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Saturday I fished the Lake Quivira fishing club tournament with my buddy Tony. It's a good group of fishermen who all live on the lake which gives them a pretty big advantage. Being an Elite Series pro who lives on the lake probably gives you an even bigger advantage though! When I saw on FB that Brent Chapman was planning on fishing it with his son I knew it was going to be a serious uphill battle. I formulated a game plan the night before that we were going to go up the canals and risk getting way fewer bites in hopes that they would be the right ones. I missed 3 fish and was not having a good start when Tony set the hook on his jig and immediately one of the biggest bass I've seen out there in a long time was on the surface. Grab the net and scooped her up. 19" and 3.52 pounds was the start of our 11lb 1oz limit. I thought we probably finished in the money but couldn't believe when I heard we'd actually won the thing! Not only first place, but Tony's fish was good for big bass as well. He fished one of my home made finesse jigs in black/ gold flake with a Okeechobee craw colored YUM craw papi while I alternated between a home made sapphire blue 1/2oz brush jig with a black and blue Zman Batwingz trailer and a home made black on black bladed jig with a sapphire blue pit boss as a trailer. Getting the win was awesome, catching them all on my baits made it that much better I got to talk to Brent quite a bit afterwords and he was super nice as he is every time I've gotten to chat with him, congratulated us on our win and fielded everyone's questions afterwords. I'm sure if we tried 99 more times he'd get the best of us, but just once we got to say that we got the best of the former AOY and Elite Series angler on his home lake

We had a guy in nh named charlie bass..congressman for years..we also had a guy named dick swett that was a congressman, no joking.

This post inspired me to get my A-Rig out and fish the hell out of it today. I caught my very first bass, actually 3 and a few pike on the rig. One 3+lber practically ripped the rod right out of my hand. What a strike! Helluva way to fish. So much fun!

Check out what my wonderful wife brought home from a yard sale for $10. She called me and ask if I needed some nice fishing pliers I figured a pair of needle nose but BOY was I thrilled when she pulled these out of her purse.

There might be a pack of hot dogs in the glove box. Wait, that's where the pint would go, nevermind.

Caffeine Shad, Rage Lobsters, and even Rage Smokin' Roosters are my main big trailer baits... Weird... I just realized each of those baits caught my top 3 fish this year lol... Cafferine Shad ~ 6-10 Lobster ~ 6-1 Smokin' Rooster ~ 6

Got out to black hills yesterday and what a grind of a day it was. When we first got to the lake I noticed that the recent rain must of brought the lake up. I would have though it would be kind of lower because of summer but I haven't been to the lake sense spring. Water temp was reading 65 to 67 is different areas and the wind progressively got stronger as the day went on. Guess we had a mini cold front coming in. With that said in my head I'm thinking today should be lights out but the higher water I didn't like. I struggled all morning beating the bank with jig and plastics but my partner was able to pluck a few with a jig fish just didn't like mine. About mid morning I put down the bank busters and followed the electronics. Marking the bulk of the fish in 22 to 30 feet of water. So to knock a tactic off my bucket list I tied on the 6xd and a little while later I hooked up. After eventually loosing the 6xd to a submerged tree I pulled out a flat side strike king and fish it the rest of the day resulting in a few more fish. Towards the end of the day I got one on a spinner and last fish caught was on my replacement swim jig....Allen...lol. Probably only boated 8 fish witch 7 were keepers all about 2 pound. The fish are still deep I want another crack at them when does that place close?

Ondrejka, it was me who stopped to chat. I saw Chris S at the boat ramp and watched his boat float off.

The farther into fall we get the more moving baits are producing, Caught some good bass on a strike king swim jig tonight! Lol didn't realize I ran out of black swim jigs, so I tied on this white one but they didn't have any problems catching it!

