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Having a great day so far. He has opened up a lot. Seems his dad committed suicide when he was a teenager... Had no clue. He said his wife doesn't even know. I feel terrible for him. On the bright side, he made an apt with his doctor and is going to talk to him about anxiety and depression. I'm very proud of him for that. Apt is Tuesday, and his wife is taking him. I think he has just bottled everything up since he was young and it's finally running over. I'll update after the appointment. Thanks for all the advice and prayers for him.

thanks for the kind video and words... I am just glad I am able to help. from your reaction, and true appreciation, it made it all worth while. and I do think, if you are able, one day you will do the same for someone..... and, you'll think back about "that guy that sent me a "boatload" of stuff. take care...and enjoy....

now that snowpocalypse 2015 is over and we finally have some nice weather, me and my good buddy Chris got to go fishin' today. they were hungry and spinnerbait was the special of the day. big bass, big fun, big grins. and in case y'all didn't know, this dude can flat out fish. way to smoke 'em bud!

No meds, just hard plastic, or cash & carry! Bait monkey is a trickster..

Norman's are VERY hard for me to operate, need vice fingers.

99. I need a pair of skinny jeans.

Great to see you on the map again Chris You said a mouthful, it seems the more we learn, the less we know ;-( Roger

So, if any of you saw or read my thread on the best bang for your buck spinning reel, Jon, otherwise known as bassin is addicting, sent ME a near perfect Pfleuger President 6730, for NO CHARGE. He shipped it last week on 2-day but it was delayed and I received it on Tuesday the 11th. When I opened the box and unwrapped the paper, I nearly peed myself. Not only did he send me the reel, at least over $100 in tackle or more was sitting in the box. This package included, a TON of Soft plastics, crankbaits, Jigs, shakey heads, hooks, topwater frogs, a spinnerbait, split shots, sinkers. Most of them were pre rigged too. Not to mention, he messaged me updating me on order status as if i was ordering from cabela's or bass pro. He is risking not having an extra rigged reel for a tournament hes is fishing this weekend, to send ME, a 14 year old he doesn't know at all, a FREE Spinnning reel And tackle. I would like to say once again to Jon, I thank you very much for this. You have helped me out a lot, saved me a BOATLOAD, and i use capitals for emphasis, a BOATLOAD of money that i do not necessarily have a lot of to be spending. You are a great guy to do this, I hope the good lord will return you good doing 10-fold. If any one else is seeing this definetly leave a props to this guy in the comments or a good note in the flea market section section for him. Very much deserved for a selfless act. I can't thank you enough Jon!!!!!!!

Great idea. Have fun, and don't put pressure on yourself. It's just fishing.

You don't need sponsors to fish competitively, and you also don't need to fish competitively to get sponsors.

I prefer centrifugal brakes over all, but have a few mag only reels that work fine especially in pitch/flip applications. The S is a fine reel. If you want to jump up I'd go straight to the STX.

You are not a "rescuerer." Do not try to rescue him. Guide him to his family doctor for help. His family doctor has basic training in mental health issues and can send him to a psychologist. If the psychologist thinks he needs deeper treatment your friend will be sent to a psychiatrist. Be there for support but do not try to rescue him. You will not be successful and you will then create unnecessary guilt on yourself.

I crush barbs on everything. having a barb increases the surface area of the hook that must be driven through the fish. less area = less force to get the proper hookset. on topwaters, barbless trebles helps even more because chances are, the bass would "slap" your bait, and not properly engulf it like a jig or crankbait. more chances of the bass hooking itself with barbless hooks.

As far as sheer pulling power, I feel it goes to the spot. But if they got drunk one night and took it outside, I'd say smallie.

It was definently an eventful day! I was fishing the north end of KY Lake when Paul called me at noon and ask me to come down and go fishing with him. When Paul calls, I go! So I hauled hind end back to the ramp, dropped the boat by the house and headed to some beautiful country in Tennessee. I'm really grateful to have such a good friend who has taught me a lot about catching big fish. Speaking of someone who has shared their knowledge....hey Roger! I'm glad you still get on here. The bass still make it nearly impossible to make theories out of our hypothesis. It's still fun to ponder.

