thediscochef

The microplastics in me acknowledge and honor the microplastics in you

I stop fishing topwater in the summer, but the rest of the year it's become my go-to. The last year or so has convinced me that there is always a topwater bite somewhere. Might be a real small window but it's there. I caught my PB spotted bass on a pop max in February.

Next time you're in DFW I'll do my best to show you some bites at Roberts! Awesome to meet you man

Blanked at Meredith today but I caught the rarest thing yet - my first random encounter with a forum member in the wild! I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with @Skunkmaster-k this morning, great guy and great fisherman. Really enjoyed the conversation and the time fishing. Sometimes it's not all about the catching

Stuck a nice one this morning before I had to pack it up and go get stuff done. Interesting progression of fish. The bigger one ticked in right at 4lbs, absolutely crushed a walking bait while I was on the phone scheming with @LrgmouthShad. Off to the panhandle, maybe I'll post a smallmouth later

I have the 2v 5.4 in a 2000 f150 that has about 124k on it. Meticulous with the oil/fluids and filter changes. I would be furious if someone revved it that high without asking and then tried to sell me a new engine. You've obviously been at least somewhat careful with it to get it to the neighborhood of 140k, the 5.4 engines were not known for their reliability without a strong maintenance record. At least your 3 valve won't shoot a spark plug through the hood 😂

If you do it long enough, whatever you're worried or excited about will eventually happen to you. Be patient, be ready

Another tough morning yesterday of missed strikes, I blew it on all of the nicer fish. I still caught 8 and provided a mild show for the other anglers around, but I had barbs in a few really solid feeling fish. Thankfully I never saw them. Sooner or later I will get them stuck stuck. The common denominator with the lost fish is the vmc trebles I'm using, I got some of those finesse trebles with the slick coating. While they are very sticky, they slip out way too easily. I want to like them but for distance hooking they're just too slick. Back to the gamakatsu short shank ewg trebles I love so much. Off to the panhandle tomorrow to play a show and fish lake Meredith for smallmouths

I also agree that it is stiffer and has a little more memory, and less stretch. Those are all good qualities to me in my applications though, when I make a long cast and get bit at the end of it, sometimes too much stretch is a bad thing. It has just enough stretch to absorb some shock as a leader and the bait fouls on itself much less than with straight braid I haven't had the cold issues as I live in Texas and that doesn't really happen here

The best plastic line I've come across so far is Sufix Tritanium Plus. Comes through all cover with minimal wear, casts great, strong as heck. Just not very invisible. I use it primarily as a shock absorber on my topwater braid combos, but I also use the 14# test as mainline for the exact lures you listed. I fish up against concrete and rocks and rarely ever have evidence of abrasion. Started using it after running across it on a tarpon forum searching for tougher line than big game or sufix mono, and I haven't looked back.

Had a great hour of strikes this morning before the bite died altogether, I had probably 20 bites that caught 5 barbs and landed one superdink. They just couldn't make contact with the bait itself, always an inch or two to the side. Frustrating, but better than no bites at all. Try again tomorrow

Do I get the spidey sense from getting bit by more spiders at the lake? Lol in all seriousness yes pretty frequently, but when I'm fishing a walking bait this time of year i expect to get hit every third or fourth cast so the stats may be a bit skewed

Man's over here casually describing the only three swimbaits i usually throw. Nailed it

I react to it better than I used to for sure. Roberts is a busy lake in the spring and fall, if I wanted it to still be relaxing I had to figure out how to deal with it a little bit. Occasionally it still gets me pretty upset, I'm not gonna act like I haven't come into this forum and ranted about it multiple times in the past. But anymore, today's experience is what I get 60%-70% of the time - they show up, I catch, they leave, I keep catching. World keeps on turning

It happens a lot at the state park. I've gotten more used to it but it's still a little shocking every time you make eye contact with someone and then they go and lower the trolling motor. If they were tournament angling I could maybe understand it a bit more, while still rude there is at the very least some money on the line and I kinda get it. Honestly I was catching bass all morning next to dogs playing in the water, a paddleboard, and a screaming match. The boat was probably the least disruptive thing that happened. There's a tournament out there tomorrow morning so I will be sleeping in, probably

I missed three really nice fish. One of them hit it twice the exact same way, I hooked her the second time but she dove into the weeds and shook me. From what I could see that looked between 6 and 8lb. Without a doubt would have been one of the top few fish of the year so far. Always hurts. Didn't see the other one but the swells were big big. It happens. The part that I took note of though was that I didn't stop getting hit until noon. I would say that I landed 60-70% of what struck today which is a notable improvement from the last few outings. Everything i landed was about a pound, but eight of those makes for a fun morning. At one point i had a guide troll right through my casting zone and park directly on top of where I had been getting strikes. After about 10 minutes I got a bass right behind them. They stayed about 10 more before I caught another one and then they left shortly (but very loudly/angrily) after that. If given the choice, I would rather not have that experience. But if you roll up on me when I have a bite figured out, there's a good chance you're gonna get your feelings hurt by a man with a walking bait. I've been using a strike king dawg Jr exclusively the last week or so. Thing just gets bit and bit and bit.

Foul hooked a good size channel cat that blew up on my walking bait. Made me think it was a big fish until about half way through the retrieve. Fun though. About seven missed blowups later I managed to stick this 3.5lb CHUNK of a fish and that was the end of the morning. So many missed strikes. Half my fault, half theirs. We'll hope for better tomorrow

My dad was a DMAT guy, you're speaking reality about this 100%

I believe you entirely. I would say it's almost being underreported/undersensationalized to this point - simply because there is no way to get the word out. Can't get news and aid in if towers/roads/power are out. This is likely the most significant domestic flooding event in many of our lifetimes. Absolutely devastating, things that will scar the psyche of the region for at least a generation

It's my favorite way to fish. This time of year it's always done by 9am if it's clear out, and I just leave at that point because chasing them down becomes a fools errand without a boat. I really want to catch a new pb on the surface sometime. I'm already thinking about winter topwater fishing and how it could be successful if i get to the right waters at the right times

Got some blowups this morning and finally stuck a little bit better fish. Nothing big but at least enough to bend the rod a bit, 3.5lb. Missed a couple better ones but this morning is the first time I've seen the larger ones out. I love fall surface fishing

Eastern TN and Western NC are straight up not OK right now I have some friends stuck in Linville Land Harbor, the only road into or out of the community has been gone since Friday. From what I understand, most of the Asheville-Boone area is worst-case scenario stuff. Towns completely gone. And it may not be over, like they said above. There's potential for another one. A potential impact of this is semiconductor production - the only place in the world that mines quartz pure enough to use in Czochralski crucibles (necessary for all semiconductor production worldwide). The entire world's production relies on this one facility. For all the absolute devastation locally, we are only seeing the splash this is making right now before we get hit by the ripples

I think we're finally in fall down here. Car said 54 when I got to the lake this morning. They weren't where I expected them to be but I eventually got into some. Only stuck the one, but had probably six or seven misses which is a positive sign. I don't think the giants are quite up with them yet but we're not far from that

Stuck a fun sized fish casting around purtis creek for a bit. Good old red eye shad. Cold front tonight means topwater cove in the morning 💯

I feel you, it was only 90 down here at Rayburn yesterday but I was dying about midday. Relief is coming though, look at the forecast this week. We're gonna be in the 60s/80s in DFW by Wednesday. You know I'm gonna be searching for that topwater bite. Also a belated happy birthday!