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Just got the Smallie girls all serviced, just waiting for the thaw. Might take a bit after just getting hammered with 34" of snow. Brian.

Stir crazy this time of year? Are you kidding me? Who goes stir crazy? Not me. I am fully sane. I don't totally crave to go fishing. In fact, my good friend, The Bait Monkey, and I are looking over all of my baits. I have all of my baits all over the house. In the kitchen. In the den. In the bathrooms. In the garage. In the dining room. In each of the four bedrooms. In the hall closet. In my Man Cave. Stir Crazy? Not me. I have it all under control. Yes, under control. With the curtains closed and the blinds shut. No one sees in my house. No one is allowed in my house. Go away. Get lost. Leave me alone. Bait Monkey and me are having fun. Yes, fun. I know those other bass fishermen in Virginia are driving by and watching me. I see them all the time. They are watching me. But they will never find anything out. I am practicing my flipping and pitching in the bath tub by standing on the toilet. Have not caught anything yet but still trying. Bait Monkey says to try lots of baits in lots of colors until I get bit or fall off the toilet. Yes, I am practicing so I can be better. Need to practice. No sleep. No TV. No news. Just flipping and pitching all day long after I reograniae my tackle. I have it together. Never lost it in the first place. Heading out to my Ranger to sit in it. Bait Monkey and I love to sit in the Ranger and turn the steering wheel. I have a fog horn that I blow as neighbors walk or drive by. The Bait Monkey and I love doing this. It is fun. But I have it all together. No problem. I still don't see the problem when the City of Richmond police showed up to ask me what I was doing. I did not let them into the house. I am sure they are from the CIA and want to see all of my baits, rods and reels. So I told them that I had no idea what they were talking about and they left. But I checked around for bugging devices just the same. The Bait Monkey tells me you can't be too safe. Heard some guys went fishing on the Hot Sid of Anna. Not me. Not showing my stuff to anyone until tournament time rolls around. And the Hot Side is not hot, anyway. The Bait Monkey tells me that anyone out there who says the Hot Side is hot is crazy. But I am not crazy. Not me. So I sleep with my rods and reels, making my wife sleep in the guest room. The Bait Monkey likes this. And I stare at the TV until a bass fishing show comes on. But not the Hot Side. No fish on the Hot Side. Everyone stay away from the Hot Side. I will fish it and let you know if there are any fish in it. So yes, I am totally sane. No problems. Looking. Watching. Knowing the CIA is out there. And I bet the CIA is on the Hot Side taking names and boat numbers. Yes. They are all around us. In the trees. In the bushes. Under houses. Using drones. All to spy on me and the Bait Monkey. Yes. Spying on me. I know it. So all is under control at my house. I will continue to keep blinds and curtains shut as I crawl on the floor so they can't see me. I know they are there. Wanting to see my baits, rods and reels. You watch out for them, too. They are sneaky. Check your trash cans. Make sure your high school teachers are not aliens from the planet BASS. They are all around us. I know it. Must go. Bait Monkey just filled up the bathtub and I need to practice my flipping and pitching. Be very careful, my friend. Very careful.

That makes for a compelling and inspirational story about teamwork — but it’s not true. David Attenborough took the photo in question for the BBC’s “Frozen Planet” Series in 2011. It shows 25 timber wolves hunting bison in Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada. The female alpha wolf led the pack, and the others followed in a single file line to save energy as they made their way through deep snow, according to the environmental website Benvironment. Wolf packs are typically about half the size of the pack pictured in the photo from 2011. Most packs don’t hunt prey the size of bison (which is 10 times the size of a wolf), but the larger pack is able to. And the wolves walking in a single file line through deep snow is a classic example of how they’re able to use weather conditions to their advantage while hunting prey that’s much larger than them. Also, the idea that wolves have to be on the lookout for “ambushes” or attacks isn’t true, either. Wolves are at the top of the food chain and have no natural predators. Aside from turf battles with other wolves (which wouldn’t start in an ambush) bears are the only threat to wolves in Canada. Even so, experts say that bears are only able to prey on wolf pups because grown wolves are too fast, swift and clever to get caught by them. A-Jay

Your loss.

Dragging a jig or c rig in 20-30 feet of water is a slow presentation. I invite anyone who wants to come to our local lakes and fish a shakyhead or drop shot. If they can catch half as many as I do with a Ned rig, I'll buy their lunch. Fishing faster accomplishes nothing when it's not putting fish in the boat. I think this one at Dale Hollow is probably the best chance I've seen for the rig to really shine too. It isn't magic, but situations like they're facing, it's pretty close.

