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I don't actually know if this is a "big" musky since I'm not familiar with them, but it is definitely the biggest I have landed. Measured the fish on my rod and I will update with a length when I buy a tape. One more will make 10 muskies for me so far! I caught her on a 9" ABT suicide glide, I was walking it like a spook and she crushed it! I caught another on it afterwords and it went completely airborne with the bait in its mouth. EDIT: The fish, measured beside my rod, was 43".

I went out this morning to a local lake that I've given up on many times before. I just wanted to get some time in with a couple of lures that I don't throw much due to lack of patience/success in the past. So I started the morning fishing begrudgingly from the get-go. Trying to make the best of it I threw the whopper plopper and senko on and off for a half hour. Nothing. Next half hour was going to be dedicated to my new midnight special spinnerbait. Nothing. So now I have to get my new zman chatterbait some water time. I've tried a strike king chatterbait before with zero results but I've wanted it to work so bad. So after about 20 casts in all different directions I let it sink and I thought I snagged bottom about 15 feet out maybe 6 feet deep. But the line was tight and started to run to the left so I set the hook and after a couple minutes of fearing my line would snap, I landed my new personal best at 5 pounds even. She had what looked like a bass tail sticking out of her throat partially decomposed. A good fight for certain but I am kinda bummed that I didn't really want to be out there too much before that fish. I almost feel like it wasn't deserved. I left about 20 minutes later feeling pretty excited though.

I guess 10 years of apologies are in line for me then, because poor taste is my middle name

The pic says it all

I made a post yesterday that was in poor taste and to any I offended I would like to say I am sorry. I would hate to upset any on this forum whom I consider one of the best websites and forums out there.

Had a single whitetail swim by at night several years ago. I could hear it coming, I had zero clue it was a deer. That Doe was getting on with the dog paddle let me tell ya! Night fishing is always special..

Just TRY to catch catfish ! That would solve the problem for me.

Stand by friend ~ Wait until you unknowing slip into an area where one or two beaver may be hanging out. You'll mostly likely know when you do. There will be a sudden & without warning Aquatic Explosion right next to your boat. They will smash that big tail on the waters surface. It's So Very Loud and Sudden that it always scares the Bejesus out of me. (I don't actually know what that means, but it's fun to say) No matter how many times it happens ~ I still hate it ! A-Jay

Its a darn Sasquatch!

I was night-fishing one time a couple years ago on a small pond and heard what sounded to be several coyotes yipping and barking directly on the other side. Too dark to see them, but they were definitely there. First time I ever heard a beaver smack his tail in the water it scared me half to death. I thought a Tyrannosaurus rex had just jumped in the lake.

Members only lures come in different sizes. You mistakenly purchased small ones, get familiar with millimeters and grams if your gonna buy from Japanese sellers.

I saw the video. Definitely seems like a gimmick.

Caught a 7-8 pound blue in a bass tournament Friday before last on a chartreuse spinner. Thought I was in the money.

Wait until a bat ticks your braid....lol.

I have landed 9.

I'd invest in a lift.. I keep mine in the slip 12 months a year, but no way I'd leave it in the water. Also lets me drive the car vs my truck to and from our place on Table Rock. The savings in fuel pays for much of the slip and lift cost.

It came with the speedo. It was a "package" deal...get it.

When did Raider get a guitar?

