So, I was at about 110 rod and reel combos.  Many of which were well usable, but more like loaner outfits or retired combos.  The one's that have made my "Hall of Fame" were placed in the shrine and the others were slowly sold off (or given away).  I didn't want to get rid of so many, but it was time.  I also wanted to get to a good core of combos that I can grab at the drop of a hat and know it's from my A-List and not having to check if my line or drag was good anymore on this rod or reel.

Amazingly, I dropped my count to 60 set ups.  Many reels were put in the "spare parts" bin which I didn't want to sell and many of the rods were basically given away that were unsellable.

I am really happy with my current quiver and ready to fish for about everything now.  LOL

Then "someone" came along and offered some deals that I couldn't pass up on gear I really wanted and needed.  So I am back to 80 set ups now and have a new issue.  I want to bring them all on every fishing trip so that means I'll be spending more time trying to figure out what rod combos I'll be bringing on board than actually getting the boat ready for the fishing trip!

Well, I finally had someone come over (Thanks for Jorge's number, Tim).

It looks like I have one viable option... and it will be a little pricey.  I need to have a mechanic unhook all of the steering, throttle, electrical and plumbing in the console.  Once I pay the mechanic, then Jorge will raise the center console to clean and prep the bottom of the console to get 5200'd back to the deck along with 10 small screws to pin it while the 5200 adheres.  Apparently, I have a plastic gas tank and that makes him really nervous drilling and screwing anywhere near that.

Then I pay him and then have to pay the mechanics to re-attach all of the steering, batteries, throttle and bait pump plumbing.   Bring On Another Thousand.... or more.

I'll bring my electric Daiwa if we go deep dropping.  LOL

I was so mad at losing so many bass on the whippy rod, I stopped at Turners to take advantage of their Father's Day sale... and now have another bay bass rod.  lol

I needed to get out and fish a bit since I didn't want another weekend slipping by without wetting a line.

I grabbed my bay gear and got down for the dropping tide.  First thing I noticed was my shoulder starting to hurt almost right away which means another PRP shot will be coming soon.

The hooksets sent a stinging pain up my arm and possibly the reason I farmed so many, but I also found most of the fish in the heaviest grass beds which posed its own special issue as that is the spotties forte on escape.

I managed 4 spotties, a sand bass, and dropped one trying to lift up the rocks.  On the other hand, I probably hooked 10 which all shook the hook.  Most of the bass were small, but I did have one legal spottie up to the rocks, but a roll and a tail slap knocked the weedless hook right out.  I also was using a whippy rod which made the hookset with a weedless set up much harder especially with my bum shoulder.

One of the cooler things that happened was I was talking to Dave on the phone and looked down at this sandy spot between the grass and saw an outline.  Damn, it was (probably) a legal halibut!  I got off the phone with Dave really quick and rolled that swimmy right in front of it's nose, but all it did was slowly swim off into the grass.  Damn!   50 more casts and I gave up on it.

Then I see a shark swimming along the fringes of the grass beds.  I didn't see any saddles and it was dark, so I am guess a big smooth hound.  Didn't get him either.

Oh well, still a fun time but my shoulder is still hurting this morning which isn't a good sign.

I'll put pics up later, but until then, have a great day everyone.

Good looking gear Jeremy!  I finally have someone coming by to check out the console on my boat so hopefully I'll be out on the water again soon and get some reels a little salty!

Thornyheads, huh?  I was considering deep dropping for Giant squid.  I'm not sure if one has been caught recreationally or not yet.

I knew he was back and decided to drive around the parking lot where Homa used to live since it's literally right behind my current office.  I didn't see his car so I was starting to drive to the office, when I see this little guy in sweats and slides walking into the Extended Stay office.  No Way!  Homa!

It was great catching up a bit and the first thing he wanted me to know is he can't wait to grill some Kabobs at the lakes while we fish!  Oh yeah, he said to say hello to Squatch and grab the whiskey!  lol

I guess we will be having another P-Soul BBQ sooner than later!

