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Fished a couple tournaments since my last post, figured I'd do an update. The smallie season is winding down, almost time to get ready for ice. About 3 weeks ago we did an open tournament and had a good bite going. The 7 1/4 I posted before was caught during part of our prefish. The bite died on tourney day, but we stuck to our zones throwing smaller swimbaits and dropshots to scrape up a 22 pound limit for 3rd place. A couple days later, I had some time to scoot out and check some new zones and was able to land about 15 fish, the biggest 5 going around 24-25 lbs. The most fun that day was finding a school of herring surfacing over 80 feet of water and getting 3 smallies feeding on that mess. Had my final tourney of the season yesterday and our prefish went well. Morning bite was garbage, but the afternoon was on fire so we knew we would have to capitalize on every bite. We didnt land a fish for the first 2 hours but figured out a deal in 40-50 feet of water and put over 20 fish in the boat, the best 5 going 27.3 lbs. Good enough for 1st place, by an ounce. Tight tourney with several 24+ pound stringers. Good way to end the season!

Walking the bank again today. Same lake as last week. Hootie

Ryan Renolds caught and released a 19 lb Largemouth for a small 350 acre Northern Cal lake on Oct 28 using GYCB black blue Hula grub. Considering this a fall period bass, not pre spawn the bass could be 20 lbs+ in 3 to 4 months during the spawn. The is probably the heaviest ever weighed from NorCal! Photos on line Lake Chabot record bass. Tom

I won't get In on the side distraction but will add this. If Mike Is selling a product you can bet your last dollar It's of a quality nature, he will share freely any fishing Information with regards to ANY product he sells, and you'll ALWAYS get the best customer service around. I have bought many jigs and shakey heads from Siebert Outdoors and my reaction to his products Is this; they are the only jigs and shakey heads I carry and use.

This may be the last trip ~ but it's hard to put up the boat when there's still a solid Jerkbait bite. A-Jay

Lucky Craft SKT Magnum 105 Mag MR Crankbait Lucky Craft Length Weight Depth Class SKT Magnum 105 Mag MR 4-1/8" 1-1/2oz 4ft Flo ating Strike King KVD 8.0 Magnum Squarebill Crankbait Strike King Length Weight Depth KVD 8.0 Magnum Squarebill 4-1/2" 3/4oz 3-7ft

There's no such thing as too shallow.

