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My dearly departed father and grandfather....

I think the flat bills are down right goofy looking .

And on the other end of the melon size scale, I have to wear a 'youth' hat because I have a peanut size squash. And the color options available are always a just a little bit zany . . . A-Jay

I can't stand anything tight across my face, but I'm mindful of skin cancer so I wear this hat. Looks funny, but it works.

I've got about a dozen of what is referred to as "baseball caps', some are fitted, some aint. Mesh back for summer & thicker solid material for cooler weather. Colors: Ole School Vietnam Era woodland camo, Realtree marsh pattern, & Desert Storm pattern. Along with Saints & LSU hats plus your normal solid Reds, blues, & white. Oh yeah the bill has to be formed to my sunglasses! Aint no flat bill cap ?

My son. I am always happy when he wants to trade the X-box for a tackle box.

I like your style ~ And I can conquer. But if Mike yells or bashes his mellon off my wind screen one time, he'll be needing to re-arm his PFD. As for that last choice there, I don't know. That guy's pretty shady if you ask me . . . . A-Jay

Borrowed this one ~ "My children ask me the same question each year, "What do I want for Christmas?" After thinking about it, I decided I'd give them my real answer. I want you. I want you to keep coming around, I want you to ask me questions, ask my advice, tell me your problems, ask for my opinion, ask for my help, make me feel needed. I want you to come over and rant about your problems, rant about life, whatever. Tell me about your job, your worries, your fur babies, my grandbabies. I want you to continue sharing your life with me. Come over and laugh with me, or laugh at me, I don't care. Hearing you laugh is music to me. I spent the better part of my life raising you the best way I knew how. Now, give me time to enjoy your life as it is today. Raid my refrigerator, help yourself, I really don't mind. In fact, I wouldn't want it any other way. I want you to spend your money making a better life for you and your family, I have the things I need. I want to see you happy and healthy. When you ask me what I want for Christmas, I say "nothing" because you've already been giving me my gift all year. I want you."" Love, Dad A-Jay

I'm fishing these baits in at least 15 feet all the way down to 40. Majority of the lakes I'm presenting blade baits in are deep, and super clear. *** Big Factor **** I do not fish blade baits on weedy Bottoms - EVER. This is a clean, sand, gravel or rock bottom presentation for me - and sand or pea gravel is The best. The bait MUST be sitting on the bottom at some point. The length of time it sits depends on the water temps & the bass. IME presenting blade baits it in any weed, grass or wood scenario is an exercise in futility. Besides there are other (more effectively fished)options for that - Like hair . . . . A-Jay

My favorite hat. You can judge for yourself if it's lucky or not.

Nothing looks goofier to me that a guy with a flat bill hat on and his ears tucked under the hat. I almost didn't see you there.

I gotta wear one because of my balding head. But there's not a "lucky" one for me.

Me and Bo share a Bill Dance hat

It's that Georgia farmboy strength. I have the same problem. I prescribe one year of not busting firewood, engaging alligators in hand to hand combat, and shooting a 100# draw weight compound bow. To put more noodle in your 22" pythons, I suggest a diet of white meats. You'll also want to stop drinking a case of Budweiser a day and have one IPA at dinner. Also, grab a winch for your truck so you can stop lugging it out on your shoulder. We'll cityfy that set yet, @NittyGrittyBoy.

Gonna go with Chop's choice, minus the father.

They should've last year ?

Sunset from the water yesterday

Skipping has never been my strong suit. Skipping docks, under trees, has been hit or miss for me. Today we had a rare warm day, 50 + degrees, and I was bored so I headed to a local pond to practice. Turns out it is easier than I thought. In no time at all I was skipping a jig I'd guess a good 100 yds. or better. It took me a little while to zone in on the secret, but here it is Smooth ice! It seems the smoother the ice the longer the cast, who'd of thunk it. Although in all fairness, after the first two or three skips it is more of a sliding technique. Anyone know how thin the ice has to be for a bass to bust thru and take it? Please forgive me...…… It's been a longgggg winter.

I haven't logged onto the site for a while, just wanted to wish you all a joyous holiday season! Hope all is well and you have a great 2019 fishing season. JF10

Pretty tough to narrow it down to one person. I'll bend the rules a bit and give you my list. 1: KVD 2: Zona 3: Ike 4: Jacob Wheeler 5: @A-Jay I've been invited to fish with one of these guys and now that life is slowing down hopefully I can check one off the list.

I have to have an adjustable hat because XL isn't big enough for my head.

Who cares what other people think. Rapala accepted my online application to join their field staff as a VIP member. I get discounts (up to 60% off in some cases) for all of rapala and their other brands (storm, terminator, vmc, sufix, etc.) for a much better price than what it would cost me in a retail store or tackle shop. In return, I have their decals on my boat and truck, and I try to wear either a hat or shirt/jersey with their logo in every tournament I fish. I feel like that is the least I could do as a way to stay thank you for accepting my application. Not only that, but I generally like their brands. They don't write me a check to wear their stuff, but I know why i do it. I feel like it's the least I could do. I could care less what other people think about my showing their brand. I like Biospawn's soft plastics so much that I emailed them and asked them if they minded if I display their logo on a jersey. In return, they not only gave me permission to do so they also mailed me free decals to display on my boat. As a thank you I told them I will not only proudly display their brand, but I will also promote them on my social media as much as I can. They don't write me a check for doing it, but I feel like I should as a thank you for the free decals as they certainly didn't have to do that. Don't get caught up in what other people think. Do what you feel is right and fish your way.

