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I’m not a hunter but I thought this buck was pretty impressive. Caught it hanging out behind our shop. Neck like a tree trunk.

Never heard a baitcaster referred to as open face. Back in the day we called zebcos as closed face, spinning reels as open face. As for baitcasters, we referred to them with whatever profane expletives seemed appropriate at the time.

If "work hard" includes neglect, you won't be satisfied with any modern reel. If cared for, any of the major brands models at the $100 and up price points should give years of reliable performance. Features for particular applications are pretty much personal preference.

A-Jay

I had an incredible day of fishing yesterday. One of the youtubers I subscribe to posted a video a few days ago of catching drop-back, spawned-out atlantic salmon from shore close to where I live. Atlantic salmon, unlike other salmon, don't die after spawning so once they finish their business they try and eat as much as possible to gain enough energy to head back out to the Great Lakes. That makes them extremely vulnerable to being caught with fishing lures. I headed out the very next day upon seeing the video and got two follow-ups, but the wind was brutal and the fish weren't biting. I went back out after school yesterday and gave it a go for as long as the sun would let me. Maybe 2.5-3 hours fishing. This time the bite was on and the atlantic salmon were relentless. Multiple follow-ups, numerous strikes, and four fish landed to boot. It was a great time. Weapon of choice was a #4 Blue Fox Vibrax spinner that I custom painted with pink and glitter nail-polish. Fish On

All relatively small fish, but a very fun A-rig bite today. We caught 13 total, including this triple hookup!

A-Jay

I'm so excited! Going on my first real fishing trip in the morning. Toledo Bend is our destination. I'll be accompanied by my ex brother-in-law(my niece's dad) and my niece's husband. I've never been to Toledo Bend and really looking forward to being out there on it doing my best to catch some largemouth bass. Definitely gonna have to read up on the thread here about learning it and hopefully that will help in locations to fish for a potentially plentiful day. We will be in a fishing/ski boat so that should help the possibilities even more. I've heard such great things about Toledo Bend and can't wait to experience it first hand. I'll be heading there around 6:15am and will be in total confidence/positive mode that what I have learned from here and the books I have read along with my limited experience bass fishing will play a major role in a new PB. Gonna try some of the techniques I read about from Carl "Bud" Andrews to see if I can recreate a small portion of what he has accomplished in Inverness, Florida alot closer to home. Thank You Lord Jesus for this great opportunity!

Today, I got out of class at noon, headed back to my apartment, and hooked up the boat to take her home for Thanksgiving break. Unfortunately, my brothers will be keeping her in VA for the winter, so I will once again be kayak-bound! On my way home, I drive by a place called Mount Storm. Mount Storm has a power plant lake on top of a mountain, at 3600' elevation. It is a very unforgiving place, all the flags up there are tattered from the wind, the trees only have leaves on one side, and the gas station up there has the windward side door blocked off to entry. My route happens to pass within 2 miles of the boat ramp, and even though the conditions were less than ideal, I had to give it a go! Dropping the boat in was a task, I pulled the keel up on the bank, but had to get a rope and tie a cleat to a tree so it wouldn't drift away while I parked my truck. Air temps were in the 30s, and although the forecast said it wouldn't get below freezing, the ice on my reel would say otherwise. I don't know what the wind speed was, it was no less than a sustained 20, and the gusts were pretty intimidating. I stuck to the protected side of the lake and stayed close to the ramp. When the fog would clear, I could see waves hitting sea walls on the far side of the lake and launching whitewater a pretty good ways upward. I ended up landing 5 largemouth and 2 smallmouth, all of them in the 1-1.5lb range. I used a SK 1.5, a vision 110, a 1/2oz jig, and a ned rig. I only had a couple hours of daylight so I didn't really have time to put together a pattern, but the wind was blowing so hard that my pattern was just to fish what was fishable! I've fished in 30 degree temps a pretty good bit, but the wind made today absolutely brutal. I started with fingerless big wool gloves, but had to switch to full fingered gloves, because the wind would suck the heat right out of my fingertips. I like getting out in extreme conditions, because since I do fish tournaments, it's nice to have some experience in rough water and nasty weather for when the time comes! @Bluebasser86 fishes in these conditions every time he goes in the winter but it's a big deal for a southern boy like me. My fingers barely made it through holding those fish for a photo! And that's a smallmouth in clear water on a 1/2oz black and blue jig. (it was too cold to even think about putting a trailer on another jig and retying) That smokestack is probably the best visual I have for the wind (I was idling that's why my trolling motor isn't locked!)

