Ham

For me, my tolerence to cold is determined by air temp, humidty level, amount of wind, and how much sunshine is available. I can tolerate a 20 degree day just fine if the air is dry, there is no wind, and lots of warmth from the sunshine. I've been very cold when it was 40 degrees and raining withthe wind blowing its butt off. My presence is required at work. Sucks, but I'm proud to have a job.

Yeah, the areas around Buffalo Shoals are good. The shoals themselves scare the crap out of me going from top to bottom. It's not so bad running up them. I'm getting to where I have too many favorite spots to fish. I primarily look at water level and make a call these days.

My wife and I are going to Crystal Bridges for a special Modern Art exhibit that is ending soon. I hope we'll have a good lunch in there somewhere.

WFJ, I got some tips for you my Man. I got something that would crush them and be easy for guided clients to fish.

Kinda of an odd generation pattern lately ; high flow for a few hours and minimum flow the rest of the time. Not really what I like, but they dont ask me.Predictions were for continued pulse generation, but the weather while awful wasn't impossible to endure and so I went. I had to go solo. My week of begging prior to the trip yielded no takers so I had to go it alone. I opted for falling water at Rim Shoals. Lots of people prefer to fish a rise. Some people believe fish WON'T bite on falling water. I prefer steady water, but I play the cars I'm dealt. Fish certainly do change locations as the water level changes and You have to find them before you can really catch them. I knew high water would hit later in the day and I would change locations when that happened. it was CLOUDY which is NOT my favorite fo trout fishing. Wind was less than 10 MPH which I almost require for jig fishing for trout from a boat. Air temp was a steady 35 degrees or so. Pretty damp cold and dreary. Started off kinda slow, but once I nailed down a couple of locations my catch rates improved. Nice Rainbows and a Nice Cutthroat in the first hour or so. I did a lazy drift from upper edge of C&R to the riffle aove the first island. I really wasn't pressing. Wind picked up and I put on a jacket. Grabbed gloves from my truck prior to a run above C&R. I ran a couple of miles above the C&R area, I wanted to try spy baiting for trout. I threw it about 10-15 times. I got three hits and zero fish. tough to stick with when the hits don't connect. I of course was steadily picking up fish on Zig Jig. Decided to return to C&R and fish that upper riffle. Made the run down thru skinny water. I turned the boat to fish and the riffle was gone. In seconds that wall of 7000 CFS water flooded the area. Crazy how fast that happened. Literally 10-15 seconds. I was at 35 fish when I bailed on Rim. I fished for a minute and then put it on the trailer and headed to Buffalo City where it was more of same. Steady fish catching once you dial into the proper locations. I was literally getting bitten every cast UNTIL the water caught up with me again. Once the high water hit, I tried for larger fish near shallow water obstructions. I got one small Brown for my trouble. I tried the area immediately across from the boat ramp and basically zeroed. I caught a few BUT Lost a couple of jigs and my temper. It was 4:25 PM. I had planned on leaving at 4:30, but I decided to run back to the shoals and try again. Good call. I picked an area and got a > 20 inch Brown (measured) on my first cast. Lengthy exciting fight. (pics later). I still had a couple of minutes left so I kept at it and ended the trip with my 75 th fish a colored up Rainbow. It was getting gloomier than before so I took my tired, cold butt to the truck. Good day on the water. I needed one.

I called and talked on the phone with that guy. He was very helpful. He explained the set up to me. That's how information used to be shared prior to the Internet. I bought a kit and some of their other lures (blade baits and tail spinners). I sure hated to read that he passed away. He swam after his boat when it drifted away from the ramp on a cold water time of year and was overcome by hypothermia and drown. Systems are developed, but then tinkered with and improved on. I think the use of better floats and super lines has increased the hook up ratio a lot.

I totally get it. I loved her all the more after she said that.

SOT kayak guy. Kayaks are very intuitive. After a few minutes you will naturally being doing what is required to get up and down the creek. Your skills will improve the more you use it, but I don't think it is nearly as difficult to pick up as a canoe. My next boat will be a Coosa, but the best deal is a Perception Pescador. This is the same hull as my beloved Tarpon 120 that I got in 2003, but with better seating. You can get in a Pescador for < $600.

I showed this thread to my wife. She looked puzzled after seeing the >100 K price tag, she said "But, it's a Triton?"

What? Pre rigged with the chunk of Zinker? You don't want that. The salt weakens the hook. I don't pre-rig the night before even.

I feel more comfortable with the #1's, but I don't pour my own jigs sooooooo

The #1's are a disappearing bunch; it will be back to #2's after that.

I love the sickle hook in some of the other sizes. 1/0, 2/0, and 3/0 depending on size of grub have been very, very good to me. In the #2, the gap seems small and the barb is almost non existent. I've had a number of mystery "get offs" that chaff a bit, but you still catch plenty thru the day. The 32833 ain't bad In a #1 if you accidentally order the wrong size either. Just saying.

I hate I saw that.

I only made it to 28. I posted a LENGTHY number of photos on another thread. So, I'll try to improve on that number in 2015. So far, stuck on one species for 2015 Largemouth Bass.

they're thinking they don't want to live to see Feb

I've got a TFO Light spinning rod 7' that I would sell for $50.00.

Champ, I love the concept. Maybe I just need another whacko willing to sit STILL and work a single small bluff line for a couple of hours to have a little more success. So far on my FNF. I've caught a handful of bass, a double handful of crappie, some white bass ( I eventually got frustrated with missed stikes and went to a straight grub set up) , a few bluegill, and a few rainbow trout. I'm going to try to run my big boat at least once a month until the water warms up. I might need to make FNF trip.

Hey Champ, Let me preface what I am saying with a reminder that I had limited success, but I don't think my set up was the problem. Braid or nano tied directly to a 3 way swivel, pear shaped hard foam float clipped to the three way swivel, and finished it with leader tied to 3 way swivel and the fly (jig). I like the punisher jigs. I have a few others that I like as well.

Just more screen shots to show I am not getting what I need from my electronics.

Except warmer water and catching a bunch of fish. Nice fish for sure. Good job!

I fished 1/6/15. I wanted no part of fishing today.

I think the first two fish are Cutts.

Gosh, I hope air boats never catch on around here. Awful.