Woody B

There's a lithium mining company buying up land like crazy ~10 miles from me. They're paying high prices for property, even with todays real estate prices for future mining. One of the places they bought was an old granite quarry. There's several granite quarries around here. I wonder if lithium is normally found under granite, or if that's just a thing here.

Good video. My old boat didn't have power trim. I'd pick the motor up, put a pin in to hold it, and turn it all the way to one side. My current boat came with a "transom saver" that goes from the trailer to the lower unit. I just set the steering straight. I don't think anyone makes steering stops for cable steering.

I caught 12 today, 10 spots and 2 Largemouth. Like Katie I only fished a few hours, then came home for a nap. I also "caught" a tiny shad. I gave it to a Great Blue Heron. They were working the bank, standing in the water, catching and eating shad. I held this one up and said "hey bird". One of them looked at me and started flying my way. I threw the shad in the water when the bird got close. It swooped down and got it. It made a big circle then flew over me squawking. I'm saying it was thanking me. LOL Most of the bass came on a bladed jig. A couple on a crank, and 1 on a t-rig. I also caught 4 White Perch on cranks.

I caught 21 today. All spots. One was tiny, the rest between 14 and 18 inches. I caught a 15 incher on my first cast this morning at 5:51. I caught a 14 incher on my last cast at 10:28. I caught the 3 pictured back to back to back. 3 casts, 3 bass. I caught all 21 on a Seibert bladed jig. I threw other stuff, but they were liking the jig. I also caught 4 white perch on crankbaits.

I'm 150 miles Southwest of you in Grover NC. I fish Lake Wylie quite a bit. Wylie is 2 lakes down the Catawba river from Lake Norman. I'm not familiar with any of the lakes East of here. I've been to Jordan once, but it was 40 years ago water skiing with my Sister. I've been to Norman a couple times this year and caught several both times. I caught a 5 1/2 pound Largemouth there last year. It's full of spots like most of the lake around here. 30+ years ago Largemouth fishing at Norman was good. I sold my previous boat in 1992, bought the one I have now in Dec. 2021. Sometime between then Norman turned into the dead sea. People tell me the Largemouth fishing got bad there before the Spots took over. My PB came from Norman decades ago. Back then you'd hear about a DD from Norman every few weeks. Mountain Island is between Norman and Wylie. I've been there once. I caught some bass (all spots), but there was fresh broken glass at the landing from vehicles being broken into so I haven't been back. I caught 21 this Morning at Wylie. One was tiny, the rest were between 14 and 18 inches. All spots. I caught a 6 pound Largemouth at Wylie back in Feb. I know you said NC, but I've got to get back to Monticello Reservoir in SC. It's ~70 miles Southwest of me, so it's quite a ways from you. I went once a while back and caught 10 nice bass. 3 Smallmouth and 7 Largemouth. No spots in that lake, at least for now. Moss Lake (Shelby NC) is a 1500 acre lake in my county. (I think there's another Moss lake somewhere in NC). It's full of spots and gets a TON of fishing pressure for a lake it's size. The last several times I've been all of the fish I caught had previous hook holes in their mouths. I know pretty much nothing about NC lakes except for Moss, and the Catawba river lakes.

Maybe my dog needs a muzzle.

Be careful everyone. It only takes a split second mistake to change your life, or someone else's forever.

I cuss too much but try not to. I'm a mechanic and most mechanics use bad language. I don't take the lords name in vane, and don't like it when someone else does. I also have no use, and don't like to hear any racial slurs.

The google maps picture of my house is from 2016.

2 things. A bad day fishing is still a pretty good day. When I get skunked I always learn something, so that's good too.

