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Its been a minute since I last posted here but I've got into ultralight fishing lately and yesterday I got this pleasant surprise by that wall. I thought about keeping it with some of the gills I caught but I didn't have a tape measure on me. Do you think it's 15 inches(minimum legal length for largemouth, spotted, and smallmouth here)? Fought like a demon on that ultralight.

I entered a team tournament on the Caloosachatchee River last Saturday just to help out a friend as his regular partner couldn’t make it. We fished the dog legs all day starting on 1 end and coming out the other. We did that for about 2 miles, turned around and started again. He didn’t want to spend anytime on the river itself so in and out we went. He loves a black and blue weightless Senko almost as much as I love my Magnum UV Speed worm. By 8:30 we had our limit (12.4 lbs) and went big girl hunting. I was hoping to find beds but didn’t see any all day but we were culling by 10:00 About 12:00 the wind picked up with a passing shower and the water changed. He stuck with his Senko but I changed to a honey candy Rage Cut R then to a regular sized June Bug UV Speed Worm. I did that because heading out the other way changed our casting angle. I got 2 more a little over 2lbs each that wouldn’t cull. Rain stopped, wind died down so I decided to change to the Magnum again. He got 2 about 3# each. I culled twice more but 1 swallowed the hook which penetrated her gills and I couldn’t stop the bleeding. We’re not allowed to cull a dead fish which I knew she would be by the time we got back for weigh in at 3:00. We had to take the 1/2lb penalty. The water was moving quick as we approached a lay down that we fished hard the first time through but didn’t get anything. This time coming in from the opposite side I decided to fish the Speed Worm more vertically. After 1 slow pull straight up I hit it again this time really hard and there she was a 9.2# ! We trolled around and dropped it in on the other side but before I could engage the reel another one hit but she headed out to open water. She jumped twice and looked almost as big as the other one. Once I got her settled down and headed to the boat I told my boater to grab the net as I knew I wasn’t gonna flip it. He leaned over the gunnel as I brought her up. She must have seen the boat, the net or him but she lunged, he scooped and she was gone!! I said a few colorful metaphors as he just stood there. I knew how he felt and nothing I said made him feel better. We both just sat there awhile. Neither of us hooked up again the rest of afternoon Mike

I did catch one big fish on a Jerkbait a week ago but it's been slooooooooow. Few bites on the frog and lipless but no real commitment or consistency. Water temps got down to 40° on the surface (frozen in creeks and pockets wind blew into) during a very hard snap and then it went up to 65 day/40 night and the fish are acting confused. I think we are still losing daylight and the weather being funky and waaaaaay warm suddenly at the same time has had a very strange effect on the bass around me. Another thing that's odd/observably very different from last winter - I can see 6 feet down everywhere. Like water is so so clear around here. Rains and winds and dead leaves and mud have not seemed to do the usual tannic orange brown tea thing. I was pretty certain last year my wild lipless success was at least due in part to the uniquely poor visibility we got. Now I'm feeling very certain. Fishing Florida LMB in gin clear winter water ain't my thing it turns out - but hopefully weather getting back on its seasonal track after today has the fish acting a little more frantic and hungry and wintery. At any rate here's that ~5 I caught on the jerkbait last weekend at sunset during the last of the cold stuff before it got silly warm.

