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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 .

I am fortunate to reside near 20 lakes over 3,000 acres and dozens smaller within an hours drive. This year I fished as many as I could. That was a challenge in itself. These lakes have some dynamite bass fishing. Some days I get a few, some days I don't; great memories either way. This was my first full year fishing out of the Lund 1875 Pro V Bass Boat and it was all I could have hoped for. I am indeed a Lucky Man. Ice out can not come soon enough. A-Jay https://www.facebook.com/life.at.the.45th.parallel/media_set?set=a.1587883044624886.1073741843.100002096185350&type=3

Was planning to go again today after finishing a 5 hour project. So I had everything ready to go around 2:30 And my wife says " Can you pick up some pizza for supper at 4 ? " I tried to cover my aggravation with her request. I'm thinking, I already did all this work and now this ? Anyway , I got it a little early and got on the water by 4.Cold for here, cloudy,and slick calm. Decided to start fishing east side of the island. Got this fish on a watermelon seed ol' monster off a brush pile, and another on a 4 inch Senko. Caught a 10 inch fish on the 10 inch ol monster , then a short time later had a big un follow and engulf it. Must have not had it all the way in his mouth , because I swung and missed. Then, the bite pretty much died for the last half hour.

Christmas present from my sister...

So I have been reading this post off and on for over a year. I have to say thank you for starting this post. It allowed me to understand structure and start to learn how to fish structure and not just shoreline cover. After 1 year and 3 months of pecking away at fishing offshore it finally clicked in my brain, and the funny thing is i forgot my paper map and navionics chip at home. I think this forced me to graph longer and also visualize what was actually going on under the surface as appose to just following contours, and saying this is where the fish should be. Where i normally would graph 20 minutes it forced me to graph over an hour picking up dozens of weigh point. I then went through and started eliminating them one by one till i hit 2-4 schools that where active. I then went out running different water to make sure it wasn't just a fluke, and i met success. I have to thank Catt and the others that frequently post. Your willingness to provide information has helped me and given me some confidence that i can get away from the bank. So here is the report. Mouth of housen water temp around 49-51 degrees Fish where caught in 20-35 fow Baits/techniques: Biggest fish came off of 4-5, 4-6 pound fish Drop shot: 3/8 oz weight 2/0 hoot 4 or 6 inch pb&j robo worm. Had to down size my line from 10 lb floro to 7 lb floro. The bite went from 1-2 bites every 30 minutes to 4-5. Really had to soak the drop shot Jigging spoon/flutter spoon in gizzard shad color. All in all caught around 30 fish. Pictures and more reports to come.

While I probably deserved coal or walnuts in my Xmas stocking, Santa had other idea's.

Scarlett Johansson

@JustJames, I figured out why you disguise your face in the photos, you're hiding from your wife! Have a great 2018!

Dang it, the bait monkey jumped up and bit me *total Forrest Gump reference* And i still plan on posting pictures when it comes in.

I was killing time in a a local used tackle shop in town and saw these. The plug, I can't fully identify but the Worths bait I distinctly remember from 1980 to 1982-ish. I remember Stan Fagerstrom featuring it in a sports column.

Maybe Bassmaster Fred, who rarely has free time, will find some next spring to throw some hair at a smallie or two. The box is a Plano 3607 with 1" foam in the bottom which is slit every 1/2". The 1/4" foam in the top will keep the jigs in place in a chop.

I never tire of seeing your jigs Will, very well done sir!!!!!!!

We are good here in north Louisiana. Just trying to stay warm. You think it’s worth making a trip next week, or stay home and stay warm?

It's like a Power Bar, but instead of being like kinda gross taffy, it is more like a kinda gross cookie.

5 years Air Force Reserve

That's awesome of you to do. Fishing can go a long ways to keep kids out of trouble, I honestly believe it did for me. I had 2 really close friends I did everything with growing up. We always fished together until we got to be mid teens when they got away from it but I kept going. One is dead from a drug deal gone wrong, the other is in MDOC for a long time for dealing meth. I can only imagine what would have happened if I had followed them away from the sport. Hopefully it gives him something good to get his mind off everything going on in his life and can help him realize that everything is not all bad.

i vow to fish 365 days of the year. My wife vows to not kill me.

thats a nice fish! surly it will give you fishing fever for at least a couple of more weeks ! go back to the days of ma and paw kettle ,one of his favorite sayings was "one of these days ma" keep on entertaining ! if you get tired of fishing and want to start trading , I got 4 inches of snow i'll trade for one good bass

Awesome in our fast paced world we often forget to mentor the younger generation. We are all guilty of judging everything by money, when the most precious gift we have is our time and attention. For a young kid to have the ear of someone not involved directly in his exploding world is a major positive. Perhaps the most important calming influence in his life. Not only that, but since you have stayed involved with him, perhaps somewhere in the future you will get to fish together again. There is no way you can have too many fishing partners in life.

I gave him a choice of the rod pictured or a Falcon Bucco and Bass Pro Extreme reel . He took the Falcon and Extreme .

Sometimes, a nice gesture and an open ear is all it takes to literally save a life. Good work man.

good man

S-waiver 168 and 200 to start. 8" trash fish Huddleston gets a lot of love but I have never had a bite. Piz customs shadly or drift. Mattlures gills 9" slammer 2 piece Those are enough to get started at minimal cost most under 100. Three main lines for sb are Berkeley big game, p-line cxx and yhb. I run the 168 on 15 yhb over 2 oz step up to 20.

No. Where I fish it's sparse cover with mostly deep rock structure where bass are targeting swimbaits. I use Sunline Defier Armilo Nylon 25 lb mono. Tom

Flipping, pitching, & frogging ?

