Woody B

2 day report. I'm going to change my name to Catfish (just kidding mods). I went Saturday afternoon from 3 until 8. I caught 11 bass, as well as a 18.88 pound Blue Catfish. I've caught 5 catfish this year bass fishing. 4 have been over 10 pounds. I don't think that's trophy size cats, but they're fun, and they're a handful on bass tackle. None of the bass were big enough to measure or weigh. I was thick into the cats for a while. A couple followed my lures to the boat. I also hooked a couple that twisted and got off. One's I've caught on treble hook baits are usually skin hooked. I guess the bass size trebles have trouble penetrating their hard mouths. I suspect being skin hooked helps them twist off. Right after one of the cats twisted off a 13 inch Spot hit my lure. I lost a fish and caught a fish on the same cast. I went from 8 to 3 today. No cats. I caught 16 bass, a crappie and a perch. Biggest bass was a Largemouth I'd guess to be around 4 lbs. I've got 14 inch, 18 inch and 22 inch marks on my boat. This one was a little over 18.

I'm glad you're feeling better.

My opinion is you're not hurting anything by reeling, but you aren't accomplishing anything either. I'm not an expert, but I don't lose many big fish. I frequently experiment with my rod, reel and line. I'll tie my line off to something in my yard and get a feel for how much my line can take. I also do this with knots. When fishing I keep my drag fairly loose, I'd guess 3 or 4 pound but I've never checked with a scale. I thumb my reel for a good hookset then let the fish do what it wants for a while. If it's headed toward cover, or somewhere I don't want it to go I'll thumb my reel to put additional pressure on it. This is where experimenting in my yard helps me know how much pressure I can put on a fish. Once I've got a bigger fish "turned around" I bring it to the boat my pumping the rod. Reel while lowering the rod tip, thumb the reel, pick up the rod to pull the fish in, then repeat. It may not be the right way but it works for me. I used to back reel like @Captain Phil but just use a light drag setting with my thumb lately. When I was 12 I lose a HUGE bass by leaning on it too hard. That's when I started experimenting by hooking my line to stuff in my yard. A couple months later I caught a 20 pound striper.

I've got a smiths diamond knife sharpening stone. It's got a hook groove but I don't use the groove much. It's got a handle, and a cover that goes over it. I've also got a small pair of needle nose vice grips I use to hold trebles with while sharpening.

I caught another catfish while bass fishing. This one was on a Seibert bladed jig. I didn't measure it. Blues are really slimy. I had slime all of my boat and clothes. I wanted it back in the water before it could slime anything else. I'd guess it to be 30 inches. It weighted 11 pounds. The 17 1/2 pound flathead I caught last week was 34 inches long. 11 pound isn't considered trophy sized for a Blue but it was a handful on bass tackle.

A bunch of nice bass. They make my dinks look like....dinks. Nice to see @A-Jay found water that wasn't frozen. Myself and a co worker went yesterday after work. We caught 6 bass, 3 apiece, all spots. The biggest was 16 inches. He also caught a white perch. I caught a white perch, a crappie and a 11 pound blue catfish. I wonder how many cats I'd catch if I targeted them. That's 3 over 10 pounds this year, all bass fishing. I caught this one on a bladed jig.

@ol'crickety remember, dogs don't die, they just run ahead to heaven and wait.

I'm not knocking, or endorsing either one. Sometimes the companies with the best customer support are the ones with the worst products though. IE, pretty much everyone into guns raves about Ruger's customer support. Ruger's customer support is really good. OTOH every single Ruger I've ever bought new had to go back to them for something. I've never had a trolling motor from Lowrance. I have Lowrance graphs, but have never needed service. I had a minor problem with a Minn Kota Terrova trolling motor. (that was self induced). I contacted Minn Kota by e-mail and asked for the part, instead of taking it to a service center. They sent me the part. Comparing an Ulterra to a Ghost isn't an apples to apples comparison. I'd pick the one with the features you like. I believe reliability is good of both.

