Leaderboard

Today's world is different from the world I grew up in as a kid. I'm 35 but the world has changed tremendously in the last 20 years. If you only watched the news you'd think the whole world has gone to hell. Just yesterday about 45 miles southeast from where I currently live and much closer to where I grew up there was a mass shooting. When you reflect on these kinds of things the world seems like a really scary place full of bad people. What the hell am I talking about this on a bass forum for? I purchased a very nice reel from a very nice member of this forum. The communication was great and he even engaged me in some conversation. I thought the questions a little strange but nice enough. When I received my reel the I noticed the heaviness of the box; the reel I purchased is one of the lightest on the market. When I opened the box I found it jam packed with soft plastics, jigs, jerkbait, lipless, etc. This gentleman had no reason to send me all of this stuff but he did out of the kindness of his heart. Gestures like these keep my faith in humanity strong, they take away the negativity. It may be a relatively small gesture in the grand scheme of things but if more people made an effort to do things similarly the world would be a better place. I vow to pay it forward and become more like this man I don't know, with more kind gestures wanting nothing in return. Thank you @BasserJim

@npl_texas you’re very welcome. Like I said, I was out of packing peanuts and couldn’t let that nice reel just bounce all around in the box. It was some stuff I had laying around that doesn’t really any longer suit the type of fishing I prefer to do (I’d much rather be finesse fishing). I’ve had many random acts of kindness gifted upon me over the years, and I try and pay that forward as often as possible. Both because I’m able to do so, and because I have a 2 year old little boy who I’m trying to lead by example. He’s still a little young to catch on, but I’m trying to stay in good practice. Hope you enjoy the reel and the baits and have a great holiday season.

Pics from my 2 early bird tournaments the last week of October. Took first at both with my father taking a close 2nd in both. All largies that Saturday (20+lbs) and 26.5lbs of Lake Onatrio smallmouth that Sunday. I NY!

No giants to see here, but some solid chunks that I'm pretty proud of. Been bank fishing a few new ponds, and this one particular one has been very stingy. It's clear water, very shallow and dishpan like, coverless, with grass growing over the bank edges. Turns out, that's where the bass like to just hang out, nose to the bank (literally) in just 4"-6" of water. If you walk fast or heavy, or get close, you get a splash of water at your feet as they spook and shoot straight to the center of the pond. Throw a heavy bait along the shoreline and splash the entry, they're out of there. Land more than 2 feet off the bank, they won't come out and get it. Too close to the bank, your line ends up over the grassy edge, bait spending half the time out of the water. Needless to say, this was a tough nut to crack, and catches have been meager, but I finally put the pieces together last night and managed over a dozen bass. Something special and satisfying when you finally make a good catch from a place that seems to have your number most days

Took my bait caster out and headed out into the rain and over cast. Finally i have landed and caught a almost three pound bass on my white chatter bait and strike king rage swimmer swimbait as a trailer. I was also told by Extreme Philly Fishing people open chatter baits in the store and steal the trailer that come with it and most people don't even know they do come with it "I didn't know and i didn't have one in mine so i guess someone stole mine in walmart" Regardless it felt good to catch at least one on it.

I have the Ike finesse book, I think it's a good read. He gets very thorough with each technique discussed, as well as locations to fish. I'd recommend it

A member on the RiverSmallies forum (I hope it's ok to mention that) had a book on kayak fishing for smallmouth that I was searching for. It is out of production and hard to find. I had bought a copy of the book, loaned it out and never got it back. This guy mailed me a his copy. Wouldn't take a penny for the book or postage. Just asked me to pay it forward. Good people are out there.

Hmm, It would seem things are currently pretty tough right now. I would said it's because it's much colder out, rained a bunch, water level has went up and current is much faster. However, I could be wrong about all of these and almost all my spots seem dead or show no sign of fish at all. We couldn't get a single bite no matter what we used, I did however finally get a few but not fish i wanted. We even went to catch bass and we did get a bunch of taps we just couldn't manage to hook into one, The closest i got was a bass swimming towards me with my senko in his mouth, I was very excited and then as he got closer to me on shore he dropped the hook and senko yeah she wasn't even hooked. This was when i remembered our rods we had with us were spooled up with four pound test for rainbow trout. Pretty much just not that great of a day but we did manage to catch a few small fish and even found three new lures for our tackle box so there is that.

