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I thought I'd chime in here.....I think getting thumped on swimbaits is just part of the game. I have that on good authority from the man himself, Ken Huddleston. I believe I could have sized down and caught a lot of small fish but I didn't go all the way there to play my scrubs....I put my best player in the game....he produced pretty well. Not sure if changing baits was the answer but that's my two cents. We had an awesome day no matter what went right and what didn't.

If you jump in and give the water a hug an a fish happens to get hugged, you've got a lot of fishing to do. #redneckadvice

No waste... You started a good beating. Dont let up now!

Something I put together this morning. I call it Light Perch.

This was caught this week at Lake Perris Ca. 18.80 on cert. scale. Maybe WRB will have better details.. Congrads to the angler Dan Hoover!

So I cast out my trusty 5/8oz lipless crank across a shallow grass flat - trying for largemouth bass. On the retrieve, the lipless crank spotted a big honkin' grass carp and promptly bit it on the tail and didn't let go. 51 minutes later, me and the lipless crank beat the 47 inch, 48.6 pound grass carp into submission. (translation: while casting for LMB, I foul-hooked the carp in the tail... ). After landing the 48-pounder, I head home and decide that since the line has been on that reel for a few weeks, and with the stress from the carp, that I should respool the line. After lunch, I head back to the same lake as the morning...AND, good thing I had fresh line and a good knot 'cause the lipless crank does it again! Dang, all I wanted was a bass and I've got another huge carp on the line. After 1 hour and 9 minutes, I land the 45 inch, 44.4 pound carp - this one also foul-hooked in the tail. 93 pounds of carp fight fun in ONE day - makes the 13" LMB that I started my day with seem sorta puny- eh? Tackle was a St. Croix 7' mf rod, BPS PQ reel, and 10lb YZ Hybrid Ultra-Soft. 48.6 pounder: 44.4 pounder: And, just to show how thick these fish are - a top view of the 44 pounder:

Please, do yourself a favor and ask your cardiologist.

My pleasure! It's become habit since getting married to a chic fil a employee. It's the response they train you to say when a customer says thank you. I guess it just become habit from hearing it so much.

You are welcome. And smile!

Not really. Uni works just as well. If it's slipping, you are tying it wrong.

My job is in statistics. I can argue that ANY stat is impossible to measure, and can carve just about any dataset to match the goals of the survey or report, lol.

i've fished both and had plenty of fun doing both. i am very fortunate to live close to ky lake/tn river. when it is "right" at ky lake, i'd say it's some of the best fishing i've ever experienced. plenty of 50 plus fish days with several 5's and 6's in the bunch. i have never experienced that type of size and numbers mix at ANY private pond or lake i have EVER fished. and if public water fish are supposed to be "educated", these fish never got the memo. last december when the water was high, i cherry-picked one sandbar over the course of the month for hundreds of fish with plenty of good ones in the mix using the same lure the whole month. you'd think they'd learn to leave that xr50 alone but they never did. that said, i have also been fortunate enough to fish several amazing ponds and small private or semi-private lakes. with regards to bass size, there's no comparison. i have 2 teens, a 12, and several 10's and 11's. and i will always feel like these fish have an asterisk beside them because they came from a semi-private lake. i also manage a pond. back when i was really putting the work in, i could fish there on any given day and catch 3 fish over 7 pounds in 5 minutes. once i started supplemental feeding, it was even crazier. big fish, super easy to catch. kinda like hunting for cows in small pature with hand grenades. however, even in this fishing paradise, there were always a few select fish that were super "smart" and incredibly hard to catch. the biggest one of these was over 12 when she died and i felt very fortunate to catch her the few times i did. with regards to bragging, there's 2 kinds. you can either brag on yourself, or the fish. theres the "hey everybody, look at ME, i'm so awesome!" kind. then there's the "hey, look at this awesome FISH!" kind. i'm not a big fan of the first kind regardless of whether we're talking public water or private. i am proud of the big fish that i produce in the pond i manage because i know how much time, effort, and expense went into growing them. but the truth is i just feel blessed for every day i have on the water - ANY water. i fish for personal satisfaction and relaxation, not to prove anything to anyone else.

