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I was down in PA for the week and fished a small private pond. The weather was rain and cold but I got a lot of smallish bass on a wacky rigged Yum Dinger, a few on a rattletrap and a lot of hits (but no hookups) on a frog in the slop as the fish were hanging right near shore. Thursday evening I cast a wacky worm next to a drain from a small retention pond and hooked into a big one. I was using light spinning with six pound test so it was a good fight, but when I tried to pull the fish up to the dock my line broke at the hook and I lost her. Ugh. Flash forward to Saturday morning, I was getting ready to go home so I cast a wacky worm where I'd hooked into that big one. I got a bite and had another nice fish. This time I was able to land it and what did I see as I reached in with my forceps to get the hook out? The Gamakatsu I'd lost two days earlier stuck in her mouth! So I not only got the fish again, I also got my hook back plus a picture of her. Since I don't get a lot of opportunities to fish for largemouth, this is likely my personal best.

I drove to the lake with my 2 man once and didn't realize until I got there that I forgot the battery at home. Just about a month ago I decided to explore a creek in my kayak. Got everything out and got the kayak on the cart before I realized I'd left my paddle at home. A couple months ago, we had just launched the boat when my bilge pump kicked on, sure sign the plug wasn't it. We pulled the boat out and laughed while it drained out. Put the boat back in the water and the bilge kicked back on 5 minutes later. We started talking and neither of us put the plug in, again.

I started out slow, but figured them out pretty good on a tough lake in the last 3 hours of the day.

ever do something this stupid? ROTFLMAO I've drove 1 1/2 hrs to the marsh launched the boat, put all my tackle in the boat & realize I left my rod & reels at home!!!

Great day of fishing. Caught this hawg. Didn't have scale but I would say pushing 6lbs.

It was a long day on the kayak today! I fished in Sturgeon Creek from 8am-4pm while bass boats came and went the entire time. The pleasure boats, however, did not come and go, they seemed to continuously come and stay and make huge wakes. Why people pick small creeks to "recreate" in when they have the main lake all to themselves is beyond me, but it pretty much shut off the fish by 1:30, so I fished a couple protected areas. Fish were guarding fry or very halfheartedly guarding an area that I assume had a bed, most of these fish would not bite, the few that did show interest would charge the bait then come to a dead halt when you would normally expect them to eat it. I saw several fish in the 4-6lb class but no dice. Put 10 bass in the kayak, two "nice" ones, a 3.02 and a 2.44. The 3.02 is my biggest ned rig fish to date. I wrapped up the day at Dike 3 where I caught 4 largemouth and 4 stripers. The stripers were schooling on herring so I rigged a super spook jr on a spinning rod with 8lb line (so I could reach them if they started blowing up at an iffy distance) and had a blast. 3 of them surpassed the 20" size limit so they came home with me! You can see Ned in his top lip Skinny 2.44 And this was too cool not to share, I think it is a Green Sunfish x Pumpkinseed hybrid. Lake Anna has numerous sunfish hybrids, I bet one out of every 10 you catch there is a combination of two species.

No giants, but not a bad day. Best of eight. Still don't know how to make these pics stand up....lol. Hootie

