17 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

I did Google Goggins. What a man! Goggins reminds me of this, which I'll pay to have tattooed on Alex's arm: "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy mackerel…what a ride!"

Read his book "Can't Hurt Me", if you get a chance. Only person to ever become a Navy SEAL, graduate Ranger School, and Earn Navy/Marine Parachutist Badge.

Set record 4,030 pullups in seventeen hours and competed in over 70 Ultra-Marathons. All because his brain-clicked one day and he realized that humans are capable of so much more than mediocrity.

13 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Read his book "Can't Hurt Me", if you get a chance. Only person to ever become a Navy SEAL, graduate Ranger School, and Earn Navy/Marine Parachutist Badge.

Set record 4,030 pullups in seventeen hours and competed in over 70 Ultra-Marathons. All because his brain-clicked one day and he realized that humans are capable of so much more than mediocrity.

Yup definitely deserves respect.

 

13 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

All because his brain-clicked one day and he realized that humans are capable of so much more than mediocrity.

You think if I just say to myself, "you're so much better than you are now", I'll actually start catching bass?

22 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

You think if I just say to myself, "you're so much better than you are now", I'll actually start catching bass?

 

I think if you buy that kayak, you'll start fishing bass. Just follow Robert Frost's advice and launch at the lake less fished. That will make all the difference.

 

@Dwight Hottle, do you have any numbers on that bass? Weight or length?

1 minute ago, ol'crickety said:

 

I think if you buy that kayak, you'll start fishing bass. Just follow Robert Frost's advice and launch at the lake less fished. That will make all the difference.

Lake less fished is the approach I took in NY. It was an awful lot of fun. 20 fish days were not unusual. There were so many ponds that simply didn't get fished up North. 

 

I've since moved to fishing larger more pressured bodies of water. I like the challenge and feel like I learn more. If I catch a large bass from one of these lakes, I feel tremendously more rewarded than if I catch one from an unpressured pond. 

 

Not a diss on you or anyone. I love seeing all the wonderful bass you catch in Maine, and it still takes great skill and preparation to catch large bass of any size. I've just always been one to speak my mind on this forum. 

No diss at all.

 

The water I fish is unpressured, but it's still challenging. It's just a different challenge than big, open, pressured water.

 

I often fish in thickets of wild rice, with more weeds on the surface and just below the surface. When a bass hits, she has weeds everywhere to break free. To even reach these places, I have to carry my canoe through the woods, over fallen trees, and down banks in the dark. The photos of fish only come if I pay my dues. Launching in the foggy dark is also a challenge, as I've watched horror movies and I've an active imagination. Plus, in the foggy dark, there's a lot of life on the water, as critters feel secure in such conditions and approach me, so I have to remind myself that Mother Nature sends them and not Stephen King.

 

Sometimes I have to drive down old, muddy logging roads to reach a pond, which requires a different set of skills. 

 

I sometimes paddle up to a wall of wild rice. I'll paddle along it looking for a narrow break. Then I enter a maze. I'm amazed I don't get lost in those mazes, but I'm always able to find my way home. I was only uncertain a couple times and I had a rush of panic, but then I settled myself and got busy solving the maze.

 

I should take more pictures of these places, as I only take pictures of the pretty, open water, but that's not where I'm catching most of the bass. 

 

Kayaks and canoes are made for such places. It would be a shame to waste your kayak's potential. 

12 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

No diss at all.

 

The water I fish is unpressured, but it's still challenging. It's just a different challenge than big, open, pressured water.

 

I often fish in thickets of wild rice, with more weeds on the surface and just below the surface. When a bass hits, she has weeds everywhere to break free. To even reach these places, I have to carry my canoe through the woods, over fallen trees, and down banks in the dark. The photos of fish only come if I pay my dues. Launching in the foggy dark is also a challenge, as I've watched horror movies and I've an active imagination. Plus, in the foggy dark, there's a lot of life on the water, as critters feel secure in such conditions and approach me, so I have to remind myself that Mother Nature sends them and not Stephen King.

 

Sometimes I have to drive down old, muddy logging roads to reach a pond, which requires a different set of skills. 

