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I don't think you should tell him anything about His pond. Mind your own business and just be thankful you can fish there.

Went down to a plantation in South Georgia this weekend. There were 5 ponds but I mostly fished two of them, the main pond and a swamp pond nearby. First day I caught about four during the day, each between 1-2 lbs. At sunfall I started walking around the swamp pond where the sound of frogs was deafening, fishing with both a horny toad and the Lunkerhunt Lunkerfrog. Hooked up with another nice one on the horny toad, and then followed up with a chunky 4 after the sun went down. Did another walk around the main pond after this with just the Lunkerhunt, and caught three more chunks. It was about 1:15 in the morning when I went back in. Next day I woke up early with three friends and we headed out to the main pond. Didn't catch anything for a while, although the shad were busting everywhere. I could pick up shad off the ground that had been blasted up by aggressive bass. I was still fishing my frog for a minute or two when a nice bass blew up and it felt like I set the hook into a wall, breaking off my 30 pound braid. Went back and borrowed a friends whopper plopper 90. Within three casts it got slurped by this old big mouthed bass. She was skinny but strong. She weighed in at a lean 5.04 lbs.

Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. Do maintenance at one of their parks. Work outside every day. Can't complain! My office

Went to Dow Lake with my brother today and scored my first fish of 2017. Caught it on a SPRO BBZ-1 Shad 2.5"

So you didn’t think I’m gonna miss my chance to target some angry saltwater fish just because the frog bite is strong, did you? J I was a little concerned watching the weather for the week, as there were lines of severe storms blowing across the SE and when I saw the caller ID on by mobile show my trusty guide’s name I knew what was coming next. The wind was gonna be a problem to run the beach for bull reds, and that same wind had also muddied up the inshore hotspots as well. The trip was off, crap. On a whim, I tried Plan B to fish a private, sheltered lagoon system that I had fished before. In the past it’s been really hard to get a trip lined up in there so I was not optimistic, but this time the guide had a few openings so I was in! I think this place would really appeal to most of us on here, as it really resembles bass fishing. You’re working baits in trees and other cover that line a narrow lagoon so it’s really very a very familiar style even if you’ve never saltwater fished before. OK, let’s go get some bait and then slay some fish. Bait’s not in spot A, but it’ll be in spot B. Hmmm, it’s weird they’re not here either, let’s try spot C. Wow, that was a lot of work for 8 pogies and that’s not gonna last long. Then the guide remembered that I was a bass fisherman at heart, so we were off to our fishing spot while we rigged up a weightless fluke. It took a little bit to find the spotted seatrout, but we found them! It seemed the same weather which resulted in the cancellation of my inshore/nearshore trip had these lagoon fish fired up so I wasn’t complaining! After the first trout short-striked the bait, the next ~10 bites were all successfully landed including a nice 5+ lb trout, my biggest ever. We were working the same flat over and over, and drifter back to a grass-lined corner where I tossed my bait. Next thing I know, the guide and I both watched a HUGE wake come out of the vegetation towards my bait but he didn’t bite. That could have only been one of the big redfish this place is famous for, but oh well, we’ll get him next time!

I am currently retired for a living,...."and loving it". I spent 45 yrs. welding, and 32 yrs. at the company that I retired from, building fire trucks. "LOTS AND LOTS OF FIRE TRUCKS". So if you ever have a fire, and are in need of the services of your local fire dept,...."you're welcome". We built trucks for Sutphen, Hendrickson, Ferrara, American Le France, E-1, among others. Hootie

Abu Garcia Black Max or Silver Max. Good bait caster to learn on.

A-Jay

17-pound Bass Caught in Georgia April 2015 http://www.gon.com/news/17-lb-9-6-oz-giant-from-coweta-county http://www.wideopenspaces.com/georgia-angler-catches-giant-17lb-9oz-largemouth-bass-pics/ http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/field-notes/georgia-angler-catches-17-pound-bass-fourth-biggest-in-state-history

this is a bass quilt my wife made for my cousin.

Fantastic video work, but I can't stand to watch him (or even listen to him)...plus he has no clue what structure is I'm probably one of the few who enjoyed his show. The childish antics could get old, but buried in all of it were some fantastic tidbits of learning. Have to agree...while still edited and sponsored, I think it's the purest form of fishing entertainment on the air right now, and certainly having some influence within the industry. -T9

This is the reason I like Major League Fishing so much. With the sudden death set up, the pro's are using what works for them without the sponsor concerns. They are throwing their go to baits all the time, and thrilled with a two pound bass, like many of us normal folks. I will watch MLF, in place of any staged video show driven by the sponsor sales. It is a refreshing tournament set up.

