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Strange day. Landed ~15, but had almost twice as many bites. Tick/ bump/ loss contact usually followed by a swing and a miss! I don't carry a lot of stuff with me, played around as much as I could with the limited resources at my disposal. Finally started connecting on pretty much every swing with a 3/16 oz jighead and a rage menace in the fourth quarter. Oh well, I hate fishing on weekends anyway. -Bass for dinner. -One of the ~10 that didn't make it to the table.

They've been treating the heck out of the small lakes I've been fishing trying to knock out the algae. Three weekends in a row, and the water is almost a cobalt blue color. Still finding a few bass willing to eat my finesse baits though.

Past few days I've been going for nothing but rainbows and sunfish because on the 10th is our stocking day for our river. They will be releasing 1700 rainbow trouts into the river and i'm hoping i can do well and get my limit in one day. But, I decided to switch things up and went for bass before heading home and caught it on weightless senko on trapper hook and on a spin caster outfit. "Not my normal outfit for bass." Personally, I'd use my bait caster but i wanted to see if i could get a bass on this outfit and the picture shows for itself. I have all these neat lures and stuff but bass don't want it. But they'll take a weightless wack rig senko. So here is a picture of my bass before leaving for home, The bass was calm and didn't want to give up my sister's thumb lol.

Fall will get here eventually I suppose. The shallow pond was 77* yesterday and kind of slow. Hot and humid, not a cloud in the sky. I caught the first 3 bass, all 1 to 3 pounds, and once again my friend caught the largest. It was 23" long, but only weighed 6.67#. The crappie were chasing the minnows up out of the water. It was entertaining watching small schools of them tailwalk over and over until we left after lunch.

Being in high school, it will be difficult for you to get a loan without a co-signer. If you have any plans of going to college, don't strap yourself down with a loan. There are used tracker bass boats for sale all the time. A thorough boat and motor inspection before purchasing will let you know if it's a good buy or not.

I went to Field and Stream today to pick up some hooks, a couple spinnerbaits, and some craws. Turns out the stores (not online/not advertised) are closing out reels that have newer versions coming out AND they are having their "percent off" sale (with the little colored stickers). I started looking around and found this Revo SX (3rd gen). It's even a lefty in 7:1 which I have been looking for. They had it marked down from $149 to $109 plus it had a 30% off sticker. When I asked the associate for one he discovered that the only one they had left was the display model and he couldn't find the box so he dropped the price even more. Final cost....$60 bucks. And it even looks good on my Powell Inferno flipping rod. I'm not sure if all the Field and Stream stores are closing out reels but if you have one nearby it is certainly worth checking on.

@Senko lover You know why ~ A-Jay

The TSD sale got me to give the Hippy Rat a try; Took it out this morning and felt a bit silly, until I got a blow up. I missed the hookset but I buckled down and keep casting around the same area. A few casts later the rat got smashed. I was delighted that the rat worked and kept casting around the same area, about 10 more casts then this guy hit; My scale battery picked that moment to die, but he was a bit smaller than the first one. I was throwing the rat on a Fred's Magic Stick and it felt really overpowered. The rod is only rated for 2oz, but it throws a 2oz Huddgill perfectly, so I was surprised at how hard it was to cast the rat. I can bomb it out there, but any kind of close range lob was very awkward and inaccurate. I bought the Fred's as a frog rod, but I have been throwing big baits with it far more often, so I might look at replacing it with something more powerful and finding a new frog solution.

I fished Toledo Friday. Boated 54 bass, top 5 went 22lbs. Lost 2 fish well over 8lbs also. We stayed in 15-20ft and caught most fish on crankbaits. Look for shad and bass on ledges with creek bends nearby.

Wasn't skunked but I couldn't find a pattern to save my butt. Hot as hell in NOWEMO right now. I think it's got the bass freaked out. Supposed to be cooling down right now.

The vanish made your fish vanish. I would suggest a leader that is actual leader material. It is better suited than vanish.

Picked up a few buzzbaits at the last TW sale:

I thought this was a fun thread, so I'll bump it up with my find from yesterday: I added new split rings and trebles and she's ready to go again. Usually the lures I've found were better off lost anyway, so this was a real surprise.

Caught this one on a Popper last night right at sunset.

I went yesterday to a local reservoir and caught 11 on the black/blue jig, Trap, Trick Worm and Rooster Tail in that order. But I caught 5 on the jig and didn't miss any jig bites. They were choking it, swimming off with it and even chasing when I was reeling up for another cast. I'm trying to keep a jig tied on every trip now.