Since a picture is worth 1000 words: These are just a few of the sizes and types of grubs I use. Most of them are H&H Coastal. They are designed for saltwater and inshore fishing, so they are more durable than some of the other types. They are also available in a wider variety of colors. My favorites for paddle-tails and split-tails are avacado/red flake, white, black, smoke, electric grape and clear/flake/red dot. For curly-tails, I stick with freshwater plastic, it has more action. As for rigging: My favorite method is just a straight rig on a regular jig. The only drawback is that it isn't weedless. I still use them in cover, because on this rig I'm usually just swimming it on the bottom, not hopping it like a plastic worm. On the top right, there is the basic curly-tail grub on a banana shaped head. I rig the curl down because I think it looks better swimming that way. Some people rig it facing up. I'm not sure the fish care. Under that, there are a variety of different jig styles that work with a grub. I'm liking the football style right now on the paddle-tail and split-tail grubs. I just rig it like the regular round jig. Also, there are the weedless options. The keel-weight keeper hook will give the lure a more horizontal profile as it drops, while the weedless jig works very much like a round head. I trim the weedguards down. I only use the weedless jig when I absolutely must, I just don't like the profile of the grub with the black weedguard sticking up. There are also two chatterbait jigs. I like to use those with the larger split-tails and curly-tails. I put flukes and slugs on them too. On the bottom is the scrounger. This is one of the best things to happen to jigs in a long time. I buy the ones with the longest lips, you can always cut them down to customize the action.

It could be when you go to pick up the slack line? Drag the c-rig and reel down to pick up your slack line,it you don't you may be missing some bites when moving the rod to pick up the slack line.And I would not hop a c-rid,you want to just drag the c-rig and most bites are going to be lite or like a heavy feeling. If not sure SET THE HOOK!

I'm heading to Petersburg, WV the middle of May for a weekend trip. I have a friend that lives and fishes there and he thinks the weekend we are going the smallies will be off the nest!!! I hope this is true!

I'll tell you this much, if a smallie sees an 8" offering instead of it's normal 6" fare....he's going to take the 8"!

I was sitting around reading Field & Stream and noticed the reel reviews, they torture test reels but they have yet to test the Pflueger President Spinning reel. So I decided to do a test myself. Picked up my spare 6935 and put it on my Veritas. I spooled the reel with 8lb stren mono and did some casting tests with 1/4 oz weight. Every cast hit around the 30-40 yard mark. Every time. I threw it in the back of my rough bedded truck to see if I could break it, went through potholes and bumpy roads for about an hour and aside from the scratches the reel still preformed extremely well. I couldn't break the drag by putting a 10 and 15 pound dumbbell with a screwed in eyelit. ( I put a screw in my 10 & 15 pound dumbbells to test drag on all my reels. ) I dunked it in sand, then water and still I'm amazed by the durability of this reel. I also dropped the reel from 15 feet onto cement and nothing broke. Not one thing. The bail wire did not bend. I'm thinking that everyone should at least get one of these reels.

Psshhh I catch those every day. In my dreams.. LOL.

Looks to be a 5-6 pound bowfin. I caught one about the same size. Put up a fight huh? Them fish are beautiful. And much more nicer than the aggressive snakehead. ( the last one I caught but my thigh and took some layers of skin ) good catch.

Power Pro super slick

They make a good swimbait, that's the only lure I have made by them.

Yes, even Nacho Libre haha

There is nothing wrong fishing private waters. In fact, they are the best places to hone your techniques and practice with various baits and presentations. I don't believe in taking any bass out of any water. So to answer your question, take a picture, get measurments and get a reproduction made.

