FishTax

Carry a machete so you can make a clean kill when you land them. I've only had this happen on live bait as well, and it's been many years.

Feed them to the birds and turtles. Sing the circle of life while throwing them over the dam. 6-8" are pretty small though, bite sized. You may want to cull a slightly larger class, depending on the situation and your goals.

I'm finally on the board with a decent fish after a tough winter and the challenges of tax season. Shout out to @Pat Brown for encouraging me to throw a heavy jig with paddle tail, @Siebert Outdoors for creating the jig (3/4 oz MATA brush in black and blue), and @A-Jay for the reel (first fish on it). This fish was in a shallow wind protected cove and smoked the jig as I was working it slow around the bottom. It was about 5lb but wouldn't be still enough for a good reading. Photo isn't great because my phone was tied to yak, I need to change my photo setup somehow. I was a little surprised by the catch because I had just launched and wasn't really prepared. Couldn't be happier though!

Lifetime NC. Auto renew nonres VA (I travel there for work semi-frequently)

Now that is an advanced ninja move!

Glad to see so many others saying what I feel as well. Very rarely do I find a 'pattern'. I think the closest thing to a pattern I ever find is about 3x a year I find a school of hungry fish that don't get scared off from me hauling them in. But.. 95% of the time it's one bite and on to the next thing because they learn fast and turn off the bite as soon as I hook one. I feel like I get a pattern more in late summer and early fall than any other time, but that could just be a coincidence. I'm fishing highly pressured waters and am thankful to land 3 decent fish in a day (in the winter make that any single fish), so it's not really possible to have a pattern when you don't catch a limit

Search on the forums to find lots of info on things like this but it sounds like you have a good start. I love using a trick worm, I generally use 1/8 or 3/16 weight head. Everyone has their own favorite color. Mine is junebug but I certainly throw many other colors as well depending on conditions, etc. There are many ways to fish them and you have to try several presentations sometimes to find what they like. I highly recommend testing in very clear water so you can watch what the bait is doing in response to movement of your rod or reel handle. I typically lift and drop. Sometimes I do a shake, sometimes I don't. I think less is more though, don't overwork it. How far they want it lifted, how long to pause when it hits bottom, etc are all things to experiment with. I'm not a fan of dragging it, but many other people are. Where I fish, I feel the shells wreck my knots when I drag it and then when I finally get a bite it breaks off. I don't throw them up into wood too much, I prefer a jig for that. But I love a SH on a point or pocket. Also, if on a spotted bass fishery, SH is probably my #1 bait I'm starting with (depending on conditions and how I'm feeling that day ) Good luck and tight lines! I agree with all of that and would especially highlight 'soft bottoms', aka muck. In ponds in this area, and many lakes actually, we have slimy muck on bottom that a shaky head or other bottom presentation just don't do well in and a dropshot can shine in those conditions.

Love this idea! I'll throw one (or three) in my next order. Also, which skirt is that in the bottom photo?

NC is trying to pass constitutional carry now. I'm surprised it's taken this long. Also I agree with the 500 rounds thing. I think that is enough to get a good feel for the gun and 'break it in'. Of course, that's just the beginning. Then you need to shoot with it regularly to stay familiar/accurate/safe. Imagine if you didn't cast your rod but once a year, but thought you could drop it in a coffee cup from 30 yds. Very few people could do that, and yet most people with guns think accuracy is maintained without shooting it which goes again any form of common sense imho.

Shaky head or finesse jig. Why- because fish bite them of course!

I'm being forced into maintenance on mine right now because some of my electronics aren't working so I'm pulling wires. In the process, I found a rod holder from the previous owner jammed down in the hull and stuck to some of the foam. I've yet to get it out (time) but very soon I need to pull everything and get it back in good shape. Wasn't expecting much maintenance on the yak and there really hasn't been, but hidden hull wiring was only a matter of time I guess. And the quality of the work was less than good... so now I'm wanting to redo it all.

Bobcats scare me. You can keep your lions. I know they probably won't bother me, but I don't like the thought of them.

Praying for you both now.

Mid-March in NC the spawn will be in full swing as it is starting now. You could save a few hours off your trip and hit central NC, then have the option of several lakes in the area. All of them have big fish. Mid march I think you could well exceed 6+. I think for @Pat Brown in mid march that's an average catch. For me, it's an awesome catch All of our lakes pretty much are good, but if you want a big I'd avoid the spotted bass fisheries like Norman, Hyco, etc. as you can catch numbers but they are small. They do have some big fish in them, but imo they are harder to locate because the ratio is lower. Look at Jordan, Falls, Michie, Butner, Mackintosh, High Rock, Tuckertown, Badin, any of the city lakes like oak hollow, Brandt, Higgins, Graham-Mebane, etc. Many many choices, and I'd bet all of those have a double digit in there somewhere. I wouldn't bet on you catching one, but the possibility is worth pursuing! I'm happy to provide further thoughts if interested but don't want to hijack the thread acting like a travel agent for NC 😎

I watch it when moving from place to place, and sometimes when I first launch I'll go 10 minutes looking for bait on the graph before I start fishing. My problem is I really like fishing, and I stare at a screen all day at work so sometimes I don't even bring electronics with me as others have said I know the lake area I fish pretty well and don't need it. But I do need it to find the bait which I learned from @WRB should be the first thing I do in the marina before I start casting, so I try to follow that advice he's written many times on here.