Leaderboard

Hello Fellows, Just dropping-in to let Y'all know that I'm still on the map, and all is fine. It was right around this time last year that I last logged-in. Phew, seems like the older we get, the faster time flies (just ain't fair). I'd like to wish the BR fraternity a very Merry Christmas, and many more.

Scarborough817....wow! I can't wait to try out those swimbaits....I started watching videos on swimbaits and that is something I wanted to focus on next year. Slick crankbaits too....perfect colors. Thank you very much.....Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Nothing associated with fishing but a beautiful dress shirt; new jeans; a super tie; sox; new cell phone holder for use in mywife's car to keep seeing WAZE easier; Killing the Rising Sun book on tape; and a sensational sweater. All in all, a great Christmas. But wait? What about fishing stuff? Well, my secretary got me a $50 BPS gift card so I am cocked and loaded to hit BPS for the January sale. Merry Christmas to all. Be safe and enjoy the bowl games!!!!

Good to Know. A-Jay

Can't wait to share this with my wife. I am sure she will be thrilled at my dedication.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays guys. If there is something you wanted I hope Santa brings it. Enjoy it with family and friends. It's my hope we all have a prosperous 2017 Bass Season.

I say if you are on a public computer stay logged on and google bass resource so that if anybody googles anything that starts with a B on that computer, bass resource shows up first. Call it free advertising or subliminal messaging or just a public service for all weary travelers.

Catt really knocked it out of the park with his selection of Big Bass Classics, and I can tell he really did his research, as they are the types of lures I caught all of my big bass on in 2016. Here's to an even better 2017 and catching a new PB on some of these! Thanks a ton Catt

It has been fun! Thanks everyone for playing and thanks to Uncle Luke for setting it up! We should think about doing a pick 'em league or something else to go along with FF next year.

Lots of SK and Gambler baits with the extra bit off. Some new Zman colors and baits. Red cranks were a theme for me after success with them last year. Lots of skirt material to make up some Clearwater swim jigs. Also got some traps and a couple of Echos to round it out. The arishi vibe does look interesting. Now need to wait and see if a good enough reason to order pops on the 25 days sale.

Thanks guys. Yes it was a Cotton Cordell Super Spot. Was using a blue/chrome color when the big girls were there and gone but that one ended up in a tree.

Shiny brand new, old-n-faded, painted black, red, or green pumpkin; I've tried em all. Makes absolutely no difference at all

At 5:09 PM on 12/17/2016, my wife and I welcomed our second son into the world. He was 7 pounds 10 ounces and 20.5" long, and we named him Finn Momma and baby are doing great, we should be going home tomorrow.

All the ponds in the northern portion of my state are frozen so I headed an hour and a half downstate to see if they wanted to chase some cranks. Water temp was 45-46. One thing I didn't bring and it bit me bad was a net. Within 30 minutes of each other I lost two 6+lbers trying to grab the lip without getting hammered with the trebles. They were not lethargic at all thrashing around the side of the boat. Should have done a few things different including boat flip em but didn't trust the line not breaking. Had a few 3lbers smack at the crank near the boat then swim off. Eventually after trying new areas managed to land three 4lbers before packing it up. Net will be in the boat next time.

I am excited to announce the Leaderboard as the latest all new feature of the BassResource forums. The new Leaderboard is designed to better highlight our most active members and content based on reputation and other metrics. The Leaderboard will greatly enhance both member and content discovery on our community. First you will notice the new feature of member leaders based on a specific time frame. The default view is set to All Time, showing those members with the most reputation overall on our community. It also shows the content with the most reputation for the same timeframe so you get a snapshot of both popular members and popular content in one view. The Past Leaders tab shows the "winners" of each day in a history. The system counts all reputation made each day and logs the members who had the top reputation counts that day. Using reputation rather than post count encourages members to post quality over quantity which is really important to our community. Those who “win” the day also get a badge on their profile page to highlight that they were the member with the most reputation for a particular day. Top Members shows you a list of all members sorted by various metrics. By default you will see members sorted by reputation but you can also easily sort by total post content. We hope you enjoy this initial launch of the new Leaderboard feature. We are excited about the new content and member discovery abilities this offers and look forward to adding new options to the Leaderboard as we continue to develop!

Agree go with medium power, much more versatile. Medium can do just about anything a ML can do. There are a lot of things that ML cannot do. I would go Daiwa. I have not used skeleton seats on spin rods, but cannot believe they would be as comfortable for a long day of fishing as the Daiwa grip. The possible sensitivity gain of the skeleton would not, IMHO, offset its loss in comfort/ergonomics. Maybe a skeleton would make sense on an ultra light, but not on a medium power rod.

The primer will lodge the bullet in the barrel. Its the the next round fired in a plugged barrel that does the damage.

.... the bills, what else!