I'm more of a realist. An optimist sees a glass as half full. A pessimist sees a glass as half empty. A realist simply refills the glass. I think being an optimist is different than having a good attitude. Several decades ago a friend of mine showed me that if you exude happiness, and confidence you'll be happy and confident. He didn't spread discourse, or complain about stuff. Even if it was his worst day you could say "How are you today Steve?" He's always say "Never better my friend", or "Great, I hope you are". He explained, and I've found, that the World doesn't want to know you're having a bad day........and acting happy and friendly would actually help on a bad day. If I'm having a bad day the look on a customers, co workers or strangers face helps my mood when they ask "How are you today" and I say "Great, hope you are". Smiles are contagious. So are frowns.

I've had them for a few years. These are the ones I have, but mine are an older version. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1022464190?pid=661887 They work great, and still hold a charge for a long time. The only thing I don't like is the tips. The tips are replaceable. That's great, but they come in 3 different sized. That's great too. However the only way to get them is in packs with all 3 sizes. I use the mediums and end up throwing the small and large ones away. I wish I could get packs in only one size.

It rained a bunch overnight last night. It was still raining when I left the house this morning but it had stopped by the time I got to the lake. Lake is still muddy and full of debris. I managed to find a few spots that weren't that bad. I caught 6 between 8 and 11AM. 5 spots and 1 Largemouth, all between 14 and 16 inches. I was going to go down to the dam and see if the mudline had made it all the way down there but the weather changed. It was strange. The wind was from the North, but there was a BIG BLACK cloud coming from the South. I've said before, I respect lightning. I've got an app on my phone that detects lightning, and how far away it is. I got a notice that lightning was 50 miles away, to the South. I decided instead of going South to the dam I'd stay where I was, try to catch one more, then leave. (I like to catch a bass on my last cast when possible. It leave me pumped for the next trip) I caught spot on my next cast. I ran into a storm a few minutes after loading up and heading home.

I use Walker electronic ear plugs. They have a NRR rating of 31. They can also magnify sounds that aren't over the dangerous threshold.

Back in January I had caught several early, deep on an A-rig. All of a sudden the bite turned off. A few hours later I saw bass, right against the bank, in the Sun. I threw my tackle box at them. They didn't spook, or respond in any way. Finally I threw a Devils Horse. I caught several of them. That's the first time I'd caught topwater bass in Jan. and it 48 degree water. Perhaps a topwater lure that's a little more subtle than a Whopper Plopper would work. The Devils Horse I use is 3/8 ounce. I can make it land like a feather when I cast it. Isn't a W Plopper much heavier? Perhaps a small popper, or small prop bait like Heddon Torpedo would entice them. Even though they don't scurry away when your lures land perhaps they're spooked enough to not bite.

I've got a Dobyns Colt 734. I like it and catch quite a few bass on it. I've used it for stuff as small as a Ott's Garage 4 (1/4 ounce) and stuff as heavy as a 1/2 ounce bladed jig + trailer. It's a little heavy, not action wise, but weight wise. My 3 most used rods are it, a Lews MACH, and a Cashion Core. It's heavier (weight wise) that either of those. It's not a problem for me, it seems to be balanced well, just something to be aware of. I had one Falcon rod. I don't remember the name. I broke it via stupidity before I could decided if I liked it or not. It wasn't the rods fault. I don't know what their warranty is but I wasn't going to get them replace a rod due to my stupidity even if it was under warranty.

Mine get's stupid when the batteries get low. Sometimes it's low, sometimes it's high. The 11 pound Blue Catfish I caught a couple weeks ago weighed 19 pounds on my digital scale. I knew it wasn't 19 pounds so I weighed it on my mechanical scale. When I got home the batteries were so dead it wouldn't power up. With fresh batteries my 10 pound weight was 9 pounds 15 ounces. Nice Bass @Micaiah Lindquist regardless of what it weighed, or what your scale said it weighed.

I have mild tinnitus which I suppose is good for someone who's 59 years old. In the past 20 years I've use ear protection when needed but when I was younger I played in several loud bands. I'm a life long shooting enthusiast, and I used to race. (unmuffled cars) A friend on mine, who's an ear doctor (I forget what they call them) explained tinnitus to me. He said as we age we lose some of our hearing. Normally high frequency hearing is what we lose. Tinnitus comes from our brains trying to replace the sounds we're no longer hearing. Good luck. I don't remember having any ringing until I was 50 or so.

