Leaderboard

Tried one spot in the morning to no avail, was pretty windy at 34 degrees with some snow so I punted and got some lunch, re launched elsewhere. It was pretty tho, could see snow on the high peaks Second spot was much more productive (out of the wind) but all dinks, got SMB, meanmouth, bluegill and shellcracker, all in the exact same spot. And more snowy views

Laugh all ya like! I got the skunk out the boat! Only caught two dinks but I got to go fishing! First picture is an otter. The nightmare follows me forever. This is Normandy Lake in middle Tennessee.

@softwateronly That's a very good description of Shimano's approach - improve the design over time (Stella), then build the same design over using MOC that are cheaper to fabricate (Stradic) . I've said more than once, R&D is how to make a reel cheaper. Larger companies can invest in the fabrication technology. One e.g., stainless gears cost the most to broach and weigh the most, but can last forever because contact surface improves wear resistance with use. Brass weighs the same at an intermediate cost, good wear properties, but wear surface is unforgiving of abuse. We wouldn't have aluminum gears without major progress in anodizing depth, and wear surface hardness now matches a knife blade. Wear surface toughness can be further improved with plasma-ion treatment. Most recently, titanium is being tried to make stronger, lighter pinion gears. ______________________ my ps is not everything you pay for is design improvement and tech. The attention given parts-matching and bench-tuning by labor quality is also worth its cost (Vanquish, Twin Power). Another example here, I was tinkering yesterday with my BC720 on a long shore-casting rod. It outperformed my CV-Z. Fifty years difference in basic design, the performance difference is all bench tuning.

Honestly that's why I stopped following his content even though I learned a number of great things from him. I can't think of another influencing Bass angler who treats Bass as poorly as Milliken. It's shameful the way he handles these fish when you understand who many of his viewers are......and those are young adults or kids. It's such a terrible example for the future of our sport. Like most humans, Ben is a complicated, and flawed individual. On one hand, he's a very talented Bass angler, has lots of charisma, and has built a nice comfortable life in the sport of Bass fishing coming from a very humble background without any connections to the industry. On the other hand he's quite arrogant, has shown his willingness to play fast and loose with rules, and shows a terrible lack of respect for the creatures we all love.

Definitely the high end reels will be obsolete to some extent. Look at the Shimano Stradic FL. Fantastic reel at a great price that doesn’t leave me wondering how much better the reels above its price point can be. Same with the Zillion SV. I don’t feel the need to go to a steez anymore or even feel the steez is worth it. The SLX MGL and SLX DC XT to me make the curado obsolete now. But what do I know?

Bass fishing has no place for this kind of "influencer":

the word that's been left out is hype. There are a handful of paradigm changes in the history of the baitcast reel. 1918 Douglas patent already had most of them, including A/R and freespool that lifts the pinion out of engagement with both main gear and spool. The falling line guide gets the same result as T-wing, but was primarily used because Marhoff's LW patent was still protected. Marketing will always try to convince you that this year's model makes last year's obsolete. The Actual Marketing term for this is The Snow Job. Changes over decades are slow - except in the marketing. Significant changes come about every 25 years - a generation. Where can b/c reels go? Chip control - a reel that reads the lure properties when you run the old-fashioned drop test, then adjusts itself for your cast. I will always remain impressed with mechanically simple answers, and reels built to be supported with parts beyond 5 years.

Thanks for shining this light. I see posts all the time bragging about doing 20+ reels a day claiming they do full tear down service. Same goes for those that charge $15 a reel and claim to do a full cleaning. I sure as heck ain’t getting rich but not working for $10/hr either.

I have some version of that still. But some of it has slipped away at least a little. Having a video to go back & review is very helpful, especially now. I get just about all the info I could want. Not sure I need it or or if it even helps, but it's there if I want it. Now if I could just find my pants, I'm a little cold. 😎 A-Jay

For a guy you people don't care for much you all sure are up in his business likely waiting for next vid to drop

I’ve fished with a hangover before and hit bass in the head with a rock and cut them up into pieces, I’m not gonna fault him

@F14A-B: The thing that drives me bonkers about drama queens like BM is that life clobbers us with real drama, like people we love being afflicted with punishing diseases and everyone we love eventually dying, one by one. I remember in one of his videos a guy in a bigger boat cruising by a ways away and BM clickbaited that, as if a boat's wake were one of life's big trials. He seriously needs to buck up and bluster down. He catches such big bass and should be ecstatic over his successes, but he employs cheap tricks so that people will pay attention to him: I'm guessing that BM thinks that Chicken Little-ing it beats 9-to-5-ing it, but the 9-to-5-ers are my heroes.

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

Went to Christmas Saturday at a daughters house and my grandkids got me two gift cards and a Mystery fishing Box. The box had a Googan Spinnerbait, a Blade bait, and EWG Hooks! Wish I knew how to rotate pictures. I'm online today finishing the fun! I did such a great job with my kids!

