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I fly - A LOT - and long ago learned to never fly United or American. Those always rank at or near the bottom of every airline quality poll every time. From poor on-time records to terrible customer service, to lost baggage, they are the worst. That said, ALL airlines overbook their flights. A practice I feel should be severely limited/regulated or eliminated altogether. Never heard of any other industry getting away with that practice. Could you image setting an appointment with your doctor or dentist, or getting a reservation at a restaurant for a special occasion, only to be told, "Oh, we overbooked you and need you to reschedule." ?? Why airlines continue to get away with this practice is beyond me.

Got a personal best that I won't beat easily. After throwing everything but the kitchen sink, I went to a Senko and got this hog. Healthy 6.9 bass. Still can't believe it.

Thr trip I've always wanted to go on since I was young.... the day finally came and it was well worth the wait!! Sorry for the sideways pic... don't know how to fix it

What the heck ! A-Jay

Biggest was 4.5lbs. I didn't weigh the other two, but 2.5-3lbs if I had to guess.

Look what we snagged into this weekend Nothing to weigh officially, but right around an 8. Love this stuff.

I used to only throw spinnerbaits in the moving jig category (chatter/spinner/swim). However, in the past few years, I have adapted the other styles and I now find myself throwing a swim jig more than a spinnerbait. Each bait has their place and I'll go over what I decide on when choosing what to throw. Swim Jig: Clearer water where the fish may get a better look at the bait. Around heavy weeds/cover. Pressured waters (namely during tournaments) where the fish might be weary of hard thumping, flashy baits. Spinnerbait: Dirtier water where the fish might not be able to see as well, so the added vibration in the water helps them locate. Around spare weeds/cover. Windy/choppy days Cloudy days. When the light is lower, the flash of that blade helps fish locate the bait easier (in my opinion).

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." I joined this forum as a wildly enthusiastic young kid who had zero knowledge about bass fishing and even fewer lures in my tacklebox. My first ten or so fishing trips were spent fishing with every single lure and soft plastic bait I owned. I would just cycle through them and tie on another when I felt like changing things up. Didn't take too long to go through them all, because I had about 4 hard baits and a couple bags of plastics. Joining Bass Resource introduced me to an extraordinary amount of information. I learned so much from each and every member on here. I gathered an incredible amount about fishing, but I also learned how to behave on a public forum and so many of you showed me a lot of grace, despite many moments of rash and immature speech. One of the things that will always stand out to me about you guys is your generosity. Over the years, I've received over a thousand dollars worth of fishing tackle from the members of BR. I don't think I'm exaggerating that number. I've been sent reels, a decent chunk of a previous Tackle Warehouse Ike Miaconelli giveaway prize package, line, and countless hard baits, jigs, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, soft plastics, and terminal tackle. My parents were blown away when they saw me open some of the packages. They aren't well off and never had the money to buy me tackle themselves, and for them to see the generosity of strangers on the internet was incredible. For me, it was like being a kid in a candy shop. I had so many new things to try and your gifts gave me the chance to try techniques, lures, and styles of fishing that I would have never spent the money to try on my own. Most of that took place about two years ago. I couldn't even begin to name everyone who's reached out in that regard, because I wouldn't want to leave anyone out. But since then, I've come to a place as an angler and a human being where I no longer need or desire free stuff. Not only have I found the brands and styles of baits that I like to fish with, I also know there are people who can use things far more than I can. For the last two years, I've been wanting to do something similar to what everyone did for me. I accumulated a ton of tackle. I found myself fishing with less than a quarter of the tackle that I owned; the rest was just sitting on shelves, gathering dust. That had to change. A few weeks ago, I compiled a large assortment of baits and was able to get in touch with a guy I know who runs a local tackle shop. He was fixing some equipment for me, and was more than willing to help out when I talked to him. He helps run a kids tournament every year on a local lake in NC, and he's going to be giving the kids my tackle as part of that tournament. Some of that tackle is more than likely from some of you guys who sent it to me originally. I highlight this not to promote personal generosity, but to say to each and every person who has given me information and tackle and wisdom over my years on here: you have given a gift that keeps on giving. Many thanks. Kyle P.S. Here are a couple fish I've caught on baits y'all have given to me.

Teach a man to fish and he'll start replies on the latest tackle purchase bait monkey thread.

Perhaps it's carma. More than ONCE have I sat in a doctor's waiting area long after my scheduled appointment time.

I completely agree that overbooking is a bad practice and should be stopped. With that said, if my number comes up I will leave the plane and then do everything I can to make it a very expensive decision by the airline. Refusing to leave the plane is not an acceptable option. Every airline has the right to do it based on our agreeing to it as part of the ticket purchase. I have no sympathy for the good doctor. He isn't any more important than anyone else. He created the situation and got what he deserved in my opinion.

I can't choose - you pick five ~ A-Jay

Bass function essentially thru congenital instinct, and the older the bass, the more conditioned its behavioral response. Problem is, conditioned behavior is easily mistaken for intelligence. Like the old adage: "Even a fish wouldn't get into trouble, if it never opened its mouth" Roger

Lower life forms like fish don't use the brains for reasoning it's beyond thier capability. Bass grow older by avioding being eaten by other predators until they are adults. The bass that don't survive made critical errors that resulted in death or severe harm and by doing so their instincts for survival don't develop.. Some bass are very aggressive, others are cautious and a few very wary. The most aggressive tend get caught by anglers using artificial lures or killed by other predators, if they survive they also tend to be larger size because they out compete other fish for food and develop survival instincts. The cautious bass make up the majority of the population because they tend to survive longer. The most wary rarely case down faster moving prey or get caught by anglers using artificial lures but also don't grow large size because they are get out competed by other bass and other predators seeking the same food source. Life for wild animals isn't easy, they starve if they can't learn to catch prey, they get wounded avioding capture by other predators, desease is always a factor, just living for a few years to develop the skills needed to survive and become adults. As adults they must continue a life as a predator and compete for food and procreate the species passing on their gene traits, the weak don't get to be adults. It's all about survival skills not intellect. Tom

A-Jay

If I saw a sign saying "No Fishing" on a dock that was located in public waters, I'd fish it just out of spite.

Maybe he had a shift to work, or maybe he wanted to go home. Maybe he had a graduation or wedding to get to. Maybe he just felt like going home because he paid money for a plane ticket. We have no idea why he needed to get home. It could be for any number of reasons. The fact that overbooking is a legal and common practice doesn't make it right or acceptable. In any other industry, the business would eat the cost of the no shows. I think the larger issue is that this practice of overbooking should never be allowed. If it wasn't, this situation would have never occurred. It's ridiculous that billion dollar airline industries will force paying customers to change their travel plans, financial plans and work plans just so they don't have to potentially eat the cost of a no-show coach ticket. I can't think of any other industry where this is allowed or accepted. Of course this is all made worse by the fact that they only had to "re-accommodate" this guy to make room for their employees.

When i bank fish I carry very little and only one rod and reel combo . Mobility is important and I want to spend as much time fishing as I can .

Forgive my ignorance, but why is this an issue?

I haven't had any issues with my 2500/3000 size Shimano reels and these lines: 6# Tatsu 6# Invisx 6# Sniper 6.2# Seaguar Finesse I've had issues with a few lines when I tried to go up to 8#. If I need greater break strength than that, I use braid.

Looks like someone bumped a dinosaur, but what the heck, I'll throw my two cents into the ring. I've lived on the lake all my life and have zero problems with people fishing docks including my own. The only issue I'd have is if I'm fishing off the dock and someone doesn't give me space or at least stop casting while they pass by. If I'm not have at it. I'm not worried about people hitting the dock with a bait as I've never seen any type of dock that will be harmed by any lures bouncing off of them. I don't store my boat in the water, or on a lift, but I know if I did, I do so at my own risk. Nobody is going through intentionally trying to make bad casts and hit my stuff, but I realize bad casts do happen occasionally. It's really not the end of the world if they do. I think a lot of people need to be reminded that sharing means sharing and not claiming. If you're lounging on your dock and I'm fishing, neither of us are interfering with the other's activities so nobody should get their feathers ruffled. I can't complain too much about my area as people seem to feel the same way. I've actually had more people come out of their houses to see what I caught off their dock than I have had negative comments.

Usually an offer is extended to anyone willing to volunteer. The $$ amount goes up, until there is a taker, or their maximum amount is reached. Then it's a random draw. That's not how this went down. United has always been the pits. This just confirms it. I haven't had to fly in YEARS. If after the TSA pat downs, baggage searches, screening, check-ins and finally getting to my seat, I'd be pretty upset if all they offered was $400 for the seat. Imagine, you're seated at a table after a 20 minute wait, you've ordered your food. It's delivered to your table, and as you're about to sink your teeth into a juicy steak. Then the manager grabs thew food, and tells you to leave, because an employee needs to eat. You resist, the guy grabs you, and attempts to forcibly remove you from your seat. Somebody slips, you smash your face on the corner of the table, knocking you out momentarily, while you are dragged out of the restaurant. Am I missing something? How is that any different? If I have a restaurant, I can refuse service to anyone, as long as it isn't discrimination (even then, I'm not sure, though it's nasty PR issue). There's no contract that says I can't throw you out. I think anyone blaming the old man for his injuries has lost sight of dignity and rights we supposed to have in this country. Violence was the wrong call here, especially so quickly.

Seasoned travelers know that this is how you get the airline to up it's payoff for the seat. You refuse their offer, until they make an their top offer. Something is completely off in this particular scenario - even the airline said so. Why it escalated so quickly isn't quite known. The airline should have offered more money. Heck, a woman that writes for the travel industry was offered $11,000 for her and her family leave a flight.

I can agree with this. Overbooking is common practice & mostly common knowledge. Most anyone who has traveled perhaps even only a few times has probably see or heard of this. I know people who actually 'hope' for this on every flight they take (the $$ not the beating) as they like the idea of getting a flight (and often times a room overnight) on the airline's dime. And so it all comes down to choices we make - even today in this, our 'most modern society, there is still an authority in place to 'protect it' and to ensure that individuals (and group) are conducting themselves in a manner that has been determined by the majority, as acceptable. When the choice is made to step beyond that, there are rules & people in place to address that. This seems like that to me. Everyone may not agree on how this is completed, but I didn't see anyone jumping up and offering to take his place. They were content to capture it on their phones and be glad it wasn't them. Lesson learned here may be 5 year old boy-like defiance might not be the best plan in the adult word. This individual's decision turned a inconvenience into something else - next level. A-Jay

Painted reel? All I see are crappy off-center pics of a drag star, handle and spool. ?

Spawn is in 6 months. Eggs are starting to develop

My experience as a marshal on day two, that pro also started in shallow water and probably only about a quarter mile from where my first day pro had started. After a couple of hours with only one bass in the well he ran out to a deep spot too. He told me that he thought the bass would show up later because on the previous day (day one) he managed to get his limit late in the day. He added a couple of keepers out deep and returned to the shallow area for the remainder of the day where he filled his limit and culled a couple of times. I saw a number of other pros in the area, one was throwing a chatterbait style jig near us and the others were out further on the flat and it appeared they were fishing jerkbaits.

Big bass are smarter ~ I don't believe that. I believe the following about 'Big Bass'. First if we are talking about trophy fish, there are less of them percentage wise. Also not every body of water can or will produce them - ever. They are generally not located where (and when) the average angler finds most of their bass. Meaning except for the spawn, they are often positioned a little deeper. In locations / depths that some anglers may not be comfortable fishing or perhaps are a little less effective presenting a bait - meaning not on the bank, or anywhere near any visible structure or cover. That said, I believe that instead of special big fish baits, or presentations or special tactics; what one needs to do to catch a Big Bass is first fish a body of water that produces them. Then use a proven bait with the correct gear, make an effective presentation, at the right place and at the right time. Simple right ? No, everyone knows that nothing's guaranteed. But if you put the odds in your favor enough times, you might get lucky and that's about all you can do. A-Jay

I agree 100%. I work with a renew our lakes group twice a year and the amount we collect goes up every time. This past fall we collected 3 40 yd roll offs full of trash in 3 days on our small lake.

My connecting knot rarely breaks, so I only retie before every trip.

The eagle has landed The fearsome foursome for the kayak this season L to R 7'1" MLXF ENVBLK + Stella 2500 7' NRX 852c + Pixy R 7' Orochi XX Flatside Special + Antares DC 7'2" Orochi XX Perfect Pitch + Exsence DC

Today my West Virginia PB moved from 3.94 to 4.51... Definitely earned this one, I had a bit of a morning flurry, but after that I went 6 hours with 2 bites, this being one of them!

Majek 22 Extreme/225 Optimax Pro XS. 70# Minn Kota Maxxum, 8' Power Pole, Garmin 74SV with Bluechart G2 Vision and LakeVu HD, bose sterep, 10" Bobs Flats Jac jack plate, and a couple of other goodies

If indeed that boat was glitzy, they were Minn Kota Talons Roger

Maybe it has to do with, percentage wise, not many bass become "big". Big, being relative to their local ecosystem. Maybe the big fish are just fortunate. Maybe some are fortunate they have never seen an artificial lure. Maybe some are fortunate they have good genes. Maybe some are fortunate they didn't become prey themselves. Maybe some are fortunate they have an ample food supply. Maybe the rest are just unfortunate they don't have what the big fish have. Maybe it's a stupid theory. Maybe it has to do with maturity. Dare I say the youth of every species makes poor decisions based on being ignorant and/or naive. Most grow out of it. To touch on something WRB said, fish are unable to reason but, aren't most if not all animals? Do animals need the abilty to reason when their instinct tell them all they need is to survive and procreate? Maybe buried in the instinct to survive is the ability to be trained. (I use the word "trained" because I think the word "learn" implies reason.) We already know fish habitually respond to positive natural external stimuli such as light, sound, vibration, temperature, pressure, current, and opportunity. Surely they can be trained in the negative.....

Honestly I find braid backlashes much easier to deal with so I say fish away!

First line I used with my baitcaster was braid and I love it. Don't have any problems. As far as advice while using it, don't cast too hard and make sure it's at least 30lb braid. That's the lowest I've used on a baitcaster. Sufix 832 equivalent 8lb mono diameter. You can check equivalent diameters on TW. One caution is that the line may dig into the spool after a snag. This could potentially cause backlashes. As long as you're careful with it, you shouldn't have a problem. Good luck.

I tried several fluoro lines and had many break in different places. Since it is the only thing between you and a fish, I quit using it. If you have to baby it and be extra careful, count me out.

6 years 4 deployments with 1st ID, the big red one, and an IRR recall a year later lol!!! Shoulda stayed, almost be retired now...?

I attest this to, being the female of the species, she wouldn't keep her mouth shut

Probably the braid slipping on the spool.

Just to back up what most of the positive posts are saying here. Patterns basically change daily lately , all the pressure has left only small windows to catch fish shallow. I've been targeting humps on windy days. Clear sunny days brush piles around midday also following drains when all else fails looking for shad but the key for me has been 10 to 16 ft of water. The main advantage for me has been the addition of a helix 9 with sidescan. It allows me to put together a 3 D pic using side, down and 2 d sonar. Now all the mapping is starting to make sence . I hope this helps

NO. Most are full of lures or colors that didn't sell. if you're going to stock up, do it with confidence baits in colors that work for you. A different color, or brand is fine for the occasional one lure purchase to try something new, if it doesn't work for you then you're only out the cost of that one. Wait for sales, clearances or find deals online. I have multiple packs of my favorite soft plastics and at least one extra of my hard baits. If you want to experiment with color, get a bottle or two of SpikeIt or JJ's

I use the Alberto knot and only retie if I want to change my leader size or if it looks visibly worn.

If you have trust issues with your setup why torture yourself eliminate the problem and go straight fluoro if that is what you think you need to do. If I do use a leader I use the blood knot and haven't had any issues with the knot connection. I also only retie my knots before each outing. I fished for 7 or 8 hours many times and never retie unless its a lure change. But then again I rarely finesse fish and I don't use line under 10lb test.

Fished a lot this weekend! Fished 4 ponds Saturday! 3 ponds Sunday! Saturdsy got to a honey hole of mine,caught my PB last year outa here. Wind was brutal! No fish! Decided to head to another spot I've been fishing! Checked out a new way in! Paddle across a pond to a canal to get into this pond! Way easier then dragging the yak through bogs! This pond I paddle through was a new spot! Picked off a handful of fish 2lbser here! Working my way to the other spot! Got to the other spot! Bite wasn't good! Had some hits but square bill cranks managed 2bass 1 on a jig the other on a squarebill! Fished the other pond a little bit more picked off 2 more bass! Decided check a honey hole I got down the street! There was a culvert I always check out before I got to the pond! Tons of yellows up there spawning! Like hundreds! Saw a chunky bass sitting there to! Fished a small tsunami jerk minnow! Danced it around 10 minutes later it smoked it! Head to the pond! No fish until dusk! I decided to try topwater for some night fish! Fishing the mouth of a river! 2 chunks! First 2 nigh bass of the year! Sunday! Fished a spot I heard the bite was good! Tubes jerkbaits and spinner baits! No fish! Saw some guys caught half dozen 3-4lbsers next to us in a cove! ALWAYS WEAR YOUR LIFE JACKET! My buddy tipped his yak! He didn't have his life jacket! Thank god I was next to him! We were like 10-20'feet from shore! No fish here! Fished another pond attached to this place! Had 1 hit on a tube! Decided to fish the spot I fished Saturday where I got the night fish' another chunk in the culvert and that's it for the day!

flouro breaking easy? how come I'm not surprised ?

That's just Rude - Period. It doesn't matter who owns the water - the fact is you were sitting there. Hello, a little coutesy please! I fish docks every time I go out - if someone is on their dock, I never go right up to it and start fishing. I just keep moving to the next dock.