Woody B

The way you catch bass you don't need to change anything. I try to pay attention to what other people are using and doing where I fish. Most of the time I try to do something different. If I stumble onto something "magic" I try to ride that until it's done. (I'm going to be long winded on this) In the past I haven't believe in "colors" making much difference. Just light, dark, natural, flashy ect. Last month I think I accidently stumbled onto a magic color, at least for a while. I had been doing real well with "Bloody Shad" colored bladed jigs, and "Sexy Shad" colored DT6's. That bite pretty much went away. I was still seeing what I believed to be Bass on sonar, in the same places, just couldn't get them to bite. I like DT6's. With the exception of the terrible hooks they come with they check a BUNCH of boxes for me. They're wood, very light rattle, heavy enough to be easy to cast, but light enough for me to make them land like a feather. However, being balsa, they're fragile. I was down to 1, so I went by my local tackle shop to pick some up. They were out of "Sexy Shad". I bought several that were "Live River Shad". My DT6 bite came back. I think that color may look like a bluegill to some bass. My bladed jig bite came back somewhat by switching to "Bluegill Flash" color. My topwater bite has been pretty much non existent this year. I normally use a chrome/silver Devils Horse, or a really dark colored one. I thought about the bluegill thing, and switched to a "perch" colored one. In the past couple weeks I've caught several on it, including a couple 3 pounder and one 5 pounder. I'm not ready to change my motoroil colored worms yet though. I still manage one every now and then on them.

It's an I phone- It kinda flashes the screen but doesn't shed much light. It adjust the exposure so you can see. At night it takes a second or so. That results in a blurry picture, at least for me. I accidently came across the setting for my avatar picture. I'd make more like that but I forgot what I did.

I haven't broke a rod this year. (not counting guides) I will occasionally break one though. I'll high stick the heck out of one doing slack line hook sets and boat flipping fish. I suspect the stretch in mono keeps me from breaking a BUNCH of rods.

Nothing unusual but I see Deer all the time while Bass fishing. In the past I've seen Black Bear while trout fishing. Interesting though I've never see Bass while Deer hunting, or Trout while Bear hunting. Regarding "Bigfoot". Google "Knobby" Casar NC. Knobby is a bigfoot like creature that was spotted occasionally years ago. 3 men had a HUGE moonshine still in the woods. They hired a High School classmate of mine to dress up in an ape suit to keep people scared away from the still. So....I went to High School with Bigfoot.

Another big Cat (at least big for me) today while bass fishing. Flathead 40 inches long, 32 pounds. This rascal took a while to land. It didn't roll and twist like most Cats do. It also didn't hug the bottom. It just took off and darted around like a nuclear power submarine. I thought I had a HUGE spotted bass for a while. I was fishing an offshore hump. It's 10' deep or so on top of the hump. One end has a rounded point going down the 25' or so. The other end has the channel dredged to feed cooling water for the Nuke plant. I was following/watching a school of shad on the point end of the hump. The top of the school was 2 feet or so under the surface. The bottom of the "ball" was ~8 feet deep. Fish started attacking the shad from below. I threw a DT6 into the mix and came up with the Cat. That's my 10th Cat over 10 pounds this year, all while Bass fishing. I caught a 53 pound Flathead last year. I wonder if I'll catch a bunch of big bass if I start targeting Catfish. On a side note. I've got a phone holder on my console I use for most pictures. I can't get a big fish like this Cat in a picture with it there. I've got another phone holder. I've got to position is somewhere else so I can get pictures holding BIG fish.

I'm glad I've finally found a topwater bite. I caught 6 today. The first 4 were on a Devils Horse. First one was 21 inches long, 5 pounds on my mechanical scale. My electronic scale died, I guess due to all the rain I fished in a few weeks ago. I've got to come up with a better night time picture method. Using my phone holder with the timer results in pictures you can't see due to no flash on that side of my phone. I also caught a 32 pound Flathead Cat that was 40 inches long. (in the other species thread). My normal Summer bass timing. First 4 were between 5 and 6. Only 2 more (and the Cat) between 6 and 10. The last 2 (and the Cat) were in deeper water.

