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As you all know, I fish a really snag infested lake. I have been catching a lot of bass on jigs this season. NOT TODAY!!...I snagged on everything today. Seems some days I could drag a jig through a barbed wire fence and never get hung. Other days I could fish open water, and get snagged on bubbles. This was one of those days. I'll try again Thursday. Over and out. Hootie

Picked up a 6' 6" MH/F Avid X from Scheel's today. I saw they had several severely marked down when I was there with the wife and boy on Saturday. Avid X's were marked down to $120 for whatever reason, but they only had 2 left. I wanted it then, but had to wait to go back on a solo mission to avoid the backlash of buying another rod that I didn't really need. For some reason the "But it was on sale", excuse doesn't apply to anything I buy. Glad I got back when I did, because it was the only one left.

Bass fisherman can light $400 on fire faster than an arsonist at a bank............... With a $400 budget, you can get everything you need to fish a pond effectively provided you spend it wisely. I disagree with the people who say spend half of it on a rod and or reel. You can get good quality spinning gear that won't break the bank, be good enough to catch fish with for years to come, and never need to be upgraded unless you want/desire more high end equipment. I also would expand into casting gear............you WILL need it. If I was starting from scratch, and had $400 to spend.........here is how I would do it: A pair of Berkley Lightning Rod Shocks @ $40 each from Walmart............one 7' M spinning, one 7' MH casting for a total of approx. $80 A Pflueger Trion TR30 size spinning reel for $40, and an Abu Garcia Black Max casting reel for $50..were up to $170 and you have two decent quality all purpose bass fishing rigs. $230 left to go............A spool of 50lb Power Pro braid for the casting rig for $15, and a spool of 10lb Power Pro braid for the spinning set up. Add a couple spools of cheap, but good quality Fluorocarbon for leader material , say 10lb for the spinning, and 15lb for the casting...also at about $15 per spool and were up to $230 The rest of the $170 that's left on baits and terminal tackle: 5 bags of Yum 5" yum dingers in the basic colors like Green Pumpkin and Black/Blue...$15 3 bags of 4" finesse worms in basic colors $15 3 bags of 7" Berkley Power worms in basic colors $15 5 bags of Berkley Havoc 4" Pit Boss's also in the same basic colors.....$15 A pack of VMC EWG hooks for the finesse worms...........$4 2 packs of VMC 3/0 EWG hooks for the dingers/worms..........$8 2 packs of VMC 4/0 "super line hooks" for the pit bosses............$8 4 packs of tungsten sinkers one 1/8th, one 1/4, one 3/8, and one 1/2 oz..................$20 A pack of 1/16th oz wacky jigs..........$4 A pack of 1/8th oz shaky heads........$4 Four 1/2 oz flipping jigs (2 brown, 2 black) $15..(use the pit bosses as trailers) Three SK KVD 1.5 squarebill crankbaits.......one chart/black, one chart.sex shad. one bluegill,$18 Two Booyah Pad Crasher Frogs...one black, one white...........$13 Two 3/8's oz. chatterbaits..........one white, one black................$13 That's a good start to pond and bank fishing 101 and you'll have a few bucks of the $400 left over to play with. 2 packs of

When you need to burn a crankbait.

I know the feeling Hootie. One day I got snagged so many times at the end of the day I took my last jig in my tackle box and threw it in the water just to make it an even dozen.

I have had a lot of success fishing in the rain I caught this one on a baby brush hog in the rain.

Uhhh! 7-8 yrs ago! I'm on the water more than most of y'all combined!

190-199 times 5 or 6

More than this poll can count.

Chucking out a worm/minnow etc on a bobber is what most people think of when they are throwing live bait. This is true for many but the nuances of fishing live bait are actually pretty complicated. To be a great live bait fisherman you still need to find the fish and then present your bait in a way that will let it get eaten. In the saltwater world live bait is the norm and not frowned upon but for some reason in freshwater it is, which i don't understand. All that being said, I will occasionally throw live bait out or live line a sunny that i caught just to see what happens. I will also use it in the winter time to give me a few more things to look at while i let my jerkbait/jig shakey head sit for a minute between twitches. Funny thing is that this winter my artificials outperformed the live bait.

