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Saluting those who serve, Past & Present. A-Jay

Had 2 hours this evening so I headed to a local reservoir for a few bass before the monsoon hits tomorrow! I caught most of my fish (14 total) on a frog in willow grass, or pitching a pegged 3/8oz t-rig with a pit boss. I tossed to a laydown and my bait was going to land on the tree trunk so I pulled it about a foot when it hit the water so it would fall beside the tree. When I did this I saw a big one come out from under the laydown and eat it. I reared back on the fish and after a brief fight and one nerve-wracking jump, I got my hands on her. She weighed 5.75lbs and was 22" long. I never catch any big ones until May or later anyways so this is only the beginning! Also drew first blood with the pompadour. The big size is not too big

Nope ~ Can't help you there You're the only one who has ever dropped anything off a boat into the water and lost it. A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ Nice bass. So you guys saw & held that fish but you're having difficulty determining it's size ? Imagine how we feel. These items are very helpful with that. A-Jay

Just trash them and tell me where.

Amen brother..

Nobody bothered to tell my grandfather that he needed a seven and a half foot rod to catch bass. His rods all fit in the trunk, also. He didn't have to buy a full size SUV like I did just to cart around all his gear. Then again he did drive a massive Oldsmobile, so maybe he could have fit my rods in that trunk. Additionally, his casting rods were steel. Casting a 7 ft steel rod all day would probably be a little exhausting.

Some food for thought. Several have suggested a crankbait. If you decide to go that route, take a measurement or two first. How long are her arms? Add that to the rod length and add three to four feet for line out. Be 13 - 14 feet. Unless you can stay that far away from her at all times, do not give her a crankbait. This is a very painful lesson to learn.

I fish much for the same reason you do luna,.. and a couple funny but true stories I grew up in salem massachusetts, the ocean is right there. I had 3 older brothers that teased me as a kid when they would go with dad fishing, and i was too young to go. and boy could they rub it in,.. then at the age of 4 dad took us all to sunapee lake in nh for a week in a cabin on the waters edge. I finally got to fish, I was so excited, I'd run from bluegill bed to bluegill bed catching any fish i could see. That night I had a dream that someone stole my fishies, (I was told later by my parents) I had woken everyone up at 2;30 AM,... I was up sleep walking ransacking the whole cabin looking for my fishies , every bureau drawer in every room got checked, even the kitchen drawers, the refridgerator, the stove, and while i was doing so i was sobbing "someone stole my fishies, where are my fishies" and no one could wake me up.,... i finally passed out on the couch at about 4 am. Maybe im still searching for them, im not sure, but i know I havent stopped fishing since,. At the age of 7 we moved to neighboring Peabody ,...At the age of ten i had a paper route, and fridays was payday. i looked forward to it every week, saving money for my own saltwater fishing rod. I had drop lines already, but that shiny reel with that awesome black and red rod I saw at jerrys department store in downtown salem,.. I desired more than anything. So every morning before school id pedal my butt off on my bike (which I bought with paper route earnings) to get the route done before school. Finally the day came that I had enough to buy my rod, i couldnt wait to get out of school. School lets out and Im on my way to jerry's, going down a steep hill im pedaling like the wind trying to get there as quick as I can, when a car comes out of a sidestreet right in front of me, I jam on the brakes and the bikes rear end slides out from under me, and we tumble about eighty feet down the pavement. When I woke in the hospital battered, blooded, and bruised, my mom asked " do you want anything?",... My reply? "that black and red fishing rod in jerry's front window" ,. when the hospital finally released me, it was lying on my bed when i got home. So like many here, I've been doing my whole life, it's what I do, my vice you could say. Some say Im crazy owning almost seventy rods and two boats with the idea of two more, enough tackle to embarass a good stocked tackle store, and wanting more. Maybe I am crazy, or mentally disturbed,... but if you were to ask a shrink? I could point out my brothers taunting me about fishing from day 1 has twisted my thinking from the very beginning... lmao!!

Why do I fish? Im married, with children...

