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Striper and blues are awesome

Wonder if they'll be able to catch over 100 fish per worm? Not sure if you ever will need any other colors than PB&J or green pumpkin for the Ned.

About 5 months ago I caught a monster in a 40 acre lake, hardly ever fished because of the location. She was 27", as measured next to my pole. My phone camera which is always with me died, out of juice. This was the biggest bass I've ever caught and I have caught DD before. She was thick, with a huge mouth. I went back everyday for 4 weeks, and nothing close to my big girl. I released her in great shape that day, but she still alludes me. I've tried all types of lures. I now go back once a week until I find my lost love, and take lots of pictures. Then I will release her again, in great shape. She was the fish of a life time.

Not a giant, but my first popper fish. Caught on a black Yamamoto Shibuki Popper.

Yesterday I went to a small, secluded pond in the woods you have to drag the kayak into. It's a lot of work getting in and out of this place but it holds big fish. I go there in the spring and fall looking for better fish. The forecast showed clouds and rain so I was expecting a good topwater bite; and this place did not disappoint. I was throwing a bone 130 Plopper and a Poppin Pad Crasher and I got on them right away with my NEW PB!! A 6-8; which I know isn't huge for some you you slayers out there but for Maine, it's not a bad fish. And I usually fish for numbers so getting on a good one now and then is an accomplishment for me. Soon after I had another 5, a couple of 4's and some smaller fish. I went looking for more and changed up baits to a 3.8 Keitech and could have caught all the 1.5 lbers I wanted but that's not why I go to this place. So I abandoned that pattern, went back to where I knew I should be, with the bait I knew I should be throwing and continued to catch good fish. Ended up with the 6-8, 3 5's, 3-4 4's, a few 3's and a bunch of dinks. Probably the best big fish day of my life tbh. The 6-8 A couple of the 5's

This Is A 1.0. In Gill & 1.5 In Crappie , The 1.0 Has A Rattle , The 1.5 Slient Both These Blanks Swim Great. Mike

Ott will be delighted!

Tautog aka Blackfish aka White Chins aka Slipper Bass or simply Tog, has been my target species of late. Hard fighting fish and is blast to catch on my lighter spinning gear. The jig has been killer so far for me this season.

That dude needs to lay off the coffee.

went out to the mudhole for some blues. throwing some chum along with 5 other boats maybe 3 or 4 of them charters. however, fish were rolling through at 130-150' on the fish finder. tied on a wounded herring jig and hooked into this 16 # monster. what fun rod she was landed on

Being a small pond, you need to be very careful with your presence. She will be on alert now. Dont let her see you standing on shore. Dont wear bright colors. Do everything you can control. I would tie on a big worm, cast it across the pond onto the other shore (depending if the shoreline will allow you), and drag it very slowly into the water and be VERY patient. Take your time and work the worm slowly. I would also switch to braid and tighten your drag. If you hook up, you need to get the battle over as quick as possible. Strong hookset and reel her in. dont stop. Dont let her change directions or jump. Control her head and you control her. You may want to upsize your hooks (quality and size if necessary). Be sure of your knots. I would give her a little time. She will eventually need to eat again. Night may be a good time as well. Go get her!

Hey everyone, this is my first post so I made sure it was a good one. This is a typical fish that got away story just so you're aware, Hahaha. I was fishing the retention pond at my apartment complex yesterday around 3:00 pm. Very small pond, 150 yards in length and you can cast across it. I've only caught tiny bass up until this point. I heard rumors of a monster bass lurking near the shallowest part of the pond, where most of the cover/bait fish are. Second cast using a black/red flake crawfish jig got me a small bite, which turned out to be the potential bass of a lifetime... My medium action pole immediately bent over, with the fish ripping drag out of the quantum smoke spinning reel. Fought for a good 30 seconds trying to keep him from jumping, until he broke the surface like a great white shark. My heart started pounding. I've caught a 7 lb bass before but this was much, much bigger. Got him close to the shore, but as soon as it saw me he/she shot into the weeds, ripping out more drag and shaking the hook loose in the process. I've never felt so dissapointed in my life, so close to my first 10 lb or more large mouth. Long story short, I need redemption! In your guy's opinion, should I fish the same spot next weekend? Same lure? Same time? How the hell can I get this fish to bite again?! Thanks in advance, I'm looking forward to posting a picture of this monster for you guys!

Personally I think it's a marketing gimic. I use bulk fluoro for my leader material and never had any problems with it.

@Scott F I'm no scientist, but I analyzed 220 double digit largemouth that were caught out of Toledo Bend in the last few years to see if there was a moon phase connection. Here are my findings: Here are my findings when you exclude those that were caught the month of March (prime spawn season + exponentially more fishermen on the water here): Here are my findings based on March ONLY (2016 & 2017): Things that stand out to me: The new moon is no good The few days before the full moon in March is on fire These findings correlate with Bill Murphy's findings in California: He believed that the 3/4 moon phases (Waxing Gibbous and Waning Gibbous) were the best for big fish activity. Another thing worth noting is that 67% of days where 3 or more DDs were reported were during the 3/4 moon phases. @Catt you might find this interesting. I wonder how this compares to your personal findings.