Every Fall we head back to the Piney Woods with life-long friends for our annual fishing/camping trip. We went to back to Rayburn for the first time since 2009. Since we live north of Dallas, we have to "pre-fish" using Texas Fishing Forum and BassResource.com, and always appreciate the tips and recommendations received. We spent Tuesday-Friday (Nov. 1-4) on the lake, so I thought I would return the favor and post how our trip went. LODGING/BOAT RAMP/RESTAURANTS: We stayed at Dixon Cabins just outside of Harvey Creek Park (3 minute truck ride from the boat ramp). We stayed at Dixon Cabins over the years and recommend it if you are looking for a cabin and fishing mid-lake -- and especially if you are putting in at Harvey Creek. Clean, spacious cabin with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath and fairly easy access with your boat. Old man Dixon passed away and now it's his son that runs it. I think there is only a couple of cabins that are used to rent out. Harvey Creek boat ramp has really deteriorated over the years (been putting in there since the mid-90's when I was at SFA). However, it is still a usable 1 lane ramp -- but really dark, which makes it hard to launch before daylight or after the sun goes down. I have always loved that little road thru the forest and into Harvey Creek Park. We were disappointed to hear that Catfish Junction and the Mexican food restaurants (both in Broaddus) went out of business since our last trip in 2009. We ended up eating at Bear's Country Diner, which was very good - especially the catfish and had great service. FISHING: Lake was down 3'. Water clarity was average most places, except the actual Harvey Creek cove which was very stained. Water temps were 75-77 (a little warmer than we expected). Overall the bass fishing was very good. Our boat (2 people) averaged about 30-35 fish per day. Most fish were *** pounds with a few in the 4-6 pound range. Our Top 5 would have been 17-20 pounds each day. We love throwing TX-rigged worms, but we just couldn't get on that bite. The hydrilla wasn't near what its been over the years, so we struggled a little there. Where we found hydrilla, we found fish. I got a lot of pre-trip reports about the fish relating to the hay grass (which was new in the lake since we've been), but we either don't know how to fish it properly or the fish just weren't there. If there was hydrilla next to the hay grass, then game on. Same for the lily pads. No fish unless there was hydrilla near them. We primarily fished the Harvey Creek area, which for us is defined as Indian, Hog Branch, Harvey Creek, Bird Islands, and 147 Bridge. The best advice I ever got for Fall fishing was this.... break the cove down into 3 sections (top/main lake, middle, and back/mouth of creek... then determine where the shad are, as the fish will follow the shad to the back of the cove, then back out to the main lake when it gets colder. Being the first week of November, we thought we would find the shad and bass in the back of the coves. However, we caught 90% of our fish in the middle of the coves. That helped a lot, as each time we fished a different area, we just eliminated 2/3's of the cove and focused on the middle third. We would drive the boat about 30% into the cove and start fishing at the first point we could find. The fish were either on these secondary points or just on the backside of them -- fish those areas really hard. In the morning, we did really well on Yellow Magics. The bass were destroying that thing. By the end of Day 2, they knocked off all the paint on one side of my lure, but they kept hitting it - so I kept throwing it If it stayed cloudy midday, or even when the sun dipped behind a big cloud, they would hit the Yellow Magic all day long. If the sun came out, you had to go down a little. Our best lures midday were a rouge (we were using chrome/blue back and gold/black back and they hit them the same, so not sure color mattered) and also a watermelon or pumpkin seed fluke and sinko with a small split shot weight. All fish on the Yellow Magic, fluke and sinkos were caught throwing up tight to the bank and working it out 15-20 feet from the back. Again, focus on points and anywhere with hydrilla. For some reason, the better fishing side of every cove we hit was on left side. Most likely because it had deeper water nearby. On the last day, we got into a crankbait bite behind Bird Island. There are several humps back there and the fish were stacked in there. Most fish were caught on the side of the humps in approx. 10 foot of water using crankbaits that swam about 5-6 feet down. I side-hooked 2 really nice size catfish in there as well that I thought were HUGE bass before I finally fought them to the boat. Got my heart racing...lol. Fish the crankbait slow. Crank it really hard 6 or 7 turns to get it down, then fish really slow. Most of these fish were 1-2.5 pounds, but there were a lot of them in there. I wish we would have found this spot earlier in the trip, as it was a great midday place to stop. We also caught fish on the corners of the 147 bridge on the crankbait. Alright, my fingers are hurting from all the typing. While I gave some details that will help, I didn't give all the exact specifics. If you are headed to Rayburn and want more info, shoot me a PM with your cell number. I'm glad to help out. Tight lines, Alan

I find it funny that whenever somebody posts a picture of a big fish they caught, there is a segment of the angling population that spends an exponentially amount of time trying to discredit the photo, rather than simply congratulating the angler on a great catch....especially when they don't even know the guy.

Worked like a charm!

