Duster7466

Bill Dance freely admits to fishing private waters, therefore he is not deceiving anyone. Those who watch his show, watch it for what it is. That's not cheating. As for your personal best, it's exactly that, "your personal best". It's not a contest. When I go fishing there's only two personal bests I'm trying to beat, my own and the world record holder (which I'm expecting to happen anytime now).

I don't use much soft plastics these days. Although I'm thinking about digging them out again. But my favorite was always a Texas rigged Berkley 7" power worm. Blue fleck w/ firetail for sunny days and red shad for cloudy days. sometimes I used them weightless, pulled em across thick matted vegetation and let em float down through the holes. Caught lots of fish that way.

Try image shrink lite.

That's a very cool thing for you to do for somebody. Sorry I cant fish with you but: A: I already have a boat. B: Florida's a long ways away. I have a friend I fish with quite often who doesn't have a boat. He's just as passionate as I am, if not more so. He's always thankful when I take him out, and I always remind him how much I appreciate having a friend that can hang that long on the water. Most people get bored if they're not catching a fish every 5 minutes.

Nice fish. Spinnerbaits are my favorite.

While dropping tube baits off ledges in Grand Traverse Bay, I got hit by a smallie so big it was like trying to pull a tire up off the bottom. I knew it was the largest smallmouth I've ever had on my line. My heart was pounding harder than schoolboys about to go for his first kiss. When she finally came into view I couldn't believe my eyes. It was the biggest thing I'd ever seen. With visions of getting my picture on the front page of the local newspaper in my head...................the line went slack. My heart sank. It was a worse feeling than getting dumped in junior high. All I could do was stare in disbelief as this beautiful bronze monster slowly made her way back down into the abyss. The tell tale curly Q at the end of my line indicated that my knot came untied. I have since learned to tie better knots, and to check my knot strength. The hardest lessons are learned from the biggest fish.

Surely the sign of a bountiful season.

My buddy went ice fishing today.

My goal this year is to catch a smallmouth from Torch Lake. One of the finest smallmouth fisheries in the state of Michigan (so I've heard). I have lived within 5 minutes of this lake for more than 15 years. I've fished this lake a dozen times with no luck at all. Instead I drive over an hour to fish Grand Traverse bay. I consider this lake to be my nemesis. This is my year. This year I will win.

Still frozen in northern MI.

With all the science and statistics aside, everyone seems to agree "fish when you can". I may have more confidence during the prime times, but I would never not fish because of it.

I like trying new things. After reading an article about ripping spinner baits through the weeds, I decided to try it. I had trouble with the "ripping through" part and mostly collected weeds. After collecting a clump of weeds so large it was hard to reel in, I decided it was a bad idea. As I got the "clump of weeds" next to the boat it exploded, the weeds dispersed, and a 6lb 4oz largemouth started stripping line.

I sat in a row boat for hours with the only thing tugging my bobber was the minnow I was using for bait. I heard a man come crashing through the woods singing something about "smoke one in the morning, smoke one in the afternoon". He set his tackle box on the ground and began casting. Every 4th or 5th cast he was reeling in a fish. Two guys came by in a bass boat and asked him what he was using. A "plastic lizard" I heard him say. On the way home I stopped at a local bait shop and picked up a package of plastic lizards, some hooks, and bullet weights. Called in sick the next day (we've all done it ) and caught one fish after another, after another. That's how I got hooked on Bass fishing.

This is an awesome site. Tons of useful information, and an opportunity to help and get help from others who share our passion.

Last winter was so cold, my drain field froze. I bought an Eden Pure heater to avoid paying the $5.00/gl for more propane (that was being rationed). I heard this winter is supposed to be just as bad.

That's awesome. Good luck.

My favorite time of day is early evening as the sun sets. The scenery is nice, the water calms, and the top water bite is usually good.