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5 pounder on a 5" Kailin's grub and that is about as flat as you will see Lk St Clair

I've never catching a bass on a yum dinger so this was a first for me, I wanted to change things up. I went with a pack of Watermelon Red Flake and June Bug in four inch. After waiting for countless hours and wanting to give up my sister and i both caught alright size bass on them and best part we both didn't lose our bait Release was easy got em right in the lip, Overall an okay day.

Numbers are down and they are still suspending 15 down, but one came up to play

When you get out fished by your nephew and lands a 6.2

we went out for a while yesterday evening, after getting blanked at the marina (and losing a whopper plopper 90 to a mooring rope) we stopped by another pond on the way home. I tied on a baby mad paca in green pumpkin (t-rig 1/4oz) and pulled this beauty from the spillway waters. Between the two of us we had five fish from 2-4 lbs in about 20 minutes.

With the popularity of the swimbaits such as Keitech it seems that the 5" grub is a forgotten lure. Here's 5 reasons (in pounds) as to why you shouldn't

over the 4th weekend my brother came to visit from Alabama. stating the he and one of our good friends were going to kick me and my brother in laws hind ends in a fishing contest! [WHAT!] so two of my grand sons also wanted a piece of this, stating that they would be doing the butt whooping! so Monday evening it was on!! with a lot of friendly smack talk. contest was every fish counts no matter the size. we didn't get on the water until 8pm. and fished until 9:45. my boat ended up with 28fish biggest about 4 1/2 and me and he grandson did land a double. needless to say he really started bashing them!! my brothers boat ended p with 13 fish. my other two grandsons [in a little 8' row boat] ended up with 8 fish. caught a lot of quality fish 2lb plus. 49 total in an hour and 45 min. our friends daughter created trophies for motorized and non motorized boats. so the grandsons all won of course, one in my boat and the other two in theres. should have heard there smack talking on the way home. cant remember the last time that I had so much fun!!went back to our campsite with a great evening of fireworks . still smiling!!

Had a fun day yesterday trolling a keitech 4.3 inch pro blue red pearl. After hooking the second smallmouth on it, the swimbait got thrown off and that was the end of that. Tried different baits, but couldn't replicate the success. No complaints though. The chunkier one went 3.06 lbs at 17.5 inches (maybe prespawn at 54 degree water temps?) and the skinnier one went 2.86 lbs at 17 inches. Both were lowered back into the water after taking pictures and length/weight measurements. Fish on.

My wife doesn't let me go for strippers anymore. She does let me listen to the Blues while I STRIPER fish!

My folks came down from Omaha for a long weekend and we fished Wolf and LaCygne to avoid some of the boat traffic. Wolf ended up pretty hard for us. We found some better sized smallies (16-18") in very shallow water along some weed points but the fish were pretty scattered. Fished LaCygne on Monday (more or less just to get out)- after catching a few wiper we switched gears to target largemouth. From 1:30 to 4, my dad and I put twelve in the boat, with the best five around 20lb; the kicker fish being a solid 21.5" on a shakeyhead. It's nice to figure something out at that lake, especially given the weird time of day and my original expectations. I feel some LaCygne-karma is probably in order in the near future. Consistency and LaCygne are two very independent things... -Jared

Bass aren't the only fish that like PB&J

Allows me to say Na na - na na na to these guys . . . . . Totally worth it. A-Jay

Finally a good day for me and my long time fishing buddy. We hardly had any success together as fishing partner since last year, it either him or me(mostly him) or both got skunked. We started around 5:30AM, he caught one fish and lost one on his walking dog(R2S), I got two blow up on my frog but no fish. Then we both switched to chatterbait and both caught a few more bass, including double(first ever for us). I end up caught another big catfish also with chatterbait. Good to have fishing buddy even once in awhile.

Got out at daybreak today. Lake was slick calm. Pulled out the booyah on my froggin rig. Nothing for 1/2 hr. I turned my head,and when I looked there had been a relatively small blow- up with no noise. Very subtle . As I pulled up to check I felt pressure moving to the right and then realized it was a heavy fish. Fish never tried to jump .It weighed 7.3 pounds. Other than the big fish,I caught 5 more on various worms.One was really cool because I caught it on a late 70s vintage 6 inch grape Mann's jelly worm. Day sha vu!!!

