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Mine's doing fine thanks.... I just checked to make sure.

I'm not sure if this applies to every state, but it does in Florida. I was stopped the other day by Fish and Game. The officer was very professional while he did his job and inspected my boat. My uncle and I were the only ones in my boat so I needed two life jackets, right? Well, I had two life jackets, so I thought. My uncle was using my "vest" style jacket and I was using an " inflatable suspender" style jacket (like the Mustang). The officer told me that the "suspender" style jacket (unlike the vest style) is NOT considered a life jacket unless it is worn at all times. Once you take it off, it's no longer a life jacket. In short, I needed to have a second "vest style" jacket in the boat if I wasn't going to wear the inflatable at all times. The officer didn't ticket me for the infraction, but schooled me none the less. And here I thought I knew everything

Another beautiful in Florida. This is why there are snowbirds. The parking lot was packed on Friday. Trailers and bank fisherman everywhere. SteveP was already fishing when I called him. He picked me up at the ramp and we headed South. Fishing has been slow, but the big ones have been biting. Numerous 7 lb plus fish have been caught with a number of double digits to add spice to anyones day. So excitement was high. Maybe this was the day to set a new personal best? Well, maybe it was for some folks but a picture is worth a thousand words as they say. I guess the good news is that I can personally put any rumours about the poor spawining conditions to rest once and for all. No need to thank me guys

Take a minute and read Don's article on the Home Page or right here: http://www.bassresource.com/fish-fishing/losing-weight.html

I purchased an Alabama rig before they became so popular. I live in the same area as Andy Poss who designed the rig so I had easy access. I have actually caught a ton of fish on the rig and I renamed the rig for myself as the Achilles rig. This thing is the only lure I found my self wanting to throw. I have caught fish on this thing even when the fish would not bite other lures. Today I went out to my favorite spot on Pickwick and the conditions were brutal. Started out throwing the rig and never had a bite. My partner in back of boat started catching bass on spinnerbait. I just marked it down as a fluke. I kept throwing the Achilles rig and my partner kept catching bass. I started watching him just to see what he was doing and he was hitting the same spots I just got through fishing. So I decided to switch to spinnerbait and within 10 minutes I catch a fish. I ended up losing the spinnerbait and didn't feel like retying. Picked up rattletrap and within no time a few more bass. So I just thought the fish was turning picked up the Achilles rig again and no bass. I finally ended up catching 1 stripe on the rig. I have heard people say that the a rig was going to be put an end to all other types of baits. From my personal experiences since I have owned one I feel like this is just another tool. Sorry for the long post. Just thought I would share since I have heard so many negative things about the rig.

Honestly, a largemouth. If you can fish in Mexico or some of the other trophy largemouth lakes or waters, say like the Cal. Delta or Lake Fork, a 10 is very possible. To break 7 on a smallmouth in any water in the world, you would have to be very skilled and very lucky. A guy bagged an 8-2 on the Columbia in 2010 so they are there.

Immature bluegill. Maybe take another pic with a little less glare, but the color and gill plate look like a small 'gill to me.

So sorry to hear of his passing. He was a great guy who did a lot of wondeful things for college football, the university, State College and the players who he coached. Like the Bear, he passed away right after he retired. Now to pass the baton to Beemer at Virginia Tech.

He is now officially dead. I hope that he will be remembered for what he truly was and that his legend will not be tainted longterm by "what's his name."

Rigged or not, I do not know. But, it does illustrate, quite clearly, what I have stated about my experience with umbrella rigs for years ago. He looked more like he was retrieving a bait than actually fighting fish. They exert far more frantic energy fighting each other than fighting the fisherman. Banned or not, by states or an organization, I have no opinion, and do not care. My reason for not using one is that multiple hookups really do take the fun out it. If I hadn't used umbrella rigs years ago, I'd most likely be out there buying a couple of these rigs, and using them where they were legal. But, I'm convinced that after a few multiple catches of just dragging the fish back to the boat, it would get put away, or thrown away.

Could you have thought of a slightly different title. I thought the thread was going to be warning. Sheesh.