It's a good idea to plan for........"trouble". A well equipped first aid kit in your boat is a good idea. Also whatever kind of first aid kit you can fit in a Kayak, back pack, fanny pack or whatever.

I caught 8 today (and a small Perch I didn't waste pixels on). Got to the landing at 5. I caught 5 before 7 on a Devils Horse. The topwater bite died....and most of the other bite for me too. I caught 3 more before leaving around 11. One was just over 18". 2 were dinks (under 14") 1 of the dinks was tiny. On a side note. "They" (the State?) have been working on a "day use" near the landing I use. It features a swim beach, fishing trails and several fishing piers. It opened yesterday. "They" said police would be there today for crowd control. When I left today, around 11 the only people there were the crowd control police. I figure it will be popular, I just think no one knows it's open yet.

Did you take the side cover off and look at the brakes? One of my SLX's came with all the brakes clicked on from the factory. The other came with all of them clicked off. I'm 3 off, 3 on like Tom mentioned. I usually have the dial on 2 or so. I've been using baitcasters longer than I've been shaving. I can't cast a SLX with all the brakes clicked off.

Everyone who doesn't wear glasses should wear some kind while fishing. My eyeglasses are fairly tight fitting and had polycarbonate lens. I suppose real safety glasses would be better but they meet the safety glasses requirement at work. I'm not a hat wearing person(except in the Sun) but I wear a hat anytime someone else is in the boat with me. Last year one of my Grandsons took the hat off my head casting a treble hook bait. Hooks would have been in my scalp had I not been wearing the hat. On a side note, I also always wear a hat when target shooting.

Thanks to the States (NC and SC) we don't have much vegetation around here. Surface temps were in the low 80's last weekend. As the temperature heats up places with current and also places with water coming into the lake are good spots. Wind blow banks, or even banks being beaten by waves are good places too. It's my belief the waves, wind aerates the water. I've caught decent sized bass just outside the mud line at a wave beaten bank. Tom (WRB) talks about the life zone. Once a thermocline sets up DO levels below it don't usually support life. This concentrates bass and baitfish in certain areas.

I've never heard of them. I (think I) like the fact they're totally electric. I've never really looked into any of the shallow water anchors. I've been told that my boat is too light for them to work properly. On days when the wake boats are out they'd probably need to lift my boat completely out of the water.

Thanks, that's a reminder why I like to fish alone. I fish for fun. I ain't putting up with grouchy.

I had a spool of XL from the big company named after the river that was junk. I don't know if it was old, counter fit or just a bad spool. It looked just like the line I usually by at my local tackle shop.

I believe some employers or even industries play on peoples egos. I'm an automotive technician. ~7 years ago I left the Chevrolet Dealership I had worked at for decades to work for a huge company. The money is pretty much the same, but I'm in an air conditioned shop with way better benefits. I was a GM Certified World Class Tech.(Master tech is pretty much every area) The owner of the dealership tried to play on my ego saying I was throwing all my GM training and certifications away. I told him I still had the knowledge I gained with the training, and the actual certifications weren't keeping me out of a 100+ degree shop or paying my tool bill. (tools are provided at my current employer) I agree, it's really hard for a small business to make it, but that's not a reason to stick it out with low pay or bad working conditions.

I stay away from all that name brand stuff. These bad boys cost $8 at a convenience store. And look at the fish I can catch when wearing them. LOL

Into the wind.

When I was a kid an old man that would take me fishing said a "Pig" was 3 to 4.99 pounds, a "Hawg" was 5 to 7.99 pounds, a "Lunker" was over 8 pounds. This was for Largemouth. He called little ones "nubbins".

Trying to stay off the rumble strips here. Inflation has raised the minimum wage without actually raising it. The actually dollar amount for an entry level job is going to vary by region. There's a manufacturing plant a couple miles from me with a sign stating "Starting pay $19.58 per hour. $50 per week attendance bonus, $5 per hour premium for 3rd shift" There's also a sign on bonus, but I don't remember the amount. $18 per hour isn't what is was a few years ago. The bad thing is, people who were making $25 to $60 per hour before the latest round of inflation are still making the same thing. If entry level pay keeps going up I'm going to quit busting my butt for what I make, and get a job as the Wal Mart greeter.

