Leaderboard

Well we got on a few fish today, finally! Not enough to make the top 21 cut for day three, but enough to jump from 64th place to 34th out of 160 boats. It was an absolute grind and we spent 6 hours on the point we found fish on yesterday for all but one of our keepers. Remember the 3lb smallmouth I posted a photo of from practice? That's her in my left hand. Same cove, same part of the laydown, and the same mark on her nose. Tuesday she ate a pit boss, today she ate a TRD. Our other four keepers were on a rocky point in 15-25FOW. A 3.3" swing impact fat on a 3/16oz football head on a lift/drop retrieve accounted for 3 of them, and we caught one of them on a ned rig. Our day two total was 12lbs even, bringing our total weight to 18-5. I caught the last keeper today with 15 minutes to go, that stuff is too darn exciting. Learned a LOT this week!

Bluebasser86 and Darren. don't want me to mention the name of the rig that caught this 4.89 lb. smallmouth so I won't.

Finally get to take a picture without the Huk jacket. That one had the length of a 5 pounder and the belly of a 3 pounder. Looks like the spawn is underway on Lk St Clair. Another swimbait fish.

She took her time, about a week and a half past due but this morning we have a new foal.

I have a Cleveland Browns colored rod and a few Brown and Orange jigs to match. This way I can be disappointed on the water too

Preface I wrote this report to pique the interest of anglers on a couple of "local" forums read by anglers mainly from Massachusetts and surrounding states from whom, with two exceptions, I have not heard Ned's name mentioned. My interest came from the wealth of information on Bass Resource and I thank everyone who contributed. My introduction to this report will be old news to most BR readers so go right to my day on the water with the Ned rig or review Mr. Kehde's interview on the evolution of this extremely effective finesse presentation. It's worth studying. "So who's Ned?" you ask. I'm talking about the venerable Mr. Ned Kehde of Kansas who, for the past five decades or so, has been practicing and promoting "finesse" fishing - light lines and small baits for bass. Open the link below to learn more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqGTzPt6TIQ&t=11s Here's a video produced by Z Man who worked with Ned developing this finesse presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1CNKnbmMKU When Do-it Molds introduced their Midwest Finesse Jig Mold with Wire Keeper I had to have one. Living and fishing in Massachusetts, a state which prohibits lead jigs weighing less than an ounce, I cast these from an alloy of 88% bismuth/12% tin which is approximately 85% the weight of lead. Bismuth's expansion while cooling is not a problem with this mold; just grip the sprue with linemans pliers and lift up and out. I took my Ned heads to Quabbin Reservoir on yet another cold, blustery morning in this year's goofy spring. Starting setup was a Finesse TRD on a 7' medium power St. Croix Premier. 8 lb. Silver Thread AN40 copolymer filled a Stradic 4000. With #1 and 1/0 hooks I want a light drag setting and a "soft" rod. Here's my first customer: Actually, this was my second. Line control was nearly nil in the wind and a few casts prior to #1's arrival, I felt a fish on once I got the slack out. Good weight which must have grabbed the bait on the drop. She was on for only a few seconds, though. The merry month of May you say? Not this day. But I was able to block out the cold, the wind and the rain for a brief period while I gave a 3 lber. its photo op. The weather hadn't fully immobilized me yet so I hoisted this 2 1/4 lber. for a pic. This little one tapped Ned toward the end of the retrieve. I had been dragging, twitching, trembling, shaking and occasionally bopping Ned along the bottom thinking the water's still too cold (55.2º) for a swimming retrieve. By 9:30 I had worked this area thoroughly and headed Outside to the wide open spaces after pulling up both hoods and zipping the parka's collar over my mustache. Here's what didn't produce: deep diving suspending jerk, GYCB Hula Grub, Spin Bait 80, the Ned rig. Hmph. Water temp out here was 52.9º. Maybe should have tried a blade bait. As on the last trip, my morning hot spot was cold in the afternoon. There was still time to check another location on my way back to Gate 43, a long ridge which dropped into deep water. Here I decided to try the TRD on the lightest outfit I use on this very clear water reservoir, a 6 1/2' ML St. Croix Avid paired up with a Stradic 2500 spooled with 6 lb. Tatsu. Was it windy at 3:00? Well, I dropped anchor into 20' and let out about 60' of 1/4" nylon. It dragged. The heck with it - I'd drag and cast. Why is my brow furrowed holding this cute little 2 lber.? Because not long before this fish ate the TRD I lost a smallmouth well over 4 lbs. I don't rush fish on 6 lb. line and, after playing Big Mama carefully for a minute perhaps, she spit the bait -ptooey! - on her third jump. AARGH!!! Nevermind. Ah, redemption. This mama of slightly less than 4 lbs. made me feel much better. Played her for quite a while, in the water, in the air, away from the anchor line, under the boat until I was able to slowly slide her into the flat-bottomed, rubber-bagged net. Whew. At this point I've had enough. Nine hours in the cold, rain and wind made this gray bearded bassmaster feel a bit blurry. I'll be back in a couple of days though, and you can be sure that Ned will be aboard.