It's 4:15 a.m. and I"m on the road to meet Eric at the Q. The air temp is 43º and it's raining lightly. The past week had been gloomy, unseasonably cold and leaves me feeling under enthused. Good numbers of smallies should be cruising the flats by now, looking to set up housekeeping for the spawn. I barely kept the skunk off last trip. Harumph. But really, who is confused? Not the smallies. They're doing exactly what Mother Nature hard wired them to do. They're not much brighter than a bag of hammers of course, equipped with a brain the size of a smallish chickpea. I'm anthropomorphizing again, a fun game but not helpful in a search for smallmouth. A realistic assessment is, considering the continuing blah weather conditions, the fish will still be relatively deep and reluctant to jerk the rod out of my hands. Met Eric at Gate 43 with Scott N.'s boat in tow. (Thank you, Scott!) Eric, always deferential and showing poor judgment again asked, "Where do you want to start?" I suggested a mid lake rock hump and flats. Here, as at other locations we fished, the water temp was 51º - 52º. It took several hours for the air temp to reach this and it never got a whole lot warmer. Was hoping for a blade bite at the upper end of this bait's effective range. Didn't happen. A jig on the bottom didn't entice them. What did work was a suspending jerkbait retrieved at a moderate clip. Here's Eric's first fish: I followed not long after with a smallie that measured but was below show off size. We continued drifting and casting for a while and then decided to try different water. Blade baits again did not work nor did suspending jerks or a bright red crank. The rubber skirted, twin tailed jig did, however. The bottom was a field of rocks and boulders like the shoreline above and, since bass didn't intercept my hair jigs quickly enough, I sacrificed two to Mistress Quabbin and decided not to waste more. It was getting gusty (20+ mph) at this time anyway and, conscious of Scott's generously loaned hull, we cautiously made our way back to the big flat where we started. "Bassmaster Eric," I said resignedly, "We could be doing worse, but they're not exactly active. Why don't we use the electric for controlled drifts along the deeper areas of this flat and see if we can fool a few that are moving up?" We did this for several hours, hooking up now and then. When it's slow going I tie on a Lucky Craft Pointer 78. Eric stayed with a lightly weighted X-Rap in the 4" size which netted him 6 smallies and several lakers for the outing. Among them, the patient and persevering Eric hooked his second 4+ lb. smallmouth of the season. To sum up, I think we can fairly say we did okay for a cool, gray, Quabbin day.

I bought one of those spinnerbaits at dicks sporting goods that aren't packaged and just hanging on the hook.. Tied it on and used it for a while and wondered why i kept losing fish on it. Looked at the hook and there was a plastic hook guard on the hook. Fail

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Welcome aboard! When I got back in the hunt the articles on this site were immensely helpful to me. I highly recommend you read up on it. As well, the forums were and continue to be the place to find great tips, help, how-to and such. Personally, I would start by finding laydowns and docks. Throw some TX rigged worms in natural colors (watermelon, green pumpkin, junebug, etc.). Fish it slow. When you think you're slow enough, slow down some more. My favorite rig is the wacky rig. I use that more than anything other than the dropshot now-a-days. There are articles on each of these, as well as videos that can get you "re- started". Good luck!

Welcome! Make yourself a cup of coffee and search the forums. Plenty of knowledgeable posters here that can help you.

It's not a Rapala. Looks like one of the baits out of the bin on the bottom shelf at Wal Mart. Probably by Cotton Cordell or Renegade. Body shape and bill looks like a Lucky Craft Bevy Shad, but it's not. Not the same color, but this is a Wal Mart "Bait Bonanza", crank by Cotton Cordell, sure looks the same.

A couple years ago I was taking the boat out of the water after a night of fishing. I always take everything out before I load it up, then put all the stuff back in when the boat is strapped up. So after strapping the boat, and re loading all my gear, I left the lake. When I get home, as I'm unloading everything, I realize I made a huge mistake. Loaded everything EXCEPT my rods/ reels and tackle. I left it sitting in the grass at the boat launch. And this is thousands and thousands of dollars worth of gear. 5 rods/reels, 5 3700 boxes of lures, hundreds of tungsten bullet weights and everything. I hauled bass back to that lake so freaking quick, and luckily somebody had noticed it and put it in a safe place for me. Stupidest thing I've done but I really lucked out.

I took that photo yesterday. Don't bother. It'll be at LEAST another month before lone star is on the mend. Fished the annual Special Olympics of Kansas Crappie tournament today at Clinton. Ran across my biggest Clinton Smallie to date first thing in the morning. The incidental brown fish are my favorite part of the spawn.

