T-Billy

Deer maybe? They're curious at night. I've had them follow me through the woods after dark, even after shining a flashlight in their direction. If they can't smell ya they'll get pretty close sometimes. I wasn't fishing, but one night while coyote hunting, I was just sitting there letting things quiet down before I started calling, when two glowing balls of light appeared about 25yds or so in front of me. They drifted through the trees for several seconds then went out as quickly as they appeared. As I sat there fairly freaked out and trying to make sense of what I had just seen, they appeared and disappeared again going the opposite direction, and slightly farther away. They were definitely self luminescent, not reflected light, and floated along kinda like a balloon in the breeze. I've researched online and the most accurate description of what I saw seems to be ball lightning. Kinda odd though, it was November, temps in the 40's and no storms around. Sure creeped me out.

Good point. I can watch Matt and Tim all day. Tons of solid in depth fishing info and informative tackle reviews. I can watch Randy all of about two minutes. YMMV.

I have four of these Tharp series Ark rods now with more to come. They fish well above their price point IMO.

Hope ya feel better soon Catt.

Some great guests along the way too. Bradshaw, Mel Tillis, and Foster Brookes come to mind.

I got the hat in my avatar photo from his store. His daughter Pamela runs it, and we had a great email conversation about watching his show on Saturday mornings as kids, after cartoons and before Big Time Raslin. LOL. She offered to have him personalize it for me. It arrived a few days later signed, Tim, Saturday mornings were the best, Bill Dance. I couldn't not wear it. It's my hot weather fishin hat. I still enjoy watching his show. God bless Bill Dance. Great guy and great ambassador for the sport.

Nice. Keep us posted on how those braids perform long term.

@bulldog1935 how's the abrasion resistance of those X braids compared to 832?

Can't comment on their low profile stuff but my 4600 C3's are still butter smooth after many years of use. They were my flippin reels for a long time. I've since switched to 8 speed low profiles for that task, but those C3's excell at winching bass out of thick stuff.

40# 832 is my Goldilocks line for my flippin sticks. 30# on my moving bait casting rigs. A couple thousandths difference in diameter doesn't sound like much, but it can make a significant difference in casting distance. I tangled with a couple jumbo flatheads in big laydown piles this summer. Got my butt kicked both times, but 40# was up to the task. I clamped my thumb down on the spool and leaned into 'em until my flippin stick couldn't take anymore. I couldn't pull those beasts out of the wood, but I couldn't break the line using my rod either. Plenty of abraision resistance in this weight too. I see no need to go heavier.

From ice out until it gets weedy there are many days where the only rod I pick up is my ned rod with a TRD Bug on a 1/8 football head. After the weeds establish themselves, there are many days a flippin stick is the only one I pick up. Grab a rig you have confidence in, and go to work.

You will be. You'll be dissapointed you waited this long to try it. ?

I've had trouble burying the hook with 20# XT in the past when using thick bodied baits and a straight shank hook, and XT is lower stretch than BG. This with a flippin stick, and I'll put my hookset up against anyone's. 12-15 only makes the issue worse. This is a complete non issue with braid. The only issue with braid is throwing the under 2 pounders over the boat.

True but, I haven't found the fading to be an issue. Fish bite faded green just as well as dark green in my experience. If it bothers you, a sharpie will fix it right up. Love 832. Round, smooth enough, handles great, Palomar and Alberto hold great, and it's the most abrasion resistant braid I've found. Priced right too.

Thanks Catt. I ordered a few packs from TW a couple days ago. The 6th Sense OX are a good hook also. I've had zero issues with them other than the keeper is a little closer to the eye than I'd like. I snell them the way Tharp shows on YT and it's tight getting the wraps between my thumb and the keeper. The NJ has lot's of room there, but obviously R2C has some quality control issues. Not sure these Mustads will be easier to snell, but I've been a Mustad fan for years. I'm sure they're a quality hook. Looking forward to giving them a workout next week.

When I can find 'em in open water, I can't put that TRD bug down. I've caught everything from 5" bluegill to a 42" musky on it. Big musky, cats, and carp are a hoot on 6# line, but it's those big smallies that really make you feel like you've got a tiger by the tail.

^^^THIS^^^

I have a local lake that's always been awesome in the spring and late fall, but brutal in the summer. It's rocky with lots of wood. Best smallmouth habitat of all the lakes around me, but no smallies in it. Took me years to get a handle on it in the summer, and it still kicks my butt some days. The bass either go super shallow up under brush along the bank, or they get on offshore rock structure. Forget the laydowns in summer. It has tons of them, but they don't hold bass alot of the time. The offshore fish are very nomadic following the shad just like smallies. Here today gone tomorrow. I forced myself to spend a lot of time there this summer and I'm glad I did. It's been rewarding. It's the least pressured lake around me because it gets so tough post spawn, and it's the most scenic. No houses on the shoreline, and no boat docks other than the marina. It's the only lake I fish on the weekends. It's also the lake that produced my PB LM, 6lb10oz, and a bigger fish that wrapped me up and broke off. 20# Invisx. That put an end to flouro for me.

It's official, Ish's New JUNK Flippin Hooks. Broke another today when I hit a WOOD dock while skipping under it. Not good when wood breaks steel. Shame. I really like the design, but I'm done with 'em. A good example of where I'm catching them lately. You won't catch many fishing the outer edge. Gotta get back in the thick of it. 20# Mono or Flouro will get your heart broke back in there. 40# braid or higher is the only way to fly IMO.

Yeah, I'm assuming it wasn't properly stress relieved after the bait keeper eye was welded on. It broke right at the end of the weld. If another breaks, I'll pitch 'em and move on. Hoping they work out though. The design leaves plenty of room between the eyes, making them very easy to snell.

^^^THIS^^^ We don't have buck brush here, but I fish alot of shoreline brush, beaver huts, manmade brushpiles etc. I lost two PB's in two years because 20# Invisx wasn't up to the task of moving them out of cover, and they weren't DD's. All my pitching is done with 40# 832 these days. Set the hook into a limb today, 40# 832. Tharp King Cobra is fine. Lew's Super Duty is fine. Ish's New Junk Flippin hook? Not so much!!! Lol. First time using these hooks. I really like the design. Hopefully this is an anomaly. Never had this happen with a VMC or 6th Sense Flippin hook. Time will tell.

I've caught 4 carp now on a TRD bug. Threw it into the mud clouds trying to catch a smallie, and the carp ate it. Smallest was about 8#, biggest was over 13#. They're a handfull on 6# without a net. I figured out on the last one, they'll chill out like a smallie if you belly land 'em.

Sometimes critters stir up critters too. On one of my local lakes, I catch post spawn smallies from the mudballs created by carp rooting on the bottom. They follow the carp picking off crawdads their rooting stirs up. It only happens for a short time right after the spawn and before the weeds really get going. I've only been able to actually establish it as a pattern on this one lake. I've caught a few casting to rooting carp on other lakes, but only an occasional fish. Not enough to fish it as a pattern. I always cast to snapping turtles I see cruising the shallows too. Once in awhile they'll have bass following them looking to pick off critters they stir up. I caught four LM on four consecutive casts to a cruising snapper last spring. It had more with it but I spooked the turtle with my fifth cast.

I just got an SLX MGL for my 765 Kaden. Spooled it with 17# XT. Pitched and cast REALLY nice out in the yard. I'll get to spend some time with it over the next few days. Super smooth out of the box.