Well I was finally able to acquire some long bucktail and long quality hackle to make some "Preacher" style jigs. These are 1/2oz banana style heads with a 5/0 Gamakatsu 604 hook, the battern is a simple "blue shad". There is flash in the jig just very hard to see because of my lousy photo skills, the jigs have a total length of 6.5" and I'm in the process of testing out a 3/8oz version that has a 4/0 Gamakatsu 604 hook and the finished length is 5.5" for small bodies of water where you are fishing drops that range from 8' to 14' deep. I figured I'd show them to give others interested in this type of jig a model to look at to give an idea of what the deal is with these. I have tied them for years, but most were using them for stripers and a few guys knew that bass hit these jigs too but it wasn't until the pros got caught using them that they became popular. These are fished without a trailer, instead they use saddle hackle to provide a little movement while the bucktail makes a perfect baitfish profile. Anyway, when large manufacturers began making them again, the extra long bucktail needed to make them dried up and became hard to find, and even a lot of the same companies are using synthetic hair to make them. Enjoy the picture and if you have any questions about this type of hair jig I'll gladly answer them, that is if I know the answer.

Stop now delete your account here go in Google settings and block all outdoors stores like BPS Cabelas DSG etc. Investing limited money and fishing is like mixing oil and water. Seriously though what kind of fishing are you looking to do? Bank or Boat ?what do you want to fish for? What do you have already? And what is this limited budget amount? I would imagine some if the members would love to help you spend your $. But some info would help make better decisions.

Sent ya a pm with my paypal info.

Ok, first off, keitech is not "the little guy", I guess compared to SK they would be, but they are a multi million dollar company that has been producing baits in japan for 20 years. Secondly, unless you just don't like SK on a personal basis, who cares how close the baits are? Do you walk around blindly thru life? Do you not see that EVERY successful consumer product in the entire world has spawned similar products...do you go back to the beginning of the hamburger and only eat at that place because everyone else knocked them off? Do you only drive a Mercedes because he pioneered the gas automobile? This argument that SK knocked off keitech and that such a horrible thing is nonsense, and hypocritical in every sense of the word, unless your a pilgrim. If keitech has/had a patent, and SK or any other company infringed on it, you can be assured that keitech would fight for their $.

With braid and a fluoro leader, you have about the most sensitive setup I could think of. Senkos are known for being a swallowed bait and we've all had that happen. The only other thing I could recommend is try to have the line run over a finger tip; you have some extra sensitivity there and sometimes I feel the "tick" there when I don't see it in my line. EDIT: Wizard above me beat me to it. And, yes, that braid will remind you if you don't move your finger on a hookset!

So all the fish we catch without the miracle leader we should never speak of unless we just reeled it straight in. ??? I'm being sarcastic of course. There are those that have their faith in leaders for what ever reason and more power to them.

Neither -----> SHISHAMANO !!!

I was surprised when I saw a thread about MirrOlures. Then I saw that the OP was in Daytona so that made sense. You're on the coast in Florida as well, so you would be up on MirrOlures. I still have some MirrOlures that I've had since the 1960s...and the reason I had them is that I used to live in Dade County FL and they always had plenty of rack space in the tackle shops...

I put them on a texas rig or Carolina rig.They are a good bed fishing bait also.

Interesting how quickly the tone of this thread changed. Started out innocent enough and then hung a hard right. I have not ever fished a Keitech bait. They have never been available to me here locally. SK always is. A-Jay

My first investment into a good set-up that took me a year to save up for is on the bottom of the lake, I had not even made my first cast with it.

I'll throw any lure on braided line.

Out of those 2 definitely the Abu. I'd rather spend a little more and get an aluminum reel instead of graphite IMO.

Well I changed the plugs on my 225 opti (2002). Oh my gosh...the people who designed these motor must of had strong little hands. I'm 65 and I still feel it the next day from all the contortions. But....am glad to save a few bucks and apply elsewhere....TACKLE!!!

