Woody B

I had a 2 cycle motorcycle when I was a kid. It had a reservoir, and metered it's own oil. Being a kid I never thought about putting oil in it. It had a glass sight bubble, but it was stained. It looked like it had oil in it. I ran it until it locked up. After it cooled off I put oil in the spark plug hole and got it freed up. I rode if for a couple years after that. (with oil in the reservoir)

Y'all are both hammers, as well as many others around here. I'm just thrilled to be on the same planet will all of y'all.

I don't use autopilot at all. I'm usually either spot locked or controlling my trolling motor with the foot pedal. I also rarely use my remote......but I keep my remote attached to my belt. My remote is waterproof, or at least IP68 rated.

@GreenPig and everyone else. Getting in a tub of HOT water will ease kidney stone pain. When the water cools the pain will come back, just drain a little and heat it back up with fresh. At least this will give you a few minutes of relief.

Howdy from Grover NC. (I-85 at the NC/SC State line)

The Daiwa reels with the SV spool are the hardest to backlash of any reels I've used. I have 2 DC reels. I keep them set on "1" most of the time and they're pretty much like any other reel. They shine in the wind when I put them on 2. I get more distance with them at pretty much any setting than a Daiwa SV reel.

That's interesting. NC stocked 78000 Bluegill in Lake Mattamuskeet to cut back on the Carp population. They said Bluegill feed on Carp eggs. This was "common" Carp, not grass Carp. That may be the difference. I've never been to Lake Mattamuskeet. Apparently they still have a Carp problem. They're working on some kind of plan to net a bunch of them.

GM's oil life monitoring uses a combination of miles, hours, temperature/heat cycles to calculate the percentage left....or at least that's what it done when I was a GM dealership tech. Modern engines don't waste fuel like older engines did. This not only helps fuel economy, but also keeps the oil cleaner because way less unburned fuel gets in it. I change oil in all of our vehicles every 5000 miles. That's overkill in most cases, but it's worth it to me for peach of mind. Decades ago the "normal" oil change interval was 3000 miles. A few decades before that it was "normal" to change the oil every 2000 miles, but change the filter every other oil change. (4000 miles)

I caught 10 today in the rain. The lens on my phone was fogged up by the 2nd one so I put it away. My phone is supposed to be IP68 rated but I figure if the lens is fogged up it's not liking the water. None were BIG or I would have gotten my phone back out. Biggest were 16". One LM and one Spot. The rest were between 12" and 14". About the time I released the first one I saw some fleeing shad on the other side of my boat. I grabbed a rod and cast a Devils Horse toward the commotion. A small (Longnose) Gar hit my Devils Horse, coming a couple feet out of the water with it in it's mouth. It threw in on it's next jump. I've never been able to land a Gar, but I'm not sure I want all those teeth in my boat on a fish that's considered a trash fish. It's cool to watch them jump though. I think I can almost hear them laughing when they throw my lures back at me. It was 59 with light drizzle when I launched my boat at 9. It was 50 with harder rain at noon when I loaded it back up.

I've never really considered fishing to be a spectator sport, but then again I rarely watch any sports.......or any TV at all. If you enjoy it that's great. If you don't, don't watch.

Nice fish everyone. @ol'crickety I don't usually recommend products but I use https://hothands.com/ to keep my hands warm. They take a few minutes to warm up, but once they're warm they work great.(it's best to open and let them warm up before getting to the fishing spot) I'm not much for wearing gloves, I just keep one in each coat pocket. When my hands start to ache, (or worse cramp up) I'll reach in my pocket and give the warmer a squeeze for a minute. It's raining and 60 now, but suppose to cool off as the day progresses. I'll be using hot hands when I get to the lake today.

Which is why I'm not going to comment further.

While Bass fishing today in heavy fog I caught a 12 inch White Perch. I don't know what "big" is for that species, but the ones I usually catch are only 6 to 8 inches long.

