Woody B

Y'all wore Roebucks? JC Penny plain pockets for me when I was a kid.

I have never lost a bass tournament. (I did win one ~40 years ago)

So far I've quit all my supplements, except for a shot of apple cider vinegar each day. I haven't had a cramp since Sunday, but it's not unusual for me to go a week or 2 without any. I'm peeing a lot less than I was when I was taking supplements. I think the excess electrolytes may have been taking too much water away. I am having a Sun-drop (citrus flavored soft drink from the Carolinas) every morning for my daily caffeine, instead of a NUUN with caffeine. Added: I eat an apple pretty much every morning, and have banana pretty much every evening, and have for years.

I keep a trash bag under the passenger seat in my boat. I put all my trash in there, including tag ends, and line I cut off during re ties. I don't think a tag end or 2 is going to hurt anything, it's just a habit I have of throwing everything under my seat.

I've got no use for late. I think being late is disrespectful. I have some inlaws who will be late for their own funerals. It takes me 20 minutes to drive to work, if there isn't traffic problems. I used to leave 45 minutes before my start time, but was late a couple times due to traffic. I now leave an hour before my start time. The second day I worked there I had a flat tire but was still there on time. The company has a strict on time policy, and a points system. We are allowed to clock in up to 10 minutes early. With the old policy clocking in 1 minute late would result in a point. A certain number of points would result in termination. (points last 6 months) They recently changed the policy to allow people to be up to 5 minutes late. Many of the young people are 5 minutes late every day now.

My Wife's Dad passed away when she was 12. I would never intentionally disrespect my Dad, and I'll do anything I can for him. My Dad (who's still kicking at 88) was a hard worker. When I was very young he had me out in the garden setting out tomato plants. I was struggling to dig holes, put the plants in them, cover them up, the carry water in a bucket to water them. I asked "why are you making me do this? It's really hard for me but it would be really easy for you." He said "I'm teaching you to work". I've always been a hard workers, and I've always hated tomatoes. My Dad was always busy. He was a building contractor. When he wasn't working he was hunting or fishing. I didn't get to go much. When I was really young I'd get fussed at for not being able to keep up walking through the fields quail hunting. By the time I was old enough to keep up I either didn't want to go, or I'd walk so fast he couldn't keep up with me. He would take me fishing every now and then, but I wasn't allowed to cast until he said I could. I got my butt whipped once, and not allowed to cast again on that trip because I cast to a lay down and caught a bass before he cast to it. He was always too busy to go to any of my ball games or other activities when I was a kid. My Mom was always there though. He was usually very negative about anything I done but my Sister(a year older than me) was always perfect. I've always been the one he calls when he needs something. Years ago I gave up caring what he thinks about me, or trying to please him. Ironically that was when I discovered I no longer needed alcohol or drugs. Sorry for the rant. I feel lucky to have the parents I had. My Dad taught me how to work, but I feel like he screwed me up in some other ways, until I straightened myself out.

Yep, not just brown bass, but any big fish. If you're fishing in a boat with a foot controlled trolling motor use it to get away from a big fish that's close to the boat before it's "ready" Close to the boat takes most of the stretch out of the line. It's harder to keep a fish pinned, and it's easier to snap the line. If you're near cover a fish could get tangled in get the boat away from that cover and lead the fish away. Disclaimer, I'm not an expert. I rarely fish where Smallmouth Bass are. However, most of the fish I lose are small ones. I have a good track record of getting big fish in the boat once hooked.

I think all this goes back to bass are individuals. However, finding and catching them centers on what they have in common. They've all gotta eat, and they're all gonna procreate. While it's possible to find baitfish/food, with no bass nearby, you're not going to find bass with no food nearby. Certain events like the shad spawn, bluegill spawn, mayfly hatch, ect will sometimes concentrate bass. It amazes me how much bass behavior during these events vary from year to year. I also believe most of us (including myself) tend to be one dimensional regarding temperature. What most of us see are the temperature readings from our transducers. I have learned some by checking the temperature of bass when caught. When the early spawners start I suspect the bottom where their beds are is much warmer than the surface temperature. I haven't seen an bloody tails lately but saw them from mid January through June. I fish waters with a bunch of spotted bass. Some believe they spawn twice a year. I haven't seen any evidence of that where I fish. I also don't know if it's biologically possible. I suspect it's just early and late spawners. As I gather more information about bass being up the lake (away from the dam), down the lake, up creek channels ect I get more confused. One constant though, I've yet to catch a bass out of the water.

