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OH ya!!! Another chunk landed today. This one was caught on 1/2 oz blk/chrome rattle trap. Saw 2 busting the banks. This one was the smaller one. Hopefully next time i'll get the big sister.

Decided to go fishing yesterday, weather was cloudy and the wind was blowing pretty hard. Tried a few different things and got one bite around sunset. This girl was caught on a custom 1/2 ounce white and chartreuse spinner I got from @Siebert Outdoors. Skipped it under the pier and started a slow roll retrieve and that's all she wrote. 7.03 pounds after the deductions on the Accu-Cull scale.

A tackle room is an angler's refuge. It's a place to shut out the clamor and clutter of everyday life and turn thoughts to fishing tackle. Join me on a tour of my Fortress of Solitude. I designed and built this bench and shelf unit for R/C model construction. It now accommodates a miscellany of articles of interest to the lure builder/fisherman. The tackle boxes, used for storage now, give you an idea how long I've been wetting line. The Old Pal on the floor was purchased circa 1965. It was my second tackle box. Couldn't pass up this steel locker at a tag sale. Face shield, goggles and 3M respirator with organic vapor cartridges are on the top shelf. The middle shelf holds Do-It molds with hangers detached and I.D. labels on the end of the handles. Non lead alloys are boxed on the bottom along with the Lee Production Pot IV. This solid oak rod rack, sold by Cabela's, is better finished than most of my furniture. There are more than a few feathers in the cabinets on the top shelf. The Sterilite shoe boxes await filling with the packages of soft plastics on the floor to the right. I'm sure you're familiar with the footprint of 3700 boxes, but maybe not with the big plastic box below. I bought it from a big office supply company which had it mislabeled, "sliding letter/legal file box." How could they not have noticed that it holds six Plano 3700s perfectly? It's my office afloat! The utility carrier (see sunscreen and MegaStrike sticking out) also fits in the 14' aluminum rental boat that takes me to where the smallies swim. A fan blocked in by a double layer of 1" insulation foam is essential if you're using vinyl paint. Use it when you're molding jigs or spraying mold release. All fumes including super glue and flatulence will go out the window. How about this slide-on stainless steel bench top? Friend and bassmaster, Fred, a fine craftsman of many materials, fabricated this from a hood that once hung over a commercial oven. Here's where everything comes together. Good lighting is a great friend to the craftsman. Not shown is the full spectrum desk lamp that I use when tying flies and jigs. Magnetic strips work well for tight-packing tools. Before I stack any more Sterilite 3 drawer components cabinets, I'd better check my town's building codes for a height limit. I'll leave you with a photo of some of the products - (Aargh! I forgot to sprinkle some steelhead flies into the picture!) - that leave this room and find their way into a fish's jaw.

Caught my first bass of the year today! About 2 and a half pounds. Caught on a Strike King KVD Jerkbait. Put up a good fight for right after ice out. Beautiful coloration as well.

Obviously, I have no information regarding your particular financial position, so there can really be nothing in the way of advice offered. Way2slow noted factors that can & do apply to various purchases where the item is financed, not just a bass boat. Stocks, Bonds & Real Estate are examples of investments, a bass boats is a recreational item (unless you use it to make a living). Whenever I think of something as "Expensive" it usually means I can't afford it. A-Jay

Basic Navigational Knowledge ~ ~ During any Meeting, Crossing or Passing Situation ~ If the Range (distance between vessels) Decreases and the Bearing (Heading) between the vessels Remains the Same - Collision is Imminent. When Required, Always make course changes in these situations EARLY & OBVIUOS ! ! ! Small adjustment in course & speed are often difficult to detect and only cause confusion - this is Bad. A-Jay

We fished hard for just 5 dinks, but there was also this one...... 8.05 lbs on a Siebert Outdoors jig and rage craw

Was able to get on the water early and had til about lunch time to try and catch them. When I put the kayak in at the ramp, the stripers were going nuts busting the surface. I made a few casts out to the them, but no action so i moved on. water temps were around 49 all day and i could never really mark anything of any significance, no bait, no fish. but i did manage to find a few baits shallow in a small ditch near some deeper water. i got 2 taps on one of my football jigs, but they didn't pick it up. threw the shakyhead in there with the unknown worm that's like a trick worm, but a morning dawn-ish type color, tipped in JJ's chartreuse on the Megastrike shakyhead. tap tap and it ran straight sideways, short fight and 1lb7oz spot in the yak. worked my way around the nearby dock and down a steeper rock chunk bank. started throwing my "hair of the dog" jig and BAM. 2lb2oz healthy spot! the jig is literally some hair from my dog that is some kind of miniature golden retriever looking mutt, not even joking.... tied a chunk onto a 1/8 oz owner ball jig, no trailer and this fish liked it! it actually had a really cool fluid motion while swimming and pumping it back. then the wind came and it was time to go, no more bites, no more fish....

