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Went out Wednesday to an outlet below a local lake to see if any walleye had moved up to the deep water in the outlet to winter. I was standing at the top of the wall and giving the bait short hops and following it back down when I felt a tick. I set the hook and thought I'd missed and snagged a log for a minute, it just sat there. Then it slowly started swimming off and pulling drag! I was pretty sure what I'd just hooked and knew I was in trouble. The top of the wall is a good 50' off the water and runs out into the water 20' past the bank, making it almost impossible to land a big fish like that on my medium casting rod and 15lb test. The bank drops off very fast as it goes down to the water but the wall stays the same height the whole way out, so it took me awhile to come up with an idea on how to get my line past the wall so I could keep fighting the fish. Thankfully, the water temps were really cold so once I quit pulling, so did the fish. I finally figured out that I could use the strong wind to my advantage by feeding out line and letting it blow my line out and around the wall. Once I finally got my line to clear the wall I walked down to the water and got to the best position I could to keep my line from rubbing against the concrete. Once I started cranking I had probably 50-60 yards of line out and a lot of obstacles to try to steer the fish around. Again the cold water temps worked to my advantage because even though he fought hard it was nothing like what it would have been a month ago. I had no way to get a weight, measurement, or a good picture of him unfortunately. I do know his head was about as long as my size 12 boot thought and I'm guessing in the 30-35 pound range, my crappy cell phone picture does it no justice. It swam off strong after I got my quick picture.

Oh God, please don't leave me with a Carolina rig....

Dis is where you show us da loot.

the UPS man comes! Merry Christmas to me

Something tells me those are not drop-shot caught smallies ~ A-Jay

I'm with you all the way there - Especially when your team wins the last game of the season . . . . . A-Jay

Yeah, once you pass "need", "want" gets expensive! I rationalize the situation by calling myself a "collector". If you buy into that, collecting fishing equipment is cheap compared to a lot of other hobbies.

Welcome........from one WNY'er to another. Now forget everything you see me post, none of it works around here.

I love new fishing stuff, its the best part about the off season... Mitch

Thank you very much Felix. This was a great gift. I got a spool of 20# PP braid, 5 1/4oz Megastrike Shakey heads, pack of Luck E Strike Tubes ( which by the way is an awesome tube in the red craw color. This will be one of my new favorite tubes), 2 packs of Zoom tubes and a Red Eye Shad from Strike King. Its a Firetiger with orange belly. Perfect color for the dirty water here. Thanks again bud. This was a great box.

sorry he sent those to your house by mistake. Please mail them to my address asap........... Congrats.

Hit it on the head What else would make us live and breathe bass fishing enough to accumulate all this?! What else would make grown-ups cry over hard water in the wintertime?

So far so good. And today I figured out how much money I am saving by NOT dipping anymore..........I can't beleive how much I have spent on that crap.

Might be time for "the talk" lol.

It seems like every year I read several articles on smallmouth and once in a while the author will mention something like for what they lack in looks a smallmouth makes up for in fight or they're fighters not lookers?? Am I the only one that thinks smallmouth are an awesome looking fish? Granted they can look really plain at times but if you get a tiger striped, bright red eyed smallmouth they're about the prettiest fish in freshwater IMO. What do you guys think? Am I crazy or are these writers just more attracted to bright colors on trout? I just don't think it gets much better than this.

Old Wiley may not have gotten dinner, but look at how much fun he had.

Cheyenne pepper?

I think those 2 would each beat the Kansas state record.

I havent been out for a week, ran down the road for a half hour to throw the buzzbait, a flapslap, vibration-x, and the shakeyhead. And..... No fish Got the two aldebarans lined up with zpi knobs and bearings, the mg got boca spool bearings. Have to pick up the boca or hedgehog tool to do the bearings on the bfs. The core has eva knobs, might switch them up soon....

That happens at your age...

