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Thoughts and prayers go out to our members along the Texas Gulf, and their families. Weatherman just said a possible 35 inches of rain over the next few days. This storm once on land, is predicted to stall over the area, and just keep dumping rain. This could be devastating for those in the path of Harvey, especially in low lying areas. Good luck brothers, stay safe!

Last summer (2016) while mowing the grass (of all things), I stepped in a mole hole (didn’t see it) that my dogs had dug out in the back forty. It was on a decent incline. I ended up taking a bit of a tumble and really torqued my left knee pretty good. Never ended up totally out of commission (meaning I could still fish thankfully) but I was otherwise most definitely on the DL and unable to exercise at all. Like many, I’ve had my share of ‘Rehabs’ – never enjoyed any of them. And this particular evolution included a ‘healing’ process that was not progressing like I had hoped; it was considerably slower. Not exactly a spring chicken, I was hopeful it would heal without surgical intervention, but the snail’s pace healing was causing some real concern. Besides seriously hating limping everywhere I went, not being able to really play & bound around with my dogs, having to guard & baby it for so long, I really missed being able to workout ! I eased back into exercising & took it super slow. And little by little, month after month, I began getting more & more range of motion and less & less pain. I’ll admit that it was difficult to remain patient & positive. Well, it’s taken what amounts to just about 15 months – but I’m back ! And it feels pretty darn good. Everyone who has endured a rehab and overcomes the adversity that always accompanies it, knows what it’s like to regain most if not all of one’s abilities to a level previously enjoyed. It’s one of life’s memorable moments. As a final note, during all current & future yard maintenance & landscaping evolutions, I am super focused & maintain a very high level of situational awareness; especially when in the vicinity of mole high traffic areas. Really looking forward to, as well as appreciate the ability to do, each & every workout. That’s my story & I’m sticking to it. A-Jay

Don't tell anyone about this. It's the latest and greatest. Key components are the 50lb braid mainline, 15lb fluoro leader connection, and a bright green 1/32oz crappie jighead for the swimbait. Patent coming soon.

Okay, I know this isn't a bass that 3 year old Colin caught, but since it's his first fish I thought I'd throw these photos in. This is from last week at Colin's great grandma's stocked farm pond in NH. My son in law is teaching his nephew Colin how to fish.

Whatever works for you is great, and that's your choice. Personally, I won't be switching back to mono as my primary line anytime soon. For some, obviously, the reverse scenario applies. Good for us both. My only other comment is, do your own due diligence on the specifics of line types and their properties, and test a lot of this stuff out, both on the water and off. Don't just believe everything you read on the Internet, including these forums.

It's been over 20 years since flourocarbon fishing line hit the market with claims of invisible to fish, low strecth line. I bought into the hype becuase where I fish the water is clear and anything that could give me an advantage catching fish was welcomed. My 1st experience was salt water tuna fishing for albacore using mono with FC leader and it seemed to work better than straight mono on that trip with 1 exception; occasional knot failure. Aaron Martens introduced me to Sunline Shooter FC line for bass fishing, he was convinced it helped him. Shooter in the early 90's was $30 for 300 meter spool, expensive compared to $8 for 600 yard spool of Big Game mono I was using back then. If FC gives you an advantage $30 was cheap. Shooter is still $30 a spool but the spool is 100 meters now. After over 20 years of trying to believe FC gave me an advantage I am now convinced it's a disadvantage because of continued problems with random knot failures and difficult casting into dry winds without constant line management and lubrication. I want to believe I can feel my bottom contact lures better using FC, the truth is I can't. My success rate based on catch per man hour fishing hasn't improved and haven't caught any giant bass over 15 lbs using FC line. All my giant bass were caught on mono line, everyone of them. FC line performance is inferior to premium mono for bass fishing because it has lower abrasion, knot strength and doesn't cast as easily. This summer I removed my FC line and replaced it with premium monofilament line; I am now using Sunline Shooter Armilo Defier Nylon and Maxima Ultragreen copolymer and Big Game monofilament lines. Tom

Dad and I put together a 23.35lb bag for our first win with the Northern NY Bassmasters Team trail 2 weekends ago! I guess I'm a fan of the St. Lawrence and those pesky brown fish again.

...but hey, whatever works for you - I'm almost 100% fluoro on my baitcasters and have been for almost a decade. I don't see that changing any time soon.

