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So I pulled into the landing today at a local lake. It was overcast with almost no wind. Perfect! I was planning on fishing by myself for an hour and 1/2 and then picking my brother and his friend up at the dock. I talked to a fisherman pulling in and he said, "Second lake we've fished today. Horrible luck all day long at both lakes." I said, "You should try Ragetail Toads and Senko's near the docks." He said, "I did! I've been fishing this lake for 10 years. He wished me luck and we parted ways. I got out there and immediately caught 2 nice bass on a Ragetail Toad during the retrieve and then a Senko. After that it was nothing for an hour. I then picked up my brother and his friend and went to the opposite side of the lake about 100 yards from the landing. I cast my Ragetail Toad and absentmindely retrieved it toward the boat as my brother fished a Senko and his friend used a Spro frog. As I was about 10 feet from the boat there was a pretty good strike and it must of missed. I had slack in my line and didn't feel anything. I looked down into the water near the boat and saw about a 40" musky. I said, "Hey, look at that huge musky! It must of just missed my lure!" That's when I realized it was still hooked. It was just swimming near the boat not really moving at all because the hook was keeping it in place. I told them to grab the net and as they did the fish started to pull away. I should have opened the bail but instead let the fish pull out line with drag. My brother's friend then attempted to net it and I said, "The net extends." As he was extending it into the water and the net touched the fish's tail it gave one quick thrust of it's tail and blew my swivel snap apart. (Once again going to try to find some Mustad Fastach connectors). So, I was bummed about losing the fish which would have been my first musky but I was happy for the opportunity. It was thrilling. Especially to see him swimming alongside the boat. I'm also the kind of guy that would like to catch one good musky and never catch one again. They are slimy and cost you lures. I've caught so many big northerns in my life up in Canada that I've had my fill of slimy fish. Well, we traveled 2 docks down and my brother hooked into a big one on his Senko. I got the net and it was a huge bass. We weighted it at 4lbs. I released it. It's his PB largemouth bass. I removed his face of his job. As we fished down the shoreline and all caught bass we passed a kayak fisherman. After we traveled about 100 yards we heard him yell, "Hey guys, bring your net!" We looked and he was fighting a huge fish. I turned the boat around with my Minn Kota Terrova and went as fast as we could with the trolling motor. I didn't want to use the big motor. We got close and my brother netted him. We measured him at 36" inches and weighed 10lbs. The kayaker said he'd just moved from Florida and his friend said, "Use this lure and you'll catch muskies on this lake." The guy had never caught a musky before. It was a firetiger Rapala Clack & Rap. The musky was born with a deformed gill plate and appeared to have been caught and released before. We released it and went on our way. It was really cool being able to help the kayaker catch his musky. And I guess his friend was right! After that we caught a bunch more bass and I switched to a KVD Sexy Dawg in perch (my new favorite lure). I caught some more bass on it and even had 2 more muskies jump fully out of the water attempting to bite the Sexy Dawg. I couldn't believe it. Going from never catching a musky to having 3 bite in one day and helping a guy net one! They say musky are the fish of a thousand cast. So I guess we are really fortunate! Especially almost catching 3 musky on topwater and having one hit so close to the boat and not even knowing he was hooked. I also caught about 8 more bass on the Sexy Dawg and topwater is my favorite way to fish. We used Senkos, KVD Sexy Dawg, and Ragetail Toads and had great success. So, it was all in all an amazing day! Really blessed to have friends and family to share it with and be able to enjoy mother nature. Putting my boat away I did get ahead of myself and put my motor too low when backing my boat into my garage. I ground off about 1/4" inch of skeg. Ugh! I guess I can't have a great day without something going wrong. lol.

Caught 2 snook on the incoming this morning, 29" slot..........amazing how small it looks, lol.

I am by no means a experienced bream angler but I do go every now and then... I may be complety wrong but it seems like the blue gill start biting when its the middle of he day and hot outside..... That would be my only tip haha

In reference to the fall get together. For those that weren't at Johnny's that want to know the details, the fall get together will be at Perry on October 11/12 with a back up lake of Cedar Creek Valley in Garnett if it's supposed to be windy or bad weather. Teams just like normal, you can fish one day or both days. We also discussed starting some weekly tournaments and everyone was in favor of those. Going to start August 7th at Douglas State Lake in Baldwin City. Fishing 6-9, teams again, 3 biggest fish per team. Going to alternate Thursday nights and Saturday morning each week. If you want more details send me a PM.

You don't need anything too specific for a flipping or pitching. A good quality reel with a metal frame and good drag (as in adjustable and smooth with decent power). Locked down drags are unnecessary and needlessly hard on equipment. If you'll be doing some pitching good free-spool is helpful. A 50 size reel is plenty capable. I prefer a fast reel for tackling up slack or reeling down quickly. The right rod will move the fish up and out so there is no need to winch them.