I started out buying flouro leader line but now I use what's left of flouro main line. Flouro leader line is more abrasion resistant but I would rather save the money and use flouro main line instead. I try to watch my spending and the extra money for leader line can go in other places. I use mono main line as a leader for topwater lures.

If you are going to use fluoro as a leader, use LEADER, not reel fill. The difference is incomparable. Otherwise, it probably doesn't matter much. In general, I avoid leaders when I can. Mostly because I don't like passing knots through the guides, and I'm lazy. I'm fine with all the knots, and not worried about stretch, knot failure, etc. If the knots on my salmon/steelhead float rigs (there's 4-5 knots) hold up, then they're fine for bass. As far as good mono goes, I've really taken a liking to Seaguar Rippin'. Previously, I liked the Suffix lines and Siglon F.

People will pay for a custom color, and should. Determine a minimum order that makes it worth your while, and possibly offer a discount on a very large order.

Ok, so you're not even a bass angler. You just came here to bash Kastking. From the FAQ's And scene...

For largemouth in the fall, I always start on the bank targeting the inside grass line...at least until the water gets down into the 40's. If it's overcast and calm, topwater gets the nod. I will catch fish on frogs in water most people think to be "too cold" for that. If there's a breeze I will hit toss a swim jig, or shallow running crankbait, and if it's really windy, a bladed jig. When the sun pops out,and with all the boat docks pulled, I focus on grass. The "edges" in the grass than docks made get targeted with wacky rigged stick baits, soft jerkbaits, t-rigged craws/creatures or jigs. If they have slid back out deeper into the grass, I use the same with a little more weight. If they are out side the grass on the deep edge or on rock,a football jig, swinging jig head, drop shot, or shaky head gets the call depending on how they are biting that day. For smallmouth I like football jigs, tubes, wobble head jigs, and dropshotting. they never seem to come shallower than the deep grass line in the fall. I break out the blade baits when the water gets into the low 50's.........or I should say, I start using them when the calender flips to "fall" but I don't seem to catch much on them until the water gets colder, but I give them a good try in usual smallmouth producing areas almost every trip from late Sept. on just to see if that bite is "on" yet. Deep cranking for either can be really hit or miss in the fall for me. The fall jerkbait bite can be quite good, but is grass and water clarity dependent. In some years the grass stays too thick, or the water stays too murky for it to be a consideration. Same goes with lipless cranks. Often times ripping them out of grass like I would do in the spring is an exercise in frustration in the fall, as the grass has become fragile, and instead of getting clean "rips" out of it, it just pulls the grass...roots and all right back in a huge wad to the boat. Now, if I get grass/water conditions in the fall that allow for both, I use both.

Many times,I have heard something along the lines of this: The first tap is the bass biting your lure The second tap is him spitting it out The third tap is your buddy tapping you on the shoulder asking you why you didn't set the hook!

Thank you gents. It has been a pleasure for me working with the folks who have trusted me to do something like this for them. And, it's been an honor to build rods, paid for by our awesome Bass Resource members, for some of our members who have put their butts on the line, serving our nation. A huge thank you to all of you who have served, or are currently serving. And another huge thank you to all of you who have given us some of your hard earned cash to make this project a reality. I am currently doing the finish work on the next Warrior rod, and we still have enough money in the kitty to do another one. If you have not donated, please consider it. Even a small donation is much appreciated. If a hundred of you sent Kent twenty bucks I could easily build five or six more rods for these worthy folks. Think about, if you would please.

Roboworm doesn't use granular salt, they use dissolved salt solution. Tom PS, you can email Roboworm; mike@roboworm.com with your questions.

In the fall I catch bass deep on points with crankbaits and worms.The same points and lures I use in summer . I also catch bass in shallow cover in coves and creeks .The same places I catch them in summer and on the exact same lures .

When I went to Baccarac, bringing my own equipment was a very good decision. To me, trips like this are too valuable to risk with mystery rental equipment. Since you’re local, I could be persuaded into letting a fellow BR member borrow my travel rods (the ones I got for Baccarac) for this trip. You get the best of both worlds - quality equipment that is with you at all times in a carry-on rod tube

Don't know the details on your situation but a Rat-L-trap is a good place to start. The little I've used one I like it. Chrome with blue back.