For planning on not fishing this weekend, I sure did a lot of fishing! Thursday I ran out to Olathe after work hoping to get into a wiper or two. They were busting shad like crazy but couldn't buy a strike KDWPT was out there netting so I decided to hit one of my favorite short stretches before they got to it. I missed a bite on a jig and then stuck the next one. I was surprised by the amount of weight I felt, even more surprised when I saw the size of the fish. Not a monster, but a heck of a nice fish for Olathe, my biggest of the year anyways at 19" long and 3.72 pounds on a sapphire blue home made finesse jig. After that little victory I spent the next couple hours trying to get a wiper to bite, all in vain. Even freelining a live shad was unsuccessful. I did get extremely lucky despite not catching a fish. I'd lost my favorite chrome/blue XR50 on the same point fishing from the bank the day before. I got snagged momentarily and it felt like I had a stick still when I reeled in, but this is what I found. So back to chasing bass, I hit another one of my favorite spots and caught a small one on a shakyhead. Next cast I fired a trap through and got hit by a heavy fish that was giving me slow headshakes. I was pretty sure what it was and my feelings were confirmed when it broke the surface. A fat saugeye was soon in the net that went 20" and 3.09 pounds. Nobody wanted her so back she went to get bigger Didn't catch many other fish but those couple nice fish made up for it easily, plus I didn't hook myself this time! Saturday I fished the Lake Quivira fishing club tournament with my buddy Tony. It's a good group of fishermen and obviously living on the lake gives them a pretty big advantage. Being an Elite Series pro probably gives you an even bigger advantage though! When I saw on FB that Brent Chapman was planning on fishing it with his son I knew it was going to be a serious uphill battle. I formulated a game plan the night before that we were going to go up the canals and risk getting way fewer bites in hopes that they would be the right ones. I missed 3 fish and was not having a good start when Tony set the hook on his jig and immediately one of the biggest bass I've seen out there in a long time was on the surface. Grab the net and scooped her up. 19" and 3.52 pounds was the start of our 11lb 1oz limit. I thought we probably finished in the money but couldn't believe when I heard we'd actually won the thing! Not only first place, but Tony's fish was good for big bass as well. He fished one of my home made finesse jigs in black/ gold flake with a Okeechobee craw colored YUM craw papi while I alternated between a home made sapphire blue 1/2oz brush jig with a black and blue Zman Batwingz trailer and a home made black on black bladed jig with a sapphire blue pit boss as a trailer. Getting the win was awesome, catching them all on my baits made it that much better I got to talk to Brent quite a bit afterwords and he was super nice as he is every time I've gotten to chat with him, congratulated us on our win and fielded everyone's questions afterwords. I'm sure if we tried 99 more times he'd get the best of us, but just once we got to say that we got the best of the former AOY and Elite Series angler on his home lake

Throw a Ned towards the blue stuff (and rread Ondrejka post). Should do just fine.

Melvern was fun today. Ran a little late and was on the water just a little after 7:30. Morning was slower than I'd anticipated, and didn't see any substantial action until about 9:30. My biggest of the day at 3.8# came on a tube up shallow off of our favorite point of the lake. Conor got broke off on his previous cast, and I just happened to swoop in afterwards and steal it. I caught another nice fish just about 2.5# off the dam on the Ned, and as she came into the net she spit out a little Bluegill which was pretty cool (still in the net in the pic). So as I'm lifting this fish out of the net for a picture, my rod almost went over the side as another Smallie came up and took my Ned that was hanging right below the surface. Conor grabbed the rod and brought it in for me, so that was a cool "self" double. Once the wind laid down, I couldn't keep them off the Ned (surprise surprise). We went back to the previous shallow point and Conor finally got his decent fish of the day on a tube again. Had motor issues and unfortunately didn't get to make it down towards Turkey Creek, but still a good day to be out. I'll be back soon to break that 4# mark. Today's came close though. RangerDanger was that you that came up to chat as you were leaving? Did spot Chris a few times too.

I'll let you decide.

The bite is hot with this fall weather approaching. I was trolling a #6 Blue Storm Rattle Rap on the Mississippi River. Got into some numbers, thought I share some pics of the nicer ones caught today.

If you're ever feeling down and out, need some motivation or whatever. Just watch this.

Hey all! Got another almost-PB today! Weighed in at 5lb 13oz, measured 20.5 inches. Pulled her out of a submerged tree This is my favorite pond in New York to fish, its loaded with big bass and has a healthy population too. Caught a 6lb 1oz bass here during the summer, and have caught numerous 5 lbers. What amazes me is that the pond is 130 meters long, and 50 meters wide, yet it is OUTSTANDING. And its not a stocked pond, its natural. Video: Pics:

I was just going out to kill some time and managed to catch three (kinda) last night. I was using a Strike King 3/8 black/blue swim jig with a Rage Lobster and a Strike King Bleed 1/4 jig similar color with a ribbon tail worm. On the second fish, I noticed that my worm came off the jig, noticed a black looking tail sticking out of it's throat and thought maybe it ripped the tail off and wanted rest of the jig. I gave it a small pull with some forceps and what looks to a shiner came out. These fish fought pretty d**n good for being the size they are, both broke water hitting the jigs and multiple times on the retrieves.

Suck it. Suck it. Not deserved but I believe for some reason or another you deserve it.... Suck it...but this comes /w a hug.

Once they start busting Shad I'd try a lipless or jerkbait. As far as advise goes, HANG ON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunetly I'm slammed this week. Wont have much time until the weekend. Tis the season of budgets at work... Gonna be a long week!

I'm assuming you want to know about the black lowe floating away? Chris and I were talking in the parking lot and he said he had to go cuz they let his boat go. His partner was in the boat and brought it back to the dock with a little yelling.

