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One time, years ago I fished a small local tournament with my young son. At the weigh in, when they were calling off the trophy winners, my name was called for largest bass trophy. I walked up and received my trophy feeling very proud. I walked back and ....as I was standing there with my son, he commented, “Dad, you don’t have the largest bass, that guy does“. I looked at the weight board, and sure enough the other guy had a bass that was 2oz. larger than mine. I already had the trophy, and boy did I want to keep it. Their mistake I thought. Besides, why wasn’t the other guy protesting. What to do, what to do. And there was my son standing there watching to see what his Dad was going to do. Oh well, good bye trophy. I walked up and called one of the officials aside, and explained the situation to him. He informed me that each participant could only receive one trophy. That other guy was the first place winner, which is why he wasn’t protesting. I did what my heart told me I had to do, but what my head absolutely did not want to do. I got to keep my trophy that day, but I feel my son was my biggest trophy. My son is now a man of 50, and has more integrity than any man I know. I wonder how he would have turned out if he had watched make the other choice. I still have that trophy on my desk right now as I type this. It floods my mind with pleasant memories of a great father and son outing. Hootie

I caught this one this past spring. 19 inches long, I did not weigh it or measure the girth.

5.8 ibs, Caught on a Lucky Craft Pointer 100.

you can if you like. You asked how, I explained how I do it. Think the pliers I have came from Wally World for about $6 and are simple fishing pliers with a little wedge on the tip. But you can spread the split rings with your fingers and edge the small treble off of there. If you can't pry it open with your fingernails, then a hook will work. Don't worry, you will poke yourself a few times till you get the hang of it.

So, KVD pulls up to your neighbor's dock and pulls a 25 lb. bag of fish out of there, and motors off to the weigh in. You think I'm not gonna toss under that dock next time out because of some sense of pride over finding my own spots? You think I never fish behind someone with some other bait? LOL. Let's be civil guys.

My latest BFS arsenal. Planning to sell the presso cause it's too nice to fish. May end up selling one more but would be a hard decision.

Good job keeping politics out of this guys.

Only for the totally clueless, and only if the science isn't flawed. Only if these studies tie color to every other of the thousands of variables. It's just my opinion, but I would think that anyone would be a whole lot better off spending their time trying to understand where fish located themselves on the bodies of water they fish, and then relying on the lures/colors that have already been proven to catch fish. Of course it is winter, so maybe I can understand that the original poster is worried that some bait company is going to discover the secret magic color that all bass will climb over each other to get at, and then hide it. I think I'll waste my time trying to figure out what makes my wife's mind work!

First, fill your spool with cheap mono that is roughly the same diameter as the braid that you are going to use. Then tie on the heaviest lure that you will throw with this combo. After you make your longest cast, pull an equal amount of mono off the spool that equals your cast and refill with braid.

Did not measure her but I think the length & girth were very similar. Caught on a NorthStar hidden head spinner bait.

Hey guys, it's been a while, several months actually. I've been on the road since june with my job and I've been very busy. I havent had very much time to fish. I actually sold my bass boat back in august. Just one of those things where i needed some money and it was sitting in the yard not doing anything. I'm hoping to buy an aluminum boat this spring and get back on em. But right now it looks like I'm gonna be on the road for a while. I've been lurking a little, but really I've just been to busy during the day and too tired in the afternoon to even get on here. I've missed reading a lot yalls posts and seeing pictures of your catches. I'm hoping I have a lot more time on here. Teal

Even though I'm getting sick and would rather be in bed than work today, it's still a good day!! The wife unit just checkedout on TW with my christmas cart and I bought myself a christmas present as well! Goes a little like this: From the wife: *** *** black 6'10"M/fast casting rod (for worms/plastics) Lew's BB1SHZL (7.1:1 for spinnerbaits/buzzbaits/chatterbaits) TW hat Two TW shirts Three Strike King 5xds 3 bags of netbait super t mac worms and with 20% off, plus the reel was on sale you can't go wrong...... after that i was on such a high that i decided today was the day to pull the trigger on the top tier reel i've been wanting. i've been back and forth between the Lew's Tournament Pro and the Curado I. I'm so indecisive it's sickening, but pulled the trigger on the Lew's TP this morning on the bay for a super solid price at $150. Felt good about the savings so i threw a lucky craft 78sp american shad jerkbait into the cart for good measure. Needless to say the bait monkey is taking a nap being exhausted from all this excitement this morning!