I caught 9 today, all spots no big ones. 8 were between 14 and 15 inches. 1 was tiny. The one pictured was 14 1/2" I wish the Sun would have been out. Look at the color and markings on it. It's marking would have really popped in the Sun. 6 were on a t-rig, but after rolling on a buzz bait. The other 3, including the little one were on a buzz bait. The calendar has changed to September so all the people that were throwing buzz baits are now throwing jerkbaits. Like yesterday all of the buzz bait fish were hooked on the trailer. I've included a picture of the trailer hook. It doesn't hang up. I can snake it right through a lay down without snagging. I can't do that with a Devils Horse or SB105(my go to top water baits) I don't know how it would do in weeds. I put a hat on for the picture of the trophy I caught today so the haircut police doesn't disqualify it.

That's funny, I can't cast a spinning rig. I'd be lucky to hit the water in the middle of the ocean with spinning gear. With my casting gear I'm not good at flipping (I think that's what it's called) where you have the lure in your hand, or at least extended from the rod with a rods length line and make it go somewhere close and accurate. I also hate to admit but I'm often slow to adapt to changing conditions. Once I catch a couple bass I stick with that "pattern" (even though it's not enough for a pattern) for the rest of the day, even if conditions change. What am I good at? I can usually find and catch a few Bass regardless of conditions. (I just don't adapt that day when things change) With my baitcasting gear I can cast. I can't hit a coffee cup like the pros but I can hit a 5 gallon bucket in any conditions at any resonable distance.(20 feet up to 100 feet or so) I can also skip pretty dog gone good. I rarely backlash but when I do it's a "professional" backlash. Believe it or not, I'm also a nice guy. This morning right after I left the ramp I saw a boat flashing the light on their cell phone at me. Their battery had died and they were stranded. I jumped them off and followed them back to the landing. This was before I even started fishing. I know I shouldn't brag, but I hope someone like me is around if I ever need help. Now, the last thing I'm really good at. Using Active Target, Live Scope, FFS. Just today I pulled up to a point and saw some fry jumping like they were fleeing a predator. I quickly deployed my trolling motor (with my sonar turrent on it) to insure it was a fish chasing the fry. I could have been a Coyote, Grizzly Bear or Mountain Lion chasing them. I wouldn't want to catch any of those. After insuring it indeed was fish, in the water I made a precise cast, within 50 feet or so of the bass that was actively feeding. The pursuing fish is pictured. (actually I pulled up to the point, and saw the fleeing fry. I cast and caught that bad boy before I deployed my trolling motor or turned my active target on)

I use one on my Shimano SLX XT and MGL 70.

@gimruis I'll schedule a cut with my barber. (Mrs B )....or get a Tennessee hat. @Pat Brown I forgot to mention, all of the buzz bait bass were hooked on the trailer hook. It hangs a long way behind the bait. I'll try to remember to take a picture of it tomorrow.

I've been to a couple ramps near me but haven't found one that I'd take my 17' boat to. There's a small reservoir on the Broad river near me (99 Island Reservoir). The ramp and pretty much the entire area around the ramp is filled with silt. The screen shot is a picture from google maps I took a while back. I also went to another ramp ~20 miles up the river. The ramp was OK but the river looked wide and shallow there. I suspect the river get's bigger on down into SC but I haven't been there.

Does anyone else have muscle cramps? I've been plagued with them off and on most of my life. They've gotten worse as I've got older. I don't have them every day, or even every week. 2 or 3 days a month I'll have them. I get them in my feel, legs, hands, arms ect. The worst, most painful ones are in my core. I don't get them often. I had them today around my ribcage, both sides at different times and slightly below my ribs too. I've had my electrolyte balance checked, but it wasn't on a day I was having cramps. I had a stress test a few months ago even though the core cramps aren't in my "chest" to rule out angina. I take no prescription medications, my blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, A1C and pretty much everything else my Dr could think of has been checked and is good. I don't drink soft drinks, energy drinks or alcohol. I mostly drink water, usually around a gallon a day. More when I sweat a bunch, not quite as much when it's cooler. I use NUUN hydration tablets. I was using as many a 6 a day, but the last time I had bad cramps my Dr suggested I might be getting too many electrolytes, and getting dehydrated from my kidneys/body flushing the excess. For the last month I've been using 3 NUUN hydration tablets a day. I haven't had cramps until last night and today. Any suggestions? Hylands leg cramp pills help some, but they give me bad heartburn. I figure they're not good for me. I may have cramps later today, or it may be a month or more before I have them again.