Dont feel bad . I set the hook too soon a lot . Its hard not to when one explodes on your lure . You should not set it until you feel the fish . Easier said than done .

Thought tis would be a fun topic I got to thinking today about some of the terms we throw around like fishing is a hobby, or a sport, or an addiction or a pastime, Now, that may be true for some of us who are just picking it up, and even those of us who have been doing it our entire lives. But, maybe for some of us it goes deeper than that. I was catching up with my mother on the drive home from work today. I took my dad fishing this past weekend and my mom thanked me because my dad really enjoys getting out on the boat. (They are both in their late 70's) She then proceeded to tell me how he "sorts all his hooks in containers and he could lose all his hooks and still never get thru them all" I thought to myself "Little does she know...the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" as I'm typing this my son is texting me pictures of bass he's catching in a local pond. where he went after work. Is the need/desire to fish evolution of the gene pool? and if so, why are some men hunters(fishermen) and gatherers, and others are not? Did they lose the instinct? Did they simply evolve differently into a being with less primitive attributes? Have certain families evolved over time where the hunter/gatherer instinct has become part of the family genetics. I know there is a long history of fishermen in my family on both my mothers and fathers side. Even one relative on my fathers side of the family who designed lures around 100 years ago. Or, Is it nothing but tradition passed down from generation to generation? Thoughts?

I was getting ready to call it a day and get some lunch when this guy hit. I have seen bigger ones in the lake, but I'm glad I remembered to put my pliers in the tackle bag.

Had a good trip out yesterday. After a long period of nothing moderately exciting to report, I feel like I've paid my dues. Went to a canal with a couple of friends and caught a cracking good zander and a nice black one too. Doesn't look like I'll get a bass trip in this year, so I need some more days like this to distract me.

For those that like to wacky rig with casting rods and heavy line here are my HD wacky jigs. The ones in the picture are 3/16oz with a 1/0 hook but they come in 1/8oz, 3/16oz and 1/4oz and use either a size 1 or 1/0 Owner 5304 deep throat jig hook. The wire weed guard is made from braided wire and much bigger than normal thin wire found of other types of wacky jigs. I just finished making these for my an a friend for those days we have to finesse but going to do it with larger baits and heavier gear in grass and brush so I wanted to make sure we had a good hook to handle the heavier casting tackle.

Today was a good day. A few weeks ago I saw forum member post that he had ordered a new boat. I noticed the boat in his sig was about what I was looking for. I shot him a PM and asked him if he planned on selling it. He said he was and we began discussions. I was very pleased to hear the boat only had 75hrs on it. Me being in Memphis, and him being in Oklahoma I wanted to be fairly certain about the purchase before arranging an exchange. He gladly sent me multiple videos and pictures going over the boat. He was very helpful, answered all my questions, represented the boat honestly, and negotiated a fair price with me. I told him I wanted the boat, was going to list my GTO for sale, and hopefully be able to pick it up in a few weeks. Luckily my car sold in 24hrs and we began making plans for the transaction. Thankfully he offered to meet me about half way (~ 3 hours) between our homes at a piece of water off the Arkansas River he was familiar with so we could water test the boat and make the exchange. Today was a beautiful day in Arkansas. We timed our arrivals just about right, he said he arrived about 5 minutes before I did. After walking me around the boat and going over everything, we launched the boat and took her out. As expected the boat ran great and all the equipment functioned as it should have. The Xi5 trolling motor and the Touch 7 working together is very very cool. I have SO much to learn about these pieces of equipment. After exchanging paperwork and money, I gladly shook hiss hand and headed back to Memphis with my new toy in tow. He had two new tires put on earlier this week for me and the boat towed great behind my V6 explorer...hardly even knew it was there. I am pretty stoked about how everything went, and very thankful I was able to find a good boat, owned by a good owner. Thanks again Scot, I'm sorry that you will be boatless for a few weeks, but I am glad I could take her off your hands. Here is the mandatory purchase day picture. Just a quick one because she is pretty dirty from the long trip. I plan on washing her tomorrow and taking a few more... 2006 Pro Team 175 TX 2006 Merc 60hp 4-stroke Motorguide 80# Xi5 Lowrance HDS 7 Touch G2 Lowrance Elite 7 HDI Mercmonitor