Dobyns adds weight to balance his rods, it's important to Gary. A well balanced rod reel combo will always be tip heavy with a lure tied on. Tom

I like the pumpkin with a chartreuse tail. It has consistently caught fish from the bank for me. I usually Texas rig it though.

I think regardless of what any of us think is the current trend in the state of our waters, we can all do a part to improve them. Like Tom said with drawdowns, they are a great opportunity and if your local water has them it's a great chance to just pick a stretch of shoreline, take a trashbag and spend a couple hours cleaning it up. Even when we are out fishing it's pretty easy to scoop up a bottle as it floats by, or pull that line out of the tree we're standing next to on the shore.

Don't forget to wear the PFD at all times Scale! I'm going to assume you know your water backwards and forwards. Now that the crowds are off the water(4rth of July crowds) I will get back at it. I fish at night exclusively during the Summer months until the end of September. The two times I fish during the day during this time are two charity tournaments.

Just bought today for $100. I'm stoked to fish it!!!!

I'd love to share a pic of my worst backlash, but I'm still cutting my cell phone out of the tangle.

Just this past weekend I discovered the Berkley Havoc Bottom Hopper Jr. I have never used them before but decided to give them a try. I wanted to use them as an unweighted wacky worm to go along with the Flat Dawgs but they were just a little too light for me. So instead I decided to rig the Black Emerald color on a 1/16 oz Mushroom Jighead (Ned Rig) and it was game on. I caught 17 Bass in less than 3 hours. The biggest was only 2.5 lbs but another great morning fishing the "Ned Rig" AND a Havoc Bait. Back to the Flat Dawg as well; this past weekend I was fishing the Flat Dawg Wacky Rigged on a different lake; to my surprise this is what I managed to catch. I LOVE HAVOC BAITS; just sayin'

Are we really doing this again?

Tried to post picture of fish but can't figure it out on this site. Apparently every pic I take is too big

Anhinga (Withlacoochee River, FL)

Weight is the enemy of sensativity. I try and build rods and put together combos that are well rounded. A solid proven reel and a rod that serves the purpose I intend it for. When I build rods I try and keep the top half as light as possible by using the lightest possible guide train that will work within the function of the rod.

Catts statement that he is a bottom feeder is accurate, he is targeting 80% of the catchable bass population on any given day or night. Tom

well sort of

Just bought my first boat! Grew up mostly fishing farm ponds and dam faces, recently graduated college and finally got enough saved up to make my first big boy toy purchase. Tried to post a picture with the iPad but it says the file was too big... Anyways, it's a 1994 Nitro 170 DC 115hp Rick Clunn Edition, feel like I got a hell of a deal on it, $2050, and it's been shedded its entire life. I'm new to the lake fishing, I'm ready for the learning curve!!

My son, when he refuses to listen to me and then gripes that he doesn't catch any fish. I love him, he loves to fish, but he has his own ideas. Using a 3 inch crankbait (catching only trees) when I'm reeling in bass by the boatload on a Senko, and he gripes. Then he wonders why his sister outfished him the other day 5-0 over the course of about 2 hours. He refuses to accept that the longest cast is not the best cast. He won't be 14 forever so I enjoy the moments with him (and her) regardless

Is your thumb as big as your toe or what ?

