Woody B

I've been very pleased with my Ionics. I haven't needed it, but their customer service is super. Call Lithium Hub, or Drewcraft for recommendations for your application.

@BrianMDTX I'm certainly not an expert but I only use baitcasters. The trick for me with light stuff, especially light stuff with some wind drag is not to get overexcited when casting it. If I try to "swing for the fences" I'll get a birds nest. If I just let the rod do the work I'll do OK. Brakes have to be really loose and you HAVE to stop the spool at the end of the cast though. I can't cast a weightless texas rig (I believe it's called something else) 100 yards, but I can get be accurate and get decent distance.

I had tooth pain a few weeks ago. I was going for an extraction instead of a root canal if needed. I had an infection in my gums. A "deep clean" special mouthwash, and some antibiotics and I'm good as new. Good luck. Tooth, jaw and mouth pain...... sucks.

I haven't counted mine. I don't have 70 I don't have 70 of anything. No grass where I fish. The State (both NC and SC) kill it as soon as there's a single blade. I use them for skipping docks. They skip really good, and no one else does around here that I know of does this. I've caught bass right behind other people fishing docks with other methods. Regarding too many. No number is too many as long as your bills are paid.

I've been getting a new truck every 3 to 5 years for the last 20+ years. The current market and some newer technology I don't like has me keeping mine longer this time. (4 years so far, probably keep it until there's nothing left)

Many around here seem to be pale, with little or no stripe during the winter around here. This is a typical or our pale cold weather bass.

One of the first things I noticed when I got active target was fish swimming up and checking out my boat as soon as I stop and drop the trolling motor. These are smaller fish, not bass, but bass eat smaller fish. Many people, including myself give bass/fish way too much credit. They're simply not that intelligent. When I was a kid a guy who done a bunch of sub contracting work for my Dad would take me fishing quite often. If he got a leaf or something stuck on a lure he'd slap it on the water to clean it off. I asked him if that' wouldn't scare the bass. He said "they're so dumb they probably swim up to see what it is". A while later (not the same trip) he was beating a leaf off of a lure. He "jerked" a 12 inch bass into the boat that hit the lure while he was beating the water with it. Last year I was throwing a Devils Horse. I've caught many bass on a t-rig after they (or something) rolled on the 'horse but didn't "take" it. I keep a t-rig close by anything I'm fishing top water. The t-rig rod was laying across my deck with the worm about 3/4ths in the water as I was going along with the trolling motor. (not on purpose, it was just laying like that. I decided to move to another area, picked up up the trolling motor and picked up the t-rig. A 10 inch spot grabbed the worm as I was pulling it out of the water. The bass ended up in my boat, but was never hooked. It grabbed the tail of the worm hard enough to get boat flipped. The bass was in the boat before I even knew what was happening. I'll get skunked the next 413 times I go fishing for saying this but bass can be wary, they can be not active, or even hard to find at times. However, they're just not that smart. Same thing with Deer. I've got a shooting range in my back yard. I've had deer come out looking to see what was going on while I was shooting.

In addition to the coast guard required stuff I carry a NOCO jump box, first aid kit, (with tourniquet more on that later) blanket, towel, flashlight, tm prop, outboard prop, and various tools. I've also got a compass, and matches in a waterproof container, but don't think either are necessary for my situation. I'm not fishing in the wilderness. I dropped my glasses into the lake one time last year. I can see "OK" without them I just get headaches. However, I now have a spare pair of glasses in my boat too. A friend of mine (who's a Police Officer with first responder training) cut his self while fishing alone a couple years ago with a fillet knife. He was bleeding pretty bad, applied the tourniquet, and made if back to the landing, where there were people to help him. He had cut "something" right next to his femoral artery. The EMT's and his Dr said he wouldn't have made it without the tourniquet, training, and a cool head.

They barely rise, if any at all. They float, if you just throw it out there but most of them suspend pretty good. I believe that's part of their magic. They vary a little from lure to lure. I've learned this watching them on active target.

Just for the record I HATE working on my own vehicles but I keep up with my maintenance. I've been an automotive technician for 40+ years. Working on others peoples vehicles all day just makes me want to leave mine alone. I currently work at the countries "largest used car retailer" repairing problems people have after the sale. I worked at a GM dealership for decades. I'm an ASE Master Tech and former GM World Class Tech. Toxic, when you change your spark plugs change your wires too. It's next to impossible to get them off without damaging them. If you managed to get them off without any external damage many times there's internal damage. Also, some of the aftermarket wires are a little bit longer than the factory wires. Make sure the wire on #7 cylinder can't get caught on the steering shaft bolt and get pulled off. (next to back cylinder on driver side)

I like real wood lures. I use various DT's as well as the OG series. Rapala's quality control isn't.... top notch though. Occasionally you'll get one that has an obvious problem. I've had no problem getting them replaced. I did have a bill pull out of a DT6 a couple weeks ago while boat flipping a 2 pound bass. I had bounced it off several lays downs and had probably damaged it.

