TnRiver46

People always think every animal is the biggest one they’ve ever seen. I’ve heard probably hundreds of stories about a 50 lb raccoon yet I’ve never seen a 50 lb raccoon haha

Jack it up and if there’s no play, you’re good. If there’s some wiggle you’re too loose. I’ve always been told to tighten the bearing nut very tight and then back off a quarter turn and put the cotter pin in I’ve done it! Haha

Ewwww

That's the way I do but I don't start until it's under 70 degrees in the morning haha. Which was just recently, I'm all jacked up on caffeine!!!!!

Yep!

Oh *%#* yeah!

You need some zoom worms in your life. Maybe that will bring your yearly bass totals from 25 million to eleventy billion!

Looks like golden fried nuggets to me

I don’t hunt so it’s an easy choice for me !

Sounds like everyday all the time on the TN river. I try to fish where I don’t see any shad. You can’t even catch me on a cupcake if I’ve already eaten 25 cupcakes

I get to trap year round but not for fur, just nuisance animals. I do know a guy that sells the nuisance fur during winter but as you know it’s not so valuable anymore. But it a good tradition to keep alive and can be very useful. I’m usually trapping around backyards and roofs, I don’t get to use the 450s and 550s often, haha

Nice one! Love the back reel. The sound of drag is like fingernails on a chalk board to me

I feel like John Cox can beat anyone almost anywhere without pre fishing

Glad you had some success. They are having a big bass master open on Hartwell right now.

Hahaha! That's a long story but my boss was chomping at the bit. He used to work at the Knoxville zoo and had been on 3 different "big cat out" jobs. Turned out people saw a regular cat and claimed it was a tiger

Pros do it all the time. Pre fishing can give you a false sense of being “on them”

You’re probably better off! Haha. I have a degree in fisheries and I’m trapping skunks and delivering food

@roadwarrior says also try Alabama rig, rage tail menace, and BPS tender tube #71.

I’ll make ya a sweet deal on a dozen

Some things I’ve encountered at work recently

If it was legal to hunt my city, you could make good money. People call us constantly about fox and coyote but it’s a little too dangerous setting foot hold traps and risk catching a pet. Of course there is a leash law but stuff happens and I don’t want any part of that. You could still do ok on the outskirts of town where Its legal to shoot but most people take care of their own problems out that way. Urban areas are thicker with predators nowadays than the wilderness

Sheesh, that’s wider than I always imagined it

78 degree water near my house, the warmest it will be all year. No shortage of people wearing flannels and making soup trying to rush it , though

That’s a good one!!!

I’ve put soft plastics in empty Folgers plastic containers for years, it works! But when you put a hook in there it ruins everything