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I would like to answer your question with a question. Why do you care what other people do with their money?

Only if you use Mustad hooks.

Maybe he's been hanging out with Tiger

Wait until Senko Lover gets over girls, graduates from college, starts a career and then looks to get back into bass fishing with a $100,000 boat, $400 combos and $20 crankbaits. It usually happens to all of us. The cure? Wedding cake.

Reminder, this is an open thread for anyone to post any big bass stories- true or not! So let's hear them! I love big bass stories! It does not matter when or where or how, just the details of the whoppers! The ones that got away or, stories about the big bass you've caught or, seen caught by others! For me, I am all about the details, so I tend to be a bit wordy, but I try and cover the details as best as I can to give a more complete overall picture to the story. I have never told this story online before now. But I think this forum is the right place to share it and now is as good a time as any... In order for me to tell this story in a more complete form, I'll have to start with the background information and it will all tie back in together later on... First, let me describe the location, and I prefer to keep the name of this lake out of this story to further protect it as if I were a home owner there- which I am not, but I wish! Here in central Florida we have thousands of great bass fishing lakes, ponds, and rivers and swamps, and even over-sized puddles with ten pound bass in them, but they are not all the same. Some lakes are better than others. No doubt about this. So this story is about one lake in a chain of lakes that is very protected by the people who live around it and try and keep it shut off from the outside world- usually very successfully too, but there are times when legally they can't keep others out. So for most people who fish this one great lake you either have to live on the lake or, know someone who does and get permission to fish it. I was one of the few outsiders who knows people living on the lake and had no problems getting permission to fish with only one rule to follow- I was asked to practice catch and release only and take no fish from the lake. I agreed. This lake is spring fed and has a peninsula cutting through the northern third of the lake creating one large Southern side with cattails and lily pad expanses all around the lake with clean clear open deep water, while the smaller northern side of this lake is more like an over-sized pond, shallower, with a few deep holes and lily pads everywhere with only a little bit of open water through the middle. If I were to die and go to bass fishing heaven, this lake would be it. Water so clean and clear I have drank from it before. Just an ideal bass fishing lake. The people I know on this lake are the leaders of their homeowners association so they know every single home owner on the lake and have been the leaders in caring for this lake, the water levels and water quality issues over many years and decades. This lake is known to produce big bass. The lake record is just over 16 pounds, but recently a 17 pounder was found dead in the lake and weighed and buried by one of the residents- I was just told this last week. At least ten home owners on this lake all have double digit big bass from this lake hanging on their walls for display. There are no boat ramps on this lake. So for all the years I have been allowed to fish it, I have had to use the home owner's canoe which is fine with me as I enjoy canoeing. Unfortunately for the homeowners who religiously protect this lake from intruding outsiders, I have come to learn there are actually two locations around this lake that are "public access" points for those who know about them. One is so overgrown it is now completely inaccessible, and the other... lips are zipped! (This is another reason why I choose to not mention the name of this lake) My loyalties are to my long time friends who live on the lake and I would not want to see a post like this one cause problems in having new bass fishermen show up there angering the home owners because someone who does have permission to fish it is telling the whole world how great it is! I can't let that happen. And there is one other bass fisherman on this site who does know this location and I hope he will keep it secret too! Now that I have somewhat described the location for this story, I need to get into bass fishing philosophy a little bit. I have fished for bass since I was 7 or 8 years old with my dad. I am now 50, so that is more than 40 years of bass fishing experience with 98% of it right here in Florida. I love to catch big bass like everyone else, but I do not focus on big bass. If I were to make DD bass my priority I might catch more of them, but I would also be catching fewer bass. So over the years I have moved to smaller lure sizes so I can catch more fish. I enjoy the active smaller bass and their hard hits and how they like to brawl with me and I even like to make them jump a few times and if they shake the hook I am ok with it. Landing them is not important to me. I just enjoy fishing and want to catch as many as I can- even if it is a ton of smaller bass rather than the occasional lunker. And now on to the story... and this is a true story. Most of the time I fished on this great lake I was the only person fishing it. Most of the home owners did not have bass boats or ski boats because this lake is not super large- only a couple hundred acres at best. So most home owners had small canoes and jon boats for their personal water craft, with one or two pontoon boats and a few small sailboats and an occasional jet ski. So fishing pressure is non-existent on this lake as was water skiing. A nice quiet lake I had all to myself! Could not get any better than that. So one fine summer afternoon I was moving the canoe deeper into the north side of this lake and I saw an old man sitting in what appeared to be an over-sized bath tub. He had no motor on it and one small paddle he used to paddle around with as he fished no more than 50 to 100 yards out from his access point along side a road he parked on. I usually kept the canoe in clear water just outside of the lily pads as trying to paddle a canoe all by myself into or through lily pads was difficult to say the least, so I concentrated along the clear edges of lily pads, and I noticed the bath tub fisherman was buried back up in the lily pads as I inched myself closer to his position. Trying to be friendly I asked him how he was doing and he pulled straight up out of the water as much of his