Because they are hand made one at at a time by a skilled carver living in one of the highest paying and most expensive countries in the world: Japan. Also, japanese take pride out of everything they make, value the art it takes to make hand made things and are willing to pay the price, for you is just a lure for them it´s a work of art, those guys spend years as apprentices perfecting their craft before they can get the title of master.

can of worms, small hook and a split shot, you will catch as many as you want

Curado I = semi- decent ? Humm, haven't heard that yet, are you having issues ? Or? You are certainly entitled to you're own opinion , I would be curious to know why you feel that way... *** is a great rod.... I use a 7' 1" heavy.. It's very decent for the money!

Since when 5.0 gear ratio is "too slow for anything else" ? Damit, I' ve been doing things wrong since 1980 and all those thousands of fish, including my first 10+ lb, my 13.86 lber PB and a few more 10+ lbers never knew.

I dunno. At least your using protection.

50/51E is about as good as you're going to get for a finesse bait cast reel unless really want to open up your wallet.

DO NOT UNSCREW THE HOOK HANGER ! Add a drop of super glue to the hanger where it joins the body CUT THE HOOK Add a split ring and place your new hook,

Walleye Red Snapper

Hi guys I was just wondering if when you throw a buzz bait, do you add a trailer or not??? If so what are some recommendation on what to use. Also I am wanting to buy a good buzz bait what is the best one. Thanks for the help.

Not sure of that particular brand, but Zoom's "Speed Worms" are close. Great on a Texas rig in thick grass.

If the intent is purely freshwater check out a president, double duty go for the fierce.

Don't use a stringer if it's warm out! If I'm going to eat it, it goes straight on ice.

Understood. Tom is a very experienced angler with alot of great advise. Im sure he wasn't trying to sound arrogant.

Bass seem to get some tail damage when my maid dust them too much on my wall. Nah just kidding I don't have a maid. My wife does all the dusting.

I keep it simple. Typically I'll use Zoom Shaky Head Worms, Finesse Worms, or Trick Worms. I also like to use crawdad baits with a thin profile that stand up well.

Thanks professor.....Why don't you show us your flipping set up with just a piece of line tied to your rod then!....I see what you're getting at but unless you're not using a reel, that did absolutely nothing to help and just came off as arrogant. To the OP, just get something that's comfortable to hold and feels good on your rod. Unless you're Tom, most of us use reels when flipping and comfort, for me, is the most important aspect to a flipping set up since you're going to be going through the same exact motion for the most part for possibly hours on end. I prefer 50 size shimanos if you go the shimano route.

You don 't use your reel when flipping, you do when pitching. Tom

Can I ask why you want a SINK instead of a SOT? From what you are describing i would think a SOT would better suit your needs. I am not familiar with all of the SINKs out there so i cannot recommend one boat over another

I would recommend reading a few of the many threads on site regarding line. As you can see there are many opinions. I think XT is a decent mono and have it on a couple of my combos. While mono does have some limitations, we caught fish on it for a lot of years before all of the new and improved lines were available. I would agree that a good copoly would be a better choice for one all purpose combo for the reasons mentioned above. I am not a fan of braid, but many use the braid and leader approach with very good success. I would use what you have and see how it works. If you have problems then you can try something else. Enjoy the process. It won't be long and you can argue the benefits of fluorocarbon versus copoly versus mono with the rest of us. Enjoy!

I paired it up with an ugly stik because a bulletproof reel needs a bulletproof rod. enough said.

The biggest problem that I see is "Norton" (they're more invasive than most viruses). In my opinion anyway, changing from Norton to Vipre would banish that message. Roger

Nice picture .

Rage Rig is the use of a Weighted (Swimbait) hook on your normal T rig plastics for a more horizontal profile fall and crawl along the bottom. Most often used in shallow to 6 or 8ft and calm winds since it is a slow style presentation. Great when you've located fish and need to finesse them a bit. It's also a good search tool in trashy conditions because it's extremely SNAG proof including in jagged rocks. T rigs and jigs are more useful when the fish want a more vertical fall, Nose first etc, and more versatile because of the variety in weight sizes that are available which increases the depths and speed by which you can cover your water.

Hit Bow yesterday at 6AM. Had a lot of action early on the Koppers Live Target Walking Frog. Caught a few small ones, but must have had a dozen strike and misses. It was very slow fishing after the topwater action stopped, but once again, on the jig and craw, I caught one slightly under 5lbs - pic below. I will be hitting Bow during the week again for sure. I was the only guy on the water for hours.

i get on youtube through my blueray player and watch fly fishing(and bass fishing) videos on my tv all the time. there are some amazing videos out there. it's a nice way to spend an evening.

The problem with the popular color selection process is the bass do not read it! I've had extreme success this year in off colored water with watermelon slice which is completely opposite of what many have said I should be throwing. Having caught bass up to & exceeding 10# I'll take the bass's opinion over that of a color selection process.

A quick funny Suwanee story. About 1981 I told a buddy of mine ill bring him fishing on the Suwanee I got the gas and stuff just bring lunch. Keep in mind this dude was about one of the top 5 cheapest people iv ever met in my life. We meet at the bridge there in Branford get out there and lunch rolls around and he opens a large bag he threw in the cooler and pulls out this gift box. I said whats that? He reply s lunch. It wound up being one of those gourmet gift box's, you know the ones you see in liquor stores filled with nothing substantial just little tins of olives and mixed nuts, candy. So here we are eating all these little bottles of pearled onions and minute pieces of cheese.I said great I'm full after those 3 almonds and a cracker we split. I later found out he took it off the table at his house and his wife was looking all over for it because she bought it to bring to a friend for a house warming that night.