I think where on the next page of our lives. We're not ready for the final chapter, were just past the halfway point in the book. I realize our date with Destiny has been extended. It's about time we realized what we missed in the beginning of our lives because we were too busy working supporting our families. I was mad at my dad for never spending time with us four kids but I understood when I became a dad what it took to support a family. There's no instruction book about life and how life works. We kind of learn while we go its on the job training as we go. It's not easy having the responsibility of a family that relys on us for support. But some how we put it all together. Once we get into the groove of working and supporting a family father time seems to kick in and fly by. I have no clue were my late 20's to 50's actually went. That's thirty years that's just gone. Then I hit 52yo and the many years of hard work took its toll on my battered beaten up body. After two operations on both knees. The new buzz word was disability came up in '94 but I didn't want to hear it, I refused it. I stayed working till I had to crawl out of bed each day and soak my body with hot water to get it moving everyday. I was in so much pain on my ride home from work I would cry. In 2002 I took disability. Again the page was turned on my life. My body just really slowed down. Then in 2013 the next chapter of my life began when my doctor told me I had cancer my life kind of hit a road block. I can't wait for this year to end. Stitch probably you too right? Now I'm recovering slowly. My knees are hurting so I tried a knee brace on one knee. I'm starting to feel like a combination of the six million dollar man and to robo cop.I wear a support for my back and now knee brace. Again there is no book about life that warns us about the future of our lives. It's looking into the abyss but a little warning would of helped.(chuckle) The coach of NC basket ball Jimmy V. Put it into perspective. He said we have to laugh once a day, cry once a day and love once a day. That's a full day he said. He also said that cancer can destroy his body but it can't get his soul. Jimmy V was so right. I stayed upbeat though it all. What kept me going was my life was in the hands of our creator. Of course were about to turn the page again. We can't change the past but we are in control of the future. We look at life different now. We have a second chance at it. New Years Resolution,(2014 & beyond) 1. Tell the misses I love her(more often) 2. Tell everyone in the family "I" love them. 3. See if anyone in the family needs any help. 4. Start doing things that I put off. 5. Don't sweat the little things that are out of your control. 6. Accept the things you can change. 7. Fish more.(I just want to see if your reading this) 8. Thank our creator everyday for another day on this side of the green. 9. Enjoy everyday. 10. Yup fish more too. 11. We only pass this way once. Life is short. Enjoy everyday. 12. Help others that need help. 13. Being rich isn't having plenty of money. To me being rich is having our family and the quality of the friends we surround ourselves with. That's what makes us rich. You are rich and don't even know it? Remember Jesus is the reason for the season. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, how ever you celebrate the season have a safe holiday, God bless.

These two were caught 15 minutes apart from the same spot.

Whatever you buy, try not to pay retail. Look for sales and check the online auction sites and our BR Flea market.

yeah haven't been able to see that yet. I have only been t lone world series game and while it was a ridiculous game, 15-14 against toronto i can't imagine the energy of a stadium at the clinching game of the WS.

Christmas is all about sharing and giving. I will e-mail you my address.

What, Trey Harpel? Hootie

I will still never forget being at the game where he cranked the grand salami off of sabathia against the brewers....nothing beats playoff baseball

Red Sox Nation is Not. A-Jay

I never chewed or smoked before but I would think food would taste better since quitting. Plus another added benefit would be more kisses from the little women...lol. (been married 17 years, what's a kiss )

I thought they were all the beard...well everyone except victorino because he hasn't hit puberty yet and can't grow a full beard

