Woody B

I need to start taking pictures. I don't backlash often, but when I do it's usually epic. I keep a spare reel in my boat. A couple months ago I saw a bass under a floating dock. There was a space but not very big between 2 floats, and an equally small space between the water and the dock. I skipped a wacky in there perfectly. I was standing there admiring my cast when the bass hit it. It startled me. I set the hook with the reel unlocked, and without my thumb on the spool. The backlash was bad enough I couldn't use the reel. I tried handlining it but it got off. The bad one before that was when the lip pulled off a lure during the cast. I don't usually get bad backlashes. I'll get the line frazzled up a little sometimes casting into the wind. I can usually just heave the lure with the wind to clear it out.

Alex is a hammer, but keeps the humility that most hammers have. Same for some others around here. I managed 1 tiny spot today.....kinda. It came loose with I boat flipped it, I just pushed it off the deck back into the lake. It wasn't hooked. the hook was still embedded in the shaky head. I brought it up from 20 feet deep, but it had to just be hanging on. Lake was really muddy, and the wind was terrible. I saw some Bass(?) on sonar hugging to cover...dock posts, lay downs brush piles. I simply couldn't make accurate casts in the 20 mph winds. I also saw some kind of fish suspended. I couldn't get a reaction from them except for 1. It was strong and quick but came loose quickly. I suspect it was a Gar. Most of the time with I hook a (longnose) Gar they jump, throw the hook back at me and laugh. This one was suspended 15 feet deep. It didn't make it to the surface before it came loose. It might have been a decent size Spot but I got a good hookset on it. I've never been able to keep a Gar stuck. Spots and Gar look similar in schools on sonar.....at least to me. A bad day fishing is still a good day. I got out of the wind, came home early, picked up my Dad and took him to Supper.

A friend of mine uses it and really likes it. I tried it and didn't....... but it was 30 pound test. I had digging in with all of the 30 pound braids I tried. I'm 90% mono and don't plan on changing. However, I think most or all of the braids I didn't like were just too small diameter for my use, on my baitcasters. Added: I'm not sure what I tried was 8 strand either.

Wide open, trimmed up and pulling on the steering wheel my boat will run 41 mph at 6100 rpm. I don't run like that. Contrary to popular belief 4 strokes aren't made to run wide open all the time. I normally cruise around 30. The fuel table on my engine starts getting rich about 5000 rpm. I don't think the law is a good idea but some breeds need to be in when it's cold, some thrive in the cold. I've got a friend with a couple of those huge white dogs. (Great Pyrenees maybe) He keeps them in during the Summer. They won't come in when it's cold.

Stuff I've done that I shouldn't have? Why, what did you hear? When I was racing I had a motorhome I towed my race cars with. When I first got it I emptied the sewage into storm drains a few times. I decided that wasn't a good idea though. Oil on dusty dirt roads was common around here ~40 years ago. I think the government actually done it. I was dating a girl that lived on a dirt road. I hated having my truck in the dust, but hated the oil too.

It rained all night last night. According to Duke Energy the lake is up a foot from yesterday. I was going to launch down near the dam today but the wind is up. I'll launch up on the smaller part of the lake. I may work my way down if it isn't too rough.

After almost 2 weeks with no fishing that seems like years I made it out today. It was raining but not cold. Earlier I've been catching small Spots deep, and bigger Largemouth shallow. Today was different. The first 4 I caught were all small Largemouth. 12 inchish. I don't see many LM that small so I think small ones are a good sign. They were ~20 feet deep hugging the bottom under a school of Shad. They didn't want an A-rig, blade bait or spoon. I caught them on a Shaky head with 1/2 a Bizz Baits Dizzy Diamond. (Don't call this a NED, I'm not a finesse fisherman). Since they were 20 feet deep, on the verge of "fizzing" depth (and small) I quickly released them without pictures. I moved over to a stumpy flat next to a channel swing. I saw fish on sonar around the stumps. I decided to channel my inner Pat Brown. (not the size of the fish, his are 3 or 4 times bigger) by trying a buzz bait. 2nd cast got an 18 inch spot. (pictured) I caught a couple more 14 inch Spots. The water where I was fishing wasn't muddy at all. I moved up river and ran into a mud line. The muddy water was a couple degrees warmer (52) but not much activity. I decided then to channel my inner TNriver. I found a current break where the muddy water as mixing into clearer water. I tossed a wacky rig into the edge of the clearer water and it got hammered by a 19 1/2 inch 4.7 pound Spot. That's my 2nd biggest Spot ever, and my biggest in NC. (NC state record Spot in 6 lbs 5 oz) The rain was getting harder so I decided to call it a day. I'll be back tomorrow morning looking for clearish, or at least mixing water.