A word to the wise for all you young married bucks and to al the others that, like myself, have STML (Short Term Memory Loss); NOW IS THE TIME TO GET THE HONEY DOs DONE! I needed to yell because some of us that suffer from STML are also hard of hearing. Trust me. You do not want to wait until fishing season when your better half mentions that project you've been meaning to do, especially if it will take a day or two to complete. You don't want to waste a day, or possibly more of fishing time to complete something she feels is more important. Do you? Get them done now. Then when she comes up with some other mindless project, you can always remind her that she should have said something before the season was in full swing. You're Welcome Papa

That's good stuff! I remember when I was his age fishing that same cove and still fishing it today.

Dip it in boiling water for a few seconds if your at home. Out on the water, I carry a gas grill lighter and hold it close enough to the flame to "straighten" it out without melting the plastic, or if it is a nice warm sunny day, put them in a plano box with the lid closed, and leave the box out on the deck of the boat in the sunlight, that softens them up and straightens them out nice. I have also tossed a pack of plastics up on the dashboard of my jeep on a warm day and that works too.

If you want to buy a new boat and can afford it, and are planning on keeping it for a long time, by all means do it. You can order it the way you want, you get full benefit of any warranties, and you're not buying someone else's problem. I have a friend who buys boats for cash every few years. He finds a one or two year/season old boat with low hours and motor warranty remaining that has already taken the depreciation hit. Once the motor warranty is up, he sells and buys another. He is meticulous the way he takes care of the boats. He just sold a Basscat for around $3k less than he paid for it 3 years ago. As he says, it's like renting a $40k boat for $100 a month. I think some of the negativity stems from an animosity of those who cannot afford a new boat

First and foremost, a new boat is NOT an investment. If anything it's an expensive liability. As for financing, very few people buy a new boat or even a really nice used boat and pay cash for it. Now, I will say I think you fall into the sucker trap if you finance one more than four or five years because of a couple of reasons. One by the time you have paid it off, you have paid a very large amount of interest. A LOT of people do this long term financing and a couple three years later, decide the boat is a lot more expensive than they ever realized and try to sell it, but find that ain't gonna happen because they would still have to pay thousands of dollars out of their pocket to make up the difference of what you owe and what the used value of the boat is. Regardless of how nice and how well you took care of it, and finding some sucker to just take over payments usually won't happen because the bank won't approve it. Just make sure when you look at what the payments are on that piece of paper, you add a whole lot more to it for operating cost and insurance, which being financed, you will be required to have.

Had some fun on the hot side today, fish on the right was 4.46, didn't weigh the other. Everything else I caught was little.

NEVER TURN LEFT!!! In a crossing situation the boat to your right almost always has the right away and is a stand on vessel and the other is the give way vessel. Always try and meet port to port in nautical terms or for those who don't know keep the other boat on your left.. These kind of stories are why EVERYONE should take a boating class and know the RULES OF THE ROAD!!! Or even if you don't know what the other boat is going to do, slow down and wait and see, or stop. Very sad.

Probably because we're paying for it with our own money. Not Mommy and Daddy's money....lol. Hootie

The 11lb10 oz beast bettered the old record by exactly one pound. The old record10=10 bass from 2012 was caught and released back into the same water that todays catch came from. Same fish 4yrs later? The new record bass was certified, photographed and released back into the same pond again which is public. Kudos to the angler.The beast took a white spinnerbait. C22

I find myself being drawn to the vise at least once or twice a day. I played around with some color today and I thought I would introduce y'all to a model I've kept to myself for the most part. It's a jointed version that features a trailer hook. It has more action and a bigger profile. I also included a pic of a wet jig to show what form these jigs take once wet.

Third trip this year, and the first time out with warm weather. I fished a pond from the shore and after about an hour I caught this 4-01lber on a 1/2 ounce chrome w/ blue back rat-l-trap. It was bright and sunny, but the water only had about 1' of visibility.

