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This weekend, my partner and I fished the B.A.S.S. Nation VA High School Championship. It was a two day event held at Kerr Lake on the Virginia/North Carolina border. The top 22 Virginia high school teams determined by total weight from the three qualifying events for both the Northern and Southern Divisions fished this event. It was one heck of a nail biter but I will definitely say it was one of the best experiences of my life. I went to the lake on Friday to pre-fish as I had never been to Kerr before, and I had a really good practice. I threw a weightless keitech swing impact 4.8", and landed 8 bass. Most of the time I would pull it away from them if I saw them following it, or get them to spit it out when they bit. I landed several 2-3.5lb fish, and one 4.3lb fish. I didn't get many bites on anything else so the plan for day 1 was to fish the swimbait in the key areas I found, and have my partner follow me up with a senko as he usually does. Within the first 30 minutes I had jumped one off at the net on a swimbait, and missed a 3lber on a senko that I saw cruising and sight-cast to, It was not a good feeling. We continue down the bank, and I actually caught the exact same fish that I did in practice for our first keeper, a 13"er, on a senko. A little further down the bank my partner puts one in the boat on the senko. I was having lots of fish follow the swimbait and swat at it but they just weren't eating it like the day before. We spotted 2 nice fish on a bed and fooled with them for a little, but they weren't interested so we continued on. We picked up 2 more fish on the senko, and I finally put one in the boat on a swimbait. We only had one fish in the well under 14" but everything else was between 15" and 17". We decided to make another pass over the spot we had fished earlier since I knew it was holding fish. We backed waaaaay off and threw really long casts with a senko. I set the hook and see a big fish roll, after a nerve-wracking spinning rod battle we netted our big fish for the day, a lean post spawner that went 3.26lbs. We continued hitting spots from practice with the swimbait and senko follow up method, and landed quite a few bass, but we couldn't cull out 3 fish that were in the 15-16" range, we were just catching clones. We decided to try a rock bluff, and that turned out to be the right decision. I didn't do anything fishing a jig or swimbait on the 300 yard stretch we hit, but my partner somehow got on a senko bite by casting way in front of the boat and letting it sink until the bait was way behind us before tightening up again. He landed a fat fish around 3lbs that bit when the senko was still falling 30 yards behind the boat. We decided to leave the bank so we had fish to work with on day twp. My partner made our last cull 100 yards from the ramp 5 minutes before check-in! We ended up with 5 for 12.24lbs putting us in second place. The leaders had 12.99lbs, and 3rd was only a little over 10 so we had a nice cushion. Most teams had 8 or 9lbs so truly it could be anyone's game on day two. Well we looked back on our day, and my partner had put 14 fish in the boat from the back on a senko compared to my 8 fish from the front, only 3 being on the swimbait, the rest on the senko. We did not get a single bite even on drop shots and shakey heads during the day. That night I rigged up 4 spinning rods for us to throw wacky senkos, because clearly that's what they were eating, even the big ones. Day two was nasty, wind and rain were both constant. We went to a pocket that we had seen fish in the day before, and my partner quickly put 2 in the boat on a senko while it was still getting light. I did throw the swimbait around but it became apparent very quickly what I needed to be throwing. We started down our bluff bank and I put one in the boat within minutes, and shortly after that we had two more. Roughly a 6:15am launch and we had 5 before 7am! In less than an hour after that, we put close to a dozen in the boat on that bluff bank, including a fish that was pushing 3, and culling until everything we had was 16" plus. The wind got so bad that even with the trolling motor on its highest setting I was not making any progress so we made a short run to some coves we could see that had lots of rock and wood in them. We were absolutely smoking them everywhere we went. Rock and wood were both holding fish, and pretty soon we didn't have any fish in the livewell under 17". We hit our bluff bank one more time and caught a handfull of fish, but none that helped. We headed back to our starting spot for day one, and I made a cull for a few ounces, then a huge band of rain hit. The rain was so heavy you couldn't see far so we idled under a bridge to wait it out. The rain let up and we were out of spots. Storms were in the area so we chose to stay close to the ramp and just fish to see what happens. We were in a creek that was too shallow during practice but the lake had come up at least a foot since then so I was feeling a little better about it. I tossed to a small log sticking up in the middle of a pocket, and after my bait had been sinking for a few seconds when my line started to move sideways. I leaned back on it and it didn't move. My partner later told me "I heard you gasp so I grabbed the net". I caught a glimpse of the fish and I knew this was the one we needed. She turned around and made a beeline to the log she came from, and wrapped around it one time. I eased my drag off and stomped on the trolling motor to head over and try to get her out. She swam back around and I pulled her over towards the boat. She came up and my partner scooped her in the net. I jumped up and probably just about knocked the wind out of my partner because I patted him on the back so hard. We caught a few more fish but that ended up being our last cull for the day. We ended up with the biggest bag of the day at 15.53 pounds and had big fish for a while with 4.65lbs but someone brought in a 5.4. The leaders from day one brought in 11.8lbs putting us in first place! Watching them pull fish out of their bag to put on the scales was just about as bad as the nerves I got from coaxing the big fish out from behind a log with a spinning rod! We landed 52 keeper bass in our two days fishing the tournament, that lake was an absolute blast! The top two places from this event qualify for the HIgh School National Championship so my partner and I will be heading to Kentucky Lake in August!!!!! If you read this far, congrats! Day one Day two (the stone cold killer in the orange and camo is headed to the National Championship as well, for the junior division. He is an excellent angler)