I hit the Columbia in December for the first time. I had low expectations as I headed out since this was new territory and it had been a month since my last trip. The conditions were about perfect when I got there. Water temp was 46F, air temp was 38F and there was no wind and just a light sprinkle. I was nice and cozy inside my layers of clothes and my drysuit, in fact I was bordering on being too warm. I headed out to the general area I had caught them a month earlier and started fishing. Just painfully slowly dragging a drop shot while I adjusted my speed to keep me over my bait as the current (not much, about 1mph) moved me downstream. My first handful of passes did not yield anything so I started slowly moving deeper and deeper with each pass. On a pass that started on about 35' and dropped in 50' I was inching my way along when as I lifted I felt some weight and a little tug. I reared back and I was into a fish!! I really could not believe it. It was only about a pound but that fish was huge for me. I went from practicing phrases in my head like "Well, it's just nice to be out on the water" and "at least it is good exercise" to thinking I am going to catch me some bass! Over the next hour or so I landed 3 more including my best of the day, a 2lb 8oz. Once again, not monsters but good solid fish and just really stoked to be catching my first December smallmouth ever. It was pretty tedious fishing, controlling my drift to keep my kayak over my bait while gently sliding it over the gravelly bottom, but it was worth the effort! Of course then when things were going so well I made my only real bonehead move of the day. I went about 15 minutes with catching a fish so I decided to eat lunch and drift downstream a mile or so to another spot to fish. I should have just stayed in that first spot and continued to expand my search area a little but instead I went for the big move. To be fair, the spot I was moving to had produced more fish the previous trip but I violated that age old rule of bass fishing. Don't leave fish to find fish To add to my error I was really stubborn about it and just assumed the fish were just a little off of where I was fishing so kept expanding my search in that second area for 2 and half hours. Not a sniff in that entire time. Finally, I figured out that I was not going to be able to will a bite out of that area and I went back to my original area. It took too long to make that decision but at least it was the right one in the end. Pretty quickly I caught my 5th bass and that felt great after the long lull. The fishing was never torrid but it was nice steady action all afternoon. I stayed with the drop shot most of the day but after a while I was having a hard time getting a bite. Then an odd thing happened. I felt the thump of fish and lifted up to set the hook. For a few seconds I had another one on and then it popped off. When I reeled up my drop shot weight was gone. That made me think that the fish were still there but wanted something all the way on the bottom, not even a foot off the bottom, so I switched to dragging a Ned rig. That turned out to be really effective. On 4 consecutive drifts I caught 3 and lost one. That was the fastest action of the day by far. However, after that the bite died and it was getting a bit late and I decided catching 13 bass was enough for me. So I packed it up and headed back to the ramp with a big smile on my face - 13 is my lucky number! All the fish I caught were in 35 to 47' of water on bottoms that felt gravelly (but looked pretty smooth on the FF). The fish were tight to the bottom, I never marked any fish, but tended to around any tiny little bump on the bottom. Water temp was 46F (not too cold) and the clarity was good, several feet of visibility. I can catch a bass in December, Now I want to see if I can do it in January Here are few fish from the day and a video:

New rod for fishing skinny creeks for big fish. Palms Egeria Native EFVC-53L+ 3-18g 3-10lb. This little bugger has tremendous backbone and a tip that'll throw whatever I need.

To me, this is E-clip and this is C-clip The trick with all springy things, work in a shoe box. Still, they're small enough to disappear when you remove them even without flying away. Every few Hedgehog orders, I throw in a few of the common sizes, 2-mm to 3-mm (cheap). When I need one, I have a parts bin. E-clips are not intimidating if you have a system. A 1.5-mm slotted micro screwdriver exactly fits the exposed slot. Rotating the micro-driver eases them out. Small needle-nose pliers ease them back in.

Compared to the last trip this was a struggle. Last trip we found spots congregated near the bottom in 25-30’ of water. We only fished 2 places and boated 91. Alas they have moved on and we could never find any concentration. We covered over 10 miles checking various places.

Fished off my backyard for a little bit after work yesterday. Caught nothing, but there was a nice consolation prize.

To help develop some mercy for us northern anglers, open your freezer. See the ice cubes? That's how our water looks. I can only look at my old trip reports so many times and I go back in time and read other old trip reports, but go back too far and the photos are no longer there. So, I rely on you southern anglers to share your tales of glory and woe. They keep me warm and limber. Otherwise, I'll lock up solid like our ponds and bogs and the coroner's report will read, "Calcification by bass deficit," which, in case you don't know, is the number one killer of northern anglers.

You're describing my fishing the last couple weeks.......I've actually skunked twice over the last week. I haven't skunked before that in a year or two. I thought the last few days were going to be epic with the warm up after the water finally cooled down into the low 50s. The more I Bass fish, the more I realize that every year is totally different, if you rely on past success things aren't going to go well most of the times. If they aren't going bananas by XMAS, I'm going to be one sad boy

That's what I thought! Struggled to catch 20! I'm struggling to comprehend 20!

@FishTank - I found a useful tool for beaucoup torque that you can't get with micro-drivers. This KDW wrench - which I randomly threw into a Hedgehog order because they finally had stock - it's a 10-mm handle nut socket with an adapter that takes hex bits. The micro-bit set was $6 from Amazon - note it includes 5 different tip-shapes of PH1. On this stripped-head PH1 screw, I took a PH0 bit and jeweler's hammer, and formed a new slot. Fit the best PH1 tip, and it glided out. Of course, replaced the screw w/ new M2.5. Regards

The struggle is real

Fishing is indeed fun! Hoping to go tomorrow after work , maybe slow trolling the kayak for crappie

What's Bass fishing ? A-Jay

Included a picture this time for proof Katie. Got out this afternoon for a few hours and even caught a fish.

