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The neko rig has become a major part of my arsenal. A flick shake worm has been my go to. At one lake it's the only way I can get consistent bites post 9:00 a.m.. Painfully slow action off the outside weed line in 15FOW. The bellogill/shad looks so delicious neko rigged, but haven't been able to put anything consistent together.

The majority of my fishing life bass were really just a bycatch. From boating to bait casters it was all foreign as my 1,000's of fish came from waders and fly rods. My future brother in law invited me to fish a weeknight lunker tournament after 2 casual outings that I guess he thought I was competent enough to catch fish. I brought a 17" fish that was on its death bed with high hopes to the scales that evening, but that feeling still remains 7 years later.

This mutant was hanging out in 3 fow with a bunch of bass enjoying a shad spawn.

Weirdly enough I have 2 different lakes where the half dead white tree is the horizon target for hitting certain structure that usually produces.

Canada craw trd. Stretch some salt out, slather some megastrike in the last few stretches. Lightest jig head conditions allow. Swim it, hop it, jerk it, or dead stick it. Don't believe the "it just catches small fish" blah blah blah....a large % of 5lb+ fish I've caught in recent years has been due to placing the bait above in the right place at the right time.

First trip to a bigger body of water (non pond) of the year over lunch and took a skunking. Going to blame not catching a DD on not having FFS from the bank and not being on a lake named after a utensil. Excited for day light savings time to able to take the boat out after work. 10 day is showing 50/60's here in PA which should make for a fishy March.

If I'm in full blown t-rig mode I'm fishing stuff that is constantly bending/dulling hook points/fraying line. In a 8 hour day I wouldn't be surprised if I swapped hooks on a 30 minute average during a tournament. Used hooks go to the used hook compartment to be restored/disposed of when my odds of catching a fish are at 0%. Same goes with plastics, quick to switch out to new and will look at them later if they are salvageable.

I was shown the damage these can do or stocked trout. Almost banjo minnow infomercial level of out fishing live bait.

Was blessed with a brain that revolves around fish. Any species river, lake, ditch, or sea I'll catch them and let them swim free. Not a gear snob...spinning, casting, fly rod, trolling, seining net, or push button paw patrol rod...don't care as I'm fascinated with the capture and understand of the why and how I did it. I'm a real sucker for sight fishing any species of fish. Went to school for fisheries and it hasn't made me a dime. Read and talk to random strangers online about fishing that I most likely will never meet. Stumbled into competitive fishing a few years ago and love the thrill where I don't sleep at night. Have had multiple fish tanks varying from natives to exotics(currently only 2 but one being a 120g saltwater tank that is very time consuming. Do not recommend with other hobbies or children). My family fishes, wife's family fishes, dated the wife by fishing, and family vacations are typical planned on some type of fish activity. Through all that, my greatest joy is in the current moment by taking my son and hopefully eventually daughter to lake to catch whatever we catch. At the same time have 2 under 3 certainly has limited my time on the water to quick trips around their schedules, but that's all fine with me. Life will change/evolve again in the future years, but I'm positive fish/fishing will play a part in someway. Rereading this makes me question my sanity, or maybe fishing is what keeps me sane?

I've witnessed 2 differ other species interactions. Small mouth cruising with a pod of carp. Waiting for them to stir something up. Wolf pack of large mouth following a water snake down the bank. As it would go under a rock they would instantly nose up waiting for something to come out. Followed them 100 yards and the only time any would look at a bait is when the snake went under a rock/log. I really hope to stumble across something like it again in my life as it was really mesmerizing to watch. Birds are pointless outside of seeing heron pods on one body of water. There some other signs that go into it as well but you can count on a bass bite 3-5' off the shore line when you can count 3-5 herons down 100 yds of bank.

Starting 0 for 1 in 24. Don't even have a fishing license yet. yuck. In 2017 I attempted a bass every week of the year. Was going to jokingly make one of those photo calendars for my wife consisting of me hold the 4/5 fish of the month. Made through a week in Feb where it didn't get above 17 degrees. Failed in March in week 11 when work got in the way. Never made the calendar.

Said it in a different post....but I have big plans for the bellows gill neko rigged. I think it will give different presentation and produce a solid class of fish in my lakes. Looks like there might be some scarcity(TW) in shad colors. I'd like to focus on 12'+ cranks if I can get excess time on the water.

Used to be in waders 100 days a year before getting into fishing from a boat. Korkers are the best long term shoe I've had. Felt has gone to the way side for good reason, but replaceable studs are helpful. The difference between a sole made for wading compared to a rubber sole is major in slippery situations. Currently have a pair of Simms on year 7 as my primary. Some leak repairs as needed. Based on where I'm hiking and the cover I'll be crawling through, I do have a pair of cheap ones I'm not afraid to rip up. Third pair is one with slight leaks. I used purposely to wear them on hot days to keep you semi cool/dry but also give you some protection vrs. brush, mud, and creatures (ticks, mosqitoes, ect). Have a compact front sling backpack that I can rotate a small amount of gear in out depending on fly/spinning or species I'm after. Also nice for any bank fishing excursions.

