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My grandson Aiden has definitely up his game this year! He beat his Uncle Charlie Saturday & smoked me to day! Top picture is today!

I threw her back at the boat launch. Ain't she pretty though.

Y'all seriously need to learn how to cast! ?

Saturday was a fun day back at home on the power plant lake! Air temps stayed in the 30s but the fish don't know anything about that. My little brother and I caught fish on; swimjig, chatterbait, jerkbait, flipping jig, wiggle wart, bandit 300, 4" line-thru swimbait, shakey head, and a ned rig! Ice appears to have checked out here in WV so I will be back after it in the kayak starting about.....NOW

What boat, I just see a field of dried grass...

Mine is Lacassine Wildlife Refuge (16,500 acres), a shallow water marsh (18-24") that is extremely clear with tons of various types of vegetation. The marsh is federally owned & is only open from March 15 through October 15. Opens daily at 30 minutes before sunrise till 30 minutes after sunset. After being decimated by hurricanes Katrina, Rita, & Ike wildlife & fisheries has stocked 50-60,000 Florida bass yearly. This marsh is so fickled the locals call it lack-a-sense because one has to have a lack of sense to fish it! I've fished this marsh on & off since I was 7, I'm now 67! I've been skunked on this marsh more than any place on earth, if it wasn't for the 5 DD bass I've caught there I probably wouldn't fish it.

At first glance, I thought this said 360 XBox. I thought to myself, that's an odd item to bring fishing... #LongWinter

Just got home with boat,love it.no pics yet.over 2 hour drive home and cover worked beautifully stayed tight ,no flap.bought bps mercury motor cover,looks sharp same color,fabric and white logo,also works great.got home right at dark so could'nt go through and get pics.just glad to have it home.to everyone still waiting hang in there it will all become real soon.So worth the wait.mine was first heritage delivered in oregon.

Have you tried a chatter bait. Puts off a ton of vibration. Cold muddy water is tough, but it’s tough for everyone.

Here's my baby! Saw her tonight for the first time. Bought some goodies for her too! Will take her home in a couple weeks or so.

Everythingthatswims, that is an impressive bunch of bass you got Saturday! Better than I've ever done on a long day on Lake Okeechobee, and with a winning smile to match those handfuls of goodies! Congratulations! Anyway, I fished the bank for an hour today after work, and everybody there loved the taste of my dark blue SK Menace grub. It was sucked down by a beefy bass, then by a beautiful Mayan cichlid, followed by a gorgeous blue tilapia, all within 29 minutes.

Caught this beauty this holiday weekend.

Get your punching rod and gear out ?

That's great! Since my posting I sent an email to the local Tracker Boats Sales Mgr - And the Sales Mgr replied - So those who are still on the fence, as an added bonus you will get an additional 3 years added to your 2 year warranty on the motor if you order buy 3/31/18. PS I'm not a salesman, just a buyer who loves freebies.

Lucky Craft Kelly J prop bait & Kelly J Jr. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Lucky_Craft_Kelly_J_Prop_Baits/descpage-LCKJ.html

Don't see no chartreuse ?

Cassidee is not impressed with the slick deck and sharp grass.

Ordered a set of Ultimate Bunk Boards for the trailer on Monday. Had them on my Roughneck trailer and liked them. Very nice for unloading on shallow ramps common on little lakes and rivers. Tried my hand at a camo paint job on the boat after watching several Youtube videos, turned out pretty well for my first time doing it.

Do your homework. Rising, muddy water will put fish in a survival mode. Security is what drives them, so look for big cover as they'll be tight to the best lay downs, boulders, etc. Newly flooded timber is another prime type of cover . Unless the only cover available is vegetation or newly flooded brush. I'd stick with those targets. Those fish won't be chasing down your baits, so you'll likely need to hit them on the head to get a reaction. With that water clarity. you'll need something to cover water and bang into the cover. A spinnerbait with an Indiana or Colorado blade is great for most any cover. Make it a black one and be sure to bump the cover with it. Same goes for a fat crank bait with rattles. It'll move a lot of water and deflect well off the hard types of cover. This condition and night fishing are the only times I rely on a steady retrieve.

Your sonar works in off color water, use it. The 1st task is locate where the bass are and how deep before you select a lure. The bass should be in pre spawn and I would be using bottom crawdad type lures like jigs and deep diving crankbaits that contact the bottom in dark colors with contrasting highlites that make noise. Tom

KVD swears by HydroWave technology But what does he know about bass ?

I was bitten pretty hard today, but it’s a nice upgrade. Sold the Helix 5 off the bow, moving the 9 up there and this guys going on the console.

Only lasts about 3 weeks if you use it to brush your teeth.

Nose hooking is running the hook point about 1/4" behind the nose or front end. You push a tooth pick through the both sides of the soft plastic nose end about 3/16" back from the nose, then clip off the ends flush to the plastic. The hook is placed behind the tooth pick that acts like a cross bar preventing the hook from tearing out. Tom

Using pork rind as trailers for bass, pike and musky lures dates back nearly 100 years and it's a shame to see it disappear. I could write a tutorial using pork rind; how to make it, what shapes work, how to trim it for different action, dyes to use, methods to soften and increase it's floatation but it would be a historical article as very few bass angler use it today. Pork rind hasn't lost it's effectiveness, it lost it's appeal and popularity because it smells, dries up and comes in boring colors that can't compete with soft plastics. I still fish a jig n pig every outing with good success. Tom

Here is my latest crankbait that I finished last night. I am new to painting baits so any critiques would be appreciated.

