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I was fishing at my local lake when i noticed down the bank that there were a bunch of kids taking bass ( about 3 to 4 lber's) and smashing them with stuff on the bank. Kids are kids but after the 3rd or 4th fish I nicely said " hey guys could you please not treat those guys like that?" and they were like "sorry" but their dad got in my face and told me to mind my own business. told me he was a local and he could do what he wanted to do with a mean sneer. Well first off I was taken a little aback cause I fish this spot at least 8 to 10 times a week and I have never seen this guy before. not to mention I'm a local ( though I never pull that card) and quickly asked him what schools he went to he was at a lost for words. also I could have snapped this guy like a twig but that is never the answer and it's never a good idea to beat someone up in front of their kids. I say this cause he kept taunting me and I was starting to feel really uncomfortable. To make it short I went back to my truck called the Ranger and left.... they called me later that day and told me that when they showed up the dumb ass still had all the dead fish on the bank, didn't have a fish license ( never had 1 in the state) and tried to start a fight with the Ranger claiming he was local. they said they gave him every possible fine that they could. how much they wouldn't say but i could only imagine. what a dumb ass!!! Anybody out there have any similar stories?

Last Saturday Shane J and I went out fishing for the day. We got out on the water at about 515 am. The wind was calm and the morning bite was pretty good. We were getting some consistent action on a jig with a rage craw. Towards the end the day the black flies got pretty bad... and so did the fishing. From about 10 am on we struggled to put fish in the boat. We saw a few smallies on beds but wanted to concentrate on Largemouth. It was a tough bite to get. After the initial morning bite we had to work to get one or two bites an hour. By the end of the day we had put 17 bass in the boat. A 6 lb 3 oz largemouth was lunker. Caught on a jig.

Went out today and early I tied on a 1 & 1/2oz weight and a rage craw to do some flipping, not long after I started flipping pads/grass I felt my lure get heavy so I just layed it to em and the fight was on, it felt like I was fighting a huge bass and I thought I'd never get him out from under that mat but when I finally drug him out it turned out to be a big ole bowfin! Thought I finally had me a double digit bass on my line.... Still a awesome fish and a blast catching him. Didn't get a weight because he had already been outta the water too long but I managed to get this picture before I released him.

Mods, could we have a Sales and Deals forum added? It would spare everyone and their brother asking about sales every single holiday.

One of the things I've learned on Bass Resource is that all bucket fishermen keep everything they catch, never have a fishing license, and are usually illegal immigrants. We need to update that profile by including the fact that they are all fans of the NE Patriots! Seriously, you have limited options. Call the fish cops, whine about it, or if you are really worried about it, join PETA. Bucket fishermen have been around way longer than the current crop of C&R fishermen. Somehow, there are still fish to catch which leads me to believe that these people haven't had that big of an impact on the resource. If your lake or pond is the exception, call the fish cops and then find another lake or pond to fish. One last thing. When you catch your new personal best, consider releasing it alive and unharmed rather than tossing it on the ground while you dig out your measuring tape, scales, and camera. Nothing says abuse that a trophy with a good battering of dirt/grass.

Sunday morning for two and half hours at my favorite small lake -- 30 min from home, a hair under 50 acres, about 10-12 foot visibility, mostly undeveloped except for a county park and two small houses with docks at one end...and a no motors restriction. On weekdays in the summer I might be the only one there all morning, not counting herons, otters, snapping turtles, geese. Nothing spectacular, but well worth the brief escape -- several fish about 11"-13" with the biggest coming at 16", about 2.5lb on a t-rigged PowerBait Chigger Craw about 10 feet down near a small point (picture not great; bad perspective, but you get the idea).

My dad and I went out to Melvern in his new boat (Not sizzle's boat!) to break it in with some big lake smallies. Like Adam posted, fish were being caught but for us it was very isolated spots. And I mean like a 10' circle and nothing around it. Go to a new spot catch one, then keep casting there and catching more. It was like the fish were tightly schooled up and not wanting to take a recess. It was great because it allowed us to test out his new trolling motor with iPilot and spot lock. The biggest fish we caught , besides about a 4lb drum, was about a 16" smallmouth 2.5 lbs. We did have quite a multi species day though; smallmouth, largemouth, crappie, green sunfish, drum, and a walleye. After a nice cleaning of the boat, we went to Douglas County yesterday to install something on the trailer and get some "pre-fishing" done for this Thursday. Let me just say that lake was MUDDY! We talked to someone camping and he said they got over 4" of rain Saturday night. We figured they got hammered when we were by the dam and saw logs floating down the lake from the eastern of the two main arms. Took us a while but we were able to figure out some of the fish including two that were over the 15" slot. Since I have never been to that lake before, I cannot comment on how high the water was but judging by the amount of fresh vegetation in the water, it looked to be 2-4 feet high!

