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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.

Its a darn Sasquatch!

Lookie what I got today! On a $1 Walmart Spinnerbait of all things. Caught him at the dam. He's a dink, but you gotta start somewhere. Thanks everyone for the encouragement!

I've had big bass attempt to, and a couple times managed to, eat smaller bass while I was reeling them in. A smaller bass is just another baitfish to a bigger bass.

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.

an easy way to think about this... if it moves and fits in their mouth, they will eat it.

A fishing story is a fishing story. As long as you're not sneaking into said private property (which obviously you're not if you're moving there), then post away man!

Bass are picky eaters. Generally won't resort to cannibalism unless times are tough. I'll take those baby bass lures off your hands.

I'm not buying until they release the quadruple whopper.

Last week I was out fishing, standing on the front deck, all of a sudden a freaking muskrat popped up right next to my boat and continued to scratch all around the outside trying to get in. Scared the heck out of me. Told the woman later that night, she asked what would have I done if he got in. Truth is, I very well might have jumped out of my boat! Couple years back, I decided to catfish all night by myself on shore. I kept my lights off so my eyes could adjust to the night. Night goes on, and sometime around 1 a.m I must have fallen asleep. Because what I awoke to was a blue herring landing literally 5 feet from me. Awake now, I jumped up freaked out, which freaked it out. If any of you have been around these birds you know the awful screech they make. Well this big ol bird took off in a storm literally feet above my head, yelling its lungs out. I was wide awake the rest of the night...

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

The pic says it all

Just get a Fish Grip:

Bass "finicky" eaters ? ROFLMAO !!! Baby bass are other bass food. If you are in the "match the hatch" school of thought the only 100% reliable match anywhere in the planet is baby bass pattern.

My first post on this forum was an apology for all the things I was going to say the next 10+ years.

There must be a squatch in them hills!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bravo!! As a reward, make yourself a nice bowl of fresh guacamole.

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

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

Great, I'll take one shopping with me and have him show me which ones he likes...lol.

Last fall while fishing a tournament on a lake here with a pretty even mix of LM and SM the smallies were spitting up these small LM's...It was so frequent that I switched my jerkbait color to more closely match a small LM and my catch rate went up.

Of course you can! Post away! We all like fish porn! Jeff

You haven't experienced night fishing until you've experienced weird noises, crazy bugs, and eyes out in the distance. Watching someone freak out when a Dobson fly gets tangled in their hair is almost indescribable hilarity, especially if you convince them they're flesh eating. Still one of my best and most terrifying days on the water came on a farm pond leading up to one of the most violent thunderstorms I've ever experienced breaking. Trees fell as we ran. It was bad. Really bad. I caught a limit between 4 and 6.5lbs (I'm in PA, give me some slack, a 25lb bag in northern PA borders on divine revelation...) and all hell broke loose. Lightening struck 3-4 times within 30 yards as we were running like hell through the woods with rods in hand. I saw two trees basically explode and lightening struck, at one point, just 20-30 feet off the swamp/trail we'd previously crossed. At that time, never had I ever been so terrified. Turns out, tornados touched down in the township while we were getting off the water. We lucked out. No one forecasted epic lightening and tornados.

Oh dear, Superman's mouth was never meant for that.

Nice but that one may have expired last year - Might be wise to check with Mr May, he may require a more current one on file. Maybe not though, now that I think of it - you've been uncharacteristically 'less abrasive' & especially more helpful than usual. Are you ok ? A-Jay

some dude making a weird noise while i was cat fishing i grunted back as a joke then he stole my rods

I like when beavers slap their tails.

Several years ago I was on a fly-in trip in Northern Manitoba. While we were a few miles from the cabin, it got extremely windy. It was so rough on the water, we had to pull the 14 foot boat up on the shore to try and wait till the wind died down and we could get back to the cabin safely. The island we took shelter on was damaged by a forest fire a few years before. The pine trees that were still standing were just tall, dead, sticks. The wind that drove us off the water, was knocking down trees all around us. We didn't know if it was safer facing the 5 foot waves that might sink our boat, or risk having a dead tree fall on us. Luckily, the wind died before anything fell on us and we got back to camp in one piece. I remember all too well what falling trees sound like.

Am I the only one who thinks 200 acres is a lake lol?. To me a pond would be under 20 acres. I'm sure there is guidelines but what do I know. The biggest "pond" I get to fish is 4 acres. Followed by a 3 acre and a 1 1/2 acre. I've caught the biggest bass out of the 3 acre. Then there is a 3000+ acre "pond" right by my house. Which I don't frequent much because of all the pleasure boaters and the natural "choppiness" of the lake. But it is one of the very few lakes in ohio where they stock musky annually. But unfortunately for me I haven't been dealt the life of leisure. And I've brought another life into this world, which makes fishing time cut into like a fourth. Wouldn't change it for the world though. I'm cool as long as I touch a bass's mouth at least once a week.