I've started putting the plug in as part of the hooking up the trailer process in the garage after plugging the livewell drain at 4 a.m.. Got lucky as I would normally bank the boat to register and talk, but launched a different ramp and noticed in transit. Transom saver pins were a mess this year, misplaced and never found 2.

I bought a typical Christmas tackle warehouse gift card for myself to buy line and terminal tackle once we make it past any ice season. Plan is to focus on rod and reel repair and maintenance as they have been neglected the past 2 years and have a few out of order. The one new purchase I plan on getting is bellows gill neko setup, seeing a video I think it will be a crusher on my lakes.

After reading the # of days fished post, I was adding up the different tournaments fished which sent me down a rabbit hole of compiling an overview of 2023 tournaments. Tournaments fished-13(not counting lunker events) Finished in the money-6 Wins-3 Full bags-11 Lunker pool wins-2 Largest field-43 boats Heaviest Fish-5.32 Unique Fish-20.5" fish weighing 3.36 lbs. Total winnings-Probably a little more than the total expenditures(entry fees,gas,tackle,food,ect). Overall a successful and enjoyable year. 2024 plans-Don't have dreams of chasing national trails, will stick to the local derbies and hopefully fish 15-20 enjoyable events. Highlight-Was on a 3 week burner going 3rd, 1st, 1st in July. 2 different bodies of water on 3 different patterns. Lost 2 fish that would have won it during the 3rd place finish. Low point-going into the final tournament of a trail with the point lead and being one fish short. How was your year?

1. Maxscent creature bait 2. Figure out a way to rehook torn up maxscent creature bait

On the boat-way down from years past. Fished more tournaments(13) then other outings(7). Bank beating before work or during lunch break was consistent to years past. Prespawn I was able to sneak back to back straight weeks before work. The month of May I probably fished 25 days. I would estimate I fished 130-150 days of the year, unfortunately only 20 were more than a hour.

Over Producers T-rig maxscent creature bait- 3 years running of producing the best quality and quantity of fish. A few variations of c-rigging and shakey heads. Rock, grass, and wood it just produced. Neko rigged flick shake worm- when the bite was tough, keeping this in hand all day led to 2 winning bags. Squarebills- the adage of throwing them on windblown rip rap was almost too true this spring. I'm itching for the time to repeat this in a few months. Dark Sleeper-Really produced popping it in snaggy structure, need to move to a cheaper version. On par production Ned rig with the lightest weight possible based on conditions in Canadian craw. Spinnerbait, drop shot (hit worm out produced the flat worm), jig, underspin, and paddletails all had their time and place. Below average producers Bladed Jig-never got on a consistent bite. Jerkbait-I'd blame it mostly on lack of time on the water at appropriate times, but the total fish caught on jerkbaits was the lowest in 5 years. There's still 17 days left in the year so this may change some. All other worms- power worms and senko style worms just never were the ticket or lasted long tied on. A-rig-lost more rigs then the total of bass caught on it.

I decided to go Garmin, but my situation as quite different then yours. Building an all electric setup so all my focus is on the bow and compatibility to switch equipment(live scope) between boats. My debate has been do I really want to shell out the money for a Force on a 17' boat. Ended up at yes as the TM will be the most important part in all of it. Kinda knew it going in to it, but will have more invested in equipment then the cost of the boat.

Marburg is down about 13' and several launches are unusable including the main launch. Haven't heard alot on the musky front. I used to wade below the 30 bridge on a regular basis, not sure I'll ever take a propped boat anywhere but the more "lakey" areas like Goldsboro or Conowingo as some of those rocks come out of nowhere.

Spent time on the trout streams just north of there, but haven't hit the river north of Goldsboro. I don't have the confidence/knowledge/or gear to run the river like some guys do. Goldsboro can fish more like a lake, there is a solid population of green bass that can be located. I'm south of Harrisburg in the land of electric only and restricted hp lakes.

You have to be located semi close to me. Our south central PA lakes are tough when it comes to tournaments as they are small bodies of water with only so many options and usually several guys are dialed in on a bite. I fished my first derby 7 years ago. Outside catching fish, the people have been the best part of all it. There's a decent group of guys running a few of the trails, find your niche you like. I enjoy the spectrum of people that show up, from guy in a $1,000 boat to the guy that has no clue what he is doing with a 70k rig. I would love to fish a tournament at Goldsboro sometime, the river is not my expertise. I've been debating about fishing the final one of the year Saturday, but rain, wind, and a low of 32 will most likely keep me home.

+1 for the pull stop. Not fishing it as a trap, but more of subtle jerk bait retrieve where you aren't every moving the bait on a tight line.

I've never stuck with it too long as it was more piecing what I had together after snapping off on quick bank fishing trips. My best results came on a quiver/slow swim. Yellow perch, crappies, and sunfish also like it.