 80s a lot of times so dipping into mid 70 to lower 70s is fall temps for us down through the 60s. Temps in the upper 40s to lower 50s is winter.

Jeeze now I feel like even MORE of a fishing failure ?. Only thing I've ever been able to catch with a Whopper Plopper is a tree and some poor guys dock!

Just came across this thread today and went start to finish here. Seriously thinking about you both and its great she's doing so much better and you 2 finally get a win! With that said, give yourself a lot credit Andy (I certainly do)! I've only pretty much exclusively been on Lynn's side but I can absolutely tell you having a strong person going through it with me was what kept (keeps) me as strong as I am through it all. She will get all the compliments for being tough but YOU are no doubt a huge reason you wife is able to get through this all with your support. The caregiver rarely gets the full recognition they deserve but make no mistake you play a large part of her success. Your experience is different for sure but is also the hardest aside from hers out of everyone involved. It certainly takes a team in these situations and I'm not taking anything away from Lynn because I'm sure its hell on her and having a strong mental attitude is mandatory. People like you and my wife are reasons Lynn is doing the best she can. You BOTH deserve tomahawks and potatoes for sure!

If you are trying to find your flavors I think you owe it to yourself to try some scotch also. When I moved south I found a bar with literally a wall of different scotch and bourbon and sat there until my wife scooped me out of the chair to go home. What I learned was Bourbon has too harsh of a alcohol after taste for me (with the exception of Elijia Craig) and I much prefer scotch. There is enough variety in the "major" regions youll find your flavor if bourbon isnt doing it for you. My personal favorites come from Islay. If you see it on a menu try Lagavulin 16, the bottle is a little pricey but its one of the nicest I've ever had between bourbon or scotch and I've had some "top" selections.

I'll usually do it with a follow up bait but thats about it. If I have more than 1 other person on the boat with me I wont do it at all and all the rods go back in the locker except the one I'm using.

Small chunk or flat slate like broken rock I will hit but not spend too much time if I dont get any hits or fish with a reaction type bait or a trig/jig. The two conditions I'll hit hard are boulder sized rock or rock of any size that goes right up into weeds. I'll spend a good amount of time trying different baits and picking apart those areas/transitions. Last condition is like mentioned in the cooler water temps I'll hit any shallow rock, especially rip rap in the morning and evening when the air temp is cooler. The rocks holding some heat tend to draw fish....in my limited experience. Type of baits I'll try are only dependent on season/weather/cloud cover.

Just outside Raleigh's east side! Plenty of lakes to fish in central NC as I'm sure you know.