One of the first things I realized with bass is most of the fish I actually see hit my lure come out of nowhere in a flash. The followers aren't usually the ones I catch. I try to look away from the screen when I see a fish in pursuit. It's really easy, at least for me to jerk the bait out of their mouth. I make myself look away or close my eyes sometimes.

Some days my Dad would have my Mom iron his back. He'd lay face down on the bed. She'd put a double layered towel on his back and go at it fairly hard with a clothes iron, and steam. As hard and as hot as he could stand it. If anyone tries this remind the person doing to ironing if it get's too hot don't just pick up the iron, pick up the towel too. My Dad built houses for several Doctors, as well as several medical facilities. I suspect it was a Doctor who told him to have Mom iron his back.

I've seen a bunch of Geese sitting on nests the past few weeks. Last week I saw one family already hatched. They sure make a mess crapping everywhere.

Much of that is taxes. Decades ago a BUNCH of tobacco was grown in NC, and all over the south. Cigarette taxes were low here. A former customer of mine owned several convenience stores here in NC. He made MILLIONS smuggling NC cigarettes to New York.

I hope you find some relief soon. My Dad (building contractor) never had surgery but wore a prescription back brace under his clothes until he retired. I've got a co worker who's had 3 back surgeries. He's been good for a couple years since his last one. I've been lucky with my health. I'm 59. I have occasionally aches and pains but nothing serious.

I'm glad it wasn't worse. I was talking to a guy a few weeks ago that has a river boat/fishes rivers a bunch. He said he picks a landing downstream from where he's going to fish, the goes upsteam as far as he plans to go to start fishing. That way if he has a problem he can drift back to the landing. I don't know what the boat landing situation is where you fish, but I liked his plan.

Speaking of smoking, my Grandfather possibly saved my life, or at least prolonged it. When I was 12 myself and a cousin had spent the night at his house. He caught us behind his tractor shed smoking one of his cigarettes. He made us smoke a whole pack. These were Pall Malls with no filters. I'd probably still throw up if I tried to smoke a cigarette today. I'm 59. I remember my parents buying full service gas for 34 cents a gallon. Gas was right at a dollar a gallon when I got my license.

I've always "misplaced" the big ones right after the spawn. They'll be back for the Shad spawn, the Bluegill spawn, and the Mayfly hatch.

I ended up Cashion Core Series. 7 foot med/hvy- fast action. It's labeled as a "worm/jig" rod. I looked at a BUNCH of rods at a local tackle shop. The Cashion being made right here in NC is what sold me. I like it. It "feels" good. The grip is "different". It's kinda a weave type grip. I like it so far. I'm not a grip snob. Some of my rods have Winn grips, some have EVA. I like the Winn when it's hot, but the EVA is better for me when it's really cold. Haven't been hot and sweaty or freezing cold with this rod yet. I caught several bass on it with a variety of lures. It's labeled a "worm/jig" rod. I'll probably leave a worm on it most of the time but I wanted to try it out. I was able to accurately place a 6" zoom worm with a 3/16 ounce shakey head where ever I wanted to. I swapped lures several times to try it. My favorite top water lure is a Devils Horse. I could cast and work it good with this rod. I caught one while I had a Devils Horse on this rod. You can really feel the thump with a bladed jig and spinner bait. I like that too. It's tough too. While I was playing musical lures with this rod I caught a 17.54 pound, 34 inch long Flathead Catfish. It's got enough backbone to bury a treble in a bony catfish mouth, and also enough....whatever it takes... to keep a big fish pinned during a long fight. Me and the Cat were both tired by the time I got it in the boat. I've got a SLX 150 reel on it. Thanks for all the advice.

I've never had much luck with jerkbaits. I have had good luck fishing Rapala DT's like they're jerkbaits. DT4's 6's and 8's suspend really good. The 10's and deeper rise when you stop them.