Just returned from another adventure packed trip to famed Lake Baccarac in Mexico. I had the distinct pleasure of sharing it with good friend (and one heck of a stick) Jeff Howell. One aspect of this trip that was a little different was that we were part of a group of 16 other like-minded Bass fishing fanatics, none of which neither Jeff nor I had ever met. Meeting and getting to know them all for the first time at the lodge was pretty cool as they were coming from all over the United States. All serious enough anglers willing to make the commitment of time, effort & travel required to fish this unique & very special place. Perhaps more importantly all very pleasant, down to earth & super fun people to be around. Everyone had a great time & huge bass were not in short supply. Fishing together at the Famed Lake Baccarac Lodge, we were all treated to just about all the big bass fishing action we could handle. Situated smack dab in the middle of some ridiculously picturesque mountain terrain, Jeff & I could not help but admire. The stunning mountains & cascading valley views filled every picture & video with a backdrop that looks so good sometimes it’s hard to believe it's real. As one could expect, the very warm (and sometimes pretty hot) sub-tropical climate required complete sun protection & frequent hydration and we were on it. As is always the case, the accommodations, food & staff at Lake Baccarac Lodge were fantastic. Our guide for this trip, as well as several previous adventures, was Manual Salazar. The man is about as good as it gets. Watching him work his big bass locating magic is worth the price of admission and why he has been one of the top guides in all of Mexico for many years. And then there’s the fishing . . . . . . In reality (which this place doesn’t seem to be part of) there’s no way for me to accurately describe it. Words like outrageous, and magical come to mind, but even they doesn’t come close to scratching the surface of what routinely goes on here. I suppose the simplest & perhaps the best way I could come to offering a glimpse of what it’s like to spend a week at Lake Baccarac – is to say that for any serious Basshead, this place is where Jurassic Park meets Disneyland. Bite was deep all week with the biggest fish coming from 15 ft down to as deep as 40 ft. A few guys were even fishing deeper. Big jigs, worms, spinnerbaits & swimbaits all took turns being "the Bait" My largest this trip came in at 10lbs 6 oz - she ate a 3/4 oz jig with a Magnum fluke trailer - there were several 9's, quite a few 8's a ridiculous number of 7's and we never count 6's & below. This trip may have featured the largest 'average' for us as there were many more big fish this week. Crazy place this Lake Baccarac - already planning the next one. It's been said many times, if you ever get an opportunity to go - I'd highly encourage you to seriously consider it. This one just like previous ones, was quite an experience. A-Jay https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1546112775468580.1073741841.100002096185350&type=1&l=4dbafe711c

My wife and I were out doing some errands this A.M. and happened to drive past the Kittery Trading Post. We were surprised to see a very long line of people waiting by the front entrance. When we got home I checked the KTP web site and found they were having a food drive. The first 1000 people to donate non perishable food items got a gift card $ 10 up to $500. We grabbed some cans of food and ran back down. We lucked out and were among the last to get in under the 1000 first people to bring food. Our gift cards were for $20 and $75. I have a post in on getting a "starter kit" of crank baits ( I've never used crank baits but want to try them) and the replies I've gotten have been very helpful, so with the info I've gotten so far we hit the fishing dept. It seems we lucked out again as the fishing dept. was having a pre black Friday sale today, buy three lures and get the forth for a penny. The displays were not that full but I think we did pretty well. For donating a few cans of soup we got 4 RNR-7 rattlin Repala's, 4 half oz. Rat-l-trap, 4 Strike king KVD 1.5 dives 3-5 ft. and because I love frogs 4 booyah pad crashers. This kinda taught me a lesson. I've been waiting for sales at Cabelas, BPS, TWH, etc. but never thought to check KTP in my own neighborhood. Every one says " no pictures didn't happen" so here's some pics.

Calcutta: solid as an anvil, versatile as a pair of Channellocks®, & dependable as a 30/30! 35+ years & still kicking bass ?

I pour a swing head specifically for them. It's a 7/0 monster worm hook on a 1/8 or 1/4oz head. I use it for bouncing through snaggy rocks. I've also had good luck fishing them weightless around docks and over grass.

I typically stay in the $130-150 range and the Lews Tournament MB is probably my favorite reel to date. It very compact and super smooth.

Banged up buddy playing shopping cart. Just toss in the beers, brats, and kraut. I like this kinda grocery shopping.

Seems like everybody is saying close to the same thing...with just different terminology. Good thing Bass don't care..lol I like these screen shots. I'll add one. I fished this creek yesterday, it's fairly popular at this lake. I was pretty much skunked until I hit the spot where the creek bed pulls away from the bank. That part of the flat where the "V" is just to the left of the 600 is where I caught 3 fish in about 5 casts...nothing huge, big one was pushing 3lbs..didn't catch another fish in that creek. Even though this spot is not out away from the bank, it has deep water access. These little spots are golden IMO.

