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Merry Christmas/ Happy Holidays to all. Best wishes from our family to yours.

All this talk about BM sent me to his latest YouTube video, where he opened by monetizing his arrest and then proceeded to go fishing with a hangover, chucking bass back into the water as if they weren't living, wonderful animals and letting them flop on a deck full of boat hooks. I couldn't stomach the full video.

Same video popped up in my feed, they look very good. I was tempted to pick some up in 1/2 ounce but I couldn't justify it over the Jackhammers. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts/seeing your success on them, though. Would be interesting to see if these make their way over to the US. Also I lied in my last post, the bait monkey tricked me again today, but I got a good deal out of it. On my way to lunch I stopped into Dick's, not generally a fan of them since they are basically a clothing store now, but I did want to see if they were running their Buy 5 Get 5 free deal and they were. Picked up a mess of Vision 110s and 110 Jrs, a couple of PopMax (blaming @A-Jay for how much he talks it up, fingers crossed I have some success), and a couple of Provokes in the 106 and 97 sizes. All on clearance, and with the B5G5 the Vision 110s came out to 9 bucks each and Jrs were 7.50ish. Color selection left much to be desired but these'll get bit in my waters for sure. All in all retail price + tax wouldv'e been ~460, I walked out with it for 193. It's not buying out the entire Bantam market supply, but I'm happy with that.

Merry Christmas BR family

I added a pair of Tekota 501HG's to the line up. They'll be handling my muskie live bait duties going forward. Gonna spool 'em with Fins 100# XS Big Game. I have a pair of 7'6" XH Big Cat Fever rods on the way to pair them with. They sport aluminum reel seats, and double foot, one piece stainless guides, assembled on a XH S-Glass blank. Pretty bullet proof construction. I watched a BUNCH of YT vids before settling on this rod. It should give good shock absorption while still providing the needed backbone for driving those big trebles home.

Joyeux noël, c'est christmas dans la Louisiane

The surgery was successful in that they were able to relieve the pressure on his nerves. There were no complications. Whether he makes a full recovery is unknown. Nerves take a long time to heal. My father is resting now. He'll spend about a week in the hospital, and then transferred to an adult care facility for 3 months of rehab and physical therapy. The dangerous part is over. Thank you so much for your healing thoughts and prayers!

From my family to yours.. May you all have a Merry Christmas and a Safe and Happy New Year Mike

One of the reasons I don't use the term "MFer" when I refer to him/his groupies. I call them the more accurate (in a couple different ways) "BMers". Ben is approaching middle age, yet he still tries to project the same attitude as the teenagers and tried to be the "Edgy Cool Guy" in a community where kids, and immature adults, still look up to him and where that holds cachet. I honestly like 6th Sense baits- some of them are my 'go-to' soft plastic and frog baits. I can separate the representative from the product. Many people have a problem with that.

Going thru some pics from this past year. This guy was a trip to catch. Great fighter for it's size

If I can chime in. You’re looking for Torx bits. If you live near a Harbor Freight. They have bit sets with the driver for under 10. That should get you by.

Maybe something like this ? Star Bits A-Jay

Clickbait reminds me of Stuart's "Look what I can do!" of MadTV, i.e. much ado about nothing:

Not to say the Dock Demon spincast reel isn't a good choice, but you may want to give a Shimano Bantam a try.

I like round reels…

I'm back home and on the mend. Came home Wednesday afternoon with a list of things to do and things not to do. Big one is to keep drinking water and keep everything hydrated. The other big thing is not to lift anything more than 10 lbs for the next two weeks.

I've caught many a bass from a canoe. I fished many undisturbed lakes as a result. I also spent a week in the Yukon territory drifting a river in a canoe, living off the land by catching arctic greyling while dodging moose and grizzlies. Does that count?

My version of 'trends' when looking for big brown bass.. In no particular order, but they all matter. - Quality balanced tackle including line and terminal tackle never goes out of style. - Accurate, LONG casts radically out produce the opposite. - It ALL Starts with Proper boat position and it trumps everything. - Long hours on the water for any trip for me never changes how, where or when the fish will feed. But being there when they do has proven to be a good way to get a few. - Since Both Bass & bait have free will, I am considerably more open minded than I used to be. Meaning I've stopped looking for trends. So if and when seasonal patterns are not producing, I may expand on them a little to see if I can get onto something. But you can bet it won't be a whopper plopper or a glide bait. A-Jay

I’ve taken my canoe all across the map to go fishing, from the Atlantic Ocean in SC, the gulf of Mexico in FLA, lakes and rivers in northern Michigan, to class IV whitewater in TN and KY. Canoes aren’t just for small water, they are for any water. One of our favorite things to watch on TV is a YouTube channel called lost lakes, it’s a married couple that paddles a canoe all over Canada, including the north side of Lake Superior. You would love that channel @Swamp Girl I don’t care what the trends are, I love my canoe. I have tons of boats but if I could only have one, it would be the canoe I can’t put my wife and dog and a full size cooler in any of our kayaks

The set @A-Jay showed is $6 on amazon, prime same-day delivery.

