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Never, ever look anybody in the eye while eating a banana.

Caught my 1st river largemouth burning a kvd 2.5 into rocks by some bridge supports. Was told smallies like hanging around those supports so I thought I got a smallmouth at first. Then after a while I switched to a matzuo phantom minnow and got a small striper. An hour later I rigged a lighther setup and caught 1 white perch on a small tube jig for crappies. The perch was incredibly small. Other then that it was a pretty nice day out with the sun up and little wind.

After two extra days on Guntersville I made it home yesterday.

Flipping and pitching are pretty simple. Basically, you pitch when you are too far to flip and you flip when you are too close to pitch. Me, I pitch most of the time, so I seldom flip. The more stained to muddy your water is, the more opportunities to flip you've got. JMO

Sounds good, everything except the hot sauce, lol. We'll leave that debate for another day.

got out today and fought the wind the entire time. managed to get 1 decent spawning bass at 4.9 lbs.

#1 22" didn't realize the lighting was so bad. was in a hurry to grab a tape measure and find my phone, get these and throw it back before I looked

Distance. The distance from where you are and your target. If close to a target and you want to cast fast you flip. This method is a soft-entry and sneak up on the fish method. With the line in your hand and the length fixed you are working the same amount of line for each cast. 15-feet is the usual distance for flipping. Try to keep reel's handle pointed up into the air if you have a left handed reel and you are right handed. If you are farther away from the target and you want to cast slower or to targets under overhanging foilage you pitch. Your underhanded cast keeps the bait low to the water's surface so it makes a nice, soft entry. Your reel is turned to the inside facing down. You can get a longer cast if you snap upward releasing the line from the reel as needed. You can gain more momentum by grasping the lure in one hand and pulling it tight then releasing it in a slingshot fashion. To cast even longer practice the "loop pitch" which is easier to cast if you have overhead foilage or structures around you. I do more pitching and flipping with a spinning setup as it is easier and no worry about backlashes. Great way to present plastics. Have fun!

Road Trip Chronicles Get there Wednesday morning and meet bassinisaddicting. We get on the water at 8. Make a short run to the dam and immediately start catching fish on a jig. Wind kinda blew us out and I was still jittery. Make a short run to a creek catch fish, and a gar. We replicated this throughout the day. Met up with 00mod and fished a windy bluff to knock some out on shakeyheads………the pattern begins. Total fish: 19 with several 2#s and big fish of 3 ½ # Highlight of the day: Jon catching his 1st ever jig fish (he’s hooked now) Quote: “don’t let there be a jig bite up in here…..” Thursday Fished with 00mod. We start at dam again and knock out 23 fish in 2 hours. Ran some creeks and points but got on some bluff walls with current breaks and started to find quality. Bite dies down so we run to a big open bay and catch more fish…..pattern getting stronger. Graph deep fish on points but wind too much…. Total fish: 49 lots of 2#ers and a few 2 ½# smally big fish 3 ½ Highlight of the day: jeff catching his PB drop shot fish. Quote: "these buck bass are just cruising these shallow, looking to munch on my drop shot." Friday I fish alone, as there is a strong chance of rain and I didn’t want to pair up and then not fish. I decided to head out later….run the history spots from the last 2 days and pick up 4 fish. On the way in I notice a point in the protected marina cove the depth I was looking for. I sidescanned the flat/hump/point and saw bait and predator fish. I dropped a buoy, turned around and caught 3 out of the first 5 cast all solid 2#ers. I saw swabby and Jon idling by and told them to drop trolling motor cause I felt like we were going to knock their lights out, as these fish seemed more active and bit harder…..naturally the bite goes cold….I follow the pod down a ways and catch another one. Only fished for 3.5-4 hours Total fish: 8, all pretty good ones. I feel now we got a solid pattern if the weather will help. Highlight of the day: catching my 1st “offshore structure” fish. Finding them, marking them, and turning around to catch them was an awesome feeling. Regret of the day: Not running more water and staying out to fish longer. I needed a nap. Saturday I fish with Glenn. I really felt confident we could catch offshore today, as the FLW boys were knocking out lights on blackbass. I ran to some spots I caught earlier in the week and other spots I wanted to check….. never really found what I wanted, and I got impatient really quick…. Thank goodness Glen had a solid shallow fish pattern. We run to his spot and Glenn quickly starts kicking my head with a senko. He figured out with a quickness that they wanted a subtle do nothing fall, and color didn’t matter. Total fish about 40 with Glenn catching at least 25 of those, with plenty of 2#ers mixed in. Highlight of the day: Hearing lots of great info from Glenn and getting a senko lesson. I feel confident on how to fish a senko now. THANKS GLEN!!! Quote of the day: “Needham, I wish you knew what this felt like.” As he was outfishing me by at least 8-1 at the time. I quickly rigged up a senko. (edit: change "some" to "plenty" of 2#ers, since I know how to judge tn river fish now) Sunday I fished with Kerri. Started off slower, as I was trying to fish deeper fish. We started to flip trees and picked up some fish in the next few hours. We ran into Gene and Jon and asked why I couldn’t see fish on the graph. Gene informed me with so much current they were flat on the bottom and you had to trust they were there. We looped around them and headed back into a cove. Flipped more trees and bush and caught some fish albeit slower. Coming out of the cove I threw across a rock point I just “hunched” had a quick drop…..then it happened. Rock, rock, rock……..THUNK, rod load! 3 ¾ in the boat!!! Few mintues later another, then Kerri boats a 2 ½ . I really thought we had found a school of 3#ers. We beat that point up for an hour until we had to go. It was really a classic textbook spot, a point with 2 rock ledges with milfoil on one side. TOTAL BLAST and great feeling to know they are there but more importantly to understand WHY they were there. Those fish either just came off the bed or waiting to go back in, either way they were looking to chomp on a ¾ ounce jig. Total fish: about 25 Highlight of the day: finding the big bite and understanding why Quote: “get the net, I got a SEA BEAST!” Regret: having to leave. I really think we had them pegged from that last spot and given the chance I REALLY think we could have put the beatdown on some big fish.

