T-Billy

Another Mag II and Ol Monster fan here. I also just picked up a LPO 6" grub mold. I bought it mostly to use for muskie bait trailers, but I have a feeling they're gonna be a hot bait for pitching deep grass this summer.

LM- 7' MH Berkley Lightning rod, Abu 4601, 20# Invisx. Jig & Craw. SM- 7'6" MH BPS Pro Qualifier, Browning Citori, 30# 832. Chatterbait.

68 years young is a better term in your case. You go girl!!! 😉

Yes and yes. ☝️Thousands of hours of the above.

The chatterbait is hands down my #1 night bait for both LM and SM. Jig would be #2. Sometimes a toad or buzzbait if there's lots of surface activity. I mostly fish weed edges and rock structure.

It appears the muskie are done spawning and moving into the trees. They'll use them until the weeds get up good. I was bass fishing today and caught a 36.5" out of a laydown on my flippin rig, and a 37" with a 3" tube on 8# YZH. Both fish are beat up from the spawn. That skinny 37" was pretty lethargic. Only took a few minutes to land it on the 8#. The muskie bite has been terrible lately with the spawn going on. Looking forward to the weeds getting up and the crank and blade bite getting going.

I like Sufix 832 for bottom contact. It's the most abrasion resistant braid I've found. Fins Infinity and XS Big Game are my favorites for chucking and winding. They're both very smooth, strong, durable, and MADE IN THE USA.

Ya hear that @TnRiver46? You need to respect ol rubber lips. @roadwarrior needs to start showing some respect to the mighty drum too. 😜

So, Piedmont finally came down enough to launch, and with today being post frontal, with high sun and light winds, I figgered I'd make the drive down and catch me a wheel barrow full of brown bass. 😎 Things started out just like I'd thought they might with a steady bite on a 3" tube, fishing shallow rock in spawning pockets. It was a dink fest, but they were biting. Mixed bag of SM, LM, and saugeye. I was stoked, thinking the bite would keep improving as the day went on, and the shallows warmed after a 30 degree night. WRONG!!! 😂 It steadily faded as the day wore on, with the last fish coming at about 1 o'clock. I called it at four. It was a fun morning, with a steady parade of dinks keeping me busy. Best fish pictured below. About 2# give or take a crawdad or two. Didn't find any of the big egg laden sows I was looking for, but I'm thankful for the beautiful day on the water.

Thanks Alex. A cold front passed through overnight. It was blowing 15-25 all day today. I went out for about 3.5 hrs today and caught one 12" LM. Fargen fish are bi-polar I tell ya!!! 😂

Lol. Thanks. I lose to the monkey every time do to my handicap. I was born without a willpower. 😂

Well... I managed to hold out for 12 days. Sigh... Two 7'11" XH F Invokers on the way. 😂 #THEMONKEYNEVERSLEEPS!!!

Thanks for the kind words @Woody B. You're a darn good stick yourself. I thought of you on the water today. A big flathead came cruising past in shallow water. I tried to get it to pick up my flippin rig, but it didn't wanna play. It was far enough outside the brush line, I'd have had a good shot at landing it. I'm 0 for 2 against them in laydowns. It's like trying to pull a Mack truck out of a pile of wood.

Absolutely EPIC!!! Congratulations!!!

Thanks Katie. I had a killer day that absolutely PALES in comparison to @A-Jay's!!! 😂 GOOD GRIEF A-Jay!!! Congratulations brother!!! What an epic day!!!

This is how I deal with nesting geese. Dirty buggers. We have way too many of them around here. Filthy things crap all over everything. Flood waters are down about 2.5' and the lake is now about 4' high and dropping a few inches per day. Surface temp has held steady at 58 since last week. The receding waters have moved the greenies from back in the woods to the flooded shoreline brush, and there's a killer flippin bite going down. I put a couple dozen in the boat today. Best three pictured below. 5.35# with a cool tattoo on her tail. First 5+ of the year. 3.44# 3.38# I had another 8 in the 2-2.5# range. Best five would go about 17#. Best day of fishing I've had in quite awhile. Off the next three days. Fingers crossed this bush pitching mayhem continues all week.

I'm a K.I.S.S. fan also. While it's fun to try new baits, and once in awhile we run across one that earns it's place in steady rotation, for the most part just rollin with a few proven baits is the most productive way to go.

They're burned in there even more vividly than the big catches.

Lots of times, what you read and watch won't apply to the lakes you fish anyway. Every lake fishes differently. The majority of LM in one of my local lakes spend the summer offshore chasing shad like brown bass are apt to do. No brownies in that lake. It's a good lake during pre-spawn, and fall, but brutal tuff all summer long. No other lake around me fishes anything like it. Ultimately, there's just no substitute for time on the water. Get out there and try stuff, and over time you'll figger out what works for YOU on YOUR waters. 😉 I'll add: There's nearly always some green fish up in shallow cover anytime the water's above 38 degrees IME.

I most generally start shallow and work out, even in cold water. Eagles or no eagles, bass like overhead cover.

The T-rig is either my #1 or #2 producer of big bass year after year, with a chatterbait at night being the other. @MIbassyaker nailed it. It's a foundational technique that every bass angler should be proficient with.

It certainly has it's dangers. Sharing the road with idiots is one of the biggest. Texting while driving should carry the same penalty as DUI in my opinion. This is a sign you shouldn't tailgate me or cut me off. It's amazing how many people are oblivious to it. There's around 8,000 gallons of liquid that's easier to ignite than gasoline in my trailer when I'm loaded, and it's full of combustible vapors when I'm empty. It pays pretty well though, with a killer retirement package, and I work four 12's. Come January of 26, I'll have more days off per year than work days.

Nah. You've caught bigger. It was a big fish for sure, but the bent handle is the result of me having the rod pointed the wrong direction when the strike happened. I know better but... stuff happens. Congrats on that toad Katie!!! That's a dandy!!!

Nah, That truck just looks familiar. I drive a blue KW too. I haul crude for the big red M petroleum company.

Can't fish that bog tomorrow if you drown in it today. 😉 So... I had a pretty solid bite on a spinnerbait today... 😂 Given the location, and time of year, I'd wager it was a big pike. Didn't get to see it. It came off immediately after very nearly ripping my rod out of my hands. It bent the handle so far it locked up the reel when it came around and hit the spool tension knob. My goodness what a ferocious hit!!! I then proceeded to take a skunking. Caught 9 LM and lost two more there yesterday. No bigs. All 1 - 2.5#. Front rolled through last night and into the morning, and THEY GONE!!! Edit to add: Hat's off to Lew's. That old Tournament MB has been through the ringer and it's still smooth and going strong. Just needs a new handle, and it'll be ready to get back to haulin 'em.