I’m going to grow a skullet , cut the sleeves off my shirts and put a lift kit on the front of my suburban. Then I’m gonna become best friends with my neighbor. 2025 will be epic.

Usually I serve cheese and crackers, but a plate of Calcutta Conquest will do just fine.

Swore I would not buy anything but bullet weights and line this year. Fell off the wagon and spent about $300 in the past two days. Started innocently with looking around the internet for some Hayabusa shooting star jigs that then snowballed out of control. Allen

I've owned v-hulls, including a 14' Lund with a 10 hp motor, which I used to fish big water like Lakes Superior and Michigan, and several 12-footers with a 6 hp engine, which were great Mississippi River boats. To be frank, I don't miss batteries and oil and gas and electronics and engine noise and yanking that pull cord, again and again and again, one bit. Because I don't need a ramp to launch my canoes, I can fish quiet water where there are no engines, which matters a lot to me. I know for some of you who fish big water, you need a big engine, but if you fished a canoe, you could fish small water where you wouldn't need an engine. Maybe you don't have small water opportunities. In Maine, you don't have to drive far before you see a bog on the side of the road. So, have you ever considered fishing from a canoe? Do you already and if so, where do you use it? If you wouldn't even consider a canoe, why not? Too small? Too tippy? Too slow? Too uncomfy? On the other hand, canoes have taken me to places like this, which is a lake in northwestern Ontario that will never see a bass boat: I literally have caught tens of thousands of lmb, smb, muskies, walleyes, and pike out of canoes. They are fish-catching machines because they're quiet and go everywhere. I'm surprised more of you don't add one to your bag of tools. I know @A-Jay has both a bass boat and a canoe and has used both to outstanding and specific effect. Any others? Lastly, look at the bass in my avatar. She was one of more than ten four-plus-pounders I caught that morning, at a place even a kayak would have been hard-put to reach, unless you're willing to carry your kayak down a steep slope of bowling ball-sized rocks and mud. I could do that with my 32-lb. canoe. #olswampylovesherthreecanoes

Hey guys, We'll be updating the forums soon, and one of the security updates removes the ability to log in with your Display Name. After the update, you must sign in with your email address. I highly advise you start doing that now! Many of you don't even recall what email address you used to sign up, and you'll be screwed when the change takes effect. So check it now, and start using it when you log in.

So for Christmas my sister in law bought me a whiskey infusion kit. Its got cocoa beans, Thai bird chilis, coffee beans, cinnamon, orange peel and chai mix for botanicals. Its also got 3 different types of wood chips. The kit also comes with 2 empty 350ml bottles and an instruction booklet with several recipes. I took 2 bottles of pretty meh whiskey and am in the process of infusing right now...I made sure to keep enough of each base whiskey to compare to the finished product. Anyway I probably would have never bought one for myself but as a whiskey lover I feel it was a very thoughtful gift and am excited to see the results.

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.

I forgot to mention that I can stand and fish easily from my canoe, I often stand up while paddling and push poling

Meanwhile, at the same latitude as Andy - I woke up to +25 this morning....amazing what a change in longitude can bring.

I went from bank fishing to a Coleman scanoe to a tracker to my G3. I like to stand to fish it was difficult and uncomfortable in the scanoe. I did it for years and caught a lot of musky doing it. I did end up putting a TM on it. I couldn’t afford a boat at that time. I would never use anything but a boat at thid point. I like the room comfort and taking my dog or dad. people try making their kayak a small boat. Which is well we know where I stand on that. I think people shy away from canoes because they aren’t “cool”. They want to keep up with the fads. Honestly the areas you fish the canoe is perfect. For me I feel like I have the best option for my area.

@TnRiver46 probably needed the distraction this morning like I do… My only add is Native makes the Ultimate in various sizes. It is truly a hybrid canoe with kayak seat(s). They are great fish from and you can stand in them, with the larger sizes being more stable.

My son and I tried fishing them with a crappie jig but never got a bite. We were using a red jig head with a blue/chartreuse plastic. I do like the idea of using a small 2" shad since there were many bait balls above the fish. I will give that a try. Thanks Super User.

Yeah they ended up being about 60% off after the clearance and the additional deal. Those were the only colors they had available, but they'll work just fine. Elegy Bone was one I've had my eye on for a long time now, so it worked out nicely.

So you essentially got them for half price. It’s hard to find those things on sale.

Only about 55 million in repairs. Should be ready for the 2026 season.