Perhaps once the reel arrives safely you could respond with something like this ~ "Thank you for message to sending The good arrived of shipping Please must be notification on time empty box arrived No safely goods for me No grateful living here man" A-Jay

Their English is far better than my Japanese.

2 more Zodias, 15 Aldebaran, 13 Metanium, 13 MetaniumHG and a Core 101mg.

For those reading this, the JDM Calcutta D's that are the subject of this thread DO have opening sideplates for brake access on the 100 & 200 sizes. USDM Calcutta D's in those sizes do NOT have the opening sideplate as mentioned by Poolshark.

I am always intrigued by the statement "to slow for me". If the bite is slow and that is all the bass are hitting, not catching bass is better than simply slowing down?

Got a screaming deal on this reel. I told myself I was going to wait until I saw this deal pop up. They even sent me some treats from Japan. Paired it with my Veracity Med. Mod Rod.

I carry 5 setups regardless of where I fish! #1: Texas Rig; maybe weighted or unweighted #2: Jig-n-Craw; selected to suit cover & conditions #3: Spinner Bait/Lipless crank #4: Cranks Baits; shallow/medium/deep #5: Top Water; selected to suit cover & conditions

Went out to the killer lake again today. Been about 2 weeks since i been and i heard the bite was slow. Water was extra choclately and cold muddy cranking water is tough. Dont get me wrong water normally isnt clear by any means but can usually see bait a foot down. Today was 4inches. So got 1 in the boat at 4.97lbs on a strike king 6xd. Lost one also. Tough morning! U know its a good lake when fish under 5lbs dont get u excited.

"A wolf pack: the first 3 are the old or sick, they give the pace to the entire pack. If it was the other way round, they would be left behind, losing contact with the pack. In case of an ambush they would be sacrificed. Then come 5 strong ones, the front line. In the center are the rest of the pack members, then the 5 strongest following. Last is alone, the alpha. He controls everything from the rear. In that position he can see everything, decide the direction. He sees all of the pack. The pack moves according to the elders pace and help each other, watch each other."

Look on the cable you have installed in the boat from the factory. I should have stamped or printed on it what type and gauge number, like 6-AWG or 8-AWG. Now, give you a little insight and then you can figure what you want to do. Lets look at a large TM that can pull 40amps on max. We are going to start off with a good, like new battery that has a 12.6vdc charge on it. Also understanding that a 12V battery is considered discharged when it drops to approx. 11.6vdc. Also understand when you figure the length of battery cable for the TM it's twice the length you are going to be running it because there are two cables, the positive from the battery to the TM and the Negative from the battery to the TM. The current has to pass through both cable to get from the negative to the positive post on the battery. So, for calculation purposes we are going to say it take 25 feet from the batteries to the TM so that would be 50 feet of cable. Now, if you have a TM that pulling 40 amps on max, and it's 25 feet from the batter, here's what you get with voltage drop the resistance of the cable causes. With 8-AWG you will see 11.3 VDC or 23.5VDC at the TM, With 6-AWG you will see 11.8 VDC or 25VDCat the TM With 4-AWG you will see 12.1 VDC 25,6VDC at the TM That's why in another post, I mentioned I run 2-AWG with my 24 volt 80 pound trust TM. Small cable is like connected a dead battery to it before you even start using it. Also understand. these figures are when the motor is pulling a full 40 amps. If you are just running on partial power and say only pulling 15 amps through that 8-AWG, there is only a 0.2VDC drop so the voltage the TM will see changes from 11.3VDC to 12.4VDC. Now, that should give you enough info to decide what you need to fit the way you fish. I do a lot of chasing schooling fish, stripers, bass, etc so you are having to move in a hurry when that are breaking the water. I want all the ump I can get on max. If you seldom run of max, it may not be worth the cost of the more expensive larger cables. I don't have time right now, but I see I need to do some editing and fixing some numbers and get the right figures for a 24 VDC system in here. I was just typing and figuring off my head right quick for this post. Just to give a quick idea.

The Japanese are some of the nicest people that I have dealt with and a little bit of a broken message doesn't bother me at all. The real shocker for me was that I recently received an order from Samurai Tackle and they packed up a bunch of candies from Japan to celebrate the new year.