Little Gunpowder

My great-grandpa told my grandpa that, my grandpa told my dad that, my dad told me that, & I'm telling my kids & grandkids that! As far hunting the was more land open to the public back then that was until someone couldn't tell a mule from a mule deer! I lived through the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, the good ole days are what you make of em!

The Jig is one of the most productive lures for fishing heavy cover of any type known to anglers. The Jig is one of the most productive lures for catching larger than average bass. But despite its pure awesomeness the angler must keep in mind there will be days when the bass simply do not want a jig. So to all the young anglers (not chronological but experientially) struggling when casting, flipping, pitching, or punching with the Awesome Jig keep in mind there will be times when the Jig aint gonna be that AWESOME.

Never ever buzz an ultravibe speed craw. Doesn't work

Caught a pretty nice shellcracker earlier in the year. I wear XL and XXL gloves if it gives you an idea.

I am a fan of twin tail grubs with a few exceptions and heavy weed cover is one. You don't want the trailer to hang up on weeds, it should slide through without the tails stopping the jigs fall. This means you want a trailer with more streamline shape and smaller size claws like beavers, single tail grubs and craws like Larew salty craws. Jig weight depends on how thick the cover is to penetrate it or how fast the bass want the jig dropping past them. Strike detection varies and the smaller size a bass is the easier it's to detect strikes; smaller size mouth and more aggressive tending to get away from other small bass with it's prey. The opposite is true with big bass because they have big mouths to easily engulf any size jig/trailer without the angler detecting the strike, if the bass doesn't move off with it's prey. I know most of you think this is BS and you can detect any strike, not true! Most of the jig anglers get bit often without detecting strikes from big bass and only detect the most aggressive strikes. Tom

Perch eating perch...chunky one at that!!

Haven't caught a muskie in years and then today that drought ended as I caught 3 of them in about 3.5 hours. I also caught 5 pike (33 inches) and 6 largemouth (20 inches) to boot. The muskie was 38.5 inches, estimated weight 15 pounds.

Thought this might be fun for you smallies chasers. https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=!ALSOaLuoEOHlmqo&v=photos&id=4D3138F637BA3320!11795&cid=4D3138F637BA3320

yes you should stop giving yourself that excuse.because even though there is that pressure there are still people out there having plenty of success improvise and adapt my friend. now as far as hunting I do believe in .my area at least the glory days have passed. not that the game isn't there but unless you very lucky or have a pocket full of money your chances of having decent land to hunt are pretty slim.population growth moron growth etc have led to fewer lands open to hunting and huge pressure on private lands.as far as harvesting fish I currently live in PA I see a lot more people harvesting fish now than I did in MD. just seems to be a different mentality.the worst part is you see the same people all the time filling buckets. how the hell many fish can these people eat. cracks me up when I hear them complaining about the lack of fish but constantly putting small fish in their buckets.

I was the co in a tournament where my boater was tossing a Super Spook into a 15mph wind and walking it up the 2ft waves. He weighed in 21lbs of Smallies. Tears were rolling down our faces with how hard we were laughing at just how absurd it was. That day taught me the that there is never a time when a top water will not work. Just find the right one for the conditions.

I bit the bullet, and got an AT Oracle full carbon fiber ergo shaft paddle, and could not be happier with this paddle. Anything else I've tried has felt sub par. I am not nice to it, often pushing off rocks and gravel, and it shows no signs of wear after three seasons. https://www.atpaddles.com/us/products/oracle-carbon

I've fished braided Cotton, Dacron, Micron, Suture Material (Silk), Micro Dyneema®, Kevlar, & Spectra. I've fished all kinds of copolymers, fluorocarbons, & monofilaments. Fluorocarbon; has as much stretch as mono with far less abrasion resistance & shock absorption. I did like Maxima but the Chameleon, what I didn't like was it was too hard to find. I prefer Berkley Big Game because of its ability to adsorb the shock & fatigue associated with fighting big fish of all species. I also believe it's the most abrasion resistant monofilament bar none.

More and more, fluorocarbon is replacing what I use to use. I still use braid for a couple things, but I really don't like the stuff at all.

Hmm... The Tennessee River reservoirs are better today than they have EVER been. I think that is certainly the case for smallmouth in the Great Lakes, too. Of special note is the recovery of Lake Erie. Cleaner, clearer and greater numbers than ever before.

