thediscochef

It's currently 36 degrees here with a 15mph north wind, cloudy...and 70% humidity. I had a hot streak last week. But I'm tearing down and cleaning reels today, replacing hooks and line tomorrow, and then getting back out when it warms up a little (or at least the north wind calms down). I'm sure there's probably a fish to be caught in that timespan but I don't care to be the one doing it in these conditions. I'll be going back to the lake to find different fishing than I was on before, more than likely. Anticipating water in the 60s after this Tl:Dr I don't blame you

That is one of two I ordered

I agree with you for the most part, but I think Utah DWR has a difference of opinion though

It's a rough time of year to be on the bank, bass are lazer focused on following their food and their food moves quickly. I had a great hot streak this week in like 1 acre of water, but the weather changed (high of 45 today!), lake came up a foot, and now that spot is a ghost town. Can't buy a swipe. I am back on the hunt for a bite, but what a week. It's not you

I saw more lights at roberts the morning I caught the two 4# LM back to back. A Triangle of green lights that all seemed to be on the same physical plane, moving in unison. It hovered where I saw it for a second, then spun quickly and zoomed out of sight. It was like zooming out from an image you're zoomed in on - you zoom out rapidly and whatever you were looking at is gone. I've never seen or heard a samsquanch or anything else I couldn't explain. I did have a close call two mornings ago at my topwater spot. I think the adrenaline rush is why I skunked. A huge tree branch cracked off and fell not even ten feet behind me, right on top of where I had just walked. I ran lol @ol'crickety knows about the things I've seen at the lake. I appreciate her candor on these matters.

Mistakes are best made a single time, we start calling them other things after that 😅

There's a few different tools out there, I tried to make sure the one I got would work in the spool hollow. It's a lews tournament XP, that particular spool bearing isn't inset much and the pin is fair easy to get to. I'm more worried about the spools I don't know as well. My impatient *** tried using a pair of channellocks with the mouth offset to where it would push the narrow end of the pin down without blocking the larger exit, YouTube "trick" that should be launched into the sun. I knew it was risky and I think I got lucky, the pin reseated and the reel works fine. Never again though

So the pin still fits into the pinion just fine, the reel went back together just fine. It runs way smoother after cleaning and greasing. No more pepper grinding. I just worry that I've compromised the structural integrity of the pin at this point - it would be a shame if the pin broke during a fight. Then again, unless I have the drag cranked (never) I think I will be fine. I emailed lews either way but hopefully this is bullet dodged and I can get out of this on the cheap. The pin puller tool I ordered will be here Monday, the rest of my reels will wait for cleaning until then. I threw my fit, created some new swears, threw my hat. Back on that horse though. Nothing stops this train. Nothing except the lack of spool pin puller tool lol Everything else went pretty smoothly, I think the spool pin thing is the hardest part of the whole deep clean process. That and the one spool bearing on my tournament pro that has a press fit shield instead of a clipped one...that bearing will get replaced before I run it unshielded as it's the bearing on the spool itself. I blew it out the best I could with lectramotive and did the same for the palm side, then added oil. Will replace spool bearings on the next deep clean.

I got impatient and used the wrong tool, bent the pin taking it out. I have the tool on order. I should have just waited, this is gonna be a time consuming (or possibly expensive or both) lesson. So this ends in a new spool, right? If I can even get one...

I completely agree. You can tell I don't tournament fish, I didn't realize it wasn't cool to keep dead fish lol I get why that's a rule but also...dumb rule

Yes I gathered that, the tournament guys at my lake have a tendency to just leave the fish floating instead of eating it. Would rather see it eaten by the people responsible for it floating

This here is a good answer. 2-4 minutes is an eternity to have a fish out of water. Shouldn't really be more than about 15-30 seconds at a time, then dip it back in and either drag it slowly or open/close the mouth repeatedly to get water flowing through the gills Waste not, want not. Would rather see someone eating a giant than leaving it for the birds Fizzing should be a last resort sort of thing, weight clips are gentler on the fish but time spent in livewell can be just as detrimental. Best to just not fish that deep unless one intends to keep IMO

those little underspins just produce. Lake Ray Roberts has continued to rise. I blanked at my usual walking bait spot but the weather and water is different than it's been. I decided to take my shoes off and go wading since only the top 6" of water is warm. They were around and snackin, but no swipes, nothing today. A strong front rolled through earlier and dropped temps 20-30 degrees so I will probably wait until tomorrow afternoon to go fish again. Might be tempted to throw a 110...

I sometimes think that society began its decline when we stopped throwing rocks at people like those guys

Probably some of the most exciting 5 minutes of bass fishing I've ever had, first time since my last striper trip that my hand cramped from lipping fish. Getting them both on that walking bait was an extra thrill. My heart is tired lol I have two left feet but I'll do my best 🤣

Thank you! I was reminded of those fat Maine bass as I was pulling these out lol

What a morning. Less strikes than I've been getting but the quality took a step up. Lake rose about a foot with an overnight rain event and they were up shallow. Walking bait keeps crushing it - today's fish were 4-6, 4-3, and 3-14 along with a dink and the super-est dink. Dink not pictured, super dink obligatory. The 4-3 nicked a gill, I was as fast as possible with her and standing out in the water to get a pic. The dual 4lb fish were caught on consecutive casts. There's about a 20ft by 20ft spot they just roll up and crush it. All three bigger fish struck in that small square. Walking baits are fun, y'all. Best topwater day yet by weight

😂😂

A guy caught an 11.7# Largemouth from Lake Alan Henry on Saturday 😃

Thanks. I learned a lot. TPWD has done some wild stuff - they used to stock walleye in DFW! There's a LM strain they found with some unique genes in a small pond somewhere near Fort Worth that TPWD collected to add into their programs back in the 80s or 90s. They called it Kemp's Largemouth. There are so many genetics down here and they're so mixed up in some places that you could probably classify a unique species somewhere in the state.