If I came across an empty public computer that was logged in to a forum I would most definitely be posting comments which would embarrass the member who forgot to log out.

Doesn't really matter to me I use black, green pumpkin, red whatever I can get my hands on I don't think it really effects the bite

Santa, (my wife), got me the Cabela's Alaskan Guide Filet Knife. She has a lot of confidence in me and wants me to catch some catfish for her, she said. http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Alaskan-Guide-Fillet-Knife-by-Buck-Knives-reg/746191.uts?productVariantId=1636585&WT.tsrc=PPC&WT.mc_id=BingPLA&WT.z_mc_id1=02564398&rid=20&gclid=CMj2iPrBj9ECFcd6gQodhYAB7g&gclsrc=ds

Who logs out?

2017 BASS PRO SHOPS Catalog arrived. Can't wait to peruse the pages for things I really don't need, OK maybe I do need some things. Merry Christmas Ya'll!

Probably won't get many likes on this, but I like Tufline Supercast! It is a little thicker, but the coating makes it behave very nicely. I also like J-Braid. Most all of the 8 strand lines will be really smooth. Leader length? 3'-4'

For spinning reels I have found I love Berkley Original FireLine in 14 pound test. That stuff just plays so nice, it is super strong and is only the size of 6 pound mono. I usually attach 4 feet of P Line CXX moss green in 10 pound test. This combo plays very well as the line sizes are close and the CXX in 10 pound moss green breaks in tests at over 20 pounds. I like Stren Original mono in 14 pound test as my backing in case I run into a large predator like a big cat or striper. I have had over half my reel emptied before I cold get them turned. For baitcasters, I like Power Pro Spectra, Suffix 832 and Spiderwire Stealth and for your use I would get either 20 or 30 pound test. I would kinda lean towards the 20. This setup has worked for me in dirty tidal waters and on Tennessee deep clear lakes.

I consider PowerPro a "standard" for this line type - a perfectly acceptable line to begin with to see how you do with it. Still use it myself on a majority of my spinning outfits. Add a 4-5' leader of whatever line you want and you'll be good to go. -T9

Its been fun this year! A grateful well done to Luke for organizing and running the league again this year! Mike

@Glenn Found by accident! I want to file for a recount! Two Yankees at top & only one southern boy! I'm sure y'all will find evidence of Russian hacking!

i would go with 20lb suffix performance braid or a high quality braid. The leader can be regular fluorocarbon line. Spend the winter getting good at the joint knot. I like the double uni and the Alberto.

good luck in the super bowl @smallies24/7 Please PM me the paypal address you want your money sent to when you get a chance. If anybody notices I altered the league settings a few minutes ago, ignore it. I added 400 points to mikesmeatballs and then put it back to normal. Wanted to see how that worked on ESPN. Hope you guys enjoyed it and at least some of you are still alive in other leagues. I'm alive in 2 and my wife is talking so much **** about being in this one. We'll have an open discussion probably around June 2017 about any league scoring/roster changes you guys want to try.

Heck some fine looking and knowledgeable ladies work at some tackle shops as well. I'd be willing to say several here could probably out fish many of the locals. Awesome 40mph bass fishing. Ill have to research that one a little more before I give that a try. I'm not sure any of the bass in my local lakes are that fast. I guess the one thing that I really wish I had done better with was skin protection. I do remember my mom at some point when I was a kid discussing this with me. As I get on up in age it really would have been more proactive in this area. I'm not a nut about it even now but just simply rubbing some sunblock on is important and very helpful.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone in the Bass Resource! Best of wishes from our family to yours.

I just buy black ones......the fish don't care. I have caught them when they are all nice and pretty out of the package, and I have caught them when the paint has all chipped off and they are bare shiny tungsten.

This topic is not politically correct.

Ok, I tried it and I'm happy with the first attempt. It's automotive paint and clear-coat. I use big Zara Spooks for stripers so I painted one to look something like a menhaden. I've had fish spit them up in the boat. I really need bench space for this to keep everything steady. I figure if they hit all white, they should hit this. menhaden: Spook

Couple new (to me)tube rods

Okay, having used both of these, I have to choose Gamakatsu. Trokar hooks are as sharp as they say they are. In fact, I find it hard to keep the hook point buried in the plastic. To me they became a nuisance, constantly shredding my plastics. Not to mention, in my opinion, too pricey. Now, having said that, I fished the entire last season using BPS hooks. Never had a problem. Hootie

That I will spend thousands of dollars on this hobby. But then again, it's not hookers and blow so that's kind of a win.

One thing that stands out to me about the replies on this thread. IF, someone had given the advice that we now find valuable, way back when, would we have been wise enough to listen and done as we were told? I'm sure we all got good advice from our parents when we were young. How many of us ignored that wisdom and went out and did something stupid anyway?

