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Felt good to catch this 6lbr today. Been awhile since I been out here to the hidden lake.

I have had a camper at a camper park that is on backwater of the Mississippi river for about ten years now . There was this kid who befriended me because I fished and he liked to fish with me . I bought him a cheap spincast combo one day and he was thrilled . They left a few years ago but we remained friends on Facebook . He is having a rough time with other kids and I just found out his parents are getting divorced. He just graduated mid term .I'm going to make his day and give him good rod and reel that I havent used in several years .

My 1st DD bass was caught Easter holiday at lake Havasu Roads End Camp dock on a live water dog (tiger salamander) 11 lbs in 1957, the bass was released as it was the pet fish according to the dock man. 2nd was in 1958 at lake Sherwood on a jig, the bass was 10 lbs 1 oz. 3rd in 1959 at Livingston's rock quarry lake (private) on a Pikie jointed plug, 12 lbs. Nearly a decade goes by before 1967 when I caught a 14 lb 3 oz Lower Otay on a live crawdad. By 1971 fishing the Florida strain LMB in San Deigo city lakes, I logged 100 DD LMB on crawdads, waterdogs and live mud suckers to 14 lbs 7 oz. I decide live bait fishing for bass to be unsporting and swear off using it. 1971 my PB northern strain LMB 12 lbs 4 oz at lake Casitas on a jig. 1981 I catch a 18 lb 11 oz FLMB at lake Casitas on the same jig as my PM NLMB, this fish stands as my PB for over 12 years when I catch 58 bass between 15 lbs to 17.6 lbs at lakes Casitas and Castiac. March 3, 1993 I catch my 19.3lb FLMB on a jig at lake Castiac, my new PB....24 years ago! Tom

A lucky year for me. Filled my bow tag and my late season muzzy tag, havent done that very much. It has been frigid here in Iowa and only supposed to get colder. Glad I don't have too sit out there anymore! We had this guy on trail cam in august. Shot him at 8:45 this morning at about 60 yards and dropped him.

First want to show you the perfect winter boat ramp conditions.....then you get to see some of the fish we caught.....was an amazing day....truly a gift from above. (Testing)

What's the best rod? I want to throw big swimbaits, micro cranks, and unweighted senkos. I also like to bobber fish for crappie. My scale broke. How much does this one weigh?

I got out again yesterday around 4. I decided to fish the North east to east side of the lake , which has usually been the least productive part of the lake. Conditions were cloudy , cool , and almost calm.I caught this fish within 10 minutes after starting on the trick worm , and caught a few more before dark.

Magilla swings the other way ~ A-Jay

Caught these last Friday. First crappie I've caught in a couple years and the first I've caught on purpose since I was a kid. Pretty fun jigging docks and fantastic table fare ?

Final trip of the year on Christmas Day. An inch of snow the day before, then 20 degrees Monday with 15+ mph North winds. Was curious to see if I could catch one under those conditions. Wound up with 6 Wind died overnight and our high today was 11 deg., so everything locked up on us.

New Year's resolution number 1- Try to be more patie....nevermind, this is taking too long.

The number that comes after twelve

OK I'll bite. one sign no one pays attention to one guy who shouldn't be fishing naked one thing worse than jet skies

Got out for a couple hours yesterday evening and caught a few COLD river bass. Water temps are in the upper 30s but it's not that hard to catch them when you know where they live and are willing to go sllllowwwww. They were hitting the bait when it had been stationary for 5-10 seconds. One on a finesse football jig and 4 on a tiny little tube. I think this makes 4 years in a row now that I've bank fished that river on Christmas day and caught bass, somewhat of a tradition now!

Your gift may make all the difference in the world to him. Very thoughtful of you!

That's awesome man. Some kids out there have it much worse than what they deserve. I think I speak for all of us in saying thanks for being a positive influence in this kid's life.

When is the next TW sale?

We don't discuss the most top secret drop shot bait out there...

Christmas present from my sister...

Hmmmmmm....interesting topic. I wonder if northerner's have more time to think of the "fishing" related goals.

Lose at least 20 pounds and keep it off.

Change your avatar photo from a spinner bait to a jerk bait. Tom

Zoom Super - .285oz, or around 1/4 to 5/16 Yammie D-Shad - .358oz, or around 5/16 to 3/8 The SK one who's name I forget - .424oz, or just under 7/16 5" Senko - .345oz, or around 5/16 to 3/8

Mark Davis and not because he's from my hometown or the fact we fish against each other occasionally or because my best friend has his boat from last year or because he helps out our high school team so much.....Well maybe a lil of all that lol

You can tell it's winter once again. We're back onto topics like this.

I'm off from work all week. I always do some home projects and fishing (Sometimes hunting ) the week after Christmas. So I got a good start on the outdoor stuff and quit around 2.30. On the water by 3 or so. Bright , sunny skies , windy , and cool. First 2 hours = 1 fish on a watermelon red super fluke. Worked my way to the south end and decided to fish the windy side. It got completely cloudy by then and colder.Caught 7 along there in the wind on the wat. red trick worm. The bite slowed near dark , so I switched to june bug -same worm. Before I started for home I fished a spot around a point from the wind where they bite good often there right at dark. Picked off 2 more, including this 4 pounder.( 2nd fish picture ) Good way to start a vacation !

