Woody B

I didn't skunk today. I caught a 17 inch spot within 10 minutes of launching the boat. I thought that was a good sign. I fished 3 more hours without another bite. I won't be able to make it out again until March. I caught a few decent sized Bass during February but numbers should have been better. In March I'm looking for a BUNCH of decent sized Bass.

I keep a smallish diamond hone in my boat. I'm constantly checking my hooks. A couple years ago I had a batch of Rapala DT's and OG's that had hooks about as sharp as a ball point pen. I stumbled across some Owner hooks that are slightly heavier than the factory hooks. They make the lures suspend perfectly. Since then I occasionally mess with the hooks and split rings on cranks to alter the action some. It may just be a confidence thing but I believe this helps with popular lures in pressured waters. The manufacturer made have designed the "perfect" action, but when Bass have seen it a million times I think actions that's "less than perfect" may be just right.

I'm beginning to think that much of the time the best bait color/pattern is one they can hardly, or barely see. Black top water baits at night, silver or blue top water during the day. Red lures in muddy water, green pumpkin plastics in stained, but not muddy water ect. Last year when the water started to get a green tint the bite on my realistic looking shad colored DT6's stopped. The bite came back when I (accidently) switched to one with a green tint. And, yes, IF I stumble across the perfect color for a while it's either luck or it's an accident.

Dogs don't die, they just run ahead to heaven and wait.

I only target Bass but occasionally catch something else. I got into a couple Blue Cats today. The first one was 15ish pounds and 32 1/2 inches long. The wind and waves were rocking my boat. The scale wouldn't lock in. It was bouncing between 15 and 16 pounds. I realized after I released it that I hadn't taken a picture. A couple casts later I tail hooked a 11 pound Blue. Scale was bouncing between 11 and 12. It was 30 inches long but felt like a WHALE since it was tail hooked.

I went late today. I had a little work to finish on my boat last night and I had some kind of bug. Instead of working on my boat I went to bed. I got up this morning, finished what I needed to do and went fishing. I caught 5 cookie cutter Spots. I didn't measure any of them. They all were close to the one pictured. Then I caught a 15 pound Blue Catfish. The wind and waves were rocking my boat so the scale wouldn't lock in , it was bouncing between 15 and 16 pounds so I'm calling it 15. It was 32 1/2 inches long. After I released it I realized I didn't take a picture. I was considering calling it a day, but decided to fish some more. A couple casts later I caught a 11 pound Blue Cat. Same thing, scale wouldn't lock due to boat rocking. It was bouncing between 11 and 12. This one was 30 inches long. Picture in other species thread. It was nice to get the skunk out of the boat from last week even though none my Bass were big. I'll go earlier tomorrow and hopefully get some fishing in before the wind starts,

Do you have White Perch in your area? They kinda tap tap tap, and short strike also. I get a BUNCH of White Perch hits, and catches on moving lures with yellow/chartreuse. If I think it's a fish I set the hook. If I lose a lure doing this it's just something that happened. Also, make sure your hooks are sharp.

There's all kinds of stuff that we should keep on our boats. I have a paddle that came with the boat. I don't consider it important but it got checked by LEO's once. I have all the "required" stuff, and believe most of it is necessary. I also have a NOCO jump box. I keep one in my boat, as well as one in my truck. I charge them monthly. I've never needed it but I've jumped several people on the lake, as well as at the landing. I've towed a couple boats back to the landing. One had a busted lower, the other was just out of gas. Both offered to pay me but I wouldn't accept. Hopefully if I need a tow someone will be around. (I'd gladly pay if I needed a tow) I've also got a decent First Aid kit. A few years ago A friend of mine (who happens to be a first responder) cut his leg while fishing alone. He barely missed his femoral artery, but did hit some kind of important vessel near it. His quick thinking, and a good first aid kit, with a tourniquet saved his life. He called 911 and met paramedics at the landing. I urge everyone take some basic first aid classes. It may save someone's life, even your own.