Hit up the dollar bin at walmart. Picked up three different 3/8oz hula poppers, 4 different zara spook puppies and a couple rebel jerkbaits. Not bad for $9...

Been to the ER 3 times, probably will be going back. Does that answer your question? LOL

If we had someone with those signs at work they'd be on suicide watch, your friend needs professional help.

Once you get the pics posted people will chime in. Wiggle warts are a proven bait, solid small profile medium diving crank. Some like the older versions of them better, some are fine with the new ones. Just bang em around stuff.

Right now, as you know, the grass is sparse, no mats etc. So IMO there is no need for braid. The only time I use braid is if I am froggin or punchin mats. A lot of people in Florida probably use braid year round because I am sure there are a lot of people who don't fish tournaments and they don't care which line they are using. I would (and do) use fluoro if at all possible over braid. I know, I know, people say fish seeing braid isn't a factor. Im not on that train nor will I ever be. You are on to something by noticing that all the top 10 pros were using fluoro, cause fish are a lot more finicky than most people think and visibility does matter.

I have used the Sebile Magic Swimmer along with the Storm Kickin' Stick and the Storm Swimmin' Stick and I put those in the same category as the bait you just purchased. I didn't have any luck with these when I first got them, I could not figure out why I wasn't catching anything, they looked awesome in the water. Well I put them away and figured I'd never use them but then I read an article about using a magic swimmer at times when a jerkbait would work, so I began treating these as jerkbaits and I began having success. After I caught some fish I was able to put some things together and I'll share that with you. The first thing is water clarity, I was able to catch fish in stained water as well as clear but the best fishing was 3'+ of visibility, the worst fishing was less than a foot of visibility. The second is water temperature, I use suspending jerkbaits until we hit the "sweet spot" 55 degrees up to 62 or just before the fish go on beds, I found that 58 degrees seems to be when the most fish have been caught but the largest was caught at 56 degrees. The thing that worked was a slow steady retrieve, and during that retrieve if I didn't get a strike by the half way point in my retrieve I would give the rod a little jerk and quickly throw slack in my line, it would cause the bait to suddenly lunge forward and if you throw slack in your line just right, the bait will turn sideways, some will do almost a 180 but sideways is good enough. That quick movement with the change in direction has caused the majority of my strikes, I didn't even know a fish was tracking it and I'd give it that little pop and then slack and WHAM!!!! I can't tell you about the bait you have as I never used it but I did see it and the tactics I laid out should work well with that particular bait.

This past year while looking through photos I noticed all of my biggest fish I was wearing the same shirt. These photos are over 3 years

While I'm not superstitious, I do believe in Murphy's Law. Couldn't help but think of this when I read your post.

Hi everyone, I've had a profile here for a while and visit fairly often, but have never really come around to post all that much. I work for the department of the Environment to analyze data on chemicals and do some web work as well. It keeps me really busy so I don't have very many opportunities to post while at work, but at least I can read a little on my breaks. At home, I have a 2-yo son that's keeping me busy so I'm pretty limited in how much I actually use a computer....or ever fish for that matter! On the fishing front, I used to do a lot of tournaments, did fairly well (was the old partner of a guy that won the Canadian Open last year), but it took too much of my free time in the summer. We own a cottage on a private trout lake in Quebec that also happens to hide hoards of brute smallies! On any given day, I'll have the lake to myself to fish for bass ranging anywhere between 1 lb up to 5-6 lbs. while the trout fisherman are out trolling in the middle of the lake while the jetskiers zoom past them. There are no largemouth in the lake. Since it's very deep (200+ ft.), the options for the bass are fairly limited and concentrates them in certain areas. I was more of a largemouth guy before we had the cottage, but since then, I came to truly appreciate how different smallies are and what makes them tick. I've learned a lot of lessons and, quite frankly, helped me think outside the box. I'll try to contribute more often and give you my limited perspective on fishing deep, clear northern lakes for smallies!

But probably one of my favorite pictures ever

I fished in the championship there a few years back. The guys who won the tourney had a 36lb bag on day one. They were culling 5 pounders and were back at the dock at 10am

Your friend needs professional help. Help him get it. Without help this doesn't end well. Good luck. I will keep him and you in my prayers.

My thoughts exactly, well said AJ!