As always, the great responses here reflect the experience & success that the BR membership anglers routinely enjoy. First, I do not fish tournaments, meaning I'm on A-Jay time, all the time. My version of "Run & Gun" is both fast & slow , I'll explain. Where at least half of my "searching" is done before I leave the dock, (lake maps & charts) clearly I have to make some casts. When fishing dictates that I need to "search" for fish, like getting out on new water, I'll select several promising areas ahead of getting to the ramp. But once the boat comes off plane and I'm fishing, rather than fan casting an "area" with a search bait, I'm fishing "Spots". Some places cover a larger area than others, but I try to break them down & fish them in 'sections" otherwise I might as well just troll. Presenting a bait that is appropriate for conditions; season, weather, water & air temps, cloud cover & winds etc. is what we all try to do and is often met with success. I LOVE to Chunk & Wind, long bomb cast are fun for me, so sometimes a moving bait is the first & only bait fished, especially if it's getting hammered. Other times a jig & craw or even a drop shot is the deal. We all have our favorites and I'll do whatever it takes to get on the right bass. I may go through a short list of bait's & / or techniques on a spot trying to get bit, but I usually start with a slower deal and work the speed up as necessary. This technique helps me to fish 'small" and assists in directing my focus & attention to specific funnel areas & ambush points. Routinely these high potential spots are very subtle and can easily be missed, especially if I'm trying to fish an area the size of 3 football fields with 5 casts. So although I'll 'Run' to several spots as an outing may dictate, once there the 'Gun' portion includes shifting gears to a more deliberate & dissecting mode for me. Many days on the water, I'll see several anglers come to an area where I'm fishing (sometimes I think they are just curious) they'll flail away for 5 minutes and them zoom off to another local. Mean while, I got a few right before they arrived and often get some after they leave. Fine with me. The presence of other anglers or the lack of any, is never an indication of a spots potential. A-Jay

Im not an expert but deep is a relative term. Also, I live in washington state where the water temp hardly reaches mid 70s, in the southern states its not uncommon to see 85+ degree water. A lot of times the bass after spawning will head out just to find more comfortable water. A lot of the lakes I fish are less than 30 feet deep but I will still catch LMB 15 feet of water. Also the presence of pelagic bait like shad will make the bass go deep and chase them. There are a lot of great articles and books out there if you want to study their movement and why! They are truly fascinating fish!

I think it is one of those things that are meant to attract fisherman, not fish... ?

It's happened to me on a number of occasions, but the best was catching a fish with my wife's favorite crank hanging from its side. She'd hooked a nice smallie and after about the fifth or sixth jump, her line went slack. I couldn't guess as to why because I saw that both sets of trebles had found something to bury into. The front one was completely in its mouth and the rear one had caught on the outside of its mouth. The line had broken a few inches from the lure and I figured we'd never see it, or the fish again. Two hours later about a hundred yards from where she'd hooked it, I tied into the same fish on my favorite topwater. When I got it to the boat, there, stuck in its side was her crank. It must have done something to get that front treble out of its mouth only to have it impale itself a second time. The wife was none to happy to discover that the crank was now mine as finders-keepers applies to found lures too.

My grandpa gave me an old jitterbug he says he get back in the early 80s. Since he has given it to me it has been my main objective to catch one on it. Finally was able to land a decent one last night with it. Probably about 3.5. Love the action this lure has. You can reel it in real slow and the front of the lure just wobbles back and forth or you can really burn it across and let the lure just dance everywhere. I think this lure is going to become my new favorite topwater.

I feel like I've had a long dry spell for big fish. Well I fixed that last Thursday, and could have been way better. Thursday I headed to Cedar Valley Reservoir, hoping to try to expand on what my buddy had shown me last week. I started with a buzzbait, and really wore them out with it. One of those rare CV days where I not only caught some good ones, but I caught a bunch of fish too. I also lost a 5-6 pound fish on a dock cable, another 5lb class fish to a poor net job, and a giant I'm not going to guesstimate but you can see the explosion in the video, and I got a good look at it, she was huge. Bad thing is, I lost a really heavy fish off the same stump last week with Chris. My biggest 5 went 20 pounds 5 ounces. Buzzbait, spinnerbait, homemade bladed jig, and beaver were all I needed.

I have been using more and more Straight and Offset hooks in recent months and I feel like I am getting more hookups. In particular I have been using the Trokar Finesse worm hooks with a 1/16oz weight and a GYCB 4' worm. They are super sharp and strong, the only downside is that almost every missed hookset costs me a worm as that hook does not mess around and almost cuts the worm in half.

As a non tournament Fisher, I've had people come to me on A PUBLIC lake and tell me that this is their spot for the tournament and not to fish certain areas. I think that is pretty smug and if someone tries to treat me like that I definitely don't oblige and will make an effort to fish that spot even harder. I understand they want to win. But they don't own the lake, nor do they tell me what to do. Yea let me just go fish somewhere else. Where there's hardly any fish , and no cover to target. Let me spend my free time not catching any fish so you can come back tomorrow and catch them. Get real ! If you're good enough to fish tournaments then you should be able to find fish somewhere.. Really irks me.