Anyone else able to recall almost all your fishing catch memories, such as time, place, conditions, lures, what was working, what was not working, etc? But then I'll go see if my car needs an oil change and I had just done it last week. It's like I have a photographic memory related to fishing, but then amnesia for everything else.

My RAM is reserved for fishing, besides our wedding Anniversary and my wife's DOB. My recall on where I've caught bigger fish and what I caught them on is strong. So don't ask me what I ate yesterday.

I'll take that over Iconelli's idiotic screaming.

I take pride in my attitude regarding after-the-catch fish care. Killing a bass will simply ruin my outing. In the moment, I just can't slough it off. But everyone here knows what happens before landing a fish. We drive razor sharp cold steel through their faces without a second thought. Maybe blow out an eye in the process, nick a gill creating a bloody mess, or a nasty tongue hooking. How about dragging them by the face through 100' of lily pad stalks, or through tree branches or over dock cables. The cold fact is that my reverence for the fish after-the-catch is the definition of cognitive dissonance. With that understanding and ultimately my acceptance of the truth about how I get my thrills, I'm in no position to judge anyone else. Until this light-line phase came into being with the advent FFS, I'd watched tons of B.A.S.S. derbs going back decades where fish were routinely boat flipped using heavier gear where they're left to flop around on a boat deck. It's not something I'd do, yet it's still widely accepted as business as usual. I don't have to like it, but with what I've illustrated above I'm in no position to pat myself on the back or moralize to others. I prefer not being a hypocrite, even to myself. With that, I find it a bit odd how passionate some seem to feel about a fishing U-toober. Personally, I reserve feelings of love or hate for my immediate and extended family members, or anyone who'd harm a child. Oh, and let's not leave out those sickos who'd be cruel to or terrorize innocent animals whether they be domestic or wild. Uh, oopsie.

I’ve been chasing ditch parrots with Cosmo lately. Best field report I got for ya

Actually I just remembered I caught two catfish with air temp of 6 degrees on Christmas Day 2 yrs ago. My secret? Set up rods on the dock and watched them with binoculars from inside by the fireplace

What I've noticed in 50 years of driving and 55 years of fishing, reliability and service life has increased notably with cost. Fished-through my Mitchell 300 in 4 years (though spinning reels hit bottom in the '90s); my '05 F150 made 256k without a single repair or peripheral (ok, I had to repair a window lift - it's Ford). and yes, fishing and driving can both light your hair on fire

Thank you Joshua. I needed a good pair of scissors. The socks will be a great addition too. Always need a hat too Merry Fishmas!

Went to my folks today to celebrate the holiday. They made a 10 pound boneless prime rib roast. I musta had over 2 pounds of it.

I subscribe to the old term.. KISS. Keep it simple stoop Many times the old ways are the best ways. Less things to go wrong. As for if reels will reach a point. I think they will get to a point. That the changes will be minute. If any real change mechanically. Then it’s up to the marketing department to sell the “ new and improved “ They will probably come up with a new marketing phrase. The Grand Poohbah braking system is a totally new concept. That will revolutionize the fishing industry. When in actuality it is the same old with a new spin on the name. Are we at that point yet? I don’t know. There may yet be new materials to use. But is it going to make it all that much better?

Merry Christmas to all of the BR family and friends.

So, you didn't hang around to watch him chumming the water with his puke? Such a classy dude. BASS should be proud to have him on their "advisory committee"!

Fished the last 1 1/2 hours of the day. Warm, clear , and calm weather. Got 3 on the bama craw dinger, all while reeling slowly on top. Something told me to put on a magnum speed worm ( june bug ) , and I fished it through and around a deep hole with no success. Turned around and threw in between 2 big eel grass beds. After several casts turning from left to right , I got a violent strike , and after a very hard fight, got a 21 inch fish. It was just shy of 4 pounds.On the very next cast , I got a 19.5 inch fish that was 3.5 . Lost 2 more, 1 at the boat that was 2.5 to 3. I will be fishing the magnum SW more often!!

