Woody B

I probably use cranks too much. Most of my reels are 7ish to 1. One day I was lost several fish, then finally got one in the boat that was barely hooked on the rear treble. I decided my retrieve was too fast. I have a hard time slowing down a bunch so I switched to a 6 to 1 reel and finally ended up with several in the boat that day. If I'm fishing cranks deeper than 15' or so I have a "special" reel I use. Bass fishing purist will gasp, but I use my 50 horse Mercury. I can get really deep that way. Last Winter there were some bass on the bottom in 50 feet of water. I tied on a Dredger 25.5 on, with a 6XD tied behind it another 15 feet. I caught 4 that way. Sometime this winter I'm going to try trolling an Alabama rig behind a deep crank. @NorthernBasser mentioned lipless cranks. My favorite bait for skipping under docks is a Red Eyed Shad.

I don't "do" regrets. I've done things I'm not proud of but I've made peace with myself over any and all bad decisions I've ever made. I'm happy with the person I am. The combination of good and bad decisions I've made are what's made me the person I am. I've made bad investments, but I've made good investments too. That's only money. I've never truly been hungry so I guess I've done OK with that. You can't change the past. Don't let it reliving, or regretting the past ruin your future.

I hate fumbling with a snap, especially if my hands are cold. I can tie a knot quicker than I can normally deal with a snap. I also hate when the knot gets to the ends of a split ring. A friend of mine gave me a big pack of duo locks. I replace my round snap rings with them most of the time, but just leave them on the lure instead of using them to change lures. I believe they're #2 size. I like the oval/oblong shaped split rings but I've got a bag of snaps.

I caught a Christmas tree top with a brick tied to it in 35 feet of water with a jigging spoon. It was heavy, and hard to pull up. I knew it wasn't a fish or anything alive. I was afraid it was a human body. I had just read a new article a few days earlier about a fisherman catching a corpse.

I've done some testing(with the mono I use) The strongest knot I know of is a Palomar. It's easy enough to tie, but that's not what I want. With a Palomar knot my normal 12 pound test will break at around 14 or 15 pounds........anywhere on the line. With an improved clinch not it breaks around 12 to 13 pounds, at the knot. If I have to break something off I won't leave a BUNCH of line in the water. My results are the same with a Trilene knot as an Improved Clinch. Improved clinch is easier for me to tie. I can tie an Improved Clinch or Palomar knot is seconds. I tend to fumble with a Trilene knot a little. A sloppy knot of any kind is a weak knot. I'm not familiar with the San Diego Jam knot. I'll have to look it up, but won't be changing. I rarely use braid, but I use a Palomar knot with it. Occasionally I can get other knots to slip with it.

I see their names on lures but that's about as far as it goes. I know Guy Eaker, Bass fishing hall of fame member. Years ago I was servicing one of his vehicles and asked him about an upcoming fishing trip I was going on. He reached in his vehicle and handed me a couple black spinnerbaits. I don't know if spinnerbaits were his main lure of if that's just what he thought would work on my next trip. (they did)

I take care of mine, but I don't use rod socks or reel covers. My daughter gave me a few rod socks. I used them 3 or 4 times but don't really see the point. If I'm going fishing the next day I put a lure wrap over the lure. If I'm not going for a few days I cut the lures off and put them in my tackle box. I use mono. The line get's weak at the knots after a few days so I'll be re tying before leaving. My locker only holds 4 rods. The tubes are fairly small, so it's easy to damage the guides stowing them, or getting them out. I leave my rods on the deck now. Mrs B's rod, and a telescopic lure retrieve are in my tubes. I'm an auto tech, and I'm particular about maintenance. I change my line, and partially tear down, and lube my reels every 3 weeks. I rotate so it's normally 1 reel a week. I'm sure I'm in the minority here. When I get a new reel I completely tear it down to inspect and lube everything. (just like a gun)

I was thinking surface mounted to the face, but the underside of the console could work too.

My boat has some round glass AGC fuses that screw into the console. Vibration, big waves ect sometimes makes them come loose and lose connection. I've found a surface mount covered fuse block that accepts ATC/ATO fuses. It's IP66 rated so it should be OK surface mounted on my console. Has anyone done this? It's my thinking that an IP66 rated covered fuse block should be OK surface mounted to my console. Pros or cons? I need to get rid of the screw in AGC fuses. To many times I've tried to used something only to have to fiddle with the fuse cap to get them to work.

I've got a Fish-i camera and a Yolotek mount. I've decided it's bad luck though. There was a bad connection at a poorly designed fuse in my boat yesterday. The battery went dead, then I started catching fish. I repaired it today, and got a big ol SKUNK. The Fish-i isn't something I'd wear on my body. I think it came with a shoulder and head mount though. It doesn't have a display screen, but there's an app you can see where it's aimed with your phone. Check out Yolotek. I found out about them from @A-Jay. They may have something for mounting a camera on a Canoe.

Many of my local lake are Duke Power lakes. "They" call 100 feet full pool in all of them. Full pool is spillway level. They maintain most of them at 97 feet, or 3 feet below the spillway. Duke power has 11(?) lakes on the Catawba river so if they pull water from one, it's going into the one below it. They'll start pulling water in pretty much all of them if a bunch of rain is forecasted. right now Wateree (the last lake on a Catawba river) is low for construction at the hydro station. Duke power has a bunch of other lakes too. They have an app called "Lake View" where you can see lake levels, flow release times, and other information about landings and such.

It's a first for me. I've seen bass around the bank before that wouldn't touch anything but topwater. I've just never seen in it January.

I got skunked Monday (except for a tiny shad I snagged). That's the first time in my life I've been skunked at that lake. (I've been skunked plenty at other lakes) I caught 9 today at a different lake. I'm going back to skunk lake tomorrow (last day of vacation) to try and redeem myself.