A hollow body frog or weightless plastic right along the edge, but a frog without a doubt.

Just be glad there's no zebra mussels on those snags. It's easier to just cut the jig off and throw it in the water than it is to try to drag through those things. Those days I'm snagging a lot just makes me glad that I know the guy that makes my jigs

Filet Mi unicorn

Hey Hootie.......wanna feel a little better? About a year ago I had some bucktail jigs custom made for me in the off season. We got a nice day in February or so I grabbed 3 of the 5 and took them out to the lake I bank fish from. Tie on one.....single cast. Hung up...had to cut it off. Tie on number 2....cast to different spot....note...I've been to this lake 1000's of time. I know where the snags are....except that day apparently. Snag # 2. Cut off. Ready for this? Tie on Number 3.....cut off tagline and toss jig into water. As jig is sailing into water (way further than it should have) I notice that it has no line....other than the tagline. Yep...cut the main line. Jig was gone. 2 casts...3 custom made jigs. I called my jig maker and told him to make me 3 more and don't ask any farkin questions. He laughed and said he was happy to take my money. It happens, my friend. It happens.

My girlfriend got me this for my birthday July 1st. Steez 7'4"xh so naturally I had to buy a matching reel. Steez 100h deep spool. Gonna be my frog/heavy football jig/flipping set up. Among my 4-5 other frog/flip rods lol

Had a curado... it's nice and all but I don't think it's anything special. I get much more bang for my buck with Lew's.

Newest member is the Lew's Pro Magnesium.

First ever chatter bait fish

Mono: Berkley Big Game Fluoro: Aint convinced why I need it Braid: no brand loyalty; Power Pro & Spiderwire too stiff, most others to limp

Nice video Josh. Great job again.

I am keeping count this year.........for no other reason than to just know, and because I never have kept track before. As of right now, I have been fishing 51 times in 2016, I average about 3-4 hours of fishing per trip, and have caught over 600 bass. I have no idea how many Pike, rockbass, crappies, bluegills and other misc. fish I have caught while bass fishing..........100's if not more. I do know I have caught ZERO walleyes, carp or trout LOL. Most of my bass have been caught about 6 different baits/presentations: A jig.either flipped, swam, or dragged A 5" wacky rigged Yum dinger A Frog A suspending jerkbait A a texas rigged craw/creature bait And a 4" or 6" worm on a drop shot There have been a few misc. days when I have caught them on Chatterbaits, blade baits, lipless crank baits, shaky heads, a t-rigged worm, and carolina rigs One of my staples..........a squarebill has SUCKED for me this year. Hopefully the late summer/fall bite on those will be better. I have not done a whole lot of "finesse fishing" this year with down sized versions of my normal stuff like 4" dingers, small creature baits,etc...but those days are coming

The Flamer, It's a FABULOUS shad...

Why not? If they don't mind visible braid, they won't mind a hot-rod-mod crank either

Same ones that work when it ain't raining!

.428? Did a musky grab the other .572???

I've been three times and guess I have caught close to 200 fish .The vast majority between 12 and 15 inches ,and only 11 over fifteen inches . I just know some good spots on a small reservoir . Norman Deep Little N has been the biggest producer so far .

seems like it would just add more pressure to me, part of why i fish is to escape the pressures of daily everyday life. i dont want to feel pressured to catch more fish than the year before, i dont want to feel pressured to feel like i have to go fishing more than i do go. i always want to get better but i dont want to compete with myself either. and honestly, most of the time i dont care to let it affect me if i catch fish or not, its about so much more to me than that...others may feel different, as you say it motivates you, its just not something im into now or see myself getting into. if it helps you become a better angler by keeping records of your fishing days then thats great, as for me i just choose to work off my memory and instincts as i always have in the past...

Any species, any size (not just bass)? You're going to have to go well north of 199 before I can answer this poll, and I think it's been a slow year -T9

Looks like Fenwick has a 30% off sale going on for HMX' and Aetos. Stuff is going out of stock tho.. may want to hurry. http://www.fenwickfishing.com/fenwick-clearance/ 60 bucks for a HMX is a pretty good deal.