stringer of dying bass he could lift to show me more than a dozen lunker bass that he was taking home to eat. Some of those bass were easy 7 to 8 pounders, some 5's and 4's but nothing smaller. No doubt this guy was ticking off the land owners who would have liked to have this guy thrown off the lake and kept out permanently. But legally they could not do it since there was two public access points this guy knew about and utilized. Needless to say it, but I was stunned by this guy's success at catching the bigger sized bass and so my next obvious question was to ask him how he was doing it. And that is where he began to clam up and get a little more gruff with me. I guess he began to think I was one of those unhappy land owners who wanted him gone and he was not willing to share with me his bass fishing secrets. So I decided to fish near him and just watch what he was doing. I could see that he was basically spraying something on his lures down inside his boat out of view and he was tossing top water lures and slowly twitching them through the lily pads. He was annoyed I was too close to him sitting over top of the deep hole and messing up his fishing action and he decided to paddle further away from me since I was not moving further away from him. So to get a better understanding of what this guy was doing I decided I would check him out another way. So to make him happy I paddled the canoe around to the South side of the peninsula and I beached the boat on my friend's daughter's land and left all my fishing stuff right there in the canoe and just parked it. I walked over to my friend's house facing the north side of the lake on the peninsula and went inside the house to watch this guy fish through the large window in the living room as I talked with my buddy about this bass fishing intruder to their lake. He brought out a pair of binoculars so I could see better up close what this guy was doing to catch those big bass and I was amazed at how he did it since our bass fishing philosophies were polar opposites. I had no idea, but I was looking at a very experienced old timer bass fisherman who was quite literally the pied piper of bass fishing. Now that he thought I had disappeared around the bend to fish the South side of the lake, that old man had no idea I was actually now spying on him for the fun of it- and to learn. I could now see that he was spraying something on his lures in a blue and yellow spray can, but I could not see what it was, only the color of it. I could now see how he was literally calling the big bass to him with his slow ever so patient technique of casting out a large 4 or 5 inch red and white top water plug he ever so slowly twitched through the lily pads. He would let it sit for long periods and just twitch it in place not trying to retrieve it, only make it look alive and edible to the fish. You could see the wake of a big bass zeroing in on his lure as it sped through the lily pads towards his lure. He sat ever so quietly in one spot and literally called the big bass to him like calling a dog or something. I had never seen anything like this in my life. But obviously it was working for this old man as his stringer of big bass was proof of it. His three or four hours of bass fishing like this brought him probably close to 40 or 50 pounds of fresh fish food out of this lake on this afternoon. So as the sun went down I watched as this old guy tried to paddle his bath tub like boat out of the lily pads and back to his truck parked along side the road. It was kind of funny to watch as he paddled on one side the small boat would spin the other way and he would then paddle on the other side and the small boat would spin back this way and inch by inch he paddled his way out of there. I decided to walk down to where his truck was and offer to help him load up his small boat so I could take a better look at his equipment up close. And this was when I discovered the old man was using WD-40 to spray on his lures as his scent attractant!!! Seriously? WD-40? A petroleum lubricant? But yes, that is what the yellow and blue can was! And his top water plugs were the 4 inch and 5 inch red and white balsa lures he had been using for 50 years or more. If I had annoyed him on the lake, he was now happy to have help getting loaded up once he found out I was not a land owner angry at him for taking fish from the lake. And now he was happy to share his fishing secret with me. I was just stunned by his stringer of big bass. And I was equally stunned by his method of catching them and how completely different our bass fishing philosophies were- and still are- as I simply do not have the patience that old man showed me on that day nearly 30 years ago as he called the big bass to him rather than him going after them. I knew I had met a special bass fisherman and that I was open-minded enough to pay close attention to every detail of what he was doing that day to the point of stopping my own afternoon of bass fishing just to take the time to spy on him for his technique. On that day I learned something about bass fishing I had never known or even considered because I go after the fish. I don't have the patience to sit in one spot and call the fish to me like he did. Well, that old man is now probably long since deceased and passed on as we do not see him on the lake any more, but I will never forget what he taught me, though I may never use it or fish like he did, I will always remember him and what I learned from him, but the WD-40 still has me shaking my head in disbelief and I would not have believed it if I had not seen it for myself. I even went out and bought some of the exact same lures he was using to call in those big bass and to this day I still have them in my tackle box, but I do not have the patience to use them like he did. ***The following image was taken from shore on the north side of the peninsula of this great lake. This is the exact location for the story told above. Behind me is the house from which I spied on this old timer with binoculars so I could watch and learn his technique. The lily pads on this side are where he had his little boat and on the right side you can barely make out a white gallon jug floating over an irrigation intake pipe that also marks one of the deepest holes on this side of the lake known to hold big bass. And I believe that this hole is from where the pied piper was calling out for the big bass to come to him from because as I watched the wake of the bass speeding through the lily pads it was from the direction of this hole through the lily pads towards him and his twitching topwater lure: Here is an example of the type of lure he was using:

