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Ur wise above your years for not taking something you enjoy for granted. But if being in college and the military is the culprit of stealing ur time, then you my man are someone with direction and a future. Thanx for your service and when u get a chance to hit the water, do so.

You better strap in for a story because this is gonna be a long one. I spent the last 5 days on the northern end of Kentucky Lake. You would think that at one of the best fisheries in the world, early March would be a slugfest, but that was NOT the case. Winter pool on Kentucky Lake is 354', summer pool is 359'. Practice started at 361', and rose every day to reach 364' during the event. Had this happened in April, it would have been incredible fishing, but since it was still early and water temperatures were cool, it made fishing very difficult. I started off in practice fishing secondary points, mainly cranking rock, targeting fish that were starting to stage for prespawn, and fish that had moved in from the main lake to get out of the current, it was so strong that you could see eddies on main lake points. I caught tons of fish and it was very predictable, but they were ALL 10-13" long, super tiny. A keeper on Kentucky lake is 15". Water temperature was around 53-56 depending on where you were, my second plan of attack was to target the warmest water I could find, and flip flooded brush and trees. There would be acres of flooded forest in the backs of most creeks and pockets. I was able to access the backs of these because I was fishing in a 17' aluminum boat. I caught tons of fish, but still only tiny ones. My first full day of practice produced NO keepers . On day two of practice I did some more cranking, and still could not catch a keeper doing it. Most people I had talked to said they only got *** keeper bites day one of practice, and it was all over the place. I scrambled and scrambled, looking for any little trail of breadcrumbs but there was nothing. I finally got my first keeper bite, and it was a big ol' 5lber, flipping the exact same stuff as the day before. Not really a clue but I did my best to roll with it. I caught a 3lber later that day doing something kind of similar, and tried to expand on it the next day. Day 3 of practice was pretty similar to day two. Two keepers, one was a 5lber, both were in flooded brush/trees. One was in 6" of water, the other in 6'. The keepers were right alongside the short fish, and it seemed like you had to catch 10 or 15 shorts for every keeper. I started marking waypoints where we caught shorts, hoping that bigger fish were on their way in with the rising water. On the first tournament day, I decided I was gonna put my head down and flip the whole time. I didn't think I would get 5 bites, but if I did, I knew I'd have a nice bag of fish. The day started off pretty well, I put a keeper in the boat in the first 30 minutes, and caught several shorts. I had changed from the jig to a t-rigged D-Bomb, my friend had done well with it in the same area in practice, and it came through the hay, briars, and buck brush a lot better. Things slowed way down after that first keeper, and at 11:00, I still only had one fish. The wind had picked up and the sun was bright. I changed from a 1/4oz tungsten to a 1/2 oz and started dropping my d-bomb right in the middle of the thick stuff. I caught a skinny little 15&1/4 incher pretty quick, and that was a huge morale booster, I was glad to have him. I continued "punching" into briar patches and other crazy stuff, and I started whacking the short fish. I was going at a rate of about a fish every 5 minutes, but they were still tiny. I was yo-yoing the bait in the brush like how people fish heavy vegetation in Florida, and often times the fish would hit after the 3rd or 4th pickup. I finally pitched into a briar bush that changed my whole day. The bait turned to mush and I reared back on a solid 5lber. Boy did that feel good! It was 1:00, and I needed two more fish before my 3:00 check in. I really only had an hour, because my little boat is slow going, and the wind was blowing 20-25mph and I don't even want to guess on the gusts. We were on the protected side of the lake, but it was still NASTY when we had to cross the mouth of a creek. I started fishing new water, it was rough enough that it made more sense to just put my head down and fish than to try to run to a waypoint. 1:30 or so I put fish number 4 in the boat, about a 2 &3/4lber. Fished a little longer and headed back towards the ramp. 2:15 I'm running down the lake and realize it's not going to take as long to get back as I think, I start watching my GPS for a pocket similar to what I've been fishing, and when I see one, I head in. There are 4 boats in the small creek, but I idle past them and troll into the woods. I fished the whole back of the pocket and start working my way back out of the trees, pitching as I go. 5 minutes before I need to leave and I crack a big girl. I bet you every boat in that creek heard me when we got her in the net! She was 5 or 5.5ish. Got out of there as fast as I could and made it to check in with a few minutes to spare. After day 1 we were sitting in 11th place with 17lbs, 3oz. Day 2 was a different story. I stuck with the same approach but it was a much slower day. I knew it would be slow, and that fish would back off, but I had absolutely nothing to branch out on. I knew the conditions would be tough on everyone, and I probably only needed two or three bites to make the top 10% and qualify for the championship. A cold front rolled in and it snowed for the first half of the day, with high winds on top of that. Air temps around 40 degrees. Water temps dropped from 54 in the fronts of pockets and 56+ in the backs, to 53 in the fronts and as low as 49 in the backs. We were still plucking away at short fish but no good bites. At 11:00 I hooked a 4lber that came off just feet from the boat. Boy was that a tough pill to swallow. My next keeper bite didn't come until 1:30, about a 2.5lber that also came off. I was a wreck but I kept my head down and kept doing my thing. 2:30 and I finally stick another good fish! This one stayed pegged, and it was a good one. I grinded it out and fished til the last second but that is all I managed, and boy did I fish hard! I figured I would miss the cut by a few ounces, and those two I lost would certainly have done it for me. Low and behold that one 5lb13oz fish was enough to nab 24th place, the very last qualifying spot in the standings. In a field of 216 boats, only 7 caught a limit both days. There were 71 blanks on day one, and only 16 limits. 50 boats didn't even fish day two, and in 2 tournament days, 5 boats sank. Thankfully, everyone made it out okay, but the conditions were definitely less than ideal, I am surprised the event wasn't cancelled. I would guess that nearly every boat there had some sort of equipment malfunction due to the rough conditions on the lake, it was a mess. If you read this far I congratulate you!!! The first two photos are from practice, the tournament organization hasn't posted any photos yet but I am waiting to find the picture of my day 1 limit! This is the lonely big girl that gifted me with a championship berth!