I just got a small order of Siebert finesse jigs in the mail the other day. Let me say first off, that the positive word of mouth on here led me to try them out. I don't have a lot of jig fishing experience, but I have used finesse jigs in recent years. They work great for smallies here with a kalins grub trailer. Well, the jigs I got look fantastic! Haven't used them yet obviously (winter in WI) but my first impression screams quality. I opted for the wire tie and got 4 different colors. What I like the most is the jig head itself. Unlike other finesse jigs it isn't a ball head, it a stand up head like on a flipping jig. Thats awesome for me and hopping along for smallies. I can't wait to try them out! Anyone else ever use Siebert finesse jigs? If yes, let's see some pics! Fish and jigs welcome haha.

You have obviously never seen what a Yeti can do to a pack of wolves

Need to cull the ones this size from our private lake, so it was a good day. Fished a lure I got for Christmas (Rose Kuli 3.8" rainbow) and it was the only thing they were biting. Biggest caught was 2.02 lbs and 16 inches, rest were right around a pound each.

WOW ! I.....must.....resist.....the.....bait.....monkey....!

If you go to my You Tube channel (smalljaw), I did a video on how easy it is to wire tie, just search wire tying swim jig. The method I use involves make the skirt with an o-ring with a 3/16" inside diameter, it will hold the skirt tabs tight while getting the wire in position and yet easily roll off when you're done. I wrap both ends of the wire and instead of pulling on each side, I put the wire ends together and grab with a needle nose pliers and pull up, this tightens the wire wile leaving the skirt tabs in position because the force is applied equally to both side, check out the video, it is very easy.

Ned rig is a very light weight and very slow falling presentation that takes time tournament anglers don't have to locate bass that may strike. Shaky head, dart head or drop shot is a lot faster to locate and catch a few inactive bass. What you don't realize is a lot of lures and presentations can catch the same bass a Ned rig does, they do it much faster. Tom

Here are some random pics. Was first looking at the TM Pro Team 175s, but the Lowe was much nicer so I had to pick one up. Will be picking the boat up next week after the Maxxum 70 + Extra battery gets put in and the custom cover is made. Once I get her in the garage I'll be putting on a Garmin Echomap 93sv w/ GT52, RAM 6" swing mount, Stern Saver Mount for transducer, troll perfect / Coolfoot on Maxxum 70 and a Minn Kota 315D charger. Later on down the road I'll get a good buttseat, but usually I just stand all day. Should have everything she will need for Spring.

Went out today and braved the wind in my coleman crawdad lol. That was interesting. About the first 10 minutes buddy hooks up and ends up with a 5.2lbr. Sweet going to be a good day. Fish there for awhile and nothing. Head over to where river enters laje and lose a nice one. Nothing after thay fir a loooong time lol. Around 2 pm im thinking im getting the skunk. See a bunch of birds hammmmmering shad. Buzz over there and probably 3 casts into the shad school i hit big fish of the day at 5.44lbs. Only 2 fish of the day quality today not quantity.

Uh oh. I have a feeling that BigBill is about to make an appearance.

Go heavy - I ran 4 gauge from front to back, but I run a 36 volt TM...and I'm nuts. Check the spec. for your trolling motor, go one size bigger.

RC for a starting battery. The best one would be a dual purpose battery designed for starting and deep cycle use. The best one of those was the Diehard PM-1 size 31 but that has been discontinued. Something with about that capability. Think about what you requiring from your battery when the outboard is not running. Livewell pumps, Power Pole pump/s or electric deploy for Talons, electronics, THEN you need the engine starter to work as well as the tilt/'trim pump. If you fish at night, there is the required lighting to support. For the trolling motor, a minimum of a group 27 DEEP CYCLE battery, two of them for a 24V motor.

Get the biggest batteries you have room for, especially for cranking/ accessories. You are going to be way over the power needs that a group 24 battery can handle. Each ONIX power cord requires a 5A fuse.

REALLY GOOD ~ ! Thoroughly enjoyed that one ~ Made my whole morning Thank You Sam A-Jay

I'm stoked for 16. Can't wait for the days to start getting longer and the water to start warming up. I've already got a d.d. this year. My next goal is a teen.

