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I've been getting out somewhere about once a weekend. Interesting reading about the success some of you have been having with a hair jig. I haven't fished one yet- most of my late season success has been with a curly tailed grub slow rolled around deeper water with remaining weeds. I was catching them on suspending jerks, slow spinnerbaits and paddletail swimbaits but that really seemed to slow once water temps started to approach 50 degrees. Haven't been exactly killing it since but I've gotten a few on grubs and blade baits since the water has dropped into the 40s. Just enough action to keep me interested and getting out there. I also recently installed a Humminbird helix 7 SI on my kayak too so that's been fun to play around with and get used to. Been on a couple successful saltwater voyages recently- went out Tautog fishing thanksgiving morning- me and my two buddies limited out with 18 keepers before 11am- headed back in for the thanksgiving meal- fun day. Saturday we went out for a little tuna hunting... things were pretty slow but around 1:30pm one hit.. and it was a giant.. we had it in the boat about an hour and a half later. 96" and 550lbs. It was no 5lb smallmouth but I guess it put up a decent fight... Here's a bit of go pro video from the fight.. apologies in advance for the language.

Fishing season over, time to break out the pocket knife. Hootie

So I am outside with the leaf blower cleaning the last of this years leaves out from around the house, and my wife comes out side and says " I just ran some stuff thru the clothes dryer that had a lot of lint. I cleaned the trap but was wondering, since you have the leaf blower out maybe you could use it to give the vent a good cleaning." So I go inside but can't get the leaf blower at a good angle. My wife says " could you try it from the outside?" I said " sure, just make sure the door on the dryer is closed" So I go out side to the vent, My wife gives me the thumbs up from the window, and I let her rip. A few seconds later I hear a pounding on the window, I look up and my wife is looking real mad and signaling me to come inside. She is standing there in a cloud of fine lint. Apparently when I turned the leaf blower on it blew the dryer door open as she was standing in front of it. I guess Mistake # one was using the leaf blower. I'm thinking mistake # two was laughing, and I'm pretty sure mistake # three was offering to use the leaf blower to get all the lint out of the house. I'd love to say I made this up but sadly it's all true. Jim

I have found that if the water is below 32 deg F, the baits have a tendency to rest on top of the water

Grew up in a small town not far from where I live today. Just like others from a small town back in the 70's even into the 80's nobody locked their doors at night, we always had the first day of deer season off from school, and it wasn't uncommon for kids to bring a rifle or shotgun to school in their cars or trucks. Grew up hunting and fishing and basically just running around in the woods. I couldn't imagine living in a big city or even a little one.

Pretty sure this afternoon was the finale. 62 degrees before the cold front and a good bite on a #8 Husky Jerk and small blade bait. Caught about 20 between 12 and 17". It's going to be a long winter. This season has been memorable for me.

100% Cajun ? Country Boy from top of my head to bottom of my feet! Born in the 50s & was a teenager in the 60s! In highschool we had gun racks in the back windows of our pickup trucks, with guns in em! I had a Winchester Model 70 (.270) with a 3x9 scope & a Ithaca Model 37 pump. There were rod-n-reels & tackle boxes in the bed. Truck unlocked & tackle in the bed...dare ya to touch it!

Born in the city and lived there most of my life. My parents were not big on nature at all. I hated it and always dreamed of living in the boonies. They actually tried to encourage me away from the outdoors. Once I got my first boat I always had to drive at least an hr each way to any decent lake. So after finishing school and establishing myself financially, I chose to build my house in the backwoods of beautiful Lake Placid Florida. I'm never more then 10 min away from my favorite holes. On any given day you can see a black bear, panther or coyote in the back yard. Seeing my kids spend their afternoons on the ATVs instead of inside on the computer makes me very happy.

The older I get, the more nostalgic I am for certain lures (or "fake bait" as I called them back in the day). Some of them didn't necessarily produce that well (for me) but they were present at the beginning of my lifelong obsession with fishing and will always have a special place for me. What are some lures you have a nostalgic affection for? At the small town grocery/hardware store where the bulk of my early purchases were made (BPS, Cabela's, etc, didn't exist then-like I could have gone there anyway) there was one major requirement for a lure to be sold. It HAD to be able to hang from a rack. Little, if any, shelf space was dedicated to selling tackle. Mepps Spinners-like little jewels in their own plastic jewelry box, most of those remaining in my collection lack at least one hook (from rust) and tarnish has stolen much of their luster but when they were new,...oh! Cards and cards of Manns Jelly Worms and ring worms. Sniffing the aroma of a jelly worm was almost as good as fishing it. The ubiquitous Johnson Beetle Spin. Few starter tackle boxes didn't have at least a few of these. They were cheap and effective. When I was starting out, original floating Rapalas came in about 2 colors: silver foil and gold foil. Yep, had them both (still do-and more). The Creme worm with the old harness and propellor rig. My very first "game fish" was caught on one of these so it holds the highest prominence in my heart.