Hey guys, I haven’t been on here in a few months but have been back lurking around this week, so many of you don’t know me. Anyways, over the last few months I’ve realized a valueable lesson about life and fishing that I felt the need to share. I learned that time is an extremely valuable thing... especially when it comes to time that we have to go fishing. I know this is a cliché saying but many people do not realize the truth in this statement until life hits and they can’t do the thing they love as much as they used to anymore. Back in high school I used to fish tournaments every weekend, fish every break, and every other time I had a chance. Normally about three to four days a week. I gruaduated in last may and decided to join the army and start college around the same time. (Not a great idea there’s no extra minutes in life). Long story short last weekend was the first time I’ve been fishing since I graduated. I remember being mad if I didn’t have more than four hours to fish and wouldn’t go. Now I’m just thankful to be back on the water at least for a few hours a week. You can bet that even if I only have one hour I’m going to take it now. I guess the moral of my story is no matter how old you are, don’t take the time you have to chase these little green fish for granted. I’m just glad I learned at 19 instead of 49 and had regrets looking back.

Well...was blessed once more with an empty parking lot here in East Tennessee. Arrived at ramp at 7:45 and hit the water. Was pretty cold....36 to be exact and that's not counting the wind chill. This little lake had whitecaps today which made the plastic bite kind of tough. Water temp was 46 I believe. Fished for about three hours and noticed they were really drawing down the lake....which made me nervousfor the ramp I was using so left early. Also forgot my lunch...I like to eat...so came home and touched up three reels that weren't performing to standards and tied some jigs for this weekend. Ended up with about seven fish...three keeps and this one nice one. Tight Lines

Well the Berkley tent is at my fave sporting goods store this weekend so I'm heading down there. Getting new line, ned rig heads, worm weights, and maybe jig trailers. Ill be a kid in a toy store, and will have to check it all out. I'm sure many of you get fired up this time of year too! This time of year, I rest my mind on bass! Good luck to everyone this spring

STILL USE THESE OLD SCHOOL WORMS FROM TIME TO TIME...