I've lost the big Mamas. I caught 7 small buck bass today. I could have caught more, I abandoned the spawning pockets and went searching for bigger bass. I also caught 1 white perch. Either the big mamas are resting or they're just hiding from me. I've got to work all week. Hopefully I can find them next weekend. However, small buck bass are better than no bass. The biggest one "might" have been 15 inches if I stretched it a little. LOL I saw a fire department boat going down the lake wide open with it's lights on. I haven't heard any bad news. Hopefully they were just airing it out. Edit: By "lost the big Mamas" I never found them. I didn't hook any big fish today.

I was targeting bass today but ended up catching 6 different species. Spotted Bass, Largemouth Bass, White Perch, Yellow Perch, Crappie and a 17 1/2 pound Flathead Catfish. I had just caught a few spots in an area. I spot locked the boat to take a leak. I looked down at my sonar and saw a ball of baitfish with 3 big fish coming up into them from the bottom. I grabbed my closest rod and tossed a Bandit 200 that direction. The Cat took it within a couple seconds of hitting the water. It was a fighter. It kept trying to go under the boat. I reached and trimmed the motor up, then kept moving away from it with my trolling motor while keeping good pressure on it. After several hundred yards of dragging it was finally tired. I was disappointed when I saw it. It was really big, but fought much bigger. (I caught a 53 pounder last year. I believe this one fought harder). The lake was full of boats. My boat was rocking with waves. I never could get the scale to settle. It was bouncing from 17 to 18 pounds. I snapped a pic on 17.54 pounds. It was 34 inches long.

16 Bass today. 15 Spots and 1 LM. None big enough to weigh. Biggest was 16 inches or so. I think I caught the most number of different species I've ever caught in a single day bass fishing. In addition to 16 Bass I also caught a White Perch, a Yellow Perch, a Crappie and a 17.54 pound Flathead cat. The weight on the cat may be off a little. The lake was rough with waves. I couldn't get the scale to settle. It was bouncing from 17 to 18 pounds with the waves. I snapped a pic that read 17.54. It was 34 inches long. I caught the bass on a bunch of different stuff. Bladed jig, shakey head, Devils Horse and a couple cranks. The "off" species fish all came on cranks.

If I were retired I suspect I'd fish quite a bit. The biggest hurdle to me retiring is healthcare. I'm 59 and blessed so far with good health. (Since birth) I've never spent a night in a hospital as a patient. I've never met the deductible for my health insurance. However, insurance prices for people my age scare me. My insurance through my employer is ~$60 per month. Mrs B and myself are debt free, and we've got quite a bit of savings. The thought of leaving a 6 figure job, and taking on ~$1K a month or more for health insurance is scary. My Wife's pension includes her health coverage but I can't get included on hers. My Daughter and Grandsons are great people. The thought of working way too long, then leaving them a bunch of money when I pass away is OK with me. I certainly wouldn't want to leave them with any bills.

I've never even held a reel that brand in my hands, but I've always considered them throwaway reels.

I've never had a lure to the face. That's as bad as it gets. Especially if you're fishing alone. Last year I got one in my right arm. I was alone, and I'm right handed. I cut the line, so I didn't have my rod/reel fighting me. I normally push the hook all the way through to expose the barb, then cut the barb off. I couldn't get this one all the way though. My pocket knife is usually really SHARP, but I had cut a bunch of carpet with it earlier. I needed to make a small cut on my arm to push the hook through. I have a small sharpening stone I use on dull hooks. I sit in my spot locked boat, with a hook in my arm and sharpened my knife on my hook sharpening stone. A small incision with my just sharpened knife and a snip of the barb and I was back fishing. I have a well stocked first aid kit in my boat (as well as my truck). I suppose a scalpel could be a good addition. I don't have a fillet knife in my boat, but wouldn't want to try to make a precise cut, on myself with a floppy blade. To the OP, I hope it wasn't as painful as it looks.

I'm a musician. I love most kinds of music. However, I can't stand music as background. When I listen to music I listed to music. When I'm doing something, like fishing I prefer silence. IF I were going to listen to music while fishing it would be Robert Earl Keen's "Five pound bass".