Guys and Gals, Just a reminder: With the influx of on line shopping and Christmas Shopping, thieves are on the prowl. Deliveries left on your porch or front step are at the highest risk of the year. If you shop at shopping centers or malls, place ALL valuables in the trunk or out of sight and park in highly lit areas. Vehicle prowls are at the highest numbers from now through Christmas. Remind your wives, gentleman to NEVER EVER leave their purse unattended, even for one second or when a foot away. Check your bank statements for debit and on line purchases often. If you travel, alert your bank or credit union of your destination and the period you will be gone. Be aware of your surroundings when shopping and travelling. The best defense is, " don't be there." Only carry those charge cards or debit card you will actually be using. Leave the rest at home in the safe. Have a safe and crime free holiday season. A retired cop.

After seeing the recommendations in this post I picked up a bottle of Kevin VanDam's Line & Lure Conditioner. I use fairly heavy monofilament line for all of my bass fishing. One problem with heavy mono in cold weather is that it can come off the spool of a baitcaster like bailing wire. It is fine in warm weather but the memory in the line in cold weather is problematic. I soaked my line with the KVD spray the night before I went out fishing. I have to say I am impressed. It made that line much more manageable and the coiling was almost completely gone.

Everyone has different preferences, strengths and weakness. We all tend to taylor make our equipment around those parameters in one way or another. I tournament fish as a co angler so my combos have to be versital but still dialed in for most all presentations around the waters I fish most often. Those waters are natural lakes which for the most part are stained and shallow with vegitation of all types. With that said I have more heavy and med heavy power rods with either XF or F actions with none longer than 7'3" or shorter than 7". My reels are all mid priced with varing high speeds, 2 are spooled with heavy braid (65 & 50 while the rest with quality Flouro from 14-20#. I don't use spinning rods or mono line for anything. i just didnt come to this by mistake or guessing. It took years and a lot of time on the water to dial in what works for me. My advise is to do the same. In time you'll know what works best and hopefully be better for it. Good Luck Mike

Contrary to what all the "pros" do, I don't over think my set ups. I just grab a rod or two and go fish. I find it much easier to use a few rods at a time that than having the deck of my boat covered with a different rod for each bait.

Country - City - Country Grew up in a rural town about an hour from Cleveland, OH. Fished a lot with my dad and by myself. I used to tape my rod to my BMX bike ride to the Cuyahoga river and catch crayfish and hellgrammites. Then ride up the road to catch bass in the sand pits Went to college at Akron U and lived there for several years also lived in Cleveland while pouring concrete all over northern Ohio. My early to mid 20's I didn't fish as much. usually a trip to the lake was to relax- catch some rays and a buzz. After moving back to the rural area I grew up in I found tournament bass fishing and it was on. I lived and breathed bass fishing. Read every article, watched all the shows and spent all my free time on the water Fate took over and I reunited with a girl I went to high school with who had moved to TN. We live in a very rural community where I have access to 3 boat ramps and 6 lake access points less than ten minutes from the house . The first time I visited East TN, I felt like I was home. I love it here and would recommend it to anyone

I use a Keitech 4.8" Swing Impact Fat on a 4/0 Owner Beast EWG in that exact situation. Sometimes I go weightless, sometimes I go weighted if I want faster fall. If you need some flash or vibration, add a hitchhiker blade, like the Talon custom lure colorado blade.

Words I live by not nessessarily for out doors, but covers everything for me A Poem by Tecumseh “So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none. When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.” ~ Chief Tecumseh

Go to Lure Parts Online and buy the VMC 8570 Barbarian Outbarb hooks in the size #6. If you don't already know, VMC makes the Katsuage hooks for Megabass and the outbarb is almost identical, I believe the barb length is the only difference but the hook size and weight are perfect matches.

Take the center hook off and try it to see what it does. If it rises try using an Owner ST-36 or a Gamakatsu Aaron Martens TGW Nano Finesse treble hook in the same size 6, both of those hooks weigh less than the stock hooks on the bait you are using. You could replace all three but I think just replacing the center hook should be enough to make it suspend without sinking. One last thing, on the Gamakatsu hook, make sure it is the TGW Nano Finesse and not the Finesse MH, the MH will weight as much as the stock hooks and will keep the lure sinking.