I use Zoom finesse and trickworms. Believe it or not, 4 inch Luck E Strike with hook tail from Wal Mart. Sometimes I have done well with Zoom swamp crawlers, too.

I do the same with both. It's not that I don't trust my gear, it's just that I trust myself more. With backreeling, I can easily instantly increase pressure (fish heading for cover and I need to turn them), or decrease pressure (line rubbed against cover and is now possibly damaged). A smooth drag is great, but it takes time to adjust and sometimes even a second or two is too long.

They'll eat a weightless trick worm on the fall, which has very little movement. I think the main thing is, it looks like a potential easy food item and bass don't have hands to hold and examine a potential food item, so they must take it into their mouth to decide if it's food or not regardless of if they actually intend to eat the bait in the end or not. Personally, I don't get too caught up in what the bass think or care about, as long as the bait is putting them in my boat

I switch to square bills after the water warms up in to the low 50's and the grass starts growing up good. In thick-ish milfoil that's more than, say...3-4 feet off the bottom, ripping a lipless bait out of it becomes a chore, and often an exercise in frustration. They bait turns into a rake. What I like to do with a square bill when the grass gets going good is let it dive down to tick the tops of the grass, and purposely try to hang it. Then I either pause it, letting it float up and away from the grass for a split second, or if it's hung, pop it out. You can't get this"pause, float, pop out" effect from a sinking lipless bait. Plus I have the added versatility of being able to chuck that square bill at docks/wood/other cover and getting it to deflect good. A lipless bait around most wood is a disaster waiting to happen. The only time I use a lipless bait in the warmer months/water, is to cover water along deeper grass edges, but even then, I am more apt to reach for a deep diving lipped crankbait. I have had a few OK days though making long casts on the outside of a weed line, letting the bait sink, and stroking it back to the boat. In the fall when the grass starts to fade, I don't pull the lipless cranks out much. I still opt for the square bill, for reasons similar to why I switched to it in the spring. Even though the grass is thinning out....it's weak, mushy, and grabby. Letting a lipless get hung in it, often results in pulling a wad of milfoil the size of a hay bale back to the boat completely uprooted from the bottom.

A few things I've accumulated over the winter for the upcoming season.

I often look at a forum for San Diego just to see what's happening down there. I just saw this: Santee Lakes had their final trout plant of the season this week. Rangers reported on Saturday that fishing had been great for trout and bass. Sally Roberts (pictured) made a huge splash with her catch of a 9 lb 15 oz largemouth bass that she caught while trout fishing. She was fishing PowerBait on a rod and reel combo she got at Walmart for $5, with 4 lb test line, and a #18 treble hook. Bass are catch and release only at Santee Lakes. I guess I'm using the wrong stuff when I visit San Diego!

My brother caught this 13.00lb beauty while fishing with my father and I on Lake fork.

This is a pic from the Many Glacier area of Glacier National Park.

Ive got a buddy that abuses his gear and he fishes several and has had no problems. I'd say for that money fish the heck out of it and don't worry about it!

Thank you for your service! As we get older, lots of things change... except for our love of fishing! Tight lines, Bob

It's your casting technique. Have you tried casting a 1 oz spinnerbait with your combo? A-rigs have a lot air resistance when they include blades like a flash mob. 1. You shouldn't ever whip or snap cast a bait casting reel, spinning reel it's OK. 2. Go through the basic spool tension adjustment for any other lure weight; the lure should fall free on slightly controlled tension and the spool should stop when the lure hits the ground without loose line. 3. Make a 2 handed over head cast with about 2' to 2 1/2' of line from the lure from the rod tip. Keep very slight thumb pressure on the spool just enough to keep line from loosening during the cast. You should be able to cast 75' to 90' without any issues. With practice you can loosen the spool tension slightly and casting distance will improve. Tom

I think the zoom centipede is shamefully underrated. If you put a 1/8 or 1/4 oz about a foot above it and break a toothpick to wedge it to the line. Just slowly drag it along the bottom and man do they nail it. Preferably Pumpkin and Green Pumpkin work the best in my humble opinion, in that order.