I've got minimal coverage on my boat, but I have $300K liability through NC Farm Bureau. I don't fish tournaments in this litigious age liability insurance seems like a good idea.

Not a fisherman, but the person I try to emulate in fishing, and every other aspect of life is a friend of mine who was a race promoter and track owner back when I raced. He was always positive, upbeat and friendly. It didn't matter if it was the worst day of his life if you asked "Steve, how are you today?" He'd say "Never better my friend" with a big smile. He said no one really wants to hear your troubles, and being positive and friendly toward others can actually make your bad day better. I strive to have this attitude fishing, and in pretty much anything else I'm doing. I stay positive and upbeat. If this makes someone else smile, it makes me smile too. I don't copy his "never better my friend" word for word. If someone asks me how I am I say "Great, hope you are too" or if it's someone I see all the time I'll occasionally say "if I was any better they'd start an investigation". I've gotten write ups at work for "exceptional communication skills" from being friendly and upbeat with problem customers. I think the fish prefer friendly anglers too. I love fishing so it's not very hard to have a good attitude then. A bad day fishing is still a pretty good day.

"Pattern" can mean many different things. Obviously during the Spring most are fishing a seasonal spawn pattern. One of the reasons I fish the same lake almost all the time is I "think" I know the lake pretty good. I'm constantly learning (or at least trying to) When I learn something new on a lake I'm really familiar with I believe I "learned" something about Bass, not just something about that lake. (does this make sense?) Regarding patterns, how many bass do you need to catch to declare something a "pattern" for that day? Somedays a "pattern" jumps out at me. Other days not so much. 2 questions I ask myself all the time. 1. Why was that bass there? 2. Why wasn't their a bass there?

I usually do OK with muddy water. I don't do good with water that's muddy and cold though.

He's welcome anytime. I'd probably just sit back and learn.

I suppose I differ in a few ways. I catch my own bass, I don't follow others around to see where and how they're fishing. If I see a BUNCH of people using certain techniques I'll do something different. I've often caught bass right behind other people by being different.

Just light rain here today, with more of the same forecasted tomorrow and Friday. Hopefully this won't blow out the lakes. The forecast here for Saturday is rain in the PM but temperatures in the 50's and 60's. If that holds I'm going Saturday morning and will probably fish until, or into the rain for a while. Hopefully the warmer weather will wake them up and make them hungry. If the rain blows out my normal lakes I may try Monticello Reservoir Sunday. It's a 7000 acre "pumped storage facility" that used for nuke cooling. It doesn't usually get muddy. A friend says they're catching them there suspended near the tops of flooded timber in ~80 feet of water.

So far for Largemouth 21 3/4" long at only 5.04 pounds. Also a 3.66 pound Spot. My PB Spot is 4 pounds, 15 ounces. I'd like to catch a 6 pound Spot but most of the time when I get into Spots they're small, so I go back to targeting Largemouth. I consider Largemouth to be "getting there" at 5 pounds, and really good at 6. At least in the waters I fish. I caught 2 over 6 pounds last year, and an additional 10 between 5 and 6. My biggest since I got my current boat is 7 lbs 13 oz. I think there's an 8 pounder swimming in the waters I fish with my name on it. (My PB is 10 1/4 over 30 years ago. Beating that would be cool but I don't think realistic where I fish) A 6 pound Spot, or an 8 pound Largemouth and I'll take a bunch of pictures and measurements to have a replica made. I have a replica of the 48 inch long 53 pound Flathead Cat I caught in 2022.

I caught my first 5 pound Bass a million years ago trolling a Hellbender. I suspect part of the no trolling in Bass tournaments is due to the multi rod set up. Trolling for Crappie is big around here, especially during cold weather. (I suppose it's "strolling") They use their trolling motor with a bunch of lines fanned out at different depths. They also use live bait most of the time. I occasionally see people trolling for catfish, but most of them just drift. Same thing though, a bunch of lines fanned out. They have "floats?" on the lines that look like cut off pool noodles. Is this planer boards? I figure it's to control the depth of each line. My Son in Law and some if his friends troll for Striped Bass. They use live bait (herring) and the pool noodle looking things. He says 1mph, and follow the contours with a GPS trolling motor. He has an active target transducer mounted on the transom pointed toward the rear.