Over the last few months, I've upgraded and accumulated a lot of really nice fishing gear.  Unfortunately, I'm still relegated to weekends and have still not found someone to bolt down my center console. 

I was checking out all of my gear and now have another problem.  I have too many nice set ups and will inevitably bring WAY TOO many rods when I finally get back out there.

Well.... anyone else fishing or have any new gear they'd like to show off? 

Your stuff grows so fast!

I was so afraid to open this thread at first... whew!  lol

Good luck Timmy!

We finally put it together to do some grilling while soaking some lines.  We probably should have hit Lake Jennings as we didn't know the Rock-N-Roll Marathon was happening this weekend, but there was a possibility we would find a spot we needed to croaker fish, have a bonfire, and grill up some food.

Well, damn, we should have come down in the morning but the pm tide looked really good.

Squatch was stuck on the island looking for a place to fish.  I was in traffic driving up and down MB Drive and Jeremey was out hunting for ghosties at CP.

We ended up meeting in the only spot we had any elbow room to fish and were just happy to get a spot.

I was first to strike with this monster leopard...  Haha, fresh out of the womb!



Steve has a good run on his Bat Gear, but he decided he wanted to let the fish eat, digest, and poop the hook out before he set the hook and lost it.  lol

I then get a "Rasta Tattoo" sized smoothie and decide it was time to set up the Blackstone for some griddling!

Then Squatch yells "Your Rod!"  My noodle rod was tripled over and almost dumped all of my line on the little 2500 reel.  All three of us were expecting a butterfly ray, but it turned out to be a little bat.  Little bats sure feel big on little gear.  LOL



Jeremey gets on the board with a pee-pee turd roller.



We decide to get the grub going and it was pretty nice eating some fresh cooked dinner bayside.



Forgot to mention there was a couple on the sailboat moored in front of us and the lady come out buck naked.  She had a lot of tattoos, so I didn't notice at first until I went... Whoa..... and pretty obvious.  Unfortunately, by the time I went to let the boys know, she descended back down into the cabin and emerged with a bikini on since I'm not sure she was aware we were front row for it.

The sunset was spectacular.



After dinner I got another little hound shark.



Then Jeremy has a screamer on his trout gear!  Well, he's the only one who got the target species!





We threw the topwater all over looking for surface croaker, but only found jumping mullet.  Squatch called it with the big Goose-egg and Jeremy and I cruised to some potential good shoreline.

I had one bite but it shook like it was a needlefish or smelt and popped off.  By now it was getting late and we called it.

Super fun times as usual, but we should have went to the Lakes since the bay was ABSOLUTELY packed!  Next time will be the Cat Hunt, for sure!



Fun time gentlemen!  We'll have to plan another one!

I'll be there probably around 3:30 to set up. I packed like it was the SNBF. Be sure to have some top water for the surface croakers!
See you soon!

So tomorrow it is... I'm thinking Croaker Channel on Fiesta Island.  I can bring the Blackstone then and we can cook up some grub on the beach next to the vehicles.  Otherwise, I don't want to have to hike a bunch of grilling gear down like I would at Fishermen's Channel.  I'll grab some proteins but bring some also Steve.  Your choice.

Now do we meet up in the morning, or do we meet up in the afternoon?  I'd love to pump some ghost shrimp but realize I may have to buy some raw shrimp too just as a backup. I also think Dave will be coming down.  I don't think he's left his apartment in months so it will be good to see him.

Any other thoughts?  I'll be really busy at work today but will reach out later to see what's up. 

Okay, let's plan on Saturday then?  I haven't dusted off the croaker rods in years.  Now just to figure out where we want to fish in MB but let me make sure there is no huge event going on which would put a damper on it. 

Let's plan on this Saturday.  I know it's pretty close, but it's not like we have a bunch of people to plan for like a real Fish Off.  Pick the location in the poll and we'll set this up. If you would prefer next weekend, then that's fine also.

I didn't go down to the bay this weekend, but walked around Lake Jennings and saw a lot of potential.