NorcalBassin

OU v Texas is a classic rivalry, but unfortunately they're both mediocre this year. If nothing else at least it was a very entertaining ending! That said, I am thoroughly enjoying Ole Miss being up 14-7 over Alabama right now. Be pretty crazy having Alabama, LSU, and Florida all lose on the same weekend.

Tough to beat that 735 Fury at that price point. I have a Curado 200k on mine and never felt as though that combo was heavy or tired me out. Lots of options out there but the 735 will be tough to beat sub $150.

Since I already had enough swimbaits for this fall/winter the bait monkey felt it was necessary to convince me I needed more...

@ryanerb my take is they can just get finicky this time of year, especially when the water is real clear and the weather conditions are changing. A small Keitech on a swimbait head is still my #1 or 2 confidence bait... just wasn't what they wanted that day for some reason. They smashed that screwhead when they bit, but I sure wish the hardware held up a lot better.

We were able to get away for a weekday trip, which is always great since the lake is so quiet during the week this time of year. Nothing over a couple pounds, but it was pretty consistent the few hours we were out with 20+ for the day. There were big schools of bait down deep and small random schools up top, and most of my success came from targeting those shallow feeders when they'd be feeding within casting distance. At first it was odd being around feeding fish and having them ignore topwater, a small Keitech, and then a small underspin, but out of semi-desperation I tied on a screwhead with a spark shad and that was the ticket. It was nice of the first one I landed to puke up the minnow they're feeding on to confirm I was at least semi matching the hatch. With teeth like this a case of bass thumb sure doesn't take long to set in.

As they say... pics or it didn't happen

You may have semi-retired from bass fishing, but we sure as heck appreciate you working as an adjunct professor here on BR. The depth of your knowledge for pursuing trophy bass and your willingness to share has greatly benefited most of us on here.

With rare exceptions someone on the lake is usually catching fish... keep putting your time in and that may be you. Only time to say no when you have the option to go is dangerous weather/conditions, and since that's not the case go enjoy yourself.

It's been my primary line the past couple years with 5-10 being nearly all of it, and I haven't had any issues whatsoever. When Tatsu is on a deep discount I still pick it up, but the quality of Sniper for its price is tough to beat.

That Chaser looks awesome... be great to see the vid of you catching a giant on it. I have a bad habit of losing my most expensive swimbaits and for some reason rarely if ever lose the cheaper ones, so I had to cap myself at the Negotiator level of RM's.

God bless you brother... I've always enjoyed your sense of humor and the stories and experiences you've shared, whether it be about fishing, family, or dealing with this illness that seemed to come out of nowhere. The grace and humility you've shown since this all started has been truly inspirational and we're going to miss you. Enjoy the time you have left with your loved ones and may you find peace in knowing your next adventure starts in paradise.

+1 with the Aldebaran. I have a couple on fairly similar rods (NRX 852, GLX 842) and love those setups. My 6'10" Expride has an old Chronarch 50e that works really well together, but the Alde would be perfect on that rod.

No problem and I'm always happy to share info if it might help someone. I have a bit of a tackle and rod/reel addiction problem, so unless something is red hot I tend to intentionally junk fish each trip in order to use a lot of different things. In this case I anticipated the orange/red jig trailer bite that seems to happen each Sept/Oct to be on, but I didn't even get a hit in the 45 minutes or so I threw it. He picked up his on a baby bass pro senko wacky rigged and mine was on a 3.3 Keitech with a 1/4oz guppy head.

Lol, that is true!

Quick family trip this morning. Agreed to take a pic with whatever each of us caught first, and thank goodness mine wasn't the smallest or I'd never hear the end of it. ?

When I got my license my parents bought me a salvaged GMC longbed pickup. The front end was 1973 and the bed was 1977. Best part of all was it came with ABANDONED VEHICLE spray painted across the driver door and bed of the truck. Got razzed about it quite a bit, but it usually ran and got me where I needed to go... once I scrubbed the graffiti off I was happy as could be.

I originally had a Chronarch MGL on mine (6.5oz) and went to a Bantam (7.6oz), and IMO that combo goes well together. The Antares is 7.8oz and should be even better to balance the 894... should be very enjoyable combo to fish.

Had another really nice trip. Best two were twin 4 pounders. My dad's LM was the biggest one he's caught in at least a couple years and it outweighed my spot by exactly one ounce.

A small tri tip and twice baked (smoked) potatoes tonight. Gotta love weekends.

Anyone else have a wife or someone else they're close to that loves essential oils? My wife is all in and we give her a hard time about being a bit of a mad scientist. That said, when the times comes we're sick we're okay with some on guard and when we're sore we're cool with some deep blue.

IMO the very lean is what got you more than anything. Next time start pushing your temperature probe into the meat once you hit 190-195 to give yourself an idea of how easy it's going in. You don't want it quite "like butter" but when it's ready to pull there will be very little resistance. I've had briskets hit that point anywhere between 195 and 205... be nice if they were more temp-specific like other cuts of meat and poultry. If you ever have one overcook on you or come out dry, you can still save the day by chopping it and putting in some beef broth. You'll be dialed in no time.

Bantam is a great reel. I have one on my jig rod (894) and it feels about perfect... smooth, casts as far as I'd ever want/need, and feels super solid in hand. Workhorse of a reel that should last a long, long time.

The smoke has been pretty ridiculous around here, but since it seemed to be hovering like a marine layer instead of on the ground we made the call to head out anyway. Smoke layer slowly settled down towards ground level as the morning progressed, but it was still great getting out there while we could.

Back to normal for me. Placed an order Friday morning and another Saturday and they both arrived today.

They recommended skipping the consult and instead having a well charged AED on hand. ?