Lois & I hit Lake Kissimmee this afternoon, and pretty much had the big pond to ourselves. Don't worry, I'm not going to ask: "What Does This Fish Weigh" She weighed 5-lb 9-oz, but I'd like to ask a more useful question: What 'WATER DEPTH' Did She Come From? (Florida-strain bass | Natural lake | 67-deg Water) ==================================================================== Sunset on Lake Kissimmee (Today: 01-21-2015) Roger

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2338922-bad-lip-reading-returns-with-a-hilarious-2015-nfl-version Always a fan favorite. A-Jay

Not tackle. Better. Received today!

Even though I don't fish tournaments (and this post may not apply), but when I take someone fishing with me in my boat, which may include a three hour commute one way, I would never expect or accept (unless physically forced upon me) money from the person with me. With that being said, it is nice when the offer is made.

Yes, the structure between two defined ridges is known as a "Saddle" Roger

I know what Rodgers fish weighs, but at least I don't think I guessed over what Dwight's weighs. I could narrow it down to both over 4 but less then 12....lol

Why am I DQed? Because I know the EXACT weight of both, and multiple reasons why everyone is guessing wrong? Lol Jeff

LOL ~ I fixed that for you. A-Jay

Better equipment doesn't make a poor fisherman good, but it can help make a good fisherman better.

Party Pooper ~ A-Jay

Catt I'll admit I'm Really Sorry I opened this one . . . . Now My Eyes are Burning And just for the record, why are we taking & especially keeping this picture ? A-Jay

Don't you think that the higher costs are due more to improvements in technology, materials, and quality? 30 years ago you could buy a fully rigged Ranger for $20k and you had the very best of everything. I can't think of anyone who would enjoy buying a brand new boat today if they knew they would be flying down the lake with a smoking old two stroke that drank gas like it was an ice cold beer and required constant tune-ups due to fouled plugs. Besides that, the overall size of the main engine has doubled in size since then, which means they've been able to add another 3'-4' to the length of the boat. Then consider the electronics installed on that 1980's boat, when the selling point was "pixel count" which got you target separation measured in inches instead of feet, or "super twist" so you could see them in the sunlight. Rods/Reels? Does anyone really want to go back to the days of pistol grip rods made with that cutting edge material called Boron? I still have one of the first "low profile" reels that Abu Garcia came out with. It sits in storage and even though it still works almost as good as when it was new, it feels like it's full of gravel. $20 Crankbaits? Well, you got me there. Probably because I never fished with them much back when they only cost $5 a pop. Regardless of all that, this hobby can be as expensive as someone wants to make it. Reading through the stories of people's fishing trips, quite a few members here are really enjoying themselves spending a whole lot less than top dollar.