I redeemed myself today. Instead of going to Lake Wylie and fighting the mud I went to Lake Norman. (same river chain, 2 lake up river) I caught 9 between 14 and 17 inches. (all spots). 3 on an Alabama rig, 1 slow rolling a spinnerbait........and the other 5 on a Devils Horse (topwater prop bait you twitch) The water was the clearest I've even seen Norman. I could see the bottom at 8 feet. The first four were early. They were hugging the bottom. I couldn't see them on sonar until they moved. I ran the alabama rig (and spinnerbait on 1) under balls of shad hugging the bottom. They would come up to get it. Surface temperature was 49 degrees. The bass temperature was 53 degrees. They were in 15 feet of water, again, hugging the bottom. The bottom bite died after 4. I searched for a while with no luck. I ended up fishing at a sun baked sea wall. Surface temp was 50 by this time. I could see bass, right on the surface in the Sun. They didn't pay attention to anything I threw. (spinnerbait, jig, various crankbaits ect) I finally tied on a Devils Horse. Game on. I had to make good, land like a feather casts, let it sit for a while, then they'd hit it after the first twitch. Their body temperature was 55 degrees. (5 degrees hotter than surface temp, 2 degrees hotter than the bottom huggers at 15 feet.) I suppose they were "baking" in the Sun. I'm going back to Lake Wylie tomorrow. Hopefully it's cleared some. I refuse to be defeated by that lake.

Is your lake electric only, or just power limited?

What are you powering with it? I'm guessing you're wanting something portable for a Yak to power a single sonar unit? I would guess a 10 amp hour battery may be undersized. A lithium battery isn't going to last as long if you're running it all the way down every time. (same for any battery) I have an Ionic lithium for my trolling motor....can't comment on Dakota. However, instead of buying the box I'd get a bigger battery. Ionic has a 20 amp hour for $219. Dakota probably has something similar. Using a power/cigarette outlet plug? I suppose it "should" work in theory but probably not as good in real life. I use an android tablet for maps. I charge it/keep in charged with a power outlet usb charger. It's gets hot at times. Heat means there's resistance there. The Ionic has threaded M6 terminals. I'd just use a couple studs and wind nuts for an easy to remove connection.

For the first time ever in my 58 years on this planet I got skunked at Lake Wylie......Kinda. It rained buckets again yesterday. The lake isn't chocolate milk, it's redder than that. It was a little clearer down near the dam, which means that area will be redder tomorrow. I've caught bass in muddy water plenty of times before. I guess it's the combination of muddy water and 49 degree water temp that's making me struggle. I did "catch the hatch", and "match the hatch", as you can see by the picture. Added: I've taken 3 days vacation this week. A bad day fishing still beats a good day at work.

I've never understood why people feel the need to have music blasting pretty much 24-7. Many people I work with would bring these speakers to blast music in an already loud shop. Our company had a policy against ear buds. Myself, and others finally persuaded the company to allow ear buds. Now they can just damage their own hearing instead of everyones. Do what you want. You won't be close enough to me fishing for your music to bother me. I get a kick out of music in boats and on motorcycles. It's my belief that if you need music to enjoy a boat, or motorcycle ride you're not doing it right.

I've heard of small mouth, spotted bass hybrids but can't confirm. (google meanmouth bass) However, in 2012 what was thought to be a new state record spotted bass turned out to be a spotted bass/largemouth hybrid. This was confirmed by biologist. link to article I know that laboratory hybrids, like Bodie bass (wipers) and Tiger Musky can't reproduce. I wonder if these "natural" hybrids can reproduce. If they can't I have no doubt that would eventually ruin a fishery if constant stocking wasn't maintained. Here's a snippet from the article. Added: I'm sure many things affect bass fishing. When I had my other boat (30 + years ago) there were no spotted bass. 5 pound Largemouth were an everyday thing and you'd hear of a DD at least once a month. I haven't heard of a DD in any of the Catawba river lakes this year.

People will probably line up to buy them. I don't get it. It's $12K with a 9.9 gas engine. I wonder how much the electric is?

It's easy enough to make something float. It's also easy enough to make something sink. Does water temperature, clarity or any other water "stuff" have an effect on how a bait suspends. I noticed yesterday, watching on live sonar that the DT8 I was using would suspend perfectly. I don't think they're even considered suspending. This was a brand new one. I bounced one off a lay down and popped one of it's eyes out. I had just tied on a new one when I noticed the suspending action.

I don't rub my plastics to dull them...........However, I talk to all of my lures. Kinda like a pep talk.

I seriously doubt he had any kind of underlying condition. If he did it was something rare that doesn't get tested for. My oldest Grandson is playing college baseball. He had to undergo a through physical and EKG before admission. I would think professional athletes would have all kinds of checks. I wasn't watching the game. I rarely watch any pro sports. I can't believe they cancelled the game. If I had a heart attack while working on a vehicle one of my co workers would have to complete the job I was working on. More than likely the same day.

Many, or probably all of the reel companies keep coming up with new stuff and new features....or new names for old features. I've got reels from Shimano, Daiwa and Lews. They all work great. How they feel in my hand is what makes me like or dislike a reel. The only reels I have that I hate are a couple Daiwa SV TW 103's. I move the brake adjustment when I'm palming the reel. I love everything else about them. I've thought about gluing them into a position around 7 or 8. I'll be fishing with one, everything will be going great then all of a sudden I make a cast that goes 20 feet. I'll look and the brakes will be on 16 or something. What I'm saying is, if it's possible I'll be holding any reel I'm considering buying.

Pull my finger. (sorry, couldn't help it LOL)