T-Billy

Gotta die of something, may as well be yummy fish fillets.

One thing that helps me to stay positive and focused on a tough day is, when/if I get bit, there's a good chance it'll be a good one. Seems to me, the average size is generally bigger on tough days.

I'm behind on my winter projects. I spend too much time on BR.

That was my first thought as well.

Perhaps it tied itself to it? They'll make a mess out of any slack line you give 'em when fishing with live crawdads. They're also skilled escape artists when kept in an aquarium. If you've ever had your....... Oh... Nevermind. ?

Everyone has regrets, but you can't dwell on them. Learn from them and move on. My friend from Nazereth sets the standard for me for what is acceptable behavior and what isn't. He never fails me, even though I fail him daily. Great guy. My wife and kids are the greatest joy in my life, and have given my life meaning. If you want to be truly happy, you have to live your life for something greater than yourself. That's my 2c.

I've tried a BUNCH of rods over the years, as I fish a chatterbait a ton in the summer. Hands down, the best rod I've found is the Ark Invoker Pro, 7'4" H MF composite. In fact it's been outstanding for all my single hook moving bait applications. I have four of them now, all paired with Daiwa Zillion HD's. Dragging a chatterbait around like a football jig, or wobblehead, on offshore structure at night, is deadly in the summer. It comes through rock really well.

I was thinking of @cyclops2 myself recently. I miss his posts. He cracked me up sometimes. I hope he is well.

Another vote for the 744. I have it in the Kaden flavor. It'll work well for those 1/2oz footballs, but also swim jigs, spinnerbaits, Trigs, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits... It's a very versatile blank.

Bringing up good memories brother!!! I caught my first bass with a Zebco 202 just like that one. Tossing a Big-O on Easter morning.

Yeah Buddy!!! Bent the handle on it, braid burned my thumb, and nearly snapped my flippin stick going toe to toe with a big flathead in a laydown a couple years ago. Then had it happen again with the same result a couple weeks later. We're 0-2 against those big cats in heavy cover, but that SD took the abuse like a champ. It also has quite a few muskie to it's credit, and has hauled Lord only knows how many bass out of heavy cover. It's spent it's whole life with it's drag locked down. Outstanding reels IMO.

Trilene knot with mono. I don't use fluoro.

My 5yo Super Duty. Battered, bruised, filthy dirty, and battle tested. Still smooth. Still kickin bass.

Whew!!!

Jeff's playing is phenominal as always, but holy smokes that girl on bass can lay a groove down!!! That was awesome.

I've been buying jerkbaits lately. I've decided I need to to dedicate some real time to them in the spring, because when I grow up, I wanna be like @A-Jay and @Dwight Hottle. Both legit brown bass hammers. I can catch smalljaws pretty good, but I've got some holes in my game, with the JB being the most glaring. I need to remedy that situation. I spend a LOT of time with a flippin stick in my hand. Hackney and Tharp are the guys that come to mind when I'm fishin the jungle.

No reel covers here, but I do use rod socks. No rod locker in my boat so they ride strapped to the deck. The socks do a great job of keeping them untangled from each other. I started making my own socks last year. Cheap and easy to make, and I can make them any length I want.

X2

I went for a few hours today and took a skunking. As expected. The weather's been unseasonably warm for January. Mid 40's today. Water was 34 - 36.5 with skim ice on large sections of the lake. Marked lots of big shad schools, but couldn't buy a bite. I won't bother again until March iceout, but it was nice to get out for a bit.

Apparently he's also the GoPro Monkey!!! ?

Nah. This lake has roughly one of these per acre. Never seen an otter there.

The jar must be made of fluorocarbon since the bass aren't scared off by it. The smallmouth also struck the end with the red lid first. I think @A-Jay might be on to something with that red front treble hook. ? Kidding aside, Cool video. Thanks for posting.

I caught this four pounder bare handed. It was barely alive after being mauled by a muskie.

Darn fine way to start the year @Dwight Hottle!!! Congrats brother!!!