Catch 22

Lots of good advice here I always carry super glue ,tape =electrical and medical 6' paper towels in a zip baggie=== multi purpose for bandage an certain clean up jobs In winter==2 lighters & some Sterno gel in small pill container. Towels and the gel will ease the job of starting emergency fire. Cell phone =that's a givin Small but strong LED flashlite 2 pair needle nose pliers Coupla tie wraps 12" small SS wire

Great day . Congrads. Sunup to sundown. I can`t do that anymore without a mid day nap:]

A local pond was totally iced in yesterday and 80% open today. On the water about noon, I fished only 10 minutes til a pickerel hit a jerk. WT 39.5-40.5 moderately clear.I fished a break line of a different kind today,right along shoreline ice. Jerks were the order of the day,they would not touch my black jigs as before. Air temps were good with only 1 hot hands pak needed. One pickerel was tail walking with most hits less than the normal slash.The wx is looking good several days out. 3 lmb===1 just under 14"=1 just over 14" ==1 ==15" 10 pickerel 5 yellows

Definitely a gizzard shad. I saw the first sign of them today in my tide water river. Its impossible to fish when they make it in numbers. Thousands of them inundate the water and bump into your line over and over.Fun to snag them slim balls. I fished 2.5 hrs with 3 small crappie,1 mini bass and 1 pickerel. Ice lined the shores. No coat needed today. All ponds still froze over.Some will open Wed & by Fri.,its game on. ETS `s hope you don`t mind me piggy backin your report. C22

Its tough to get pix in a 12' boat. The snow blowing pic was last Sunday 1/17. The other pix came from where the yakers came out. I have a bass boat that stays parked most of the winter while I actually prefer to use the 12' er. C22

Can`t believe you said that. I have always said and experienced the very same thing. Of course there are no absolutes in fishing. C22

Road trip to Kerr Lake, Va. 4 guys all from Pa,2 bass boats. We traveled down to arrive just after dark to a rental house trailer in a camp ground.I go in ,make the arrangements and the clerk said continue on down to the first lane ,make a right and your rental will be the 3rd "Full Moon " trailer on the right.No problem ,we got parked, started to unpack to go in. I had minor trouble making the key work ,but it did.We went in and it was a "WOW" from all of us. What a nice place,really furnished to the hilt,color tv,the works.One guy notorious for hogging the hot water jumps in the shower and lathers up.I`m still in awe about the place so I`m looking around checking it out. I open a closet door to find it fully loaded with clothing and shoes.Then I opened a chest drawer to find some really personal womens things. Ah man. I went back outside walked a few doors down to find the trailer we really had rented,one like you would expect for the money paid.I ran back to the first place and issued an abandon ship. 20 mins later we are settled in the right place.In about 15 mins I look at the first place to see lights on with people moving about.We decide to leave it alone,didn`t want the clerk to lose a job.. Can`t imagine the scene if the owners came in to see 3 of us drinking beer,watching tv and the other with just a towel wrapped around his torso. Next day we caught some fish and headed for home port late afternoon.We rounded a point to see my fellow boater being towed by an inboard /outboard pleasure boat.Not far to go ,so they went on.The I/O started to overheat so they removed the hood and continued on. Some how a 12 yr old boy managed to stick his hand down into the engine fan blade and whacked it badly. My buddy wound up going to the hospital with the family to take care of business. Next day we figured out that my friends boat that just came out of the shop had lost the LU drain plug and it seized up. Other than snagging a goose that flew right into a cast with about 20 shoreline people watching and a flat tire on the way home, it was just another typical trip for that crew. Tell me your story. C22

Yes ,well aware of that. 200 watts on a photo cell keep it well lit.I`m very proud to display my flag. Thank you.

I have snagged a few that size, but I believe the average size runs smaller.

Put me in the DS crowd.I`ll spend 10 mins tying a rig ,throw it 3 times ,not get bit and mumble some @#$%^&* words and belittle myself for even thinking I could catch some thing on it. I may try it again in 2018 So if someone asks me if I want to go dropshoting,I`ll say no,I`d rather go fishing. Some very funny posts here,thanks C22

Correct======aka smallmouth gumdrops. I was amazed to see how many of them were everywhere shallow and deep in the great lakes. This one from Erie

4" snow then 2" rain on it overnight. High winds all night that whipped the flag keeping me awake .Note to self take the flag down.Temps now 37 light rain.Lectric still on

No puter virus calls lately but had a new angle recently.The scammer said he was my grandson and needs bail money. I laughed and told him "say hello to Bubba" for me. I kept getting unwanted texts from same person on my cell,so I sent about 20 consecutive back at them. Of course I can`t say what I wrote=====they stopped. I was forced to buy a throw away cell at Walley`s last year and I swear it was not an hour before the bogus calls started. No end to it.