I think that Ned has a rig that works well on his side of the KS/MO line. When I try to fish a ned rig, the way it is described in the In-fisherman Midwest finesse blog - with the open hook, it gets snagged all the time. The MDC lakes that I fish have much more snags & brush & debris than the lakes that Ned is fishing. The open hook doesn't work for me. I have to go with something tx rigged, just so I don't get hung up every cast. So, I use a lightweight rig, currently a 5'4" Fenwick HMG Med/ ex-fast tip, smaller Shimano spinning reel and 8 or 10 lb nano-fil with a short (foot or so) fluorocarbon leader. For baits, Brewer Slider Heads mostly 1/16, but I can go to 1/4 with this set up, to deal better with wind. I switch up baits a lot, but mostly I will use a 4" Brewer worm or a power bait finesse worm cut down little bit. I think that this is a good technique, but if it doesn't suit your waters you can waste a lot of time getting hung up. Also, if you aren't patient, you can get antsy waiting for a 1/16 jig head to get down to 8 feet. If you go to 1/32 it takes longer. Trying to fish that rig in depths greater than 8 feet or so requires the patience of Job, and I have issues fishing that slow, when the fish are on the bottom and not taking it on the drop. Another thing to be aware of, is that in Ned's book, short fish count. To get to the fish per hour count that he achieves, he is catching many 6 to 10 inch fish. Granted, he occasionally gets a larger one, but IMO most of the time those better fish are deeper and other techniques reach them quicker than the ned rig does. So, IMO the ned rig is a fun, light tackle techniques, but where I fish it is only applicable in certain circumstances. If you are fishing certain KC metro area subdivision lakes, where there is limited brush on points and limited fishing pressure, the ned rig can rule.

My Dad and I both caught our own personal bests on the same day (Mother's Day 2013). My Dad's was 17" and mine was 16". Even though my Dad's was only 1 inch longer, the body was so much bigger than mine. See the picture of them side by side. I don't think we weighed them individually, but combined they weighed 3.5 pounds.

SAME HERE! Lol yesterday my Pflueger President and all my dropshot stuff came in the mail and my St. Croix Mojo rod is coming today but I cant use any of it until Christmas!

#2 is what I use.

...Muskies won't be the only thing fattening up on trout...

Visibility depends upon the density of suspended particles ( regardless of the nature ) and/or diluted compounds, so "clear" more than 45 cm of visibility, " murky " less than 45 cm of visibility those terms apply to suspended matter organic or inorganic. "Stained" refers to disolved compounds an is usually associated to a dertain coloration, more ammount of compunds dissolved = more color = more "stain" , a good example of stain is waters where there is a lot of dissolved compunds from decayong vegetation in and around the water, for example, tannic acids which provide water with a characteristic tea/coffee color. Now, as usual, I am completely against any kind of "ruleisation" like the one you mention, to me choosing which blade style depend on several factors, visibility is one, depth is another, speed and lift ( how much the spinnerbait rises depending upon speed retrieval ) are also taken in consideration. Finish is also another thing I consider, a smooth surface reflects less light then a hammered or diamond patterned one. If I'm going to fish deep and want to keep the bait deep I'm going to choose the blade that creates the less amount of lift ( willowleaf ) preferably with a hammered surface so it traps the most available light at depth, if I'm going to fish above weeds then I would choose more lift, a duoble colorado has the most lift.

I don't have a boat, so I guess my method for knowing when to drop a line is going along the shore and looking for places that look "fishy". I usually cast around with a crankbait or jerkbait, and then if I get bit ill catch a few and then come back through with jigs and plastics and "clean up".

I don't think you need any advice at all. We should be asking you for advice.

That sounds like the lady was selling the guys stuff without knowing. I would steer clear of going back, you never know what might happen.

