TnRiver46

The front deck of my boat is solid metal, I’m not sure if I could make it happen

Smoked fish is great leftover

You guessed it! Tougher than a crappie mouth but not by much. Their gyrations are unparalleled so they shake off a lot. I just started watching kayak catfish recently, fun to see others fishing on the same waters I fish

Everybody in Alabama throws spinnerbaits and plastic worms.

I’ve had that happen with several reels, maybe try flipping the washers back the other way. I’ve gotten them all to work normally it just takes some fiddling

I eat white bass the most because they have no length limit and 15 bag limit statewide. They are also EXTREMELY abundant and bite like sharks. Bluegill are great eating but they of course are smaller than most fish making more work for less meat. I catch more and more walleye ever year and of course they are great but still scarce in numbers down here compared to bass . Largemouth/smallmouth/spots are all delicious white meat, I would have to agree @Jig Manthat spots are the best. I like crappie but fiancé hates them, she says they are “mushy” catfish is good but I get tired of it sometimes. I’m not sure why? Also they recommend not to eat them out of the TN river biologists set the limits that way because old fish have already bred many times and they are going to die soon whether you eat them or not. Sometimes you can find a slot limit here and there but for the most part, minimum length limits allow for older fish to be harvested as opposed to young ones. On my home pool, a smallmouth has to be 18” to keep and most people release those because they are everybody’s favorite to fish catch. On a few tributaries they allow you to keep smallmouth under 13” because they are loaded with tiny fish. In the smoky mountains national park you can keep 5 trout over 7” because by the time they reach that size, odds are they won’t make it to the next year. Sometime I feel like keeping small fish would be better for the populations but it’s rarely legal

Indeed . Bottom shelf at most stores

Bout anything works. I use stale bread

I trap them off my dock on a lake with a wire funnel trap you get at wal mart or anywhere. I always seem to get shiners and baby bluegill in the lakes. And you have to release trapped bluegill in TN, they are only legal for bait if caught with rod/reel. But the shiners work great and usually get into the trap within 5-10 minutes of setting it

I believe the Florida strain fish are stocked into Pickwick as well

They are quite disgusting , which I’m assuming is why stripers and catfish can smell them. My buddy always tries to shake them off and never can, it makes a hilarious scene

I don’t think you’ll have any trouble catching bass on a t rig with all the vegetation in Minnetonka. Just slither a straight tail worm through some weeds and a largemouth should be all over it. They also work well out in open water for dragging. I tried the zoom ultravibe speed worm for the first time this year and it’s very fun on a Texas rig. It works dragging or reeling

I’ve almost broken the world record several times! Hahah I always wondered if anyone would notice........... it used to be 4 lbs even and I caught several 3 lb 9 oz

I had a monster striper eat one that big (whole) 3 times in a row when it was completely dead. Also striper love cut skipjack here’s two from this spring, one that hit the whole dead skip, 44 inches and 36 lbs Then another 16 lb on cut piece of skipjack in a canoe

It’s really good striper bait too

I’ve broken a rod in the reel seat once but I’m pretty special rods are like sunglasses, you only break or lose the ones you don’t want to break or lose. The cheap crappy ones will stay with you for decades

Sometimes I get powerful hungry out there on the water.......

only had one jerkbait in the work truck for lunch break but I managed a herring. I did not have time to chop down a shrubbery with it

It’s obvious you have grandchildren in your boat from that post

Interesting. Also mixing in a lake I’ve never heard of, that’s always fun

The one thing I’ve never had much luck with is “cast and crank.” I can’t stand it. A buzzbait is the only lure that works with for me

37 degree water and 36 bass??? Awesome day!!!

I love those abu Garcia reels . Baitcasters are for heavier lures, like spinnerbaits, jigs, most crankbaits and top water. The spinning will be better for grubs and weightless worms and inline spinners

The bass police are on their way now