I have 2 different ones I have not used them for fishing , i use them for hockey. This one goes behind the glass right behind one of the nets during hockey games. Its a Vivitar ... 785 or 787 both HD http://www.vivitar.com/products There are 2 models, mine is the older one. $59 at staples. Its awesome for what i use it for. The Go Pro is awesome also , just lots more money than i wanted to spend. I would try this one first, The better model. Keep in mind battery life if you fish for more than a few hours, as well as recording length. I originally bought it with the intent of trying it for 2 weeks and returning it if it did not work out and getting the go pro. --- 2 years later i still have it and its awesome. I also have a bullet cam , Its an older one by Contour, It is the size of a 10 gauge shotgun shell. The key to this was small as possible and as rugged as possible. It has been hit several timesby pucks and still works. I wear it on my ice hockey goalie and forward helmets as well as my motocross helmets. It so far has been indestructible. I liked it for its small size and solid metal construction. It took longer to set up and get the angles down as it does not have a viewer screen, after 3 or 4 times using it , i got it adjusted and mounted with the view i wanted. This is probably not what you want for fishing. In my opinion you cannot go wrong spending the $$$ on a go pro. If you are willing to spend the $$$. http://www.chopmtb.com/2013/03/14/whats-the-best-helmet-cam-find-out-in-the-ultimate-pov-action-camera-video-shootout/

For me all smallmouth are beautiful. It's just some are more pretty than others. The heavy tiger stripes contrast really sets them off. Time in the livewell does help enhance the coloration.

That's sweet! If one of those don't work out for you have the ups man send it my way! ENJOY

WOW!!!...... WHAT A HAUL!!!!! Hootie

I am skeptical about grandersons health and consistency......cano to seattle is crazy they are after Price too

I prefer bigger jerkbaits for trout. I catch stockers all the time on MR97 slender pointers and 78 pointers. I love going to the White River in Arkansas and throwing jerkbaits for big browns down there. Never caught any monsters but we've caught a bunch of healthy browns. This last year they were all over a Lucky Craft Spazz, the year before it was a MR97 slender pointer and an Erratic shad. If I'm targeting stockers I prefer Little Cleos or a micro jig under a bobber. I tend to catch more fishing those baits and it keeps me from potentially losing an expensive bait fishing for trout.

Wow thats one expensive shipment. Im jealous.

Dang, that is $$ right there. Enjoy them!

I would be too! Nice shipment. Can I ask with the frequency of the same item purchased (core and stradic) what rods will be these going on? I have both and they are outstanding reels for the price and even better when on sale!

Must be rough! I'm jealous................. -Lewi

I have been thinking of getting one. I'll run by academy and pick one up tomorrow if no one has responded by then. I need an excuse to break out the new go pro.

For both applications, 12-15lb should be just fine. I use braid on 95% of my fishing, topwater included and rarely ever with a leader. I wouldn't be overly concerned with line visibility on moving baits. You hear guys catching fish with A-rigs with wires right? And flipping 65# braid bottom hopping in a fishes face for 20-30 seconds at a time. Get the line that makes the bait work, don't worry about the fish being scared by it, it's not happening. My $.02

for relatively inexpensive customer hardbaits check out Pizz Customs. He has swimbait models available, but will also paint your existing hardbaits.

My favorite is the Bluegill crankbait from LiveTarget. It comes in different sizes for different depths and is in my opinion the best looking bait there is. Not to mention it catches fish like crazy.

Road to the superbowl !!! Go Skins !!! WWWWOOOOOHHHHOOO !!.... Oh wait , I came in a little late huh . Or am I a year early ??? WWWOOOOHHHOOOOO !!!!

Fishing a kayak tourney in Alabama, I caught about a 12 inch bass that had a 5 inch bass inside it's mouth. Inside the 5 inch bass, there was a 2 inch bream. I caught 3 fish by hooking one. crazy.

You obviously have not met Jig Fishin 10 yet LMAO !!!

This is a Big Thank You to FishinDaddy for organizing this years Event. Happy Holidays A-Jay

Used to use honey on the kids wounds until one of them got brutally attacked by a honey badger and the other assulted by Winnie the Poo. It's Neosporin for us now.

I prefer 9mm. Cheaper to shoot means more practice time means more proficient. I have my p95 magazines filled with 124gr +p pdx1 and am very confident in those rounds. I also have some 147gr hydrashock and those are pretty nasty too. Plan on picking up a lc9 there soon to carry only because the shield is out of my price range and impossible to find in my area. Good luck with your decision.