I'm going to start taking my little 5' ultra light, that way I can yell "ITS A HAWG!!! ITS A HAWG!!!" no matter how small it is!

Yep. On Friday nights after a hard weeks work, they are known to sit around the fire and Crack open a case of PBR.

LOL, relax dude. It was a joke. But, if you must, put me at the top. Dude, we are on the block list now. You are #2 and I'm #1.

When I look for Sodom reservoir, all I get is "East Branch Reservoir". Is this it? https://www.google.com/maps/@41.4010718,-73.5807284,1980m/data=!3m1!1e3 If so, it looks awesome! I see lots of shallow underwater structure (rocks, I assume) on satellite. Also, it looks like there are shorelines lined with laydowns. Being an okie, I start shallow... I'd be flipping every bit of laydown wood I could find. Sticks = money in rocky lakes. Second move would be to main lake points and around the islands. This type of year, I'd be deep cranking, dragging a football jig, or a c-rig. Anytime i came across underwater structure like rock piles or boulders, I'd work them over... especially on the shady side.

I walk the dog while sitting in a kayak by using a side motion rather than a downward motion. It's not hard as long as you have some room off to the side.

Mono or braid sounds like the best suitable line for this topwater lure.

Do not KILL it FISH it !!!! Frog over it, fish weightless floating worms, punch it with big baits on the outer section. run texas rigged sencos and worms, topwaters and chatterbaits. Man that is big fish territory.

I throw mine on 50lb power pro and it works perfectly

I wouldn't use flouro for a top water since flouro sinks. I'll let others chime in on the lb test, but I'd use mono or braid.

I have never had a goose take to but I did have a robin bite a plastic worm. I had been fishing a Texas rig from a Jon boat. I pulled the boat up on shore and left my rod in the boat with the tip extending out the back and the worm laying on the ground. A few hours later I happened to see my rod moving like a fish was taking a bottom bait. A went over closer to see what was going on and a robin had the worm in his mouth. Anyway he flew away before I could run over there and set the hook so it's just another story about the one that got away.

Some days are diamonds...some days are stones...some days you're better off not leaving home!

Just a quick science fact check, just because I see people add foam and pool noodles to a hull, trying to add "buoyancy." This isn't true at all. In fact, you're adding mass to the empty space hull, which makes it less buoyant. The main purpose of the foam is to afford some measure of safety flotation if the hull is breached and fills with water. The idea is to keep the boat afloat until the passengers can get to safety. The other purpose is probably to offer a little bit of reinforcement to that part. As for flotation, its the design of the sponsons themselves that offers a stable (very stable, actually) ride. It's not unlike my hybrid kayak, a Wildy Commander 140. Anyway, sorry for the sidebar..... carry on!

You need to use backing on that spool when using braid mainline. It isn't your drag that is slipping. The line is slipping around the spool. Un spool the line back onto a spool, another reel, or something else that you can wind it back on later. Get some cheap 10-12# mono and put just enough on to cover the spool. Tie the mono to the brand and spool the line back on. Your drag issue should be solved.

That was my nickname is college. Not sure how I got it but it seemed to fit so I didn't argue.

Am I the only one who had to google cormorants?

KD was in a lose-lose on this one. If he took a 1 year deal now with OKC and then maxed it next year when the new cap arrives just as Westbrook leaves town, he'd be criticized by many of the same people criticizing him now for taking less money to chase a ring. Taking less money to go work for a better company/team in a more desirable location is something most of us would struggle to do, because most of us would actually be chasing the money that athletes are frequently chastised for doing. The people in OKC calling him a coward are also cracking me up... did they say that about the owners of the Supersonics when they abandoned Seattle and moved the team to OKC?

Spinning Reels: Pflueger Casting reels: Pflueger, Lew's & Abu Rods: Fenwick & St. Croix

I'd go in a second. To be a representative of my country is an honor and a responsibility and one I know i wouldn't pas up'

Sounds like crankbait heaven. Bring on the squarebills!!!