This is would be my recommendation..... This will keep you under $600 and you will have an awesome set up. G. Loomis MBR 783 GLX and a Shimano Chronarch 50e. You can use this set up for just about anything. The reel is smooth and powerful but it is not as top shelf as some of the others mentioned. It's a workhorse of a reel. It's light and casts a mile. The rod is super sensitive. It has a fast taper with a soft tip, so you can use it for soft plastic, spinner baits, some cranks, top water, and jerk baits.

Hmmm.... I'm intersted to see the conversation around this one.

I've never caught one t rigged. But then again I use them strictly as jig trailers and oh man do they work

Thanks guys! Here is a 5 minute video with the big fish included toward the end.

4lbs 11oz first flip of the day!

The OP did the right thing by contacting the ranger and not escalating a argument with a crazy person. Tom

I live in Northern Minnesota and around my town there are old mining pits that are filled in and have fish in them. There is one that had very little fishing access but a LOT of monster sized fish. It was raining today but I caught a break in between rain and caught this here football! This is the fattest fish I'd ever seen, most likely pre spawn since its so cold. I threw rapalas, senkos, spinnerbaits....notta. I put on some daredevle spoons and they were chasing it like mad. Im usually a walleye and northern fisherman but how big this was and the fight has me really wanting to catch more! Oh, and its full of rocks, sand and iron ore because I landed it on shore without a net and as you can see behind me its all rocks and such. This thing seemed to have lock jaw because it refused to open its mouth so I was like meh, pick 'er up!

Forty-seven years ago I was blessed with a beautiful baby girl, named Jodie. My son Jason is eighteen months older than her, but Jodie is the focus of this post. About six months after Jodie's birth my wife and I separated. I started a new life, and after a time had a new wife. She blessed me with two more beautiful girls. Time passed, but eleven years of that time was spent living overseas, so the time spent with the kids by my first marriage was sporadic, at best, but I tried as best as a career-driven man could - which translates into "I could have been a better father to all of my kids." So much for crying in my beer. Now for the good stuff. The daughter by my first marriage (Jodie) and the eldest daughter by my second marriage (Dawn) became very close friends. Dawn married and provided me with two granddaughters, as did Jodie. Well, the granddaughters have grown up, and Dawn's daughter was wedded last week-end. It just so happens the Jodie is an ordained Minister, so Dawn asked her if she would perform the ceremony. And she did. My daughter married my granddaughter - to a very nice guy.

Been an awesome start to this early catch and release bass season. So far I have 12 fish over 4lbs with the biggest being 6.76lbs. Light t-rigged craw fatty has put all these bigger fish in the boat. Usually I get a bunch on jigs, but it's been a very specific bite this year. Here are some pictures and I'll add a video later that has the big fish on it.

2 of the better fish from the weekend. Rapala Skitterwalk Senko

My boss took me out today on a very private, stocked pond that his Grandfather is part of a club on. We had a johnboat, and started beating the banks. I caught 4 on a wacky rigged senko. We then moved to an area FULL of lily pads. The entire time on the pond, you could hear bass blowing up in the middle of the lily pad sea. It was like a BamaBass "Topwater Strikes" vid with just the sound. It was the first time I'd ever gotten on a good lily pad bite. I caught 8 or 9 hopping a fluke over the pads, and my boss caught 3 or 4. I didn't have my frog with me, although I did catch one on a buzzbait. I lost count of the exact number I caught, but they were amazingly hard, violent strikes and for the 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pound size, they fought like monsters. It was a blast. He said that the fishing was really, really slow for that pond. He told me if you get on a good bite there, you can not only catch 25+ fish, they are usually better fish over 2 1/2 and they almost always catch one over 4 pounds. On any other pond, I wouldn't believe him, but I totally do. I must have seen over 100 bass jump out over the lily pads chasing something down. Couldn't believe it. I can't wait to get back there!

Your're only going to fish one pond? Ever?

I love my Strike King Bitsy Jigs! I've caught more fish in those jigs than any other jig I have! They are one of my favorite lures!

Headed to DoCo this evening to see what's happening. With any luck I'll be able to enjoy a dink fest.

This is the "reel" answer...lol. Arv loves his Metaniums. I prefer my Cores. It's all good. Find what "YOU" are happy with and enjoy. Hootie

That's a good fish, no doubt. I'm gonna get some popcorn though.....