NEVER! name your dog "Fetch", and then try to teach him to fetch. It simply will not work! Hootie

It would be a mistake to select blank “action” based strictly around the lure. Tip action should also consider the line material, the cover you intend to work and the missions you have in mind, they're ALL equally important. The three most common blank actions: > Moderate Fast (the softest action, but not offered in all models) > Fast (hands-down the most versatile and popular action) > Extra-Fast (expounded below) I use braided line, therefore I prefer "fast" action blanks for virtually all lures, in all cover and for all chores. On the other hand, the angler who uses monofilament line (nylon, copoly or fluoro), might well prefer an 'extra-fast' action. Extra-fast action provides better hook-setting with mono line because it accesses the rod’s spine more quickly. In addition, an 'extra-fast' tip is also useful for moving fish quickly out of heavy cover. 'Moderate fast action' may be selected to extend the cast distance of lightweight lures (load factor). Moderate fast action is also useful for lures with treble hooks, but bear in mind that mono line and a composite blank also cushion shock, and it's never necessary to have all 3 shock absorbers. Roger

Good one this morning -- 20", but kinda skinny (no scale on me). On a Green Pumpkin/Purple Siebert Fogy:

19 years of military experience earns you the right scribble if you choose! Semper-Fi

So I recently donated my boat and services to a Take a Soldier Fishing tournament on Oneida lake over the past weekend. I wanted to do something special so I contacted Rainshadow and they were awesome and got everything right out to me. I chose the Revelation 6'8" med fast spinning rod figuring it was a pretty universal rod any one could use, I wasn't sure who I would be paired with our they're fishing background. I scratched my head for some days trying to figure out how to go about the build and to tie it all in. I ended up finding a design I liked and had to give it a shot, I've never messed with any olive branches and this was my 6th build so I was nervous. Overall the rod turned out awesome I paired it with a Pflueger President reel and it really drew some attention. Well, little did I know I would be handing the rod out in front of 250-300 people during the morning breifing, my soldier had no clue what was going on he was a young guy from Tennessee. So when I called his name and he came up to receive the rod the look on his face made my day and the whole thing worth it. He was amazed and in shock the rod was for him. So after that we head to the boat and go to launch he's never been in a bass boat but loved to fish so I knew we were gonna have a good day. We blasted off and headed to our beginning spot, he had a smile from ear to ear as we ripped across the lake. It didn't take us long to get into some fish, he ended up landing his personal best smallmouth and his first pickerel. We didn't win any prizes but man we had some fun and ill be doing the event again next year for sure. If anyone is around the NY area the event is really a good time and they really take care of you. They had coffee and doughnuts in the morning, had a launch service all you had to do was hop in the boat they did the rest, we came back to a killer bbq and tons off giveaways. It felt so good to give back a little to the guys that protect this great country and make it possible to do the things we do.

Was just thinking here this morning how I am truly blessed to be able to fish a Tuesday night wildcat this year with my son. It's been many years since we have been able to fish once a week due to life's bumps but this year we have been able to fish four so far and hopefully will be able to fish more. We've been doing pretty good too and it's so uplifting as it reminds me of when he was growing up and we were in a club..(gosh...memories of yesteryear). Tight Lines

The term "hunting" is usually applied to a crank bait that varies side to side through it's retrieve, usually caused by changing the retrieve speed. The "rolling" you are seeing is a typical action of a soft plastic swim bait on a weighted hook. It is good as it causes the sides to flash and shows contrast between the top color and the belly.