 

I sometimes paddle up to a wall of wild rice. I'll paddle along it looking for a narrow break. Then I enter a maze. I'm amazed I don't get lost in those mazes, but I'm always able to find my way home. I was only uncertain a couple times and I had a rush of panic, but then I settled myself and got busy solving the maze.

 

I should take more pictures of these places, as I only take pictures of the pretty, open water, but that's not where I'm catching most of the bass. 

 

Kayaks and canoes are made for such places. It would be a shame to waste your kayak's potential. 

Yup. Love your method. You keep doing you and I'll keep doing me

22 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Yup. Love your method. You keep doing you and I'll keep doing me

 

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

You should try some of our 30,000 acre reservoirs that most refer to as the Dead Sea or fort lousy, your worst days would be banner days writing home to momma 

 

just watch bassmaster classic this year, there will be elite series pros that zero each day 

Yeah I've been torn over whether the Classic should be held on notoriously tough lakes/rivers or if they should go to a lake like OH Ivie and make people's heads explode.    

 

I grew up in the era of notoriously tough lakes, I mean in 92 and 93 IIrc they were at Lake Logan Martin here in AL.    That and Lake Martin are dink factories.    

 

I'm pumped to watch the Classic this year, haven't watched one since I started fishing again.  

2 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Best one so far for this year.

 

 

 

 

Holy smokes Dwight, what a magnificent fat fish!

 

How about some details man, weight, what you caught her on?   Your fans want to know! ?

6 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Yeah I've been torn over whether the Classic should be held on notoriously tough lakes/rivers or if they should go to a lake like OH Ivie and make people's heads explode.    

 

I grew up in the era of notoriously tough lakes, I mean in 92 and 93 IIrc they were at Lake Logan Martin here in AL.    That and Lake Martin are dink factories.    

 

I'm pumped to watch the Classic this year, haven't watched one since I started fishing again.  

Holy smokes Dwight, what a magnificent fat fish!

 

How about some details man, weight, what you caught her on?   Your fans want to know! ?

There are a whole lot of folks getting skunked at ivie too, those are now the smartest fish in America 

Just now, TnRiver46 said:

smartest fish in America 

Oh boy. Wait till @Deleted account sees this

1 minute ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Oh boy. Wait till @Deleted account sees this

Bet he won’t go to Ivie and try it tho 

Just now, TnRiver46 said:

Bet he won’t go to Ivie and try it tho 

HA. ??

 

Call 'im out!

3 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

There are a whole lot of folks getting skunked at ivie too, those are now the smartest fish in America 

Somebody will always figure them out if they are there, not me....but somebody ?

18 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Somebody will always figure them out if they are there, not me....but somebody ?

The skunk trips don’t really blow up on social media haha. But I’ve heard some interviews and it’s happening. That’s why josh jones started throwing the little jig, they wouldn’t hit his umbrella anymore, surely because all of America showed up there throwing a rigs the last two years 

39 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Bet he won’t go to Ivie and try it tho 

I'm a degenerate gambler (who spends a lot of other folks money) What did you have in mind?...

2 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

I'm a degenerate gambler (who spends a lot of other folks money) What did you have in mind?...

Go to the hottest bass lake in the US and prove fish aren’t smart? Is your scroll up function busted??

10 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

I'm a degenerate gambler (who spends a lot of other folks money) What did you have in mind?...

 

I always think of Tony Soprano when I read or hear "degenerate gambler."

 

This thread is busting me up laughing. ? We drove over the Tennessee river Monday on our way to see/buy our new camper and I was overwhelmed with the urge to go fish it. Beautiful body of water. I almost traded paint with another driver looking at it. It’s on my fishing bucket list now. We go back up to Ardmore again Friday so I get to drool some more. 
 

Any of you Tennessee folks have a recommendation or two on some good bank fishing spots? ?

59 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Go to the hottest bass lake in the US and prove fish aren’t smart? Is your scroll up function busted??

Mouse test sat...

 

bet

/bet/

verb

1.

risk something, usually a sum of money, against someone else's on the basis of the outcome of a future event, such as the result of a race or game.

"I would be prepared to bet that what he really wanted was to settle down"

6 minutes ago, ScottW said:

This thread is busting me up laughing. ? We drove over the Tennessee river Monday on our way to see/buy our new camper and I was overwhelmed with the urge to go fish it. Beautiful body of water. I almost traded paint with another driver looking at it. It’s on my fishing bucket list now. We go back up to Ardmore again Friday so I get to drool some more. 
 