I change mine and Mrs B's cabin air filters twice a year. Let us know what you think about the powerstop stuff. My brakes are still good. I've had to machine my (factory) rotors a couple times though.

The water is still a little muddy but not as bad as a few weeks ago. We got 1 1/2 inches of rain Friday. Largemouth around here are usually really pale during winter. They'll have more color when it warms up. Some of it may be settings on my camera (I phone) I was messing with some setting trying to get some pictures at work a week or 2 ago. I noticed in the pictures that my hair has some gray. That's can't be right.

I've said this before. If you KNOW the lake your fishing in electronics aren't as helpful and in strange waters. However, staring at a screen can and usually will result in less casts, and more fish. I know the area where I caught this fish like the back of my hand. However, I saw it live, and knew which stump is was at. There were smaller bass at other stumps. Had I just blindly cast to where I knew the stumps were I would have probably caught a little one first, and spooked this one. It was ~6 feet deep.

I caught 9 yesterday including a 4.45 pound Largemouth. It swallowed a Strike King Pro 3. It was hooked in one gill, and bleeding a little. It seemed OK. I hope it survived. If it's obvious one isn't going to make it I'll take it and give it to the people fishing at the landing. I landed the 14 inch spot pictured without a rod or reel. (it's a long story) Saturday I made a really bad cast in the wind. I thumbed the reel and pulled the lure back before it found the dock. I ended up with a bunch of slack line. The line got wrapped around the reel handle, and inside the reel. I managed to get it out. I knew I needed to change line, but decided I would wait until one evening this week. So, Sunday I make a fairly long cast along a ledge. The stressed line breaks and goes through my guides at the end of the cast. I move the boat 10 feet or so, pick up the line and start hand lining my lure it. The bass hits it. I had my "hands full". (pun intended). I'm glad it wasn't bigger. I had the line loosely wrapped around my hand. It might have been painful with a bigger fish. There's a bunch of really nice fish pictured. Congrats. It makes me not want to post my minnows, but I had fun catching them anyway.

Super nice Hawg @Pat Brown Nice first bass too @Bankbeater I went today after yesterdays rain. I managed to get 7 in the boat. No big ones. 6 spots between 14 and 17 inches and a 12 inch LM. It was windy and mostly muddy. People were fishing up creeks and secondary points, but the ones I talked to didn't catch any. I caught all 7 on or near primary points. I think it's still too early for the secondary points, and up the creeks. I should be able to make it out tomorrow too. In that past I've normally caught more on Saturdays than Sundays. I've also fished "up the river" on Saturdays, and down on Sundays. I fished the lower 1/3 of the lake today. I'll try the upper part tomorrow. Added: I've notices @AlabamaSpothunter's absence. I hope everything is OK with him.

I may have told you about this in the last "neighbor" thread. I've got a shooting range in my back yard. One neighbor (who's a drunk) got mad and called the cops one Saturday. He's ~1/4 mile away from me, and probably has to listen real good to hear the shooting. Nothing about it is illegal, or unsafe. It just so happens our local Sheriff is a childhood friend of mine. The next week the Sheriff, and several deputies came and shoot at my range. (all in their Sheriffs department cars and uniforms). The rest of my neighbors are cool.

(Not directed at the OP, everyone calls live sonar forward facing sonar) Why is it called forward facing sonar? You can point any sonar pretty much any direction under water. The unique part about active target, live scope ect is it's live sonar. Traditional sonar is historical data. 2D sonar down scan and side scan are all historical data. Mega 360 faces all directions, but it's historical data also. Why isn't what's usually called FFS not referred to as Live Sonar?

Be careful handling that battery. Due to the damage it could short inside causing a (small) explosion. Put it in a sealed plastic bag until you get rid of it. It doesn't have to be sealed air tight, just to keep acid from splashing out.

Howdy from Grover NC.

~50 years ago they used the pull many of the lakes here down really low during the Winter. The guy that took me fishing when I was a kid was out on the lakes when the levels were lowered. He had an old notebook he kept maps he'd drawn. He knew where all types of structure and cover were. If you fish the same lake most of the time, and KNOW that lake sonar isn't as big of a help as it is on a strange lake. However, on any lake wasting time looking at a screen can result in less cast, and more fish.

NC requires anyone born in 1988 or after to have a boaters safety course. (Probably not Kayaks) I was born way before that but decided to take an online course. It was boring, and mostly just stuff about laws. Like @airshot said, speed is usually an issue. @A-Jay mentioned situational awareness. I believe that is important is pretty much every aspect of life. I used to teach basic self defense classes a couple night a week. Situational awareness is one of the main things I harped on. Good judgement is another thing he mentioned. It takes a second of less for something bad to happen. I used to eat while I was zipping across the lake (at 30 mph) I no longer do that. I'll spot lock, eat, then go to the next area I'm going to.

No wacky rigs for me. I've had good luck with most of the stuff people have gave up on though.

Dolly stays away from hooks until I tell her it's OK. She loves to smell the fish. She did jump in once after a Largemouth that was jumping/walking on it's tail.

If one 12 volt battery in a 24 volt system dies you'll be better off to replace both, regardless of chemistry.