Santa came through with BPS gift cards so I decided to try the new Carbonlite 2.0 you recommended. Call our store (65 miles South) to ensure they had them and bummer, all sold out already. Hopped on line and they have them with free shipping. The wife says what is the hurry it is 12 above. This will replace my last 15 year old Extreme, which now feels like it weighs a ton. The old rod will go to a kids fishing program. I am curious to see if they are lighter than the current 4.0 oz for the 7' MH bait caster.

Air still cold, water temp 50 on this lake. Fished all day for 5-6 but still worth it! Fun times, caught mine with gulp minnow and rage tail menace t rig. buddy used a swimming fluke

Anybody on here musicians? I play guitar and have been messing with the mandolin. Love classic country and bluegrass. One of my favorite guitar pickers is Jerry Reed, and my favorite mandolin picker is Bill Monroe of course. LOL!

I bought a bag of Z-Nails about 12 years ago that was in the BPS clearance bin. The next morning I went out pond hopping and cleaned up on bass while no one else was catching. On the way home I stopped by BPS and picked up 6 more bags. This is my last one that is still usable.

So far 2 of them have been let out of the bag. Should be available about March. A new ryoga 1016 and the sv light. Which seems to be a special edition (Tn limited) ss sv with 32mm air spool.

The double tunnel hull on the Commander 140/120 is very stable. With two seating options, seat and captan's perch, it's very comfortable to fish from and offers more stability than you'd ever need.

Usually to the side. It has a tendency to go upward even with a sideways twitch. I also occasionally catch one just reeling it in across vegetation. I fish them all year but I probably use them more from spring to early fall.

I caught a bass on the sweet one, T-rigged weightless. But I was thinking that the sour short ones would be a good trailer for this bait.

A very common recipe for disaster around here is: Idiots + booze = hilarity ensues at the ramp.

I play 5- string banjo in the Scruggs style. I love bluegrass, bluegrass gospel , and old-time music. And some of the old country. I love Jerry Reed as well. Favorite bluegrass band is the Stanley brothers and Ralph Stanley and the Clinch mtn. boys. but I love Flatt and Scruggs , and Bill Monroe, esp. his instrumentals. And Ricky Skaags , Alison Krause to name a few. Also a wide- range of others. I could talk for hours on this subject! I haven't met hardly anyone that listens to the old time mountain music ( where bluegrass came from ) , but I love it as well. A lot of these musicians are fairly obscure ( or dead ) but you tube has opened up a lot of it that you couldn't have heard before.

I always set the parking brake, no matter how much I think I don't need it.

Can't decide. Might be... or maybe.....

I use spinning primarily , but have used flukes with bait casters. Zoom super flukes will cast fine with your gear. I Texas rig them and use no weight. I use a 3/0 wide angle gamakatsu hook. I catch most of my fish just throwing it out and letting it sink.Let it sit for 20 seconds or more. If they don't want it that way , after letting it sit , twitch twice and pause and repeat. I use primarily watermelon colors but have others in my fluke box.

Your best bet is to find a demo day, or a find someone on a local forum who will let you demo their boat for a six pack or whatever. As for a stable, lighter yak, I have a Native Slayer 10. It is 10' long and ~35" wide and weighs around 60lb without the peddle drive or seat. It a great little yak, very stable. The only issues with it are, 1) Any kind of wind spins it all over, it is like a plastic bathtub, and 2) the width makes it a little tricky to load/unload and to get my cart strapped on. They are also pretty expensive, but are really nice to fish from.

They were pretty aggressive today for 38 degree water. Was throwing my go to red lipless and a few other baits. Part of the lake still had ice and I saw some bass swim under the ice in the clear water. Threw the lipless and swimbaits right where the open water and the ice met and caught a bunch that way. They were not lethargic while reeling them in or at boatside as they were thrashing all around. Ended up catching 12 bass, 3 big pickerel, had another couple big ones follow the bait to the boat and turn around, and one big yellow perch. Going to chase after them tomorrow as our weather is taking a dive next week.

I cast right and reel right because that how I started fishing 60 years ago. It feels weird to crank a baitcaster left handed, yet I do it with my spinning rig just fine. I tried moving the crank on my spinning reel to the right, but I just can't cast lefty, nor does it feel comfortable to open and close the bail with my right hand. No logic to that, just how it is.

Nice Bass ~ ! Even got one with Stripes - and a big one at that. Congrats A-Jay btw - must have been some kind of cold - your hands were turning blue . . .

I picked one, but then I forgot what I picked.

An official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle!

Here We Go . . . . .! A-Jay

@A-Jay & @roadwarrior Wonder if we have any deserving youngster or needy anglers on the board? Might have to purge a few tackle boxes?

I don't need that Ryoga, but I want that Ryoga.