MV, a few housekeeping suggestions. Please add your location so we can give you better assistance. A guy from California can't be helped by guys in North Carolina regarding specific topics. Boat security is a big issue. Here are some suggestions to consider when traveling with your boat: 1. Purchase a “prop lock” and use it when boat is in storage or at a motel. 2. Look up the various hotels in towns where bass boats can be launched. Call them to find out if they have recharging stations. 3. Ask these motels if they give bass fishermen discounts. 4. Ask these motels if they have private security to guard the bass boats in their parking areas. 5. You can call a local tackle shop and ask for Bed and Breakfast places or private homes who rent out rooms in the area where you will be launching your boat. Be sure they allow you to plug in your battery charger to their outlets. Try to speak to an adult at the tackle store as young people will probably have no idea what you are asking about. 6. Always park your boat with other bass boats in a well illuminated area. 7. Try to park your boat near the front of the motel. 8. Get a room as close to the boat parking area as possible. 9. Always lock your compartments. 10. Always remove all rods and reels plus electronics for the night. 11. Consider installing a local sounding device if anyone tampers with your storage lockers. If nothing else it will scare the perps away. 12. Consider using a lock and key to secure the trailer to your boat hitch so no one can unhook it and drive away. 13. And always remember that it would be fun to shoot the perps if they mess with your boat but please don’t do that. You will be the one who will get into a lot of trouble. Good luck. Let us know what you find out and where you live so we can continue to give you our input. And MV, try locating the president of a local bass club in the geographical area of your lake/river as they can give you input on where to park your boat at night. Remember, you are not calling executives at corporations who will return your call in a prompt manner. You are dealing with busy bass fishermen who will return your call when they can gather the time. So call two or three bass club and the FLW and B.A.S.S. Federation in the state you will be fishing. Check out the "Links" page at the top of the Forum page. You will also have to do some homework on the computer regarding motels and bed and breakfast establishments. Tight Lines.

I can't get this monkey off my back. Just came in from Japan and it only took 4 days.

The Ned rig does catch dinks, but you are very misguided if you believe that is all it will catch.

@Tucson To me it's more a matter of round reel vs. low profile for each style of presentation. For some applications I prefer a round reel. My crankbait and swimbait rods are both round reels (Shimano, but same difference) and I wouldn't dream of switching to a low profile reel for either. I also recently switched to a round reel for my frogging rod. They just feel more solid in my hand, no real reason other than that... especially with baits that I am chucking as far as I can. If you're trying to throw smaller lures (like 1/4oz and smaller) a newer low profile baitcast reel with a smaller spool size will be really impressive to you for these smaller more delicate presentations.

7'11" Quantum Tour Edition Greg Hackney signature rod, Quantum Tour Edition PT "Burner" casting reel (7:1 ratio), 50-pound Suffix 832 braid ~ 1/2 or 3/4-ounce Tungsten slip sinker, Texas rigged with a Green Pumpkin Skirt, a Berkley Powerbait Beast riding on a 5/0 Owner EWG Beast hook. I'm fishing the cleaner hard bottom area at the very bottom of the second drop where it meets with the front edge of the deep weeds, And if there's some wood or a few rocks there - I check my drag right before the first cast and then I get all kinds of serious and hold my breath . . . . . . . A-Jay

Very reputable, I and several other members have bought multiple items from them

I think this is more Raiderspeed

Rooster tails, Mepps, and Panther Martins all work from shore. I would also suggest trying a 1/4oz gold or silver kastmaster. Casts for distance, gets to the strike zone quickly, looks like a little minnow or shad, and has good action on the retrieve. Plus, you can jig for bass with 'em. Good luck on your fishing trip

You know I have a lot of respect for Ray Scott founder of B.A.S.S., but over the years I think he has gotten involved with business people who may have used him and his name to make some money or, for all I know it is his own invention, either way, his battery operated lighted soft rubber baits is one of the more unusual I have seen sold... Some years ago I did some research for one particular tackle manufacturer museum and did some research into patents for rods and reels and even lures and I can tell you there are some really weird lure patents on record, many of which were either never marketed or marketed and did so poorly virtually no one ever heard of them or even remembers them. One day I'll have to do some posting of those patents for some good laughs!

Fisherman who want to win MLF will take the dinks all day long

Better than nothing !!!

Deep water structure with a combination of grass & wood Texas Rigged plastic & Jig-N-Craw Two of the following Shimano Crucial 6' 10" Med Heavy Extra Fast Shimano Calcutta CT100A spooled with 15# Big Game

For anyone interested, the Calcutta Ds are 40% off at japan lure shop

48 pounds, 10 lb test line, stock drag, $80.00 reel...

Try a flick shake ... Killer. Not so new anymore. BassPro also carries a worm and hook which is similar.

Same ones I use all year long just in different locations!

I've used the Ambassadeurs for over 45 years. Never had a need to go more expensive, or to any other brand. The very first one I bought was just recently passed down to one of my grandsons. So, yeah, it's about as good as it gets. BTW: I've been in many, many boats, with a lot of good fishermen, using quite a variety of baitcasting reels. No one has ever done anything, with any of them (regardless of price) that I couldn't do. Just remember one thing. You cannot "buy" success.

That about covers it. A-Jay