2 lb Fireline is actually one of the best handling lines I have ever used. On a 20 sized pflueger reel, it handles perfectly. I have tried 1lb mono, but too many break offs. Just set your drag light when you hook a bass though...

I have yet to fish a glass rod I liked. I prefer graphite with the low profile guides.

Here's your graph as requested! (Not a student, but slow enough at work today that I could make it happen!) I started out with topwater as a category, then got a lot more towards the end! If I would have known how high the count would be, I would have broken them down further. I also put flukes and skinny dippers together as a similar bait. For some reason you can't zoom in...here's the photobucket link! http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o192/zachvu/fish.jpg~original

Yeah, the Chronarch 50 is pretty much the same as the Curado 50. Go ahead and get it, you won't regret it!

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9a5_1406061922

I don't think the availability of parts is a major issue. Shimano does a great job of supporting their products. On the rare occasion I have needed help, their Customer Service has always been top notch. As a side note, Mike at DVT is servicing my FB for its first complete breakdown. The Stella are somewhat "self-contained" and may not require annual service. I will be interested to hear what Mike has to say after working on the reel.

Read my signature line.

Remember when you didn't have a scale? Fish were bigger then.

I fish at night all summer from a canoe. Here's my advice. Wear your Life Jacket (PFD) all night. Tell someone where you're going, when you'll be back and who to call if you don't show up. Have at least 1 back up light - a red lens on the light/head lamp will help with your night vision. It really helps to know the water you plan on fishing at night very well. - the better you know it - the safer and more successful you'll be. A good way to get your feet wet on night ops is to get to a lake you're familiar with a couple of hours before sunset. Fish the spots you plan on visiting at night. Stay as night falls and then go fish the same spots again in the dark. You might find out that most everything looks different in the dark. Your depth perception is challenged. You'll need to know exactly where you are, what your looking at, which way your boat is facing and how far the target you're casting to is. Otherwise, you'll be launching casts into places you'd never think of doing during the day; Over docks, into trees, 50 ft up the bank - you get the idea. As for moon lit nights; for me dark nights are better fishing. Moonlight nights with cloud cover are good too. Full Bright moon is like the sun - so fish it that way. Look for shadow lines . Fishing docks can be good too. It's a different world but the fishing can be rewarding. One last thing, being a successful night time bass angler definitely made be better during the day. Good Luck A-Jay

I tell people what I am doing, though in a smaller lake with numerous anglers, I probably wouldn't provide absolute specific detail like I would with my friends and family. Keep in mind, though, that a pattern can last for a few days or it can change from day to day and hour to hour. The pattern that worked this morning could be history. Also, if one or two details is left out a person may still be looking in the wrong place for the fish. Someone might say they were catching bass by pitching jigs to trees. Only some trees will hold bass so in a lake with thousands of acres of trees where do you look? The trees could be on a channel bend, on a shallow flat, next to a roadbed, etc. but there usually has to be some kind of structure the bass would use to be on a particular tree. You still have to think and experiment to figure out the details of any pattern provided.

I try to always be helpful and I post all of my "secrets" right here at BassResource.com If you are interested in ledge fishing, especially on the Tennessee River, I have a new post in "Fishing Reports" detailing this weekend's adventure. We tore 'em up! -Kent

My guess is you will be fine. If you have a lot of hills it may be a little tough on it. My thought is that you would not think twice about having two of your friends that weigh 200 lbs each riding in your car. So what would the difference be if that weight is on a trailer being towed behind you. If you completely load the car down with gear and people and are driving 10 hours I would have some concerns, but just going an hour or two away with a buddy in the car should be fine. Just my opinion though. If you do notice the tranny shifting in and out of overdrive when at speed just make sure you drive it out of overdrive.

drowning?

Sorry Raul, I do remove the hook hangers. Into the holes go screw eyes to which the hooks are attached. I also unscrew every screw on the lure and put super glue in the hole before replacing the screws. I can tolerate losing any lure except the Jitterbug because it's time consuming and a pain in the butt to make the modifications.

4's and 6's. Gamakatzu Round Bend Short Shank. (Magic Eye optional). I also add split rings for better hook rotation.

I hope you see the irony in your first two sentences.

Hand made 3:16 lures have a waiting list and cost over $300! The original wooden Huddleston trout have been sold for over $1,000 and sold for $60 when they first hit the market. Tom

I can tell you why they are so expensive. Because you know that someone maybe several people will have to have it and they will pay. It's no different than why are the Steez reels and rods so expensive. Let's face it you can catch bass on a $100 rod and reel combo, if you know what you are doing. So if the market will bear it someone will buy it just because they have to have it, not that it will make them a better fisherman.. Just my crazy explanation.