Yes TMI. Used to be great catchin around the whole area. I only fished it during the winter. FYI ,TMI discharges no hot water. C22

No action shots from about 13 yrs ago, but the snow is flying.Yes ,that's a Cowboys jacket but I only bought it because it was on sale real cheap and it fit well. Name the infamous towers in the background.

At least that's what I was told if I don`t pay up with a prepaid credit card to the tune of $1127.50. Can`t say here about my response. The scammers are working double time, beware the caller. Phone rings again with a local exchange number and name. Its the same bogus credit card doctors that call 3 times weekly. Can`t say what I told them. I wanted to tell them some more,so I redialed the number to get an answering machine . Can`t say here what I said.10 Minutes later, I get a return call from the local resident,irate and puzzeled by the call. Can`t say here what he said. I tried to explain and apologize, he hung up with a police threat.15 minutes later he called back, had calmed down,gave me a chance to explain and apologize x 3. All is well now. 5 mins later some bogus charity called. Can`t say here what I said. My no call list is a joke. Does anyone else get bogus calls under local names? C22

I just checked some bucktails I tied 2 yrs ago with regular polish. They looked fine,maybe I got some of the "good" cheap stuff. Most the guys in the local fly club moved away from HH.Thanks for the input. C22

I won an Optima battery 10 yrs ago.I would not call it good as new ,but it is still going strong. Very pricey and I may not have it except for the win. Walmart powers most of my stuff. C22

On jigs,I use clear finger nail polish very often. Hansen "hard as nails" works well but it got to be to expensive,so I went to the $1 a bottle stuff. It seems to work as well.I use super glue on threads some time. The clear nail stuff can enhance plugs that got beat up. What do you use on threads[if anything] Thanks C22

Skunk is relatively stiff but thin, so you can achieve the rate of fall and movement by adding more hair.I use only the black. C22

I tie lots of hair jigs, primarily of deer tails.I just used the last of my skunk tail hair.They breed soon and will be available on the roads. I see it every year.I carry tree lopers in the truck to snip the tails,hang them in a tree to cure. Two weeks does it if their not to hot.They`re available commercially but thats no fun and I`m particular about my selections. Black deer tail works OK, but I prefer skunk tail.The hair is thinner and is not hollow like deer. Any one else use skunk. Bear works good if its long enough.No road kills on them. I just snagged a nice red fox tail. The hair is to short for anything more than small crappie jigs.I`ll never use all of it. Let me know if anyone needs a piece. C22

Two days ago wt 39.5,vis 6"/8" Usually that combo makes me nervous,but managed 4 lmb,coupla yellows and a bunch of pickerel. Yesterday wt 42, really clear,very windy.The main action was in 3' to 4' depths,not the 8' available. The picks got stupid for jerks as did few bass.Things happen for a reason,I am convinced of that. On my final drift to the ramp,two teen girls ,15-ish decided to go for a ride in their kayaks. I asked them if they had life jackets on and they said no.I decided to fish longer and be close enough to help if they got wet. All went well with them back on land,so I headed to the ramp.I was jerkin when I got a vicious hit/miss. I threw back as fast as I could and used a radical jerk. A beautiful 5 pounder smoked it. Thank you Today wt 42,very clear.Picked off a 2-1/2 lb bass with jig on the fourth cast,but that was it for lmb.The picks however got really stupid for 1/4 oz blk hair jigs,I`m thinkin maybe 20 of them.4 really fat yellows on jerks and jigs.I fished about 4 hrs in the SNOW. About an inch fell and I got really cold and wet. It snowed so hard a coupla times I couldn`t see the jig hit the water or watch the line. Had a real bad time loading the boat. Had to drag it up a bank[12footer] and over a guard rail.Took me 1-1/2 hrs to warm up. Why do I do this,I don`t know for sure. No one else was out, imagine that Looks like a freeze in for a few days. I need a break BTW 3 different locations mentioned here. C22

Awesome to put it mildly

Sorry to see some suffered like I did,but it just can`t be super all the time.Of all my 68 seasons[starting at age 3] of fishing,I can`t say Iv`e had a complete year. That is to say at least one period of the year dried up on me. This season has started with a real bang so it could be the complete year. Best of luck and success to all. C22