Day 1 – Got to spend 5 days in Minnesota and had a blast. A very cold blast as well. Day 1 was great. Water temperatures were 51-53 degrees, 0-5 wind, and outside temps up to 55 degrees. First half of the day was rough. Spots that did well last fall were not producing, which had me a bit flustered. I decided to junk fish and hit a ton of spots until some type of pattern held. All active fish were in the 2-5 foot range. Had a great day for numbers and size. Here were my 4 pounders not in the top five: 4.1, 4.1, 4.3, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.12 and 4.12. My top 5 were 4.13, 5.6, 5.10, 5.12, and 6.8 for a total of 28 lbs 1 oz. I only caught 3 other fish that were not 4 pounds. The northern pike were very active as well. Every time my bait was too fast, the northern would let me know. I kept trying to make my Swimjig work and the northern would keep biting it. Finally, in my last attempt (definition of insanity), I was trying to cover water my last half hour of light with my Swimjig and then caught another stinkin northern that had most of the Swimjig down it’s throat. Took me 20 minutes to get the jig back without ruining my jig, having to retie, and clean up the boat. It was miserable. The 6.8 came from casting into weed pockets. Hard to fish this way since you only get a drop or two, but it can really pay off. 4.13 lb and 5.6 lb (with the serious face) 5.10 lb and 5.12 lb 6.8 lb Day 2 – Started with the trolling motor not working. Finally fixed the receptacle to the trolling motor after tearing the old wires out and installing a new one from fleet farm, I was on the water by 1. Only caught 5 bass the whole afternoon. Biggest two went 5.5 and 5.6. Both at random places and not at the places they were supposed to be... This fall fishing really keeps me guessing. 5.5 lb 5.6 lb Day 3 – Was unbelievably cold. Day started off at 35 degrees and 10-15 mile per hour winds which made it feel like it was 0 degrees. After fishing 8 hours straight, I only caught 5 fish again. 5 fish limit was around 22 pounds. Top three were 4.13, 5.3, and 5.4. The other two were ~3.5 pounders. Might be the coldest I have ever been fishing. 4.13 lb and 5.4 lb 5.3 lb Day 4 – Was cold. Started at 28 degrees but got in the 40s. No wind though so that made it much easier to fish than the previous day. It was freezing last night and I suspected this might affect the movement of the fish on this lake. Water temps were 49 degrees. After an hour, I was able to see that they were in the 5-8 foot range and stuck to that range for most of the day. Had another good limit. 27 lbs 6 oz. Fish not in the top five were a 4.0, 4.0, 4.1, 4.1, 4.6, 4.7, 4.11, and 4.11. The top 5 were a 4.14, 5.2, 5.8, 5.14, and a 6.0. Lost A LOT of lures to northern today. They were so active it is unreal. 4.14 lb 5.2 lb and 5.8 lb 5.14 lb and 6.0 lb Day 5 – This was my last day. The night before, the car wouldn’t start at the ramp so I had to phone a buddy to help jump the car. So I spent this morning going into town and figuring out what is wrong with the batteries/terminals. After this was done, I only had a few hours to fish in the afternoon. Fishing was super slow. Worst night of the week, but still fun to get out. After a well-rounded week, I decided to head home. Daughter wanted me back to watch her in her church singing program. Was too adorable to say no, so off I went. Tight lines! Shimmy

New to me that is. She rolled off the assembly line in 1970 and appears to be as structurally sound as she was 47 years ago...wish I could say the same for me. She's 14ft long and rated for an earth shattering 12hp. Came with a 2.3hp but I'm going to soup her up with a 15hp Evinrude that's even older than the Lund. I didn't look too closely at the TM or the fishfinder but I'm guessing they are close to 30 years old. Trailer has new lights, wheels/tires, and a new tongue jack. I need to figure out if I'm going to put a bow mount or transom mount TM on her. Thinking of a HB Helix 5 for locating skinny river smallmouth and walleye. With any luck I can get a few hundred for the motors to help offset the costs of the upgrades.

Caught the Sunday morning on a bps slim dog walking bait. Right at 19 inches, and only fish I caught that morning.

I've seen people talking about Liquid Mayhem a bit on here, and also came upon them on Instagram. I decided to buy a couple tubes and test it out today. First bass I caught with a sauced up sweet beaver was this 19" pig! Gotta say I'm sold on it. I love how it stays on the bait for over 30 or 40 casts unlike other spray type attractants I've used.

Wow! How did that ever pass QC?