This year is my first full year of owning my kayak and I haven't done much from it until yesterday. I only had about 2 hours to fish in the cold rain, but it was my best day in the yak to date. I caught 35 bass in one hour and 45 minutes on one of my bladed jigs and a YUM beaver along the edges of the shoreline grass. My 3rd or 4th fish was the biggest of the day and my new PB bass from the kayak at 4lb 2oz. It ate the bladed jig in less than a foot of water and gave me a pretty good ride.

The one to use depends on where you think the fish are in the water column: Obviously, a floating bait, well, floats; so, that's a topwater bait. The sinking bait can be "counted-down" to a certain depth and then start a retrieve; however, if you include pauses in the retrieve, the bait will sink somewhat more on the pause and you have to consider that in your retrieve cadence. The advantage of the sinking bait is that you can run it at the depth that you think the fish are holding in. A suspending bait will run at a certain depth and, on the pause, will suspend at that depth (and often will get bit on that pause). All three types of baits have their purpose and selection depends on knowledge of where the fish should be holding based on general experience, applying seasonal patterns, indications from a sonar, etc. If you are not getting bit with the sinking bait, either you're running it at the wrong depth, or you're fishing where the fish aren't, or that particular bait just isn't floating the bass's boat that day !

Theres not a person here, that hasnt done or lost something, that made them feel like crap. Life just sends you curve balls at times. Just remember, that things could be worse, and you are still fortunate enough to still go fishin. Theres alway someone who had it worse than you. The bait monkey will help ya out

Ain't no way that bass is over 3-3 1/4 lbs!

Just a quick follow up from my original post.....got out today and used the rod/reel combo I mentioned originally.....Tied on and threaded line through all guides and seems to be fine all day......I must have missed a guide last time.....all's good now and got a bunch of smallmouth on that combo as a bonus....thanks again for all your suggestions regarding this....FISH ON everyone!!

A crankbait can still "run true" and "hunt" at the same time. The KVD squarebills are a perfect example of that. The run in a straight, but very erratic line.

Do yourself a favor and take the coast guard boater safety course. You need to have that if you plan on fishing above the WW bridge on the Potomac.

SoCal lakes are tiny in comparison to most trophy bass lakes in Texas that have big bass populations that dwarf our trophy bass lakes. My best day on Castaic was 18 DD bass, best 5 bass limit is 62 lbs, top 5 LMB at Castiac and Casitas lifetime; 19.3lbs, 18.6 lbs ( both exceed Texas state record) 17.6 lbs, 2 @ 17.4 lbs...all those bass were caught over 20 years ago....those days are long gone! I agree with Catt, only the Delta and Clear Lake compare with today's Toledo Bend...it's on! Tom

rippin' em is how I do it.....mostly A heddon dying flutter was my all time greatest lure. Bass, and chain pickerel would jump all over it. I lost it inside a big pickerel. I bought another to replace it and it wasn't nearly as good. Tried several others and nope. that one particular bait had a certain something that the fish couldn't resist. I bent the props all different ways on any number of similar lures but it never worked. RIP dying flutter, you are forever in my heart.

My man, you can fish T-rigs with any reel.

I found that just about every prop bait made has a way to fish it that draws more strikes than any other way. My favorite bait up until a year and a half ago was a Heddon Dying Flutter, it is discontinued but I got a bunch as they really worked for me. Anyway, after using that bait a long time I found that the best way to fish it that gave me the best results was to keep my rod pointed downward toward the bait and with my line tight I'd give it a quick pull, not straight down but off to the side like some guys fish a jerkbait with a long rod. That method seemed to produce the best sound and you would just have to adjust the length of the pull to the mood of the fish, if they were on a short quick pull had them, if they needed to be coaxed, you had to slow the pull down and make it longer. The Heddon Baby Torpedo worked best with short quick jerks, you'd have a little slack in the line and give it a quick downward jerk but only a short one, if you moved the rod too far it would be too much and you'd pull the bait underwater without making the sound it is known for. The body shape didn't make it good for pulling, you had to give it a downward jerk to get the body in the water enough for the prop to throw water and make sound, if you get that right with the Torpedo it can be a super deadly bait. My current favorite is the Yo-Zuri 3DB Prop, unlike the others it has a polycarbonate prop which is a type of plastic, it is UV treated so it looks like it is purple in the sunlight. That prop bait works all different ways but we found that it works best fished almost like the Baby Torpedo, a single sharp, downward rip on slack line as if you are fishing a jerkbait, you rip and wait a second and rip again. That bait has a different sound because of the plastic prop but it throws a good bit of water and it is pretty loud. We found that quick pulls work well too like the Dying Flutter but it really seems to call big fish when ripped, we get not only more hits on it but also bigger fish when using it in that fashion.