It would follow then, that the bottom of the lake without any unusual features to distinguish it from the surrounding bottom area, would have no structure...this also takes care of the misleading/incorrect Murphy book statement - lol A couple examples straight from one of Buck's articles showing a lot of lake bottom (and some "cover," i.e., 'breaks'), but 'No Structure' according to Buck.

Flotation pods also called sponsons, are sometimes built into "skinny water" or river jons. They aid in flotation and performance.

Loaded up and headed out. Y'all have a great day, I plan to. God Bless!

Fished a tournament back in the 70s with 22 mph Northwest winds, 27°, & sleet! Every 3-4 cast I had to stick my rod in the water, shake it, to get ice out of the eyes! My jig rod was frozen to the deck & the rod box was iced shut. Caught one of the biggest stringers of my life!

I have only ever used one baitcast reel a Lew's American Hero Laser AH1SHG Speed Spool with a 7.1:1 gear ratio. However, I love it and would definitely get another of these or any Lew's baitcasting reel.

Creamy jif but only on rye bread. Not a big fan of jelly. I got a cousin who still eats peanut butter and maple syrup on bread. He also eats dog biscuits and shaves his underarm hair so.....

Those are floatation pods. I think they sell them at Cabela's, some company named Beavertail.

Thanks to everyone. I currently have a Lowrance 10 HDS gen 1 up front and a 12 HDS gen 3 at the console. My eye sight is not as good as it was at one time so putting a bigger unit upfront sounds like a good idea. Anymore idea's please post. If anyone is interested you can read my profile and see that I'm lucky to be alive and doing more of my dreams and less work. (hope too)

Adding the trip video here ~ Had to cut out a ton of fish catches otherwise it would have been an hour long. It's over 30 minutes as it is. I almost didn't bring the GoPro - Now I'm Really glad I did. You'll see fish plenty of fish catches as well as scale & camera use. We like that. Enjoy. A-Jay

Boat paddle doubles as snow shovel

I just got my order of Dobyns D-Blades from TW. They look awesome. They get a test run tomorrow.

Agreed. A partial lunar eclipse from a couple years ago.

Ladies looking for a man? Step right in... An unusual High-End store in New York selling new husbands had just opened. It was publicized that each woman could visit this store ONLY ONCE! There were six floors and the value of the products increased as the shopper ascended the flights. The shopper could choose any item from any floor, or choose to go up to the next floor, but could not go back down except to exit the building! So, a single woman called Cheryl went to the store to find a husband. On the first-floor the sign on the door read: Floor 1 - These Men Have jobs She was intrigued, but continued to the second-floor, where the sign read: Floor 2 - These Men Have Jobs and Love Kids "That's nice", she thought. "But I want more." So, she continued upward. The third-floor sign read: Floor 3 - These Men Have Jobs, Love Kids, and Are Extremely Good Looking "Wow!" she exclaimed. But felt the urge to keep ascending. She went to the fourth-floor where the sign read: Floor 4 - These Men Have Jobs, Love Kids, Are Drop-Dead Good Looking and Help with Housework "Oh, mercy me!" she burst out. "I can hardly stand it!". Still, she went to the fifth-floor where the sign read: Floor 5 - These Men Have Jobs, Love Kids, Are Drop-Dead Gorgeous, Help with Housework, and Have a Strong Romantic Streak She was so tempted to stay, but she went to the sixth-floor, where the sign read: Floor 6 - You Are Visitor 31,456,012 to This Floor. There Are No Men on This Floor. This Floor Exists Solely as Proof That Women Are Impossible to Please. Thank You for Shopping at the Husband Store.

In my approach, the best spots (potentially), or at least the ones I want to search out and check first, are those that have the best combination of structure, breaks, breaklines and deep water, all in the same general area and related to each other. Based upon the definitions of those terms I use, it's a pretty simple and straightforward process. Based on some of the other definitions given, that approach won't get you very far. Life is a lot simpler when you view everything as either structure, breaks or breaklines. It's interesting that Buck's book was 170 something pages long, and the term "cover" was given all of 2 paragraphs of coverage - lol. Breaklines are technically still just breaks, but they extend for a distance. Usually it involves a depth change, either shallower or deeper, but as mentioned, a lot of other things can be considered breaklines. So a couple fenceposts sitting together would be a "break", but a submerged fence bordering an old property line or farm field (a line of fenceposts) would be a breakline. I'm not sure I would use the term "environment" in the definition though. Obviously I completely disagree with that statement - lol - but it will make a lot of anglers happy to know they can now consider themselves "structure fishermen," even if all they do is just blindly move down the shoreline beating every inch of water.