I know all the fishermen go crazy about the action, the "wiggle" of stick baits and such. I was wondering have there been any studies done with bass in a controlled environment presented with lures with different action to see if the bass react differently. I did a quick Google search but couldn't find much. I ask this because to me it seems more that fisherman are more enamored by the action of a lure than a bass might be. The ever so slight different in the wiggle between say a senko and dinger drives fisherman crazy! But do they actually drive bass crazy? For me personally, I seem to catch the same amount of fish on any stick bait, and the more important factor is probably sink rate because it sinks to the bottom faster, and since I'm relatively impatient this helps a lot.

I caught one on a cigarette butt.

As a bank fisherman I find lipless easier to control than anything that dives even a foot or two. Also, I like the less water resistance of lipless crankbaits and the fact that they cast so well. A squarebill may be more effective at times but the reasons mentioned trump that for me. I do like wakebaits though in warm weather if I'd rather crank than fish contact baits.

His head alone has got to weigh over 5 pounds ! A-Jay

Bass will take a deadsticked senko even after a good ten minutes of non-movement. Ill toss one out and cast with another set-up in the meantime.

Today was another great day on Toledo. The wind was brutal, but the Minn Kota Ultrex earned its keep today. We caught 45 fish today all coming from 15-28’ deep. Top 5 weighed 21.5lbs. I also had one jump off that was easily over 8lbs. Then my next cast I caught a 6.5lber. I love when they are offshore,

I think I agree with you. Sink rate is the most important thing to me. However does action matter? In many soft plastic baits, yes, absolutely. I spend the time to boil or modify many baits to get better action. Stickworms are attractive via their shape alone however. And there has been such a study, done at Pure Fishing by Dr. Keith Jones. That cigar shape is uniquely attractive to bass. However, I still boil some of my stick worms. Senkos are so heavy they produce that quiver on the fall that appears to help -maybe. But some lighter (less salt) worms i do boil as a wriggling twitch seems to trigger bites especially well. A lot of bass will fall for any old stick worm, but I think certain action elements trigger even better.

8 years USMC medically retired

eBay deal got me —> Shimano Stradic ci4 for $159. No tax or shipping for the 2016 model. Going to match it up to a Dobyns DX703SF :-)

Heading out in the morning!

Thanks for the encouragement, LadiMopar, and Joshua. Yeah, I'm a fish nerd. Encouraging to know there are others out there that value seeing fishing as much from the fish's perspective as from our own. That's the really cool stuff in my mind. And, I'm a die-hard fisherman too. My questions aren't, tell me what to do; It's tell me why! Why does that lure work, or not, in that particular situation? What are the parameters that define that situation, and why do the fish respond that way. Interestingly, there are patterns to much of it. Otherwise, I'd find something else to do. Joshua, more on my take on the "Why" vs the "What": The "why" is what I've come to call "exportable knowledge". If I tell someone what to do: Go to this particular place at this particular time, throw this particular lure, and retrieve it in this particular way... that's pretty limited. If I can tell them Why that location, timing, and presentation, I've given them a whole lot more. And it's exportable -able to be applied to many other scenarios. Maybe or maybe not directly, but it gets them asking the right questions, which are much more flexible than pat answers. "Give a man, or woman, a fish..." Granted, the what is a heck of a lot easier to get at than the why. Many, if not most, of those why's are simply not available, or accessible, to us. But, there is a HUGE body of work in many fields of science, and observations by managers, anglers, and divers that collectively have and continue to provide a tremendous amount of insight into not only the what's but the why's that underlie those what's. I feel that all those sources have been enormously valuable to me in my understanding of not only what's going on down there -the behaviors- but the why's that underlie those behaviors.

