soflabasser

According to the news Michigan got slammed with +60 mph winds, large amounts of snow, and more bitter cold weather. Seems like you guys up north are having a very long winter that gets worse before it gets better. Spring is around the corner, but then again the spring and summer seem so short when you have to spend so many months with frozen lakes, grey skies, and dealing with the snow.

Water, protein bar, granola bar, sandwich, etc.

Nice saltwater sheepshead, they taste good and are fun to catch. There seems to be many fish that are named ''sheepshead''. You got the California sheepshead (species of saltwater fish), Freshwater sheepshead (freshwater drum), and the sheepshead of Florida.

I remember reading on another forum that you cannot use a casting blank for a spinning rod since the casting rod ''spine'' of the rod does not match up well for spinning. Are those people wrong for saying that? Would like to know your thoughts on this. I know this goes against what most bass fishermen believe in but I use inshore spinning rods for bass fishing. These inshore rods are much stronger than regular bass rods and seem to do a great job at helping me land big bass. Also use these same inshore rods for snook, tarpon, jacks, and other hard fighting inshore fish. With that said, I would consider getting a custom bass spinning rod but it would have to be rated around 15-30 pounds, 7'-7'6'' long while being lightweight and abuse resistant.

The fish above is a white perch which is in the same family as striped bass, white bass, and yellow bass. This white perch is a true bass unlike black bass which are in the sunfish family.

I agree that a guide that delivers very good results should get a big tip, for bad to normal guides not so much. Definitely no tip if the guide fishes that is for sure. I give some of my favorite lures to buddies I fish with. I show them how to fish these lures and teach them when to use them. That is worth much more than a couple dollars since I teach them techniques that are very effective in the waters I fish.

From what I read immortal blanks are good choices for some custom baitcasting rods. Too bad they do not make spinning immortal blanks rated at 10-25lbs, or 15-30lbs or similar choices which I prefer for bass fishing.

I read the PM you sent me last night about fishing for peacock bass and snook. You can do well fishing from the shore for these fish anywhere in the areas you mentioned. You do not have to hire a guide since they are plenty of places you can fish from the shore and have a very good chance at catching snook and peacock bass, even in the same day. For peacock bass use propbaits, poppers, jerkbaits, lipless crankbaits, lipped crankbaits, and bucktail jigs. You can use live bait if you want but you can do just as good with lures. You can use the same lures for snook if you want and some well known saltwater snook lures such as DOA lures, flukes, and flairhawk jigs. The flairhawk jigs are good in areas with heavy current such as inlets which are also good areas to catch several species of saltwater fish. Mullet, pinfish, and grunts are good choices for live bait for saltwater snook and shiners are good for freshwater snook. Make sure to use at least a 30-60 pound mono leader for snook since they have a sharp gill plate that can easily cut line, especially the big snook. Good luck and have fun fishing!

Welcome to the forum

We all have different fitness goals that is something we both can agree on. My goal is to continue being in functionally good shape for as many decades possible while being a lifetime natural athlete. A nice looking body is plus but I see it as a byproduct of functional training, not something I am specifically training for. I want to be able to dive, fish, run, hike, etc for as long as possible and that means I need to train differently than the basic workout plan that most people do. That is what makes me happy when it comes to fitness. Back to the main subject, hopefully the OP finds what works best for him and he gets the results he is looking for.

Try fishing with a spinnerbait, buzzbait, or chatterbait.

Looks like there will be lots of bad weather coming this week or the next for many northern states according to the weather reports. At least you do not have to worry about low water conditions like many Western states have.

It is much harder to do pull ups at 200 pounds bodyweight than 150 pounds, that is common knowledge for anyone that works out. Even harder if you have big thighs that weigh you down. Guys with small thighs and big upper bodies tend to be the best at pull ups. Looks does not mean much when it comes to functional fitness that is something I have learned in person not something I learned online. Lots of people that are bodybuilders (amateur or professional) appear to be in great shape but cannot run a simple half marathon or swim for a couple hours in the open sea. I know this since I have invited several bodybuilding buddies of mines on beach dives and they cannot even last for a short 4 hour dive since they get tired in less than 2 hours of swimming. I focus more on cardiovascular fitness since it is much more important for my favorite sports and the fact that heart health is more important than how much I lift in the long run. Also know several guys in my gym that are far more muscular than me yet they struggle with my warm up weights...again appearance means very little when it comes to actual fitness levels. With that said I have been under 6% body fat before and did not like it, I am more comfortable at 9-12% bodyfat. Still lift heavy weights from time to time but cardiovascular health is #1 for me. As for higher BMI, many football players have a very high BMI yet they run a 40 yard dash under 5 seconds and they are impressive athletes with large amounts of strength,speed, and coordination (real fitness not just appearances). Many Judokas have high BMI's yet they are in better functional shape than most people positing fitness videos on Youtube.

