Smirak

Haha - yes. Started on a sax. Needed another mellophone in the marching band, so I was voluntold. That turned into the French horn during concert season. I actually enjoyed the brass much more! Granted, this was almost 40 years ago too, so…

I was first chair saxophone and French horn during my band geek years… That said, I usually carry 4-8 rods. I have 2 flush mount holders. This holders usually carry my “first chair(s)”. One is a bladed jig and one is a t-rig OR lipless. The rest are in my blackpack. Some are stored vertically at 90 degrees on my blackpack, but I have 2 rod holders canted at like 45 degrees to carry my longer swim bait rod (7’10)

So I didn’t read everything, but the chocolate cake comment grabbed my attention. I know I’m late to the party, but is there any more cake?

I wouldn’t sweat it. You can fly with “small fishing lures” per TSA. What’s your definition vs theirs is however could pose a problem. I mean, you’re flying with a (or multiple) 5” magdraft. I’d argue that the delta in-flight magazine is a more dangerous weapon than a treble hook. Have you seen pricing on some of those items???

What size jig head would you recommend for this guy? This bad boy found on a bank at a local lake that “does not have shad in it, 100%”. That’s a 5.5” spunk shad for reference…

Still a good deal. A MB Levante for a buck fifty ain’t bad at all…

And as soon as I hit submit on mine I thought “he probably copy/pasted. And I just spent more time talking and typing about how lazy I was than he did just doing what I was talking about!”

Thanks for typing this out…was about to come do the same thing, but was really lazy. My fingers and brain thank you…

The more you know…

I have been really fond of the Jackall TN70 as of late. Expensive, but just flat catches fish. Also, 6th sense quake 70 is generally my go to. Of the red eye shads I’ve had, none have ever swam straight and come in sideways, almost like on their side. But whatever. I’m happy with what I use.

Watch Field Trips with Robert Field(s ?) on YouTube. He’s a big saltwater kayak fisherman/guide at Los Buzos (sp?) resort in Panama. He targets large roosterfish in kayaks offshore. It would be awesome to hook up to a huge rooster while on a kayak.

I used to work in the space industry (competitor to SpaceX). I traveled to Titusville, FL area frequently. I have seen launches from across the river before. They are awesome to see in person…

One thing that hurt the expo was this… On Sunday, we had the expo, the surge event (like Tim Tebow and the duck dynasty guys talking Jesus stuff), and something else going on downtown (I think a concert). If you haven’t been to the HSV area, that might not sound too bad. But, they all happened at the same venue. The Von Braun Center has multiple halls/arenas/etc. The crowds looked huge, but they were separated between 3 events taking place simultaneously. Parking was a nightmare. I didn’t attend, but had some friends that I umpire with show up. They confirmed that the attendance was lacking. However, apparently the big draw in the expo was the Ikon boats display. Heard from multiple people that was where a ton of people just “milling about” congregated there. Heard of some decent-ish sales: BOGO, etc. A friend’s son walked out with three Lews baitcasters for $99 and three Lews rods for $99. I don’t know what models, but three complete setups from a reputable manufacturer for $200…all for a 6th grader? That’s a deal in my book…

You know what makes me mad?? The colorway they have on Tackle Warehouse’s landing page isn’t a color that is even sold. It looks like a lavender shad by 6th sense. Dang you marketing…

S Pitt - straight up 72 for me…about an hour and a half… I don’t own a boat, but will buy gas! Or, better yet, scrounger heads for all…though someone will have to tell me where/what to get. Never fished one…. Oh, and yes, the weather down here last night was miserable. Still ugly out, but not bad. I’m about 45 mins away in HSV, and we have it a little better here than at GSV, but it’s clearing…

Yeah, our forecast up here isn’t looking all that good for tomorrow…

From the feel of it at academy, it sure feels nice. I had a mishap with my spinning rig on Monday making me miss a (my opinion) huge fish (most likely a piece of hydrilla but whatever). Anyway, came home and spooled on some new flouro, but really am thinking I might go grab a spool of the finesse braid tomorrow…

Redbug speedworms are killing it on Lake Guntersville currently…

2nd on the Geecrack. Also second the homeless fisherman current videos. My son is going for three weeks in June so now I’ve got some shops for him to go to on my behalf: Tackle Berry and Bun Bun

Another 832 yellow. However, I’ve been intrigued by the new finesse braid and might pick up a spool…

@928JLH Need a son? My dad’s an a-hole…BTW, I’m nearly 51. Hope that doesn’t matter?

Yeah, waterfront/GTO is the bomb place to be. I was in there on Monday and saw quite a few folks that I figured were already there for practice. Much restocking going on. Employee told me to fish this spot and I wound up with my kayak PB. I listen to them frequently… Funny about the inside baseball talk because aside from fishing, I’m a baseball umpire!

@AlabamaSpothunter I’ve been a few times. If I’m on a tackle hunt/spending spree, I’ll leave Huntsville, stop at Vans, Dicks and Academy all in Cullman. Hit up Marks and the big bass pro there in Leeds. Then I’ll head back. Mostly however, my money goes to TW, BPS and Waterfront Tackle at Guntersville…sometimes I’ll drive to Chattanooga and shop at Hog Farmer. Others, if you don’t know Mark’s tackle, it’s a blast. Huge store/selection. For a small glimpse, look it up on YouTube. RetroBassin recently did a video of the shop and actually Jacob was the star!

Dude - @AlabamaSpothunter I’ve watched Jacob catch about 12lbs in the last 10 mins… I kept thinking he looked familiar and then realized it’s Jacob from Mark’s Tackle 😂😂

So I was finally able to try the Vertrex by Nomad Designs out today. If you aren’t familiar, it’s a vibe bait that is basically a lipless that is covered in soft plastic. I am not sure about the best way to fish it, but I will tell you that on a fast retrieve, it has a very pronounced and noticeable hard thumping action. I caught this fish by yo-yoing it. He hit it like a hammer and I was quite surprised that he was the size he was considering the hit he gave me… All in all, I like the bait. I comes with BKK super sticky hooks that I can verify are more than just sticky…they are super sharp and can penetrate a little bit of the finger skin fairly easily.