Dang, this was a good deal. Orochi Swingfire for 150 USD (shipped) sold by the tackletrap. Costa Sunglasses 100 USD instead of 200 (were marked down before). And then some LV500.

Man almost DD on trout setup, what a surprise. Congrat to her. The thing is how long it took her to land that bass. I'm worried about the health of that bass and if she gonna be able to spread her gene. BTW, She might got a small trout hooked without knowing it. Same story I hear over and over at DVL where I guy try to catch trout and suddenly got a big bass on the line.?

Time to break out the old Pocket Fisherman!

That’s pretty much par for the course on chickamauga, guntersville, Pickwick, and ky lake. @Oregon Native frequents the much quieter lakes

Close-up at RMNP.

You didn't mention Alberto, so disregard my reply, if you want. But, I found that Alberto is the only knot that meets all three of these conditions: I can tie most reliably; I am confident in; and the knot size never causes me any problems As a bonus, I have no problems tying it on the water, even in a kayak, with little trouble

I was fidgeting in Church this past Sunday because it was cloudy and drizzling rain ahead of a front passage. The bride had given me free pass to fish after. From a lifetime of fishing ponds, both with conventional and more recently, the fly rod, I've found these conditions to be prime time for big bass. Not to say fishing ahead and during front passages is a sure thing, but the number of big fish I've taken during these conditions has me convinced of its potential. After Church I grabbed an 8 wt and headed to one of my favorite ponds with some Mangums Dragon Tail streamers. They are six inches in length and provide a large profile for bigger spring fish. I've found spring fish to take larger offerings than fall fish. Anyway, after about and hour of "chucking and ducking," a large wake behind the streamer exposed a bass tracking the fly and I immediately dead sticked it, waited a second or two and stripped the line back and immediately felt weight. The fish was fairly close and I was able to get two quick strip sets on her before she knew what was happening and gained control. I don't play bigger spring fish, but hustle them in quickly and release. She was no match for the 8 wt and 16# tippet and I had her to the bank before she knew what hit her. The Boga settled past the 6 and a quarter pound mark. A new personal best for me on the fly rod.

Howdy guys and gals! With the Classic coming to my home state and my girlfriends home town again, I have some useful tips for anyone who will be in Anderson/Clemson area this coming week. I recently fished Lake Hartwell last weekend with my girlfriends father for just about the entire day roughly 10 hours. Just thought I would throw in some helpful information and reward those prudent enough to read this post. First off if you dont have any, get a few cranks in Pro Blue. They were nailing Herring colored baits all day. I started with Chrome/Blue Arashi 1/2 oz Vibe(Rat-l-trap) to locate fish, best luck when ripping it through grass near a good current off a bank. They are sitting around 20 ft deep in the mornings until about 10am. Then slowly rising up to around 2-7ft deep as the day goes on. At that time I started using an Arashi 5 silent on some flats up past Clemsux(GO *****) and got a lot of hits. Though I would recommend slowing it down and kinda popping it in bursts once they hit it as I am sure with how cold it is I was reeling too fast. My best technique is hands down soft jerkbaits. Listen carefully, White Pearl Zoom Super fluke with a RED THIN WIRE 4/0. I saw the buggers chase the sucker to the boat with my weighted flutter hook enough to tick me off and change the hook as initially it was too difficult to let the fluke sink to depth with how fast my gfs old man was trolling. Then past 2pm or so, slow and deep pulls on a bass colored Chug Bug in quiet wooded coves caught some nice bass nothing over 3lbs where I was but if I controlled the boat I am sure that I would have produced bigger farther back in some coves. Overall SLOW IT DOWN, if you get a hit stay there for a bit and use slow erratic movements. If you get a hit with a calm cove nearby, check out the 5-10ft depth in the cove. STAY IN THE SUN. Small openings in treelines or cooking flats are where they will be early morning as it will heat up better and as a result the baitfish will pass through. I would test deep problue/Chrome blue/foxy shad(water clarity/sun) hard jerkbaits, a C-rig and various spooning techniques during the practice day(s) as I forgot to do that since I was already getting hits, but I am betting that a deep spoon would probably do better, and the Crig allows you to put a fluke or ribbontail into the strike zone faster and longer. Anyway, best of luck and I hope this helps the few who might skim across this before the tourney. Best regards, Will

