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Got a lot better at skipping jigs and caught some nice fish doing it last year with a cheap old 7’ Berkeley Pro Signature rod. Excited to see what I can do with my new 6’9” Tatula Elite Andy Montgomery Skipping rod!

Before you make your first cast what all are you taking into consideration ? Bait size & type, wind direction, drag and perhaps most importantly, proper spool tension. A-Jay

Tough day. 5 fish in ~4.5 hours. Sunny, windy, and surface temp in the mid 40s. Malnourished 18 incher:

New to me, haven't put either on the water, yet. The Exsense replaces a Stradic Ci4+ FB (which holds it's own). G.Loomis NRX 852s and Shimano Exsense Ci4+ C3000HGM

Thank You Lord! FINALLY! I caught my first and second bass of 2018. Went to Cross Lake, this past Saturday with my sister and brother-in-law, and fished some cypress trees near the bank. My brother-in-law had a 7/8oz white/pearl/silver Booyah buzzbait with a 3.75" green pumpkin Rage Swimmer trailer tied on and I had a black/chartreuse H2O Express hollow body frog tied on. Within about 15-20 mins my brother-in-law caught a 2lb 12oz bass(not pictured). I hadn't even got a bite yet. So I said if they're biting a buzzbait surely they'll bite my chatterbait. Took off the frog and tied on my breaking bream 1/2oz Project Z with the green pumpkin Rage Swimmer trailer. Within my first 5 casts got my first one when a 1lb 12oz bass hammered the Project Z. She put up a little fight and I got awful close to getting wrapped up around a bridge piling. Was able to keep that from happening. A few more casts later another 1lb 12oz bass clobbered the Project Z. This time she came right on in without much fight at all. I'm off today and plan to go back there in hopes of catching a really big girl. Cross Lake recently started stocking the Florida strain. If nothing else, eventually there will be some big big girls in there. Just hope I'm there catching one of them when the time comes.

Distance from Boat Deck to the Trees .....

5 whopper ploppers on an A-Rig. Allen

Got this fish out back a little while ago on a June bug senko. Saw a swirl against the bank across at the neighbors bulkhead and skipped it over, apparently to a bed .This was the female. Caught the smaller buck a couple casts later in the same spot. Saw another guarding a nest out 5 feet or so from my boatramp.

On Saturday I got the bass boat out, updated my maps on my Garmins, and generally made sure everything was good to go. I took the boat out to Smithville Lake today to mainly work with the Depth finders and peruse the lake bottom though I was prepared if I found fish. I only had 4 hours because of plans later. Smithville is 7190 acres so it takes a bit to warm up. Water temperatures varied from 39.5 to 41.5 degrees at the surface and winds were gusting to over 30 mph today. After scoping out some very large points all the way to the river bed at 43 feet and finding little to speak of, I moved to a very large creek and followed its channel. About a quarter mile from what will be the spawning beds in a couple of months, the creek channel bends sharply toward the bank to an area protected from the wind. There is a lot of timber in this lake and the channel edge was lined with it. I had a feeling that this calm water near the bank with 17 feet of water in the channel might be a good spot. I pulled up into about 4 feet of water and cast into the 17 feet deep channel, dragging a finesse jig past the largest tree which was in about 8 feet of water. I didn't feel a bite but you jig guys know how it is when you get that odd feeling of heaviness through your rod, so I set the hook and landed this decent fish. My scale was showing a bit over 6 but then settled in at 5 lb 14 oz. She was 22.5 inches long. And of course I forgot my camera so I had to use my phone. The angle kind of makes her mouth look small but oh well. She was a pretty fish though you can't tell from my pathetic camera skills.

The relationship with you and others along is primary. The rest comes on a need to know basis. They will be best served learning with you than from you. They will care more that you care, than care that you know. Ultimately, fishing should be introduced, supported, and allowed to become their own.

I make a short cast to get my line wet so I don't backlash and check the drag setting. Blew up a few dry line reels before getting into my habit of short cast first. Rarely blindly start fishing and usually go through my launch routine checking water temps and looking for bait and bass visually and sonar unit in the marina to determine where and what depth to start. Weather and seasonal periods are obvious, the water temps confirms it when transitional. Tom

It looked different back then. Maybe it was the haze we were in...