Hard to get this many colors layered well with the cheapo pen style tool What do you think?

Me and my brother cut out a few hours early from work today and it paid off. We fished for 3 hours and got 15 fish including a 6.1 ,4.25, 4.1, 3, 3 and several in the 2.5 range. All of the fish came on KVD 1.5 . What hurt the most was we were fishing a area that holds some big fish and we saw a hawk look at us setting on the bank he didn't want to move but he took off after a min or 2. I looked closer and saw a huge bass setting on the bank it was fresh blood was not dry..still had good color..and hadn't started swelling....this bass was a monster he would have passed 10 punds pretty easy was long and built like a football...would have loved to have got him and not the hawk.

I spent this day fishing with my oldest, dearest accomplice. The dozens of bass were extremely cooperative though none over two pounds were caught. I had the opportunity to introduce him to bass fishing. We talked, we laughed, we relived 40 years of working together, we fished and talked some more. This took my mind off my recent news. It is amazing how much comfort can be derived from spending quality time with a great friend who cares. Thank God for those folks who take the time to be a real friend.

Caught this beast this morning with a KVD in 3 feet of water. I was certain it had to be a LMB but it surfaced with headshakes 3 times and looked really dark. It was too heavy to actually go airborne. I have caught a few smallmouth in this area before, but nothing like this. This is not a great lakes SMB. Revived and released after photos, but I have to admit, I really wanted it for the wall. Couldn't find my digital but it was straight pegged on my analog scale at 6 lbs.

Nice job. I saw all the boats blow past me in groups. I didn't go out that far but still caught a few good ones.Started catching a bunch of pickrells so I packed up. I was throwing senkos. Hooked a 4.2 lb smallie off of a boat dock around 8.

Thats a great looking jig!! I have a spinnerbait that is pretty close to the same color and it is by far my best one. I might have to sweet talk the wife into letting me get a few of these ordered soon.

Just got done with it. I will post pictures when ever it stops raining.

got out today in the rain. I was cold and wet but i did still manage about 8 bass in a few hours. biggest one ended up being 5.5 lbs. the pictures dont do the fish any justice. sucks when your by yourself and you need to take a picture. anyways her she is full of eggs.