I may be a week or so late posting this thread this time around and truth be told, I'm not 100 % sure Lake Menderchuck is even totally frozen over yet. But we've already had two fairly major blizzards in the past few weeks (first one broke an 80 year old single day snowfall record), so at this point, that's good enough for me. This is the part where I make my (never even close) obligatory ice out / open water date prediction. This year I'm tossing convention wisdom (like I have any of that) right out the window. I placed several random dates in a dog bowl and let Tank Pick it. He'll probably just nail it knowing Tank. Friday 11 April 2025 is what he's telling me, and I'm going with it. So that's 117 Days from today https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20250411T12&p0=5787&msg=A-Jay's+Annual+Ice+Out+%2F+Open+Water+Countdown+Thread+~&ud=2&font=cursive I've already started working on my gear and there always quite a bit to do with that. Even more this time around. So I've got time. As always, please feel free to add your comments, support, and yes, even the jabs; as I know they're inevitable & always quite entertaining. And for those folks that can & will get out on the water while I shovel my roof, don't forget to add a few pics of recent catches. All of which may help to pass the time, while I day dream of doing this again as soon as possible. Stay Safe A-Jay

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

I have a couple of older reels. An ABU Cardinal 4, and an ABU 4600c. I retired the Cardinal, but the 4600c still gets used, and still works perfectly after over 20 years. What I think has improved a lot are mid priced reels. Two that I'm using are a Shimano Sahara 2500, and a Lews LFS. Both cost around 80 to 100 bucks. The very high end stuff has always been good from all the companies. Guys will buy them as they always have. Will they make you a better fisherman? That depends on the guy who's operating them. For a lot of guys, I don't think it will matter too much.

Very important on slow days, IMO.

I’ve only had glenmorangie once as a Christmas present and it was a very small bottle. Been a while, but I feel as though it reminded me of a highland taste. I like the smoky peaty burn of islay

I’m 62 years old and I’ve never owned a car that wouldn’t get me where I wanted to go and I’ve never owned a fishing reel that wouldn’t cast a lure and reel it back in. What has not changed and probably never will change is that people love to obsess over the fine details of these products and the hype around new innovations. As long as anglers are looking for the next innovative fishing reel, the marketing people at Shimano, Diawa and others will find a way to sell it to them. It doesn’t matter if it improves their fishing or not.

Material sciences improving refinement for cheaper....maybe. We're probably more likely to see stagnation or worse in the medium long term. scott

I see you're new here. FWIW, @Team9nine is our resident Crappie God. If he told me to throw a Suick Thriller to catch crappies, I would. Here's a Suick Thriller:

High end reels already are obsolete. The reels ranging from $100-150 MSRP (that have went on sale over and over again around as low as recently $25-50-75-100) have more than anyone can want or need. (anything over that within a small amount is either a special purpose reel, like big swimbaits for example. Or something like a Zillion from Japan for $200 if you want a really nice reel, but for most people who fish at your local lake thats not worth the money for what they get). After that its just a buy in to a club that doesnt exist. Or a flex, that will impress 0 of the people who fish at your lake. Personally i just want a reel i can depend on, that casts far, fits my hands, and will not break down if a big bass is on the hook. Any reel made today fits that, well if it passed quality control post covid that is. I have reels from $30-400. Honestly the reels from $100-150 (that i got most on sale for half that) blow the more expensive reels out of the water. And i just enjoy fishing them more. And then theres this^. Simple is better, easier to work on, find parts for, and less to break. But you never know, the year 2035 might bring the new Daiwa Shimano SLX XT DC SV TW SUPER ZILLION MGL SLX made out of a new material from recycled bicycles that let you cast 4x farther while pedaling! And that reel might be a big hit!

Happy Holidays ~ A-Jay

That guy is somewhat local. Honeoye Falls is a quick drive from here.

FELIZ NAVIDAD!

OK, I finally have something for you. It’s in the 40’s and breezy today, but I took 30 minutes to fish off my dock when I got home from work. The water is fairly stained right now and in the afternoon this time of year most of the castable area is in the shade. Along the seawall it’s 2-3 feet deep, but by the end of my dock it’s 11 feet deep and a long cast gets me to 15-18 foot depths. Anyway, I chose a small, 3 hook A-rig with some Crush City Mayor baits. A few casts in I caught a 1.5 pound crappie. Not long after that I caught the striper pictured below that probably weight about 2.5 pounds. He put up a nice little fight. The largemouth tend to disappear from around my house this time of year, so I was happy to catch anything. I’m hoping to get out on my kayak for a few hours on Christmas day.

Not sure which lake you are on but they could be white bass. They don’t look like LMB to me. Your sonar shows 14.7’ but you said you were seeing fish at 25-35’ in 40’ of water. That is pretty typical of white’s this time of year.

Happy Holidays to all BR members! Wishing everyone the best of luck in the coming new year!

Joyeux noël, c'est christmas dans la Louisiane

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

Old Man winter is Flexing for us today, sharing some record cold to our little piece of the planet. This morning our dogs went out and back also in Record time. -20's will do that. 110 days to go . . . . Remembering Miss Big Fin . . . A-Jay

Rig up a ML outfit with about a 2”-2.5” shad or tube body on about an 1/8 oz head and see if you start catching all crappie. Really the only way to know for sure. Could be mixed, obviously, but throw something crappie can eat easily and see what happens.

Because of this thread, I went and purchased a Deps Buzzjet Jr. Am VERY excited to try it!