I could do a lot of damage with swimbaits as long as I have my 7" Slammer and 185 Shine Glide. Neither is real expensive and both can are in the size range you listed. The 168 S-Waver, Bull Shad, Savage Gear line through trout and gills, and Savage Gear Glide Swimmers are also solid baits in your desired range.

I recently started experimenting with big swimbaits last season and I’ve had decent success on a 6” Bull Shad by Mike Bucca. I throw it on a 7’9 MH (1-5oz) Dobyns Fury swimbait rod. At $120 it doesn’t break the bank and it’s been more than enough for my purposes. Can’t speak much for other baits... yet!

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

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.

A couple small jerkbaits from Japan.

Better outdoor lighting on the reels that arrived yesterday (and the Steez rod which I picked up yesterday for a great deal!) It's currently 13 degrees here with a -4 wind chill! I can't wait to fish these two outfits when the warmer weather rolls around!

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)

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

fish better than pizza! we are getting more snow tonight. isn't there a law that says when you get old that you are supposed to go south for the winter? nice fish.

Saw a guy dump a brand new 25ft pocket cruiser in a gravel parking lot. He unhooked the transom straps and apparently the bow strap on his roller trailer. Pulled forward and down she went. I was almost a casualty 20 years ago or so. I had a 2wd stick shift truck and I forgot to undo the transom straps. The boat floated the trailer and pulled all the weight off the rear wheels. I couldn't get out of the truck because had I took my foot off the brake she would have went in. The ramp was at a riverfront bar. I had either the wife or the kid go into the bar and find somebody to pull me out.

My thoughts are I was fishing everyday for months. Wearing polarized glasses while I’m fishing. I fish manmade dams were droppoffs are. While my pb is 10# I have seen bigger bass swim by me. These bigger gals appear like ghosts then there gone. I lost a few I poked too. My thoughts are if we have bigger bass here in ct then every body of water to the north and south must hold bigger bass. It’s impossible to target bigger bass. But stay going and being constant should pay off. I was just bass fishing having fun. I didn’t care about the size. Once I left the crowds fishing in the evenings and fished in the early mornings when it was quiet the bigger gals show up.

I was told the north end of the body of water warms up first because it gets the suns heat first, the suns heat longer. Now where are your spawning beds located. One of my local spots had a low water level. And the beds were located in the north end, small body of water. on the coldest of nights my 7 cats have circled their wagons around my Woodstove. Predators are drawn to the heat. Or warmth. Cats are very similar to bass in their actions. Lol that’s all I’m going to say about that.......he....he.... All I’m going to say is in the spring while the rest of the body of water is cooler the north end warms up first.

Here's my read: I ain't into the technical stuff. I just want a knot that I can tie in hurry and have confidence in. I figure that the guys on the BASS and FLW tours are in the same boat, so I watch what they do. Even a techno geek like Aaron Martens ties an Alberto or a Uni to Uni. I tie either one depending on the mood I'm in. I've drug a lot trees out of Lake Truman with either of those knots. They work. I can tie either in the rain, snow, driving wind, or all three with either hand. Swindle ties a double cinch (it's "cinch" not "clinch")at the hook. I tie the double improved cinch. Never fails. It's about fishing and catching fish. Now, I must admit, this applies only to bass fishing. I don't chase tuna or even muskies for that matter.

First, This ^. I fished from a 12' jon almost exclusively when we were in NY. Threw it on top of the Jeep Cherokee, without struggling or scratching the wagon. Got a trailer for it a few years ago, and don't use it nearly as much any more (sucks getting old). Anyway, Here's my $.02: Don't try to fish it like a bass boat. You want to either line up and drift with wind/current, anchor, or use the transom trolling motor and back troll (I used a long bamboo calcutta as a power pole, long before there was such a thing). Depending on where and conditions, all can be very effective. Will you wish you were in a bass boat in large water? yeah, but in smaller bodies of water, once you figure it out, it will sometimes be an advantage.

Kate Upton

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.

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!

Took my cousin Dax bank fishing today. He caught more fish than I did, using a Texas rigged worm. The best part was watching him set the hook like a pro!

Weather has been trash lately. Plus I work retail and during crazy season it’s been keeping me from doing what I love. But it I did get on my inlaws’ farm pond for an hour or so today for some Christmas Eve bass. I hope everyone has Merry Christmas!

that should have been supper!! merry Christmas my friend ! you are fishing while I am freezing WOW!! great fish! jealous of your warm weather

I took a girl out on my canoe for our first date on a hot summer day. She had only been fishing a couple of times before and never in a canoe. We paddle out to this spot and she can see something in the water. She stands up and leans over to take a look. Like the idiot I am, I purposely shake the canoe a little and she goes in head first. She's terrified, I'm laughing and trying to keep her calm so she dont tip the whole canoe over. She finally gets in and we ended up having a great day. She kept apologizing and I kept telling her it was all good and it would be a great story for us. I meet the parents later that night and she tells the story to her mom and dad. Her dad takes one look at me and says I bet he dumped you in on purpose. (I didn't fess up until later that I may have caused the canoe to rock at the same time she was leaning over) We ended up being friends and had a laugh or twenty about it over the years.

I have caught several bass over 10 pounds in my home state of Florida, all weighed on a scale, all from land in public waters, all caught by myself with no guide putting me on fish. I feel its much more rewarding to catch your own trophy bass , but thats just me.

2 over 10, 14-2,12-6 Florida.

Been very fortune to catch a handful of green bass over 10 lbs. All were in Mexico. As for the state - I was in a state of Hysteria ~ Every Time. (still looking for a brown one . . . . ) A-Jay

Quite a few back in the days before I owned a scale.