Woody B

T-rigged motor oil colored worm. I've got several packs that are over 30 years old. Also a Devils Horse.

It looks to be 60 pounds or so to me. Too bad you released it. It was a world record that would have been worth a bunch of $$$$$$ ( I have a secret fear of catching a world or even state record and releasing it not realizing it was big)

Many of my friends say I'm not really from NC. I prefer unsweetened tea.

When I raced I stayed in a bunch of hotels. Some good, some bad. The best decision I ever made concerning racing was buying a motorhome. I stayed at the track (or just outside the track if not allowed)while at the race or various parking lots on the way to and from the track.

I've considered a TPM system for my boat trailer as well as our camper. It's easy enough to check the tire pressure every trip. A bunch of tire failures I've seen and had over the years involved a tire that had picked up a nail or something and lost pressure during the trip. A TPM system would alert you before the pressure go low enough for more damage.

It depends on lure and technique. Most people are listing their ratios with different lures. I have some advice to help in certain situations. It literally took me months, and a bunch of lost bass to figure this out. When using my trolling motor on auto pilot I was hitting anchor as soon as I set the hook. I was landing the fish that were in front of the boat when hooked, but losing a BUNCH if they were beside of or behind the boat. Hitting anchor when the boat has momentum will send the boat back some. This was in many cases causing a split second of slack in my line, resulting in lost fish. Saturday morning I was fishing alone, using a Devils Horse. I had the trolling motor moving at .7 MPH. I was casting straight out the side of the boat, so the momentum wouldn't have slack in my line while I was working the lure. After losing 3 out of the first 4 I realized the boat changing direction when I hit anchor was helping me lose them. After that I would just turn the trolling motor off when I got a strike. I landed 5 more, including a 4 pounder without losing another. I'd hit anchor after I get the fish in the boat.

A $100 rod is too expensive.

I've towed race cars almost a million miles so I've got some trailer tire experience. 5 years is enough, even if you only use it once a year. If you have a single axle trailer any tire will work, that meets the load ratings. Multiple axles put more stress on the sidewalls and belts due to them being "dragged" when turning. This is where using trailer tires is important. The most important thing for trailer tires is air pressure. Keep them at the correct PSI. I'd be willing to bet at least 2/3 of trailer tire failures are due to underinflation. This isn't always due to neglect. Trailer tires are very prone to pick up nails, and other stuff to puncture. In many cases the track or the trailer is wider than the tow vehicle. This exposes the right side tires to junk on the edge of the road that get's blown over there by other, narrower vehicles. The right rear trailer tires is especially prone to punctures. I think the right front tire bounces the nail or screw up, so it can stick into the rear tire. On my 32 foot triple axle trailer I got a bunch of nails in the passenger side center tire. I would go on trips as long as 1000 miles. I checked my trailer tire pressure every time I got fuel. Occasionally I'd find one tire a little low, and find something in it. Like others have said, if you're thinking about replacing your trailer tires, go ahead and replace them. The cost is low compared to other stuff we buy.

I still use my 5500C I bought when I was a kid.

Back when I worked at a GM dealership a local fuel company ran their entire fleet of vehicles on E85. (not the diesel tankers, the smaller vehicle they had) I made all kinds of repairs to them (famous GM transmission problems) but never made in repair related to E85 usage. I've never owned a flex fuel vehicle.

I tired progressives and hated them. I wear lined bifocals. I get them from Zenni. For sunglasses I use clip ons.

I caught 2 cats today. One on a crankbait and one on a texas rig.

Thanks for the answers. I shouldn't have asked a question in my post. I just intended for this to be a rant, or talk about whatever you want to thread.

I love night fishing but don't get to often. It's not about the only time bass will bite, but having the lake pretty much to yourself is great. Kinda like winter fishing. I have to be up at 5:30 for my current job so late nights aren't good for me at this time. The only time I normally have trouble catching some is for an hour or so right after dark. Lately I've been getting to the lake an hour or so before sunrise. I caught 6 this morning before sunrise, including a 4 pounder. I lost them for a bit after sunrise, but managed to catch 8 more (and 2 catfish) between 10am and Noon. I hate wake boats, but like Trox said, they can actually help. I had never thought about the waves and light penetration. I've been thinking the waves crashing against the shore helps keep oxygen levels up. I've been targeting areas where waves are crashing in the shade. I'll expand to sunny areas tomorrow after the wake boats arrive.