Catching catfish doesnt bother me any . I love hooking into the occasional Dogfish too .

There are literally thousands of boats along parked in slips and docks around every bit of habitable shoreline up here. If sinking was an issue, it wouldn't be the norm. In fact, many are surprised when I tell them I trailer to whatever lake I want to fish. They think I'm nuts, lol.

Oh, your son and my kayak fishing buddy are the same guy. I catch one and he comes paddling across the pond full steam ahead and bumps into me trying to get to the spot. LOL. But then I know that going into a trip with him. He's all about the catching and couldn't care less about the size. If I only caught 1 6 pounder and he caught 10 eyeball size bluegills, in his eyes HE WON!!! Your son will learn what's acceptable and what's not pretty quickly. Trying to poach a fish from the boater won't fly twice.

Then Raider...nevermind.

I agree with just about everything that Everyone has said to you !! And if you insist on staying in the same area... try some soft plastics or something with just one hook. Then you don't have to worry about your cranks being destroyed and it won't be as big of hassle to get it out ( and the bite rate of the cats might drop too) . Personally I think itd be fun to catch cats on cranks. Not as beautiful (to me) as the largemouth , but often a very strong fight. And that's what I'm out there for.

Automatic bilge!

In the big scheme of things, is it really any more or less gimmicky than a Hydrowave? -T9

One major misconception in bass fishing is that ya have to fish t-rigs & jigs slow! When I'm flipping/pitching/punching my trolling motor is on high until I figure out a pattern.

I agree with bigbill, that sounds more like running and gunning to me. You don't have to go fast to power fish. I feel most like I'm power fishing when I have a flipping stick with a big jig or plastic and I'm picking apart heavy cover. For the style of fishing described though, I like any kind of bladed bait, buzzbait, spinnerbait, or bladed jig.

Dude, unless you're a midget, that's a great fish. I have no idea what exactly you've stumbled upon, but I've never seen anyone catch river musky like this.

Lots of good responses.What has helped me the most is being extremely determined and persistent in improving my ability to find big bass and catch them on a consistent basis.I have caught double digit bass from land in local parks,which is extremely difficult to do since these bass get hit hard by hundreds of fishermen every year.I am one of those who has absolutely no interest in professional bass fishing and see bass fishing as a fun hobby.When bass fishing stops being fun is when I will stop, but I doubt it since I truly enjoy catching these fish!

#1: Understand what structure is, how to truly identify it, interpret it, and then fish it effectively. #2: Understand what the predominate prey species in your lake is and how that species relates to structure with each passing season...morning, noon, and night. Y'all can spend all the time on the water you can but until you understand those 2 you're just fishing! Spending time on the water at the wrong places doing the wrong things only teaches you how to cast.

I can't help but see you sitting there on the back deck, with your 2- 370's open, taking 45 minutes trying to figure out which walker to use. Meanwhile, I've put down my spook and caught 2 on a popper, and now the surface bite is gone , I hope this is not the case.

Years ago I fished a local reservoir often. Wife wanted to have a fish fry so I kept enough bass for that (usually I catch and release, but if Momma wants fish, I bring home fish). Kept a bunch of small ones and as I am cleaning one little guy about 12 or 13 inches long I find the "point" half of a worm hook in his stomach. The thing had broken off and the fisherman reeled back the "eye" half of the hook. The bass couldn't have been over 13 inches but I have often wondered how many times that angler told the story of the bass he hooked that was so gigantic that it literally broke the hook . If he only knew !

Go to Sam Rayburn and throw a frog!?