Had a totally insane day today! My friends and I did a little exploring, and we found a spring creek with a network of beaver ponds, all of which is loaded with bass, who seemed to have never been fished for before! We caught well over 100 fish, triple hookups were common, the water was clear and the bass were gorgeous. The creek never gets wider than 20' across, and no deeper than 5'. All the damage was done with a ned rig but I'm sure they would have eaten anything. Biggest bass was the 4-13 that I am holding, and our best 5 were somewhere in the neighborhood of 17-18lbs.

Threw on the wading boots again this morning and landed 6 in a couple hours. Largest were these two 3.8(top) 2.9(bottom). They’re eating up. Nearly every one I caught had a bit of a pudge belly. T-rigged Smartbaits color changing Smart Bomb plastic worm. Quick shots of these 2:

It's almost always an adventure fishing in south Florida, even when the bite sucks, like this morning. My friend and I fished the canal on the Boca Raton/Delray Beach line. The first interesting sight was a great blue heron on a dock trying to swallow an large oscar and practically choking on it. He finally managed to spit it out onto the deck and just stood there looking at it not knowing what to do next. Fishing was a struggle, just three small bass and a miniature peacock. A boat near us, though, landed a clown knifefish, quite an interesting creature. And then I caught on a jig, for the first time, a jaguar guapote, seen in the photo. I thought it was a crappie for a few seconds, then I noticed the cichlid fin pattern and recognized it as a guapote from photos I had seen.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/peak-rock-capital-portfolio-company-lews-acquires-strike-king-300549819.html The whole fishing industry is going to be one big company someday.

WEATHER JOKE .... It's late fall and the Indians on a remote reservation in South Dakota asked their new president chief if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild. Since he was a chief in a modern society, he had never been taught the old secrets. When he looked at the sky, he couldn't tell what the winter was going to be like. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect firewood to be prepared. But, being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea. He slipped off and called the National Weather Service and asked, "Is the coming winter going to be cold?" "It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold,” the meteorologist at the weather service responded. So the chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more firewood in order to be prepared. A week later, he called the National Weather Service again. "Does it still look like it is going to be a very cold winter?" “Yes,” the man at National Weather Service again replied, "it's going to be a very cold winter." The chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of firewood they could fin Two weeks later, the chief called the National Weather Service again. "Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?" "Absolutely," the man replied. "It's looking more and more like it is going to be one of the coldest winters we've ever seen." "How can you be so sure?" the chief asked. The weatherman replied, "The Indians are collecting a s***load of firewood."

Worth a read. More scientific than a lot of the other stuff I’ve seen, and it was released very recently. https://***/outdoors/bass-fishing/Article/What-Happens-When-You-Hold-a-Bass-109802650 I thought it was interesting that they included a veterinarian as a part of the study. Generally speaking, they don’t have much education in the way of fish care. I wonder if they needed them to read the radiographs, or if the particular vet involved has done an Ichthyology residency somewhere.

I LOVED the book. Before reading it I only owned baitcasting gear and fished traditional bass baits. After reading the book I sold all of my rod and reels and tackle and went 100% finesse. It was the most important moment in my fishing "career". The book is an easy read; gives the basics on finesse techniques (and then goes a bit more in depth) in an easy to read and informative way. The book is a few years outdated now; it doesn't include Ned Rigs and Neko Rigs but it's still an awesome book. This to me was the most defining fishing book I have ever read. I have reread the book about 10 times now and it seems like I pick out something new every time I read it. So I definitely say "go for it" and buy the book. You should certainly not be disappointed.

Off topic, Just read some of this thread and seems to be taken over by anti business folks. If a retail business isn't profitable it ceases to exit, profit and growth are the goals. If you own a business there is only so much growth a single product line can achieve and starting up a new product line is an option, however acquiring a product line that you feel can add to your growth and profit is very common and always has been. Profit and growth isn't always greed, competition and the market place has a way to reel that in. I think this acquisition adding another fishing product shows a, interest is this business sector and looking to expand products. Tom

Sounds like some of the lakes are frozen over.

Awesome story. My family just experienced the same kind of self-less act. They had their alternator go out and were broken down about 1.5 hrs from home. A nice guy in a service truck was nice enough to let my grandpa use his tools and take him to a parts store to buy a new one and made sure my grandpa got it fixed before leaving. He wouldn't accept money or even dinner. He just said "pay it forward". There are still good people out there!

lol. What world are you living in? Not the world I see every day.

She makes it home before you do and sees the big ass Tackle Warehouse order that you told the UPS man to leave at the back door but he didn't! ?