I've said on here several times that I'm pretty good and making a plan (that usually works) but when my plan doesn't work I usually struggle. There's 2 clubs that were having tournaments out of the landing I normally use so I used a landing several miles down river a couple miles up a creek channel. My plan was not a good plan since I didn't look at the weather forecast. My "plan" was to launch then go up river a few miles. I had what should have been a good "milk route" planned. The problem was the fog. (first picture) I caught a 12 inch White Perch (pic soon to be in other species thread) near the landing in the fog. I was frustrated by the fog, and my poor planning. I found plenty of Bass, near the landing before the fog lifted but either couldn't make accurate casts, or couldn't keep them pinned. After the fog cleared (still near the landing) I caught a couple Spots (14" and 16") then called it a day. I need to get better with "plan B", and quit getting aggravated when plan A doesn't work. When I'm aggravated it's not fun, and when I'm not having fun I can't execute. Right now my tomorrow plan is to go back the the same landing I used today, and fish near the landing. There's Bass there I just didn't catch them today. Forecast includes some rain. I'm cool with that as long as there's not lightening.

I read on FB he had a busted prop hub. I see Matt Arey mentioned. He lives a couple miles from me. I occasionally see him fishing around here during the winter. A couple years ago I ran across him and Hank Cherry fishing together.

Same dog. I think she's Bi Polar. She's not biting my ankle, she's dangling from my shorts. Here she is in a good mood.

That made her mad.

It's kinda like a mullet but for dogs

Dolly is not a "scoper". She goes past the screen and scans the water with her K9 eyes. Also notice, she just had a hair cut so she is in compliance with the haircut police.

My standard disclaimer, I only target Bass so when I catch another species it's a matter of luck, not skill. A guy I know stayed out of work today and went fishing with Dolly (Yorkie). I........."he" caught an 11.40 pound Blue cat on my third cast. After getting it to the boat I held it next to the boat for a while so it was good and tired. Dolly was all excited, barking and growling at it. She had to check it out real good once I got it in the boat. I also caught a decent Crappie. I'd guess 11 inches. It's a minnow compared to the Crappie I see around here though.

I know a guy who stayed out of work today and went fishing. I.........I mean "he" caught 13 cookie cutter buck Bass. First and last are pictured, which happens to be the smallest and largest. I just couldn't find the Largemouth or even the bigger Spots. Dolly (Yorkie) went with me. I caught an 11.40 pound Blue cat on my 3rd cast. (picture in other species thread) She was really excited about it, but didn't care much about the Bass or Crappie (other species thread) I caught. I bet I got 50 "taps" on moving baits with no hookups. I suspect it was White Perch. To me when they get schooled up hunting they look like Spots on sonar. Water temperature was 69 last Sunday. It's up to 73 now.

I'm surprised there isn't boat/kayak collisions all the time. Ultimately the boater is responsible for safe operation of their craft, so if a boat plows into a kayak the boater is at fault. However, I question the judgement of people in 'yaks on huge bodies of water. To me it's like trying to ride a bicycle on the Interstate. (which isn't legal) Wake boats? I hate 'em. There's laws about where and how they can operate but these laws get ignored. I always get a kick when I see a "no wake zone" sign on a dock that has a wake boat in a lift. Wake boats are here to stay. There's too much money to be made. Not just the boats themselves, which make Bass boats look cheap, but boat lift sales also. A few decades ago (before wake boats) everyone just had a slip to tie their boat in. Wake boats waves rip cleats off docks, and also damage boats in other ways. This made boat lifts necessary, at least around here. FWIW, when I have interactions with wake boat people, either at the landing or on the lake they're usually the nicest people on the lake. They don't have a clue all the damage their causing.

That Bass is well over 7. I caught one in March that was 21 3/4" and weighed 6.51. It had a belly but didn't have the body of your Bass. From the picture it looks to be over 22 inches also.

I've never had a problem with Game Wardens or any other form of Law Enforcement. I have a good friend who's a retired Warden.

Disclaimer, I'm not a hammer, and I'm not an expert at bite detection. I'd guess that a Bass will hold on to a wacky longer than anything, giving a larger window for bite detection. I keep my index finger under the line. This really helps me feel stuff. I'd guess a Bass will hold on to a shaky head, or t-rig longer than they will a jig. When I was a kid an old man who occasionally took me fishing caught Bass on jigs all the time. I rarely caught a jig Bass but could catch them on a t-rig. By the time I was 18 I was determined to catch Bass on a jig. I started catching a few by using a real pork trailer. I suspect the pork made the Bass hold on longer. After a while I got better at jig fishing. Now I manage to catch a decent Bass on a jig occasionally. My first 5+ pounder of 2024 was on a jig.