…a frog bite. Made another of our typical family pilgrimages over to Hilton Head Island a few weeks back for the kids’ spring break. As usual, I got some rod time in both the freshwater and the salt and I was not disappointed. Hurricane Matthew sure beat up the island a good bit last fall and they’ve made tremendous progress on the cleanup, but one small upside for us fishermen was the addition of some new fallen tree structure to the golf course ponds. This new structure, compounded by the lines of storms which blew through, made for some good fishing conditions for me. I picked up a few fish here and there on a senko, fluke, chatterbait and T-rigged creature but none of those seemed to be setting the world on fire. As the wind was picking up a few hours in advance of a line of severe thunderstorms, I had the epiphany – the frog. Shallow ponds, some muck on the water, shallow bass…why not? My only concern was that I really was not geared up for this. All I had was my Kistler Magnesium 6’9” MH/F casting rod and 30 lb braid but I gave it a whirl anyway. It didn’t take long for the bass to show that they agreed with my decision, but as usual it took me a few bites to calm the nerves long enough to actually get a hook lodged. After 3-4 blowups, I finally got my wits about me and got into a really good rhythm of hook-setting. And they were eating a frog the way we all want them to eat a frog so needless to say I had me some fun. And as luck would have it, I got two different afternoon sessions of a strong, pre-frontal frog bite including by biggest bass yet on the HHI golf course ponds (approximating 4+ lbs). Man, that was fun! Here's a sampling of the action. And here's the saltwater report

Well, despite getting to fish later into 2016 than I ever have before, the winter seemed to drag on forever. However, the ice is all gone, I've had the boat out to make sure everything was working as it should, and I've got a tournament fast approaching. The fishing season is still closed on most inland waters in WI (I know, it's dumb), but the waters of the Mississippi River have an open season year round. Last Friday, my dad and I had a chance to head down to Fountain City and get out on a stretch of river that neither of us had fished before. We really lucked out weather wise as rain was in the forecast, but it was dying down just as we got there, and didn't come again until just before we were ready to leave. Water temps were between 49 (main river) and 53 (backwaters). Despite the warmer surface temps, the bass seemed sluggish and weren't willing to chase anything down, but were still willing to eat. Almost everything we caught was on either small craws light texas rigged, or on a jig. In the 6 hours we fished, we managed to land somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 bass. All but 3 were of legal size and very healthy for their size. We also caught 3 norhterns, 3 dogfish (bowfin), and lost at least 7 other fish. Fish were relating to shallow wood close to deeper water. A few such areas we caught multiple fish off a single piece of cover with our highest being 3 bass on 3 consecutive casts to one piece. Overall, it was a great way to start the year off, and it has me excited to get back! I'm currently working on trying to take tomorrow off work so I can get at least one more day of prefishing in before the tourney and seeing if I can locate some areas with a little bigger fish. **Warning** Pic heavy post as excitement of rippin' lips kept the camera flashing!

I am not sure what your asking. If you go into tournament fishing thinking your have all the answers, or are the next KVD because you can catch them good when no one is looking and the pressure is off, your in for a surprise. I don't say that in a disparaging way either. If you don't like to loose, can't handle being humbled, and/or can't deal with stress on the water, your gong to get a lesson real quick in those departments jumping into tournament fishing. Before I started tournament fishing I could catch fish, I could catch big fish, and I could catch fish doing multiple things, during any season. For me tournament fishing was not going to a "next level" it was just seeing how I stacked up to other good anglers on my lake. Turns out...I stack up pretty darn good LOL, but it wasn't without a few teething pains in the early days. Once I got the hang of it, I have put a little spending money in my pocket, earned a few bragging rights, and learned a few new tricks along the way. There is an "it" factor at play here that I can't describe. Some people have "it", some people don't. I know lots of good bass fisherman that melt under tournament conditions.

Just use electrical tape or cheap mono.