Any of you Tennessee folks have a recommendation or two on some good bank fishing spots? ?

I’ve been doing a ton of bank fishing. What in the wide world of sports is Ardmore? 

3 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

No diss at all.

 

The water I fish is unpressured, but it's still challenging. It's just a different challenge than big, open, pressured water.

 

I often fish in thickets of wild rice, with more weeds on the surface and just below the surface. When a bass hits, she has weeds everywhere to break free. To even reach these places, I have to carry my canoe through the woods, over fallen trees, and down banks in the dark. The photos of fish only come if I pay my dues. Launching in the foggy dark is also a challenge, as I've watched horror movies and I've an active imagination. Plus, in the foggy dark, there's a lot of life on the water, as critters feel secure in such conditions and approach me, so I have to remind myself that Mother Nature sends them and not Stephen King.

 

Sometimes I have to drive down old, muddy logging roads to reach a pond, which requires a different set of skills. 

 

I sometimes paddle up to a wall of wild rice. I'll paddle along it looking for a narrow break. Then I enter a maze. I'm amazed I don't get lost in those mazes, but I'm always able to find my way home. I was only uncertain a couple times and I had a rush of panic, but then I settled myself and got busy solving the maze.

 

I should take more pictures of these places, as I only take pictures of the pretty, open water, but that's not where I'm catching most of the bass. 

 

Kayaks and canoes are made for such places. It would be a shame to waste your kayak's potential. 

Please take more pictures, although you are able to describe with such intense details that I can see the walls of wild rice in front of me......no actually it's a computer screen in front of me....but when I close my eyes.....walls of wild rice! 

29 minutes ago, ScottW said:

This thread is busting me up laughing. ? We drove over the Tennessee river Monday on our way to see/buy our new camper and I was overwhelmed with the urge to go fish it. Beautiful body of water. I almost traded paint with another driver looking at it. It’s on my fishing bucket list now. We go back up to Ardmore again Friday so I get to drool some more. 
 

Any of you Tennessee folks have a recommendation or two on some good bank fishing spots? ?

Yes, anyplace down stream from one of the TVA dams will be the place to bank fish. I go below Nickajack at least twice a month, sometimes more, although I boat fish. The banks get a good crowd of anglers and I see the bank anglers catching fish often. Right now it's White Bass time. Wish I was off Friday and I'd be happy to take ya'll along. You will be crossing the Wheeler Lake portion of the river on the way to Ardmore, so either go to Wheeler dam to your west, or Guntersville dam to your east. Good Luck!

1 hour ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Please take more pictures, although you are able to describe with such intense details that I can see the walls of wild rice in front of me......no actually it's a computer screen in front of me....but when I close my eyes.....walls of wild rice! 

 

Will do! 

4 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve been doing a ton of bank fishing. What in the wide world of sports is Ardmore? 

Haha! It’s on both sides of the state line just off I65N. 
 

4 hours ago, ScottW said:

This thread is busting me up laughing. ? We drove over the Tennessee river Monday on our way to see/buy our new camper and I was overwhelmed with the urge to go fish it. Beautiful body of water. I almost traded paint with another driver looking at it. It’s on my fishing bucket list now. We go back up to Ardmore again Friday so I get to drool some more. 
 

Any of you Tennessee folks have a recommendation or two on some good bank fishing spots? ?

I thought you already had an awesome RV?

 

Lol at trading paint, I do it every time passing the TN River on I65, same goes for the Saturn 5 Rocket that they are tearing down ?

47 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I thought you already had an awesome RV?

 

Lol at trading paint, I do it every time passing the TN River on I65, same goes for the Saturn 5 Rocket that they are tearing down ?

We do but we needed something a bit bigger ‘cough, cough(for rod/tackle storage) cough, cough’. ?

I hear you on the rocket being torn down. The whole rest stop is in shambles now. ? The river is almost too enticing to pass by without wetting a line.

 

To keep this reply ‘on-topic’ I present the dink I caught around 4:30 this afternoon. ? The little guy wanted that modified chatterbait bad!

Edited February 2, 20233 yr by ScottW
Typos-R-Me