Woody B

Not my biggest of the year, but a good looking bass and a rare picture that wasn't a selfie.

The exception to "big bass school with big bass" is during the spawn. Often the smaller "buck" bass is the one who guards the bed. If you catch a buck during the spawn put it in your livewell (if it's legal) then catch the big one. My biggest of the year so far (7 pounds 13 ounces) came from the same spot I had caught a 13 incher twice. The 2nd time I caught the 13 incher I put him in my livewell. Big Mama bit 2 casts later. I released them both after that.

I've got a few old fishing items, but mainly because they came from family members. I've got a few musical instruments (guitars, banjos mandolins, fiddles). A few knives, and........ a firearm or 2.

On my way home from fishing I fill the boat with gas. I hook up the charger and cover the boat when I get home. The night before going I uncover the boat and retire everything or change lures, and check the oil in the boat engine. If I've got line that needs changed or reels that need maintenance I do that the night before going. I pack my cooler and put it in the boat. I'll forget it if I don't. I also put my tablet in the boat. (I use it for navionics charts and vessel view mobile) I normally use the lures I was using the week before. Any changes are usually made on the water. I check tire pressure and jack up the trailer to feel the wheel bearings monthly. (I kick the tires every trip) I clean and repack wheel bearings every 6 months. I do this stuff on weeknights after work. (I usually fish on the weekends only) The truck I tow with is my daily driver so nothing special is needed before a fishing trip. If I'm going to a lake I haven't been to, or haven't been to in a while I'll look at maps. There's several lakes within an hour or so that I'm pretty familiar with so I don't do much actual "fishing" planning. I usually go a while before dawn. I have 2 headlights that stay in the boat. I also have batteries for them in the boat. The night before (if I'm going early) I'll dim the displays on my graphs and tablets. I also tape over the lights on my trolling motor and pedal. They're bright enough to mess up night vision. A piece of masking tape dims them "enough" but I can still see them. I check truck, trailer and boat lights the night before also. I park the boat and trailer under my carport, hooked to my truck so all I have to do is disconnect the battery charger and go.

PSA-Disclaimer- Don't put bass on your boats carpet. (read on for my excuse) I ended up catching 14 today, biggest...meh, 15 inches. Caught a double though. 2 bass on 1 bandit 200. Why are they on my carpet? I wasn't prepared. I had my glove on to lip "it" but didn't know I had 2. My net wasn't out, and I had failed to unlock the compartment it was in. (it blows open on the interstate) I grabbed the line and picked them up into the boat. Both fell off just over the gunwale. I should have just let them swim around until I got my net out or they got off. I dumped a bucket of water on the bass and carpet, then released them. I decided to snap a pic while I was picking the first one up. I don't remember catching 2 bass on 1 lure before. I've caught 1 bass and 1 bluegill on a devils horse a few times, but never 2 bass. (and never 2 anything on a single crankbait) I hooked a (longnose) gar today. It jumped 2 or 3 feet out of the water and threw my spinnerbait back at me.

No need for 5. In no particular order. Crankbait for whatever depth the fish are at. Texas rig. (24-7-365) Devil's Horse Spinnerbait.

I've met one of the people mentioned a few times. He could tell funny stories for years. There's plenty of fishing knowledge out there. Some humor would be great.

My wife fishes with me occasionally. She won't use a bait caster but can cast spinning equipment better than I can. She's caught a 4 pound bass, and a 27 pound catfish this year. She's not an internet forum type person. I suspect there's some women here who hide their gender. Some (very few) men are pigs, and would possibly be sending inappropriate messages and such. As far as I'm concerned "fisherman" is gender neutral, just like "human".

I like my Zillion. How much lighter is the Steez? I suspect my rods are heavy when compared to higher end ones. I don't know if a lighter reels would matter. (my most expensive rod is less than 2 bills)

Caught 11 bass this morning. A couple were nubbins (dinks) the rest were between 14 and 18 inches. This one was 3 pounds 3 ounces. I suspect it's a Largemouth/Spot hybrid. No teeth on tongue, "normal" largemouth teeth, largemouth dorsal, but smaller scales on it's cheeks, and smallish mouth.

Basically a job is doing something you don't like for money. However, life is too short to work a job you hate. I currently work for a big company that pays pretty good and has excellent benefits. They have some entry level job openings in Rochester and Buffalo. If you're close enough to either, and interested send me a private message. I'll fill you in on the details.

Good question. Until the current spool of big game I mentioned earlier in this thread I've never had an improved clinch knot slip. I don't use much braid but I've never had an improved clinch knot slip with it either. Many people say to use a palomar knot with braid so that's what I've been doing lately. I know of a bunch of people who have good luck with a "regular" clinch not but I've never tied one that I couldn't pull apart with my hands.

