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Oh happy day! Only about 80% & improving 😉 Stomach bug pretty much gone. I damaged both knees but the right knee more. That's the one I tore the ACL, had surgery on, & did damaged the ham string. Thanks for all the prayers y'all

The combos seem pretty popular. All Shimano and G Loomis,,,,,,,,old Shimano and G Loomis! 4 IMX Rods, 1 GLX, 4 Curado CU200’s and a Spirex 1000 spinner

Cataract surgery yesterday on the left eye. The right will be done on Tuesday. See you later!

Good article. @J Francho's "Everything in moderation" signature applies in most things. Taking an extreme position on most subjects usually misses the best position lying somewhere in between. Leave too many bass and there isn't enough food for all of them. Remove the big ones to eat them and you take out the genes that lead to additional big bass. So eat a few, leave a few.

Welcome to the price is right.

https://www.outdoorlife.com/fishing/kill-more-largemouth-bass/ Pretty long.

We've come to an understanding around here. They understand, if I see them, I will feed them copper coated pills at high velocity. There are plenty around and I hear them most nights. I've never had a dog, cat, or cow injured by coyotes. For years we had free range rabbits.

Good Luck to you Both ! A-Jay

I have to do the same thing this summer. Good luck.

Gawd I’ve gotta quit reading this thread!

Solid Green pumpkin continually one of my least productive colors...year in, year out. The fish here seem to prefer a contrasting color rather than solids here. Of note, water here is stained to dirty often, so I suspect the contrast helps a bit in this case over pure solids. PB&J? I use a variation I fondly call "JDM PB&J"...Gorimiso Black. Works very well indeed.

TW phase 3 stuff. Spoons aren't new just the buzbe box for them.

Just something that makes one wonder about the finickyness of bass. Lets say two anglers in the same boat, both fishing...lets say a drop shot, same set up, same lure...everything. Or lets say they are both throwing the same color crankbait, same setup...line, reel speed...everything but only one of them is getting bit. They are fishing the same depth water, same everything but one is getting bit and the other isn't. Got to be something there the bass don't like.

I do my part by eating the occasional sub 3lbers.

When I invite people to fish my pond, I also invite them to keep bass. "But keep them the small ones," I say. "They taste better anyway." And they do.

Cajun muskie!!! 😂 I like it!!!

Maybe the first angler got his lure there first and is picking off the active fish? About half the time when I fish, someone is with me. When I start catching fish, that person usually switches to what I'm using. But it doesn't necessarily increase their catch rate because they are fishing "used waters" right behind me. I've had individuals complain about this in the past and my response is "you can come up here and run the bow mount, watch the graph, and stay where we need to if you want?" Then their demeanor all of the sudden changes and they realize there's more to it than just standing there like a stiff in the front and casting.

Yep - mine is lightweight and very rainproof as proved during a downpour when I was shorefishing this year. Columbia Men's Glennaker Lake Jacket - currently 25% off at Columbia's site https://www.columbia.com/p/mens-glennaker-lake-ii-rain-jacket-2089791.html?srsltid=AfmBOorK-ZPVYvTWFhtJa-ytSST983-Bl5aSYmIhJwirW1Y__ZhSRCGF

Hobby shops have small paint brush’s made for Testors 1/4 oz bottles. I use a small diameter rod ( small bore riffle ) or tight wire under a cabinet through screw eyes to hang painted jigs to dry. Tom PS 1/4 bottles will cover 50 + jigs. Tom

Purples of all kinds. I also have a lot of success with bright green worms. They are hard to find but when I do find a pack the disappear fast. Something about the color of a Mountain Dew bottle.

I just learned the fishing community in my state has been hit again with another sudden loss. Without going into any details, I wanted to share a few helpful encouraging words in case you or someone you might know is struggling. Winter can be hard on us all, days are long and dark - especially for those who fish hard in the summer! If you or someone you know is struggling, here are a few resources that can help. If you’d like to add any resources that I might’ve missed, please add them in the comments. - Call OR text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline - The National Mental Health Hotline: (800) 662-HELP (4357) - National Alliance Mental Illness (NAMI): (800) 950-6264 OR Text Helpline to 62640 - CRISIS Text: Home to 741-741

In Tyler Brinks' article on lure colors, he wrote: "When it comes to soft plastic worms, creatures, and others, one color is a clear favorite for bass anglers everywhere: green pumpkin." I own many soft plastics in green pumpkin and on one particular day in 2024, that color was so effective, but most days, I'm reaching for a soft plastic lure in white and chartreuse or white and orange, usually a swimbait. Maine's lakes are both clear and tannin-stained. I can often see the bottom six or more feet down, so my white plastics are also really easy to see. I wish I could explain why my local bass prefer the bright and white soft plastics. I've just determined that they do with trial and error. One day in 2024, I caught 24 bass on a bright blue lizard. I never tried that color again, but I should in 2025. What color/colors do your local bass prefer?

I havent been keeping score but I think purple wins.

I used to fish from a 9' 32lb kayak in rivers and found an anchor the best way to land more fish. I've caught many 3 and 4lb Shoal and Alabama Bass from the kayak. Also removing the barb gets the hook in faster and easier.

Tail spins date way back like Pedigo Spin Rite. Manns Little George was very popular back in the 80’s and his Big George plastic version worked good. The problem with tail spins was keeping bass hooked. I made a line through tail spin with a small skirt that works very good back in the 80’s. There are a few commercial line thru tails spins like Rinky Dink. In the Fall seasonal period a tail spin still works. Tom PS, have a few but misplaced the mold. PM for photo.