Me and my buddy Eric decided on a quick afternoon sesh today.. My usual spot got shot out when they sprayed the vegetation so after a morning of scouting on google earth, I found what looked to be a decent spot well off the beaten path.. It was a 3 mile paddle in.. Glad we went though.. We kept bent rods the whole way up the canal on rage toads and pop frogz, mostly dinks, but there were several 2-3lbers in the mix and we even got a decent double up.. We paddled as far as we could get and beached the yaks and it was another mile walk or so to the piece of real estate I was scoping out on the satelitte imagery this morning.. We didn't set the world on fire but I did manage my biggest bass to date.. No scale or tape, I was guessing maybe 8lbs or so.. Eric landed a decent one but he had one as big or bigger than mine shake off on the rage toad.. We didn't kill em but it was still a blast and I finally managed to stick a decent one..

A simple solution is to just buy a house for someone you don't like!

We can appreciate the sentiment but it's very simple. This site is world wide and viewed by human of all ages. An especially important point to remember as we know how impressionable youths can be. I'd recommend your offerings reflect this. No reason to be like "Every Other Forum" out there - The Bass Resource forum has enjoyed excellence & longevity because the majority of the members appear to have adopted an ownership posture and demonstrate that every single day. A Membership that cares enough to be Stewarts of the site, beyond the fine job the Moderators do, is how & why the magic happens. A-Jay

TOILET PAPER ! You never know when nature calls, gotta be prepared for that event.

I've been working hard to pay off some debt before I retire in a few months, so that I can afford to pursue my dream of fishing professionally. I just made the final payment on a credit card bill that I was awarded in my divorce a few years back. That bill has been a monthly reminder of the biggest mistake of my life. The feeling of knowing that I never have to make another payment is indescribable!

right behind the seat = USELESS

BassResource is a "Family Friendly" fishing website. Think of it this way: Don't ever post something you would not like your mom, son or daughter to read. -Kent a.k.a. roadwarrior Global Moderator

Going to try one more time with these pictures:

Nope A-Jay

I used to be a pretty fanatical bass fisherman. Would really work at studying conditions, lures, presentations and tactics. It worked. I caught more and larger fish then than I do now but there is one huge difference. I enjoy fishing more now than I did back then. It used to be about 'success' now it's about enjoyment. I love being out on the water on a beautiful day. I love bass lures. I love casting them I love getting bites. and I love catching them, but not at the expense of enjoyment. I'm getting old, and I don't care.

All very well stated above. Another reason why we block swearing, is because some people resort to cursing when they disagree with somebody. Blocking those words helps tone it down a bit, keeps things civil, and lessens the likelihood of conflicting viewpoints escalating into a fight. As mentioned in the rules, it's all about respect. You can disagree with someone without turning it into a personal attack; however some folks need a little help achieving this.

I went up to the campground yesterday for a few hours. My father in law, my oldest son, and I went out on the boat and made a few laps looking for bass. I had one hit on a power worm but came up empty on the hookset. My youngest son stood on the pier with grandma throwing a small minnow bait on a 1/64oz jig head. We watched him reel in about a dozen crappie in a very short period of time. so we lightend up and targeted pan fish and got a few nice bluegill ,crappie, and couple very small bass but still got our butts kicked by my 10 year old boy standing on a pier with a $15 zebco combo. He'll never let us live that down. My father-in law(his grandpa) and I have never had such a good time getting out fished. Tyler