Don't say that Sausage! I still want to buy a few more at that price. They are a steal at that price.

Sounds like a lot of the distinctions being made here are the difference between folks fishing for fun and the folks fishing to impress others. I fish for my enjoyment only, so other folks "assessments" of my skill mean diddly-squat to me

even nacho libre?

I can't believe this thread isn't lit up with offers to buy that indestructible reel! Kidding aside, in future reviews, you may consider heavier normal use as your base line rather than how well something holds up to short term abuse. Ex: flip the bail open and closed 1000 times, put a slow motor on the crank for an extended period, stuff like that.

nope! However, I did get a small dent in the lip but it casts the same.

My Kmart has senkos for 3.75, I bought a dozen packs because I didn't know when they'd realize that it isn't the msrp.

that's walmart for ya.

ABSOULTELY THE BEST REEL YOU CAN BUY!!!!!!! any Lew's reel is ABSOULTELY amazing.

What is more time consuming? Dealing with twists when your fishing, or trolling the twists out at the end of the day? As far as braid goes, Power Pro, Power Pro Slick 8, and Sufix 832 in 20# size are all fine for spinning gear.

I don't think anyone is debating the point that fishing is fun, no matter where or how. But, to compare skill levels and bragging rights....mehhh. Sour grapes? Not really, I've been lucky to have the opportunity to fish some pretty sweet private waters. One thing that chaps my rear end is the NY State Record largemouth. Buckhorn Lake? Not public. So, basically, I just need to livewell some big southern fish, dump them in my private lake, and hope I hook one. Hmmmmmmmmm.

Just go into a boat store or bps and look at all drain plugs they have an measure the hole on the boat of the 2 diff. Size drain plugs an whne you go in the store measure the ones they have..

GRUBS Like most anglers, you'll probably toy with grubs for awhile then drop them over time. Nevertheless, I believe that "ribbon-tail grubs" are grossly under-utilized. In the quest for max action at min speeds you might take a look at Kalin Lunker Grubs and the Zoom Fat Albert. SHAKY WORMS Speaking of under-exploited lures, if you're in the market for a shapely, high-floating shaky worm, don't overlook the Owner Shaky Worm (6.5" - green weenie). Roger

I pay very little attention to advertising hype, numbers and words can be mixed and matched to make them say anything want and come out with most any conclusion you want. Advertisers are the worlds best at doing this. SeaFoam does what all the others combined do and then some. I've been using it for a lot of years and know a lot of people that have been doing the same. A few years back I found someone that sold me some for $24 a case, and I bought 20 cases, now it's almost $10 a can. I run it in everything. I put it in my backup generator that runs on gas and propane. Which I normally used on propane and had the gas as backup. The gas in the tank was two years old so I changed it out the other day and it still smelt just a fresh as the day I put it in. There was nine gallons and it's runs great in my lawm mowers, air compressor, pressure washer and everything else. I would not run it in a fuel injected automobile engine or one of my boats, simply because I would not want to take a chance gas that old, but all my other stuff is running just fine with that two year old gas.

#1: understand what structure is, how to truly identify it, interpret it, and then fish it effectively. #2: understand what predominate prey species is in your lake and how that species relates to structure morning, noon, and night… with each passing season. #3: understand that next after location is timing; just because you don't get bite does not mean the bass aren't there or you tied on the wrong lure. #4: understand that to consistently catch bass is a process of elimination and duplication. Eliminate patterns and waters that are non-productive and duplicate patterns and waters that are productive.

x2 but with LMB

I carry a Kimber Custom compact when a coat or heavier shirt will allow concealment, but most of the time it is a KelTec P3AT. This is the smallest, thinnest most comfortable gun I've found to carry. I carry it in a Desantis holster in my pocket and don't even know its there most of the time. I'm not real thrilled about .380 auto but I use Buffalo Bore 100gr. +P loads for max. potential. Its not a fun gun to shoot , but has been very reliable and fairly accurate.