@Mobasser Earlier this week, a 3/4oz deracoup tailspinner was the deal. Water temp is barely 50, and wolfpacks are chasing small shad schools all over a basin that ranges from 25-35 fow. My flasher makes it seem that the shad are close to the bottom and I caught my first bass that I know was over 30' when it hit. Without much electronic knowledge, I usually tightline my long cast till bottom, counting till a bite or hits bottom. Knowing those rough numbers allow me to work mid column more effectively if I find out that's where they want it. I have a strange rod that keeps them pinned, it's a 7' M/MH XF w/ a solid tip. It's the right combo of soft tip/mid blank load/ and power to hook em way out there and get em to the boat. If you get ticked, more times than not that's a crappie in my lake. The bass leave no doubt. Here's a couple chunks hooked in the face, I will say there's lots of gill raker hook ups. It's important to have your pliers ready if you want to get the bleeders back in the water quickly. scott

I carry a Frog Toggs poncho in my kayak. It covers my legs also in a downpour.

I prefer purplish soft plastics therefore the fish I catch prefer purplish soft plastics and if they don't, I'll never know. 😆 That's not entirely true, I have and use a lot of different colors but day in and day out I do lean purplish.

My old favorite was the Craw George - I just liked the shape better. Was a good bait from shore because you could launch a cast about as far as the amount of line on your spool 😆

We have coyotes too and in a residential setting. Small pets are fair game to them so you have to keep an eye out. Still, they are rarely seen because they don’t want to be seen by humans but they’re around. Small dogs and cats are definitely targets. There are plenty of rabbits, squirrels and possums around so they’re probably more interested in them than domestic pets.

I've had some downright magical days using the Damiki Axe Blade in low 50s, high 40s water temps. Damiki Axe Blade Tail Spinners | Tackle Warehouse I have a Dera Coup and a few others, but the Axe Blade is leaps and bounds better.

We hear them all year long but rarely see any. First few snow events we'll often see a few tracks. Folks lose small livestock here all the time, foxes and coyotes are blamed, mink too. Chicken coops get raided regularly. Seeing rabbit remains on the regular. For years my dogs were quite a bit bigger than the coyotes, now they're about the same size. Still, my dog yard is fenced in 6ft tall, but we still keep an eye out. Especially in the winter. A'Jay

About 20 years ago we had a string of dog and cat mutilations around my sub division. A cop friend of mine said they think it was coyotes moving through the area. They kept it quiet because they didn't want to freak out the city dwellers that were moving into the area.

Yup - If we actually get the 2 feet, add in some drifting and I'll need to do it once about half way through and again once it's done. The 1332's been tuned, fresh oil change and ready to go since Halloween. A-Jay

We've finally got a few inches on the ground ~ https://www.facebook.com/100000092564585/videos/1087364272549211/ The weekend forecast is looking pretty sporty A-Jay

Couple more things from Mike

The basic $50 frogg togg sets work well for the price. Not super durable and I don’t go out of my way to fish in rain but they are nice to have in the boat just in case. I have no complaints at the price point.

I've had good luck with purple shades for many years. My lake has small bluegill as the main forage, so, that's why I think purple has worked well. But, we're seeing these colors through our eyes. We can't interpret how bass see these colors. Sometimes, an off the wall color you've never used can work well too. It can pay to keep a couple of oddball colors on hand.

No bass yesterday but caught this toothy dinosaur (longnose gar) pitching a Baby D Bomb to some shallow wood.

Yup No problems setting the hook I have cut that finger 3 times in 20+ years though. 2 of the 3 times with mono.

Some people opt to go with multiple sets. One with insulation for colder temps, and another non insulated thinner version for summer rain. I rarely fish in extreme cold weather and in the rare event that I do, I just layer underneath the uninsulated stuff. The problem with only having insulated stuff is that it’s unusable in a summer rain. You’ll roast in that.

Green Pumpkin and Watermelon are great all-around colors here, especially around bluegill/sunfish forage. But what's really great is any color with green flakes, which includes Junebug, anything with "candy" in the name....and my personal favorite, Pumpkin with green flakes. Here's a good version by Berkeley, which the Chigger Craw is available in:

I think we can close the book on this thread. I saw skim ice on the ponds by me this morning and it was 17 degrees. Colder temps are forecasted in the near future too. Should make the ice guys happy at least. I’ll start a new 2025 thread in January sometime.

I prefer Junebug. A statistical analysis of my fishing journal is inconclusive in determining what my local bass prefer. 🙂

6th sense is having a big sale. . Including their gift-cards for 15% off. which you can immediately turn around and use on items already for sale. They selling bundles for 34% off and up as well as what seems like everything else. They have some bogo rods too.

Not sure if you're using something like this as part of how you maintain your gear. But it's been very good at helping to maintain the the stuff I use. A-Jay

Got out to one of my favorite little cold water lakes this past weekend. There was a bad algae bloom an the water was still just a little too warm, but I caught quite a few healthy fish still and had a good time. The Besotted jerkbait was on a pretty good tear in the morning and I finally caught one on one of the ABS Bull Shads.

I have Hummingbird MEGA Live. Don't buy Hummingbird MEGA Live.

Here's a nice addition to the Rebel collection! It in near mint condition considering it's 50 + years old.