Protein powder, protein drinks, protein bars, and almost every workout supplement often hurts more than helps. Many brands have tons of added junk, aka fillers. Some of these can potentially be harmful or cause issues. There isnt much oversight on protein powder, or its ingredients. And theres a few (especially on Amazon) that were proven to have harmful, very harmful chemicals in them. You have to do some research on brands, theres a few that are very clean and have several independent studies into their product and offer full transparency into it as well. Then theres the personal issues, like one may be fine for me but cause stomach issues for you. Bloating, cramps, other unpleasant stomach issues are very common for alot more people than you would think. Most people keep taking it because all they care about are building muscles, if you have an issue switch to a different brand until one works for you and your needs. The best source of protein on this earth is food. It cant be replaced. Meats, fish, eggs, dairy products, and certain nuts are the king as they always will be. A shake, bar, or premade drink can definitely be beneficial, but they wont really add much protein to your daily intake. Maybe 20-30 grams (not including milk or anything else added) the average person needs 60-100 or 100-200 depending on goals of course. You still need to fill that gap whether big or small with real foods, like meat and eggs. I aim for 100-150, a shake helps but it barely puts a dent in. Everybody's needs for protein are different. Look at guys who hit the gym alot, they take a shake, and then proceed to eat 3-5 more meals of food. A shake is a good alternative for saving time, and thats really it. Still beneficial like i said but not the best or only option for everyone or there needs/goals. I used protein powder for years, saved alot of time, and i built some muscle. I stopped taking it for several reasons, i didnt like the taste, and it upset my stomach, i also had an injury that set me back far, my strength is still greatly reduced but with eating real foods now for all my meals i actually have more muscle than i did before. Even with reduced strength? How about that. Plus all the benefits that come from these food sources, like vitamins and nutrients. If i need a shake for a quick meal i will just take peanut butter, high protein greek yougurt, and milk. It tastes great, no stomach issues, i actually know whats in it, theres not a list of 30 chemicals, and it gives me the same if not more protein. These 2 along with @A-Jay are very correct about this. Im younger than most people here, so the new BMI charts are very horrible. Ive always been considered very obese because of my BMI. Im 6'2" and run from 200-215lbs. I look skinny..... I dont have a six pack but im not fat either.... Doctors told me i should weigh 145-165, im not even sure if i could survive being that weight.

Fishing forum…… protein…….. fish is protein!!!

That’s it, no more yard work.

On the lakes I fish in NC, yes I believe so at this current time - ponds there seems like there's some of both maybe? Ponds I fish were stocked out of coolers 😂👍🏼

I've gone from fishing my confidence and strengths - to fishing the moment - to frantically throwing the kitchen sink at them over the past 2 weeks and I'm pretty convinced that they're just about not catchable right now. If you're not catching em - ain't nobody catching em. I truly believe that consistent weather AND weather that aligns with the seasonal norms are pretty important to the FLMB and it's personal sense of security. I don't like cold fronts in the spring I don't like warm fronts in the winter. Funny how that works, ain't it? We just gotta keep piling on the wisdom and knowledge and then maybe by the time we learn something - they be biting again! 😂😂😂👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

@bulldog1935 That T-handle is a great idea. This is what I usually use. I've had good luck with it but the screws in question are rounded out. I'm going to try to use a really thin piece of silicon to put over the bit and see if I can force them out. Next step would be to cut a slot with a Drumel tool. The screws I need to get out are a fuzz bigger than an eye glass screw. I'll post some pics when I get to working on them.

I kid you guys not: I get up some mornings and imagine it's spring and imagine where I'd be launching and where I'd paddle first and second and third and what I'd be throwing. Sometimes I even dare imagine a bass hitting.

I got out Monday for a few hours. I lost a 40" ish muskie boat side and had two more follows on the A rig. Then I got hit out of nowhere with the flu. Man, it came on fast. I came home, crawled into bed, and slept for 16hrs straight, interupted only by bathroom trips and uncontrollable shivering. Feeling semi human again this morning. Back to work for four days, and next week is looking pretty cold. The week after Christmas is currently looking decent though. I may get to make a Hail Mary attempt at reaching 100 muskies yet. I still need 7 fish. 🤞

Hey I caught a tank on one of those this year!

@Jig Man, struggled and caught 20? I succeeded catching one Sunday 😂

Just made my first order from Digitaka. 22 Bantam A and a 20 Met B HG. Wish me luck!

