thediscochef

My first ever PB over 5# was on Christmas Day 2021. I fell in love in December, it is my favorite month. I'm hoping for a better winter bite this year, I did much better in 21-22 than 22-23. Gonna be focused more shallow than I was last year, I think sticking myself deep-only last winter was why I didn't do so well.

Well I don't have my own fish pic to post, and my buddy (not the PK buddy) doesn't really want his face on the web - but I put him on his first topwater bite with a walking bait today. He got 10 bites and converted half. I got sunk to the knees into some mud that was hungry for my boots but all came out intact. Would have been stuck 100% if I didn't have a buddy with me, but that's why I don't go to the public hunting lands alone - you never know what can happen and it happens fast. I'm just happy my buddy caught some, he's been blanked the last couple times we went. I've been wearing em out plenty the last few days though, I'm happy

I'm a loudmouthed beginner in the same sentence as three excellent fisherpersons, thank you I have this level of imposter syndrome about it:

Can't help but fish in the rain when there's no risk of lightning. Three more walking bait bass before I had to go watch the Rangers lay the beat down on those cheating Astros. Missed another good one on the pompadour but I've steadily seen more results with it. Soon enough I'll maybe catch a biggun on it. All the walking bait success has restored much of the confidence lost on Friday. My buddy decided he wanted better momentum going into his birthday trip to Lake Fork, so we're going to a nuclear power plant lake that closes half the year on 12/1. It's known for not having much size, but is known for catch rates and naive fish. Hoping for a good trip and an equal number of limbs when I get back 😅😅

Topwater continues to produce 3-10 on the walking bait, I had probably two or three others at least as big hit the pompadour but I think I set the hook too fast. Not as active as yesterday, and the better fish were in deeper water. but there's weather moving in, no great surprise they were a little mixed up

Got back out today at a spot I've been hitting a lot lately, caught 9 bass on a walking bait. Shallow this morning. I had probably just as many bass miss the bait. Feels good

The price of deliciousness

I've had one good bite across three boat trips this year with two different guides. I just get the opportunity so little, I'm honestly pretty upset at how that has gone this year. Been looking forward to this trip for weeks. Guide caught a 7+ and a couple smaller fish. My buddy and I had a single 16" fish between the two of us on an 8 hour trip. I get that nobody controls the bite but I do feel like maybe when you realize your clients haven't caught **** all day, maybe put your own rod down for a little bit and give them first crack at a FFS fish for once

a big mistake, I spent eight hours on a boat today and didn't get a bite

The one time I've had to deal with St. Croix customer service it was a great experience too, it was my favorite rod at the time and I was really torn up about it. I still had to pay shipping on the replacement but it's still way less than a new rod off the shelf. I remember it being a pretty fast process. I have had to replace the tiptop on the warranty replacement since (chipped the insert), but that's a cheap and easy fix. Good customer service is still important and I think there's still a lot of the better brands that understand this

I'm broker than nick chubb's leg at the moment, furthermore I won't always necessarily have the ability to even take it to my local guy. thankfully I have the stuff I need with a few cheap (hopefully) exceptions, I'm just lacking in experience and knowledge. which is where y'all come in. I appreciate all the insight

I made it a habit in the guitar business to never call customer support without part numbers but a good reminder never hurts. Thanks!

For the cleaning or the thumb button? Would like to be doing my own cleaning, I plan on getting a small ultrasonic The thumb button is just the plastic piece your thumb rests on - the clutch and the reel all still work fine it's just uncomfortable. If I could get the parts I could replace it myself but from what I hear getting parts from Daiwa as a consumer is a fool's errand

Mercury said it was a balmy 36 degrees out this morning when I stepped out the door at 6:30am, so naturally a topwater is the first choice. One bass on a popper before I had to leave for the day. Had a few others miss a pompadour and a pencil but I'm not complaining. I'm getting strikes. Confidence is increasing for Friday's trip to PK.

Having the plastic centered will help a ton, a zako is what I prefer on my larger CB. I haven't tried the 4.5" powerstinger but the 3.5 is aces for the minimax. The main reason I primarily use the smaller CBs is that the large ones blow out so easy if my rigging is off even a tiny amount. The minimax is much more forgiving with that, but has some limits to size and profile

This tatula CT is out of warranty, it was my first ever baitcaster and the thumb button broke a while back. I still have the plastic piece that came off, I was thinking about gluing it back together when I disassemble the reel for cleaning. I think if I built up enough mass with some loctite gel control, a toothpick or two, and some NCF quick dry. But I could also see this going horribly wrong. Should I just sand the plastic down and get used to it? Also, had some questions about cleaning reels- 1. Do you clean the drag washers? If so, how? 2. For shielded AR bearings, how would you clean/regrease? 3. I have cals universal star/reel grease, will this work for the main gear as well? 4. How would you clean the side plate of a Lews Tournament Pro? Centrifugal brakes not mag brakes. They finally shipped my spool, and I don't want to throw it into a dirty pepper grinder reel.

My most frustrating line experiences with spinning gear have come with 8# FC and 10# braid. Mostly manageability issues, FC just likes to lay in a straight line which is antithetical to spinning reels. The tiny braid liked to wind knot if I horsed a cast. I'm firmly in the 15-20# braid to 6-10# plastic line camp these days.

So if I were trying to put together an inexpensive spinning combo for light lures, I would probably be looking at a shimano FX series reel paired with one of Academy's H2OX rods. You could probably put a solid combo together with those two brands, line and all, for under $60. You could also just get an ugly stik combo and call it a day. I am partial to daiwa fuego reels but those blow the whole budget right away. The shimano FX reels are super duper basic and a little heavy but have never done me wrong. Lots and lots of great options under $100 in spinning gear. Some people look down on spinning tackle and lighter lures but every style of rod/reel has something it does well and can help you land bass. I have caught 6-13 and 7-1 LM on 2" crappie tubes, no chance of throwing that on a baitcaster.

try the berkley powerstingers too. I find it stays on plane better than the zako. Also if you really want to downsize the minimax and add action, use the 4" yamamoto shad shape worm. Can be a little tough to rig but once you get it, it's a killer

Fun with flatheads on lipless crankbaits. This one was 10lb 8.5oz. Not quite as big as the last one but fun nonetheless. A little more lively than their blue and channel cousins. I didn't take pics of any of the 5 dinky bass I caught so this will have to do. Had two meanmouth in the same day for the first time which was cool. Possum Kingdom in a few days. I'm ready.

F a kidney stone, those hurt so so bad. Couldn't imagine being stuck with one lakeside. Glad you're back in action, here's to calcium staying where it belongs 😳

Tough day out, north wind gusting to 25 but I managed to catch this one bass on a crawler around 2pm over some riprap. It missed the bait all three times it struck but a little patience on the last hit landed some barbs on its back/head. The strikes on those pompadours are straight up violent

Nothing of size but it was nice to catch more than a couple. Went to a state park that's a little further from me and has a better survey report. Most were caught on a shakey head but a couple drums on back to back casts with a chatterbait. Missed a couple smaller bites but overall a good day to build some confidence. 6 bass and two drums. Nothing crazy, but enough to shake the skunk funk of the last few days

Always. Never know when they're running a good deal on something useful. And they carry some one-off yum stuff that can be helpful. Plus it takes my mind off the suspicious lack of walls inside the walmart. You'd think there'd be more given the name and all

Depends on how cold it actually gets this year but I usually do fleece lined windbreaker pants for February. I recommend fleece lined windbreaker pants. You should get some fleece lined windbreaker pants. I got my fleece lined windbreaker pants at Costco for cheap along with a 6000 count pack of eggs