After looking the boat over a number of times at our local Bass Pro and researching the boat online, I put a deposit down this last Saturday. The Tracker rep was very informative about the process, but it sounds like I'll have to wait until at least August before my boat gets built. I suppose I'll have plenty of time to prepare for it. I also mentioned my concerns to the rep about quality being sacrificed for quantity, but he assured me that every boat is being meticulously built just as all Tracker boats have been. I hope this is true. Fingers crossed!

Time of year, weather, water temp, windy or calm? If windy which part of the lake is the wind blowing into, where were the fish last time I was in these weather conditions. Cloudy or sunny? Clear or stained water? The list goes on and on...... Would probably be a better fisherman if I could shut that off once in awhile.

Just got my new crank bait setup today!! Got a Lews BB1 6.4:1 from cabelas. I spooled it up with P-Line floroclear 12lb. And tomorrow I'm receiving my new Dobyns Champion XP 684CB from Tackle Warehouse. I can't wait to test it out on our half unthawed reservoirs!! haha

I have a wonderful ole lady!!!! Bought me 2 new rods today for no apparent reason other then she loves me. A 7'2 medium heavy falcon cara t7 Mike McClelland and a 7'6 lews medium heavy David fritts cranking stick. Lucky me ?

I buy on Ebay all the time. When I'm buying new reels, I stick to the dealers who sell a lot of volume and have very high seller ratings. Never had an issue doing it this way in 10 years. The link below shows what I'm talking about. Ebay Dealer Selling a Daiwa Tatula CT LH This dealer has over 3600 transactions with a 99.99% positive feedback average. I would feel as comfortable buying from him as I would from Tackle Warehouse.

X1000 The wear and tear these guy put their bodies through is huge. Most of the "Senior" anglers have had multiple back, shoulder and arm surgeries as well as hands and knees. Some of the young guns are also having problems with the same things. Most don't understand the torture the trail puts on your body. Heck, even as a guide, if I had over 3 days booked for full 8 hours, at the end of the last trip I was literally on fumes. These guys with the practice, travel and tournament days crush their bodies. What keeps them in the game is to work smarter not harder. I have seen the routine an Elite Series angler goes through from practice all the way through a tournament because he stayed with me the entire time. Have no doubts the grind is real.

Caught my first bass of the season on Thursday before the storm. The fish was a tank which was shocking as the pond I caught it at is a dink factory. I don't think I've broken a pound and a half at this pond before. Hopefully, this means a good spring is in store!

Pretty tough today. Only gotta couple. Waters way up after being way low about 10 days ago. Got this decent one though

It was my last cast tonight from the bank, 30 minutes past sunset. She was 6.4 pounds, nailed via my trusty blue-back Rage Menace grub, Texas-rigged on a 4-0 EWG with an unpegged 1/8 bullet weight. Yahoo!