When I discuss seasonal water temps it’s at the depth bass are acclimated to not surface temps. When putting together Cosmic Clock and Bass Calendar it took years of measuring the temperature of the bass and the water at the depth they were caught in, it was the same. I used a Dark Industry temperature probe with 50’ of wire marked every 5’. The temperate was nearly instant reading on analog meter battery powered. The data showed how deep and where the bass preferred to be as the water went from cold period below 45 degrees and where they were as the water warmed to 55 degrees and started to stage before moving shallower to spawn about 3-5’ deep at 62 to 67 degrees. I realized bass were predicable based on water temperature seasonal periods and made my Cosmic Clock and Bass Calendar for a seminar in 1974. 50 years later nothing changed with bass behavior or seasonal periods . Factors that couldn’t be over looked was photoperiod didn’t affect the start of spawning as I assumed. Big Bear lake is 100 miles south of lake Casitas and freezes over. The bass at Big Bear started their spawn cycle at the same 62 water temps although in May or June in lieu of February or March at Casitas. Both lakes are in the same photo period with very different climates. Tom

No fences need whitewashed haha

Won the 3rth place in trout war tournament and eat it after back home 😅

Wasn’t specifically targeting them much yesterday, but ran into one anyway. Hopefully back out after them later today - highs in the mid 60s 😎

I have 5 reels that are used heavily that I clean and relube each year, a dozen or so that gets it every other year.

@Pat Brown @FishTax and I should have plenty headed your way soon. NC has been hit hard with cold recently though. I know they both have been out, but it is tough fishing right now.

This entirely depends on the person seeking service. Some people love a certain model so much, they want to keep it maintained since it's out of production and they can't get another. Others are buying higher end stuff and to them it is worth the cost to keep it maintained. Then there are the heirloom people, who are much like the first group I listed. They have something that was passed down to them that they would like to use and/or preserve. Occasionally, you get a guy that wants a bargain bin model serviced, and they get told every time to go buy another. If it won't be worth it to them, it isn't worth our time either.

I do mine once a year, clean, lube, replace, or repair what’s needed. I even re-spool with fresh mono, and clean the rods.

Then this will blow your mind 😁

Hope you find somewhere to fish @NorcalBassin

Love fishing the pads. Gotta try the added spinnerbait skirts to the silv minnows. Never occured to me to do that. Thanks, Catt. Fished all my life, but I'm really learning a lot from you guys on this forum. Great stuff! 👍👍

I thought 20 was a pretty good total too. You, on the other hand, never fail to catch fun.

I'll chime in - especially on spinning tackle, probably can't go wrong with any YGK braid. The rule on coated braids, softer coatings cast greater distance on spinning tackle. Direct comparison of Varivas with YGK Bornrush, the YGK cast farther. Finer fibers, tighter weave and harder coatings, which are found in spendier grades, have the advantage preventing line dig on baitcasters - they also have abrasion advantages. In YGK, the hardest coating is on WPX1 - Varivas hardest coating is Si-X. (they're all made by Izanas to different specs)

I have not used that one but have seen it listed on a few JDM sites. It looks like it's their entry level line. Price seems good though. Also, I haven't found a line from them I haven't liked.

I only use EWG. It makes a really compact footprint on the way down. Some people can explain it get better than I. I predominantly used it as a "beefy drop shot" but I did throw it in some cover that I'd otherwise not even dare and it worked as advertised. It drops straight down in a very compact manner. If you look in this video around the 4min mark, you can see it on the drop. Good video in general, BTW. There's also a fantastic video of Seth Fieder fishing it for the first time. Some really good insights there too.

Not much of a report but I did take a friend to Table Rock today. It was 32°, foggy and we had to stay close until about 10:00. We struggled to find fish. We caught 20 and missed or lost several more. The Ned rig and Pee Wee jig were the only baits that produced.

Mostly the usual baits for me. Some buzzbaits, spinnerbaits,couple jerkbaits,a frog,some soft plastics and I threw the jig in there even though it didn't catch alot of fish it boated the biggest of the year. Had other baits that worked but these were the ones that caught quality fish.

Whoooooaaaa! A beauty for sure! Your wife carried you thru a tourney again, huh ATA? J/K...Congrats! I know about the lake house for at least 4 years and my luck you'll have me finishing all the projects you started and never finished ... NO THANKS TOM TnRiver SAWYER! PASS!

Usually right after the first of the year I tear mine down and give them a thorough cleaning

Thanks everyone! I don't mind going in for a trim, but I want to come home with all of my original equipment.

I tried braid on spinning gear and hated it because i was getting wind knots. so I just use a good quality limp mono like Sufix Siege or Elite. Casts long smooth and strong. no wind knots, little memory.