Tourney guys and bucket guys represent both extremes of the spectrum. Bucket guys don't believe in any conservation and tourney guys regard total C&R as the Bible. I've been told by several tourney guys to leave those 1 lb bass at the lake as if those bass belong to them and "hands-off" to everybody else. The same mentality that lets them justify fishing right on top of you or between you and your target or running full-throttle past every fishing boat out of the back of every cove they fish into. Neither is correct. Luckily, the vast majority are not from either extreme and are interested in obeying the law (many of which are not aimed at sound fishery management either). I went for a while not keeping lake fish because I didn't feel they were healthy to eat. Now that I fish ponds, I usually keep everything between 3/4 and 2.5 lbs. That seems to work well for the small fisheries. One of them is LOADED with big bass and we routinely take more than 10 fish per person.

Creme Scoundrel 6" worm.

Caught a 4lb 11oz bass first flip of the day on a rage craw yesterday, great baits!

Here ya go! http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_articles.html http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/

Interesting to read some of the comments, why some haven't been deleted is a mystery to me. I personally favor any political conversations, it is against policy so I'm not going there. Getting back to the issue, after 11 pages I've lost interest. The final outcome isn't going to affect my life one way or the other..............Go Lions !!

That is awesome man. Not sure many here appreciated the rarity of a Minnesota bass over 6 and 3/4. Flat out awesome and nice to see the craw baits make an appearance. Troy

Not having health sucks. I pray this surgery cures your ills.

Not sure I see the feasibility of local tournaments equipping each competitor with a Marshall, iPad, etc. FLW or BASS, sure. But non the mom and pop tournies.

In the words of Charles Barkley - "That was turrible".

What did the fish say when he ran into the wall? ....Dam! Jeff

I'd use the brands that paid me the most because that's how the business works. Knowledge and decisions making catch fish not tackle brands.

There's hardly a best they're all so good. It comes down to features and personal preference.

I also see it every day here when people post pictures with a bass laying on the ground in the dirt. That is one of the worst things you can do to a fish..

Either you see the same buffoons fishing that I do, or they all have the same story. Only once did I set one of these idiots straight, I caught a decent three lber, and he proclaimed in great jubilation that the fish I caught was bigger than his "8lber" he caught last week. I hung the fish on the scale, trolling motored over to him, and said "sorry to burst your bubble Einstein, but this fish is only 3.5lbs" ....he hufffed away in discomfort, and I was proud of being an a-hole.

Please check with your animal control office every day. Take a map and try to find where the dog may have run into and out of the woods. Check the roads and then go by the houses on those roads and ask if they have seen the dog. He is probably at someone's house eating steak.

I had the 15 on a Lews Tounament Pro 6:4:1 and a St Croix Premier Rod. Light cranks and spinner baits. The 20 was on a Lews Tournament Pro 7:1:1 and a Fenwick HMG I was worming with it. The other 20 was on a Pflueger XT 7:1:1 and a Lew Magmun One Bass I was using for jigs. I ran the line out on all three and reeled the line back in to get a nice tight spool. I'm doing this religiously now on all of them. No line digging after doing it. It was flawless on all three rods and reels. I'm sold on it. Caught 3. Hooks sets were spot on and the line offers great feedback from the baits and it casts silky.

dang, sorry bro

There seems to be a lot of $$$ in it here (SC). They fine you to the point of seizing property if the offense is bad enough. In fact, it all seems to be about the $$$.

I'm also looking at putting a couple high end combos together. I'm going with the Shimano Aldebaran and a couple G. Loomis NRX rods.

That's my point. We are so quick to judge without knowing the facts.

Yup, nothing wrong with keeping, dispatching "legally" caught fish. Who cares who agrees, I don't... Incidentally, I probably would have called CPS on behalf of the kids.. The fish are the last concern on a huge list of " proper priorities " as far as I can see...

I prefer a round bend hook on walking baits. The thought behind this is they are more likely to stick a fish that just swipes at the bait. The EWG's with in-turned hooks will be less likely to stick those fish, they will keep stuck fish buttoned better though. I like Owner St 36's on walking baits.

Sounds like fun!

nice

I used a 3.5 inch tube with an 1/8 4/0 tube jig I got off of EBay to land this 6.7lb smallmouth. Thanks for all the tips guys they were money for me. Also got some Provider tubes and jig to try. Possible jet boat next? Now that's crazy talk if I want to stay married. Hmmmmm.........