My Mom and Dad divorced when I was 23 years old. That's about forty years ago. When my Dad left my Mom, he didn't take much with him, but he did take most of the family photos and all the photos of his family before I was born. Our relationship was awkward for a long time after and his wife was did not want anything to do with me and my family. I learned to accept that. When my Dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer, I was never notified he was having a lung removed but the information leaked out and I was there when the surgeon came in with the news. The next twenty nine months were special for both of us because it opened a door for me to become a part of his life and for his wife to see who I was. What ever issues she had with me paled in comparison with my desire to be there for my father and for her. My Dad died on a December day 20 years ago. My relationship with his wife quickly became distant. Well my step-mother recently passed away. Her son and daughter came to me. I hadn't seen them since my Dad's funeral service. They had gone through their mother's estate and found a box of photos. They were the photos my Dad took with him when he left. My Dad's wife never mentioned them to me and I did not press her. Her children immediately recognized what those photos were and what they might mean to me and they gave them to me. I have not had a single photo of my Dad and or his Mother, Brothers and Sisters until know. This is one of the greatest gifts I have received in my entire life. A picture is worth a thousand tears. It has helped me to have some closure in a time of year that isn't always jolly. It was special to see my Uncle, who is my name's sake and my Dad's baby brother. I can see myself in him. My Dad's baby sister looks just like my youngest daughter. I would have never known had not been for an act of kindness.

I use Power Pro which I have found to have a great balance of durability, price and function. If you are using a mono backer, a small amount of braid should get you pretty far. It's the 1500 yard spools that kill the pocket book.

Thats an easy one.NEVER leave without packing toilet paper!

I would not buy a New boat. You can get way more for your money used. And just because it's used doesn't mean it about to blow up geeez. Sure it can happen but so can cars and trucks etc but millions used cars trucks and I dare say boats sell that aren't about to explode. Man there are tons of boats just do some shopping and I am confident there is a decent used boat for 4k besides a jon boat. If you dont like it move on and keep looking. Its free to shop. Also once you find one you like do some research on the problem areas on that specific boat educate yourself on the exact motor and hull etc. I am guessing Florida from the county you listed and just looked on craigs list. 4k before negotiating. https://miami.craigslist.org/pbc/boa/5928446485.html or here $3500 https://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/boa/5897665285.html Here is a decent looking boat for $3700 before negotiating. https://orlando.craigslist.org/boa/5919191848.html Or here https://orlando.craigslist.org/boa/5925906910.html

About 5 years into my tournament "career" I had a light bulb go off in my head that would have helped a lot had I been told to do so....And that is: On tournament day............just go fishing, and do what you do. Leading up to that, I did OK in tournaments, cashing once in while, and rarely winning. Since I said "screw it, I'm just going to fish a tournament like I would fish any other day", I cash more times than not, and win more often.

Nice ~ But it seems I have this on going feud each winter with the local road commission. They must get extra pay for plowing down residential road side mail boxes and for what ever reason Mine must be worth a little more. Because they work overtime each season trying to take it out. So I'm afraid something that sweet would certainly garner way too much attention. Plus sort of looks like a target. A-Jay

Not your typical Preacher Jig but I like to show them something different. 6-7 inches long and 1 oz. This thing looks like a big shad gliding to the bottom. It glides and doesn't drop like a rock. This thing is sexy nasty look'n in the water. It's double tied with bucktail meaning I tie hair in both spots of the jig collar, you have a spot on jig heads where you tie the material or band a skirt then there is a spot behind that and I tie there as well. I tie the hackle straight on the hook shank and apply a thin coat of super glue over the thread. If you have a shop near you that sells bucktail it's best to hand select the tails and hackle vs ordering online. If you deer hunt or have buddies/family that hunt that would be a good source as well or maybe a processing business where folks take their deer. If you go that route then you have to go through the whole process of getting the bone out and curing the hide along with washing the hair. It has saved me a bunch of $$ and I don't mind doing it when I get the tails for free, plus it adds to the handcrafted labor of love.

killer pond baits for me have been weightless rage tail baby craws. berkeley pit bosses, and white booyah pond magic spinner baits. you want to catch only the bigger bass and possibly biggest, catch a small live bluegill, hook it, and toss it out. that bluegill jerking around will draw in the big girls, and the ones too small to eat it will be sitting around staring at it lol

In my experience the best way to catch the biggest largemouth in a pond doesn't involve a lure, but rather a live or dead bluegill

I keep an extendable boat hook on my boat. When I get a bait snagged along a shallow bank, I can get in too close for the trolling motor to operate and use the pole to push myself away from the shore. I also keep a "johnny" bottle for when I need to relieve myself. Safer than having to get too close to the edge of the boat.

Here's my baby...2000 Bass Cat Jaguar with 225 Evinrude.