I went from 7 until 11 this morning. I caught 10, 9 Spots and 1 Largemouth. The biggest was a 4.26 pound Spot. (pictured) I also caught a 4.26 ounce spot(I didn't actually weigh it) Does this bass make my hand look big? (pictured lol) I also caught a 3.52 pound Spot(not pictured). The only Largemouth was 2.33 pounds, on my last cast. 4 were on a buzz bait, including the 4 pounder and the Largemouth. 5 were on a T-rig, most after rolling on the buzz bait. The 4.26 ouncer was on a DT6. I also caught a small catfish on a DT6.

I don't have a clue what the laws are for yaks, but you definitely want people to be able to see you. I'm not familiar with the lights you're getting. If you get a light on a pole that's above your line of sight it won't mess with your night vision as much. Also most of the bugs will be above you too.

Nice fish. You had me worried for a minute. When I skimmed the thread title I thought it said "how to break a new rod", instead of how to break in a new rod.

I'm certainly not an expert. I call areas like that a hidden point. To me it's a point but it doesn't like up with a land point. There's a similar area on a lake I fish. People fish the "land points" all the time but never fish what I consider the real point.

Do you use caffeine? It affects me more/longer as I've gotten older. I don't ingest much caffeine, and never any after 10AM. Some believe that sleep is a habit. I tend to agree. I'm a light sleeper, but normally fall back to sleep easily. There's a train track a mile or so from my house. I'm a light sleeper but normally fall back to sleep easily. When we moved here (17 years ago) there was a train came by at 3:15am like clockwork. I noticed once when we were on vacation that I work up every night at 3:15. My body had a habit of waking up at 3:15. According to my Doctor most people with trouble sleeping (without an underlying medical condition causing it) can correct it with temporary use of some type of sleep aid. The sleep aid in Advil PM (and many other sleep/pain medications) is diphenhydramine. You can take Benadryl instead of a sleep/pain medication to prevent the pain killer side effects. (like Capt Phi's ulcer). He also says melatonin is a good sleep aid. My wife takes it. Believe it or not, the only time I have trouble sleeping is when I'm too tired. I'll take a Benadryl is I feel like it's going to be one of those nights. (maybe once every couple months) Good luck.

I'm not one to care much about color but I had an interesting time back in June. Mrs B and myself were on vacation. In the previous weeks I had been catching a bunch of bass on DT6's. My DT6 bite had died off a week or so before our vacation. My "normal" DT6 color is Helsinki Shad. DT6's are kinda fragile and I was running low on them. I went to stock up but the local tackle shop where I buy them was out of that color. I ended up getting some in Live River Shad color. I ended up basically catching the heck out of them. I switched back to a Helsinki Shad color and didn't get bit. That's the only time I recall a small change in color making a difference. Mrs B and myself caught well over 100 bass on our vacation. Most of them were on live river shad DT6's.

I fish to relax, it's not a competition for me. I don't hide anything. I don't volunteer stuff unless asked though.

I have no doubt that some lithium mines have unethical practices. However, cobalt isn't used in LiFePO4 batteries used in marine applications. However, lithium that's minded a few miles from where I live is sent to China to be processed. Many power tools, phones, electric/hybrid vehicles use NMC batteries that use Lithium-Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt-Oxide. I wouldn't go with a single 24 volt battery regardless of chemistry. I've had no problems with my Ionic lithiums. I originally went with lithium when the 88 amp hour trolling motor that came with my boat would die after 4 hours fishing in the wind. When I decided (a year later) to go to a 24 volt trolling motor I bought two 50 amp hour Lithium batteries, then made my 125 amp hour that had been for my 12 volt trolling motor my cranking/electronics battery.

A bass that's 2 feet long is big. If you don't have a scale message the length and girth. That will get you close to the weight. Nice bass regardless of what it weighs. I think I caught the same bass, pre spawn and post spawn this year. I'll try to dig up the pictures and measurements.

I saw a guy with one yesterday. It's the first one I've actually seen. He said it works great. I don't need a new trolling motor and hopefully won't for a while.

I didn't go today. I ran out of voltaren a few days ago. My shoulder isn't up for casting today. The lake would be full of holiday weekend boaters today anyway.