Depending, I would fish a frog, a punch rig if I could get away with it and target the denser weed mats. Especially if it's bright and sunny. They are going to be deep in the weeds as well as the lilypads. Could throw a rattle trap bait along the edges of the weeds, wacky rig a senko style bait. Chatterbaits in the grass or better yet a swimjig. Bottom line, it doesn't matter what we suggest. You need to fish your strenghts and have full faith in what you're doing. Good luck.

No way to truly test in the store, at home, or anywhere else, as everybody's perception/feel is going to be different - likely all subjective. If you really wanted to know, it would be cool to take a bunch of rods to a lab and have them slapped on an oscilloscope or similar type instrument and tested for their ability to transmit energy (resonant frequency, wavelength, impulse strength, etc.). Then you could actually state something factual in that regard. -T9

I have heard it is a good movie but since I returned from Viet Nam I have not nor will I see any "war" movies. That's just me. Glad everyone enjoyed it. And by the way, not being political, but I hate Jane Fonda.

Got these 3 over the holidays

I think that we can all agree that the definitive answer is - maybe.

One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Alex was staring up at the large plaque that hung in the foyer of the church. The plaque was covered with names, and small American flags were mounted on either side of it. The seven-year-old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside him and said quietly, "Good morning, Alex." "Good morning, Pastor," replied the young man, still focused on the plaque. "Pastor McGhee, what is this?" Alex asked. "Well, son, it's a memorial to all the men and women who have died in the service." Soberly, they stood together, staring at the large plaque. Little Alex's voice was barely audible when he finally managed to ask, "Which one, the 9:00 or 10:30 service?

I know the pictures are not the same size but you can still make a comparison. Roger has already stated that his fish weighs 5lb-9oz. Jeff aka 00 mod was there when I weighed mine as my witness. Lois was Roger's witness so we have two undisputed true weights from two very reliable scales. Let's hear your guesses & reasoning. A-Jay is disqualified because he knows the answer as does 00 mod.

I'm guessing both fish are in the high 5's to high 6's.

Is this a aid in learning how to identify Structure on Toledo Bend?

Just buy a Shimano...yes, oh yes I did go there.

She came from 3-1/2 ft of water. Getting clues from coloration is clever. Dwight was correct; she was smack on the bottom. Jakob was also correct, who got his clue from the dark lateral line. Frankly I wasted most of the afternoon working the outer edge of hydrilla in 7.5 to 9.5 ft of water. I clung to that depth range because schoolies were occasionally breaking water around the boat. Shortly before sunset, I lifted the Talon, tilted the motor up and skated through the slop into knee-deep water. The little chunk was on the edge of alligatorweed, and Lois lost a larger bass in a wad of spatterdock. Rick Clunn used to say: “Never leave fish, to find fish”, but Al Lindner took a more aggressive stance: “Always stay flexible”. Roger

no shite!!

When the guy that had the $100k boat, $50k truck, $400 combos, and $25 crank baits stuffs yours and everyone else's entry fees in his pocket, do you blame the gear, the guy, or yourself? Gear doesn't make the man, but there are some good sticks with good gear. Some guys with big hats actually have some cattle.

I really like Trilene 100% Flouro. I have had zero issues with it. I also like the XL version for spinning reels.

My guess is deep for Kissimmee. May be 10-14 feet. White belly would indicate she was tight to the bottom.

You are muddying up the waters with your first few post, you would get more replies if you make it easier for everyone to understand. You want spinning rods and then a baitcast set up but then you say 4 or 5 different set ups and you want Duckett rods but then you want to know which KVD rod for cranks????? Slow down and well help you out. 1. Spinning rods - 6'6" - 7' medium power fast action, these will handle 99% of the applications you would need a spinning rod for. 2. Casting rods - 7' - 7'3" medium heavy power fast action will handle most single hook baits like T-rigged soft plastics, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and jigs. 3. Casting (cranks) - This is where it gets a little confusing, the power is going to depend on what kind of cranks you want to throw, if you want to throw a 6XD and a 1.5 well to me they are 2 different rods but I'll try to cover all of it for you. 3B. Cranking (shallow to mid depth) - 6'6" -7'4" medium power moderate or moderate fast action but if you are banging square bills through cover or are using heavy baits over 1/2oz then you will want a medium heavy power with the same moderate or moderate fast action. 3C. Cranking ( mid depth to deep diving) - 7'3" - 8' medium heavy power moderate or moderate fast action, this will be different with the newer super cranks like the 10XD or the SKT magnum as you will have to get a heavy power and the action is going to be a fast or moderate fast. 4. Swimbaits - This is tricky because it depends on what type of swim bait you are throwing, you said Huddleston but are you throwing the 6" or 8" trout or the 3.75" grass minnow? The casting rods at number 2 will cover most smaller single hook swim baits and a heavier cranking style rod will cover some hard body treble hook swim baits up to an ounce in weight or so but when you get into the 2oz and up big swim baits, that is when you need a specialized swim bait rod that is meant to handle that stuff and all you need to do is ask what rod you need for which ever swim bait and the guys will help you, I can't as those giant swim baits aren't good for my fishing as most end up catching Musky. I hope this list makes it easy for you to understand and help you in asking for the right help, it isn't meant as a smart remark but it was a little confusing to read your post so I figured this might help you understand what kind of rods you should be looking at for various techniques and baits.

