Leaderboard

Not as big as others, but a recent tournament pair.

A few of my Shimano's out sun bathing this past weekend

For the next several weeks, this is the only reel I'll be using....

Boaters...and especially kayakers: Please wear your lifejackets at all times. I always do and today I am especially glad that I did. I was anchored up on the side opposite to the side the wind was blowing. With that you know where this is going...a wind gust and wave hit me hard enough that my anchored side pulled the kayak under enough that it flipped. Within seconds I was in the 50 degree water on the side of the anchor. Because the anchor was attached to the kayak, I couldnt flip the boat over. What's worse, the longer it remained flipped, the more water the kayak was taking on...making flipping it back over increasingly difficult. I tried to maintain composure but the longer I tried to work around my boat I could feel my body start to shiver. I was able to call over to another boat for assistance. I was very lucky as it was the only other boat on the water. By the time we reached shore, my lips were blue and I could not speak in complete sentences. Reading about hypothermia, I now understand what was happening...what really surprises me is how fast these symptoms came on. Needless to say, I am forever thankful to those boaters that helped a stranger in need. I am also thankful for my lifejacket which I will never take off no matter how uncomfortable or restrictive it may feel. If this post helps just one boater in the future I would be elated. Please wear your lifejacket. Tight and safe lines.

Here's a 10 pound fish off a New Hampshire pond on Tuesday by my friend Ed 10.01 lbs 25 inches long 18 inch girth Just missed the state record by 8 ounces He is going to have it mounted by the same gentleman that does all the mounts for Cabela's

A-jay likes the diversity when the smallies quit biting.

Here you go southern NH, 10.01 lbs 25 inches long 18 inch girth Caught yesterday on a southern NH water (He won't tell me right away) but promises to let the location out because there are even bigger fish there. Some of you might know Ed he is also the State champ on this years Maine Bass Trail I fished in this summer. He told me he caught it on a deep jig.

Moth Balls or Dryer Sheets - It's your choice.

or an asian with a ladle..or an (ex)wife with an ashtray..

Had an absolute blast on Saturday. If my dad hadn't shown interest in fishing it with me at the last minute, I probably wouldn't have come out. My biggest at 19" 3.5# on the nose, we had in the livewell in the first 30 minutes. Came on a 5" Sugar Shad swimbait on a weighted swimbait jig. All of my fish Saturday came on that rig, along with a few smaller ones on a squarebill. My dad caught fish on just about everything; swimbait, tube, squarebill, and the Ned. His biggest was 17" and just under 3# that came about ten minutes before we had to head in. He'd been waiting for a good fish all day and was stoked he got one. That's the first little tourney I've gotten to fish with him and it ended up being an awesome day on the water for his first Smallie trip to Melvern.

I'll put in my 2¢... DO NOT cheap out on snaps...

What can brown do for you? Though, chrome will do. I don't really chase mud sharks anymore. Sometimes a hole gets invaded by a few late Coho, and I'll catch them, since they are pesky jerks, lol.

We're gonna have to start wearing bank PDFs

New England slobasaurus.

Ups delivered my TW order here at work. Rod is extremely light and the overal combo weighs nothing. The colors of the recon match the px68 perfectly. Have an all day trip planned for Monday. Holefully I can put it through its paces.

Broke my PB smallie 3 times in the summer of 2007. Think it was 2011 before breaking it again. Now I won't get excited til the scale reads 7#. I might get a replica, and might not. I know there's an 8 out there with my name on it!

I can't be the only one still waiting to see a photo of this 9.8...