It was simple. I like bass fishing, and sometimes when I would go bass fishing on my home lake there would be a tournament going on. So instead of being in the way or trying to avoid the guys fishing in those tournaments, I just started entering them. I also run quite a few tournaments now, and have for a while. The decision to get into doing that was pretty simple too. The tournaments I liked to fish.......I.E. small field, inexpensive entry fee team opens were becoming a thing of the past on my home lake. The guys that were running them were getting out of it, so I bought a scale and stepped in to fill the void. I am not in it for money, because even if we cash or win it's never more than a couple hundred bucks. I have no ambition to fish tournaments on a larger scale either. If for some reason, no one ever wanted to fish tournaments on my lake anymore, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, and would just keep fishing for fun. I have learned a lot from tournament fishing, but I fish tournaments just like it's a "regular" day of fishing and do quite well. Mostly because of my exp. and knowledge of my home lake. I do OK on Conesus too, but get me off those two lakes and I would probably be just another face in the crowd. The most important things tournament fishing has taught me is, how to grind during tough bites when you HAVE to catch fish as opposed to just calling it a day and heading back to the launch during a recreational outing. And also that there's more than one way to skin a cat, if they are not biting my way, someone, some how is going to figure them out, and that's led me over the years to expand my skill set beyond my personal comfort level or preferred ways to fish.

Is it better to make a new thread and have people tell you to use the search function though?

Only ALL-THE-TIME -T9

The debate rages on, but I believe that changing light conditions are more important than barometric pressure. Pre-frontal conditions are typically accompanied by overcast skies and low-light, which tend to improve fishing On the other hand, post-frontal conditions are typically accompanied by bright sun and high blues skies, which tend to suppress fishing activity (needless to say, there are no hard rules in fishing). So even without a barometer, the light level gives the angler a heads up. Roger

Personally I consult my Color C Lector before I choose which color lure to fish!

The difference is this. The rods are similar in that they are both IM8 rods. The Mach2 has some upgrades in the handle, they use the Winn Grips , and matching Winn products on the reel. The reel on a Mach2 is a slight upgrade as well. The Mach2 has a dual brake system so it is a better system. You are looking at a $30 increase in price roughly so I would go with the Mach 2. TackleDirect has the Mach 2 for $160

Hey now. You didn't perhaps stumble across pics of me, posing in a tutu, drunk out of my gourd, did you?

Any old, retired fishing line can be used for Backing, retired line does not mean junk line. A habit I picked up in the Atlantic Ocean (where one large fish can smoke a spool) is to backup with any cheap surplus line of a higher pound-test than the Topping. That not only gives you piece of mind, but the heavier the Backing, the faster you fill the spool. Roger

I thought the point of backing for braid was to prevent the line from slipping on the spool. I do it to save money though, cause I'm a cheapskate.

Hopping a Texas rig like the rest of the year .If I do happen to see a bedding bass then i will crawl it through the nest .

My senko of choice is watermelon slice,which Are basically watermelon red with more red in it.Also has a black top to it,so its similar to red shad.Its my number one producer .I have red shad flukes which I occasionally catch a fish on,and still have my red shad culprits which I have caught hundreds of fish on.

Swinging football head, keeps the nose down like they're looking for eggs but lets it sway around a little like it's crawling on the bottom.

Question why? You can cheap 300 yd mono for less than $2 at Walmart. I just don't understand why you want to use yarn for backing. One thing with yarn, it will compress and you will need to keep spooling till it compacts. With cheap mono, depending what poundage you want to use, that is similar in diameter for your braided line. The mono will not compress and will layer perfectly till you add the braid. Depending how much braid you are putting, I would put a small strip of electrical tape where you join the 2 lines. I do this so if you happen to make it to that knot, the braid will not catch on the knot.

I take anything any fisherman says with a pinch of salt. The only category I can think of with a worse reputation for lying about what they did are politicians.

Got back out to the same spot for the third day. My dad and have have caught a combined 21+25+10 bass in three days. I even got 8 on the fly rod today!

Much like most of the reports on today's news shows, it seems this report is a fake. I think the Russians were involved.

Nope. Definitely don't have 12 lb Red Label on two rods with a jig tied to each. Nope. Not me.