As I mentioned in my recent intro, I am relatively new to bass fishing. I have been trying to learn everything I can with videos and websites. (Glad I found this one!) I found a close reservoir called Piney Mountain that supposedly has some monster bass and muskies. I have been trying the green pumpkin worm that seemed to be catching a good number of bass for me. (14-15 inch variety). Last week I missed (couldn't get the hook set) one particular fish that seemed really heavy, at least to me. I had him on several times but he got off both times. Went out again last Friday morning and landed this guy along with a couple of pounds of seaweed. This particular part of the lake is bass heaven thick with weeds and seaweed and lilly pads. I was nearly speechless but humbled. What do you estimate he weighs?

Destroyer x4 rattle viper and a '15 aldebaran new finesse setup

Ditto! Also, what Geo said is not exclusive to just stick baits. It applies to any and all soft plastic size's and shapes. Mike

No way to avoid it man. Catfish are predators just like bass and attack lures like a bass will. I've caught them on all kinds of lures, even had 2 on buzzbaits last Thursday. Just something you have to deal with. Cranks and bladed jigs are the worse/best catfish catchers for me except for flatheads. Flatheads love to thump a jig.

Senko's fall rate is very slow, you needed to use a lighter weight jig to slow down the rate of fall to give those bass time to strike. Tom

Increased hookups... increased hangups too

I think they look silly, but I wear one all the time. There's no way to get sunblock in very fold and crease of your ears, neck, face every time you go fishing. Plus if you have short or no hair like me, that scalp sunburn is a mother and putting sunblock in your hair just sucks. I go with the buff, sun gloves, sun shirt then sunblock my legs and feet. Also, with being a contact wearer, sunblock in my eyes equals blurry vision the rest of the day, no bueno.

In clear to lightly stained water the watermelon shades are excellent all over the southeast. My persoal favorite is watermelon red. In dingy water I would go with Junebug. Junebug is also goo under low light conditions in all waters. I personally like the 4" sticko and senko products. I have caught a large number of bass on all sizes of these baits, including the jumbo size. Use as little weight as possible for the conditions. You will get more action out of the bait. Good luck buddy, its a great choice of baits.

Correct rod - reel - line for the situation are all necessary and interconnected for distance casting. My experience has been that a rig set up for distance casting isn't good for much else. Doesn't necessarily have to be lightweight. For instance - I have an 11' or so MH "Predator" rod that I got from Cabelas a long time ago. They called it a "european style" rod at the time and I think it is intended for bank fishing for pike, carp and other larger fish. Match this rod with an Ambassador 6500 which holds 300+ yards of 20 lb line and you've got a rig that, with practice can throw a 2 oz slab spoon a couple of hundred yards. Don't know the exact measurement, but approximately 2/3 to 3/4 of the spool will be out. I purchased the rig to throw slab spoons into the tail race area at Truman Lake. (Throwing that far requires a wind up - kind of like a shot putter or discus thrower does. You have to spin around and get a maximum load on your rod prior to release. This takes some practice. Don't do this around people. If you snap off a 2 oz slab spoon, it is flying somewhere. Should it hit someone, it will hurt.) I don't get a chance to do that very often, been several years, but the rig doubles as a decent cat fishing rod - where you never have to throw that far, and for that I keep it around. If you're just going to be throwing at surfacing schools from your boat, I'd recommend a spinning rig - much less hassle. You can't imagine the back lash you get if you make a mistake trying to throw a hundred or so yards. You have to cut it out every time - AND - that is a lot of line out and you don't want to make a mess and just leave it in the water. Don't be that guy. Now, having written this, I think that distance casting is a phase that every fisherman goes through. If you're specifically talking about distance casting of crank baits in particular, there is a LOT of literature out there and you don't need an 11' rod - a 7.5' to 8' rod will do and there are many out there to choose from. IMO distance casting of deep diving cranks requires 10 lb line and you can't be afraid that you might lose a bait from time to time. Most of the distance casting that I currently do is throwing lipless cranks over shallow to mid depth weed beds. I use 20 lb line for this. As an example, I currently use a Falcon Bucco Trap Caster and a Shimano Calcutta TEGT filled with 17 or 20 Iron Silk for my lipless crank duty and this rig will throw as far as I need to and then some. If you want to get into distance casting, drop a few hundred and set yourself up. As mentioned earlier, this is a situation where quality gear makes a difference and lower quality gear can and will get frustrating.