T-Billy

👆All the info you'll ever need in A-Jay's thread.

Can't help ya. I own more Lew's than any other brand. My JDM Zillions are my favorite and best quality reels, but I feel like my LFS reels are the best bang for the buck.

Entry: Lews LFS. Mid: JDM Zillion HD I consider both to be high value per dollar spent. The zillions are my most expensive bass reels. I don't feel any need to spend more, The Z's are outstanding in every department. The only more expensive reels I own are my 400 size musky reels. The Penn Fathom wins that contest in the $300 ish category, beating out the Tranx and Lexa HD.

Country boy. No more than two or three stories round here, and zero elevators. Wait, I take that back. There's an elevator in the courthouse, but the cops haven't dragged me into it since I quit drinking 15 years ago, so... I always take the stairs. 😂

Go Dwight!!! You're on em buddy!!! 🔨

I hear ya Dwight. This year might be tough to top. Now that the wife's retired, I reckon I can expect to get by butt kicked on a more regular basis. Lol.

Looks good @TnRiver46. I might have to thaw out a bag of fillets.

Lots of fun.Z Man TRD bug on a 1/8 football head catches everything from ice out till ice over. I've caught LM, SM, sunfish, crappie, catfish, pike, muskie, eyes, and carp on it. 6# mono.

We'll probably ice over this weekend. Then a warm up next week MIGHT open the lakes back up for a few days, then ..... It's Ohio who the heck knows? We might get a foot of ice or only a few inches. The models I saw forecast average temps and above average snow for us this winter. I'm guessing the lakes will be locked through January and February, and open by mid March.

Don't I know it!!! They tend to make me feel bad about myself in April and October. 😂

I sit and shake my head at the drug commercials. The side effects of many are worse than the problem they were made to treat.

Thanks for the advice. You're not the first I've heard that from. They can keep that crap. I like the way you roll.

That may well be. Your fish feed on bigger bait than ours for the most part, and need to feed less often as a result.

They're gonna be where whatever they're eating is. Roaming open water chasing shad schools when the water's cold. Cruising the tree tops when the crappie are there spawning, which is shortly after the muskie spawn. Many will be in the weeds all summer eating bass, gills, perch, and crappie, but some, especially the big girls, will spend the summer in open water. The fish in the weeds will sometimes stay in the same areas for weeks as long as there's food there. The open water fish cruise much more. Generally the fish on or near bottom are inactive, and the fish higher in the water column are up there to eat. That's pretty much how it works in our OH lakes anyway.

In our lakes they're doing the same thing from November through March. They're following the shad schools around and gorging themselves. Find the big shad schools, and you'll find muskie. Post spawn, the seasonal movements you described above are spot on in my experience.

Yep, yep.

Thanks A-Jay. That compliment carries weight coming from you. I always enjoy your reports/vids. Big brownies, pike, muskie, trout....... You got some serious skills brother. I hope Lynn's feeling up to getting out more next year. It always warms my heart and puts a smile on my face seeing you two kids out there together.

I spent 10hrs on the water today, mostly trolling A -rigs. I caught two small fish, 32" and 33" and lost a third that was only a little bigger. Saw a few giants on sonar, but they weren't playing today. All three bites came between 09:00 and 10:00, the hour leading up to moon set. Typical for this time of year, that bite window wasn't open very long. Surface temp was 38 - 39.5 with more cold incoming, so that's a wrap for my 2025 season. I took a pic of the 32" since I thought it might be my last fish of the year. The 33" came shortly after, but it was hooked deep so I didn't mess with a pic. I cut the hook and it swam off strong without much bleeding. I think it'll be fine. Here's a pic of the lake this morning. Low 30's, low clouds, and low winds all day. It was pretty enjoyable weather for December fishing. It was an awesome year. I learned a lot that'll give me a better foundation to build upon next year. My final tally stands at 111 muskie over 30" with 28 of those being 40" or better. Tammy caught 18 with 6 of hers being over 40", so 129 in the bag for the team this year. Now that she's retired, her numbers will go way up next year. Time to get busy on the Honeydo list.

It's only gonna get down to 29 tonight with a high of 36 tomorrow. I'm going to give those muskie a go. The water's in the upper 30's in the main lake basins, with the upper end iced over and advancing every day. It'll probably be tough, but tis the season to maybe get a crack at a monster. Depending on how things go tomorrow, I might get out Tuesday also. 🤞

The wife retired last August, so I'll be happy to fish with her a lot more next year than in years past. No real goals beyond that. Just get out as often as possible and enjoy my time on the water in quest of big fish.

@TnRiver46, his name isn't Cujo is it? 😯😂

I'll keep you in my prayers. Keep us posted.

Not long at all, especially if you're just using them for your heavy cover work. You'll get good at pitching and making short accurate casts in no time. 😉 That 6 power rod and the added winching power a baitcaster provides will really help with moving those big fish out of the jungle.

Lol. If nothing else, it keeps my head and ears super warm out there in the gales of November.

Reel down, set the hook as hard as you can, then just winch on 'em. You want to keep as much steady pressure on them as you can muster.