There's 2 questions I'd like to know the answer to. 1. What time was it? I have my light on when it's cloudy and raining, but NC law says it's OK to not run them after Sun rise. 2. How fast was the Triton going? It sounds to me like no one was paying attention. I'm glad no one was hurt. It only takes a second for something bad to happen.

I basically had 2 different days today. I caught 11 bass between 6:45 and 10 am. None between 10 and 3. I also hooked 2 longnose Gar. The first was small, maybe 18 inches long. It was hooked in it's toothy mouth. It jumped a couple times, more than it's body length out of the water. I got it up to the boat and was trying to decide how to deal with it, and it got off. I caught a 14 inch Bass the cast before the first Gar. So, I came up with a Gar plan. I decided if I hooked any more I'd get them up next to the boat, take their picture then try to shake it off. The next cast I hooked a decent sized Gar in the back. It pulled like a tug boat. It didn't jump, probably because it was hooked in the tail. I got it next to the boat but it got loose before I got a picture. I'm guessing it was 30 inches long, but stuff looks big in the water. It rained a BUNCH Thursday and Friday morning. The South Fork River had a flood warning. (One of the main tributaries). The lake was really muddy, with stuff floating everywhere. I never got over 10mph. There was high dollar bass boats zipping through the muck. The sound of the stuff hitting their hulls sounded like firecrackers going off. I caught all of my Bass in the middle third of one creek. It wasn't as muddy or debris filled. After I had fished it out I went to several other creeks but they were already "blown out"

Use cheap mono, check it for nicks, and re tie often. Change is often too. I use 12 pound mono (Trilene XL) for all but 1 of my combos. It's plenty strong as long as it's fresh, and you take care of it.

I'd like to surpass, or match my PB Largemouth, but I doubt that can happen now, where I fish. My first goal? To have fun. I'm not in a contest, and I don't have anything to prove. I've said before, I'd like to catch a NC state record Spotted bass. The current record is 6 pounds, 5 ounces. My PB Spot is 4 pounds 15 ounces (but it was in SC by a mile or so). My biggest NC Spotted bass is 4 pounds, 4 ounces. A new PB spotted bass is attainable, perhaps a NC state record Spot is too. I don't know if I'd turn in a state record. It would be cool having my name in the record book but I think it would be a hassle also.

The first lure triggered memory that comes to mind is a Yellow Darter. (Creek Chub Darter that's yellow) My Grandfather took me to Lake James quite often when I was really young. One trip he opened up a brand new Yellow Darter, and threw the packaging in the lake. I told him he shouldn't throw stuff in the lake. He "tanned my hyde" and said he "wasn't going to listen to that hippie talk". Don't hate on my Grandfather. Things were different back then. I've got a Yellow Darter in my tackle box that I believe is that lure. I won't fish with it, I don't want to lose it. When I was a teenager a brick mason, who subcontracted for my Dad took me fishing all the time. His favorite lure was a motoroil colored Manns Jelly worm. I think about fishing with him every time I fish with a worm. My Dad pretty much only fished a Devils Horse. When he took me fishing I wasn't allowed to cast into an area until he had worked it with his Devils Horse. He'd get mad when he missed one on a Devils Horse, and I'd catch it on a worm. I think about him when I see a Devils Horse. I caught my PB on a Devils Horse.

I checked my last pay check stub to make sure inflation hadn't turned me into a liar. My health coverage is $24.52 every 2 weeks. This is for me only. Mrs. B's insurance is through the State retirement system. The company I work for offers 3 different plans. Mine is the cheapest, with a $3500 deductible. All 3 plans have the same maximum out of pocket limit.

I got a spare for mine from etrailer.com. I don't remember what it cost. I've got it mounted on the trailer under the bow of the boat. I used a combination lock so I didn't have another key to lug around. I haven't but should unlock it occasionally so the lock doesn't seize up.