Hi, I am new to this website and just kinda tripped through the door. I am 68, retired and live in NC. I think I have fished since I was about 3. My most serious fishing was when I was a Jr high age and younger. I am an ex marine doing 4 years between 68-72. I think I have fished for most every US freshwater fish and some salt as well at sometime in my life. My dad was mainly a cat fisherman. He had a simple but good plan and mainly fished Buckeye Lake in Ohio. He used 6lb test line on a zebco metal bodied reel (maybe a 303) but not sure. No weight/sinker or bobber on the line. Strictly bottom fishing. A small trebble hook and catfish charlie as the bait. Even on the bad days we caught fish. Usually we gave away what we caught and we always caught some even when no one else did. Now and then he would use a shyster spinner bait for bass but mostly he would catfish. In my later teen years I fished some creeks north of me in Ohio for smallmouth. Even in some very small creeks. I loved the small mouth fishing. Me and my friend and sometimes his dad would go out after dark in the summer and wade a local river and catch crawdad's (crayfish). We would put them in a fridge overnight and leave to go to the Kokosing River smallmouth fishing. I loved going there. Those smallmouth loved those live crawdads! Since then I have fished a lot of rivers and lakes but probably never quite so seriously as I did as a kid. Later in life I would sometimes drive up to lake Erie and fish off the shore for yellow perch. They are the best eating fish of any I ever ate. Later I bought a boat that I docked up at Erie in the western basin for a few years mainly fishing for Walleye. The lake was often very turbulant and we couldn't always go out but when I could I did. I never had a problem limiting out up there. One rainy cold day in the fall we got onto some perch and though it was rough, cold, wet the Perch hit as soon as your minnow hit the bottom and we often were catching 2 at a time. I had been working for the government at a small Air Force base as a civil servent and they decided to privatize the base so I put in for jobs at other locations and got a job at a base in North Carolina where I live now. Since leaving Ohio I haven't fished very consistantly. I did more hunting than fishing here. But I have fished some both at the coast and at some local lakes like Falls, Buggs Island (Kerr), Lake Johnson, Jorden lake etc. Also the Neuse river, the New river in Va. I caught a citation Smallmouth in the New on a large spinner a few years ago. Most recently I decided I want to get back to fishing more. I bought a fishing Kayak a couple years ago which I used very litte but lately been kinda rednecking it with a better seat, a anchor trolly etc. Just a few days ago I picked up a new garmin Echomap 74SV. I'm working on getting it and the CV51M-TM transducer set up on the yak. I would like to try some Walleye fishning in the new and the Staunton/Roaoke rivers in Va. Not many folks fish for them down here but I don't want to limit myself to just walleye for sure. I'd like to get back to catching some smallies, largmouth, Muskie and probably try my hand at trying to catch one of the HUGE catfish that call Buggs Island their home. I could even go for some spring Crappie fishing. I also just signed up for a lifetime permit to fish in Lake Devlin in Oxford NC. I plan to hit it soon, maybe even tomorrow though it's supposed to rain. I would enjoy meeting some folks that also Kayak fish in my local area. Right now I can't really float the rivers as I don't have a way to get back to my truck and I figure it's always best to fish with someone especially fishing in a yak incase things go south. Anyway if any of you read this far your a better man than me but I thank you. I'll just read the rules. I should have read them before my first post but either way I won't be any trouble. I have no affiliations with any dealers and only came here to learn more and be of help in any small way I can to you all. Thanks and best of luck fishing.

This website has hands down made me a better angler. @Glenn you have put together the best resource center available and the members go out of their way to share wisdom. From members sharing their top secret fishing holes to divulging details on techniques, baits, etc - I have attained lifetime skills that I get to pass onto my children. Just wanted to express my gratitude

told my wife, no more BPS gift cards for me after this year. i even waited til their current online sale to try to get my bulk hooks and plastics but they’re not offered at the sale price this year. i can get them at a better price elsewhere. i will spend my gift card on a pair of work boots this time around and then bid farewell to BPS from this point forward unless things change with them. ?

The SK KVD's are my go-to square bills. They work for me year round, from 50 degree water in early spring, right through summer, and into late fall until the water temps fall back into the mid-low 40's. The come through grass better than any other square bill I have ever tried. I mostly use the 1.5 + 2.5, don't care for the 1.0. It catches too many rock bass, and is difficult to cast on my preferred square bill throwing gear. I have never used the large ones. I keep it simple with colors, usually blue gill, orange belly craw, chart./black back, and chart. sexy shad. Hooks get changed out of the package. #4 Mustad KVD elite triple grips on the 1.5, the same hook in a #2 on the 2.5

I know I sound like a broken record on these Senko posts but........Rigging is everything when it comes to making a Senko last especially if its Texas rigged. I have caught 15 hard fighting smallmouth on 1 senko before. Pay attention to the way you rig it!! It must be straight, you must minimize the hole in the nose when you push the hook up and spin it around (always rig on a wet hook). Pay very close attention to how you push the bait up for skin hooking. Get it right and it will last for multiple fish, get it wrong and you will tear and lose it after every fish. The original Senko, often imitated, never duplicated.

I’ve caught most of my fish with these : Rapala Shad Rap Bill Lewis Rat L-trap Whopper Stopper Bayou Boogie Rapala Fat Rap Storm Wiggle Wart

I was really surprised to find that the reel seat is not an exposed blank ?. For some reason I thought it was. I guess i’ll Find out how I like that

Getting itchy...it's been a long winter!

I went to an Asian herbalist about the flu and respiratory issues. He said an old remedy is to take cork and rub it on your chest to remove the poisons in the body. Soooo.... I bought a brand new Dobyns Extreme 742SF, peeled the plastic off the handle and rubbed in alllllllll over ma bodeeeee. I feel wonderful !!