The coupon applies to virtually all sellers. It’s not limited to ALF. https://m.ebay.com/itm/Daiwa-TATULA-SV-TW-103XS-8-1-1-Right-Hand-Baitcasting-Reel/202253960176?epid=688972212&hash=item2f174683f0:g:dzUAAOSwV2Naoc3a

So I am using a ryoga 1016 and that run's a standard size spool. I also am running a sv103. Big baits I run a luna 253. I own a luna 300 but feel like it's overkill and it sits on the shelf. Water depth has some to do with how much line you need. A I was checking out a 250 tell DC and if they had a left I would have been on that.

I agree the what is important and goes hand in hand with the why. But knowing the why allows us to predict the what and is why we study environment and structure. For example if I know the bass in my waters begin to migrate to deeper water basins (the what) at a certain cold temperature range (the why), then when those cold temperatures are experienced (the why), I can predict the what before I even go to the lake. Knowing the why allows me to eliminate unproductive water.

Know how bad my monkey is? He's impatient. I started the eBay notification today, walked into one of my local tackle shops just a few minutes ago to feel the backbone on a Dobyns mag heavy. Walked out with the rod at full retail, cause I can't say no.

My friends, too! I’m just too darn old to erase muscle memory! lol. You know, to be serious, I did not take a lesson when I had the chance. Tried to be a YouTube learner. Then, on the float boat, I had a very patient and experienced fisherman help me out. I’d try again, but I would want a ‘plan b’ ready to go.

My experience is pretty limited, so not much meaningful here, either....but I have owned 1 each jerkbait, lipless and crankbait from Sebile. All looked pretty sweet in and out of the water. Not one of them ever triggered a single bite, however. Not an indictment of the brand, because I've only used them sparingly, but never got close to having enough confidence to keep throwing them.

I truly need to move someplace where the grocery store sells fishing gear. All they have here are sushi & kale Sorry I don't have anything meaningful to add to your post.

Had an hour to spare during a business stop so hit up a spot to see who wanted to play. They were hammering a swimbait in one area. Caught 3 on back to back casts. Pickerel chewed it off soon after so a swimjig was next on the menu. Caught 4 more on that including a 6lb slob. Had to drag her up a 45 degree snowy muddy slope and my 12lb line broke.Wasn't going to let her slide back in so I slid down the hill almost falling in. She had a big pre-spawn buffet gut going on. Ended with 7 bass from 3lbs up to the big girl. My 3rd local bass over 5 so far this year.

I'm with Tom, it is about a 3 lb bass. It only felt like 5lbs because you long armed it for the camera, which after a few moments makes things feel heavier than they actually are. Pick up a 16lb bowling ball and hold it near your chest, elbow bent - you can hold it there for an hour. Now try to hold that same ball with your arm extended - after a few moments, your elbow will snap at the joint and you will never be able to use a baitcaster again...

Lots of tournaments launch out of the Grand Glaze arm at PB2. Lots of MLF events shown there as well and you can probably follow their parents and get an idea how to fish it. If my memory serves me currently we were able to run from PB2 to the mouth of the gravois arm in just around 45min which we were only able to go 50-55 with a 150 on a light load. Depending on water temps I would have a crankbait/jerkbait on, texas rig, finesse jig, senko/ned rig. Also early morning topwater whopper plopper. Missouri craw is a popular color, bone etc etc. You can run docks all day in the Grand Glaze arm and catch fish.