I have lip grippers but rarely use them. ( I should) I've got a fairly big cut resistant glove for my left hand hung up with a magnet. I can easily slip my left hand in it to land treble hooked fish.

Use 'em all. You'll figure out what you like, and what the fish like.

I had an osprey dive after a devils horse a month of so ago. I jerked it away before it got to it. The bird turned toward my boat following the lure, but finally turned away. A muskrat got tangled up in my line once. I had pitched a spinnerbait under a dock. The muskrat started swimming in the direction of my line and dove under water. Sure enough I felt it on my line. It was really strong, but came loose after a few seconds. It was 10 feet or so from the bait, just caught in the line, instead of being hooked. Good job freeing the bird with no injuries.

Lay downs and stumps.

My Grandfather(my Mom's Dad) was a plumbing contractor. He started out doing residential work but before he retired (in 1976) he was doing big commercial jobs, as well as water and sewer systems for towns and cities. My other Grandfather and my Dad were building contractors. Mostly residential stuff. My Grandfather retired in 1974. My Dad retired in 1998. My Grandfather built everything. My Dad mostly built houses for Doctor's, Lawyer's and other.....well paid professionals. At one time he had people waiting as much as 5 years for him to build their house. His business cards said "Worth the Wait". The picture was cropped from a fish picture. The house was one of the first houses on Moss Lake (NC). It was the second house my Dad built after my Grandfather retired. There's a fairly big rock wall below the house. I carried every single one of those rocks from the road behind the house down the hill to where the wall is in a wheel barrow. I was 11 then.

Exactly. My Dad, Grandfather and Uncles all had back problems. When I was a teenager I done odd jobs for a man that was an orthopedic surgeon. I talked to him in depth about back problems. He said the same thing about core strength. I'm a 58 year old automotive technician. I've had a little bit of trouble with my neck (caused by bending my head back to far to look through my bifocals when working under a car) but I've never had any back trouble. I don't do well with the push offs, but do all the other things mentioned, as well as a bunch of walking to keep my back in shape.

I had some knot failures with Big Game. I normally use Stren or Trilene XL. My local shop was out of both so I bought a spool of Big Game. My "normal" line is 12 pound test. Every time I change line I tie something on and break it. When I put the big game on my the improved clinch knot slipped/failed, as well as a trilene knot. A palomar knot holds. I've been using the big game with a palomar knot and no problems. With Stren or XL and an improved clinch or trilene knot the line breaks right at the knot but it's really hard to break. With the spool of big game that I have the(improved clinch, and trilene) knots slipped. I reluctantly have braid on one reel. I use a palomar knot with it.

I'm probably going to get one or the other pretty soon. I use my side view some so I "think" I'll be fairly familiar with mega 360. I honestly don't know if I would stare at a screen and watch the fish respond to my lure. Right now I have an older Garmin unit, and a Lowrance Elite Ti2, so I'd have to buy everything for active target, live scope, mega live, or mega 360. I'm not concerned with controlling or monitoring anything so brand doesn't matter. What are y'alls suggestions. Does anyone have both?

Y'all, or ya'll is OK with me. Just don't say youse guys.

Back during this years mayfly hatch there were a bunch of turtles cruising around where I was catching bass. I never saw a turtle catch any of the small fish feeding on the mayflies, or eat any mayflies. A few looking like there were spewing a small stream of water out of their mouths 6 inches or so. I suspect there were trying to get the mayfly feeding fish to come to where the water was landing. We call them "Softshell Cooters". A friend of mine catches them all the time. (set hooks I think) He got one last year that was too big to fit in a 55 gallon drum. The meat is good when it's cooked right.

I was a kid, I don't remember exactly how old. I was fishing with my Dad. I was fishing a Texas rig. I had felt a rough place on my line up 6 inches or so and knew I needed to re tie. I didn't. I hooked something big under a dock. (It might have been a big Cat) After I set the hook is slowly went under the boat and headed toward deep water. I kept pressure on it but was scared to pull much due to the nick in my line. It never came near the surface, and it never moved "fast". After 5 minutes or so my line went limp. It was broke, probably at the nick. It may have been a big cat instead of a Bass but I'll always think it was a DD bass.

I know for a fact using the reel to flip the bail causes this. My wife's spinning reel was always having this problem. I had read this but was skeptical. I ran the line behind the boat then fished with her rig for 15 minutes or so and had line loops. I ran it behind the boat to untwist it again, then started closing the bail by hand. I fished with it for 30 minutes with no line loops. She's used it a BUNCH since then closing the bail by hand with no line loops. I haven't figured out (or tired to figure out)why letting the reel close the bail causes problems, but it does. I prefer baitcasters.

Don't let someone else's bad mood ruin your day. You did nothing wrong. Enjoy fishing.