Lead, like many other heavy metal contaminants, tends to cause problems over time as it is accumulated in the body. Just like any other heavy metal, your body can flush it out given time. The danger comes from it accumulating too quickly for your body to get rid of it. It’s especially dangerous to developing bodies that don’t have the capacity to deal with it (children). I’m not crazy about avoiding lead, but I also don’t put it in my mouth and wash my hands after handling it. In my mind, it’s easy to avoid ingesting it. So, why not just avoid it? Do teeth work for crimping down weights? Sure do, but a pair of pliers work just as well, and I always have them with me when fishing. The ‘we did it and we’re fine’ thing just doesn’t work for me. People didn’t wear seatbelts ‘back in the day’. Guess what, people died. Be smart and live longer.

Depends largely on two things: physical and mental. Physical: How big is the yak; does it have rod storage / holders to manage multiple rods easily, or is it so small that you're fumbling and getting tangled? Mental: Does having a lot of choices make your fishing harder (overwhelmed by too many decisions) or easier (the right combo for the situation is right at hand)? Environment: Are you fishing water that doesn't vary much in terms of structure and species (could get away with fewer rods), or in a single outing are you fishing everything from panfish to big stuff in various conditions - heavy cover, open water, shallows, vegetation, etc. (might need more rods). Oh wait that's three. To answer the original question, for me in a yak in fresh water it's usually 3 combos. New yak has storage for 4 plus 2 holders, so I might go with 4 now. But I'd really like to get down to two. For kicks this season I might spend a day with only one and see what it's like. That's a nice boat and a beautiful body of water.

Wrong picture ?

Have you bought some MEND-IT if not do so it will save you $$$$ on those senkos.

Don, the anticipation and excitement of your son is more than worth the price of the boat. Have a great summer.

This is the fattest 3.25 lb bass I've ever seen, of course it had just a fingernail sized portion of a trout tail sticking out of its throat. Without the trout probably 2.25 to 2.5

I bet that happens! haha! Congrats man!

Just got the call from Bass Pro … my boat is in . Scheduled to sign for it on Saturday.

I'd better change my career. I caught another PB today not bass but d**n CARP. It weight at 24 lbs, snag on Husky Jerk 10. Thanks to my tatula 6'10 MHF and scorpion 70 I can steer him out of tree and brushes, believe me this beast pulled my Jon boat everywhere. oh thanks to two kayakers who lend me his net and snap this photo for me.

I can't find any retailers near me who sell 6th sense, so I put in a small order to try out a couple items. With spring around the corner, I wanted some more craw patterns. The baits even came in a little re-usable 6th sense drawstring cloth baggie:

When every coat, jacket, windbreaker you own has soft plastics in the pocket.

I fished Friday and saturday, first time back in awhile. I started my day in Back of Negreet. It was chocalate milk. Picked up a few in about 6" of water along the creeks. Traveled to Slaughter with not 1 bite, Water was clear here. Left and went to Palo Gauco. The water was chocalate in the back we caught a few in the back and trolled towards the clear water. I couldn't catch a fish in the clear water. Ended back in the button woods in the negreet that evening. We ended up with around 10 keepers. Caught a ton smaller fish around 13". All our fish was on 3 baits Baby brush hog, Spinner bait and Chatter bait (biggest Producer). My step dad hung one about 8lbs (guess), She jump up and spit it after about 5 seconds. It was on a flat about 1' deep (i thought). Saturday morning i went back and found out it was a 8' creek channel running through there. I'm guessing she was staging. All the fish were very close to cover. Most was in the flooded bushes. Saturday I only fished about 2 hrs. Only caught six and not 1 of them was over 14". Don't really understand the water clarity thing. I would have thought cleaner water would have been the ticket but i couldn't buy a bite in clean water. Anyway i'll be up there sunday to stay for a week. Sure hope this colder weather don't throw a loop in my plans.

Much better. Last round of medication was last night. Feeling good enough to hook up to the boat and try to get back on the water today!

Probably a tree pounder!

If neither is option I'd get a visa gift card and buy stuff from places like TW or other online shops. Most times that I go to BPS or Cabelas with the intent of buying a specific item I leave dissapointed, either because I couldn't find it or because it was marked up compared to TW.

You said it. If you could get a straight visa/MasterCard, I'd rather give it to TW or @Siebert Outdoors.

Tax return setup. Mb white python and ryoga 1016. Need to get it strung up and tested.

I read "Impala" & thought ?