Take three Advil, and put on your big boy pants! LOL, one fish, and you'll get over the cramps.

Different strokes for different folks ~ I throw a lipless baits quite a bit. Do OK shallow & deeper. I fish very clear waters much of the time. For me fish eat the Silent RES 2 to 1 over the rattler - but I do fish it more ~ Success breeds confidence. The "#1" producing RES I own - is a "silent" version but the weight inside is a little loose - so it makes a very faint click, click, click on the retrieve. It gets crushed ~ I got it when the silent jobs first came out. First day out 1/2 the finish was gone and I went right back to the tackle shop on the way home to hopefully get a few more of these "clickers" ~ no joy - haven't found another one. Though a little tattered, this one is still introducing itself to both green & brown bass every chance it gets. And I certainly appreciate it. If I hang it up, this is one I'd probably have to go swimming for. A-Jay

Saturday's guide trip was a success, sending the happy clients home with plenty of Crappie filets and good memories. Great people and an A+ day on the water. I wanted to sneak out to Lone Star afterwards, but I couldn't in good conscience miss the KU game. Sunday my dad came out and I took him to Clinton. Fish were really scattered and the wind was irritating enough that we decided to bounce over to Lone Star around 10:30. Ran into Adam, caught a few green ones, and a really nice Crappie on a Buzzs 110 Sizzzzzzzzle. Not the live action I was expecting but was nice to be out with pops. No Ned fish yesterday

Joined a couple weeks ago at a suggestion from a friend. Enjoying reading archives as I move here from Alabama a couple years ago. So thanks for these 200 plus pages. Fished Lacygne yesterday caught total 11 including white bass. Caught 7 largemouths one over 5 and lost one I estimate over 8. All were caught in 2-3 feet up creek off of wood on lipless crankbaits.

That is an old Cotton Cordell Jointed Spot. Have you fished it? I never fished a joined lipless before and am pretty curious how it performs.

They are doing that here too,clearing out the Black, Silver and Pro Max 2 reels, and making room for the new "3" series reels. All right handed though.................I use LH. I actually like the these reels. Yeah they are cheap, but I have had a bunch of them for a few years now in heavy, regular use, and other than basic maint..............like oiling the spool bearings, and I had one that had a AR bearing acting up that just needed to be oiled, they have held up well. I still use a little "better" quality aluminum framed reel for the bull work around here,like frogging, cranking, and flipping but those Max series reels are just fine for fishing jigs, plastics, and such around moderate cover. Multiple 6lbers have been pulled in from the grass, and under docks with them around here and they have not exploded in my hands or caused me any harm.........................and I will tell you guys this with a stone cold straight face.....................they can skip a weightless soft plastic better than the most expensive reels I have ever owned..........the much beloved and ballyhooed Curado 51E's. Yup, I am the idiot who has cheap reels on $200+ custom rods...............oh well. I also have a pile of $40-$60 rods to back up, and supplement the use of the customs. Plus, if I break one..................I'm out $35. I toss it in the junk drawer, and have a donor parts reel for the rest of my "junk". I have had $200 casting reels that needed to be sent off for repairs, and $35 dosen't even cover the shipping, parts, and labor. Buy once cry once??? No thanks................I buy cheap and stack deep.

SB setup is now complete! The first XP 867 that I know of in existence, super happy that they are now running Fuji's.

I heard that their manufacturing facility was the target of a Deliberate and Malicious Infestation . . . A-Jay

That's Awesome ! "Hair of the dog" - I love it. What's your dog name ? - I think I'd have to include it some how in the name of this most productive bait. Really have to give credit where credit due - Man's best friend just got even better. Congrats btw - good on you with the PFD on. A-Jay

I have done very well fishing around the mouths of run in's in dirty water with a black/blue chatter bait, or a chart./black back squarebill if they are biting moving baits. If they are tight to cover............the good old boring black/blue jig with a flapping type craw trailer ( I like chigger craws.......you get flap and stink) does the trick. Often my best bait after a good hard rain...........if it didn't turn the water into chocolate milk, and the winds is not blowing 100 mph, is a frog.