Everytime I complain to my wife it back fires . She has a lot more to complain about than I . That remind me . Its about time for my 10 year ass chewing .

Due to matters that were out of my hands, I had to move back up to Shreveport. That being said, before I made the move yesterday, I spent Thursday and Friday fishing the smaller pond. Only caught one each day, but I had a good time anyways. My son came with me for about an hour and a half on Friday and then yesterday before I left to come up to Shreveport my son and I went back to the pond for an hour. Didn't catch anything still had fun. Never caught the big un that is in there. Almost did Wednesday night. I'll have to make a post about that. The pics below are from Thursday and Friday. Hoping to have some latest catch pics from up here soon to post. I'll actually have an opportunity to get out on a boat occasionally now.

Got in a couple hours last evening. Decided to fish the N. end of the lake closer to home. Its shallower overall, and weedier. The middle and south end is deeper and usually holds more quality fish and numbers, so I fish it more. So the bite was off compared to the last several trips. Could be the high pressure system. Could be partially that the lake was slick calm. Could be it was that part of the lake, although I caught my pb.in that area. Still caught 7-8. Still biting the 4 inch tequila worm .Nice evening on the water anyway. This was one of the better ones.

Went tonight to the Horrendous Pads with my brand new flipping stick, a Dobyns Champion XP DC766FLIP that arrived on my doorstep last night. This fish was my only bite but it was a good one. I was impressed with the new rod -- much more sensitive than my other big stick. It was easy to pitch the hefty jig accurately and I was able to control the fight. The fish tried to wrap me around the leaves but I was able to lead her out of the nasty stuff nose first. Also, I think a heavy weed guard on a jig helps get fish out of thick pads.

Took a trip to BROWN TOWN today!

Interesting fall phenomena on my two local hydrilla reservoirs. Every fall I keep my eyes open for bass to start stacking up out in 25 - 30 feet of water. I had speculated that what pushed them deep is the grass dying off and burning up the dissolved oxygen, forcing the bait and the bass out of the grass. This year I am not so sure that is a valid theory. The grass started dying back early October (just like normal, due to reduced daylight hours) but this year the water stayed unusually warm. I looked all October but never marked any fish out that deep. This past weekend I am cutting across the mouth of a big cove and my fish finder lights up in 27 FOW. The water temperature just this week finally dipped down to 58 - 60 degrees. I normally see that water temperature sometime in October. I dropped a lipless crank down to the marks and caught six 2-3 pound largemouth and a couple of large crappie over the next 90 minutes before they stopped biting. There are still some small 12" largemouth in the shallower grass mats. These lakes have no shad so I never see that migration to the creeks. Forage fish in these reservoirs are sunfish, yellow perch, crappie and crayfish. Now I am wondering if this pattern is more driven by water temperature and the thermocline pushing deeper and deeper as we head towards the fall turnover. Perhaps that newly exposed bottom presents a feeding opportunity for forage baitfish? Anyone else experience a similar fall pattern on their water?

So my house has been a fishing camp since the 60's. My great grandfather (retired sailor) built it in the late 20's and lived here till he passed. He was a fisherman also. The "cottage" being my fathers boyhood home he kept it but made it a camp. I've been working on a remodel for about 2 years. Anyway I have a bunch of old tackle from previous generations. I was going through much of the stuff over the weekend. I figured I'd share these. See if anyone recognized anything. I'm not intending to sell any of it. I am going to display some stuff in my house. This was pretty cool because it's kinda local.

That is interesting and the xrays are pretty cool. I have switched over to using a small fish gripper to both weigh bass and to help control and lift larger ones out of the water when using multi-hooked lures, it is good to hear that lifting them this way isn't harmful.

I literally said that to her about shoes and purses when she mentioned about my fishing gear. Almost got to sleep in my dogs bed, not again mention about shoes/purses to my wife.

I don't know the dimensions, but my hammerhead 580's are pretty wide Ken Found it 135 wide 19.9 bridge 63.8 lense

My wife isn't a shoe or clothing hound, in fact, she's the opposite of me in that she's content with most things she has...like her 4 year old iPad that if it weren't for the screen protector, would lose all the glass on the front due to drops from the kids. She got upset when I upgraded her iPhone from a 5 to a 6s...said it wasn't necessary. I have no ground to stand on, when it comes to fishing gear. Although, I am waiting on a PWM controller for my trolling motor! Should be here by tomorrow!!! And she doesn't know about it. Yet. I'm prepping the doghouse for my arrival just in case.

