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Lets throw a shipload of tea in the California Delta

Hey guys, The family and I got to spend a week relaxing in Panama City Beach back in Sept, and of course I'm not going to miss my opportunity to let a few saltwater fish stretch my line! To start the week, my wife and I got out with Captain Justin Leake for the second year in a row. If anyone finds themselves in PCB looking for a guide, look no further! Inshore, offshore, nearshore -- this dude has it all covered, and he's a pleasure to spend time in the boat with. In our 6-hr trip we were able to catch mangrove snapper, mahi, BIG spanish mackeral, king mackeral, amber jack and a few others. We saw a nice sailfish come up and frollic in front of the boat, just to taunt us! I'd never caught any mahi before and while they were only the smaller "chicken" variety, they were still a boatload of fun to catch on small pompano jigs and ML inshore tackle. We even caught a mahi that had been tagged, and I got a nifty t-shirt for my efforts to call in the fish data Mr. Amberjack may not look like much but MAN do they pull! The few that made the ultimate sacrifice to feed the family. We gave them a proper burial in breading, oil and cocktail sauce. My biggest kingfish to date, ~22 lbs. Those suckers are fun to fish for! The tagged mahi A few days after the charter trip, I spent a few hours wading the grass flats in St. Andrews State Park. Dare I say it on a bass site, but I'm starting to come to the conclusion that I may enjoy inshore salwater fishing more than bass fishing. Then again since I live in Atlanta, bass will suite me just fine most of the time There's something very appealing to me about the simplicity of inshore fishing. 2-3 rods, one small Plano box of tackle, and a few bags of soft plastics. As long as I have a few topwaters, a few twitch baits, a few spoons, some jigheads and a few packs of Bass Assassin Sea Shads, I'm going to catch fish. And I'm happy to say that after doing quite a bit of inshore fishing the last few years, I finally recorded my first inshore grand slam (a trout, redfish and flouder on the same day). The trout was too wily to pose for a picture, but I promise that I caught one Notice the tackle box in the pic. That's ALL I bring. Quite the contrast to a day our on the local pond chasing largemouth! I know this is a site full of bass fishermen, but I really would encourage all of you to do some salwater fishing if the opportunity presents itself. Perhaps the coolest part is that the bass tackle you already own is just fine for chasing most of these fish, but in my opinion the salwater fish do a lot better job of stressing that equipment than the green freshwater guys.

Went up to Minnesota for the weekend and 3 hours in the morning on Monday. Was expecting the water temps to be 60 degrees and was quite surprised to see it read 49 degrees. I have never been up there after early September so I really had no idea what to expect. First 3 hours I snagged a northern, caught two more northern, and had one of them snip off my lure. I was a bit nervous and was not quite sure that the bass would bite. So I pulled out of the coves, secondary coves, and culverts, and fished a different depth at the main lake. As I was trying to pull my jig out of a weed line, the weed line started to move...it was a giant bass, had him on and then he pulled and came unbuttoned. While of course I was upset for missing him, I was quite happy that I was on to something. A few casts later, I caught a 4 lb 15 ounce bass. Then I found a point that was loaded with big bass. Pulled off the point for a little bit and started having an incredible time. Ended up camping on two points for the whole day throwing the jig and rapala shad rap. Was by myself so there may have been better lures to use at certain times but I was having great success. It was incredible fishing. Every fish was fat, energetic (not jumping though) and would bite super softly. Here was a list of my 4 pounders: 4.3, 4.3, 4.4, 4.6, 4.8, 4.8, 4.10, 4.10, 4.11, 4.15, and 4.15. Here was my top 5: 4 lbs 15 ounces 5 pounds 0 ounces 5 pounds 9 ounces 5 pounds 10 ounces, 6 pounds even Total 5 fish limit was 27 pounds 2 ounces. Not bad for Minnesota! Went out the next day to another lake. Fished for a few hours but was blown off the lake and batteries eventually died. Jig did nothing, shad rap for the win ripped over grass. Top 5 were a 4.0, 4.3, 4.7, 4.9, and 6.1 6 pounds 1 ouncer Went out the last morning for 3 hours since I needed time to charge the batteries before I made my 7 hour drive back to Wisconsin. Had an incredible morning. Was able to pinpoint the bite a bit quicker than prior. Fished slow and things just worked out. Top fish were 4.0, 4.3, 4.7, 4.13, 5.1, 5.7, 6.1, 6.2. Total 5 fish limit 27 pounds 8 ounces. Another great 27 pound bag. The fish were super active still but it was time to go. Great weekend. Will definitely plan a longer trip next fall. 4 pounds 13 ounces 5 pounds 1 ounce 5 pounds 7 ounces 6 pounds 1 ounce and 6 pounds 2 ounces Fishing is such an incredible thing. Minnesota fishing is truly something else. Shimmy

I went to the Outer Banks with my dad and brother for 3 days back in early October. The weather prevented us from taking the boat in the ocean, so we made the best of what we had to work with. After 3 days, and Lord knows how many fiddler crabs later, we put 47 sheepshead in the boat. Sheepshead fishing is an absolute blast, it's like combining a tiny little drop shot bite with flippin', because once you latch onto one of those guys you better get him away from the pilings!