Epoxy in the guide ring can be removed with an exacto knife or small drill bit twisted by hand. Realignment of the tip, unless it's terrible, it won't affect anything. There's a good chance it's epoxied on instead of hot melt, so it won't move. If it is on with hot melt, there's a good chance you'll booger up the decorative wrap behind the tip by heating it up. I hope you could follow that, I'm not good at explaining stuff sometimes.

Sweet fish!

Seems like everything's getting more expensive....glad Bass Resource is still free!

...and the NEW version of that color still works, catches fish...

Not everything in life is dollars and cents, sometimes an "investment" is in yourself and your loved ones. Time spent outdoors with friends and family is worth more than money. If it is within your budget and you actually use it go for it.

Have not caught a bass on one yet, but this dude ate it about as deep as a drum can get a crank, not even sure how this happens.

Last time I checked, I'm not investing, I'm fishing

When you start hearing the croakin!

That's a great picture, good enough to tell its a crappie and not a bass ?

Here in the Midwest I know guys catch them from April through October. A few of the months at the start and finish of that may not be the most optimal for it. Personally I do best May through July.

Rage Tail, nuff said !

@RangerDanger and I fished Lone Star on Friday. We fished hard with jerkbaits, traps, a-rigs, warts, jigs for about four hours in the morning and had two jerkbait fish to show for it. Switched to the Ned, and with a little help from Ned himself, we turned the day around. Ended up with about 20. A white zinkerZ did the trick, but Ned was throwing a white shadZ. Strolling the flats for the most part, although there seemed to be a few key spots where you could catch multiple fish. Most of our fish were around a 1lb, but we probably had at least five go 1.5lbs each with Adam's jerkbait fish being over 2lb. We did locate a nice rock pile with the humminbird. Caught one keeper off of it too, with the Ned.

With the way the police are treated and portrayed these days, what kind of idiot would want to be in law enforcement?

Hello all, I am Bassresource newbie and came here in search of exactly what this thread delivers. A bunch of fishermen talking about fishing around the area in which I live. What a great thread! So great that I felt compelled to join. My two cents probably won't be worth a penny on this thread but I will try to chime in from time to time. I fish from a small plastic boat(Old Town Predator 13) and paddle my way around local lakes and rivers. I have been fishing for as long as I can remember but mostly as a pastime. Over the past few years I have come to enjoy it more and more, and I would say that now it's becoming more of a passion than a pastime. My "home lake" is Spring Hill City Lake, it's not a great place to fish but there are some big ones in there, I play most of my golf on the adjacent links so it's a convenient place for me to fish. My favorite place to fish is the Niangua River(not during booze cruise season), I love current, smallmouth bass, beer cans, and clear water, the Niangua has an abundance of all four. Happy fishing! Tom

