NYWayfarer

Perch were on the menu this weekend. My in-laws requested some as they are tired of Turkey leftover already. I was able to get some yesterday, in-between Pickerel bites.

If I showed my 17 year old son this I can picture what he would say. ”Sure, but you need help from the battery drinkers to set up your cable, Facebook, phone, etc.”

My Dad and I took a charter out of the same place every summer at our favorite lake. We requested the same guide every time and learned a lot about fishing and where to fish from him. One year, I will never forget it, we pulled up to a spot and there was a boat already there. The guide waved to the guy and he waved back. We moved to another spot and our guide told me that he knew that boat owner. He was someone who he took out on a guided trip a few years back and now he encounters him at several of the spots he took him to. Our guide told me he didn’t mind but he wished the guy would move on when he saw him coming as he is just trying to make a living.

Black Friday Yellow Perch. Taking advantage of the unseasonably warm temps this morning. While people were fishing for bargains this morning I was, fishing.

Works with plant life, seeds, as well.

I love my Lew’s reels. That being said I agree to a certain extent with @BaitFinesse Lew’s was very successful targeting the youth market with neon colored graphite reels and rods. Being a big kid myself I bought some of these. The aluminum spinning reels are fantastic and still going strong. The graphite baitcasters not so much. My Aluminum framed Lew’s baitcasters are rock solid and still going strong. I recommend the LFS, Tournament MB and Pro TI reels. Anything I purchase from them in the future will be aluminum framed and have the P2 pinion bearing.

Black Friday turned Yellow for me. Yellow Perch that is. No skunk today, thankfully.

Good to know. When I run out of my Kastking Superpower green braid I will pick some up.

I went fishing in the pouring rain this morning for an hour and a half. Got skunked. I would have got skunked if I slept in as well. Going again tomorrow morning. I am a glutton for punishment. I will try for anything that bites!

Same for me. Slight chance I will be able to go tomorrow as long as it’s not pouring. 37 degrees and rain, no fun.

Temps were in the low 30’s when I started fishing yesterday morning. My target species was Yellow Perch. Nothing on worm and bobber. I switched to a Ned Rig and sloooooowly retrieved it along the bottom. Took awhile but eventually I got a Chain Pickerel. Nice to catch something in late November up here.

Lew’s TP1 Black Speed Stick 7’ M/MF all purpose rod. I use it for just about everything but frogs.

Little to no plans for me. I used my Black Friday fishing stash on a new phone. I held on to my old one as long as I could.

Truly a year of ups and downs. The good: My best year in both quantity and quality. COVID caused my job to have us work from home the entire months of March and April. My work schedule since then has been in office every other day. This allowed me to fish before and after work and have a lot more days on the water than a typical year. I have caught over 1700 fish this season with 1000 of them being Smallmouth Bass. I got my PB Largemouth this year And my PB Channel Catfish The bad: I have missed spending time with my folks. Mom is 78 and Dad is 83. Our visits are limited to talking on the driveway with masks on. I lost my dear friend and neighbor this week. He was 5 years older than me and it was sudden and unexpected. I just spoke with him the week before so when it happened it was a shock. I went fishing for the first time this morning since his death. Freezing cold no sign of life but I caught a Pickerel on my last cast. I know he was looking down on me today.

That’s the reflection of the kayaks color on the Bass scales.

Nope. I dip my fries in hot sauce or ketchup mixed with hot sauce. I also like to have a small pool of hot sauce on my plate when I eat pizza. It’s there to dip the crust in before eating. Is that weird?

I have plenty of ML rods for Smallmouth finesse fishing. They are great for dropshot, Ned and in-line spinners.

It is seasonal to me. I can catch and release Bass, April through November. December, January, February and most of March is dead to me as I don’t ice fish. If we have a streak of above freezing weather for a few days I will hit the open water of the rivers for some Perch action.

A couple of years ago I caught a 4 pound Smallmouth Bass out of the local river. I asked a passerby to please take a picture with my phone of me holding it. She did and remarked that she had never seen a fish that size come out of the river. She said that thing must weight 10 pounds! The legend of the 10 pound Smallmouth Bass caught out of the local river started right there.

Same here.

Frank’s red hot and Sriracha are my favorites. If I want to give a kick without the liquid I use Slap Ya Mama.

That’s a good price for the Vengeance rods. I was going to suggest those rods as they are easily found at Walmart. I also recommend the $29 Lew’s Laser HS rods.

Nice clickbait ? you are learning the ways of YouTube my Padawan. Those looking for the girl are gonna be surprised by seeing Hank Parker instead. Its nice to have things in common with your spouse, girlfriend, partner. However it’s also nice to have some differences. Fishing is one of those things for my wife and I. I can count the amount of times in our 19 year marriage we have gone fishing together on one hand minus a finger or two. Fishing is my, clear my head, time. Don’t know if I could do that if she went with me every time.

Catch as catch can. That’s my fishing style. I’ll dig up a night crawler if I have to.