Someone told me not naming a boat was bad luck. My racecar had "Bad News" on the side, so my boat's name is "Bad News". Mrs B makes decals but I've never had her make any for my boat. Someday I'm going to remove all the Tracker decals and just put Bad News on the side. Picture of a picture is myself and Mrs B a million years ago after winning a $25K memorial day race.

Yep, I accidently clicked on some wrong hooks when ordering once. What I found was some hooks that make many 1/4 to 1/2 ounce Balsa baits suspend perfectly. Stop an OG 4 that suspends instead of rises for a few seconds you'd better have a good grip on your rod when you start moving it again.

I struggled and skunked Saturday. I'm not ashamed of it. Winter....... water under 55 degrees per my transducer tends to lower my numbers a BUNCH. In my previous fishing life I never fished during the Winter. When I bought my boat (Dec 2021) I struggled until March. I blamed it on not having a spot lock trolling motor.(I got one in March, and started catching Bass) Last Winter I struggled. My (spot lock) trolling motor was noisy, so I blamed my struggles on that. I changed to a trolling motor that wasn't noisy in March, and started catching more. This year it's just me....but at least I've learned enough to realize that. I need to get better in colder water. I struggle, but the Bass I catch are usually decent size. There were 2 tournaments Saturday (that I know of) at the lake I fished. One tournament, with 15 boats had a winner with a 19 pound bag. Only 4 boats out of 15 weighed in. That's not an excuse for me. A boat had 19 pounds, there were Bass to be caught. The other tournament was a club tournament out of the landing I launched at. I'd guess 10 to 15 boats in it. When I was loading my boat I saw a guy carrying a HEAVY bag of Bass back to the lake. I said "That looks like a heavy bag". He said "It's everyones fish in one bag". I don't know how many caught Bass or what the weights were. However, some of them caught Bass, I feel like I should have. I didn't go Sunday. I've been having really sore legs after a couple days of fishing. I finally took the time to install a recessed tray for my trolling motor pedal. Basically hopping around on one foot while operating the trolling motor wasn't keeping me from catching fish, but I believe the level pedal will make me feel better while and after I catch some Bass. I'll be back out this weekend, probably struggling, but I'll have fun, and learn things.

That's interesting. As I stated in another insurance thread I have good liability coverage, but minimal coverage on my boat with no coverage on my equipment. I wonder if my liability insurance would cover a co boaters equipment.

I've never had a bunch of luck with red crank baits with the exception of some of the biggest Cats I've caught Bass fishing. I have had good luck with soft plastics with some red, as well as jigs and spinnerbaits with a touch of red in the skirt. I saw a study a million years ago about different colors and water clarity. Red was the first color to fade away, at least with whatever camera was used in the study. Clear baits work at times, perhaps red is like clear in muddy water. I used to not believe color made much difference at all. Last year I had been catching a BUNCH of Bass with a DT6 that was Helsinki Shad color. All of a sudden that bite stopped. I was catching a few Bass on bladed jigs, worms ect but none on cranks including OG4 in Helsinki Shad and a Little John 50 in Nasty Shad color. Mrs B and myself were going on vacation. Being balsa DT6's are kinda fragile and I was running low so I wanted plenty for a week of fishing. The local tackle shop I get them from was out of Helsinki Shad so I bought a handful in Live River Shad. Bass were basically jumping into the boat to get the new color. We caught well over a hundred on that vacation(really good for us) including 36 in one day. I've tried to be more open minded regarding colors since then. I talked to the Lake Wylie hammer one night before a tournament. (He wins all the tourneys there) He mentioned the DT6 bite dying. I gave him a couple Live River Shad Dt's. He won the tournament that night....but he wins most of them anyway.

Thanks for the heads up. I lost a rod/reel combo last week. So far I've been holding the monkey at bay but this nudge might do it.

Congratulations!!!!!