For me, the "good old days", are now. I fish a lot in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. Bass populations have never been higher and fishing pressure for bass is low. With the technology in electronics, boats, trolling motors, and gear available, fishing has never been easier. Besides, even if fishing was better back then, there is nothing you can do about it now. All you can do is arm yourself with the best knowledge you can find and go out and fish.

Last Sunday I took my dad to Market Harborough in Leicestershire, where he was evacuated to in the war. He lived in a small flat in a grimey part of London, and during the war lots of children were sent out of London to stay with completely random people, so they wouldn't be killed by the bombings. My dad and his sister got incredibly lucky and were billeted with "Aunt" Gwen. She was an amazing woman. At 22 she took in two kids aged about 5 and 7 and looked after them for 4 years. Her husband was away fighting, and was eventually killed. My dad absolutely loved his time up there and always felt very guilty about how much he didn't want to go home at the end of the war! Having the run of the Leicestershire countryside was a great thing for a young boy. A pokey flat in bombed out London wasn't much to look forward to. He always kept in touch with the family and while Aunt Gwen died about 30 years ago her sisters are still going strong, and dad has always kept in touch. The trip last weekend was the first time they'd actually met up for about 20 years. 90, 87 and Dad's the baby at 83. They had a great day, we all did.

I switch from Sunline Super Sniper 7 lb to Max Ultragreen 5 lb for spinning finesse. Sunline Sniper 10, 12 lb to Armilo 11 lb. for jigs and worms. Berkley 12 lb mono to Armilo 11 lb for crank baits, top water, spoons etc. Sunline Sniper 16 lb to Berkley Big Game 15 lb for night fishing. Stayed with Armilo 25 lb for swimbaits, rats or wake baits and Fins 60 lb braid for heavy cover. Tom.

Landed this beauty last night. I was slowly swimming my bait along the bottom, when it came to a complete stop. I set the hook and nothing happened, so I thought I might be snagged. I applied a little more steady pressure to be safe, and then it happened - she slowly started to move. I'm not sure it realized it was hooked, as it just steadily swam along the bottom, coming toward me. Finally, about 10 feet from where I was standing, she came up and tried to jump, but she was too long and really just kind of wallowed. At that point I told myself to not get too excited and just play it calmly - I sure didn't want to lose her. Surprisingly, she came in without much more fight. I quickly landed her and removed the hook, then got a good measurement (5' 6"), but forgot to check what pound test she was spooled with. Oh well, I'm still pretty certain it's my new PB...and yes, I released her to be caught again some day after a couple quick pics. Who says Ned rigs catch only dinks

That Global Warming stuff is pretty hit or miss then . . . . .This is August Right ? Hope this sparks a bite - which has been really hit or miss lately A-Jay

I have a quick story to tell about my kayaking adventure last Sunday. I went on the Upper James River from Howardsville to Scottsville. It was a beautiful day, the temperature was in the mid-eighties and there was a slight breeze. The trip started off great, I was catching lots of smallies, about six or seven. I saw a bald eagle and a black bear actually swam across the river in front of me. I thought that everything was going very well. There were some small class I rapids that were a breeze to go through, but about halfway between the landings everything changed. There was a class II/III rapid with a wave train that was huge. I had to go through it because the rest of the river was filled with rocks and even larger rapids. I was confident that I could make it through, however I hit that wave train and everything went downhill. I flipped over on my left side and everything immediately fell out of my boat, even though I had it secured. I am pretty sure a bungee cord broke. My milk crate, tackle boxes and rods all went in the river. One rod broke in half on a rock, two of my tackle boxes (which contained all of my hard baits and terminal tackle) sunk and were lost. Needless to say I was not happy. I did manage to recover my rods and everything that floated. Moral of the story, make sure everything in your boat is secure and that you are always prepared to flip. I am now in the process of replacing what I lost. Anyway, feel free to send me lures (lol just kidding). Hope everyone enjoyed my story. Tight Lines!

Nope. Copoly Or mono would be perfectly fine. I doubt fluorocarbon is any less visible than cxx Crystal clear. Plus your 8# cxx is more like 12lb breaking strength, where 8# fluorocarbon may break at 6# if you tie a decent knot.

