Woody B

I think y'all do a great job. I don't recall any insulting posts toward anyone. No one has even called me the fat guy that catches small bass that I know of.

Back in May myself and a co worker were fishing at Lake Norman. I found a new looking Bandit 200 floating. It hadn't been in the lake long. The hooks were still sharp. For kicks I tied it on. I got hung on something kinda springy feeling. I finally was able to pull up a length of line with a charturse spinner bait tied on it. My co worker sharpened the hook on the spinnerbait and tied it on. Within 10 minutes we had both caught decent bass on our found lures. Including this one.

At times when a slow retrieve is best I often use a crankbait that's a little too deep for the water I'm fishing. IE, I'll use a Bandit 300 for fish/water that's 8 feet deep, or a 5XD, 6XD, or DT16 in 12 to 14 feet deep water. When it gets to the bottom pause the retrieve, let it rise a little then drag it back down. Pay attention though. Strike are often subtle, and during the pause period. I also use suspendots on the lip to help keep a bait down for a slow retrieve.

Regarding a catch log. Take a picture with the location enabled on your smart phone. It will have the time, and gps location. Take the picture with the lure still in the fishes mouth is you want to record that. I never count how many I catch, I count my pictures at the end of the day.

A pulled pork sandwich while tooling across the lake to my next fishing spot.

I've got a Zillion SV TW that I love. What does the "21" mean? Mine isn't a "21".

The problems in NC were due to the ash ponds overflowing due to flooding, excessive rain. There were also problems with the liners in the ash ponds. The water from the cooling ponds, discharged into the lakes "should" never see any contamination. I have relatives who have recently retired from Duke Energy. There's more to the story of the coal ash incidents in NC but a public forum isn't the proper setting for a discussion. (The NC incidents weren't as bad as the TVA mishaps.)

Maybe it's a pond thing. My youngest Grandson caught a largemouth 1 ounce shy of 7 pounds in a pond on a plopper. He tries on in my boat, on lakes and can't buy a bass. A couple times I've caught decent bass by casting a Devils Horse where he had just got nothing on a plopper. Certain times of the year I see everyone throwing either whopper ploppers or buzz baits. The ones I talk to at the landing never catch anything. Most of my Devils Horse bass are caught near where the lure landed, but I normally make targeted cast to either visible, or known underwater targets. Often times with "moving" baits I cast past the area where I think a bass is.

I had a friend who got behind on child support due to having back surgery. He finally got back to work, and was slowly catching up his child support. His ex complained about the back child support. The State took his license. HE WAS A TRUCK DRIVER, WHO COULDN'T WORK WITHOUT HIS LICENSE. He died of a heroin overdose a year or so later. No one made him put a needle in his arm but the "system" was clearly against him.

Mrs B and myself decided to go camping last weekend. It was the coldest night of the year. It was 24 degrees on the lake/campground, and the water hose feeding our camper froze. Water temps here have dropped 8 degrees in the last 10 days. It's been a couple years since we had any snow, with any accumulation. I'm sick right now. Dr said I had a respiratory virus that will just have to run it's course.

When I go into my local tackle shop to by Trilene they keep recommending different braids. I tried some windtamer. It laid on the reel nicely but as others have said it was noisy. Either I was having real bad luck while using it or it's easy to damage. I got a lure stuck on the limb on a laydown and was jiggling it to get it loose. The line broke, 10 feet or more from the lure with almost no pressure. I had used it for a couple trips, it's not like it was years or even months old. I fish around lay downs, and rocks often but don't have problems like that with other line.

My biggest of they year (7lbs 13 ounces) came on a texas rigged motoroil worm. 1/8 ounce weight. 4 of my 10 over 5 pounds this year came on a Devils Horse. 4 were on some type of crank bait, and 1 was on a spinner bait, 1/4 ounce single colorado, chartruse with a Mann trailer. The 7-13, or another fish in the same area hit at but didn't take my Devils Horse. I followed up with the worm. It hit it on the way to the bottom. Sheer numbers were probably best on crankbaits. Before I got active target I done a bunch of searching. Crankbait used depends on the time of year, water conditions and what mood I think the fish are in. Early spring, and recently I've been using a crankbait that's actually a little bit too deep for the water I'm fishing. A slow erratic retrieve will have it bouncing off the bottom and triggers strikes. I also had good luck when they were up on the flats feeding burning an OG4 or 6, as well as Bandit 200's and various Rapala DT's. Right after I got active target I caught several 2 to 4 pounders suspended near a ledge with a 5XD and DT16. I was watching them on my screen. I'd get the crank down to the level they were suspended (12 to 14 feet) then basically fish it like a jerk bait. I caught my first Alabama Rig bass last Friday. Before active target I had never gotten a nibble on an a-rig. I didn't realize how slow it sinks. It's really heavy, but sinks really slow. It takes quite a bit longer than a big bladed spinner bait to sink to any depth at all. For rods and reels, I normally fish with 3. I had 2 bps rods but broke guides of both of them. I've used a Lew's Mach, 7' Med/Mod that I've used all year. My current other 2 are a Lews Tp1 black, 7'3" med-hvy/fast, and a Duckett Silverado 7'3" Hvy/Fast My Grandkids marveled on my DC reels that I bought used. I gave them to them. I bought another Slx -dc, and a Daiwa Zillion to replace them.

