KSanford33

Here is a picture of me from a lifetime ago: I made the mistake of retiring from hockey early and thinking I could do well in another sport (motorsports). There isn't a day that goes by that I don't regret leaving when I did. My team is the Montreal Canadiens. They're awful this year. Between losing two great vets recently -Carey Price and Shea Weber- and injuries this year, I'm just hoping the stars align and they get the #1 overall pick in the draft. I'm not really going out on a limb here by saying Connor Bedard is going to be a generational player. As much as it pains me to say this, I don't think anyone can stop the Bruins this year. They have enough veteran leadership to not lose focus during the playoffs. But that being said, the playoffs are the most wonderful time of the year.

If you have access to a boat or kayak, trolling has always worked well for me for pike. I troll only fish-imitating lures (crankbaits, swimbaits, etc.) until I figure out what they like. Oddly enough, they're about the only fish I've caught out of a river that don't seem to mind current.

Zzzzzing!!! I have an app called FishBrain where people constantly do that! I just consider myself a very private person. Plus, I consider almost everyone on here better than I am, so I'm much more comfortable listening rather than talking.

I have a jig tied on all the time. That's saying a lot because I usually only carry 3-4 rods. As others have said, you can swim any kind of jig, but I'll limit this to strictly purpose-built swim jigs. I look at it like a grid. One one side you have the depth you're going to fish: Shallow, mid, and deep. I use 1/4oz for shallow, 3/8oz for mid, and 1/2oz for deep. On the other side you have water clarity: Clear, stained, and muddy. For clear I use green pumpkin or another color from Siebert's that's a kind of brown with yellow and red mixed in (I don't remember the name). For stained I usually go with a lighter color, so some kind of white (whether it has flakes or hints of other colors doesn't really matter to me). And finally for muddy, I use black and blue. As far as trailers, it's either a Keitech or Fluke. That's 9 swim jigs that should cover whatever conditions you come across.

The only pictures I take are of fish on bump boards, and I’m sure 99% of you have caught bigger fish than I have, so I don’t really want to post pictures to have people say, ‘Oh… 14 inches… nice…’. I’m as averse to selfies as anyone.

Exactly this! I carry a 7' medium baitcaster which covers just about everything I want to throw. I'm usually shore fishing when I've got a little time to kill; not a scheduled trip.

I ran into this same situation on vacation in Florida. I showed up at their front door with a twelve pack and asked if I could access their pond. They're response? 'Just don't do nothin' stupid.' Like @Catt said, most people respect the direct approach, but it never hurts having something to grease the wheels with too.

This guy gets it:

Same here. I’d give it away. I’ve been so poor I was homeless at one point and I’ve had mid-5 figures in my bank account (that’s a lot where I come from), and I’ve learned you experience the same spectrum of emotions with money or without.

One thing no one has mentioned yet is to use your t-rig for a lizard. I don't know about your area, but they kill that lure around the spawn here.

I’d throw an A-Rig with the additional blades since it’ll be windy and overcast. I’d start shallow and work my way deeper. If that didn’t work, I’d throw a Ned rig craw into the rockiest places I could find. Good luck, I’m jealous of anyone getting out at this point.

One of the few articles I read in Bassmaster is the top performing lures from the previous tournament. I should tally them up at some point, but I bet 90% of them are jigs, worms, and crankbaits. You very rarely see someone in those articles claiming they used some weird new bait.

Thank you! I’m very big on ‘words have meanings’. There’s a difference between tired and exhausted. That’s why I like the fact that people here delineate (another rare word!) between structure and cover. But I do enjoy using big words. They make me sound more photosynthesis. ?

My favorites are docks and bridge abutments. Edit: I didn't see where he said cover/structure. I thought it was only structure.

I'm sorry to hear about your wife's situation. There's nothing I can say that will make any part of it any better, but I wish there was.

How far will bass actually move on a body of water? Are we talking about less than a mile, a few miles, many miles? Thanks everyone.

For those of you who think it gives an unfair advantage, how long do you think it'll be before major series start banning it?

That's an excellent question, but no, it doesn't change my opinion. I think the sports' governing bodies have the sports best interests at heart. I think competitive fishing's governing bodies need to examine the use of LiveScope and FFS just to see if they think it's in the sport's best interest. I know competitive muskie fishing banned them.

I'm no more opposed to LiveScope or FFS than I am someone using an $800 driver in a golf tournament. At the end of the day, you still need to get the fish to bite or put the ball in the hole. I do fish tournaments, but almost invariably I start shallow and work my way deeper if I need to. I'll be the first to admit that I can't afford it. Actually, let me rephrase that, my marriage can't afford it, but I don't know that I'd get a ton of use out of it even if I could.

Suitcase… When I was in my early twenties I was basically a fill-in goalie for a bunch of semi-pro and Canadian senior hockey teams, so there was a stretch of time when I lived out of a suitcase for a while. Someone picked up on it and the name stuck.

I haven’t begun reading this yet, but I’m already so excited! I can’t wait! Thanks for documenting this Koz.

For me, it's winter by far. The majority of the lakes are frozen over, and the river water temperature is in the low 30's. The only bite I end up getting is frostbite.

Was it a conscious choice to change?

I'm excited to see how you do. Please post your results when you're done!

In upstate NY, we have a good mix of smallmouth and largemouth. I prefer to fish for largemouth (I think they're much easier to pattern), but I wanted to see if anyone here fished exclusively for one species of bass.