I rarely use spinning gear.......but I suspect the way most people use each could make spinning equipment more sensitive for most. I'll explain. Most people use their non dominate hand to hold/palm casting equipment, and reel with their dominant hand. Also most people hold spinning equipment with their dominate hand, and reel with their non dominate hand. Most people will have more sensitivity, and quicker reactions with their dominate hand.

The low yesterday morning was 14, with a high of 31. It was windy too. I had some other things to do so I didn't go fishing. The low today was 11, but the high was 39. It wasn't windy. I was going to go, but still had stuff to do. I changed oil in my truck, and (gasp) went and got a haircut. The haircut police @gimruis says I'll catch 33% more Bass.

It doesn't matter if we're talking firearms, fishing stuff, or pretty much anything else. I believe a BIG factor in pretty much anything is confidence. If I'm correct each group is right, as long as they have confidence in their beliefs. I believe the 30-06 is a great round. I killed my first Deer and Bear with an -06. Both of my Grandsons killed their first Deer with the same rifle.

I wonder how much it would actually take to buy one of those boats. I suspect a couple years ago the "real" price would have been the one on the tag. I suspect the "real" price now might be lower. Last year a friend of mine bought a nice new Vexus for ~80% of the price when you "build it" on their website. 2 years ago I looked a quite a few boats before I cheaped out on mine. All of them were priced what the tag said.....but supply was a bigger issue then, and interest rates were lower. In Dec 2022 the $100K Caymas was $100K with people waiting for them. There's several sitting at my local dealer now. I suspect the $100K boat from 2022, not priced at $110K might be bought for ~$95K

I don't "get" the "brakes". My Active Target (the same brand some of the brakers use) is not good, at least for me going over 2 or 3 mph. How fast are they going, while looking at the live screen? I have, and will idle around with my trolling motor and transducer down looking at a screen. When I see something I want to cast to I put the (big) motor in reverse for a couple seconds and hit anchor on my trolling motor. When chasing "wolfpacks" like this the biggest I normally catch are 15 inch Spots. I suspect other bodies of water are different though. I suppose the "brakes" may help in the wind. I don't have shallow water anchors for a few reasons. I suspect they wouldn't work that great on my light boat. Also, even if I'm fishing shallow my boat is usually in water too deep to use them. The exception would be putting the boat on the shallow part of a point and working a bait up the slope toward the boat.

Which card to get is going to be regional, or even lake by lake. I have Navionics, and C-map. One lake that occasionally is terrible on Navionics. Another is terrible on C-map. If I had Humminbird stuff my first card would be Lakemaster.

With the low in low teens Sammy stayed in last night.

Regarding vacuum hubs, the first generation(like the OP's daughter has) was problematic. I was working at a Chevy dealer at the time, but our local EMS had several Fords with those hubs. They didn't take long to decide it would be best to manually lock them if they knew they were going to need 4wd. Regarding the "Auto" setting on GM transfer cases. This setting has destroyed a BUNCH of transfer cases. The owners manual states to not use "Auto" on dry pavement. On GM trucks "Auto" engages the front axle and puts some load on the transfer case clutches. This increases fuel consumption and caused premature wear to the transfer case clutches. People who drive around for thousands of miles on dry pavement in "Auto" will have worn transfer case clutches. When they need 4wd the clutches won't hold. There's many different types of "Auto" 4wd. I'm speaking specifically about GM trucks and utilities. The front axle on these GM vehicles and many others (including my Titan) have a shift collar that connects or disconnects one of the front axles. When the front axle is not engaged one axle (inside the front differential) is 2 pieces spinning separately from each other. This allows most of the front 4wd "stuff" to not spin. When front axle is engaged a splined collar connects the 2 piece axle. This design works great, and is pretty much trouble free. I suspect that's why similar designs are used my many different car makers. However this design does have more stuff "spinning" when going down the road in 2wd that locking hubs.

The rear deck on Trackers is aluminum. The front deck is plywood. What manufacturers still use plywood? My Son in Laws Crestliner had a BUNCH of plywood in it. (20+ years old, I don't know how much they have now) I don't see plywood as a big deal. There's a BUNCH of plywood in my house, and I don't even cover it up or keep it in a garage.