When I started throwing frogs for largemouth bass, I was under the impression that if I matched the local forage I would be in a position to give the fish what they were feeding on the most in the region that I was fishing in. Here in central Ontario, most bass fed on leopard frogs which are either green or brown on the topside and usually white on the bottom. Some bass would eat bullfrogs on occasion which were green with a yellow coloured belly. Really, it came down to what was found on the body of water I was fishing. So when it came time to buy my frogs, I focused on green leopard frog patterns that came with a white/yellow type of belly. I rounded out my selection based on what frog fishing guru Dean Rojas stated during one of his many interviews, selecting a couple of all black and all white frogs. Every hollow bodied frog purchased was one of the Spro Bronzeye family. Little did I know how important those selections would be. Over the last few days I found myself in swamp after swamp, searching for some big largemouth to inhale my green leopard frog patterned lures. I saw the frogs hopping around everywhere, so I was pretty sure I could convince the fish to eat what I was throwing. It started well and I was catching fish on numerous casts but nothing over 1lbs in size. Believing that I was throwing the right lure as I was getting bites, I continued using this frog the next day…but while the numbers were there, the size was lacking. So I decided to make a switch. I looked through my box of topwater lures and decided to tie on an all black frog. I threw the new colour into the same water with the same retrieve that I used on the leopard frog patterned lure, only this time the fish were all over it and were bigger in size. Suddenly I was connecting with fish in the 2-3lbs range and nothing smaller which made me one happy camper. The weather was a mix, with the sun being out sometimes and overcast at others. The fish were relating to lily pads and dock edges with lead in cover. I know that time will tell if this pattern of larger fish liking black frogs will hold up, but for now, I’m definitely a convert and believer that black frogs catch more and bigger fish than the classic leopard patterned ones. As many of you know I’m a devout Daiwa product user, but this time I wanted a change. Working at Bass Pro, I want to make sure that I was using gear that other anglers had expressed an interest in so that I could provide them with feedback on its performance. After speaking with the Canadian frogman Pete Garnier about rod selection, he outlined the benefits of the Quantum Smoke 7’ MHF action rod and the success he had found with it while frog fishing here in Canadian waters. I matched the rod with a Team KVD left handed bait casting reel with a 7.0:1 gear ratio and an amazing 16lbs of drag behind it. After loading it with 65lbs timber brown Power Pro Super 8 Slick, I felt confident that I could horse big fish out of the slop I was expecting to fish and this combo didn’t disappoint. Below are two fish, showing the difference in size when it came to fishing the two different coloured frogs. Cheers, and sorry for the long write up but I really wanted to share my experience on this the start of my hollow bodied frog journey. I was mentioning to a friend that I’ll probably have a whole box devoted to frogs by the end of the summer…and that’s not such a bad idea I think.

yes you can .

Wolf River Harrison County South Mississippi

Let's keep the politics out of this, folks.

" I spent 20 years Navy diving off almost every country in the world. I have worked as a captain for TowBoat US, BP, and private clients; I have fished and guided both salt and fresh. Many of my friends carry everything from a 6-pack to a 100 ton-masters license, many are guides, and share the same opinion on pollution getting worse. Eight years living on a 42' Island Packet sailboat cruising the Caribbean. I’ve worked for Westmarine giving technical advice to mariners. I lived in Hawaii for ten years where both my kids were born and we fished a 37' Trojan. I did Alaska for two years where the salmon fishing was great, but I didn't like watching eagles eat of out of the garbage containers left open by careless people. I never fished for crab, but I like the TV show. I lived on the base in the Philippines for 3 years walking into the city across a waterway we had a nickname for it was so polluted. I served in Florida for 6 years where I experienced some of the best bass fishing of my life at Rodman Reservoir, and the St John’s River. " Thats forty-eight years .

sounds like its time for a road trip to FL, GrumpyOlPhartte. pick me up on the way, im right off of 95.

Your going fishing with a car?? I recommend you switch to a boat, those cars don't float so gd. lol

