Quote from: jrodda on July 01, 2026, 08:19:10 PM

Quote from: Latimeria on July 01, 2026, 07:11:30 AMWell Koga sent me some AZ bass plastics from 5150 so I'll have to try them out.  To be honest, they look like great little baits!

The little 2.5" swimbaits? I've caught a few on those from him, solid play.

6" dropshot worms.  Good freshwater bass stuff

I really do love all of that old west sort of look in those towns and BTW... That is a LOT of JERKY!

I just felt like seeing what everyone's plans were for the holiday...  Feel free to add your own answer.  lol

Well Koga sent me some AZ bass plastics from 5150 so I'll have to try them out.  To be honest, they look like great little baits!

Any updates?

The boats in the driveway and the console seems pretty legit!  All I have to do is put a bead of silicone around the console and it should all be good!  I normally would never take it out on a big holiday weekend like this, but I'm jonesing hard.

Quote from: Dark_Knight_9C1 on June 29, 2026, 03:33:20 PMThat was some good catching. Great conditions.

Also heard Carp. I'll be hitting Big Bear Lake for some this holiday weekend.

- Keith

The carp I saw jumping out of the water might have body armor they were so big.  I'll be renting some cabins in a few weeks and will be sure to try and catch one of those bruisers!

Well, I found a "buddy of a buddy" willing to fix the boat.  Unfortunately, the supplies he had me order too a week+ to get here since it could only be shipped via ground transportation. I feel like they might have skimped a bit, but was assured it will be good for another 16 years.  All I have to do is throw a bead of silicone around some of the edges. 

I'm picking it up today and running it home during my lunch break.  My boatless driveway has been a sorrowful sight these last few weeks.  Now I only hope to get out there and catch something, although the deepwater rockfishing will be closed by the time I launch it.

Dude, I have to make time to get up there.  That looks like such a cool place to spend some down time and fishing!  The hardest part will be talking my wife into it since she always wants to use vacation where there are warm beaches and palm trees.

Some really cool stops along the way!  I love seeing that old stuff and makes me feel like I should bring my metal detector up there.

BTW... Just buy her the 'Toon already!   lol

No sweat, but bummer it wasn't more action.  I know that wind and cold turned off a lot of the bite, but at least you found them.  Something that would have been much easier to do in a boat or a second day on the tube.  lol

Happy birthday boss!  I remember being down in PB/MB on my 29th birthday myself...

The boat is supposedly fixed, although I will have to just add a bead of silicone and it should all be done.  I'll keep you posted.

I'm working on finding an online place that will send the letters to our reps and the DFW.  I'll hopefully get that out this week,

The pickles are on the way out but the tomatoes have gone wild!  Time to work those top tomatoes!

Caprese


Snacks


Mexican Shrimp c*cktail


Also made a ton of Salsa Fresca and plenty of homemade pasta sauce.  (We used a bunch already just from this pot so there wasn't much to can)







Cucumbers have been small during the late harvests, so plenty of pickle chips still to be made.



Well, at least it's a start.

I haven't been able to hit Santee Lakes in quite a bit.  I was going to head down to the bay to bass fish, but the traffic and people last week scared me off.  Also, my shoulder is shot so I wouldn't have to cast as much freshwater fishing.

It was nice to just run down the street and I brought my trusty Ninja Rod.  Conditions were nice with a little breeze by 8:00am, but schools of baitfish were everywhere!  There must have been a shad spawn or something.



I saw a few bass smashing the bait balls, but also saw some JUMBO carp jumping out of the water!  Holy smokes were they big!

In any case, the next few hours were fun.  All of the bass were legit which was pretty exciting to say the least.

First on the board.



They were definitely in the "That's a lot of fun" category.  I used a subtle technique for a few of them, but they were smashing it on the surface also!  The sound of "PLOOSH!" is a really exciting sound and maybe even better than a screaming reel!



All the fish were within a +/- pound of each other.



I lost one that sounded like it would have been a 5 pounder, but it was probably just an aggressive 3# model.

It wasn't wide open by any means, but in 2 hours I went 4 for 5 on bass and that was alright.
It was by no means Lake Barrett fishing, but damn good for the puddles.



I worked 5 of the 7 lakes (pretty quickly) and will definitely be back again soon if I could get out of work at a decent hour.



Thanks for reading and until the next Puddle Excursion!

You just guilted over impose. Lol

Working 11+ hour days for almost four months, along with a busted chicken wing, has kept me pretty far out of the fishing loop lately. Unfortunately, by the time this finally crossed my radar, it already feels like the damage has been done.

I'm pissed for a lot of reasons... at DFW, at the process, and honestly just at the situation in general. But one of the biggest frustrations is that this seems to be the result of people abusing loopholes and pushing things too far, which created the mess the rest of us are now stuck dealing with.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Over the last 55 years of my life, I've watched plenty of things get taken away because of a few bad seeds. But this one hits below the belt on a lot of levels.

It really does look like the perfect storm was brewing before this happened: bad actors, increased attention on white sharks, public safety concerns, and now sweeping gear restrictions that impact people who were legally and responsibly targeting other species.

I'm still going to try to get a letter written up that we can send to our representatives and to DFW. I realize it may feel like a moot point after the fact, but maybe there's still a chance to push for some common sense adjustments, especially gear allowances that would let shore anglers continue casting baits for soupies, leopards, and sevengills without being lumped in with people illegally targeting whites.

At the very least, we need to make our voices heard (even after the fact) and make it clear that responsible surf anglers shouldn't be punished for the actions of the few.

That was my rant of the year, so my apologies.  I've been in a terrible mood lately with constant shoulder pain, no fishing, no boating (or boat), super long hours of stressful work, and about 6 other things that are probably worth leaving off this list.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted.