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I had been doing some brainstorming for unique ideas that will allow guys to commemorate a catch, trip, PB, etc. My wife is a photographer and one of the services she offers her clients is something she's dubbed "print to paint" and after seeing her work on various portraits, it clicked that some guys may be interested in having this done to their own pictures. Replicas and mounts are great, yes, but this is another option that I feel is a viable alternative at a lower cost. She recently worked on a picture of my PB and went over the entire photograph with the technique. I just received the printed portrait yesterday and it turned out awesome! The final product arrives with raised brush strokes, just like a painting. Below is the original photo along with a pic I took of the finished product. I also included a close up of the brushing effect on the portrait. The example is 10X15 and other sizes are available. Framing and canvas print is also an option Let me know what you think! Feel free to message me for inquiries on having a picture of yours done. It's not just limited to bass either or even fishing for that matter. She can do this with ANY picture. Hunting, outdoors, anything. www.laurenrhcampbellphotography.com Thanks to Glenn and BR for letting me post!

MegaStrike Cavitron

The fish don't care what the color is, you do.

The rain was pouring and there was a big puddle in front of the Bar just outside the American Legion Post. A ragged old Army ground pounder was standing near the edge with a fishing line in the puddle. A curious young Marine Fighter Pilot came over to him and asked what he was doing. "Fishing," the old Sergeant simply said. "Poor old fool," the Marine Officer thought to himself, and he invited the old Army Soldier into the Bar for a drink. As he felt he should start some conversation while they were sipping their whiskey, the haughty Fighter Pilot asked, "And how many have you caught today?" "You're number ten," the old Army Sergeant answered. “2 Air Force, 3 Navy & 5 Marines.”

A clean reel will definitely max its potential. A Hvy power st Croix is a very stout rod. It may not load efficiently causing to muscle a cast with the lighter bait. The resulting high speed launch and rapid deceleration is the perfect recipe for a backlash or over run.

I saw that you picked that up in another thread. I have been basically blown away with this bait (especially the deep one) Please know I have a ton of LC baits and you'd have a hard time getting me to say that the KVD bait isn't better. Especially this fall. Good Luck with yours Blue. A-Jay

Let me guess: Because it looked like something to eat? Roger

I'm starting to see a trend . . . . And with good reason. A-Jay http://www.megastrike.com/cavitron

Ya want good or the best? Cavitron #1

Rapala shadow raps run about $8ea. Nice baits with a good selection of colors.

Probably my biggest pet peeve about professional fishing ? The amount of info shared or obtained before the off-limits goes into effect. It's always happened, and likely always will. Had a friend who was just down on Cherokee and he said most of the Elite guys he saw practicing before the off-limits period had one or two locals in the boat with them. These guys get lots of information beforehand. They're still some of the best in the world, but they get a lot more help in various forms than people realize. It's why at present, MLF is the only true game in town, IMHO. -T9 Some are probably just scouting early, but many FLW guys are probably there for the Open. If you look at the official roster when posted, you'll see a bunch of FLW pros. Some simply have nothing better to do, but most are either trying for an Elite Series bid or a B/M Classic invite with a win.

Maybe a zillion tw sv? Great for pitching

War eagle for the win

Watched the MLF Selects today and thought of your post. Doesn't answer your specific question, but I thought Mark Rose's comments on the subject of fishing out deep versus "beating the bank" in this format were interesting. He was getting pummeled early, but made a nice comeback in the latter half of the event.

I use the SK KVD's and the Storm Twitch Sticks. The SK KVD's are the best behaving baits in cold water I have ever fished..............That means every single one has performed and suspended out of the package, with a hook upgrade, the way it's supposed to. I can not say the same for just about every other suspending jerkbait I have tried..............and that list is long. Lucky Craft's, Rapala's, the Clunn STX's, Rouges, and more. The Storm's are great in shallow water. They don't dive as deep as the KVD's, and they slowly float away from hang ups, or up out of grass with their stock hooks, with a swap to a heavier wire hook on the front, they still don't suspend perfect, but rise ever so slowly, and at the tail end of the spring jerkbait bite, a bait that rises slow is often the ticket to get a few more days out of the jerkbait bite when they seem to lose interest in perfectly suspending baits.

Scored 2 slp zillions the last week of december. Bought a 9.1 sv zillion, and before I even took it to the lake, I wanted to upgrade it. Decided to sell it because this was the more cost effective route given the yen. The slp already has the carbon handle, +2 bearings...and lats face it....ghost purple knobs are proven to catch more fish. Either that, or maybe one of those topless grand lake sunnrrs will make their way to the boat deck when I brandish one

Because it wasn't a fish. I've heard of people on rare occasions catching turtles, muskrats, and frogs, but it was the first time I had experienced/heard about this one. I was set up in about 4.5 feet of murky water fishing for perch and walleye. I was jigging a firetiger PK Flutterfish tipped with a minnow head in one hole and rigged up two deadsticks with minnows on bobbers in the other holes (3 lines per person in MI). I'd been doing well on perch that morning when one of my bobbers jolted in a weird twitchy motion. Something a perch wouldn't do. It's got to be a walleye I thought. I kept jigging my flutterfish, but concentrated a little harder. I then got a hard hit on one of the times I went to raise my lure. Before I could set the hook, the fish was gone. I kept jigging and probably 7 seconds later I felt another hard hit, but this time I was ready and set the hook. I was feeling pretty confident, thinking that I had a walleye on. I quickly realized that it wasn't the case. Up the hole came a big, black curled up creature. I wasn't quite sure what it was, but later looked it up and found out that it's a type of underwater salamander called a mudpuppy. This one measured just over 10.5 inches. I took some pictures, revived it, and later released it behind my house back into the river. I didn't weigh it, but it was a pretty fat salamander.

Finally got to get out on the water for a few hours. Was hoping the fish were still stacked deep but the stretch of warm weather has them scattered around. Was tough today with only 2 fish for me (5lb and 3-1/2lb). Both were caught in 30ft on seiberts 3/4 football jigs and rage lobster in falcon craw. This lake has a very large population of big bass. No foreign boats only rentals....Fishing out of a John boat with paddles only is a pain in the rear but an anchor helps. My triton is getting jealous of the time I'm spending on a tin boat, lol.

Graduating from a Jon boat and getting my first full rig bass boat its an old boat but had a marine mechanic check it out and he gave me the thumbs up!!! Very excited!!!

True but the tatula and falcon rod are far from mediocre.

Personally I do not care for Shimanos, but I really do like the Daiwas. I sold off some Curados, BPS reels and Chronarch 200Es. I replaced them all with Tatula type Rs and Tatula CTs. I love those reels. As for your swap, I think it will make a nice combo. I fish a Falcon Bucoo Micro series Trap Caster and that is a great rod for small to mid size cranks, traps square bills and even some larger spinnerbaits or chatterbaits. For $5 that is a steal!

The Waters I'm fishing in up here are seriously clear. My approach towards being successful when fishing it has many layers. Bait color is one of, if not the Last one. There are days when it's a big deal, but many days I could use 4 or 5 colors of the same bait / presentation with equal success. However, in many cases, my most productive approach when presenting bottom contact plastics is to choose a color / pattern that matches the bottom color as closely as possible. If it's a mostly open / bare sand bottom, that's what I'll go with. If there is a blanket of vegetation, on the bottom &/or extremely prevalent in the area I'm fishing, going with a watermelon or green something can be the deal. My thought here is that the bass know their environment and although big color difference can & does get bit, the bass's natural prey is almost always trying to avoid detection, so a camouflaging color pattern makes sense. A-Jay

I replace original skirts with Lumaflex on all spinnerbaits, including the StrikeBack, without any issues.

I actually like the Cabela's in my area fairly well. This is beyond the fishing stuff as well. I think most of the stuff they carry is standard price, but they run pretty good prices often as well, and their house brand of everything I have always found to be high quality for a lower price. They have a much better selection of gear than say Gander Mountain or Dick's Sporting Goods (where I now refuse to shop). I will say I wish there website was a little better organized and functioned a little better.

Agree - it shouldn't be who does (or can do) the most amount of private habitat enhancement to better their odds, but rather who makes the best decisions on the water when everyone has been dealt the same hand to play.

This! I have a 20ga O/U because I wanted one, it isnt a cheap one by any stretch, I love it but it'll never see a duck blind. Its a grouse and woodcock gun. Definitely not the best gun for ducks though and you will have a hard time killing a goose ethically at any distance whatsoever should that situation arise. There is a reason why so many waterfowl guys use semi autos and pumps. If shopping for a waterfowl gun, especially at that lower price range, please give single barrel repeaters another look. You'll get more for your money too. Especially if you look used. You can get a nice autoloader for right around what a lower tier O/U will run. Beretta 390, Browning Gold or Winchester SX3 come immediately to mind and any of those will still be working long after you are gone. All are a proven, soft shooting gas system and just plain reliable.

The funny thing is, the pats covered the spread so it went just how Vegas predicted.

I've used the Plano waterproof boxes, they didn't stop hooks from rusting because any moisture that gets in can't get out. I've switched to the Zerust and so far so good, no rust on my hooks. As for your storage solution, sounds like a backpack or tackle bag would be a good solution.

They are all similar . I would make sure they have quality swivels and buy whatever is the least expensive . I've been seeing some good baits on clearance already .

The Megastrike Strike Back was my top producing spinnerbait this past season. A-Jay

Terminator T1. Runs true out of the package and never needs adjusting. Also the arm never breaks. They are expensive but after breaking more than a few spinner bait arms the cost is worth it.

The President is an excellent reel, but the cranking system and smooth drag on the Shimano are tough to beat. I haven't backreeled since the 70s when it was promoted by In-Fisherman, so I don't miss the anti-reverse. Roger

It's funny. We met street racing in the Fast and Furious days. It was instantaneous love and we started life together shortly thereafter. It wasn't always easy and wasn't always fun, but any time we were together, there wasn't anything we couldn't get through. We made each other stronger. I know she made me stronger and I will forever love her and hold her and these happy memories in the dearest place in my heart.

The Herd

Very interesting. I was all set (years ago) to buy a President based on reviews I read all over the web. I ended up with a Stradic FI 1000. For me, the Shimano fit my hands better. But as I've said in other threads, what I love, another may hate. I have no beef with Pflueger and understand they're darn good reels. Just for my hands, the Shimano's felt better! Opposite for you! All good We're all catching bass!!

Who...really...gives a fig what the "big league" guys do? The "big league" guys don't throw flies either...

If I see something sticking out of a bass's throat, If it pulls out easy I pull it out just out of curiosity to see what it is/was. The key is if it pulls out easy, I don't go yanking on it. In a tournament situation I leave it alone..........you never know when ounces count, a lot of times they puke it up in the livewell anyways, and there is nothing I can do about that other than observe what it was.

2 reasons, identify the bait fish and remove it so it doesn't foul up the livewell. Tom

If it's stuck it's for the well-being of the fish. Otherwise they're probably looking to see what the fish are eating to attempt to match the hatch.

Out of those mentioned I would pick the Sahara without thinking it too much.

Siebert outdoors order came in.Good looking jigs!!

Cool stuff though! I fish a lot of jigs as well. Have you ever thought of buying jigheads and adding skirts? I just broke down and bought the JDM Metanium MGL HG. the JDM spool is more shallow than the US version. Going to put braid on that and buy a deeper spool from Shimano USA. I also received some used topwater lures from an Ebay seller in Japan. Megabass Anthrax and Pop-x

Now that I think about it some more, there was a day that kind of stands out....for no other reason than just a bunch of "that never happens" moments It was early Aug.....hot as blazes. I was on the water early, and the fishing was good from dawn till dusk. Which is not unusual, except for the fact that it was smallmouth that were on fire that day in 8-10 feet of water......The most memorable catch of the day was a 4lber I hooked deep cranking on a 5xd, that had another 4lber with it. With out hesitation, I dropped a drop shot over the side and the 2nd 4lber bit it. Now I have two 4lbers on at the same time..........one on the crank, one on the drop shot. Now what?? I set the cranking rod down and stood on it while I got the drop shot fish in, tossed it in the livewell real quick and picked up the cranking rod........fully expecting that fish to have pulled off by now, but it was still on. I got it in, sat down and just laughed. About three casts later with the crank, my cranking rod snapped where I had stepped on it..............oh well.

I've had the rod a little while even though i have hardly even used it, but i just got the reel all slicked up and they're ready to roll now! It's kind of setup as an all around combo with 30# braid, but will see a lot of time with a Keitech swing impact type of bait on it. ROD: Dobyns DX 703c HP REEL: Daiwa Steez SV 6.3L 100MM basszone carbon fiber handle hedgehog air bearings hedgehog orange parts

I fish Skegemog and Torch all the time. Skegemog is my go-to.

Don't miss the forest for the trees.Enjoy bass fishing and understand that everyone has slow days in fishing. Relax and enjoy the outdoors.

I hope so because it sells for $50 more at regular price.