This post isn't about how to use your sonar unit, it's about how to use your sonar unit to locate active bass along with your other senses like eye sight, hearing and some common sense. At the moment it's early fall transitioning to winter or the colder water period. Bass, largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass are relocating, it's time to move. I don't fish from shore, so I will talk about using a boat to locate bass. The big advantage a boat gives us is mobility, we can go everywhere on the water that is open to fishing. When I launch my boat the first thing I do is start the big engine and let it warm up, the next thing is put the trolling down, switch on the sonar unit and check the surface water temps. I do this year around, it's my routine. The next things I do is look around for fish eating bird activity, under the docks at the marina for bass and baitfish, then making a wide slow circle around the launch ramp out into deeper water looking for how deep any basss or baitfish might be...surveying the marina to determine where the bass and baitfish located. Some days I don't leave the marina and catch bass there for hours. Grebes, both western and pied billed are shad eating birds, cormorants and seagulls eat all types of fish, so look for fish eating bird activity, active birds equal active predator fish like bass. My next move depends on the seasonal periods, generally I divide the lake into 3 parts; the lower end by the dam is the deeper water zone and good place to start during the winter or colder water periods. The middle section of the lake is good during transition periods like pre spawn and fall, the upper third for spawn and summer transition. The 3 lake zones are very general, but a starting place to continue my sonar survey. Big lakes with large creek arms are like individual lakes. I like to survey major points starting at the base near shore and make a slow circle out into deeper water like the marina area and circle back along the opposite side of the point looking for signs of active bass or baitfish. If I meter them it tells a lot, if I don't see anything it tells the bass are somewhere else. If you meter the marina and major point without seeing any signs of bass or bait fish, the bass maybe tight to cover, so go check out the cover areas. To check out cover requires fishing in the cover. Tom

The weather's been So Bad - I can't get out A-Jay

decided to head to the pond in my neighbors back yard for like 15 minutes before a friend picked me up today. The only rod that I had available today was my 6'6 medium spinner. I was just killing some time fishing a weightless purple tube (a bait i dont fish very often). I was about to leave and while retrieving my tube quickly to make a final cast I got short struck about 5 feet from shore. gave it a second because I thought it was a turtle at first, and set the hook. After pulling the fish out of the bushes by hand near the shore, it was actually a nice one for my area and the time of year. however I have a feeling it will be one of the last nice ones for the year.

I'll have my African friend throw some chicken bones tomorrow and I'll get back to yall.

Nice one, keep at it and you'll find more before the year ends

Have another tourney at Okeechobee this Saturday. Payout is really good. ~$6000 for 1st place. Leo and I are starting to figure it out a little bit there. Probably not enough to compete just yet, but we have a puncher's chance. Last two times out we've had fish over 7lbs and five fish limits over 17lb. I got one two weeks ago Thursday just over 7. Last Saturday, Leo got a pretty good one...this fish was about 26" long. A little fatter and she was double digit for sure.

Get the one that says Shimano on the sideplate.

Hey Guys, Up here in Canada the fall fishing is in full swing. With a hectic schedule for the kids sports coming up soon , I thought that I needed a couple of days off work to enjoy some fishing on my favorite central Ontario lakes. Typically I like to target smallmouth in the mornings with jerkbaits and tubes. Once the sun gets high in the sky its Largemouth time. Usually I target the largies with senkos and jigs. High sun and almost no wind made for a tough bite. But I ended up getting the bites that I needed. Quality over quantity was the program which is okay with me. Had to work for them but the hard work paid off big time. Enjoy the pics. Feel free to ask any questions

I guess I learned on Sunday fishing from the bank can be just as dangerous as fishing from a boat/kayak/canoe. I've been bank fishing the last two years and kayak fishing the last year. On Sunday the temps were supposed to get up near 70 and I thought it would be a good time to go to my favorite state park to bank fish. However, when I got the park it was raining slightly, windy, and sort of lousy out. I got to the park and went to my number one spot where I caught some big bass in the spring. To get to my spot I had to walk down a steep hill that has loose rocks on it. Anyway, things looked different. The water was higher than normal and that sort of got my mind bewildered some. Things just didn't look normal. But I fished anyway in the wind and drizzle rain. About twenty minutes into this my left foot slipped on a rock and I started to go down into the water. I stopped my falling for a split second but began to fall again and my left leg went into the water and then my left arm and then my left side. I'm lucky by whole body didn't fall into the water. Anyway, I got back up and was not hurt and rod and reel were not hurt either. I fished for a few more minutes but called it a day and went home. I was thinking - Wow, that could have been worse than it was. I was lucky I didn't fall all the way in. I just learned some more information about that park. I was told this evening that a bridge is being repaired past the dam and the dam can not let any water out because the workers need the water low to repair the dam. Add to that we have had a lot of rainy weather the last week. That all adds up to a really high water level at the lake. And that is why my favorite spot looked odd. When I look at the whole picture - lousy weather, me wanting to fish and catch a bass really badly, water level up higher than it usually is, me standing on dangerous loose rocks = that equals me falling into the water for the very first time. I guess the message is - you have to always be very careful even when bank fishing and if things don't feel right or look right, don't fish at that spot.

It's on the current model legend elite 7'MF, my soft plastics pitching rod. The reel replaced my curado 50e that had core 7 gears, chronarch knobs/extra bearings, Abec 5's. The XG gearing is worth it

Nice! Love that reel. What rod is it on?

NICE reel. A Met is on my purchase "waiting list"...

The old series revos are one of the best reels on the market then and now. If i was looking into buying a "new" reel, I'd look into Lews line of reels. I sold my corados and bought all new Lews TP1HL (left hand retreive) wait for sales coming up and get as much as 25% to 30% off of the $199.95 price. If you plan on getting a revo, look on E-Bay for a gen. 1 or 2 only. Quality has gone down.

https://www.privatewaterfishing.com/ This site, from reading it, allows you to trial any of the lakes listed for a daily fee without becoming a member. Read the FAQ I know nothing about it but it interests me cause my father lives in Bonham TX and there are a few places near him on the list.

I run everyday. I strap a refrigerator to my back and run in the snow to and from work up hill both ways. Then I run a half marathon before bed. Unless there is a cop chasing me. I ain't running.

Click on "fishing forums" rather than just the drop-down from when you hover over "fishing forums." Not all the forums are shown in the drop down, but once you click on it they're all there.

On Lake Erie you just never know. I have caught walleye, pike, lake trout, steelhead, channel cats, brown trout, perch, largemouth, rock bass, white bass, drum, gobies and white perch while fishing for smallies. I know I lost a musky that smoked me in front of a creek as well.

Bluebasser is the KING of Drum and cats. But! HiSalenity catches MONSTER Flatheads dragging a jig in 10-30 FOW

Great fish and great memories!

Another vote for the 50E. I personally would not throw a square bill or jerkbait on anything with a 5.X:1 gear ratio. Definitely not a topwater either. I use a Chronarch 50E for square bills and jerk baits and I love it. I like a little larger spool for topwater (spooks), but since you say "occasionally" throw a topwater, then I think the 50E would be perfect! It also casts small poppers well if that is the topwater you like to throw.

It might make the bass easier to find, but easier to catch? Probably not.

Shimano Chronarch 200e7 or Curado 200e7 is perfect... Cheers!

White body red head has been a spook color practically since it was invented and still is, so it must be for some reason.

I'm pretty young, but I've been fishing for so long, sometimes I feel like I relate to the old timers better.

Clean it, just don't alter it. I have collected older us military guns for years, and a good cleaning never hurts a thing, providing that is all you do. Don't try to remove any patina, or refinish the wood/metal. Keep in mind that the original US military 30-40 krag rounds were corrosive black powder, as well as the primers they used. The bore, chamber, breech, and bolt face may never "clean up " if it was not taken care of in the past. As far as helping you with the history of the rifle, krags are not in my wheel house, I focused mainly on WWI and WW2 era US military long arms.

Everyone should own at least one 50 size Shimano!

I'm 65,fished my first tournament since 1987,this past Sunday.

I'm 68, an avid fisherman, and a Moderator on these forums. Some of us old farts know a thing or two about the Internet and about bass fishing.

I do both every week. I fish weekends from the boat, and weekday evenings from the bank. Saturday I went out in the boat in the morning and caught 9 fish. Then Sunday morning I went to the bank and caught 20 bass. The amount of time was the same both days, but the waters are quite different. From the bank you can fish a lot slower, because you don't have the constant motion of the boat. I enjoy both styles of fishing just as much.

12-16 lb flouro is great for most soft plastics most of the time, sometimes I switch to mono when they're biting it on the fall (senko, soft jerkbait, etc.) and I want a slower fall.

There is your answer.

Ya know, when the bass bite is really slow in the early spring and I catch a pickerel, I'll put on an inline spinner and target them. Whatever bends the rod I guess.