You get bent hooks every trip? A 1.5# bass bent your 3/0 hook? You're using 3 different brands of hooks and they're all getting bent? All that together is pretty hard to believe. The only possibility I can think of is that you're getting wrapped around stumps. I get that problem like you had with the Senko in the Fall. I think it's just the way they're biting at that time of year. They take it in their lips instead of wolfing it down, and the hook is just at the wrong angle. They've got a good hold on it, but no matter how you try to set the hook, all you do is pull it from their lips.

My belly is really growling early this morning after reading this post. Great post.

Catt, I think the Saints are gonna take it this year. My prediction. Despite having Mahomes, the Chiefs defense is not strong , and defense is what it takes

Love blade baits! Small mouth, Trout, Walleye, etc., all love them....for awhile ? You should try Binsky's. You can get them at tacklewarehouse, or directly from the manufacturer. http://www.fishsenselures.com/ Different weights, colors, and each has 4 different attachment spots.

Wing Ding, Knockoff, Rinky Dink, or whatever y'all wanna call it is an excellent substitute for a blade bait. To quote A-Jay: "in the same spots & with the same slow lift short hop / lift and drop right along the bottom. Even pausing it to let it rest on the bottom. Bass with often pick it up while it's lying dead still."

That was my train of thought. There’s too many reels with proven track records to justify taking a chance on one with zero reviews.

Dang, now TW has me eating my words. I sent an email expressing my frustration, next morning I got a phone call from TW expressing sincere apologies. They said it has been a popular sale every year, but this year, as anyone watching saw, it was CRAZY. I was happy to get a phone call and apology. They really do care about customer service over there, so they'll still be getting my hard earned money... and free advertising because of there stupid good deals on shirts, hats, etc. Is there an eating your words emoji? I didn't get any new online tackle store referrals btw. Following, I've been tempted to pull the trigger on one of those as well. I'd like to compare them to my Powell rods. Looks like they restocked in the middle of the sale. Last I checked most were sold out, but now they're fully stocked! That's awesome.

You can try using white original Colgate tooth paste with electric tooth brush to get a translucent finish. To get clear it takes a lot of jewelry polishing and buffing using a soft cloth, not worth the effort IMO. Tom

Little pond by the house, missed quite a few

One of my first worm reels was a blazing fast Lew's 3.8:1 with a hook set button that locked the spool in place. I remember reeling like crazy to keep up with almost every fish with that reel but I still caught a lot of fish. I use my 9 ratio reels for jigs, worms, frogs, and buzzbaits. I'm up to 4 of them now.

Probably the best advice yet. You don't know unless you try it. How many of us get caught up on trying to catch the "big one" on a certain body of water and the "big one" might be just a mile away on another lake? Different bottom composition, different forage, different structure and cover, might be a stones throw away and might make all the difference in the world.

H2O Xpress Mettle or Mettle HD. I have 3 myself and they are a good reel, incredible for the money. You will have to pay twice as much to get even close to comparable quality with an Abu Garcia. Sometimes you will get one that may need to get some oil on the bearings but once tuned up they are great. My only complaints is the extra stuff that seperates all expensive reels from the mid and entry level reels, like a side plate that is attached to the main body so it doesn't fall or an easier way to adjust the centrifugal brakes as I'm sometimes paranoid I might loose on of the tiny plastic brake things. Other than that you get an aluminum frame, and metal gears and good quality bearings. What else is there to ask for from a sub $100 reel.

I used Weatherbug until someone showed me Dark Sky..........you should take a look at it.

The only thing that makes a Rico and a PopMax similar is they both are considered poppers. Other than that they are as different as two baits can be and still be in the same "category". And, that's not a bad thing. I have quite a few of both baits. And they both catch fish. But one does NOT cancel the other out. I will say the PopMax is way more versatile in the ways you can fish it. And the open "gills" create very unique sounds and bubbles that drive fish crazy. But on the other hand, there is NO sound like the Rico. It's in a class of it's own.

Well that escalated quickly! If you have a special spool, it deserves a special reel to be painted up.

Only three days to go and the days will be getting longer. Your wish will be granted.

At some point when we "turn that corner" in life, material things don't stack up like they used to.

EXACTLY'!! Every year my answer has always been the same.... "Everybody in the same room at the same time" God willing one of these years it will all work out. Mike

How did we ever manage to hook, fight & land any bass at all with 5 to 1 ratio reels ? Seem impossible - and with brilliantly golden mono no less. What's the deal ? Maybe it's because that's all we had. jk A-Jay

On the other hand, my wife, isn't intimidated by the larger animals.

So if braking was not a huge concern, what else would you say they fail at. Is Thailand always the better choice than China?

I don't have a specific time, I just change it out as required. Sometimes it's after one outing, and sometimes it's like 3 seasons. Most of the time it's something in between.

I use these regularly. Barlow's offers the blade bodies and I attach the hook (notice I didn't say hookS). Very cost effective. Here's what I'm fishing.

Back in 82 I could skip a jig a quarter mile..... Uncle Rico out.

Takes about 20 hours