Now hold on there hom skillet !!! I have caught bass in ever kind of condition there is- Shallow-shallow-cover-grass-wood-cold water-warm-hot- BUT DEEP___ That is a very underutilized buzzbait condition. It is also one of the most productive areas of the water column that can produce both numbers and quality. When bass are schooling and attacking shad it can be an amazing/fun technique. I have caught bass over 30 ft of water. It is something that you should really gain confidence in. NOW IF YOU ONLY KNEW SOMEONE WITH SOME BUZZBAITS

Both barrel and crane swivels rotate very little in the water, BB swivels are better and a ball chain swivel is best. None of them will prevent line twist as twist is caused by the line being wrapped around a fixed spool, normal for spinning gear. Some reels advertise an anti twist bail, always been a bit skeptical of those claims as mine have not eliminated twist. The turning of certain baits like spoons and flukes will add to the twist already being caused by cranking line it. Keep the hook centered and try to have the swivel in the water so it it's rotating, keep your rod low if you can.

Any recipe starting with a pound of bacon is going to be great. Bring "em on!

I will be at Collierville Civic Center Sunday morning if you would like to meet. My vehicle is a black Sequoia Toyoto and I will be wearing a Rage Tail hat. -Kent

Wacky rig a little baitfish imitator dude. I have been killin the cruisers lately on a 3.6" PTL JP Hammer Shad wacky rigged. Cast it a foot away from them and just twitch it like an injured bluegill fry. They will come up and inhale it. Here's a short video demonstrating this technique. Right now the bass are hanging around bluegill beds looking for a spot to make a nest, and they will pick off fry.

That's a nice Spot sbfishySC. Hartwell, or Keowee?

I would highly recommend a gravity fed type airbrush for painting lures. The one you posted is a siphon feed, and not ideal for the small amounts of paint used for painting lures. Check this thread out, it has a lot of great info on airbrushing. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/116276-intro-to-airbrushing/ Post some pics if you paint some lures. I'm probably not the only person who would love to see them.

Yes, buzzbaits excel in open water. I like to fish them across heavy current for river smallies as well. Really versatile bait.

If we do hamburgers again next year, or any other dinner they will go well with, LOL. I will pitch in my totally awesome baked beans - recipe starts with 1lb of bacon...what could possibly be wrong with a recipe that starts like that, huh?

Probably need a little more information to answer your question. Such as how many rods are you looking to get? How much are you looking to spend? Anyways, one can get very specific in their rod/reel pairings. For instance, some people will have a few rods for every technique. Say a crankbait rod, a deep crankbait rod, a dropshot rod, a senko rod, a weightless t-rig rod, etc. etc. If I were you I would get a nice bottom contact rod. If you get the right one it will fish jigs, t-rigs, carolina rigs and maybe even spinnerbaits. Not saying it will be perfect for each, but it will be a good start and introduction to getting nicer equipment. The rod is of extreme importance when fishing bottom contact so a much larger percentage of your money should be spent that way. As for getting a crankbait rod, really many rods will suffice. You are going to want something with a slower taper. If I were you I would get a rod that is good for crankbaits, jerkbaits, and topwater. Put mono on it and you can have a fairly versatile rod. Then I would say a spinning setup would be good as well. It will help when fishing any of the lighter bait or "finesse" techniques. So you could get a fairly decent 3 rod setup that will cover many techniques. May not all perfectly, but will suffice and will be an excellent start. As for gear ratio, 6.X:1 is pretty versatile. Start with a reel wit that that ratio. If you are deep cranking, a 5.X:1 gear ratio is good since it will have more torque. You could get a 7.X:1 gear ratio too if torque is not an issue, you can always slow down. It is up to you.

you dont even need different rods for all those...i dont know why bass fisherman carry 20 rods with them when 2 or 3 will do the same job that said i use 2 spinning rods for lures unless im throwing heavy lures then i pick up my bottom fishing rod and use that....then again im mostly a saltwater fisherman so one rod does lots of jobs

Space Monkey for me too...

thanks nejitterbugger! its been a good spring so far. those fish are actually caught from three different places.

Can't wait! Hope the weather holds up, we catch a few fish, and have a good time... ~Thanks

Good luck tomorrow bud you and bob better kill it.

Best way I learned to fish topwater baits and time the hookset is at night. Youll need to use your feel more than your eyes. Sometimes the noises made at night may not even be a fish but a nearby bird. At night if you swing on every noise you hear...well you'll haul lots of water. Feel for the fish, and as it happens Sometimes, you'll set the hook, swear you have the fish, and haul in nothing but salad. Teach yourself to feel the fish at night, become successful at that, and do the same thing during your bites in the daylight. Braid is your friend...it helps cut through the vegetation.

Fallfish, which is a large minnow. I catch them all the time in the Lamprey river.