I don't have anything that really comes close to some of the photos already posted in this thread but here are my submissions: Smallest "fat" bass I've caught. Felt like a fish twice his size: Second best "fat" bass I've caught: And my PB is probably my fattest bass yet. I would guess between 5-6 pounds, only got a length measurement of 21 inches:

I have no idea what my fattest bass is, I've got some submissions though

There is a photo on this site somewhere of my 19.3 that was 28 1/2" long by 28" girth, almost 100% girth to length. Tom PS avatar photo is the replica mount.

lol

15.5 inches long, weighed 3 lb 2 oz. Ill get a photo later Caught on a spinnerbait

This one Followed by this one

What's the fattest bass you've ever caught? Mine was this 5 lber out of trinity lake on a 5xd. Girth measured 15 inches. Almost as wide as she was long:D What's yours? What did you catch it on?

Sam is a crawfish. I would send him a PM

Swimbaits were born out west to represent planted rainbow trout that are 6" to 12" long. Miniaturizing swimbaits to represent baitfish like bluegill, crappie, Threadfin shad followed. When you get shorter than 4" designing swimbait to swim properly becomes tricky for hard lures, far easier for soft plastics. Matt Lures makes some good soft bluegill and crappie swimbaits. Basstrix makes good hollow body soft swimbaits, the 4" Little Creepers Trash Fish is a good soft swimbait. There are dozens of 3" to 4" boot tail or kick tail soft plastic lures like Keitech available, calling those swimbaits is a stretch. The Sassy Shad and Worm King dates back about 25 years. Bill Seimentel introduced Spro BBZ series hard shad swimbaits in 3" and 4" , I consider those, Littler Creepers and Matts as finesse swimbaits. Tom

Welcome SRQ. Sarasota is a beautiful place. We vacation there every summer with the kids. I enjoy seeing the influx of younger anglers on the forums. You will learn more than you can imagine participating on here.

My bass here are afflicted with the short/fat genes. It makes for some great, yet deceiving pics.

That's right. Kids see everything. We need to take every opportunity to set an example. Besides, how much can you enjoy recognition for something that wasn't actually the fact. I'm about as competitive as they come and the last thing I want is a "Participation" trophy.

My PB. I didn't get any measurements, but she went 6-5 and i doubt she measured much over 20"".

Tell me something, whats so special about round reels, the Conquest in particular? I've always been a low pro guy and have always felt that pop can reels felt weird in hands.

Pretty sure this is my fattest bass. She was well over 6 pounds, but I can't find the note with her data... Wasn't my PB.

I wouldn't be surprised to see california put out a world record largemouth, spotted bass, or even smallmouth bass in the next few years. The best chance to catch a record would probably be a spotted bass. There's plenty of ca lakes putting out 9+ lbers. I think there's a couple lakes in NorCal that could cough up a world record smallie too... Just some of my thoughts on the subject idk.

nice ! I like my women tall and thin and my bass short and fat

Hi guys. I read this forum a lot but finally found a reason to post. I need some help! Been fishing a local creek in the Sacramento valley, really good fishing over summer and fall. I expected it to fall off when the weather cooled down but I am getting skunked. The water has cleared up quite a bit and the vegetation has died back. I've tried an array of things from crawling finesse worms and jigs to jerk baits and topwaters/wakebaits. The only fish i have produced in the last couple weeks have been on a gunfish, which is really counterintuitive to me. Truth is I haven't done much winter creek fishing and the general tips I have picked up don't seem to work on this water. Any ideas? I have been avoiding bright days and fishing at dawn/night mostly. Thanks! Phil

Harbor Freight sells a few different colors of powder paint way cheaper than Pro Tech. The black is a matte finish that I use on a lot of my baits and is very durable.

Brett Favre and Drew Brees told me Wranglers don't cut into your nuts so that's what I bought.

Not a danged thing.

I use my local tackle shop for everything that I can, even if it means paying just a little more. Jim Zeiner and his family have been in the tackle business for around 60 years, they are the only privately owned tackle shop that I know of in the Wichita KS area. They carry things that you can not purchase at the Big Box stores. Jim carries every Do-It mold made and lots of component items to make your own tackle. What I can't get through Jim, I use TW for.