I'm not sure what you are going to find in the way of a job, but thanks for not starting another "I Need A Sponsor" thread!

My first tournament setup ABU Sweden Ambassadeur 5000 with Strike King Hawg Handle Heddon Mark Special Purpose #6271 Fiberglass 5 1/2' Medium Heavy Action 3/8 to 1 oz. Lure 8# to 20# Line

To this date, I don't believe anyone that publicly complained about he grooving sent their reels in for Daiwa to take a look? From the last time I kept up with it, the handful of people that said their reels had groove but wouldn't send their reels because they didn't want any down time while their reels was being looked at. A Daiwa rep even offered compensation but they all kept refusing to send their reels in because of their own personal reasons. Now I'm not saying it's all lies, I wouldn't know, I'm just saying don't believe everything you hear on the internet. There are brand bashers with nothing better to do. If you follow up on TWS grooving around the net, you'll find yourself frustrated just reading it. The lack of common sense some of these people have is amazing. If I buy a product that is defective I would send it in and get my product fixed. If a sale rep told me to send it in why would I think twice about it and then just keep using it or try to fix it myself. Every single one of these people that claims of grooving, has not come back and finished their story of what they did to their reel. I believe one said he just sold it, one said he'll just order parts and fix it himself, and one said he went to BPS instead of Daiwa and got a replacement. IMO I do believe it can happen but it's under very rare certain circumstances. Maybe a combination of line, water, and lure? Every line of reels has a percentage of bad apples that get sent back for whatever the reasons. Consider this the same with the TWS flaw. I sent back one of my ci4+ because it was making rubbing scratching noise on retrieve but I'm not about to say the ci4+ has issues.

This was the other end of the lake.

spooling it tight will help to elininate the line digging in. Yes, it may respool looser while fishing, but that first good sized fish or a snag will be the only reminder you need that the tighter the line is on the spool, the less chance it has of digging in. My first cast after either of those scenarios almost always results in a backlash due to this happening. Then again, I only use 30lb. with a diameter of .010 in. do that is also a possible contributor.

Anytime anyone goes to Orlando, I suggest you bring a fishing rod with a spinner-bait or a worm! Most large hotels and resorts have retention ponds and canals and if you get early enough you can fish them no problem. Full of HAWGS too. I lived in Orlando for 3 years and it was some of the best bank fishing ever!

All you have to do is order one thing from BPS and you will be deluged with catalogs. All of the ones I receive go promptly into the recycle bin. Why on earth anyone would use a catalog when it's so much easier to shop online is beyond me. BPS must be wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars printing catalogs that very few people read.

To some it doesn't sound like much but when you make these "holes" do it over structure!

Mines already in the trash.

The first arrival date was in Nov....then that was back in August. I'm just hoping they get them in before the card I used expires.

This arrived in the mail today.

The whole point is, you don't NEED technique specific gear to fish most presentations. For some it is just MORE FUN to have the perfect rig. I think a few lure classes require special gear if you are going to spend a lot of time fishing that way. Deep diving crankbaits, big swimbaits and The Rig come to mind.

I'm with you. By design I'm a model or two behind at least. There'd have to be a real game changer innovation for me to purchase the newest model of most anything.

X2 for this answer. But would include the Fat Swing Impact as well.

Keitech Swing Impact is the ONLY plastic that comes to my mind to answer that question

I think we can all agree that this is ridiculous.

"I know a Guy . . .. . ' A-Jay