Ok I’m very bored, severe thunderstorms outside, and electronics at Humminbird getting checked out. Give me a break, this is going on everywhere, the US is better than most countries but getting worse. July 4th 2016 there were swim advisories for most of the Florida panhandle, and a lot of Louisianna. I’m not sure I understand how discouraging people from the coast makes money for those states. It doesn’t matter which coast, or reservoir your on, you’re seeing trash get worse. Ignore it and I guarantee it will damage our sport. Swimming and fishing in fecal bacteria is not for me, I’m not real fond of PCB’s and mercury in my fishing water either. My whole family is ROFLTAO about “boots on the ground experience”, your right I have very little. I grew up in south Alabama, with friends and family running shrimp boats, step-mother died in a boating accident when I was 16, overcome by carbon monoxide from a faulty Onan generator. I spent 20 years Navy diving off almost every country in the world. I have worked as a captain for TowBoat US, BP, and private clients; I have fished and guided both salt and fresh. Many of my friends carry everything from a 6-pack to a 100 ton-masters license, many are guides, and share the same opinion on pollution getting worse. Eight years living on a 42' Island Packet sailboat cruising the Caribbean. I’ve worked for Westmarine giving technical advice to mariners. I lived in Hawaii for ten years where both my kids were born and we fished a 37' Trojan. I did Alaska for two years where the salmon fishing was great, but I didn't like watching eagles eat of out of the garbage containers left open by careless people. I never fished for crab, but I like the TV show. I lived on the base in the Philippines for 3 years walking into the city across a waterway we had a nickname for it was so polluted. I served in Florida for 6 years where I experienced some of the best bass fishing of my life at Rodman Reservoir, and the St John’s River. My ex-wife managed Crystal Cove Marina that BASS used for years fishing Palatka, FL. I have met many of the BASS pros from the 90’s, and had drinks or dinner with several. I knew KVD when he was starting out, and he was incredible then. I have worked BASS tournaments on several different occasions as a favor to Ray Scott. I spent a day towing and checking on people on the water, after Lady BASS was hit by a tornado in Palatka, FL. Ron Pierce, founder of BassCat I met years ago, we had drinks and talked about airplanes, he’s always said come out and they would build whatever I wanted. I just can’t afford a BassCat, especially being retired. In the past I have owned new Skeeters, and Rangers. Currently I’m driving a very used 2002 ProCraft 185 PRO that I’m still using for local tournaments and winning money. I tease my friends that if they can’t beat an old blind guy they may want to consider saving their entry fee. I have dove and spear fished most waters of the world. I have been in the water with sharks more times than I care to count. bulls, tigers, and hammerheads make me nervous, whites and oceanic whitetips scare the hell out of me. Two trips over the dirty ice of the artic seeing the trash there. I have crewed and captained everything from kayaks to a 68' Hatteras. My boots haven't been on the ground but they've spent some time on boat decks and wet. I would be willing to bet I have more time asleep on a boat than most boaters have total water time. The Gulf of Mexico has always been part of my home waters, so I follow it closely, and care about it deeply. My FB page is listed here in my profile, there are over 400 people there that will tell you everything stated here is true, and when it comes to being in, on, or under the water I've spent a little time. I’m not a tree hugger by any stretch, my 56 years of life have just always involved water for work and pleasure. I started this thread to encourage those that love fishing, to encourage others not to sink their trash in the water over the 4th, and to be safe. I didn’t want to get into a boating/fishing experience debate, but I’m more than qualified to go there. http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/06/beach_advisories_along_gulf_co.html

The most fish? TRD on a Ned rig; and it ain't even close

smalljaw67, you have been a tremendous help to me in my jig making experiences but I think in this one instance you have mixed up your metals. Re your above response, do I remember correctly that you were casting Rotometals 281 alloy (58%bismuth/42%tin) and had to melt the casting out of the mold? If so, the problem was with the bismuth, not the tin. I plucked this factoid from a long, scientific, Wikipedia entry on bismuth: "Bismuth expands 3.32% on solidification." Back on topic, I like Munkin's suggestion to pour tin. https://www.rotometals.com/tin-ingot-99-9-pure/ I have cast and powder painted 1/8 oz. Poison Tail jigs using A/C pewter alloy (92% tin/7.75% antimony/.25% copper) without any problems. I still use the Frankford Arsenal Drop Out mold release to ease removal of the finished casting. And, since this alloy melts at 563º F, there's no worry about powder painting.

Casting and reeling with the same hand is best, but not everyone has the skill/coordination to manage swapping hands. For these troglodytes, it’s easier keep each hand focused on a specific task to avoid confusion. No worries – although they’re technically wrong, the disadvantage is minor. It’s best not to give them too hard a time about it and just enjoy catching an average of 6.43% more fish by using the correct gear.

The pic you post when you get shutout!