All it's going to take is KVD or some pro to say it works and fisherman everywhere will be fighting each other to get to it first.

Some great ideas to solve the problem, but I prefer this one. Thin the herd. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/38107/barlows-blackened-catfish/

The bass died while it was under your wife's watch . Hmmm. Dont leave bass alone with her anymore . Bass lives matter .

The terminology is what irratates me! Reaction lure? How can a 10" ribbontail worm seductively falling through the water column not be considered a Reaction Lure? Search baits? You can work an area with your trolling motor on high throwing a spinnerbait & I bet ya I can keep up with a 3/8 oz slip sinker on a Texas Rig or a jig!

Every lure is a tool. Frogs work the top of the water column. That's what they are designed to do. Both types of frogs provide silhouette and profile. Each style provides a different style of movement or lack of movement. The fish will tell you what they prefer, i.e., walk, bob, pop, large gurgle, subtle gurgle and so on. Solid body frogs are meant to move continuously at what ever speed you chose or vary. Hollow body can be moved and provide the ability to stop and sit still which is nice. The fish and cover type will tell you manner they want the bait. Color needs are simple. Light, dark and natural fill the bill. If there was a bait type that provided an angler with some latitude in bait selection, this might be it.

As long as you mentioned it, a fish caught with a reaction bait doesn't necessarily mean the fish are active. When used as a search tool, it is valuable because it gives away fish location. Many guys will immediately put it down once that first fish is caught and go to a presentation that allows them to pick apart an area. Others will probe the area with the reaction bait. The big difference, IMO, is that when the fish aren't active, the angler that sticks with the reaction bait may pick up another fish while the one that switches may clean up. Of course, there's the flip side when the fish are active and the guy with the reaction bait cleans up in short order. I prefer the 'let them tell me what they want' approach and will stick with the reaction bait before switching. Even if it's working, I'll make a few casts with a jig or worm.

I've had one since last year and it's great. The dual brakes are a huge advantage for the price point. I've had mine spooled with 10-12lb InvizX the entire time and the castability is really good. I threw a carbon fiber handle on there. I would absolutely recommend it.

I am sure that there will be a horde of bass fishermen who will buy this product if their favorite "pro" tells them it's what helped them win a tournament.

I like trailers that can pull double duty.............I.E. be fished alone as a t-rig bait. Chigger Craws, Pit Bosses, and a few other select baits get the bulk of the trailer work for me.

Roland Martin will sell it, he sell everything!

The boat is a 2014 tzx 195 . In pretty much showroom condition . I bought a house on lake wallenpaupack in northern pa. I appreciate all the info and comments everyone ! I think ill trailer it and put a pontoon in the slip!

That is all. A-Jay

My search tools are called sonar and my eyes, power fishing to me is everything except finesse spinning tackle. I can't fish going 50 mph and tend to determine what the bass are doing at a slower pace using my trolling motor to control boat position. When I see boats running at high speed they are not catching bass, they are looking for bass or on a milk run. Depending on the size of the body of water there should be active bass at various times at different locations Tom

Seems simple enough to make. And yeah, it never ceases to amaze me how often people turn to email before calling. For a business, email is time consuming and expensive. Much easier to have a phone call and talk to a person that knows what you need. And as far as whether it's option or not, it's moot. Pretty sure tcbass bought the boat used.

I have also heard of bass in Back (and forth) Lake. In fact, if you tell folks you intend to keep all the bass you catch you may hear of a honey hole or two. A lot of the guys up there I talk to during snowmobiling season want the bass gone because they are very protective of the trout up there.

When did Raider get a guitar?

Screeching in a reel is often cent brake related. Make sure the centrifugal brake drum is clean and maybe put a light film of oil on it.

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

Next time, put 2/3 of one of those Senkos on the back of a jig. It works very well at times.

Those things look awesome. I'll throw some, someday. I grabbed a little bit of everything at wally world. They finally stocked the fishing dept. after redoing it recently. Most of this stuff is for my son's birthday so I won't be fishing alot of it. The gum is for when I kiss the bass. They hate bad breath.

Catch & release has become a cult. I am all for releasing big bass because these fish are rare compared to the overall bass population and should be handled with care. Bass, largemouth, spotted and smallmouth are a renewable resource and should be harvested within state regulations to keep the fishery healthy. Tournament bass fishing promotes catch & release more for image than practical purposes and this image has become common practice with recreational bass anglers. Small lakes and ponds can be over harvested and under harvested, balance or selective harvest is the key to healthy bass populations. I will get off my soap box and simply ask every bass angler handle their catch with respeact. If you severely injure or kill a bass take it home and eat it, don't waste it. Tom