AlabamaSpothunter

You outta see what we do when it snows 2" ?

Dang I forgot to list the Cormorant that TNriver46 ID'd for me months ago. I have actually thought I saw a Seagull but dismissed instantly because I'm used to only seeing them at the beach be it Orange Beach or Outer Banks. Great to know, I'll be on the lookout for them now. We have plenty of loons in Alabama too, just not birds ?

I liked this post because my water temp is 52 degrees literally today, I was wearing "pantyhose" very tight fitting long underwear, and you couldn't be any more right about the "feed bag". It's glorious seeing those bellies. That said, we're lucky, Katie (OP) canoes out of ultralight, and while her waters might not all be iced over, it's a safety concern. For others up north, they actually close the season of Bass fishing which I still find crazy. Then others are completely iced over.

Awesome, thanks! There are a lot of fish eating birds once you start paying attention. That two species of Egrets Blue Herons Kingfishers Osprey I see lots of Hawks, but not sure if they are fishing or not.

So this one? Great egret - Wikipedia I had that one first but then I read the Blue Heron page again. Thanks!

I'm kinda scared that the A-Rig is nothing but a oversized Spinnerbait.....has me questioning my life ? Fishing is wonderful because of the bitter as much as the sweet. The old saying 'the sweet is never sweet without the bitter". Today conditions warmed up significantly, beautiful skies, and NO WIND......but atlas I caught 4 fish, only 2 of which are pic worthy. A 2lb class fish, and and 3lb class fish. It's neat how this time of year that 2lb and 3lb fish would have been much smaller without these awesome bellies 90% of them have. In the Summer and Fall I'd have to catch 5lb+ class fish to get bellies like these. Now all the fish except a rare unhealthy fish or a dink have these beer bellies that make you smile even when the fish are smaller. 3lb fish came on the 110jr +1, 2lb fish came on the Yum A-Rig. Ended the day snagging the brand new Yum A-Rig from yesterday's success, ran home and got my jerry rigged retriever, I recovered it but broke off a snap and mangled it up pretty good. We all know the Monkey was down there and broke it, it knew I had a $25 gift card for the local Monkey hangout. So all in all, the opposite of yesterday ? @TnRiver46 Can I get some help on these birds.......three of them that stayed pretty close to each other, and were hunting in the same area as Blue Herons, but unlike those they again were sticking together, and were giving the Blue Herons a wide berth. Some stuff I was reading said Blue Herons could be all white as Juveniles, makes since but they weren't much smaller than the Blue Herons. Then the wiki page for Blue Herons talks about Great White Herons. Beautiful birds, and much easier to spot.....and shamefully I'll admit I use them very often to find active fish and then they fly away lol. Poor man's SideScan sonar.

I'm looking for a Jerkbait box, what model is that Edge box, and how do you like it for that application? You got two of my favorite baits over the last couple months, the Shimano WM Flashboost, and 110s, although I'm finding the 110jr +1, and 110jr are my favorites from the lineup.

Old man strength combined with young drunk aggression doesn't end well usually for the young drunk aggressor. My dad and mom were at a UGA game watching my sister cheerlead, some drunk student in the stands went hands on with my dad, and my dad punched the dude with a clean shot, dude sulked away while being heckled by others in the stands. My dad's claim to fame since ?

You nailed it at least when it comes to me.....POSITIVE ATTITUDE is the most important thing to load on the boat before I fish. It's a constant fight some days with yourself....."I suck", "you're just wasting your time" thoughts start to creep in, and once that happens it's like manifested destiny in terms of bad luck, and poor results.

6th grade bathroom......just me and the kid asked to go to the bathroom, looking back at that now, that's pretty classy for two boys to go handle it with fists privately ? I wrestled throughout middle and high school, and instead of punching a guy when I was in my 20s, I hit him with standing hip toss, that was the end of that. Those are the only two physical fights I've had in my life.

The last part is the part I forget to mention in my previous reply. When exchange rates were at their peak a few months back, I think about $200 was the cheapest reels...spinning or bait casting that were made in Japan. Made in Japan is arguably my most important criteria. I know great reels are made other places, but I've never owned a bad Japanese made reel. I wanted a Luvias, but they are made in China, and the current Digitaka price is $230. That's quite high for a made in China reel imho. One thing Megabass taught me was that JDM doesn't always mean made in Japan. Shimano and Daiwa reinforced this notion when rod shopping over these last few months. All the "JDM" company's rods are made in China at my local high end tackle store. $500 rods made in China, I just can't do that.

The drags on the flagship reels from Daiwa and Shimano are insanely silky smooth......that's why I bought a Certate. Not sure if I'd ever spend more than that on a spinning reel, and I'm pretty sure the law of diminishing returns kicks in quickly once you reach to top tier priced reels.

Really sorry to hear about your BF Scott, a whole generation of warfighters that suffered in silence. The good thing is that they are finally addressing this massive issue, along with Veteran suicides with the most recent generation of American warfighters. The current ones have seen sustained combat for over two decades.

Beautiful fish, and there is catching Bass, and then there's catching Bass the way you want to catch them. One of those ways is lot more fun than the other. First day I tried out a Ned Rig I caught several fish on a day when they wouldn't bite anything else....guess what I haven't thrown since, yep a Ned Rig. Somethings just aren't fun to fish with.