I went out the other morning trying to get back on a top water bite. After not getting bit on the plopper and a buzz bait, I decided to pick up the pompadour and see what happened. On my third cast, I got my first pompadour fish when this guy crushed it like he was a fish twice his size. Cut him loose, and picked up the senko and threw it in the same general area and felt that familiar tick. I set the hook and battled this chunk to the boat...

Here in central In we're back in the dog days. Highs around 90. Went out early this morning and just pretended it was mid July. Buzzbait and weightless wacky worm made for some memorable action. Three 4 lb. and several 3's. Life is good, fall or not. Just really need some rain. I was walking mud flats that were under a foot or two of water earlier. I thought our fall pattern began earlier this month but somebody knew better.

Heres what I do ever since I got a Fish Grip . Clamp the fish on the Fish Grip , hook a stringer onto it and put the fish in the water . Then I set my camera up for a photo on a tiny tripod . set the timer for ten seconds then retrieve the fish and unclamp it .Fast and easy . I even leave the lure in the mouth . You can hook the scale onto the fish grip too . Its one of those products that I thought unnecessary . I use it a lot . Theres the fish grip setting next to me along with the rope stringer attached to it .

Well I haven’t messed with these forever, but I got to cleaning and dusting and thought I’d share some of my older projects (pre-children) Some more detailed pictures This is the paint job on the second one (F/A-18F Super Hornet ?) The fades were were done free hand and then the tiger stripes decals were laid on and sealed.

If you plan on going to college, I would think long and hard before getting tied up in a boat loan. Unfortunately many young adults get buried in student loans for the first 10-20 years after graduating. adding a boat loan may not be the best bet if that is your path.

I'd be tempted to get a new, or nearly new 16ft Jon boat with a 25hp. You can add trolling motors and electronics as you can afford them and make a ply deck for the front if you feel the urge. Old boats with old motors are likely to give you issues, so if no hassle is your goal then as new as you can find will be better. 600 acre lakes don't need much of a boat to be enjoyed, so all the niceties of a proper bass boat are just extras that you have to pay for which means the reliability is likely to be reduced by an older motor, livewell pumps to split and break down etc.

The Lowe appears to be in decent shape. Best advice I can give is to take it to a mechanic and have them check out the motor. Shouldn't cost you more than 1 hour labor. Secondly, see if he will meet you at the lake for a test ride. You will see how it handles. You can verify the TM works, all the pumps work and see if any water comes out of the bilge when you pull the drain plug.

I replaced mine 2 weeks ago. I wanted the G Force setup but it would not work on my boat. I ordered some 3/16 inch double braid poly rope and found a handle that fits snowmobiles on ebay, big handle like the G Force. Both were about $14 total and I got both in blue to match my Cool Foot and Troll Perfect, really pimped out my trolling motor.

I would go to a bank and ask them what they'd loan you, then come back and ask for suggestions on something in that price range. Boats/watercrafts are some of the highest interest loans around. Just be prepared for a good payment even if you only borrow 10k.

Are you bending the blade or leaving it straight? Are you using a trailer? I use primarily a 3/8oz with 17lb copolymer and a 6.2 reel with a pretty slow retrieve, just enough to get the blade thumping. I bend the blades on mine, the degree of bend and location of the bend will effect the depth it wants to run and also the action of the bait. A bulky trailer will make them ride higher also.

It might, but it certainly has been weakened. Best to just trash those hooks you've bent and reshaped. It will eventually cost you somewhere down the line if you don't. You can get by just fine with a little heavier rod like a medium, but ideally it will be a little slower action, not a fast or x-fast.

" How many times to I have to ask you? Please lift the seat!!!!!"

Went fishing with the kid today and we talked about it. Halfway thru the morning dad called and wanted to know what days in October we are going to Sturgeon Bay. I think the decision has been made for at least another year.

And the fish did trembled in fear, knowing that the small lakes and streams hidden deep in the forest were no longer safe.Yes little fishies, be afraid, be very afraid.

Managed to pull off a win this past weekend on Choke Canyon with tough conditions, fish with Lock-Jaw, and 96 degree temps. Had 17.8 lbs anchored by this 5.43 Florida. Caught all but one on a drop shot in 10-20 fow. Pulled 7 lbs ahead in AOY standings.

I agree with team9nine, those hooks don't need much pressure to penetrate so why put them under the extra unnecessary force? My favorite ned rig rod is a 6'6" medium lite mod-fast, an el cheapo gander mt vortex that I bought for $13.