I went out on my dock a few days ago to test out a new rod, newly tuned reel and some new line. I posted about this previously, so i won't go into detail. Realized today that I do not have a current fishing license. In Illinois, our fishing lecense expires at the end of March. For at least 50 years I've bought a new license sometime in March. Not this year for some dumb reason. Besides being scatter-brained, this tells you how much I've been able to fish this year. to date, this year has been my poorest year of fishing. Had too much other stuff going on. And, I just retired at the end of 2015. What's up with that?

63 and trying to relearn bass fishing after some 45 years. I have my boat in a slip at Degray Lake so I am determined to learn how to catch largemouth there. I have been fishing there a year now and can't seem to catch largemouth. Any help would be appreciated !!!

Today is fishing opener and I'm already back from fishing so here's what happened. The weather was sunny with 5-15 mile per hour wind. Yesterday it was about 90 but today was low to mid 60s. We mainly fished shallow along the shoreline and in a cove. I caught 4 bass all between 12-16 inches all on a booyah boo jig. I also caught a pike. I also had one bass get chased by a loon and get off because it jumped. Overall a good day of fishing to start the year.

You are a bad bear A Jay!!

So up until January I always struggled to find ways to keep my tackle organized, and since space was limited, I just kept everything jumbled up in tackle boxes. I came up with a new system that's worked great for me, and basically anyone can do it at home. Materials needed: Some kind of drawer Paper Hot Glue Basically, you roll a tube of paper with 2-3 sheets of paper then tape them together so they don't unravel. Then, flatten the tube out, cut it to the width of your drawer, and glue the ends to the sides. Remember to leave some room at the top so the drawer can close. Hope this helps anyone out there looking for a cheap, condensed storage!

Lews are ok reels. I have some buds that use them. Me - I'm a Shimano guy - have been for almost two decades. Last time I got talked into/talked myself into a brand that was "just as good and less expensive" than Shimano, I was ultimately disappointed. Never again, when I decide that I'm entitled to a new reel, I get another Shimano. Bait casting - spinning - I don't care. When I decide I need another reel I get another Shimano.

The reel can certainly do the work. I just think there are better options, calcutta 100 works better for me.

I did the same. It made sense in my head, but apparently not to the fish.

Without a doubt the dumbest thing I ever did about fishing was when I shot my gas tank while preparing for next days trip with my boss.Don't ask .

Sounds like something I would do. Aww man I bet she felt horrible. I have worried I would do that so I remove them all before I ever put them in my box. And yes I have done some ignorant stuff just cant recall any of it during a fishing ordeal. I did open the door to a work van (not mine) next to a pole barn and didn't have it in Park I thought I did but no it was in Reverse. The owner of the van standing there talking to me, watched me wad the door up on a pole to the barn. I tried to get back in to hit the brakes but it all happened so quick. Talk about feeling like a donky.

You are not going to be hooking very many fish using a reel set. You are fishing with big, thick hooks buried in soft plastic and trying to drive that big hook through the plastic and a big basses tough jaw. Swing hard enough to cross there eyes.

A "Bank" is a connection to a battery. Three banks for three batteries.