Insert favorite brand here

I agree with you to an extent, actually, I'll say I agree with you on sales of product. HOWEVER, he is trying to sell himself to these companies, and just asking isn't the answer. You have an endless supply of customers to push product towards, however, the companies to sponsor anglers are numbered...

What can we say? I think we all like him, and enjoy his some times fictional story's.

The plate is a seat mount and the tube is a pedastal. Yours are 3/4" pin and you need to make sure the pedastal is a screw in.

Suffix 832 Gohst, I believe A-Jay is right,,, it appears to me to be dye free

Too many "professional overruns" lol? I use braid and only have to change when I don't have enough line to cover my backing. Even so you could actually just tie the braid on backwards and use it again.

I guess we will find out if Murray is worth $40 million. Where as Forsett is $9 for three years in Baltimore. Dang my team again doing nothing. Okay Torrey Smith and Dockett but that's it. Last I heard they was letting Stevie Johnson go since he won't take a cut.

104. I go on BR for the fishing forums

My daughter bought me a "lucky" fishing hat Christmas before last. I have not been skunked since i started wearing it and caught my 2 best largemouth bass with it on. Gotta stick with it. Why risk it?

^ yes.....or better yet, get what you think will be the perfect jig rod and throw frogs with it.

Seems like Spiderwire Ultracast Invisi-Braid & Sufix 832 Braid Ghost are at least two I've seen that appear to be Dye free. I have Not fished either however. A-Jay

Buzzed that picture is awesome! Lots of crappie guys use those dock demons for fishing from dock slips and give rave reviews. I played with it a lot this winter in the house fishing for the dog, it's a pretty impressive combo for $10.

Rapala DT1 & Xcalibur 200's The Neon Orange & Chartruse color is my most Hated color, I love to throw these with anger & hostility I try to destroy these, throwing them in hard rock Areas,etc.. Never underestimate the power of Ugly!

Lures that I can burn though the water, particularly spinnerbaits. After that its weightless plastics fished around heavy cover. I have a jon boat, but spent many years walking the banks and to this day there is still something about it that I prefer. It makes me really dissect the waters Im fishing as you are forced to use the waters that are only within a casts distance.

Give the Yo-Zuri a try, it is an inexpensive experiment. Most guys on the Forum like it, but some don't. For baitcasting #12, #6 for spinning gear.

There are so many fine folks here. Reminds me how fortunate we are to be a part of this. Bass Resource Strikes Again ~ A-Jay

My small (~1oz) swimbait/glide box is officially ready to go for spring. A little bit of everything. Some long and skinny, some short and fat, floaters and sinkers and some variety of good jerk/steady retrieve/glide looks. Day 2 of +50F temps too. The river by my house has already broken out. It's coming, gentlemen. It's coming.

I believe they made it in a few different sizes. I used to have a brown and orange one as a kid. I was only a kid when I was using one, so a lot of that has to do with the fact that I never caught a fish with it to my memory. I know I had a northern take a swipe at it though because it's got a hole poked in it from the tooth. I tried to use it a few times after that but it'd slowly fill with water and would just sink like a rock. My grandpa had given it to me for either a birthday present or Christmas gift so I kept it anyway. I still have it hanging in my bedroom at our cabin.

This is not true. Japanese retailers value honesty, fairness, and customer satisfaction above pretty much everything else, so very very unlikely that they risk their reputation to make few bucks by ripping someone off.

Well I finally got to take my boat out for the first time since I got it back and it seems mine is fixed also. It actually gets up on the water and runs now. I couldn't get it to bounce when I took it out, the water was about 2ft with white caps in places and I was riding on top of them like it should with no bouce at all. At one point by myself I got up to 54 mph with a 90hp on a 17 ft boat so I'd say it's fixed and ready to catch some fish. I hate I missed the Spring fishing in my boat but at least I can go whenever I want to now. The next problem to fix is how to pay for gas, LOL!

Well guys, looks like we got our porpoising boat fixed. Triton sent a mechanic down from TN. He took it out for a test ride, brought it back to the shop, put about an 8 inch long bead of weld on the first horizontal step-off at the back of the boat and that has seemed to fix our problem! Never would have thought it! We're now being able to get maximum speed with no "bouncing" even in the bends.