To Fishing Rhino, Janderson45, and anyone not working Tuesday that wants to get out, I'll suggest Long Pond, Great Herring, or the Nip., around 9:00. I can fish until about 3:00 pm then have to get to work. Long Pond has trout, salmon, Larries, and smallies... gives up a good shot at success. I'm just south of Boston and can get to all easily.

Yelp they small baits

Do yourself a huge favor and switch to a light braid or other similar type line (Gliss is my personal favorite). Just use a short leader of mono or flouro for the abrasion resistance and you'll be fine. It improves most every aspect of the technique from castability, bite detection, hookup ratio, line twist, and fish landed.

I always considered a split shot rig to be finesse - finesse. 1/8 would be as heavy as I'd go. I want to use the lightest weight I can get away with. I understand you're still nose hooking the bait , but I like it to sink as slow as possible. This is my go to technique for finicky tight lipped smallies when everything else has failed. I like to crawl it through wood and rock , even dead stick it. If I want to make the rig heavier I'll use a bigger plastic. I'm not saying it's wrong cause I'm sure you are catching plenty of fish , I've just always considered it a finesse tactic. I use fluorocarbon and peg a 1/16 oz bullet weight rather use a crimp weight.

Mine is a obvious tip but hey ya never know. Tip: If your by yourself using the boat ramp make sure to set the emergency brake before you exit the vehicle to unload or load.

If you've had 20 stones you should have a really thorough work up followed by a common sense strategy to reduce future risk. A thorough work up will include at least one 24-hour urine study, as well as specialized blood tests and chemical analysis of the stone. Treatment can be tailored to the identified cause of the stones and will take into account your willingness to vary your dietary habits or to take certain medications or mineral supplements long term. The only generic strategy, applicable for almost all stone formers, is to drink enough liquid to keep urine pale (or sufficient to produce 2000 mL per day of urine) and to, importantly, reduce sodium intake. All other suggestions, and there are many possibilities, depend on the type of stone and the metabolic defect responsible for its formation. But just about every situation of recurrent stones can be ameliorated after thorough evaluation -- if there is a motivated patient. And it is well worth the effort to find a urologist who will be thorough enough. And there is nothing like having twenty stones to provide sufficient motivation. Good luck! PS: I am a urologist (and avid bass pursuer). PSS: if you're not peeing off the side of the boat at least three times during an all day outing, you are not drinking enough water.

UPDATE: I took the entire drain plug case out and used a soft wire brush on a dremel to sand away all of the old sealant down to the aluminum hull. Resealed a ring of flex seal around the insert with another ring around the edge and reattached the insert into the hull. Let it dry for 24 hours. Took the boat out for a couple of hours this evening and when a pulled the plug after loading on the trailer it was bone dry. Problem fixed! Good Feeling!

Lake Chabot in NorCal is a clear water trout lake with excellent depth of light and visibility, the type of water where FC line is considered essential. Consider this fact; a 19 lb FLMB was caught on a sunny day Oct 28 2016, a few weeks ago at Chabot and the angler used 65 lb braid tied directly to 3/4 oz jig with GYCB black w/blue flake Hula grub fishing a deep submerged tree. Tom

Find a location with plenty of baitfish and the bass will be close.

Berkley Trilene Big Game 14 lb test or PLine CXX 12, you can uproot one of them trees with either. Since when ? Since 1980. 17 lb FC is not "best".

No reason to use a leader on 30 lb braid fishing cover in off color water. The fact is no reason to use a leader period. Tom

Not inside the park, only at some lakes near the Disney run hotels in the vicinity of the parks.

I have spent hundreds of dollars on products Mike sells. Never once have I felt like the price was out of line or unfair. He offers regular sales and I am sure he will have a Black Friday sale so that will sweaten the pot a bit more. His website is one of the few that truly allows you customize your jig or jig head to exactly what you want without having to describe it in a long drawn out email or a phone call. Any time I have had questions Mike has always been quick on the trigger for an email reply or a phone call. He has always treated me right even doing custom colors for me with no reservation. As long as Mike is making tackle I will be a buyer.

lecisnith, those are all nice smallies, I'm jealous! I have not caught me one over 1.5 pounds this whole season. I did catch some very early morning largies on a 3" swimbait and a buzzbait...