I've got a bunch of stuff to talk about so I figured I'd start a "everything" thread. As far as I'm concerned anything related to fishing or boats in on topic in this thread. Feel free to laugh at me for some of the stuff I post. I've already laughed at myself. In no particular order. I'm eating a little bit of crow. I found a braided line I actually kinda like. I tried braid 30+ years ago in it's infancy and hated it. I tried a couple brands recently and didn't like them either. A friend/co worker insisted I try Sufix 832. I kept saying "whatever". He gave me a spool of it. I like it OK. I might even buy some for some other reels. My "normal" like in Stren mono. What about line for spinning reels? Every time (in my life) I've used a spinning reel the line eventually ends up being a twisted mess. I don't use spinning equipment now, but my wife does. He line ends up being the same twisted mess after 2 or 3 trips. Is there some other line that resist the twist better? Baitcast reels. When I started back fishing I had 2 old Shimano reels and my really old Ambassador 5500C. I still use the Ambassador for deep cranks, but replaced the Shimanos. A friend (a different co worker) had a couple nice reels he tried but hated bait casters. I got a Shimano Curado DC and a SLX DC from him for a deal. I really liked them at first, but didn't "get" the whole DC thing. I would adjust the tension knob (some people call it cast control) like I always did any other reel, and ended up with the DC on 1. I could/can cast quite far, and rarely backlash. However, I finally adjust the tension control like I was supposed to. I loosened it until there was side to side play in the spool, then tightened it to just remove the play. WOW. With the DC set on "2" I can..... a mile. With it on "4" I can cast against a wall, without a backlash..... it the wall is pretty close. I use "4" for skipping stuff under docks. I wanted 1 more reel so, at the suggestion of a friend I bought a Diawa Tatula SW TV. (whatever that means). It's.....OK. I adjust the tension knob tight enough to just take side play out of the spool. If I set the control on the other side below 8 or so I either get backlashes or have to thumb lightly during the beginning of the cast. If I set it above 8 it's seems to put on brakes 1/2 way into the cast and sacrifices distance. I don't have to thumb it at the end of the cast. I'm not completely satisfied with it, but would recommend one to someone new to baitcasters as long as distance isn't going to be a problem. FWIW my old Ambassador 5500c has the small weights. I have to thumb it lightly toward the beginning and at the end of a cast. I have to thumb my Shimano DC's at the end of the cast, except on 4. Trolling motors. My boat came with a Minn Kota Edge, 45 pound. 45 pounds was sufficient, but I wanted anchor/spot lock. Minn Kota (like the rest of the World) had supply issues so I couldn't get a Terrova at that time. I bought a Powerdrive (55 pound-12 volt) and a "GPS" system from a 3rd party. It worked great for a couple weeks, then the GPS started going crazy. "They" had me do a firmware update. It worked great again for a week, then started acting crazy again. They sent me another unit. It worked for a week, then went crazy again. I ended up getting a refund from them. "They" were great, but I didn't/don't have time to be their R&D department. So....I found a Terrova, 12 volt 55 pound. I love it. I love the foot pedal, the remote and it works great. I did fall in the lake a couple weeks ago stowing it. (feel free to laugh, I did) When you're stowing your trolling motor look around for waves from wake boats before you bend over. I would have bought an Ulterra for the auto deploy/stow/trim if 1 was available in 12 volt. I didn't want to buy another lithium battery. Batteries. My boat came with a flooded lead acid group 24 cranking battery, and a flooded lead acid group 27 trolling motor battery. If I was on the trolling motor for a while I'd have to use my jump box to start my engine. (rarely any pumps or light, just 2 sonar units). 4 to 6 hours, especially after I got gps/anchor mode my 88 amp hour trolling motor battery would be done. So, I bought a lithium battery for my trolling motor, and combined the group 24 and group 27 batteries for my cranking battery. No more battery problems. (I'm not here to promote any particular brand. I will answer that question only if asked) My battery has bluetooth. I fished 11 hours, in the wind with both of my teenage grandsons. At the end of the day my battery was at 46%. I bought a 125 amp hour. The battery company said 100 amp hour would be sufficient, but I like overkill. When one of my lead acid batteries dies I'll go lithium for a cranking battery also. Other boats, other fishermen, ect. I HATE wake boats......but most of the time the people in the wake boats are the nicest/friendliest people on the lake. The pontoon guys seem friendly, but I suspect, at least around here that most of them are drunk. Most fisherman are friendly but a small number of bass fishermen are the biggest jerks on the lake. I think the jet ski people have a death wish. I was going down the lake a few weeks ago at 35 mph. A jet ski was making circles around me. So, laugh, cuss, whatever. What are your thoughts on.....anything fishing or boating related?