For bass fishing you never NEED an expensive spinning reel. The reason why folks like myself will occasionally spend the high prices is because they are elegant and deeply satisfying. I own a Daiwa Steez spinning reel. It is beautiful to look at. If has no vibration at all when retrieving. It has micro drag settings. It casts silky smooth. it is very light. I also have a Shimano symetre and Sedona which work just fine. But there is something about the refinement of a truly high end reel that enhances the experience for me. It's not a "bragging" thing, because I fish alone so there is no one to brag to. But it is an "ego" thing. I KNOW I'm using a tool that is the best. It strums those soulful chords

guys, i gotta tell you what happened today and you probably won't believe it. I was fishing at that outlet pond by Ellicott Creek Park. My friend saw a huge pike with a 2lb bass in its mouth, roaming by the bank. He asked me to go over to take a look while he took a picture of it. I went over and the pike swam away and i could barely see it. But then i tossed my wacky worm toward the direction it swam. I got a hit. my first reaction was: did my worm make the pike spit out the bass and hit my bait? I brought the fish it and it did not fight at all. It was the bass in the pike's mouth!!! It was almost dead!! I did not snag it up, i mouthhooked it as you can see from the picture. How the hell did this happen? A dying bass in the pike's mouth a second ago bit my worm? Again, how could this happen? The bass was either so sick or injured or both that after i released it, it was lying by the bank barely moving. there was missing scales and injuries all over its body and its eyes were blurred. you probably won't believe cuz i am still not so sure if it happened.

My experience says DEET based repellants tend to be the best. Higher the DEET, better the repellant.....

My day today wasn't as good I fished 5 hours and got 2 bass 1 small and 1 3 pounder...one of those days where you felt like they should be on but they were not...you talk about a net I was out with my brother and the net was at the house (which is up 50 steps) and Kevin said oh do we need the net I said no...I end up hooking a monster 8 pounds plus and my brother was pulling him out and he shook his head and he dropped him and my 20 pound braid broker...last time we went with no net

The best HUGE smallie, the best HUGE meanmouth, hell, I don't remember if he also has the HUGEST spot, if he ever got to Texas I bet he would catch the hugest Guadalupe bass around.

been having a good run of big fish lately this one ran 7-5

2-lews tournament lite LG1HL- $179 each 2-lews LFS SSG1HL- $99 each 2- no. *** co. 7'11" heavy action- $85 each $730 dollars gone in a matter of seconds

Second large mouth trip of the year. We had a good day. Overall we landed 20 fish or so with the smallest around 2lbs. My buddy caught a great 3.5lb bass and I hooked into this 7.4lb momma. Great great fish for this area. We hooked all but a few on M3 Roboworms, but all the bigger ones were on a jig rig with a Rage Space Monkeys.

I haven't been up at winni yet, but I have seen photo's of a 4 fish weigh in for 22lbs from a tourney up there sunday. the biggest was a few ounces over 8lbs in that bag.

Well, the sale went smooth and I am the new owner of the boat! Thank you everyone for the advice. I'll be taking her on the maiden voyage this Thursday so I can practice before the season opener.

Caught this lil' lady before the front Sunday. She practically choked on a Mann's spinnerbait. 1lb, 3oz. Not huge, but nice, and she did aerial acrobatics for me. She was full of eggs. I'm sorry for the poor pic. A new phone is in the works. I sometimes think about taking a real camera with me, but just don't want to bother with it.

Way heavier? 3/8 is 1/8 oz heavier than 1/4. I do it all the time.

DANG! I stopped working on the boat for five minutes to check emails and ended up buying a Jackall Mini Magallon, an Imakatsu Killer Bill Minnow (the bigger 1/2oz ones) and *buy of the day* a 300yd spool of 8# CXX for $5. This makes me happy. Stability and comfort are my primary concerns. I just dread the multitude of accessories I will no doubt "need" shortly after taking delivery.

A Chevy and a Mercedes do the same thing too, what's the need for a Mercedes? Some people just like nice gear that will last.

took my 4 year daughter fishing for the first time. she absolutely love it, she caught a bunch of panfish.

I think the fish in the photo is a crappy taxidermy .

"bluegill are about two pounds" That is what I would target in that lake!

