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This fish weighed 1 oz shy of 8lbs. Jeff

I must be the only person who thinks that thing looks dumb af. Two whopper ploppers and a partridge in a pear tree lol.

Instead of needle nose pliers I use 8-12" hemostats, on smaller bass they give you a clearer veiw!

I do the best I can to remove the hook without injuring the bass. If I can not I'll cut the hook Sometimes they live, sometimes that don't!

I'm eagerly awaiting the "paddling puppy" lure next year

Inexperienced! At night! A lure with at least 6 hook points! We have a dodged crankbaits in daylight!

I wouldn't suggest learning crankbaits at night!

Not a big fish by any means, but it was my first caught on my homemade Musky A-Rig (there's always an element of pride in catching a fish on a lure you made/tied)

Michigan . I have been sponging info from this site for well over a year without joining. Decided to join because, why not. Fished a lot during my youth. Lost touch with it while concentrating on family, life, career and etc. Came back to it over the last few years but this spring, fishing is what I do virtually every weekend. Yes I am usually still to busy during the week to get out but I get out when I can. Living in south Michigan we do not get the monsters that you true southerners have but I still love me some bass fishing. Thanks for all the helpful info thus far.

My grandpa, who was 86, passed away last night in the hospital, after a long 4-5 year struggle following a stroke, a battle with alzheimers, and parkinsons. It's been a long couple years for all of us after he had a stroke 4-5 years ago. My aunt's, and mother (while she was still alive) took care of the inside the house stuff........like the cooking for him, cleaning, making sure he had his meds. and got to his doctors appts., while my uncles and I took care of the outside stuff like mowing the yard, snow removal, yard/house maint..........and other chores keeping the place as he would want it to be kept if he was still able. This was the man who was my "father"............as my father was never a part of my life. Taught me to fish, shoot, drive, shave, etc....took me in and raised me when my own parents were not willing or capable of doing so. Was at all my baseball, football games and school functions when I was a kid. Made sure I never went without. He, and my grandmother, who died almost 12 years ago to the day, went above and beyond their whole lives to do anything for me and to this day I keep my boat in his garage as he wanted me to have it there because it was close to the lake and made it less of a hassle for me do the thing I love to do. I am glad he got to see and know my own kids, his great-grandchildren, I wish my grandmother would have been around for that. Not a day goes by, that I don't, for at least a moment, think about all those people in my life that are now gone. My sister, my mother, my uncle, my grandma, and now my grandpa. The are all buried in the cemetery overlooking Silver Lake, and I take great comfort knowing, every time I go fishing, they are nearby. Like I said..........it's been a hard past few years dealing with his condition, and part of me is glad his struggle is over....but we would have gladly kept up the fight..........forever, if it meant avoiding this. R.I.P. Grandpa, you are loved and will be missed.

Have you tried a weightless wacky rigged stickbait (senko)? That's usually my go-to fish producer when nothing else works. I also had some unprecedented success here recently with a shaky head and a senko. The fish were on the bottom in relatively clear water and ate it up.

scroll down to the pictures Glenn posted and you will never harm another bass

If the fish swam away he is probably fine or will end up a meal for a big fish lol. It happens. If he was keeper size I just fry em up when that happens or give em to someone.

Nice "Crisco Queen" A-Jay

Buy a spinnerbait with a closed eye!

Ahhhh grasshopper... you stand before the temple of fishing with two doors in front of you.....which one do you take...? That is the age old question every fisherman or woman gets around to asking himself sooner or later. The answer is.... you can only decide for yourself...

Wow . You would think a ruler woud be pretty easy to get right

Caugh this 6lb 1oz on a texas rigged trick worm

The most simple answer that can be provided.

Use a wet stone and smooth off the edge, get rid of all the little burrs sticking up and smooth it off some. That will also take care of most of the rust you are seeing. Do Not use a file, or a prop shop will hate you. Many times when you use a file, fine pieces of the teeth get buried into the stainless on the prop, so when the have to TIG the edges, that file metal can cause all kinds of problems for them. I use a 41/2" side grinder with one of the heavy sanding disk and keep my leading edge almost knife sharp. I will say, yours looks a lot better than my everyday prop. It has all kinds of ugly places on the edge from sucking up stuff power loading on shallow ramps and one hit on a concrete ramp. If I want max speed, I change props to one of my go fast props, but they are not used to power load or run in shallow water, and have no nicks or dings. I've seen Just a couple small nicks slow mine five mph. Now, would I recommend you go to work on your prop with a side grinder, NO! When I was racing back in the late 60's/70's I used to tune my own props so I have a little more experience. Get one out of balance by much and it can play havoc on your LU.

$20 dollars sounds good to me and it should be a great match with your incoming 4500. Post a photo of your combo when you get the reel in. I've bought several late 60s/early 70s vintage Garcia Conolon fiberglass rods to use with my small Ambassadeurs and have been paying around $25 plus shipping for them (used). The one in the photo, after cleaning a LOT of nicotine off the blank and cleaning the cork, ended up looking very nice for a 45-50 year old rod...

I agree with Catt, night isn't the time to learn how to use a crankbait. Late afternoon to dusk with good light is OK. You have very little depth perception at night and can't estimate how far to cast or where the lure will land. Contrasting colors are good choices at night. Tom

everyone should know this

When you are unhappy at work it shows. I think you need to consider a new job versus dealing with being unhappy at your current situation. It doesn't sound like management is in your corner. Good luck with your decision.