Go fishing with them.

-Which can you cast more accurately? -Which do you feel more comfortable using? -Which combo do you have the least trouble with? (If any at all) spinning : line twist, wind knots, casting accuracy. Casting: backslashes, casting distance. -which is more verstile? If fishing from shore I would guess you aren't carrying 5-6 combos when you go out, and they may not be munching the small swimbait so you May have to change it up. I would answer these questions and then make your decision. For me it would be casting gear. But everyone is different.

Funny you should say that, I made a fishing buddy the day he dropped off my new trolling motor. I was out working on the boat all day and when that showed up I was pumped!

A true sponsorship is when a company pays you cash to sell their products. It likely includes enough free products for your personal use, but that's tertiary. The meat of the contract outlines what you'll do to promote and sell their products in exchange for X dollars. And like others have stated, there is indeed a written, signed contract involved. As the OP stated and others have clarified, there are also various levels of "Pro staff", that often involve free product and/or other perks. The more each side will do for each other, the higher the likelyhood a contract is involved. However, programs that merely offer discounted products for a fee are nothing more than that, a discount program similar to Costco. That's great for somebody who really likes their products and uses enough of them to offset the fee. But it's not a 'sponsorship'.

You my friend have patience. I started one years ago and ended up taking it to the upholstery shop and letting them finish it!

I just wanted to post some lures I made recently. The glide baits are 5.5, 5, and 7.5 inches long for some perspective.

I don't know who this Jim fella you speak of is, but he seems like quite the doofus. To this day, I don't know how I stayed 'in the boat'. I was waist deep in the water, upside down. Center of mass and the laws of gravity say I was going for a swim and re-entering the boat via boarding ladder/climbing the engine (I don't think you had the ladder installed yet at that point??). I guess the human body is capable of some amazing things when you see $$$$ worth of brand new rod and reel sinking to the bottom the first time you use it!

Touche

I enjoy some high end things, but a Stella reel is at a price most guys would never consider paying for a spinning reel. I’m sure the Stella is the Ferrari of fishing reels, but for 98% of us who would never spend $600 on a spinning reel, the Ci4 would make a great choice.

Seriously? This can't be a real question. Like anything else that gets wet, wait and soon they will be dry.

It is actually hard to go wrong with headlamps. What is important is the ability vary the strength and time it will run at various lumens. I also need blue or red in addition to the white, as getting my night vision back takes a bit of time

I admire anyone who takes on that job...I do most of the work on my own boat, but that'll be one I have done if it ever needs it.

I did this on my first boat.....and will do it on my current boat this winter or next. Cool to see you have done it.....I look forward to the rest of the story.

I think the Blokes at 138mm are the widest next closest is around 133mm wide Most sizes are listed in description of each frame on their site BLOKES 1. Frame Width 138mm 2. Bridge Width 16mm 3. Lens Width 61.2mm 4. Lens Height 44.4mm 5. Temple Arm Length 124mm

When the UPS guy starts bragging to you about the fish he's catching.

High water scatters fish ?

reading will either increase your knowledge or confuse the heck out of you, in either case it will not make you a better angler, only angling will make you a better angler.

Quick little update for everyone. The brass gears from the Curado K will fit in the Metanium MGL. So if you're someone who hates aluminum gears but loves your MGL, you can now put the sturdier brass gears in it. The Tackle Trap has already started offering gearing replacement kits, and I'm sure your favorite local Shimano dealer could get them for you.

Destroyed[Lost rod and reels!]Here's a story that's almost unbelievable.Back in the early 1960's.Our family was on an annual trip to a small lake in SE Ontario.My father, Born with a birth defect that left one leg almost uncontrollable, was fishing one afternoon with my mother. The spot where they were fishing was about in about 25 feet of crystal clear water. My father tried to reach across the boat to pick a can of pop from a cooler, and in the process, his bum leg reflexes and kicked an almost brand new Pflueger Nobby mounted on a likewise almost new Conolon rod overboard. 25 years later, My mother and younger brother paid a visit to the lady who owned the farm on which the lake was located. The lady asked my mother and brother about my father losing his rod and the location. She went into a shed and came back with the outfit. A pair of divers had visited the lake the previous summer and found the combo right where he had lost it. The rod, other than the guide wrappings was still in pretty good shape. The reel other than the Cortland camo line was still in perfect condition. After a tear down clean and lube, it worked and looked as new. Regrettably, I sold it to a guy who is still using it.