A beautiful late October, mid 70's day in southwest Indiana. Fishing from my buddies big fancy Triton bass boat. Sure beats the crap out of those aluminum rental boats that I normally fish from. And notice, I am trying to smile. Hootie

There are no rules set in stone.

You lost me at "stupid fish".

So...I am being asked to respond to a poll about a political event -- that is about a government policy -- but not to turn the topic "into a political argument?" Am I missing something here? A response to this poll is literally a political argument. No?

Been kind of a lurker on this particular forum and just started to kind of get into the higher end of things. Never thought I'd spend so much on rods and reels. But I really enjoy seeing some of the cool combos you guys have. Picked up my first megabass (spinnerbait special) rod last month and have been trying to figure out what techniques I like to use on it. I currently have a Shimano Scorpion 1001 SVS 4x4 on it. Here is my motley crew.

The end of the season here in northern New England is fast approaching. Sunday it snowed. Yesterday morning was a balmy 15 degrees with a day time high forecast of 42 degrees with winds 5-10 mph. Not to be discouraged I suited up for ice fishing and decided to see what the day had to offer. This time of year is my favorite for a number of reasons. I get to the launch to find some ice in the puddles at the launch and an empty parking lot. I launch my boat and head to a very isolated off shore spot that has produced for me in the past. As I made my first cast the water temperature was reading 48 degrees. Just four days earlier it was reading 56-58 degrees. The water lever had also dropped nearly a foot. I started the day off with a crank bait. After I had made a couple casts I could see ice in my guides and in my pawl. It was not warm out there. My game plan was to fish isolated offshore structure all day. An hour had passed and I hadn't caught a fish. I switched it up to one of my favorite jig set ups. It was not long before I caught my first fish of the day. Slammed my jig, She had huge head on her, weighed in at 7 lbs 1 oz. After landing her I decided to keep fishing the jig for awhile. It was approaching noon time and the bite seemed to be picking up. I was catching fish and most of them were coming on the jig set up. I did catch a 3-10 on a crankbait and even managed a 3-0 on a senko. I was glad that my isolated offshore spots were holding fish. I would fish a spot for an hour and move onto the next spot. At each spot I seemed to be catching a couple fish then they would shut off. I kept rotating through my spots all day long. Just as the wind started to kick up I hooked into another good fish. She weighed in at 6 lbs 7 oz. The fishing was as good as I could hope for. Even with the cold and the wind I was getting 2-3 fish an hour. It seemed every one of my spots was holding good fish. With few days left to fish I was relishing the moment. I marked a new spot on my gps and fished it about an hour after I marked it. It was far far offshore and I thought that it had potential. The wind had picked up once I had gone back to fish it. On the first cast with my jig I landed a 5 lb 10 oz largemouth. The wind was becoming a bit much for me in my small boat. I persevered a couple more hours but the wind chill was brutal. I ended up fish from 1030 until 430. Landed 13 largemouth and 2 smallmouth. My biggest 5 bass limit weighed in at 28 lbs 4 oz, including fish that weighed in at 7-1,6-7,5-10,4-12 and 4-6. I also landed 3 largemouth in the 3 lb range and a 3-4 smallie on a crankbait. It was an great day on the water. I caught fish on a crankbait, a jig and a senko. The jig by far produced the best. Isolated offshore structure was holding big bass. That pattern should hold true until ice up. Still another 4-5 weeks left and I plan on getting out as much as I can.

Brown scored me 3 bass and nearly a 30 inch muskythis morning

If we're talking about wishes, I wish there was a place where we could discuss the things that really matter in bass fishing, instead of the deluge of amateurish level and or redundant discussions that get beat worse than a rented mule around here.

Was your pond new or existed prior to the housing development and what size is this pond?Ponds can be a closed system with no inlet or outlet, a natural spring or may have a stream flowing in ant out. A closed pond without a inlet stream has the least potential for good bass growth unless someone is feeding the bass they will eat themselves out of a good supply food and stop growing. Ponds with a constant flow of water tend to have a constant replenishment of a food source and good water quality. When the bass reach adult size, over 15",they can grow a pound a year with a good supply of high protein food source. Tom

Well here is the St.Croix fresh off of the dryer. I'm extremely happy with how it turned out. The colors are awesome and really pop and the feel with the blank is awesome. This is the St.Croix SCIII 6'3" MXF blank with ATC guides. Its getting cold out up here so hopefully the sauger are on their way towards the tail waters cause im ready to go try it out. I'm definitely glad I didn't build the Rainshadow and this one together cause now I have notes for what to change on the Rainshadow. The biggest being I'm going to put a bigger rear grip section on the next one. Mostly just to try to get more weight towards the rear of the rod. This one is a little tip heavy but being as its built for ultra light reels and low weight parts so I'm not totally worried about it just like to get better with each rod and try something different. I apologize for a couple of the pictures. I'm not much of a photographer but got the expensive camera and don't use it. These were on an iphone lol.

I have aged a few bass in New England. The growth rate, age expectancy are completely different with the northern strain largemouth then the Florida strain. If you are still interested I would be more then willing to dig up the info and share.