Thanks for sharing this special time in your life with us.Thanks for stepping up for your niece. We need more real men to do what youre doing. I have an adopted daughter and son that are now grown. I always wanted another daughter for some reason and had the name picked out ( Mackayla ) My daughter then had a daughter and named her Mackayla.( She didnt know that was what I would have named another daughter ) So now they are living with us and she is like a daughter to me,since her dad rarely visits. We fish, take walks, do hikes, swim,play sports etc. And I got her brother in the deal too. So never a dull moment at our house.Sounds like at your house too,Raider.

You need to make a trip or two to Cat or Coon. The beauty of crappie is that you can "practice" on several hundred fish on a single weekend. Some waters it might take all year to see those totals of bass. The bite is very similar though. HL is a nice exception for the bass. Ned is the bass substitute to a large degree, along with the dropshot, and you've already mastered the former. The only limiting thing is that you get a lot more "lift" bites (push) with crappie than you will with bass.

Lol, not in the up position they won't. You have to lower them about half way down to get out.

Yeah. No kidding. It's way to hot lately, I'm excited for Thursday Bc it's supposed to be like 60 again. Can't wait

I'm on day 7 right now. This was supposed to be the fall feed week, but the weather has been wacky. Looking at being 90 degrees tomorrow (water temps holding in the high 60's). Still, vacation well spent.

This site showed me two very important things; TSI 321 oil and Yamaha Blue Marine grease.

Excellent article. This is the first article I ever read on supertuning and I think it is still good. http://super-tuning.home.mindspring.com/i1.html However, I have to mention that I do not work on my own reels. No room of my own to do the work, and young grandsons that wouldn't stay out of my stuff if I did. Also I am not a tinkering type of person.

e-clips aren't that hard to manage. Keep a finger on them when removing them like most videos show and they should stay under control. I used to be in office machine sales and service back in the days before computers and electronics took it over (yeah, I'm pretty old), and if you want to see springs and small parts that love to fly all over, take apart a typewriter sometime. You need the right tools and technique and it becomes fairly straightforward. The key for me is making sure that I keep the pieces and parts in order as I disassemble them so that they all go back together the same way they came out. It sucks to finish putting something back together only to find that you have a left over internal spacer or washer that was hiding under your bottle of oil.

It was like that here on ouachita today. Fished a small tourney and caught 1 keeper. 7lbs won. It was close to touching 100 today here though. I think the 2 weeks of cool weather followed by brutal heat has got em caught in between.

Non-migrating geese have become an issue here in MD and a few of the suburban ponds I fish have installed flashing buoys to try and deter them from overwintering. Marylanders used to be pretty good at fighting the goose menace, but we did go a little overboard in the past. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punt_gun

Too much emphasis is put on high speed tools. 80% of the Tuning I do is by hand.

I raised 3 sons that are not mine while I never adopted them all 3 call me Dad & call their biological father just a sperm donor. Anyone can father a child but it takes a real man to be a Dad! Raider

...And this is why I love spending so much time out in open water tossing lightweight jigs for crappie - the best way to learn about pressure bites. It's how I showed Wheeler.

6 months in a row I fished every single day ( yeah fellas, beat that one ! ), I took a sabatical semester after I finished Vet school.

Make sure it's a microwave you don't use for food and you don't melt them in the house or you'll be single before your plastic hardens. Lol

LOL. I have somewhat opposite story in that I was spinning, then I went casting, and back to spinning for 95% of my fishing. Have told it before and it is entirely a personal preference, should not fall into the "spinning stinks" or "casting is the best" argument because xyz... So let me say that you can do almost everything with casting gear. I did find I liked it better initially. I am down to one casting setup, well, two in that I've got one Chronarch 50e and two rods. A MH and ML. The ML loads great with really light soft plastics. I honestly found I could throw most everything with it that I could on spinning. The reason I went back to mostly spinning is simply that I have less issues with it - especially skipping, windy conditions, etc. I will say that I set out to conquer all that with casting and did pretty well. It just got to the point where I ended up asking myself if it were truly an advantage to use casting. My answer was no. So to your question, it seems you're getting the response that you might actually want...casting. You know when you flip a coin say three times over a couple choices and when the flips are done it tells you what you really want.

I'm lucky to get out once a week with everything going on...but it's honestly more than most guys I fish with. The most consecutive would be about 4 or 5, those are long 8 hours or more, that we do on our KY lake trip in the Spring. By day 4 I'm usually feeling it pretty good.

How often do I fish varies, sometimes 3 or 4 days a week, some weeks not at all, & some weeks 4 or 5 days. Most conservative days, I've had several trips of up 17 days straight. When I got divorced back in 1982 I spent 2 month at duck camp back in a marsh hunting & fishing every day.

Another SV103 to add to the collection.