Used to have a tradition of fishing on New Year's Day with a friend of mind because his birthday is on the 2nd. Several years ago it was 9* when we launched with a high of 21*. One of the coldest days I've ever fished soft water but we caught quite a few fish that day. It's crazy some of the things you don't think about that you learn fishing cold conditions. A metal spinning reel stem between your fingers is like holding an icicle, micro guides are not an option, changing baits is almost impossible, braid turns into a slightly flexible icicle, you can backlash a reel really badly if there's enough ice in the reel or one of the guides to stop a cast, you can get a headache from running if your forehead isn't covered well, all kinds of fun stuff. I'm almost to the point that I prefer those conditions because I'm rarely sharing any water when it's like that and the fish seem to bite better when it's nasty in power plant lakes. When the steam is freezing to the buoys and your cold weather suit, you know it's really cold.

A friend uses high vis yellow or chartreuse/green line, he tells me the bass can follow it down and find his lure easily. You can’t keep from laughing and he catches bass. Tom

Good luck and have fun !!!!

Massyak, thanks for all your help. As a beginner swimbaiter, i plan on starting with a few hudd 68's in perch and trout patterns, an s waver 168, ms slammer, and maybe a Matt lures gill

I had been looking forward to this report. Great fish and pictures! I can’t wait to sit down and watch the video. Baccarac really is unbelievable.

Medium diving Crankbaits like the Bomber Model A are real effective in late fall around here . Simple to use to . Just beat the banks .

Good luck to you and your fishing party Michael, sounds like a fun trip!

Lol yeah I understand the concept of tabs guys and know the manufacturer states they work with 1/8oz and up, when I mentioned weightless in was reference to others mentioning using non top waters weightless.

Structure: The bottom of the lake with some unusual features that distinguish it from the surrounding bottom area. (Buck Perry) Structure is the bottom of the lake. If you turned over a smooth aluminium bowl and beat it with a heavy object, the resulting bumps and depressions on the inside of the bowl would be comparable to the high spots, ridges, and depressions found on the bottom of structured lakes. (Bill Murphy) All I'm saying is the whole lake bottom is composed of different structures, separated by breaklines. Some structures hold fish certain times of the year, some hold fish all year round, some are rarely/ never visited by fish. Also, I'm pretty sure you don't have to fish on the bottom to fish structure. I do admit I haven't addressed the catching part yet.

yes i have! its a thin lead easy to shave off, get mend it glue or you can melt the plastic back together! on facebook, my buddy is very good at doing these! he has a video on how to do it and what action and sink rate. its pretty cool

Yes they are.

Cabela's is running daily deals for pre-Black Friday sales (http://www.cabelas.com/category/Black-Friday/468246780.uts). Today they have Lew's SuperDuty SpeedSpool reels for $99 ($80 off), and you get a free pair of pliers from Lew's http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=1417844&type=product

There is no chance Jesus would live in Michigan.

This actually how you should fish it, like draggin a football jig. You are mimicking a distracted, feeding baitfish.

I saw a video on YouTube that shows hi vis pink becomes invisible underwater. The guy tied different colored line to frame and dove in. Surprisingly it showed hi vis pink becomes invisible almost immediate and hi vis yellow is the next to disappear with green and red never disappearing just turning black. Ever since I saw that I switched to pink Gliss 20# line and tie straight to the bait. I don't feel I have dropped in productivity and it helps with watching my line.

Well, I drove over to winterize the boat around noon today, and get it ready to go into storage next week...........but took one look at the lake and just had to go fishing. Despite the low 30's air temps, and mid 40's water temps I had a good day of largemouth fishing. Smallmouth have been such a frustrating exercise this fall I didn't even bother with them. No hogs, but a couple 4's, and a couple 3+'s mixed with a few pike and smaller bass to keep me out there for a few hours. Called it quits about 4:30, fogged the motor, took all my gear out, put RV anti freeze in the bilge/livewell, drained the carb, and changed the lower unit oil. All that's left is a trip to the car wash for a hose down/vac job on the way to storage (next weekend), and take the batteries out when I get there. And that's the end of my 2017 season.

Trust nobody, ever. Especially when talking about the outdoors. I've got about half of the county im from convinced that I've shot all my big deer and caught all my big fish from the next county over. Which is not true in the slightest bit.

Caught 4 years ago in the county lake on a nightcrowlaer and float. One of my favorite all time catches of mine, even topping some bass and catfish because of the coloration. I had never seen a red ear/shellcracker colored up that dark and golden-bronze like before, and I've yet to catch another one like that. Oh and he was a pig too, pulled and fought like a bucketmouth!

I believe those are their spawning colors. I've caught some really colored up redears, but they're not super common in our lakes. The sunfish family has got to be one of the tops in appearance though. Most of the redears I catch are colored pretty plainly.