I was fishing Lk St Clair yesterday and the swimbait bite was on. For those of you looking for a Keitech rod I use a Daiwa Zillion 7'7" MRB I find this a perfect swimbait rod. With the regular action blank I just keep reeling through the bite and the rod will load up. I like the 7'7" rod to be able to launch long casts. If the Zillion is out of your price range check out the Daiwa Tatula option from Sportman's Outfitters for $109 and free shipping you can't beat that. I have included a link to it below and a few pics of 4+ pound smallies for your pleasure http://www.sportsmansoutfitters.com/daiwa-tatula-freshwater-baitcast-fishing-rods/

Always match the colors of the losing team, it creates the illusion of an easy meal. If nothing else, this may help to downgrade preoccupation with lure color Roger

Top water: with these baits the bass will generally suck the bait in from underneath, from behind, or come completely out of the water. Spinner bait/crank bait: with these baits the bass will generally hit from the side or from underneath. With these baits there is a certain amount of line movement because the bass are moving when they hit the bait. Worm/jig: with these baits the bass will simply flare its gills causing a vacuum which moves water and your bait into their mouth. With this bite there is very little if any line movement thereby not much is transmitted to your rod tip. The art of feeling a worm/jig bite is a fine combination of watching your line and feeling for unnatural sensations of what your bait should feel like. Some times you will feel that classic Tap, some times you'll only see line movement, some times your line will simply go slack, but some times there will only be a feeling of heaviness that is almost like your line will not move. The bites where the bass moves after inhaling you bait are the easy ones to feel because there is line movement, the bites where the bass simply inhales your bait and just sits there are the hardest to feel. Feeling a worm/jig bite requires keeping a certain amount of tension on your line while at the same time keeping a certain amount of slackness in your line. To the average angler this makes no sense at all but the worm/jig angler it makes total sense. Tommy T

As a Hornets and Knicks fan, its nice to enjoy the playoffs and not having anything invested in it.. The Knicks are a disaster and i can't stand Dolan...

AFTER.....you remove your finger from the line

Nice! Almost the exact same size as the biggest I've caught on the rig that shall not be named.

I also use the portable luggage scale. I bought 4 of them and just stash them all over. They seem to be very accurate and the 4 of them weight very consistently, good enough for me.

I try to choose lures that best match the conditions and season .

Last September my wife and I moved, part of the draw of the house we picked was a retention pond in the back yard. It was kind of pretty, with ducks and geese and best of all, no neighbors! My wife was so happy for me to have a place to fish, but honestly I didn't think it would hold fish. I checked it out, saw a couple of little bluegill and figured ok, maybe I could go catch a couple of stunted gills from time to time. First month of the house and I never fished it. When I finally did go down to fish it, I did so more to say "Yeah, I have a house where I fish in my backyard" than really catch fish. Then I caught my first fish, a bluegill on a fly rod, and the thing was an absolute slab. I proceeded to catch several more, and also had something huge break me off. Turns out that there are huge bluegills, 10+ pound carp (I'm going to get one soon here), and bass. For example, last night I just walked around the pond, maybe 20 minutes, and got 4 or 5. I never guessed this pond would produce 4-5 fish like this in a 20 minute around:

The full thread of a load test on this type of scale is here: Luggage Scale Test Here's one post from the above thread: I scored a fairly good deal on some laboratory calibration weights on eBay - a set of eight 500 gram weights (~1.1 pounds each). I haven't a clue as to what tolerance "class" these weights would be in but I imagine they are accurate to something less than a gram. These weights allow for load testing my digital scales in 1.1 pound increments up to approximately 8.8 pounds (4 kilograms). I tested Unit number 1 at every increment from 500 grams to 4000 grams. The scale read dead-on at each increment. I then added my 9.804 lb test weight to the stack for a calculated weight (in pounds) of 18.618 - the scale read 18.63 pounds (0.2 ounce heavy). I then tested my other three units (at 1000 gram increments) and the biggest deviation was unit number 4 at 4000 grams where it read 4020 grams (0.7 ounces heavy) Unit 1 at 4 kilograms: Unit 1 at 18.618 pounds: Documented results: FOUR bucks each. Scary accurate. Good enough for me...

Pretty obvious where the color names originated. For instance, 'sexy shad' is the color of a female threadfin shad during the mating season. The color 'pumpkin' is the same color as the dirt where pumpkins grow. 'Junebug' is the color of the Bolivian Yak Bug during the month of June. The only one that's got me stumped is 'Bubblegum' Roger

DSG has their house brand rods at 20% off, some of those rods aren't bad at all, especially for $20 - $25 apiece

Well it was a tough one out there today, these two photos are a pretty accurate portrayal of how our day 1 went. Our largemouth bite completely dried up, at 1pm we had landed 3 short fish (have to be 15") but I managed to stumble upon a school of smallies when one stole the pincers off my baby rage craw on my jig. We followed up with the silly TRD bait and proceeded to land 10 brown ones in the two hours of fishing we had left. Only 3 were legal, many close, including the deformed one pictured below (that is a wacky hook he is holding in his lips not a lip piercing I am still not sure why that occurred). Our three fish put us at 6-5, 64th place out of 160, so we have a whole lot of ground to make up but it could be worse. Hopefully there are plenty more brown ones where we left them! I will be losing sleep over the 4lbs of brown menace that spit my hook at me for quite some time

Epic no-show by James Harden. I thought it was a mistake when they showed his stats with 3 minutes left in the first half and he had TWO SHOT ATTEMPTS! He must have been injured or something. It really is unexplainable how an MVP candidate who sets records for usage rates takes 2 shots attempts in a half of an elimination game.