Compared to other fishing equipment live sonar isn't expensive. My boat, all my sonar stuff, my trolling motor and my lithium batteries cost less than a 250 horsepower motor. Last Winter a guy at the landing with a brand new Vexus VX21 (with a 300 horse Merc) asked to look at my Active target on the lake. I took him out and showed him a school of Crappie swimming around. He already had huge Lowrance Lives at his bow and console. Adding Active Target would have cost $1250 + installation. He said he like it but couldn't afford it. I have no doubt his boat was over $100K, but he couldn't afford $1250. He also had what looked like 30+ rod/reel combos, compared to my 5. Having and sticking to a budget is a good thing. For 99% of the people around here spending or not spending the money for live sonar is simply a choice.

I used to fish 99 Island reservoir on the Broad river near my house years ago. The landing is mess up, filled in with silt now. I suspect the entire area may be filled with silt. There's another landing, according to Duke Energy. It's probably 1/2 mile away on the water but it's almost 20 miles further from my house due to the roads available. A tunnel hull, with a jet would be better for river fishing. I love Bird's boat. Edit/added. The compartments in my boat don't even pretend to stay dry. It's not been much of a problem. I leave the lids propped open when I have it covered. This usually dries stuff out pretty good.

I don't have any golf clubs in my boat....or anywhere else. For rods, I'm a minimalist compared to others here. I suppose I'm also a cheapskate, at least to some extent. My workhorses are a Lews Mach, and Mach2 rods. They're 7 feet, medium, moderate. I use them for everything from a NED to a Rapala DT. Next is a Lews Black TP1 (or something like that). It's 7'3" (or 4) MH- fast. I use it with various stuff including bladed jigs, Devils Horse's, spinner baits and medium size cranks. I've got a Cashion (Made right here in NC) "worm" rod. It's 7' and a few inches, MH-fast. I've used it for a bunch of stuff, but it's usually got either a shakey head or T-rig on it. These have various Shimino reels on them including a couple DC's a SLX-XT and a SLX MG70. These are all spooled with 12 or 14 pound test mono. My last one is a Duckett, 7 foot plus x-tra heavy. It's main use is A-rigs during the winter. I also use it for other heavy stuff, including deep cranks, Carolina rigs with 1/2 ounce or heavier weights, big swimbaits, and big buzzbaits. It sports a Lews LFS spooled with Sufix 832 50 pound braid.

Nice fish. I have some insight, at least how things work for me. On moving baits or bottom contact baits I usually have really good success landing the bigger ones. The little ones get off due to dull hooks or lack of quality hook set. It's my belief that the weight of the big ones against the hook set insures the hook get's buried good. However, things are different for me on topwater bites. I believe at least I have a tendency to jerk the bait out of their mouth on hooksets. Little ones usually strike harder, and hook themselves. I concentrate on not setting the hook until I feel the fish, but it's hard. I think one of the reasons I have more luck with a Devils Horse is I usually have a little bit of slack line. This delays my too quick hookset and allows them to get the bait into their mouth. Just my 2 cents worth. May not work for everyone or anyone else. @ol'crickety as far as I'm concerned you're the bass fishing champion. You catch more in a couple hours than I normally do in a month. Keep it up.

Mrs B trimmed mine last night. She's a retired school administrator, not a hair dresser but she does a good enough job for me. She started cutting my hair, as well as my Dads during Covid. There's something wrong with my camera though. I'm sure I don't have any gray hair. It must be something on the lens.

For me aluminum is the only choice. My boat is a tool. I use it like one. I don't mind it banging against a dock. If you're meticulous.....going to use boat fenders and spacers when tied to a dock, wipe it down everytime you leave the water ect, go with glass. (nothing wrong with being meticuous, it's just not me) I fish by myself most of the time and on many of the lakes you've mentioned. I sold my old boat in 1992, bought a new Tracker Classic XL in 2021. I love my boat. Money wasn't an object (to and extent) but I'm tight. My old boat was a small Ranger from the 70's with a 25 hp tiller engine. My tracker is a Cadillac compared to it. I love my boat and have no intentions of getting something else. However, had I known what I know now when I bought it I would have gotten a boat that's wider. You're welcome to go for a test drive/ride pretty much any weekend at Lake Wylie.