Heres one that I got away with. I did some work on the trailer that required a portable drill. Work all done and 80 miles later the drill was laying right where I left it==on the tongue of the trailer on a flat surface and not locked onto anything. Lucky C22

But that wasn't the title of the thread. The subject title was "rod & reel setups". Hope no one got upset because I mentioned something other than Lew's after the OPs original comment on Lew's reels. A few of my setups....for the OP Curado 51E and Smallmouth 6'10" MF TD-Z 105H and older 7' ML HMG Fuego and Cumara 7' MHF PXL Type R and Falcon Expert Light Curado 201E and Endurance 723 Zillion 50th and Diablo Spec R Primmus and 704CB Glass Purple Alphas and 7' MLR Tatula Helios Air and 7'3" MHF Hammer Chronarch 100B and 6'10" Quantum Tour Edition Unmentionable A and 7' MHF RX7 Rainshadow Morrum SX 1601C and Falcon Expert 7' Medium TD-Z 103HL Type R and 7'6" HF Zillion T3 1016 SHL and 7' MHF Aetos

Sorry to be the one to tell you guys this but...It doesn't get much better! ? Mike

I do my best to always feel the fish when I have treble hooks and do more of a sweep or lean back so I do not have any slack in the line. I find if I am not focused the entire time, I almost always set the hook like I am using a Frog and that is not the way to go with trebles for the most part... I find fish slap or miss a topwater with treble hooks at the same rate as any topwater even a frog...Sometimes they just come up and smash it without the intent of eating it, and I am always amazed how a fish can crush a lure with 3 treble hooks and not get any hook at all at times... I think when a fish wants a topwater, they take it down and from there it is just playing the fish, you could get away with just doing a reel set if you feel the weight and have good treble hooks. The hard part is keeping them buttoned up if on a long cast without them throwing the hook or getting you hung up, or some how getting slack in your line...I would rather have gear to heavy and land the fish then use a lighter rod, but that is just my preference, I like a fast tip so I can work the lure better but I know that is all preference. Jitterbug...I need to throw that again soon...I have a hard time putting down the prop baits this time of year, the Jitterbug has gained some respect again with many companies copying it and charging big bucks with a fancy name..same as the crazy crawler...I still love the Torpedo but I have replaced the devils horse with the X Rap Prop since I decided it just works better but Heddon is still the real deal..

A really windy day on Long Lake, but my wife and I got some fish in the 5 hours we fished there. Got 1 fish before the storm came through and then the rest after that with the 20-25 mph winds. Pic #1 (14-/12" bass), Pic #2 (15-1/2" bass), Pic #3 my wife with a (14-/12" bass), Pic #4 24" carp and last pic a 14.5" smallie

Newest addition to the line up

Congrats on a good fish! And thank you for not calling it a 9 lber without a scale.

I have 3 - well 4 really. Three standards and a new comer . . . Sk 1.5 & 2.5 ~ LC Silent Squarebill ~ 6th Sense Crush Flat 75X and the latest addition is the 6th Sense Movement L7 Square Bill http://www.6thsenselures.com/#!movement-l7-square-bill/c13ky Not being advertised much yet but that's OK with me. A-Jay

First trip of the year . Cold temps puts the bass spawn on hold , pulling them into slightly deeper water into the heaviest cover . Texas rigged Jelly worms caught them . 4 over the slot , 2 under .

I hold my rod different when fishing Jitterbugs, CrazyCrawlers and buzzbaits. I'll keep the rod tip up around 11:00. When a fish hits and the rod loads up, I just raise it up and reel. Even with that big, single hook on a buzzer, I rarely miss a hook up or rip the lure out. As someone already mentioned, a moderate action for most treble hook topwaters eliminates a majority of mishaps.

I think the issues are resolved now. Thanks! Glenn

I believe the Avid X is a much better value. The guides alone are enough to keep me from buying an E6X. If you're set on Loomis, spend the extra money to get the IMX.

If I had time in the morning to mow, then that's time to fish.

I fish both high end Loomis and St. Croix. Love em both. Can't go wrong with either. I would get the one that brings out the color of your eyes.

Was able to get 1 nice catch Monday after work at a local pond (5 lbs 2 oz). Picture quality was horrible, sorry.

been keeping my big fish streak alive, 6.4lbs on a 8.5 inch glide bait

If you can return it go ahead. If you'd like to send it in I'll look into it.