AlabamaSpothunter

That's amazing you got to share that with your father! Me and dad took several trips down there when I was growing up where we'd hire a guide for 2-3 days like you. Every single time out was just spectacular. I lost a 175-200lb fish after about 2hrs right....and 1.7 miles away from the buoy we hooked up on right at the dang boat. That fight is seared into my soul for life. I'll never forget that fish. Saltwater fishing takes the wonderment factor of fishing off the charts. @king fisher always reminds me how special Bass are though, he earns a living fishing for the most amazing saltwater pelagic predators in the world and chooses to spend his free time exploring Mexican lakes for DDs.

Yeah my Facebook timeline has been flooded with El Salto and Baccarac posts since I googled Mexico Bass fishing after seeing this thread bumped weeks ago 😁 Mike organizes his trip for $2100 IIrc. Can't wait to see another Mexico video from you, I really enjoyed your last one. Gave a great perspective on fishing down there.

According to Mike Bucca the lake is loaded with 8-9lb fish this year, should make the upcoming year great for catching DDs.

He's a fantastic player. Being an Auburn fan, I'm pulling for Jahni Broome to get the Wooden Award though. Hopefully Duke and Auburn aren't in the same region in March.....good chance they'll play each other in a Final Four matchup if not.

Yeah March is the first month where the bigger fish start to migrate into the area so depending on the yearly weather they could be there or not. It's a moot point if you've fished for Tarpon in the Keys. I've never found any form of fishing that holds a candle to Key West. Key West fishing is the summit of the mountain as far as I'm concerned. Where else can you go 30 miles out into the Gulf to catch Blackfin Tuna behind Shrimp boats in the morning and then go 13 miles out into Atlantic during the afternoon and catch Sailfish. Then wake up the next morning and go out into the bay and catch 100-200lb Tarpon.

Come June, July, and August I'll be ready to swap homes with you......that summer weather in NY is paradise.

The ole saying about weather in Alabama....if you don't like the weather now, wait about an hour when it will be totally different 😁 Hopefully your upcoming forecast isn't that different than mine Bob. Gonna be t-shirt weather for close to two weeks down here. 12 days over 60 in Feb. is going to make some very dynamic fishing days.

March is the first month that bigger Tarpon start to bite down around the Tampa Bay area, I'd consult your guide about the prospect of Tarpon fishing. Any good inshore guide in that area will be an expert on Tarpon as well. There is nothing in the fishing universe that compares to Tarpon imho. A 100lb+ Tarpon is life changing. Good luck and have a great time!

A BR Fish is another 'weighted' fluke rig as well.

A super sneaky trick the pros use especially on Herring lakes is wrapping the hook with lead wire. They wrap the exposed portion of a typical EWG when rigged on a fluke.

Agreed. The last event of the year at the SLR pretty much killed all enthusiasm for the Elite Series. As long as the Johnstons are on the Elites, I'll keep looking for a better product. I have extremely high hopes for the NPFL. I'll still play fantasy though because it's a ton of fun.

I think Trey McKinney will win AOY. If he doesn't win, I think Easton Fothergill will win. Nobody over the age of 30 will win regardless imho. The only thing that can defeat a massive time on water advantage, let alone the FFS advantage that the kids have is luck imho. The NPFL roster is absolutely stacked, I can't wait to see the old legends vs new legends compete in traditional Bass fishing.

I love my Curado 150MGL 8 speed for cranking......everything from squarebills to DT10s. You can always slow down, but you can't speed up 5, 6 and 7 speed reels. Some days speed is the deal when cranking too. Some days you can't burn that thing fast enough. I remember 25 years ago everybody wanted 5 speed reels for cranking, now look at all the top level pros and they're using 8 speed reels for cranking. Then again they use 8 speed reels for most everything these days.

Yeah that's a really great deal Katie, I'd guess that would cost a couple thousand dollars.

My old neighbor moved away, but I found some new homeowners on the lake who granted me access again to the lake. They got new XMAS decorations this year as well 😁 Katie is spot on, you'd be surprised how often people will let you fish their private lakes by simply asking permission instead of trespassing. Other times property owners can be persuaded by the offer of doing chores or odd jobs in exchange for access. It's amazing the things in this world you can achieve by simply asking for them in a polite manner. ETA: Google Pat Cullen.......he caught over 1000 DDs in GA, and did so by asking untold amounts of small lake/pond owners permission to fish them.

Mexico might be a bit much to plan for and the travel/time might not be ideal, but I recently found a live bait guide on Chickamauga who is crushing it the last few winters. Think he had 35 DDs last year. I've got another Shiner guide on St. Johns River on the short list as well, he's been catching a bunch of 8-11lb fish recently. Maybe something like that would be a better option. I'd absolutely be done for contributing some money for a trip like that for you. Either way I'd love to see you go on a trip of a lifetime!

That's fantastic news Lynn, and thanks for checking in with us! I wish they could bottle up your toughness and resolve and sell it, Redbull wouldn't have anything on that 😎

Check out the Autoboat smart head from tinyboatnation......I'm considering one myself AUTOBOAT SMART HEAD GPS Pro Anchor System - for 12V Minn Kota 30-55 Lb - Tiny Boat Nation ETA: For about $1k you can have a spotlock TM with remote control access

Geecrack Cue Bombs and Imo Kemushi 60 and 95s. This will be the year of fuzzy baits.

Foot controlled TM control is such an advantage, that would be the first thing I would upgrade if I had a different boat for the home lake. I think a Minn Kota Edge is the easy button. I like to use Facebook marketplace when looking for motors or electronics. Usually can save some good money buying it there. I've even bought brand new motors in the box for significantly cheaper than MSRP. IIrc you have FFS, so a foot controlled front mounted TM makes all the difference in the world there as well.

Nope, but I retire hard baits once they've caught a 8lb+ fish. Every good soldier deserves to be relieved once they've served their time 😎

Seeing the pictures of several inches of snow on Panama City and Destin beaches is pretty mind blowing........Key West will be our only refuge 😁

Alpha Angler Chatterbound Not the prettiest rod, but it was honestly game changing for me. It's 7'2 though. It's also the best moving bait rod I've ever owned in general. It works just as good for a blade bait as it does a bladed jig.

Bro, it's gonna be 38 degrees this afternoon......how about a little sympathy 🤣 We don't even own warm coats down here......we've got closets full of Fall weather coats 😮

We didn't get snow like a few weeks ago, but I've been couped up the last 4 days and I'm about to go bananas. Today the high is still only low 30s, but I've gotta get a few hours outside at least. I can't find anything to do when it's cold after the first day or two when I finish all the chores around the house. Yanks and Canucks are built out of something different. I have no idea how they deal with winters. I can hardly manage 7-10 days a season.