To anyone who hasn't received a pay increase I'd recommend changing jobs. Wages and salaries are up quite a bit around here. If you run a small business you have my sympathy. (that's all I'll say so I can keep politics out of it). I work for the devil (huge corporation) but we got a fairly large pay increase last year. The root of the problem has to do with the pandemic, but not because it wasn't taken seriously.

I "try" to not let other people ruin my day. There's plenty of idiots on the water anywhere. We don't have much trolling around here except trolling for crappie on one lake. Most of the people trolling are pretty considerate. There's plenty of bass fishermen who will cut in and start fishing right in front of you. I don't own the lake but it's just rude to cut someone off like that. On weekends the lakes are literally full of boats. I think it's really dangerous. There's wake boats going 10 to 15 MPH, pontoons going anywhere from 10 to 35 MPH, jet skis flitting around all over the place at all kinds of speeds, and the "I've got to get there first" bass boats going 70MPH and above. It's a recipe for accidents and even injuries. I usually either go really early and leave before the lake get's full or go after they've left.

I've caught bass on all 3 of my combos, as well as my wife's combo too.

I wouldn't actually throw a baseball at anyone.......and I do carry a gun in my boat. If someone pulls a gun on me they better shoot me pretty fast.

Spyderco Endura, and it's always razor sharp. Why do I carry a knife? Because opening a bag of chips with a 9mm makes a mess.

(Not smallmouth specific) I believe that once you get to a true Summer pattern it will be lake wide. During transitions you may find different patterns in different areas of a big lake. I also believe these transitions are more likely to occur in different areas, at different times if the dam is to the south, and the inlet/river it to the north.

A full sized spook with no hooks would be great. I've considered keeping a baseball in my tackle box just in case I need to bounce something off an idiot.

I do most of my fishing on Lake Wylie. Since the spawn ended I've been catching quite a few bass under docks. Saturday(yesterday) the dock bite was slim. I managed to find them right up against banks that are being pounded by waves and at ledges/drop offs near these banks. If there was a mudline in the water from the waves they'd hammer my bait right at the line. There isn't much vegetation in Lake Wylie so I suspect O2 levels can get low. Surface temp is low 80's at sunrise and climbs a few degrees during the day. I caught 9 yesterday (1 under a dock) in 5 hours. I caught 16 today in 7 hours. None were huge. The smallest were 12" with a few up to 18". I see a BUNCH of people fishing on points where the water is 20' or deeper. Everyone I talked to at the landing and on the lake were having a hard time catching any. In recent years everyone says bass fishing at Lake Wylie is dead, but I've caught a BUNCH pretty much every weekend this year. I've caught 4 there over 5 pounds this year. I don't see any fish, or baitfish deeper than 20'. I wonder if oxygen is a problem in Wylie quite a bit. I know of 3 spots that I can always catch bass, but none of the spots have "always catch bass" structure. I wonder if there's springs there under the lake. Like any lake it's covered with wake boats this time of year.

Excellent video. I've got a thermocline question. Is there a way to tell what depth the thermocline is? I think I read that sometimes there would be a line on sonar. Added: I fell out of my boat last week but didn't sink below the thermocline. I remember swimming, diving, and skiing and feeling the colder water at a certain depth.

Last December I pulled up at a local 1500 acre lake. There was a guy standing on the dock. He was glad to see me. He launched his boat with his rope sitting on the bow.