I have a couple of friends who have caught bunches of big bass at an oxbow lake protected by a levee .Only big fish I have caught there are dogfish .

Yes. I have one where my only success has been summer night-time fishing. During that time, in a 2 hour window that I've studied and got to know well, I can haul in 15+. During the day, the lake makes me question everything about humanity. I'm lucky to catch 1 or 2 all day. I will figure it out this year. **To note, this is a huge sports lake in the area which is why I've often made the excuse that that is why the nighttime fishing is always better. And it may be, but even on continuous days of no boat activity, I still get skunked at times. More often than any other body of water.

I absolutely do - A body of water near me has kicked my butt most days for 7 or 8 years. I could get a few early & late season (and at night in the summer) but after & before that, it was tough sledding. In fact my wife labeled it "The Dead Sea" . . . Hated it - but like a Freak, I kept going, determined to unlock the secret (whatever the heck that means). But - and this is a big but - The State opened up C & R bass here All Season - so I can fish at ice out. Game. Changer. Right off the bat, I started fishing areas I had not previously. First year out, I found the bass right away and have been able to stay with them most ALL SEASON ! Turns out, my approach & timing was off quite a bit. But it's like a whole new lake now & easily one of my favorites. Best part is two fold, it's close & no one else fishes it because 'the fishing's bad there'. Keep at it - you'll get it done. And when you do, your success will be most satisfying. A-Jay

Got it in yesterday, and WOW. It looks even better in person... I can't wait to see my smallie he's doing as we speak... Mad props to Dave Campbell, his work is PHENOMINAL!!! My largemouth made his website for an example of his "master grade" work. The first three pics are of the completed mount before he shipped it. The last pic with blue wall is her final resting spot in my office!

The 7" in bone is what you want

gee, only 5? remember how much fun we had as kids. when we were lucky to have just one

Anyone that's looking for open water needs to get out on one of our powerplant lakes. Went to Coffeen with a friend and caught some fish last week, it was a good time!

One of my main baits in cold, muddy water is a 1/2oz spinnerbait, white or chartreuse, with tandem Colorado blades, a red or orange front blade, and a big #5 or bigger copper or painted main blade. I'll usually put a bulky trailer on it also to allow me to retrieve it as slowly as possible. Run it by any kind of cover, multiple times by likely holding areas.

I can't stand him. He's always so negative and self loathing. Soooooooooo Is lake Menderchuck somewhere around Alpena?????

Most fish and ski's do neither well

Found my preceious. The bait monkey is now the bait silver back

Same snobs who scoff at us kayakers... Just unhappy people who worry more about others or need to justify what they have by putting down others... Can we all just "fish" along

I pick it up Thursday!! That makes exactly 5 weeks for me. Not to bad I guess.

And pics from all these 1st time boaters at the ramp... during a weekday... all Heritages. You know there will be some bass boat profiling, people see a Heritage and think "Noob" lol.

Wasn't actually planning on fishing today, I was home for the weekend from school but had an hour or so of free time before I needed to get on the road and decided to take my kayak out. I made a good choice! Yesterday was my first time fishing a wiggle wart, I was on a power plant lake with a ton of fish so the bites were guaranteed. I guess I learned enough from that to put it to use in the cold muddy water today! She went 7.01lbs and was a very healthy fish, I've never had one fight that hard in the cold. I really did think I had a carp for quite some time until I saw the fish!

Hey -- Florida checking in! Just got mine tonight. Super pumped to get back to bassin' Great size for the wife to hang out on the deck on a cruise, or for teaching the boy how to reel in a lunker from the grass. I see great memories in this boat! This boat feels sturdy, carpet is plush. I got to check one out at the showroom.

From what I've read, research into bass hearing capabilities has suggested that bass have a limited range of hearing. And it turns out they can't hear high frequency sounds -like the little b-b's in most "rattle-baits". This is especially so in shallow "soft" places (mud, weeds) that restrict and absorb sound. Apparently sound isn't terribly directional underwater either. Bass should be able to hear the lower pitched thuds from larger "knockers", but then, what do they make of them? What bass fishers tend to say is that different lures give different sounds and... sometimes... -some work better than others (how you'd know its the sound I question), and bass can get conditioned against some such lures (again, how you'd know it's the sound I am still left to wonder).

Winter steelhead fishing one of the tributaries on the northern Oregon coast.

Went today for 4 hours first real trip of the year here in southern Ill. Buddy caught one just under 2 pounds. And I caught 2 with one just over 2 pounds and this 6 pound stud. Smaller fish on chatterbaits and the big one here on a h20 express lipless crank.

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Picked this up last month on sale from Ebay. I wasn't feeling my Cardiff + Okuma Guide Select combo anymore so decided to change things up. I am VERY impressed so far with both the reel and rod. I was able to make 50 yard casts effortlessly. Spooled it up with some P-Line PF Original 20lb and the reel had plenty of line capacity.

I just got “THE CALL”, my ship has arrived!

Went to drop a Slammer off for new paint at a friend's house last night. He had a surprise I'd forgotten I even asked for.

In 2017 I fished VA, WV, NC, TN, AL, MN, IN, OH, PA, and MD. The combination of living at school relatively close to several state borders and fishing college tournaments gives me a chance to fish in a lot of different places! But my goodness is that a lot of $ in licenses. Just added LA and TX to my bass state list last week