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/anal-retentive-fishing/1349689/

I have never personally used this swimbait before. Based on the reviews on the BPS website it sounds like a decent bait. Multiple people claimed to catch several pike on the same bait so it sounds like its fairly durable. And almost every review stated that it has great swimming action. The first thing I would do is change out the split rings and hooks. BPS has a tendency to put junk hardware on their baits. The last thing you want is to hook a toad and have a hook bend out. I prefer owner hyper wire split rings and I would use at least a 2x trebles. Next you need to determine the capabilities and characteristics of the bait. For instance the ROF (rate of fall) on this bait is sinking. That does not tell a whole lot. You can use a pool, a 5gal bucket or anything where you have a predetermined depth and clear water. Count how many seconds it takes to reach the bottom. Also pay attention to how the bait sinks. Does it fall nose down? does the tail wag on the fall? does it fall flat? does it spiral? Pay attention to detail. When you swim the bait does it perform well at low speeds? what about high speeds? Will it turn 180deg when you pop the bait? Once you become familiar with the bait you can apply it to the best suited techniques. I will try to make this as clear as possible on how swimbaits or any other bait for that matter can be applied to a technique. What is the technique? Imagine this... you cast out letting your lure sink to the bottom. You let it set for a few seconds and then you drag it towards you in a small deliberate motion. Your rod goes from 9 o'clock to the 10 o'clock position you pause for a few seconds reel up the slack and repeat. In this description the word lure is general, it could be anything. In place of the word lure you could insert swimbait, jig, carolina rig, droshot or pretty much any lure that has the characteristics and capabilities that allow it to be applied to that technique in the given conditions. The lure does not define the technique the technique defines the lure.

Welcome aboard!

See if the pawn guy will give you half your money back if you give him the ugly stik back...

i have no problem with people keeping fish as long as theyre doing so in a legal fashion within the law. what ticks me off is people that constantly complain about others keeping legal fish. that person has a right to keep that fish whether its a 2lber or a 10lber. as long as the law wasnt broken you have no right to complain, ok maybe you have the right to complain, but you still have no ground to stand on if youre mad someone legally kept a 10lber. maybe its not the best thing for the fishery, but that fish wasnt going to live forever anyways, now was it?

Welcome home!

I've been using a slip bobber/Senko set-up for the last two seasons and this one as well. It allows to fish two rigs at the same time - legally - and with a partner, it gives us four presentations. I'm usually working a drop shot on my second rig and a partner might be working a spinnerbait or tube. Fishing alone, I've had many doubles; fishing a partner, we've had 4 "quads" over the years. Talk about a lot of fun! H The bobber stops can be found at any sporting goods store - even WalMarts. They have the stop set-ups & small plastic beads in the package. You can find the cigar floats at Dicks; you can use all kinds of slip floats in this application, but after trial & error, I've pretty much settled on this one. It's about 4" long and the bright colors make it easy to see, even in a decent chop. I've chosen Fireline Chrystal, as my main line, because it stays on the surface of the water, between the float and your rod tip. This makes slack retrieval much easier, as well as hook-sets. And, for me, it's easy to see! The glass bead under the float prevents the eye of the crane swivel from sticking in the bottom of the float. (There actually is a method behind my madness, believe it or not!) It also ads a little weight to help get your Senko down faster. Do NOT use a barrel swivel! You know....the kind that are used with "snap-swivels". Use a quality crane swivel or ball bearing style only. These turn much easier than the barrel types. The Senko hanging below a bobber, has a tendency to turn....so you will need to avoid line twist, as much as possible. I really like to use the Spro Powerswivels, size #8 or #10. They work as well as any ball bearing swivel, but they are expensive and not easy to find everywhere. You can use any hook you want; however, I would highly recommend you give this one shown a try (crush down the barb!). I've had excellent results with it. When the bobber goes under, you just start reeling her in! The leader between the hook & swivel is anything you want it to be. If I'm fishing fairly shallow in weedy/wooded conditions for LM, I'll beef it up to about 10# test - or more! But for open water SM fishing, the 6# test cited above is about as good as it gets. Now....the most important part! How far up the line do you set the bobber stop? This is what I do. I find bait on the structure I'm fishing. Then I attach an ice fishing depth finder - the lead weights with the alligator clips molded into them - to the hook. I lower this boatside until it hits bottom. I adjust the bobber stop so that the float is about 2' underwater. This will be correct, for having your Senko presented 2' ABOVE THE BOTTOM. Got that? Simple...effective. Remove the depth finder, slip on a Senko. Cast it a short distance from the boat. The float will lay flat, until the Senko is at the end of it's travel. Now the float will semi-stand up, bouncing about and imparting a rather dramatic action to your wacky rigged Senko. Lots of folks have a prejudice against bobbers. I guess they automatically associate it with live bait fishing, but it's quite different. You still need to present your Senko in front of fish and and you have to find them! I've posted here, previously, my technique of how I wacky rig these Senkos, so you can do a search on that. Hope this is of some help to some of you folks.