Here's what I think. There is such a thing as "heavy" fishing gear. There is such a thing as "finesse" fishing gear. Having said that, to me, "finesse" fishing is much more of an attitude thing than a gear thing. For instance, some day you might be on a "schoolie" bite, where swarms of similar size fish periodically surface and you can see the school of shad being threatened. Sometimes crappie do this, more often white bass or hybrids, but from time to time there are bass doing this as well. More often spots or small lies than largemouths but it happens. Anyway, one of the best ways to deal with this situation is to bust out your ML or L spinning gear with 6 or 8 lb test, tie on an in-line spinner heavy enough that you can throw 40 o4 50 yards if you have to and throw over and across the surfacing school and bring the spinner back through the school. You're using lighter gear to do this, but there isn't a lot of finesse involved. By the same token if you're throwing quarter to 3/8 oz jigs or soft plastics to lay downs in 2 to 8 feet of water, using bait casting gear and 15 to 20 lb fluorocarbon, there is a whole lot of "finesse involved. For instance, if you splash too much, you won't get bit more often than not. If you consistently pitch too high and get your bait stuck above the water, you're unlikely to get bit. This is a situation where you're using much heavier gear (out of necessity, due to cover and whatnot), but if you don't present the bait in a finessful way, you ain't getting bit. Just two situations, I probably could come up with more if I wanted to. Point being, IMO, finesse fishing is more of an attitude about how you present the bait, moreso than the gear used to do so.

I use mono and copolymer for a majority of my fishing. Frogging is certainly not one of those applications I use it for though.

@buzzed bait@FATYAKKER@South FLA@Preytorien@flyfisher@Darren.@cutbait@Dye99@Ohio Yakker@Turtle135@Choporoz@A-Jay Thanks for all the tips! My first kayak outing was a huge success! Went out with a friend and brought home 7, 8 1/2+ sunnies and crappies. Thanks again for the tips!

I couldn't live in a place where the season was closed like it is there. No closed season in Texas or Florida and their bass seem to be doing alright.

Price doesn't matter? Stella 1000

Read, watch videos and put in practice what you have learned, have you actually bothered to look at the wealth of knowledge Glenn so painstainkingly has gathered ? look pal, I'm 52, I've been bass fishing since 1980 and fishing since I was nine, you might think that by know I should know everything that needs to be known about bass fishing and even read ( and enjoy while doing it ) the BR library, there's a couple of things I learned there.

When fishing anything with a skirt, after a while you figure out what you like. Also making you your own is just plain cheap and well beyond easy. If I can do it - well let's just leave it at that. Skirts for Buzzbaits, Spinnerbaits, more recently chatterbaits, of course jigs are all now done in "A-Jay's Custom Bait & Tackle Shop" - For the mostly clear waters up here, my chatterbait & jig skirts are real basic. They almost always start with a base of brown & or green pumpkin or Black & Blue After that there may be a little lighter shade of those added, perhaps a hint of Barbwire silicone skirting material in watermelon, light pumpkin red or rusty Craw. Spinnerbaits & buzzbaits skirts are even more basic - White, Chartreuse, or White & Chartreuse - last season I played around with my version of "Sexy Shad" ~ turns out I need to change the name of that one to #shreddedbypike. A-Jay

Carbonlites are on sale via bps website. Gets my vote for 80 bucks.

Got rained out , he didn't want to be cold and miserable lol . Goin on Tuesday

Good day on the bend with my old man !! Caught over 50 with 5 lbs being the biggest. Caught fish deep cranking , Carolina rigging and spoons ... Fun day 12 to 25 fow.

Whit, you're right on about Dee being Gary Klein's mentor. As a side note about Flippin'. The term Flippin was coined by Dee Thomas because he was sponsored by Ranger Bass Boats of Flippin, Arkansas.