For me, it all depends on the situation. Take this weekend for example, I will be going to a river that is almost 3 hours away to catfish. I will keep the fish on a stringer until its time for me to go, then I will throw them in a dedicated cooler full of ice for the trip home. I wont kill them until I get home. Catfish tend to stay alive for quite a while out of water. The meat will go straight from the fish into a deep fryer and the remains straight into a freezer. When Im salmon fishing I will bleed them out, on land, and throw them in the cooler right away. Im not sure if it makes a difference with the blood in the water or not but Im a superstitious person so I dont want the blood in the water to deter them LOL When Im fishing for trout, I throw them on a stringer and wait until Im ready to leave and I will completely clean them on the bank. Ill throw their guts into the rocks in the water for the crawfish to eat. Then throw the fish on ice. Maybe a little insight of what I have been doing and works for me will give you a little help.

Sounds like you were rigging a Niko rig with a nail weight and a wacky hook? Different animal, but equally unsuited to weeds.

So I guess all the bass caught on rods at this price point don't count. Academy H2O, All Star, Berkley, BPS house rods are all good quality rods.

Caring for the resource is the best part....your proving this. Enjoy your fishing....Tight Lines

If I plan on keeping fish to eat I keep them on ice. It is not necessary to "bleed" bass, catfish, bluegill, or white bass.

lol im not that inexperienced just with crank baits exclusively ive fished at night quite a bit i might add its about the only time i can get on some of my home waters with out all the pleasure boaters im just starting to get into crank baits ive always fished jigs buzz baits poppers spooks spinner baits and jerk baits and was just trying to add another trick to my arsenal

We ended up going and putting in at lake anna's visitor center. Then we headed south along the rip rap then under the bridge. One thing I noticed was how aggressive and big the bluegill were, they were destroying my wacky-rigged senko. Almost every cast I was feeling the bluegill, sometimes they would hit so hard that they would pull my pole down haha so if anyone wants some good bluegill fishing this is the spot. We then went into an arm and tried to hit docks with no luck. We found ourselves in a 3-4ft flat and where there was structure I could see bass roaming but could not get them to bite. That was pretty frustrating. The only bass I caught was a small guy right off a grassline. Really wish I would have read all this before I went up there because I would have gone north instead of south to find some of those lily fields and grass mats. I would have felt more comfortable fishing that area. The lake being so clear also threw me off, im used to fishing stained to muddly lakes down here. I did try fishing drop offs near shallow water but had no luck, I was using a 7" ribbontail worm. We didn't stay long because the gentleman I was fishing with got really dehydrated and sick about 3 hrs in so we had to call it a day early. Really hoping to get out there again and try the north side of the lake. @Sam, guess the whole one fish anna comment you said once stuck haha. @nitrofreak thanks so much for all that information ill take it all into consideration next time im out there!

I fish worms and jigs about 50 percent of my time on the water. Your bottom contact rod should not be a cheap rod. The sensitivity will not be there at this price point. Reaction techniques are great for cheaper rods. Of course we get what we can afford. I saved for several pay checks to get my jig rod and I am glad I waited.

How experienced are you at removing hooks from yourself. Seriously. Inexperience with them in addition to using them at night is asking for trouble. Even when using a headlamp or some other lighting in the boat or on shore, any bait can come flying back at you from the water, not to mention handling a fish with one in their mouth.

Have you fished a DC reel before? The biggest draw is the sound and the unique breaking adjustments. I don't have the Met DC as it never really intrigued me. There is a video on YouTube that documents casting distance of the Met MGL, 13 Met, and Met DC with various baits. For all baits but the most heaviest which I believe was over 1.25 ounces, the Met MGL out casted the others. It outcasted the others between 5 - 12%. The JDM Met MGL has a slightly shallower spool than the USDM Met MGL which is being released in the states now since I-Cast has ended at $419 a reel. Take that into consideration if you are worried about line capacity. I have used my JDM Met MGL a few times already. I can honestly say it is pretty unbelievable. The breaking system is both user friendly and highly adjustable. I can out distance my older Shimano VBS reels by using 3 breaks in the "on" position" and 1 turned off. The distance is great and I can't get it to backlash no matter how hard I want to throw it. At this point I haven't tried to do 2 on and 2 off but I am sure the distance would be even greater though requiring a bit more thumb. The reel is far superior to the 13 Met for casting distance, smoothness, and looks IMO. So, if it was my decision I would by the 16 Met MGL if I was after casting distance, smoothness, the ability to cast 1/8 oz baits up to 1 oz.

I'll take 2 please.

I don't mean to say it won't work, I'm sure people will catch fish with it, it just looks Fropwater Spinnercrankish haha

Welcome to the forum. Keep reading and you'll learn a ton. The only bad news is the forum will cost you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in the latest lures, and rods and reels that are on sale. Best of luck.

No, I was casting it (which is a freakin' work out to do for 10 hours). I did get the idea from watching Aaron's video and I made a 3, 4, and 5 arm model. I caught that fish on the three armed model.

Chinch it down!

It looks cool, not sure if I am going to get it yet. I am more excited for their rat.

an accurate scale will humble your A $$.

What ya gonna find is the bite moves...not the bass! Are they biting in the morning? Are they biting midday? Are they biting in the evening? Are they biting at night? If I fish a "spot" & it doesn't produce I'll be back!

I have some solid success throwing the larger Keitech swing impacts fats on a weighted hook.

Man ~ I was going to give this a like but no one can actually like a chatterbait to Face - It even hurts to say it. Glad you're OK there Chatter-Chin. A-Jay

06 WRX 738 HP at the wheels. Second pic is when the cage was getting installed

Yes. It's an 8 pounder ~ In Training. A-Jay

And.... There goes all the kayak guys to buy these for their photograph and release tournaments.

Not a "dead stick", but just about any bait that is left alone can get bit. I don't know about your plan to sit for 30 minutes, but that's your patience, lol. I'll keep moving after a few minutes and look for active fish.