I got an x-ray of the chest...........to show Mrs B my heart was in the right place. Before she retired I'd send her flowers to work every Valentines. Since she's retired she prefers a card and a couple lottery tickets.

I fished every chance I had from the time I was old enough to remember until the early 90's. Then I was working full time, and racing. Between work, racing and family I no longer had time to fish. I sold my boat in 1992 and didn't fish for a couple decades. I had always planned on buying another boat and starting back fishing. Watching my Dad get older, and no longer being able to do things he used to do prompted me to accelerate my plans, but buy a boat before I retire. I bought my current boat in Dec 2021, and with the exception of one or two I've fished at least once a week since then.

I'll be 60 in a month. I don't think I live in, or dwell on the past, but I do have memories. There's some stuff that I miss from "the good old days" but sometime I think "the good old days" weren't as good as our memories.

Get well soon. My Brother in Law had a belly button hernia he nursed with trusses and stuff for years. He finally had surgery. He said he should have had the surgery as soon as it happened.

Fitting a boat in 20 feet is going to be tough. Especially a fiberglass boat. My Tracker Classic XL is over 20 feet with the tongue folded and motor trimmed down. (16'8" aluminum boat)

There's still sections of Lake Wylie with stuff floating. There was 3 tournaments Saturday and $100K boats flying through the debris. The sticks hitting their boats sounded like firecrackers going off. I hit a submerged.......couldn't see log a couple weeks ago, but I was only going 10 mph. The water clarity in the upper and mid part of the lake is starting to clear. It's still fairly muddy toward the dam, and up the creeks. Usually it clears up the creeks fairly quickly. I suppose we're still getting just enough rain to keep them muddy. I didn't cover my boat last night because it was wet from fishing in the rain. Now it's pouring. I'm going to move it under the carport before I go to work.

I wonder how robust Blue Cats are. It's not uncommon to see big ones floating dead. I suppose they don't get that big by being "fragile" though. Mrs. B caught a 27 pound Blue a couple years ago. I thought it had fought until it died, like some Striped Bass do. After I got it in the boat it "came back to life" and started thrashing around. I ended up with the spine from it's pectoral fin stuck in my foot. I've been careful with Blues since then. Someone may find a floating Blue with a Dobyns rod, Shimano Curado MGL reel and Bizz Baits Big Thump attached to it.

I went today in the rain. It was just a drizzle but started raining pretty hard about the time I launched my boat. I decided I was going to do one and done. I caught a 16 inch Spot. The rain had slowed down some so I decided to fish some more. A dozen or so casts later, at the same rocky point I lost a big Blue Catfish, along with a rod and reel. It was the biggest Blue I've ever caught....or got next to the boat. I doubt it was as big as the 53 pound Flathead I caught a couple years ago. Like a typical Blue it made one run, and just gave up. Blues, at least the ones I've caught will fight hard for a short period of time, then just kinda play dead. I've had them "come back to life" in the boat. I held this one next to the boat for a while, then decided to get it in the boat. I don't know exactly what happened. I was lifting it into the boat, it started twisting like Cats do, I turned it loose and it swam off with my rod and reel. I suppose I had sit the rod down and was using both hands to wrangle it into the boat. I came home after that.

It's funny how some days it doesn't matter what bait you use, speed and depth are all that matters. Then somedays there's a magic bait. The trolling motor activating the school is interesting. Occasionally I'll see Bass on sonar that simply aren't interested in anything. I can run a buzz bait over them a couple times, then they'll hit something. These are usually shallow Bass but I've had limited success doing this with a few Bass as deep as 20 feet. Is the trolling motor driving the bait fish down toward the Bass?

It's been really windy lately. I'm considering a bigger boat. (Actually I saw this boat when I was picking up snacks this morning.) It looks like the rub rail is inflatable and it has some kind of jet drive. It was huge. I wonder if it's some kind of tour boat or something. I didn't see the driver or I would have asked where he's taking it.