Walking Bait Wednesdays are great when they follow Topwater Tuesdays. Hoping for 3DB Thursday tomorrow lol. 6 on a walking bait this morning before the wind shut me down. Biggest was just shy of 4#. Also got a superdink. Missed a few but my percentage is getting better. Fun fun.

Not trying to start anything here, but this stuck out to me and I'm bored/awake enough to write a whole freaking essay, wow what a nerd I am. I would like to preface with the reminder that I have no formal education about anything and I don't know any biologists. Any assertions I'm about to make are based on public information and personal experience at these water bodies. We do have some Alabamas in Texas, though maybe not in the places you would think. Actually just one place, in a desolate region southeast of Lubbock. It's an interesting case study, in that they did not outpace largemouth populations per TPWD surveys. In 1996, Texas Parks and Wildlife was trying to figure out what to do with their newest reservoir, Lake Alan Henry. They obtained 150 "Alabama Spotted Bass" to stock in that reservoir, and before long people were catching 5+lb "Bama Spots" from it. I believe it is the only stocking of kentucky or alabama bass that TPWD has ever performed. A time consuming search of TPWD records from 1987-2023 returned only this one stocking, though I am human. A few interesting points: -A 2021 survey report on the sub-3k acre reservoir revealed that catch rates of LMB doubled those of Alabama Bass. In major flood years, Alabama Bass see a spike in catch rate, but in stable reservoir conditions the LM still prevail. The lake was initially only stocked with gizzard shad and bluegill, threadfin have been introduced but have not taken hold particularly well. So, limited forage species, Alabama Bass, and yet the LM still dominate catch rates - though no specimens over 18" were collected in 2021 -Alan Henry is a headwater of the Brazos River system, when there is water in the river below the dam, it flows into more reservoirs. There have been no reports of migration of the Alabama Bass, but that river is bone-dry unless there's a major rain event. Alan Henry is the place to stock Alabamas if you didn't want them to spread easily - there is very little water for miles in every direction -If you read the texas forums about Alan Henry, they swear up and down that the Alabama Bass have taken over/ruined the fishery, but TPWD survey would suggest that Alabama bass are simply more aggressive than LM and not more numerous. Let us not forget that some LM do actually learn from watching other fish eat lures. While the survey would suggest that the growth of LM is limited in the presence of ALB, the experiences of the fishermen could just as easily be due to heightened awareness among larger LM as they watch their smaller dumber cousins eat napkins. -Texas Parks and Wildlife has a vested interest in monitoring the movement of Alabama Bass, as they can hybridize with Guadalupe Bass. TPWD did enough damage to the native Guadalupe genes with the SM stocking frenzy of the 80s - much more and the species will no longer exist untainted in the wild. I would make the assertion that they are keeping an eye on what types of black bass show up on major tournament reservoirs like Toledo Bend, too, as this is directly tied to TPWD revenue. As far as ALB in Toledo goes, I see it one of five ways: -the reservoir ecology is so unfavorable for ALB that they do not exceed the size of average spotted bass -ALB population is so low that none of the 1000s of tournament anglers, hobbyists, guides, etc have ever identifiably caught one; -They exist in size and numbers but nobody (including TPWD) has caught one or noticed an uptick in size/numbers of "spotted" bass, maybe louisiana stocked them and they stay east of the river? -There are mostly hybridized ALB that do not reach standard ALB size -TPWD has a regulation posted for a fish that has never been observed/doesn't exist statistically in the reservoir (I personally think it's this one based on what I've seen at other TPWD-managed waters alone). Why would they do this, you ask? I return with the question of "what has texas really ever done that made sense?" Toledo Bend also has a regulation for Guadalupe Bass, and we know there are none present - their range does not extend anywhere near that river system, they've never been officially stocked, never been caught, never been observed in a survey, nothing. Guadalupe regs are actually posted at Meridian State Park Lake, which has never and will never support a reproducing GB population. I was there two weeks ago. While this isn't definitive, I would suggest that if there were any statistically significant Alabama populations in Toledo Bend the lake record would almost certainly be larger than the current 3.4lbs. Given the amount of tournament pressure and coverage that lake receives I feel like someone would have noticed ALB by now. Best I can tell from my uneducated digging when it comes to the potential impacts of Alabama bass, it really IS all about the specific water body just like you said before. Things don't thrive where they can't. Different reservoirs on the same river system fish differently for a reason, and the impact/success of Alabama Bass really is a 100% ecological determination. Brady Stanford, 2/22/23, 11lb 1oz 24.75" OH Ivie meanmouth

This is relevant to my current situation. I was on the fence about going out for some late night fishing tonight, with about three minutes to make a decision before it's too late for me to leave. Looking at the radar, there's a thunderstorm headed up from the south that would arrive less than an hour after me. We'll rest up and hit it tomorrow instead. Just hardly seems worth the drive, though if it only took half an hour to land a nice fish...maybe worth it. Too late now though

😳😳 I've lost some gear to the lake, Ray roberts currently my fuego CT combo and a fuego spool somewhere around the pier. I'm sure someone has probably caught the rod by now. The spool I may be able to retrieve later if the water continues to drop, but surely it is toast as it has been there over a year. Same with the combo. I'm glad you got yours back. That was a riveting tale

There we go Dropped my buddy off, ate lunch. He lives on the other side of roberts from me so I had to stop on the way back. One nice spotted bass to keep the skunk at bay. She puked the tail and backbone of a smaller fish out on me. Gross. I left because I'm tired and the rain picked up pretty hard. No regrets