Name: Gary KilmartinAge: 63City/State: Pana, IllinoisOccupation: retired professor, part time consultantEducation: Not enoughYrs Fishing: since age 5Preferred Style: I don't have a preferred style. About the only fish I don't regularly pursue is catfish. I fish for bass, trout, crappie, bluegill, walleye, pike and striper on a regular basis. I love salt water flats fishing; bonefish, permit, grouper, snapper, snook, etc. Truth of the matter is; any day on the water is a good day. I have casting rods, spinning rods and fly rods. I use them all.PersonalFav food: depends on what day it is. Favorites, in no particular order are; Italian, Chinese, Mexican, Greek, Sushi, Tapas, burgers and brats on the grill, any seafood. I like food, and I love to cook.Fav movie: Tombstone, The Godfather, CasablancaFav quote: Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt. Abe LincolnFishingFav bait: PlasticsFav set up (rod/reel): I like all of my combos, casting, spinning and fly. If I don't like them, I get rid of them. Fav lake: Pickwick, Kentucky, Table Rock, Tennessee River, White River, Taneycomo10 Questions from Members input1. How do you find the time to work, spend time with your family, go fishing, and still be logged onto the website trying to keep the peace? The sad truth of the matter is sometimes I can’t. I've recently retired from teaching, but I'm still working as a consultant / programmer in industry. That is a part-time job. My kids are all grown up, out of the house and off the payroll. My wife works a lot. I should have lots of free time, but I don't. Strange how that works. I started building custom fishing rods last year, and that has become a black hole, into which flows time and money. I spent more time on that than I did fishing last year. More money as well. I have vowed to correct that imbalance this year.2. What is your fishing background/experience? The same experiences I suspect most of us older guys have. I grew up fishing with older family members, my Dad, granddads, uncles, older cousins, etc. Anybody who would take me fishing was on my good guys list. We were all live bait, meat fishermen. We gathered our own bait, and any fish we caught went in the skillet. I like to think I’ve evolved since those days, but I’m not totally sure I can really call it progress. I got to start fishing with the “big guys” when I was big enough to carry all of my own stuff. If I had to follow that rule now, I’d never get to go fishing.3. What have been your best experiences when fishing? How much time do you have? There have been so many prime experiences. I’ve been doing this a long time. Here’s one of the best. My wife started fishing with me a few years ago. I’d always give her a light spinning rod, and fish for crappie when she came with me. Crappie are usually easy to find and catch, and she would enjoy the trip. One day the crappie were nowhere to be found. I gave her my best bass-spinning combo with a 4” red shad Senko, on a 2/0 EWG hook, and showed her how to work it. About four casts into the experience she said, “I don’t like this”. About 10 seconds after she said that, she got her first tap. I coached her how to watch the line, and feel for the fish. She missed that one. She must have cast thirty times right back into the same spot until she caught her first bass. It was a nice fat two pounder that put up a lot more fight than she was accustomed to. She was as excited as I’ve ever seen her. When I unhooked it her Senko was gone. She looked at me and in no uncertain terms said, “where’s my worm? Go get me another one. I want to do that again”. She’s been dedicated to bass fishing since then. By the way, that rod and reel have been “hers” ever since. 4. Give us a play by play of a typical, lets say, Tuesday for you? What time do you get up? Work? Fishing? Family? How do you relax at the end of a long day at work? Well, how about yesterday? I got out of bed around 5:00AM, had a shower and shave, made coffee and breakfast, ate, got dressed, and was out the door by about 5:45. Drove an hour to Caterpillar. I’ll skip what I did there. Left around 4:00, went to my cabin to work on a rod. Left there about 6:30. Grabbed a sandwich on the way home. Watched a boxing match I had recorded, and was in bed by about 11:00PM. Now do that same for a Saturday? I work Thursday and Friday every week. My weekends are Saturday through Wednesday. I'm new to this retirement thing, so I don't quite have a routine in place. I go to my cabin workshop most days, and have a honey-do project, or two, most days. Need to figure out how to fit more fishing into this when the weather gets better and the lakes thaw. What experience do you have fishing elsewhere other than home areas? We like to travel, and when possible, the fishing gear goes along for the trip. Besides Illinois, I’ve fished in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Ohio, New York, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Florida, Nevada, Ontario, both coasts of Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica. I plan to add to the list as long as I am able. 7. Do you guys get free stuff? Lures, line, rods, reels, etc...? Only in my dreams. 8. What part of being a staff member here do each of you enjoy most and least? What I like the least is the feeling of not doing what I’m supposed to be doing when I get too busy. I do not like not doing what I said I would do, and that does happen. The family and the jobs come first, and if I run out of day, I run out of day. I like being able to say that I’m part of something this great, and every now and then, somebody says thanks. What is your favorite besides bass? Pike, bonefish, panfish on the fly rod, barracuda ( pike on steroids ), Fav hobbies other than fishing: reading & cooking10 People you respect and/or admire: You know, I thought this would be an easy question to answer. It’s not. My wife Mark Twain Stephen Hawking Sam Walton Peyton Manning Turn ons: You really don’t want me to answer that on a family oriented forum, do you? Turn offs: ignorance, bigots, drunks

Gardner was good today. Worked hard for 8 fish. Berkley Pit Boss on a Biffle head. Fish were hitting on the fall popping the bait away from the bottom/bank. A few on a jerk bait. Water temp was 42-44 degrees. Best fish was around 4lbs 8oz and about 19" long

Looks fantastic. I have mine underway as well. Thats what northern winters will do to you. Not as complete or nice as yours. Planning to get an airbrush kit and start doing some painting when funds are available. I have to get an outlet in the ceilng for my shop light yet. My rods are all on a rack in same room just not pictured. Its coming along nicely. My little man cave and my boys love to be in there.

Hey now! Just because 4 or our last 6 governors have spent time in Jail, we can't pass a budget, most vendors won't touch us with a ten foot pole, and people are leaving the state in droves doesn't mean the fishing is bad here! It sucks for different reasons.

First NRX?.....I think the title says it all.....lol. Hootie

Rapala husky jerk. By far my favorite