I haven't measured it, but the prop probably adds another 12" to the bottom of the hull and It does get fouled by weeds. As you mentioned, yes you can just tilt it up and paddle. This is all going to vary from person to person, depending on the waters you fish, but for me probably around 80% of the time when I'm moving around I'm making use of my pedals. If you have a good knowledge of the waters you fish and are on the fence about the mirage or propel type drives you need to ask yourself how often you'll be traversing waters that have under probably 16" of clearance from the lakes bottom or top of the weeds. If you're constantly going to be battling this, then you'll likely be more happy with the mirage. The other thing to consider (as others have mentioned) is this drive is much easier to maintain/correct position with given that there's no levers you have to pull to put it in reverse, you just pedal backwards. For me, the biggest advantage this particular kayak has over any other pedal driven yak on the market is it's weight. At 60lbs it's the easiest one to maneuver on land.

Little early morning top water Pike. Excuse my dad's thumb.

Wait at least 5 days. Try a 12 inch worm. Give her something worth eating.

The good news is it's local to you and it's a small retention pond, so you know that fish isn't going to go anywhere. So keep fishing for her and good things are bound to happen eventually.

I have no idea but good luck . I would go with a heavier baitcast rod and reel and make sure I get a good hook set .

not exactly a pic but a couple from this year, the last fish hooked was a 4.16 the sd card was close to full and stopped recording halfway through the fight also not trying to promote myself here just thought this was a little cooler than a picture

For the second day in a row I arrived at a full boat ramp to find a tournament taking place which meant TUFF fishing, plenty of boat wakes, and a good bit of pressure. We found a couple pretty brown ones though!

Fished this afternoon and had the best numbers since spring.. Caught 17 ALL on the little lucky strike tequila worm. Fished a spinnerbait and whopper plopper too for an hour or so with no results. They love this little worm. The funny thing is they are in wal marts bargain bin. I think they are 1.99 for a pack.

Caught this 3lb 10oz largemouth while kayaking on the Gasconade River in Missouri yesterday. Biggest river largemouth that I've caught.

Been having a rough go of it prior to this week. Largest bass I've landed in a month at 3.2 right before the bottom dropped out. And then a montage of the others landed this week. I did unfortunately snag a turtle, however it was only just his fin webbing and I think he was more scared than anything. I'm really not sure if he took a nibble at the crankbait or I missed a hookset and snagged him.

Meh. I have been throwing one now for about a month and am less than impressed. It's not a bad bait and has it's place, but it's not the magic unstoppable hog producing machine the cult would have you believe it is.

If it were me, the answer would change every tx based on location , season, conditions and partner.

Congrats

What type of water? What species large or smallmouth?

The golf club isn't a good analogy because, it's a club. Stiffness/weight ratio in a rod affects sensitivity. Graphite being stiffer and lighter than glass, tends to be more sensitive. It makes sense that a stiffer club would be more sensitive. A rod can't be made too stiff or it won't load to cast or fight fish effectively.

I find this topic interesting. As a long time golfer, I've found that graphite shafts in golf clubs actually reduce feel and dampen vibration compared to a steel shaft, yet graphite fishing rods enhance feel according to most of the comments here. I can't confirm or deny that because at this point in my bass fishing, I don't have the experience to know what I'm feeling - I make a lot of false hook sets. I plan to buy a "decent" rod next spring to compare to the Ugly Stik that I'm using at the moment. Maybe then I'll have a better tool to judge what is happening at the business end of my line.

I bought a couple last spring and I have used them somewhat regularly most of this season with minimal success. The lure itself is very durable and built well but I just haven't caught that many fish on them. I do a lot better using a buzz bait.

Weekend of the 8th, I was floating on the Schroon River, catching smallies and bluegill wearing shorts and a t, while my girlfriend was in a bathing suit. Pretty crazy!

My test for fishing rod sensitivity is simple. Does it cry when you say mean things about it? Tom

Wow rain in the state of Tennessee? It must have missed me, I have only seen rain twice since Labor Day in knoxville during daylight hours. One of which was last Sunday which I'm guessing is when you were fishing

A Stradivarius isn't going to do anything for some one who can't play scales, conversely, a virtuoso can make beautiful music with a High School rental instrument. Somewhere in there is a happy medium (or is it medium heavy?)

Hey at least you caught a few. Spotted Bass are feisty little dudes, they are fun, it's too bad they just don't get very big around here. No doubt you'll do better if you are able to go back in Spring.

Yes. The majority of time, you want your trailer color to compliment the jig skirt. By that I mean a natural progression of color from the jig head to the tips of your trailer, just as in nature. The least complex of course, would be matching the skirt as best as possible, but that doesn't mean it's the only, or best option. That is, however where I suggest starting when fishing new water, or only using a jig on rare occasions. IMO, there is no Wrong color for a trailer. Some are just a better option to get more bites. A trailer's action and size has more influence on my choice.

I agree with the previous posts, but caution you to make sure your engine lower unit is put into the vertical position to drain it of water. That sort of comes naturally with most setups, but if it doesn't, make sure water is not trapped in the lower unit. I've heard recommendations to kick it over with the starter after use to clear the water pump of water, but I believe every water pump has a small hole to drain it. One of the dealers in our area, central MI, requires a customer to sign a release against freeze damage on winterize jobs brought in after Nov 1.