7 knee surgery's Torn/ detached quad Torn Achilles Repaired aortic aneurysm Rebuilt shoulder Early onset alzheimer's .....and can still wipe my own ass. .....I set a low bar. Living a full life.

If I recall correctly, these worms were found doing unspeakable things in an adult movie theater back in the 90's. Embarrassed, they disappeared from the public eye and have rarely been seen since.

Colors that match the local sunfish and blue gill.

So Yesterday morning me and a buddy planned on going fishing but we had lightning and it rained all morning til about 11 am. So I just said forget it then it all cleared up but I didn't want to go home so he let me borrow a rod. The first ten minutes we caught one. After that it was back to back cast. We were both throwing a junebug powerworms I think it was around 7 inches T-rigged. In the first hour we were at a total of 34 bass because I had just called my mom. Then another hour passed we were at 52. twenty minutes later my buddy pulled in a five pounder it broke off at the bank he freaked out. Then he looked in the water and it was just sitting there doing nothing. So i reached in and picked it up. We had caught some four pounders that night but nothing at five it was awesome. we ended with a grand total of 68 bass. I will never forget that night of Iowa pond bass fishing.

Come on over to Lk St Clair. They've been biting since April

Don't sweat the small stuff. Everyone can occasionally misspell or mistype a word. Some folks don't care & others can't wait to point out a mistake. That's the way of the world. You are part of this community, so enjoy reading and contributing in the forums. Thank you for your dedicated service for our country.

Hey guys I am going to post up my reports I do for Lake St. Clair.I did this last year and heard from many guys this helped them out. This is for you guys that travel up here so you can stay in the loop.

The Penguins-Capitals game 7 on Wednesday posted the single highest NHL playoff rating on cable for a national audience. Kinda too bad they had to meet in the second round. I figured the winner of that would emerge as the eventual champion and unfortunately it was NOT the team I was hoping for.

Agreed, I was kind of surprised by the final score... I gotta say I did appreciate Houston scoring 75 points as as tribute to the Warriors first West Coast title! Another great time the East Bay sports bandwagon...

Take a look at Don Iovino Teanie Meanies on TW, 3" straight tails. Tom

...one of those days were you wake up craving for some big bass, go to your favorite lake, and manage to catch almost everything that swims and will bite a lure in that lake... except a bass?

The weight difference is a wash. I own different models from all 3 and never think this is lighter or heavier. I chose each one because the rod was made very well, felt terrific in my hand and balanced well once I put a reel of my choosing on it. That is why I purchased that particular rod. I keep fishing with each rod, as opposed to selling it and replacing it with something else, simply because it fishes really well. I have used many different brands of rods and reels over 40+ years of fishing. I consider my rod arsenal to be the best I have ever had si if they are still in it I would go by all over again. When you get a chance fill in your profile. Many of us try to help you by using the info you have listed there. In this case I would have done some investigating tackle retailers near you that might carry some of these brands. That would allow you to put them in your hand and feel them. The best way to decide between rods would be to fish them. The next best is to put a reel on them and handle them in the store. Another member might live close enough to meet and let you cast a few rods. Good luck with your search. Let us know what you get and of course post some fish pictures, we love fish porn! LOL

These worms also had a special appearance in the movie, "Blow".

These worms actually turned up briefly on Gotham last season but were quickly killed off with poisoned liquor.

No idea, sorry, but welcome to the forums!

Here is the newest update on the fishing. The fishing has been good and getting better! Now is the time to make the trip up!!!!

A-Jay

I caught the nastiest catfish I've ever seen at Lake of the Ozarks. He shook the hook as he landed on the dock and I didn't want to push him in with my hand so I kicked him in. With my bare feet. Ended up with a 3 inch long gash that bled for a few hours and took weeks to heal. It was also on the bottom of my foot so I had to walk like an idiot everywhere I went.

Hey man, if you're still looking for places to fish I could help you out. I'm stationed here and there are a ton of places on base and around.

Here is this weeks report.

I think the Z-Man Fattyz would work well with the Neko Rig as well. I've thrown the Fattyz on a shakey head and done pretty well. I'm almost positive its that bulbous tail that get them. I have one rigged up and going to try this weekend.

My guess is that oil or grease has migrated into the drag. Upgrade to carbontex is only $8-10