Oh don't get me wrong, I crush em on spinnerbaits in the spring. It's actually one of my favorite ways to fish. I just don't use them as much throughout the summer. Out of all the baits I mentioned, the only one that I don't ever really mess around with is the Carolina rig. Everything else I catch fish with but what I'm saying is I could leave all that stuff home and slay'em with jigs and soft plastics.

The only one I know of is the BPS Crankin' Stik.

Checking the schematic for the 09-00 model the spool shaft part number is #802631 The spool assembly part number complete w/o spool shaft is #820553.... Hope this helps...

Went with a $150 gift certificate to her hair salon myself.....now she can get her hair all did up without worrying about paying for it.

Apparently that is dependent on how low your pants are.

Like downeaster2010 I had to give up after 15 yrs building the eyes are very important...LOL While Dale is a premier rod builder, I would say that the book is a bit to advanced to start with. My recomendation would be to purchase the book Rod-Building Guide by Tom Kirkman read it cover to cover, then log onto his website...... http://rodbuilding.org/list.php?2 Rodbuilding.org Read everything there, signup and ask lots of question. Thats how you get started..... Good Luck & Tight Wraps!

There is too much to it to just pass along. I recommend you purchase two books written by Dale Clemmons, whom is know as one of the best rod makers. I have built rod for over 20 years but no longer as my eye sight fails me on watching the fine thread. You will need several tools, most are very inexpensive. You can build a better rod than you can purchase, because you choose the parts and the blank. When I say that, I mean most often retailers skimp on 1 or 2 of the parts that make up the type of rod you want to create. Its only a few dollars difference on a good Fuji reel seat, vs an elcheapo. If you are thinking of building, you don't have to purchase a retail setup for your rollers etc. Most rod builders I know built there own. As for rollers that your rod will turn on. most of us use the rollers, that are associated with shower doors. They are ball bearing, and work well for thousands of rods. As for a rod drying device once a fresh finish is on. I made one out of a small motor used in an old humidifier. It turn the rod about 10 to 15 times per minute, while the epoxy is drying. Again, get the Clemmons books, and you can get a tackle crafting book from Cabelas. They include basic rod building booklet with there kits. There epoxy is very good.

I think many of the adds are based on your internet history, and are targeted to those who might be...interested.

Do you guys remember the weight loss ad a few years ago? It showed a fat black women who trimmed down to a skinny white woman. Now that one was classic. I don't pay attention to the moving ads. Maybe I should be watching them just for the fun of it?

Dang Needham, We don't even have a picture of my PB drop shot fish......... Jeff

and from the opening evening sorriee to the telling everyone goodbye it was a total blast. I did not meet anyone the entire week that was not a complete gentlemen or lady. The eats were great, the fishing was great, the nightly speakers were awesome. You owe it to yourself to try to make one the trips. Pickwick is now my new favorite lake! There are MANY great people here on the boards and I am glad I got to meet and fish with some of them last week. Thanks for a life long memory!

Hi guys, I've been reading around the forum for a couple weeks now and am very impressed with all the great reports/info people share. So, I've decided to post a "report" (well, it's actually a youtube "highlight" video). I've recently got into kayak bass fishing and would like to share some of my favorite fishing holes around central New York. The particular locations in the video are various points along the Seneca-Cayuga canal...which you may have guess, is the canal that connects Seneca and Cayuga lake (2 of the Finger Lakes). Hope you enjoy!

if i dont have a game plan i generally start out throwing reaction baits and depending on how that goes i will fish cover slowly with jigs or soft plastics. let the fish tell you what they want. i fish 5-7 days a week and i generally always have a pattern going but today was one of those days when the pattern completly switched and could not buy a bite on the baits i had been throwing the past 4 days. good luck and experiment

I use 22-26 gauge floral wire from any craft store. I shop at Micheal's often. Which is also a great place to meet chicks. You're welcome.

It asked for a fishing trip, not a tournament, so I will take a whole bunch of fish of every shape and size. now if I am pre fishing for a tourney or in one I would rather have the larger fish, but only 5 fish in a day is definitely a grind. Mitch

Here by popular demand.... Check out this blue anodized Hawg Handle on a Daiwa Zillion Coastal mounted to a Dobyns Champion rod. Take note of the blue accents on the handle, reel and rod. We've got a limited supply of these blue handles. Send me an IM if you are interested in reserving one. Mike