I heard that David Price wants to go nowhere except Chicago, most likely to reunite with Maddon. If Arrieta can repeat his success next year, imagine the 1-2-3 of Price, Arrieta and Lester to go along with the cubbies offense! Bryant, Soler, Schwarber and Russell will all have had a full season of experience under their belts. The Cubs could be very good for a long time.

I used this little gem from the man himself last time my wife was obviously in the mood to pick a fight. I figured if I was going to be getting yelled at I might as well make it good. Telling her "It's not that bad", when she's freaking out over something is always a good move too.

This. Everything spawns early in the year and their fry have now had a full growing season to get bigger, so the average size prey item is getting larger every day. Not saying they won't eat small baits, but bigger does seem to be better in the fall, especially for the bigger fish.

In my neck of the woods, the fall is all about finding the BIG gizzard shad. Like the size of your hand.

I see no way to make comments without breaking forum rules so I'll just add this... It's been to cold and to windy this month.

I think you guys have about talked me into a 68L as well.

Sounds a lot like the whole "I was just following orders" defense to me. Doesn't quite cut it for me.

I buttoned a few things up on the TDZ the other night. Reel was painted and a 100m handle color matched to the reel. Zpi knobs,SV spool,boca abec 7's,carbontex drag, worm gear upgrade. I have another TDZ coming Monday to toy around with. It'll need painted first though.

No offense to anyone here, but I consider this forum a budget fisherman's forum already vs the TackleTour forums where Im a little more active. Of course it's all relative to what you can or are willing to spend.

You have it backwards as do most people. The majority is supposed to make the laws not the minority that think they know what is best for you. Only you can decide what is best for you not some invisable person who has no clue. Freedoms are few are far between these days but we won't get into that. This topic is going to be locked anyways so get it in while you can.

When it comes to fishing baitfish patterns like shad, I've always heard that the young of the year have had all year to grow, so bigger is better.

It's an issue of our own standards that we live by. Not what others tell us is right and wrong.

Anytime the wind will allow Seems this time of year there is routinely a ton of instability weather-wise and the wind just keeps cranking day after day after day after Day . . . But I'm not bitter . . . . A-Jay

I don't see many bass anglers following that law. Kind of like how they're supposed to keep any bass they catch in Japan but end up "accidentally" dropping them back in the water.

I caught a bunch of fish on a 168 S Waver and a Deps SS 175 last winter, couple on a 6" Bull Shad, even 1 on a 7" Slammer, all in Kansas. No big fish, but we don't have many of those anyways.

About sums it up. Also make sure someone knows where you are going, a float plan I believe it's called. Just don't try to start a fire on your 'yak ...

Good advice AND I will go even further...I wear a john (armless) wetsuit. Be informed...take a sec and google hypothermia. I bet A-Jay will chime in here soon....he's always a good reference on this stuff.

I wonder in what topics emotion is acceptable? For those who are passionate about bass fishing, any law that threatens the species anywhere is going to raise emotion. When someone suggests that all laws are equal and that any disobedience puts all in the same boat, emotion will come into play. When someone makes assertions that anyone who questions these ideas does not have the intellect required to understand the argument, it seems overly emotional to me.

The 68L is ordered. Now, the long wait. Oh... I decided to try one of those Alphas SV reels, too! I'm sure I'll put my PX-R on the Volkey. I have a medium power Kistler KLX I can try the SV on. Tight lines, Bob

I find it strange when established pros mix these up. I write it off as a mispoken word. It also just shows these guys are average folk like us.

BBZ 40 rat in grey ghost has been for me. Tom

Just to make sure I'm understanding you correctly, you are saying the government could pass NO law that you wouldn't obey? No matter how much that law goes against your personal standard of decency? I bet you go 5-10 mph over the speed limit from time to time. Soooooo, you just joined "the ones who don't" follow the law right?

newest addition just came in the mail yesterday! There is a battle going on my tackleroom. Shimano 3 - Daiwa 3

well done, sir!

I expected this to end, "and then I woke up"! Amazing don't cha know! Eh?

Very impressive! Nice job.

Excellent work, Shimmy!

Wow.......that is a dream day ANYWHERE. But in Minnesota!! Congrats

Nice fish for sure! Congrats! Jeff

You are a bass stud.

Making it happen in Minnesota ~ WTG Shimmy ~ ! So many hign quality bass. And that last shot is just Killer Congrats A-Jay

This almost sums up my cold water/cold weather safety precautions for canoe and kayak use. The only thing missing is "File a float plan." In other words, make sure someone knows where you're headed and when you'll be back. A safety mindset is important, too. Be aware of the dangers of cold water and cold weather, and remind yourself not to do those "risky" things you might do in the summer time. Tight lines, Bob

Every body of water is different. The two lakes I fish the most are prime examples. On one, the colder the water gets, the shallower the largemouth go. On the other, they get away from the grass and start relating to offshore hard cover.

I throw big jigs in the grass and the dying pads. I like pork trailers more this time of year for two reasons: 1. I read it in a Bassmaster, it must be true 2. (the real reason) I don't have to change it all day and it's cold outside