Dirtyeggroll

You just missed out on an eBay sale. Find one on eBay for 164.99 then wait for a universal 15-20% off code. There was a code that ended yesterday at 9 PM.

Dang it! Pretty sure I accidentally bought a left hand Tatula SV 6.x from the auction site and wasted my code when I meant to purchase a right hand 8.3 and didn’t realize it until it was too late to cancel.

7ft Abu Garcia Veritas 2.0 Medium Heavy with a Daiwa Tatula SV 7.2 and 50-lb sufix 832 braid.

I haven’t had a lot of success casting weightless senkos on casting gear. I better start practicing.

I am wanting to throw weightless baits (senkos, texas rigs) into heavy cover (thick reeds, lily pads and brush piles). It seems it would be hard to throw super light baits with casting gear, but it seems necessary for heavy gear because I am targeting 5-6 lb fish and heavy gear would be needed to get them out of the cover. I was thinking heavier action spinning gear would be easier to cast, but I haven't heard much of people using heavy spinning gear. Does anyone have any suggestions? Would a heavier action spinning rod be easier to cast than with a casting rod?

I would start by finding the Creek channel (if there is one). I would fish the stump fields that are near where the channel makes a turn. Additionally I would find the areas off shore that have rapid depth changes of at least 2-3 ft and fish those. Grab a bottom contact bait and drag it slowly on the bottom as if you are using the bait to map what’s down there. Areas where you can feel stuff and have depth changes are likely to hold fish.

Finally got one on a Magnum Squarebill (or as I like to call it “the Mondo”).

HA! I tried to say that once. My wife ended up counting her pairs of shoes. 43. She said I have way more lures than that.

Went fishing with my adopted dad. It was hot and windy and we didn’t catch any keepers, but he really enjoyed it and so did I.

It’s not well understood by most people that hydration is more than just water. Often overlooked key components of hydration are glucose, sodium and potassium. These are needed to maximally absorb water. Gatorade really is scientifically formulated for hydration and drinking a Gatorade for every 2-3 bottles of water can really help a lot. (Fruit and or fruit juice can achieve a similar effect.)

In Iowa, somewhere along I-29 on an oxbow lake, I broke off what for sure would have been my new PB. It was probably 8+ lbs. I was fishing a chatterbait in old lily pad stems with monofilament. My rod bent over and wouldn't budge and I thought I was hung on a lily stem. Then it slowly started moving, then started swimming, then became dead weight again. I knew it was big. I got it right up to the boat and it surfaced like a small whale. I thought for some reason it would be a smart idea to lip it even though the net was within my reach. I grabbed the line to move it a little close to me to grab it by the lip, I bumped the fish on the side of the boat and *plink* the line snapped. There went the monster with my chatterbait in its mouth. I still lose sleep over it.

This is a couple days old, but it was one of the last times I went out and one of the best fishing days of my life. It was my first frogging attempt of the year so my drag on my reel was still completely loose and I missed about 8 blowups on only a few more casts right at the start of the morning. When I finally realized the drag was loose, after a fish had held on to the frog and pulled out some drag and then spit it out, I started putting them in the boat, and they were good ones! After the sun got high I switched over to a magnum Christie Critter and started pitching it as far back in the reeds as possible and was glad I did! I caught my new PB for this state at 6.3 lbs (6 lbs 4.8 oz) and my best five fish were right under 28 lbs (2 of the 5+ didn't get recorded on the GoPro). Then I went back 3 days later after a little rain and cold front and found them roaming in the lilies with a black and blue chatterbait. Best 5 for that day were ~23 lbs.

This year a whopper plopper. I hooked up with a ton a really nice fish and boated a few of them last year. So, I bought a rod to dedicate to a plopper to help keep from ripping the trebles out. I’ve thrown it a ton this year and haven’t even had a bite!

Surely other people do this, but not anyone I know personally. I make a ‘top box’. Depending on what I plan to fish, I will put some duplicates of all the things o have tied on and soft plastics in a Plano that stays on the deck. That way if i break off or need something else I don’t have to dig through a tackle box or through storage compartments to retie. I do this in addition to the Tackle bag I bring as a co-Angler and in my own little boat.

Had them dialed in today. One of the best days of fishing of my life. Here was the recipe: Step 1: Forget your phone. Who really needs it anyway when you're fishing by yourself? What could you possibly need it for? Picture of a PB maybe? Step 2: Get to the boat ramp and realize you forgot your net. Well good thing you also forgot your phone so you can't call someone to bring you one... Step 3: Dial the fish in on squarebill. Yep, catching fish on every 2nd to 3rd cast. Of course, the best bite of the day is going to be on light wire treble hook crankbaits, you know, since you forgot the net. At least you changed the stock hooks to #4 Mustad Ultrapoint Triple Grip. Step 4: Donate your scale to the lake. Weighing fish is for chumps. I mean, you've probably already caught the biggest fish in the lake at about 6 lbs on a previous trip. Not anything any bigger really worth weighing. Step 5: HOLY $@#& you just hooked up with a GIANT on a squarebill. Where's the net! Where's the net! Oh no, you forgot it. What are you gonna do? FISH JUST JUMPED!!! OMG its HUGE! Heart's really racing now. Lip it? Start to shake with nerves. Oh no, you're gonna get hooked past the barb. Who cares, the fish is worth it! Wait last time you tried to lip a fish with trebles you knocked it off on the boat bumper. Step 6: Taking drag, back to the boat, taking drag, dives under boat, back up, going for trolling motor, back up, getting closer to boat. Grab that beast under the belly and put it in the boat!!! 23.5 inches and thick! I'm guessing around 7 lbs. Biggest bass I have ever caught in my adult life (I once caught an 8-8 on a minnow when I was 8 years old). Step 7: Stand shaking with a giant fish in your hands. Realize the you're wearing a GoPro. There is a record of this fish! I will add a YouTube link later today when get it all edited. For now here is a picture with evidence of how bad they wanted the little KVD 1.5 Bluegill color.

I was only somewhat serious. I was playing on the bag vs boxes title. I actually use a laptop bag with a single Plano box. All the little compartments are great.

A laptop bag serves the purpose very well. Lots of extra little compartments for pliers, extra line, o-rings etc and the main compartment can usually fit a 3700 series Plano box. Convenient and keeps a person from bringing too much. In fact, I separate large Plano boxes I will switch out based on what lake I’m going to (clear vs dark water or time of year).

I use a backpack and fill it with Plano boxes.

Amber with green mirror at my favorite.

If you’re on a budget the Cabela’s ZX Crankshaft 7’ 5” is hard to beat. At one point @CroakHunter had one for sale.

Andy Montgomery skipping jig paired with a rage bug (flat) as trailer, skips like a flat rock, excellently. However, I will agree it’s not the best coming through brush. Great for docks though.

Pic?

When does TW usually start their Memorial Day sale?

Or as Rusty might make one believe on the phone haha. Agree he’s a great guy though.

Caught my first Florida strain at Diamond Valley in Hemet, CA today. Not the size I came out here for but I guess that’s why they call it fishing and not catching. A 4.34 and a 3.0.