Crappie do have dorsal fin spines however nothing like bluegill that nearly a round fish wide as they are long and this makes it difficult for bass to swallow adult size bluegill. Crappie aren't as round longer than they are wide and a little easier to swallow and preferred by bass, over looked prey fish by most bass anglers. Tom

Dude ~ ! Nice Smallie PB's are Always a Blast Congrats btw - stop throwing topwater in November - you'll hurt yourself . . A-Jay

Puuuurty fish

Update: No topwater fish this morning. No jerkbait fish today. No spinnerbait fish today. No crankbait fish today. Nothing but four lousy tube fish...but I got a new PB. 4lbs 8oz.

You need at least enough spool tension to keep it from moving side to side.

Google articles on Dick Trask and get Don Iovino's book Finesse Fishing and the Sonar Connection (TW). You need to get "round" lead split shot that weight about 1/8 to 3/16 oz. The key to this presentation is light line 6# to 8# test monofilament line. 1. Squeeze the shot onto your one with about 8" above the end of the line. 2. Pull the line through the split shot slowly about 12" to cut a groove in the shot. 3. Look at the line for any flatten spots and cut it off below the split shot. 4. Pull another 24" of line through the split shot and tie on the hook using a Palomar knot. 5. Adjust the split shot about 18" above the hook and lightly recriminations the shot. I use Owner #5133 size 1/0 down shot hooks with 4 1/2" to 6" finesse worms like Roboworms or Don Iovino worms. Tom

I know nothing about bass fishing for big bass in Mexico. It´s been a while since I´ve caught a big momma like this one: But don´t sweat it, I caught that one with a 4" senko, I´ve caught a lot of biguns with a 1/2-3/4 oz jig with a Brush Hog or large crawfish ( a Rage Lobster would do the trick ) as trailer. Do I own swimbaits ? yes I do, so far swimbaits have not produced big mommas for me ( big momma in Raul´s vocabulary means 10+ lbers ).

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^................... Also, just my .02, but I have found that with a lot of "clip on" drop shot weights......the bigger the line you use, the worse it holds. I seemingly never have them fly off 8lb or less line, but anything else, and I think the larger diameter lines bigger than 8-10lb test, spring the little clips open a little and they don't hold as well. I do a lot of power shotting in cover with 15-17lb line, and have given up on using clip on dropshot sinkers for this, because of that issue. Instead I use a tungsten bullet sinker, pointy end up, with a split ring tied to the tag end to keep the weight on, and a sinker peg/bobber stop above the weight to keep it from sliding up the "drop' line.

For anyone interested in review of these heads (while they aren't Mike's specifically, they are my own from the same mold), they're even better than I'd hoped. I fished almost exclusively with these heads from the new Do-It mold yesterday with @Drew03cmc and their performance was off the charts. I fished a 1/16oz with a Hula StickZ and caught dozens of fish. Once that bait is secured over the keeper (which does take some pushing, but nowhere near the hassle of glue), it's staying on there, period. Not only did it withstand a large quantity of smallmouth and largemouth, but also dealt with an never ending barrage of bluegill and sunfish pulling on the tails of the bait and it never even thought about letting the bait slide down the hook. The head being flatter also allowed for a slower fall and it still skipped under the docks with ease. I'm using a different hook with mine, and it hooked fish well as expected, so the Owner hooks that Mike is using should be even better. They are a hassle to pour, I think it's easy to justify the asking price per head ( setting that tiny wire keeper in the mold is going to make my hair fall out), especially with a premium hook. I'll be doing some of the larger ones with larger hooks to fish the Diesel MinnowZ and GrubZ also. You guys that are gluing, throw it away and order some of these heads instead!