I do a lot of bank fishing for bass, usually in the evenings after work, and I also fish monthly tournaments as a co-angler with a local bass club. I can tell you I catch a lot more fish from the bank than in those tournaments on Okeechobee, usually from small unpressured waters that I've taken the time to explore on my own. Catching bass requires using a suitable bait, the proper tackle, some knowledge of where the bass are and when they are most likely to feed. My next door neighbor, Mike, is a bit like you. He has tried to catch bass for years but almost always gets skunked. The night before last I took him bass fishing in a local residential pond where I have been catching fish consistently over the past 6 months. I limit myself to going there only a couple of times a month because I know how much pressure that I alone can put on a pond. I am familiar with a number of "microspots" on that particular pond that almost always hold bass. We started at 6:30 pm at a random spot along the bank. Remember, always fish the shore from a distance for a few casts before getting too close. This paid off with a bass on my worm, but none on the popper that he always fishes no matter what the conditions. After a few more successes by me he switched to a plastic worm and finally caught a bass. We walked 50 yards towards a white PVC pipe 30 feet from the bank that is a float for an irrigation pipe, a float that has been my very good friend. I explained to cast beyond the float and bring the worm over the top of it to the other side and let it sink, and Wham! a 2 pounder that he successfully landed. We next moved to where a little brook emptied into the pond, where there is some floating brown foam, underneath which usually sits a bass waiting to ambush anything that moves. Right there was his third fish, a four pounder, his PB so far. Next, we walked to a stick poking vertically from a little cove -- another secret of mine. A huge bass at the base of that stick resulted in his line breaking on the hookset -- a lesson that he needs heavier line when bank fishing in south FL. The next spot required us pushing our way through some thick bushes towards a well hidden big metal pipe in the water (where I had landed a 7+ pounder a month before). He cast his worm beyond it, and reeled up to the mouth of the pipe. That resulted in another 2 pound bass. In fact, there was a bite that evening at every one of my known microspots. The point is to search very carefully for any structure, anything different, no matter how small. Find accessible ponds in your area on Google Earth and concentrate on shorelines, intersections, pipes, sticks, laydowns (downed trees), stumps, submerged anything, weeds, rocks, and points, and use an easy beginner bait like a watermelon green senko or red or dark colored worm. Try different ponds. If you're on foot go to places boaters can't. The fish there are a lot more gullible. Fish early morning or for the hour before sunset. If it's sunny fish the shady spots. If a front is coming, fish before it arrives and maybe do something else besides fishing for the next two days. Always return to any spot you've caught a bass. Don't over fish small waters. And don't throw more than one cast to a featureless spot expecting something to change, but cast several times around any structure. Don't overlook residential ponds in apartment complexes or industrial parks. If you know someone that lives on a golf course or pond, go there! Learn what baits and colors to use and maybe spots to fish from the local tackle shop -- but don't let them talk you into $14 lures. Use heavy enough line and a powerful enough rod especially from the bank. And study the articles and watch the vids on BR. Hope my rambling helps! Good luck!

I've fished Power Pro (both the regular and super slick), 832, Spiderwire, and P-line TCB Braid. Power Pro is great line, use it saltwater fishing, just needs to be broke in some. Spiderwire same thing. Now when you get into the Super Slick, 832, and TCB 8, they are all 8 straid braids which makes them quite and smooth. Right now I'm really liking the TCB 8 over 832 (which is great braid but fades really fast) and I won't use Super Slick as both the others outperform it. If it's just a vaction rod, stick with the regular Power Pro and go fishing. No need to get into expesive 8 carrier braids when the original will meet all your needs.

I came to the light! I caught my first flipping bass today on a V&M J-Bug. I had a pegged 1/8 oz. weight and a 3/0 mustad grip pin hook. And it was a dandy spotted bass.

Great news! Keep us posted on your progress.

My knee replacement operation took 45-minutes. Now waiting for the operating room was over an hour with one little sheet covering my me in a cold room waiting to be called was the first of my mistake adventures. But once they knocked me out and got me prepped I had no idea what was going on and woke up in recovery. Recovery is not bad. Still cold with a light weight sheet on me and then they put a blanket over the sheet when I threatened to get up and go get one myself, and then had to wait over six hours in recovery for an open room. The hospital stay was not bad, as long as they are feeding you the pain meds. In fact, I was ready to get up and go the next day, but of course, I had to stay and continue my recovery. At home I had no problems. Used my wife's walker to get around and stayed in bed watching lots of TV. OK, so far, so good. Here is the reason I won't get the other knee replaced: physical therapy. Talk about pain. You will have to bend your knee all the time, and work through the pain. Physical therapy was no cake walk until the knee started to get better. But you have to do your exercises all the time and get that range of motion back. So I suggest you go consider going through the operation. I am glad I did for one knee as the pain is gone and other than feeling the knee cap when I kneel down I have no idea I have a replacement knee. Let us know what you decide.

The biggest big bass catcher that has ever stepped on this forum, nobody here has caught as many big or as big as he has: Fishes EXCLUSIVELY with SPINNING GEAR so, seriously my man, you aren´t missing anything.

Ya i agree there is nothing wrong with that at all. The only thing that rattles me is how little people out there now what tournament anglers go through, and how much time we put in just for people to call it luck and not notice the skill and training that actually goes into it.

I've alternated between PowerPro original, Sufix performance and Sufix 832 and not seen any appreciable difference between them to make me prefer one over the other. All have served me equally well. 15 or 20 lb class in either is my preference on Shimano 4000 sized reels. You'll want more of the smaller line to be able to handle longer runs -- just make sure you use an appropriate mono or fluoro leader to reduce bite-offs from toothy saltwater critters.

You can get by with just one or the other but personally mastering different tackle types opens options and enhances the overall experience. If / when you give casting another shot post and you'll get lots of tips for success