One of the lakes I fish on has nuke cooling, as well as cooling for a hybrid coal/natural gas power plant. The nuke is pretty much always running. There's current at the intake. My Sister in Law lives 1/4 mile from the intake. The discharge is usually a couple degrees warmer than the rest of the lake. I *think* there's a cooling pond where the water sits after being discharged from the reactors. Access is limited....there's a barrier blocking access to the discharge from the main lake. You can see water coming out though. When the coal/natural gas plant is running (not often) the discharge water is as much as 5 degrees warmer than the rest of the lake. I suspect the cooling pond/storage for the nuke plant is bigger than the coal plant. I don't know if anyone is allowed access to the cooling ponds. I believe all of these plants use steam turbines to generate electricity. The nuke use nuclear to generate the steam. The hybrid plant use coal, and natural gas to heat the water. (I think this is how they work) We're lucky here in the Carolinas to have plenty of capacity to generate electricity. There's an "emergency" plant a couple miles from my house that uses natural gas turbines. It's for high demand times. It's only in use once or twice a year. Duke Power has hydro plants all around, built as much as 100 years ago. I believe they do this other places but I know for a fact that they pump water from Lake Keowee back into Lake Jocassee during non peak times to run the hydro generators multiple times with the same water. They also pump water from Jocassee back into Bad Creek to re use it. I suspect they do this with some other lakes, but I'm not sure which ones.

Taking away the pros boat and equipment would be like expecting Tom Brady to throw a properly inflated football. Fishing with no prep isn't really a "pro" thing either. Preparation is one of the things that makes a pro a pro. Don't pros often employ guides for pre fishing a new to them lake?

I'm scared of my dog.

I don't know about Georgia but NC taxes out of state income. You will get credit for taxes paid in another state. We live in NC. My wife worked in SC. We were taxed by NC for her SC income, then got credit for the amount paid. IE had she worked in TN we would have to pay NC income taxes on the TN income. Again, I don't know what Georgia does.

It doesn't get as cold here as it does in many places. I haven't found gloves I can fish in. I keep a hand warmer in each pocket and stick my hands in to warm them occasionally. It takes a bit for my body to adjust though. The first time in the fall/winter in get's down in the 40's I nearly freeze. After a few weeks I'm OK. Same with spring/summer. The first time it gets to 75 or 80 I'm melting. It was 23 degrees when I launched the boat the day this picture was taken. The high was around 40.

The biggest mistake I hear people saying about marriages is a marriage is 50/50. 50/50 doesn't work. A good marriage is 100/100. On a different note. My wife was fussing saying that I don't tell her I love her enough. I reminded her than I told her I loved her on our wedding day. If anything changes I'll let her know. I said earlier that marrying my first wife was the worst decision I've ever made. Marrying the current Mrs B is the best thing that's ever happened to me.

There's a reason divorces cost so much. They're worth it. Married to my 2nd wife for 22 years. Marrying my first wife was the biggest mistake I've ever made. No one should live is misery. If a marriage is over, walk away.

One big difference between boats and cars is speed limits, lanes, traffic lights, stop signs ect. Most lakes are a free for all. None of the lakes I fish on have any kind of speed limit. FWIW, I'm not asking for more regulations on lakes, just stating that, at least around here there aren't any.

I don't see any pictures of dogs in boats. Dolly loves to go fishing.

Deer hunters?

Line damage from a past backlash.

Mrs B and myself took the camper and boat to Moss Lake. (1500 acre lake, full so spots, fished to death during the summer). We managed to catch 7 today. The spot pictured is my first Alabama rig bass.

There's a bunch of people fishing for catfish on Lake Wylie (NC/SC). The most successful ones catch bluegill and white perch to use for bait. I caught a 53* pound Flathead on a bandit 200 back in April. Some of my purist bass fishing friends say they would have cut the line. I enjoyed it. It's the biggest fish I've ever caught. It fought like a submarine. It took almost 30 minutes to land it. The first 2 times I got it close it saw the boat and freaked out. (12 pound test) * I had a 50 pound electronic scale that read "err". 45" length, 34" girth is 53 pounds per chart I found.