"He never thought there would be a bass that size in a small lake" I which friggin planet this numbnuts lives ? Bet he never heard bout Castaic. Bet he never heard "small waters ---> beeg momma bass"

DSG has all Keitech at buy one get one 50% off, AKA 25% off each when you buy 2 of the same size. This puts them under the best prices I am aware of: $5/pack for 3.8's and $6/pack for the 4.3 and 4.8 versions. This gets really worthwhile when you use one of the $10 off of $50 coupons from doing a review at dicks.com/feedback after a purchase, or using the $20 off of $100 - the deal that they have online today and tomorrow. I'm a bit of a nerd so I did a quick spreadsheet and that means if you do a combo of 4,6, or 8 packs of 4.3-4.8 plus 6,4, or 2 packs of 3.8 (to total 10 packs) then you are getting them all for about 60% of the regular DSG price. Good chance to stock up for the coming season.

I've never met you farmer, but I feel that I know you. You've given me the sense that you're a clear thinker and a survivor, and really that's all it takes. In any event, I wish you the best of luck, though you probably won't need it Roger

I don't know Mike. I'm pretty sure I've seen a picture last fall with A-Jay holding this same fish, er football, and she decided it was time for her spring portrait , lol. I gotta say those are beautiful pics!

I just ordered two 2500 Stradic FKs for only $129.99 each with free shipping and no sales tax. Thanks for the heads up, Darren (and @bickshirt98).

In the first place what makes you think you have any rights to say how the pond is fished or inforce your views and ideas of how to fish it to the owner of said pond and land. If the pond owner has given others permission to fish the pond and he does'nt have a problem with them keeping some to eat and they aren't taking more then their daily law allowed limit then they are not doing anything wrong. You need to be thankful someone let you fish what they put hard earned money up to buy and build and stock with fish. So stop whinning and learn how to catch them with a diffrent bait other then the one you always use. And to add one other thing, you need to read a few books on how to manage a pond for fishing, if you don't take some out the population will grow to large for the water and they will eat out all the food and then guess what happen's next all your bass die off.

10 acres is plenty room for them to hide . Once youve hooked a few of those hogs they will become aware of danger from the outside. Feel your vibrations on the bank , remember your lure that worked last time. They do get conditioned whether anyone wants to admit it or not ! They can still be had though and I'm willing to bet they are still in there. did you get a look during the spawn ?? Besides, most people know the smaller younger bass are the best ones to eat anyway.. and removing some of the smaller bass can be healthy for the pond. I wouldn't want to eat a big old fat bass. Lol. Think about it ! I never understood why someone would take a big fish unless they planned on mounting it...

Pre-frontal conditions (ahead of high pressure) generally offer enhanced fishing activity. Post-frontal conditions (after the front arrives) generally offer depressed activity. Roger

@Fishes in trees what's your thoughts on yellow? Totally understand! I don't do green pumpkin! Yellow has been around since the beginning of lures, painting lures back then ya didn't have too many options! If the spinnerbait bite is on chartreuse/white & it stops, I'll switch to yellow/white & pickup a few more.

Couldn't catch a big one at X, so I had to do it at Oz

I think it probably takes awhile to make a custom fit jersey for your broad squared off tin shoulders.

I would rather see them fight thru a slow day than see fake "reality tv" crap. Learn a lot more seeing the real thing instead of watching someone catch fish.

Agree with Hawkeye21 on the timing, probably starting to hang shallow for spawning. However, it can be a mixed bag on the fishing. They can definitely muddy and tear up bass bedding areas, but that's not always the case, and there are plenty of examples where anglers did good fishing in areas where carp were active, so don't automatically write off the pond or carp activity. Chances are good both have been living in the same pond together for a while.

I don't fish Senko style baits but have found that Red Shad is a versitile color for flipping and or dragging the bottom with worms, and I rarely throw it in clear bright conditions unless I'm fishing deeper water. Have also been very successful at night with it...go figure. It's a thick color that will silhouette better than other translucent colors. Are you fishing it weightless... It could be that where you're fishing, this color is better suited for slightly quicker fall through the water column or bottom bumping. I wouldn't give up or dicard them but moreover find their best usage for your area Big O www.ragetail.com

Red shad is one of my favorite colors and it didn 't become one of my favorites just because it looks pretty.

Nice football er, uh ,fish.

Lightninrod! I did the same thing. HaHa!!, but I was in my boat. I got in the boat, in my driveway, loosened the cast control and began picking out targets to cast to. People driving by probably thought I was nuts. At least they did not stop and ask if I caught anything. Practice makes perfect. I use both a baitcaster and a spinning reel. I use the spinning reel mainly to get back underneath docks. I have been practicing a roll cast with a baitcaster that gets under docks also.