Born and raised in a city of about 75,000 people, and still live there. Even though I live in a very urban area, I’m only a short drive south of the Adirondack mountains which is where I do a lot of my fishing. I’m lucky enough to have a lot of urban fishing areas as well.

Called my shots today-for the past few days I've been saying that Monday was going to be a great day for larger bass, I was more right than I imagined. In the two hours I fished, I caught both my 2nd and 3rd biggest ever bass and caught either my biggest or 2nd biggest limit. Best five weighed 21.7 pounds with not on but two kickers, one weighing 6.5 pounds and the other 6.7 (decimal, not ounces). I didn't even have a partner to help, and would have had a bigger limit if I'd been able to cull a 2.1 and a 2.3. A heck of a day, and the cool part about it was the 6.5 and 6.7 were on back to back casts-followed on several consecutive casts by some other bass in the 2-4 pound range. Caught them all on the vision 110 fished pretty quickly on steep dropping banks and points. The 6.5 pounder was crazy fat, the thing only measured 19.5" but looked like it had swallowed a bolling ball. If that big girl gets a little more length on her, she'll be an 8-9+ pounder no problem.

25 Days of Christmas starts December 7th... makes perfect sense for the last 7 days of the sale to actually be after Christmas I suppose. That being said, I'm sure they'll squeeze at least one more order out of me.

next thread: Using a fishing scale to weigh luggage

Here is the finished bait from my previous post. Painting them is the most rewarding part of the process for me. This one is a northern pike pattern.

I grew up in the Claxton community of Anderson County, TN, Between Oak Ridge and Knoxville, TN. Pretty much in the country, right on Bull Run Creek on Melton Hill Lake. Great place to grow up!

Born, raised and still life in NH. Everyone had a rod, rifle/shotgun before we were 10 After the service, started moving where people weren’t . I live 5 minutes from Golden Pond ( movie from the 70’s) in a town with no street lights and few stop signs. Plan on teaching my grandson to hunt and fish. Hope to spend my final years, with a good bourbon, Cigar and a 6.5 lb bass in the boat

I categorize chatterbait as a single hook moving bait. That means it goes on a rod with a slower action. Not only do I hook more fish deep in mouth but if you play arou d in clear water you will see your bait hesitate when banged into cover and then shoot off which has caught me several nice bass. I have used an xfast rod in past that resulted in lip hooked fish that often shook off or missed fish conpletely. The action also caused lure to barrel right through grass and bushes like they werent there. A HIGH end rod is not necessary but a lightweight rod is important to me. Ripping and slinging chatterbaits can wear you out and having a rod that doesnt wear you out is critical in maintaining positive concentration

Was born in a community in Arkansas of about 175. Moved when I was 5 to a booming metropolis of 875. Always had woods and water to hunt and fish as a child. We also got the first 2 days of deer season out of school. Now I live in a town about 40 minutes away from where I grew up. Population around 950. Rural Arkansas at it's finest. High school football on Friday boat deck or deer stand on the weekends. And I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Base kid. Dad was in the Air Force so I hopped around a bit. Born in Wyoming. Lived in Italy, South Korea, Illinois, Alabama, and Virginia. Dad ended up retiring from the AF in Virginia (Pentagon). Lost my folks Sept 2016 and I’m getting ready to make the first move on my own. Northern VA has its positives and negatives but being right outside of DC is getting a bit tiring. I’m thinking Tennessee next. We’ll see.

Country and city for me. Mother raised me in the city until about 10 when she passed and I moved in with my grandmother in the country. 125 acres to roam and a fishing pond. These were my teenage stomping grounds and made the most impact on me. I now own a house 30 miles outside of the closest town. And about 10 miles from rhe Chattahoochee river. Can't even get internet or TV unless its satellite and I wouldn't have it any other way

Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY in a 5 story apartment building is where I spent most of my days. A crowded, depressing building full of mice and roaches. Lived there until I was in the 6th grade then we moved to suburb of Brooklyn that was right by the ocean. I liked fishing for snappers (baby blues) after school. My love of freshwater fishing came from the trips my parents and I took upstate to escape the concrete jungle. When the opportunity presented itself I moved up there.

Sounds like you found the perfect fix already. Good decision!

Grew up in the country, only wood heat until I was 12 or 13, no ac ever, water from a cistern, had about an acre of garden, raised/butchered our meat that was not from hunting, fishing during the warm months.