Raul is right. Everyone is different. However with that said, let's get one thing clear. A “right-handed” baitcaster is now labeled as such because it is for a right-hand dominant person and vice versa for a “left-handed” reel. What it does mean is that a right-handed casting reel is labeled this way because the angler’s right hand is going to turn the crank regardless of the hand dominance of the angler. I made the “mistake” (it really wasn’t one) of buying my an RH casting reel because I assumed since, I’m right-hand dominant, this should be for me. It was awkward and uncomfortable but I trained myself to use to make me a better-rounded angler. I can now use either but I prefer LH reels. We can make a general analogy with baseball. A right-handed baseball player will put his mitt on his left hand to catch the ball and use his dominant hand to throw the ball. When we cast, in essence, we are throwing the lure. So theoretically, a right-hand dominant person should (key word should) feel more comfortable with a LH. There are of course always exceptions. For example, if they learned with RH casting reels since they were young, it is already ingrained in them. Also, even in baseball, some right-handed players actually are more comfortable batting the opposite way. Bottom line? Try both. Unless you are ambidextrous one or the other is bound to feel more comfortable to you. It makes me wonder if the inventor of the casting reel was left handed, lol. Raul, glad to see you’re still here! -ib

We figured yesterday the day before the Forth would be a good day to go fishing as maybe more people would be working and my son had the whole day to fish. (Been a Looooonnnng time) Anyway .... he wanted to go on an adventure so we went down to Watts Bar about a half hour from the house and got there a little before 7:00. Morning was sunny and beautiful. There was hardly anyone on the water...it was like a ghost town. Fished for a few hours and caught some fish...nothing huge but some nice keepers and some dinks. Headed further down lake from Kingston a few miles and things got better. My son cranked up one about five on a shallow crank and was all smiles....five minutes later I got one over six...maybe close to seven flipping. It was awesome....but that's all that came from that bank....wait....I caught a gar almost five feet long fishing this bank too....was crazy. Saw a big rain storm coming and asked my son...1. Do you want to run for it? 2. Fish through it. 3. Or hide under a dock? We chose to hide for a half hour. Was a good storm....what people that finally came to lake left in a hurry!! Seemed like we could catch fish on everything except fishing deep!? (need to learn lake better) Almost before pulling out I got a big blue over 25# on a chatterbait....wow...wow...they are so strong...was awesome. Was a good day...almost eleven hours with my son and fish caught. Praise God.

I got out on the water with my partner at 5 AM on the morning of the 4th of July. I was reluctant to go that early whenever my buddy mentioned the idea of it. However, we were rewarded. We caught around a dozen fish, all in the 14-19" range, which for western PA on an over pressured lake, is a very good day. My 3-4 caught on a Cavitron buzzbait. My buddy caught this 3-7 on a Frog. His first ever frog fish.

If the bite is tough and I have to pick one bait to get a bite it's a no brainer. I go with a texas rigged plastic worm, but not just any plastic worm. It's a small worm (6"). I have probably caught more bass over 6lbs on this little worm than any other bait I own. If you can't get a bite, try going light. A close second (and also would be my #2 for big fish over 6lbs) would be a spinnerbait. But again a worm has caught me more fish than any other lure. I kept a log of my fish catches last year and with over 800+ bass caught I suspect 600 or more were on a worm of some sort.

Ole Catt is a bottom feeder Once the boat comes down off of plane the first thing I grab is a Texas Rig, Wacky Rig, Shaky Head, Weightless T-rig, Carolina Rig, Jig-N-Craw, Mojo Rig, Rage Rig, Drop Shot or anything that takes me to the bottom. I'm gonna be casting, flipping, pitching, punching, hopping, dragging, shaking, dead sticking, or skipping. I don't care if its grass, brush, timber, rocks, docks, pads, lay downs, shore line or off shore. I don't care if its pre- spawn, spawn, post spawn, summer, dog days, fall, winter, morning, noon, or night. Give me 2 rod-n-reels with any of the above techniques & Catt be happy, happy, happy!

Impaired people on the water. They are a hazard to me and themselves.

Depends on the cover and the lure you're pitching. Roger