Workout Day 5 for me on this one. Seemed like I had good energy and tried to keep time between sets down a bit. So as soon as I was recovered and ready, I'd hammer out the next set. Adds some intensity to the training, without adding resistance. Like most winter months, I'm working on progressively getting a little stronger each workout. But us Senior citizens need to take it slow. #borninfiftynine A-Jay

No ,nothing that exciting. He's just a.....forgot how to use English. And I would have zero problems telling him that in person. It started with the MFer line of rods , which is a zero class name for something I wouldn't use for a tomato stake. My wife has better taste in men and I would be afraid my dog would catch something. But , I've made my feeling on the subject known enough.

Snagless jigs are fishless.😎 Tom

Me in my natural environment. It's much more fun upstream of there though 😃

Boat owner here. Side note: I have fished out of a canoe and a small Jon boat many times though. I enjoy taking my dog, son, Father, or friend with in my boat sometimes. I would not feel comfortable doing that in a canoe. Even though I think it would work, the back of the boat with a nice comfy folding chair for my 73 year old Father is a spot for him to fish how he wants to, and he has to do nothing but bring is his own gear. I also like standing when I fish, not sitting. The other advantage I find to my boat is speed. Although it's not a speed demon, I can generally get to where I want to in a few minutes. That would take 10 times as long in a canoe or a yak. One particular big lake that I fish a few times per season would never handle a canoe. It would be downright suicide because of the waves. The small, shallow, rocky river I sometimes fish in midsummer would not handle a boat though, and this is where the canoe would shine. I went to a Jon boat instead for stability and space, but I used a canoe before the Jon boat and when I do see someone else out there, they are in a canoe or a yak. I grew up fishing in a boat with my family. I also dreamed and thought about the day when I could own my own boat, rig it how I want, and use it when I want when I was a kid. Now that I'm an adult, I was able to make that happen both from a storage and financial aspect. That being said, I can certainly see the advantages of a canoe or a kayak. The cost of buying and maintaining a boat is a lot more. Not to mention the space required to store it and a bigger tow vehicle. If I didn't have a boat, I would almost certainly have a tricked out fishing kayak.

The porch Christmas tree!

I was pretty boring this year. Started like I usually do, catching them on cranks and Ned rigs (which I never seemed to put down all year). The staples like the 6th Sense Flat 75 and Frittside were productive as always, but I added a couple new confidence baits in the Spro Speed Demon and Berkley Money Badger. March was my first experience with the Rapala Freeloader, and it did enough to have me 1/4" short of walking across the Bassmaster Classic stage. Ned kept producing through spring, getting a win in the first tournament of the year, qualifying me for the championship at the end of the year. This time it was my weedless Ned next to laydowns that produced a flurry in the last 2 hours of the day to cull all 5 of my fish, going from the high 60" range, to the high 80's. Summer was really good for the bladed jigs. My Ivy (chartreuse and white with blood spots), was a steady producer early, including what was my biggest fish of the year for a majority of the year. Then Code Blue was hot when the weather was hot, including a couple weeknight tournament wins. I feel like I've caught so many fish on a Ned rig since late summer until now. My kids absolutely crushed the smallmouth all summer on them, so did my wife. Then our championship, I closed out the season the same way I started, winning with a Ned rig. It was a 2 day tournament, and 9 of my 10 fish were on a Ned rig, either White Lightning or Hot Snakes color. I had a few good days on a homemade jig, caught some really nice fish on it. Lately, a jerkbait has been really good, either a 6th Sense Provoke, or Stunna 112. Then of course, Ned has remained steady and produced my biggest fish of the year in a heavy snow a few weeks ago.

Just to add a little - my experience is that night has bight windows a lot like daytime that are being dictated by a lot of things. Sometimes it's a very specific time and area they feed at night on smaller bodies of water.

I just got one last night. I missed another fish too. I’m up here in MA. Water is in the low 40s I can tell ya that! The weather has been cold. Actually having a winter with highs in the 30s. Finally had a warm up. Temps in the 50s 2 days. I fished a shallow pond that is good in the winter. It’s very shallow with current so it never freezes. I caught this fish slow waking a DS customs ninja. It’s an all black 3 piece 5 inch maybe 6 inch wake bait. It’s not super big bait. Fish hit at the end of the retrieve. It was a slow retrieve with pauses mixed in.

I thought I was done, bought everything on my list a couple weeks ago, but.......2 days ago I dug a crankbait out of my garage that looked like it had never been in the water, the storage box was covered with dust and a little bird poop. I gave that lure a christening yesterday and slayed the Smallmouth and Walleye; wow! When I got home I thought I should buy some backup before losing it. Rapala Glass Shad Rap, size 5. It must be discontinued; I searched about a half dozen sites and all showed out of stocks on most colors with reduced prices. Finally found what I wanted at TW, but prices were a little higher. Result was a Bait Monkey attack and I ordered 6 in size 5, and 3 more in size 7; during the battle I also succumbed to a few more items which were absolute necessities.