I'm a cheap skate. I always use backing to reduce replacement cost and to keep the line from slipping on the spool. I do use a quality monofilament backing however and I use the Alberto knot to join the two. That way I'm assured that if I tie into a get a monster, I won't get spooled. t

I found bass fishing while recovering from a methamphetamine addiction 2 years ago. Needed something to do to fill my time so I picked it up on a whim. Found out I enjoyed the never ending learning process and pure fun, and now I'm addicted to bass fishing. Lol

Some one correct me if I'm wrong. Mister twister's sassy shad the first swim bait, Rapala had the first minnow, Mepps the first French blade inline, Panther Martin the first shaft through inline, Fred Young the first square bill, and Heddon the first lipless crank bait. Heddon the first walking style surface bait, Don't know who made the first spinner bait , plastic worm or living rubber skirted jig. Every manufacture all over the world has copies of all these baits. If it catches fish someone is going to find a way to make it cheaper. Sometimes the cheaper copies work, other times they don't. When I had very little money I always bought cheap nock offs. Now I tend to buy the mid priced brands. I think it would be a very bad decision for a company to no make a type of lure because they didn't come up with the original idea. I see nothing wrong with this type of competition. That is my opinion, but I have been know to be wrong from time to time. If the idea is protected by a patent than that is a different, issue, and illegal. I'm still waiting for a cheap version of the helicopter lure.

i'll watch them a lot at the pond and they coexist.... if a laydown looks promising, i'll pitch to it. even if there were a neon sign that said "no fish under this log" i'd still give it a shot!

I'd think the opposite. There's food there, probably a good chance a bass is lurking in the shadows below that log for one of those gills to wander off and get a little too close.

I have a goodluck rock. That is all.

Strike King left and Keitch right. The SK is advertised as 3.75 inches and the keitech at 3.8. The have almost the exact same profile. The keitech seems a bit more supple. The SK a bit firmer. That could make the SK more durable. SK has a larger top and bottom hook notch too. Price of SK $5.79 for 7 baits. Keitech is $5.99 for 6 baits.

Is that discrimination or profiling ? Or both???

I have 2 shimano exprides. They are both butt joined 2 piece models. Can't even tell once they are together. Different than most traditional 2 piece(middle joined) rods. No flat spots. Exprides are really sensitive. I got both mine on the bay for less than $150 each.

I have used two Pflueger Supreme "25" size reels, with line ranging from 6 lb mono & copoly, and 15 & 20 braid, as part of the primary spinning battery for the past 7 seasons. Combined, they are just about at 3,700 bass reeled in. The only downside so far is that they've eaten a few bail springs... They are a small, light reel...but have no problem bringing in some size:

Couldn't have done it without his Strike King tooth whitener.

I really dislike the whole sponsor idea myself as well. I get tired of advertising and paid opinions. But I recognize also that a guy has to make a living, and it's kind of a necessary evil. As far as how distasteful the advertising they do is it entirely depends on the person. People who do good at this: 1Rod1ReelFishing, LakeForkGuy, and Jon B. People who do bad at this: Noah Pescitelli (he is the worst by a long, long shot) and Flukemaster. Not to be a downer but kicking their bass TV is just awful. "Here's an unboxing of 50 reels my sponsor sent me". The definition of boring.

I wonder if Gene feels if he has sold out. When I started bass fishing 3 years ago i subscribed to his channel because he was just a guy fishing and seem to really enjoyed share his experience and experiences when comes to bass fishing. He would show you what he was fishing with and why he was fishing with it and made a point to say, no one was paying me to say that it's just how I feel or what I think. Now his videos seem to full of product placement and product reviews.