I was born and raised in a village of 700 people, didn't even have a blinking light and police only patrolled Friday and Saturday. That was my mom. The school I went to consisted of 4 other communities and it was closed on the opening day of firearm deer seaon because so many kids went hunting. We even had a drive your tractor to school day! My dad built a house 5 miles out side of the same town. I'm out in the country 10 miles in the opposite direction. I'm only about 5 miles as the crow flies from a city of about 10k. I love how I grew up. Hunting, fishing, and being able to ride our bikes anywhere around town with no worries, doors weren't locked, everybody knew everybody. I'm now able to raise my son the same way I was raised and it's a good feeling. He loves to be outside. He has a tablet and it gets turned on maybe once a month. He's always outside or playing with toys using his imagination. I think the threat of losing the outdoor sports/ activities depends on where you're from. Hunting, fishing, agriculture, and outdoor activities are doing quite well around here.

I obviously cant tell you what was wrong with your Lewser product, but you should really enjoy and have no issues with the Curado K. Congrats on the purchase

Sounds like a good time to go full bore with the Ned Rig.

Born and raised on the So Side of Chicago. It's true, you can take the boy out of city but can't take the city out of the boy. We moved to Florida in '79 and still miss it. Mike

Grew up just out side of Boston, MA. I was a child of the 60's - Good Times. It was a much different time - nothing like today. 'The City' was just not my style and really preferred the woods & open water. In fact, I headed north to NH, ME & VT Every chance I got. After a career in the service, my like-minded wife and I retired to northern MI. It suits us. A-Jay

An old Fishing Hole program showed Jerry McKinnis fighting what he thought was a big smallmouth on Dale Hollow with Billy Westmoreland. Turned out to be a lawn chair.

That's where I am with mine, also a custom cover from the boat mfr. I keep the boat indoors, so the cover is only on for long trips. My boat is an 2005, cover still in great shape...but a couple of caveats: Boat was bought new and stored indoors until 2013 when I bought it, virtually unused. Cover was still sealed in the bag when I bought the boat...so it's really only got four seasons of long trips on it. That said...if our circumstances changed today, I'd still cough up the cash for the custom cover. I've had the generic ones in the past and there's no comparison. Fits like a glove, goes on (and comes off) in minutes, reinforced where it needs to be, specific to my boat, fits around the splash well in the back so that can catch rain and drain... Yeah...they're expensive. But so's the boat it's protecting.

Lucky..............

I wear Merrel Moab low hiking shoes waterproof on the boat or shore.

Whatever they replace the Tat CT with has big shoes to fill.

Rattletrap Alabama rig and suspending jerk bait. I use a Texas rig no matter what the weather is but I don't weigh in 25+ pound bags like everyone else

did you check the bearing on the spool?

I have bad feet from a falling accident . I walk with a pronounced limp but do not allow it to stop me . I stand up all day when fishing . The best product I have found are the New Balance Motion Control In-soles . They are about thirty dollars a pair on amazon . I wear them 100 per cent of the time . New Balance shoes also seem to fit my feet the best .

I have not, but there's a a new Tournament Series TBC71MHXF heading my way direct from St Croix - ST Croix indicated to me that I can expect it here in Jan - I'll let you know. . . A-Jay

http://boatingindustry.com/top-stories/2016/06/09/market-trends-freshwater-fishing-boats-growing-larger-more-sophisticated/ Recent data from Statistical Surveys confirms that the freshwater fishing market continues to exhibit modest growth in the mid-single digit range each year. According to SSI, in 2013 dealers sold a total of 53,371 outboard-powered aluminum fishing boats in the United States. That figure grew to 56,788 boats in 2014, representing growth of 6.4 percent. For calendar year 2015, U.S. dealers sold 59,085 freshwater fishing boats, a further 4.0 percent jump. Sales of fiberglass freshwater fishing boats were lower in terms of overall unit volumes but follow a similar trend, growing from 7,577 boats in 2013 to 8,031 boats in 2014 for a 5.9 percent gain. For 2015, dealers sold 8,561 fiberglass freshwater fishing boats, representing a 6.5 percent gain.

I am fortunate in that I am able to store the Lund indoors. So the only time the boat or the cover see the elements is to & from and on the water. This cover is really quite stout and although anything can happen I am expecting this one to last the life of the vessel or at least as long as I am the owner / operator. The after market covers seem to be the same high quality. A-Jay

Went the factory route with boat cover and an after market company for the motor & Talons covers. https://www.tuffskinz.net/ Having the proper fit everywhere allows the flexibility to use it for both storage & travel. A-Jay

Thank You A-Jay. Not that good of looking so I don't want to show my ugly face haha Lol.