Lake st clair, bay de noc, Great Lakes, st Lawrence seaway, etc etc are all won with smallmouth bags not largemouth. Northern tourneys are generally smallmouth tourneys.

Moma's hungry!

Not sure about the biggest but you can't go wrong with a Rage Tail Rage Craw!!!

Nice football during football season!!

If your hand wrapper is the correct height, I'd use it for intermediate supports. Even if it's not the right height, shim something to equal it out and use them. When I turn a 7' rod, I usually have the motor and 3 other supports.

Trimming the excess threads off the reel seat. It used to be difficult to trim it with a Dremel and keep it square and clean. Then I had an epiphany! Put it on the lathe and cut it with a parting tool. Perfect every time!! Same thing with boring the seat concentric. No problem on the lathe. Getting ready to rough-in the grip. Finished grip & reel seat.

9" UJ black Widow Eel Tom

I sometimes use a full size 5 in paca craw as a trailer. Definetley dont get a lot of bites but they sure are big bites when you do get bit

In the words of one of today's great philosophers French Montana "I ain't worried bout nothing" lol

The 698ci HD SI Combo has a narrower display than the two units it replaced: 598ci HD SI Combo and 798ci HD SI Combo. What you do not want with Side Imaging or any side looking imaging product is a narrow screen. BIGGER is better certainly applies to that technology.

Your issue with your braid digging in, is not limited to brands. Any brand you would have used in this situation would dig in. Lighter braids are very, very thin. Once you catch a decent fish or get hung up on something and you really load the reel up, the braid will dig into itself. I have pretty much settled on fishing with 40lb braid and higher for this reason. Others have had success fishing 20lb braid on B/C's but I suspect the incidence of line digging is higher than what's said.

Nice fish, good work.

As long as the water is not frozen keep fishing, some good fish can be caught during the winter months.

Yes. The wider the better

HMMM, I love the Luck E Strike jerkbaits and squarebills Only issue I have with them is I can't seem to keep a French Pearl jerkbait for more than about 2 trips before I lose it Their jerkbaits are my favorite and I've had great luck with their squarebills also.

No she just thought I would like them, She is getting dinner out tonight

Great shots!!! congratulations nice catch.

If you want an upgrade over the Tatula, get a Zillion on closeout or wait until the new Zillions come out. The Curado I is a great reel but I don't know that it is an upgrade over the Tatula. IMO

Check your line too. Then check it again.

Peanut Butter since we are talking about things that don't pertain to the topic.

She doesn't look big but she was heavy and again had my drag screaming

Rapala Original Floating Minnow.

Too many great replies to this topic. I know you will learn a lot. All I can add is that when you are in a boat and have to go to the bathroom don't face into the wind.

Use sharp hooks

Lews Speed Spool - Excellent value.

It happens all the time here, especially bladed jigs. Catfish cruise the shorelines and water willows searching for bluegills and craws, right where I'm often tossing my baits. Most of them were so shallow and near the surface that they were immediately rolling on top, so no doubt what they were. I even had one jump a couple feet out and several feet over the water immediately on the hookset, about 7 pounds of catfish flying through the air is quite a sight. I can almost always feel their tails slapping my line when they roll, which is a dead giveaway to what I've hooked. There are certainly times when they fool me though. That is a full sized Pit Boss which has been my hot trailer lately. I rig them sideways (vertically) and they give the bait terrific action and extra bulk and lift so I can present a big target slowly as our water temps are cooling down.

When I was a young boy, my family was camped out on one of the islands on Lake George, NY. One morning, we realized we were out of toothpaste so my dad let me take the boat, by myself, to town on the other side of the lake to get some. He gave me a five-dollar bill and told me not to dilly-dally. On the way across the lake, I saw a huge bass make a couple of good leaps. I couldn't help but stop and try a few casts. In my haste to get a shot at the big fish, I dropped the fiver over the side and before I could grab it, a good bass came up and swallowed it! I sat there for a long time, wondering what to do, and wondering how much trouble I was going to be in when I got back to camp. I couldn't think of any good story or excuse, so I figured I'd fish for a while and think some more. Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by a jarring strike, almost pulling the rod out of my hands. I pulled in a nice bass, and to my astonishment, he spit out... ... a tube of Crest and three dollars change. Honest. ;-) Tight lines, Bob

If you can't locate the Cuado 200E7 that you want, the Scorpion XT1500-7 can be had for around $180.00 plus shipping from Japan Lure Shop. Minus the color, the big knobs found on the E7 and a graphite star drag vs aluminum, it's the same reel.

Use the above mentioned molds. Get bags of the Yamamoto double skirts. Cut in half and mend-it them on.