Almost always have to be throwing them around grass to get bit in my experience. Clear/dirty doesn't matter as long as you've got grass!

I've run into male bass (LM) going through the motions of fanning out beds after an extended warming trend in the fall, but never females. Then again, the water up here is hard for a few months at a time.

Growing old aint for sissies! The one thing I miss is not being able to run!

We are on the rainy side! Already about 26" above average ?

It works great at times . I have not used the twin tail grubs but have the single tails . There use to be a worm called the Gator Tail by Ditto and I used it often like that .

The jig and twin tail grub is how I learned to fish bottom bouncing lures .

I was on the water this morning with dad and we slayed them, bye 9 o'clock we had landed 37 and had probably 10 or 15 throw the hooks. Bite was on a point right off boat lane fish holding in 14 fow area bottom was at 23 foot. We got them on cranks, traps and a gigantic spinnerbait that my dad owns dang thing is like two onces. Cranks- Bandit300 in crome and black back with orange belly. Traps-Rat l trap- 3/4 once, same color. Spinnerbait- unknown make- firetiger is the color. Hope this helps someone. Ronnie if you need some company let me know I got a few more days leavt to fish. RonnieF, white with chertruese feet ribbets when it's cloudy and raining along grass and wood on San Miguel is killer better hold on tight.

I don't think you'll struggle between weeds and bass if you watch your line and also put your finger on your line above the reel. Bottom contact baits require 100% attention and focus. Watch your line, feel the line between your fingers, and give a quick hookset when a strike is detected. The other things like trimming things and trailers are all personal preference. I also agree with @Jason Penn 1/4 ounce finesse jig with a twin tail grub and find a body of water where the bass population is good and only fish a jig the whole time you're there. You may struggle a few times, but once you get it down it will be all worth it.

my reply to anyone wanting to get better at fishing a jig is start with a smaller jig, and get in a place that has a ton of small bass. after a good day of catching a bunch of dinks, you will have a pretty good idea about how to fish a jig.

Day 1 was a success. Wiggins sitting right at the cut line with 17-6. Check out my marshal pics. Tough day for many guys and then many 20+ bags. I drew Keith Poche for day 2 which I'm excited about because he had 17 something for 4 fish and said he figured something out late in the day. So I'm hoping he's on em tmrw. Exhausted for now. Report back later.

I won 3 tourneys in a row last year and a couple this year using a Zoom 7 inch Z3 Trick Worm (Bold BlueGill). That color has worked on every lake I have fished in the last year. I used and highly suggest Pepper Custom Baits Pentr8tor Shaky Head. I've fished it in heavy cover, grass, rock, wood, you name it and rarely do I get hung up. This head will stand a 7 inch Zoom worm straight up "EVERY" time! 80%-90% of the time the hook will bury in the roof of the mouth due to it's design!!! http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Zoom_Z3_Trick_Worm/descpage-ZZ3TW.html http://peppercustombaits.com/product-category/penetr8or-shakey-head/

Burn the letter and mail the ashes back to the sender.

caught my personal best smallmouth 1/2 hour before this drum hit. thought I was going to break my record twice in one day. it was not the fish I was expecting , but still put up a good fight. it weighed 5.5 lbs.

caught my personal best Smallmouth on a Shakyhead today on Wyandotte County Lake In Kansas City Kansas. 21 inches. 4lb. 4oz.

bama was stormy and wet lots of lightning, didn't get to fish a lot. still love going tho. a calm evening sky on lay lake

Nice Fayette Co. 6 pounder

Brother Core #2 has arrived

It wouldn't let me post pics earlier

Fishing has been phenomenal for me this past week. Lots of nice fish casting. Pike came on Rapala Husky Jerk Perch, Atlantic came on a fly, and the walleye was a big surprise for me using an olive X-Rap. Thought it was a sub legal pike until it surfaced. Didn't even bring a net since I figured I'd just be pike fishing. Thankful that it stayed on long enough for me to land with fish grips. There is great fishing to be had close by. The local bay where the pike and walleye came from is a 7 minute trip and the powerhouse where the Atlantic came from is a 30 minute boat ride from my house. Hoping to catch a few more nice ones before school picks up again. Fish On

Spinnerbaits & rattling lipless cranks work well for night time fishing but they are not my favorites, for night fishing I have only one favorite: Arbogast Jitterbug.