I'm already counting down the days until those beautiful dark Maine greenbacks are posted ? 44 Ponds is awesome, that might be the total number of ponds I've fished in my whole life. That certainly makes the sport more exciting.

Until this thread I had no idea this was seemingly a relatively common regret among men of your generation. That's three men all around the same age that have the same regret. You guys are patriots, that's why you feel that way.

Wow, you certainly aren't alone because that's my dad's exact same regret that he's told me ever since I was a little boy, and still holds to it to this day. He graduated in 68 IIrc., and during his physical he failed it for asthma which down the line might have still got him drafted. He came from a wealthier family, and he always has believed his mother might have played a role in it. Not sure if that was even possible or not, but he thinks it was. Vietnam vets, and those lost fighting over there are truly heroes.

Haha, you're so kind Katie, I know exactly what you are talking about. You wake up pumped to have the opportunity to put into practice the stuff you just learned. Thanks brother! Yeah you definitely need to be slinging this A-Rig in a few months. Toads seem to love it, and that strike is quite addictive. Fish really hammer this bait, very similar to how they hit the bigger swimbaits. I can't wait until all my Northern best buddies get back into the action, this thread is so much more fun when everybody is in season. I could look at fish pics all day ? Pretty fish, and what a deadly little bait. Need to learn how to tie those knots. You get a pass friend, I ain't fishing in 20mph wind, with freezing temps.......yeah I'm soft, so what ?

Yeah it's called Tactical Bassin on youtube ? I've bought maybe $100 worth of baits from videos, but the info on retrieves, and other actual info has been truly exceptional in practice. Those dudes know what they are doing.

Always so thoughtful and kind Eric, I appreciate it!

Absolutely, and I've been trying to get back in touch with him since I started back fishing. I even invited him to be the speaker at the High School Outdoor club.......yep, he showed up and talked to about 40-50 students for an hour, and I was hero to all those students for bringing in a Bassmaster. I only saw him in the flesh twice, yet the impression he left on my life forever is etched permanently into my memory. Take a kid fishing couldn't be any truer, or more noble!

I think that's the average bag on a good lake for the elite pros......it always amazes me the gap between myself and those pros. I had a 21lb+ Spotted bag the one time I fished with a true pro.....Dalton Bobo, who lost the Classic on a dead fish penalty. That was in high school, I knew right then I'd never be a pro like that. Still one of the best days of my life. One 4lb+ Spot after the next on Lay Lake in the Fall on big Jerkbaits. Quick story on that.......He lost the Classic by an oz on a dead fish penalty (story on that fish is pretty wild). His hometown is not far from mine, so I was devastated when he lost the Classic. I knew he must be, so being a kid I looked up his number in the white pages and called him on the phone. To my shock he answered the phone and I told him how much of a hero he was of mine after his performance in the Classic, and that he'd always be the winner in my book. He told me to be ready in a week to go fishing with him during a trip he had planned for on Lay Lake. I still couldn't believe until the morning my parents were dropping me off at the Hardees and lo and behold the most beautiful Bass rig I'd ever seen, a brand spanking new Ranger Comanche was glistening in the parking lot. One of the most awesome human beings I've ever met to this day, he gave me the most amazing gift ever. Pics are from that day. That's still the most beautiful fish I've ever caught......the quality sucks because they are pics of pics.

Lol, what body part do I need to give up in order to get FFS, and Target Lock ? You should throw an A-Rig tomorrow. I've been slowly gaining confidence on it for the last several months, and then a few sessions ago I had the double with a 5lb fish. That lead me to buying another complete A-Rig yesterday at Academy. Then today happened, and I'll be an A-Rig addict for life now just like the Braided Wonder. Caught 9 fish today, threw a Jerkbait, 5" Netbait Paca Craw, blade bait, and finally a brand new Yum Flash Mob Junior A-Rig with Scottsboro swimbaits. They sell these in a kit for $20 at TW and Academy.......wish I would have been able to buy a kit for my first A-Rig. This one just blew the doors off the high dollar Picasso finesse bait ball model I've been throwing. Safe to say I'll be blowing a bunch of cash on new A-Rigs lol. If you want to get into the A-Rig game, this is a dynamite budget/user friendly way to do it. Best 5 fish went almost 22.5lbs. Even lost a bigger fish at the boat. First time since July that I've caught more than one fish over 5lbs, today I got three. Sans one, every fish caught was over 2.5lbs. 7/9 had fat bellies as you can see in the video, these fish are packing on the weight. Sure wish I had fished winters before, it's like a cheat code for an extra pound or two on all the fish over 17" or so I'm finding. Bonus footage is a family of deer swimming across the lake.....almost had a "Double Rainbow" meltdown, then after that I got a 6pt chasing Does around. Just an amazing day on the water albeit cold and windy. Check out this family of deer swimming, just incredible to witness nature while fishing.

Wow, I think Glenn just played late Santa, my attachment storage grew to 175mbs. Fantastic, thanks Glenn!

Generally speaking you don't want to exceed the rating as a rule of thumb, but every rod is different, some can handle it. The advice from others that are yaking like PhishLi is gonna be far more relevant than my opinion, and I'm a long ways from being an expert.