Lesson number one: Fishermen are liars.

Personally for me, the best time, is any time you can go.............don't matter the season. With a job, family, etc...I don't get to pick my spots often. So any time I can go after work, on days off from work, or when I have no family stuff going on I go. I adapt to the conditions I am given that day. I have some times/conditions I prefer NOT going fishing in, like thunderstorms, extremely cold/wet conditions, or holiday weekends where the boat traffic on the water and at the launch ramp make for less than a good time, but even then, I still often go (except for the thunderstorms) If you wanna learn something, go fishing when ever you can...............any one can catch them when they are biting, it's who can catch them when they ain't biting good that sorts the good fisherman out from the average Joe's.

Because Mike has long supported Bass Resource. He provides great products at a fair price; your only contribution here is to complain about the price of something you will never buy.

Ha-ha ! That made me laugh. Of course you too ! I just think it's special fishing with relatives especially grandparents. Really soak that in man. If I went fishing with my grandpa I would do whatever I could to make sure he caught a fish. That would be #1 for me. (even though all he probably wants is to see you catch one) I'd love to spend a day on the water with my grandpa. I'd give alot for that. I wish the both of you luck. Lol. And the lures you have chosen I use to catch bass all season. So as long as you get on the fish. I think you'll do good. I wanna see how ya did ! Rain or shine.

Country ain't country no more....

The only correlation I can come up with is that Beyonce, the dixie chicks, and new style country music all suck.

Industry standard is 300% markup, minimum. Sometimes more on super inexpensive items. Mike's are already 10% less than Z-Man. Besides, why does it matter to you? How about you go through all the hoops, spend for a website, spend for advertising, invest in time on social media, all to spend even more time making the jigs, and fulfilling orders, all at a so called "lower price" because in your head you could do it cheaper because you already make them yourself. Then, after you've done all that, wait for "THAT GUY" to show up on your new product announcement post to say he can do it cheaper. Jeez.

I am surprised that no one else has mentioned "Chasing Monsters" with Cyril Chaquet. Its a really good show. The host Cyril Chaquet is a really good fisherman, and he actually gets into some of the angling aspects of what he is doing. He'll sometimes try to catch huge fish on hand-lines such as sailfish, goliath grouper and bull sharks. That looks intense! Chasing Monsters is essentially the same as River Monsters, only with a little more information regarding the angling, and a lot less dramatic undertones that turn some people off to River Monsters. There is also "Monster Fish" on NatGeo, but the host isn't a fisherman, he is a biologist that sometimes uses rod and reel. A lot less of a "fishing" show, but seeing more huge fish is always entertaining.

Simply tie a overhand knot at the end of your line below where you slide the line through the the weight clip and slow pull the knot up against the clip. Tom

Molay, please double check your prices. The hook is not 3 cents each. They are considerable more then that. I order direct from Owner. You might be able to get a Mustad or Eagle Claw for close to that in bronze light wire.

First, You should be looking at a four bank charger for a 36 volt system. Three TM batteries and one cranking battery. Unless you are one of those that like to live on the edge and use you cranking battery as the third TM battery. People actually do that a lot, but make sure you take enough provisions to spend the night on the lake if you do. You can almost bet you will be doing that somewhere along the way. Boat has nothing to do with the batteries, other than having enough room to get them all in it. Other than that, You want to have a charger that can deliver approx. 10% each batteries rated capacity per bank. Group 27 Deep Cycles are typically about 105ah, so that means you want about 10 amps of charging power to charge it. That's 30 amps total for three batteries and 40 amps total for four batteries. Some chargers will switch power from the cranking battery to the TM batteries after the cranking battery reaches about 90% charge so their four bank 30 amp total will still do a good job. Lets see, 107 thrust 36V TM, three new TM batteries, because if you have two, you can not just add a third, they all have to be Identical and no more than 25 charge cycles difference between them. A big charger to charger them all with. I hope you have birthday and big Christmas bonus coming up.