I highly recommend you try fishing for Coosa bass when you get a chance since they live relatively close to you and it will be another black bass species on your list. I have caught 2 species of redeye bass, 3 if you include shoal bass which was considered a redeye bass less than 20 or so years ago. There are at least 5 species of redeye bass that live in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and other areas that they have been introduced in. Many of these redeye bass are found in specific watersheds such as the Bartram's bass found in the Savanah river watershed. My goal is to catch at least 3 more species of redeye bass to add to my list and maybe more in future vacations. They are a beautiful little fish that live in beautiful areas so they are a fish worth traveling for.

Pull ups will do a good job as well working out the serratus anterior. How much do you weigh? At one point in my life I was doing pull ups with a 120 pound dumbbell tied to my waist for sets while weighing 225-228 pounds. I do not lift as heavy now but can still do pull ups with 50-70 pounds tied to my waist. I weigh over 200 pounds at this moment in time so doing pull ups at my size is much harder than a guy that weighs 130-170 pounds. I can lift 315 pounds in the bent over barbell row for several reps on heavy days so I still got some decent strength even though I focus more on cardiovascular fitness.

Welcome to the forum

Looks like a northern strain largemouth bass and not a true redeye bass. I agree with you that Ohio has no native redeye bass but there are several redeye bass species that live outside the Coosa river watershed. Bartram's bass live in South Carolina/Georgia, Altamaha bass only live in Georgia, Warrior bass live in Alabama. There are other types of redeye bass besides these but none are native to Ohio. Have you caught Coosa bass? There is a healthy population of them in some parts of Tennessee. Yes it is very common to see largemouth bass with ''red eyes'', I caught a couple this past weekend. These largemouth bass with red eyes are not true redeye bass and they are just ordinary largemouth bass.

Build your upper body until you are able to do 4 sets with pair of 120 pound dumbbells (240 pounds total weight being pressed) for dumbbell bench presses and I am sure you will have well developed serratus anterior muscles. One hand pushups work well if you prefer doing calisthenics for functional strength. Hanging leg raises and abdominal wheel also hit the serratus anterior muscles and these exercises are very good for functional core strength. Worked well for me.

Redeye bass (Bartram's bass, Coosa bass, Altamaha bass, and other true redeye bass) are not native to Ohio nor have they been introduced there. You most likely caught a largemouth bass or smallmouth bass. Any black bass species can have ''red eyes'' but that does not mean they are a true redeye bass like a Bartram's bass is. You can catch redeye bass in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and other places in the South. Have caught a couple redeye bass in my travels and they are a fun species to catch.

Welcome to the forum

A kayak is a type of boat so I do not see why boaters would dislike them unless they do not want the kayakers fishing their ''spot''. People can have no clue on a boat as well and I know several of them here in Florida. These are boaters who spend thousands of dollars on bass fishing every year and do not even have a single 8 pound bass to show for it while many land based bass fishermen have lost count of the 8 pound or better bass they have caught from the bank. I have encountered similar boaters and they can be quite annoying with the way they speed in front of a kayak or person fishing from the shore. Those are the type of people I won't invite fishing with me and the type of people I say I caught nothing when they approach me with their boat (even if I caught a big bass earlier in the day).

Welcome to the forum

Nice palomino trout. They are much more difficult to catch than a regular rainbow trout. Took me a couple hours to catch my first one since it did not want to bite anything while the regular rainbow trout did. It was on a day that I caught 38 trout in less than 4 hours of fishing and I stopped fishing for trout after I caught the palomino trout. Could of caught well over 50 rainbow trout if I wanted to. This was on public waters from land and that day was one of the funnest fishing trips I have had while fishing in northern waters.

Muskie fishermen often catch big bass as bycatch so you can always fish muskie lures and catch big bass that way.

As long as it is legal I say go for it if you want just make sure to safely release the bass so it continue to spawn. Get a quick length, girth, and picture on a scale if it is a personal best or close to it but release the bass as soon as possible. With that said I find it hypocritical how many bass fishermen will gladly catch a bedding bass filled with eggs yet they bash bass fishermen that use live bait. It requires much more skill to catch a free range bass with live bait in public waters than catch a spawning bass on a bed, this I know from personal experience not something I read on an Internet forum. A bass is most vulnerable when it is protecting its babies. Most of the time it does not take much to make a spawning bass bite if you know what you are doing.