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Today the winds died down somewhat and I was able to get out to do some fishing with my brother in law. There was still a stiff northerly breeze when we dropped in at the Tract, water temps in the low 60’s, tide had been going out for a couple hours to start the morning. We got to our first spot, and I pitch my Senko up into a shallow pocket in the grass. I start to pick up some slack in the line and all of a sudden my rod starts to load up. I set the hook and the battle begins. She shows me her flank and I now known it’s a good fish as she plowed into the grass. I was able to turn her towards deep water and after a few runs was able down to welcome a beautiful 8.7lb hawg aboard. We had a pretty good day on the water, unfortunately there was no encore to besting the first fish of the day... Good Fishing all, JB

PB at 5.1lbs! I don’t know how she stayed hooked/snagged. Hardest I’ve ever fought a bass. Time to go update my PB in my profile.

11 lb 9 oz caught near Fall Creek Falls, TN, small electric only lake. my previous best was 8 lbs

Hello All, So I’m brand new to bass fishing, there is a big pond at the front of a buddies sub division that I have been trying. I woke up early and got out there at first light a few hours before work. The weather is cool, lots of overcast about 70 degrees, and very windy. I have no tackle or gear yet(for freshwater) so I’ve been borrowing a friends for now. The water was stained I think is the right term. So I picked the brightest crankbait I could find(it was a little square bill) I was using a top water frog a few days ago until I realized there were no lily pads. I had no idea how to really use a cranking bait. First my rod tip was up then it was down, I really had no clue how to properly work the bait. In any case I managed to fumble around long enough to get a sense of If I kept my rod up and reeled at the right speed I could feel a wobble or vibration from the bait doing it’s thing. Thats when it happened. Caught my very first bass. After that I caught a few more but for some reason I didn’t hook them well enough to get them out. Every time I got them to the bank and got them out of the water they would break off with that initial thrash. Not sure how to correct that just yet. P.S. - I also caught the ever elusive, extremely rare...rock fish! See picture below.

Hit a private stone quarry today around 5:00p, crazy wind but good was a good day. I get bored fishing Yum Dingers & like to learn new techniques, so I kinda stopped using them for awhile. The bite was slower than I expected today so I popped a yum dinger on (the bigger ones) and landed my personal best on the 2nd cast! 6lb 12oz. Big prespawn fatty filled with eggs.

The Maumee River is famously known for the Walleye spawning run from Lake Erie. Yesterday while I was participating in the annual run a guy caught a monster of a walleye. I can't take credit for the catch or the picture but I am glad someone snapped a shot of this fish.

I never fish for catfish, so my boss invited me to go fishing for catfish with him yesterday. It was a great time. But. And but... I saw a bunch of smallies smashing the top, and it grieved my soul. I felt like I was drinking Bud Light when I could have been drinking Bell's Two Hearted Ale. All fine and well, of course, but a man has preferences... Tis the season for us in the North!

Haha . A friend of mine had to take some guys from work crappie fishing . I got on the bass fast that day and had a limit of fifteen inchers in an hour . I knew where they were fishing , so pulled up and released the limit in front of them . I loved every second of it .

Gave the tub her bath of the year. Needed it bad, it was had a Pigpen dust cloud coming off it even when we were rolling down the highway.

Countdown is on guys! Make sure you get your baits done and shipped out Monday! You don't want to miss out on any of the stuff I've got waiting from the guys that already sent their baits to me. I used one of the jigs from @Munkin to win our Thursday night tournament this week

The bass were on fire today. I caught 32 with 5 over of them 17.75 inches or bigger. With the biggest coming in just under 6 lbs.

Good replies ... I know Junebug and Black & Blue are staples for Florida's tanic stained waters but there are nuances to learn for sure between the two .

Just got my order of spro king daddy's and jackall kaera frogs.

My son is gonna be really excited! These tix were just given to me...Complete surprise! My son's birthday is Sept 3 and this game is for Sept 13th so it will be a nice little birthday gift.

Caught a few before the small storm passed through this week. All spotted bass, biggest being 2lb 2oz. The bite is getting better

Gotta brag on my son....he got a 10.9 oz giant from a local lake last night in our first Tuesday nighter. What a way to set standards for starting the year!!!

Choose friends wisely

I was able to snag 2 Abu Ike 7' medium delay series rods yesterday at a local shop that is getting out of fishing. $139.99 cdn and 70% off. Really sad to see another shop get out of fishing.

I own one BPS Extreme ML 6' rod. It is awesome for throwing Reaction Innovation" Little Dippers or Skinny Dippers unweighted or with a light belly weighted hook. I am sure it would handle something like Sencos or light weighted texas rigged worms. I normally have a Skinny Dipper rigged on mine.

I bought a black BPS Carbonlite 6'6" ML Fast casting rod to pair with one of my Chronarch 50e reels (now down to one). Works fantastic with weightless 4" senkos, 4.75" Zoom Finesse worms, Yamamoto Shad Shape Worms, and a great many other "lighter" baits.

4Runner has a limited towing capacity. May or may not be enough for the OP's boat, but I'd much rather have the Sequoia with the 5.7 I'm at the 200k mark on my Tundra. 5.7 is still running strong and doesn't leak a drop of oil.

I went with the Ranger Z185. Having Lowrance Elite TI 7" put in the console and bow. Now comes the task of filling it up with "stuff."

fluke1 flo͞ok/ noun noun: fluke; plural noun: flukes unlikely chance occurrence, especially a surprising piece of luck. "their triumph was no fluke" synonyms: chance, coincidence, accident, twist of fate; More piece of luck, stroke of good luck/fortune, serendipity "what a nice fluke, finding you here" .....in other words, whenever I catch a fish

Thank you Its probably an hybrid, we have 3 sub species of turkey in Nebraska, Eastern,Rio & Merriam. Most of the birds in our state are kind of a mutt, depending on what part of the state you are hunting in will determine the mixture. I'm not far enough west to get a true Merriam, Yes you are correct about the coloration of the tail on a Merriam. so you could pull off a 75 % of a grand slam in Nebraska then travel south to Florida for the Osceola. I had 6 hens and 2 Toms come in to my set up, Took him from 20 yards away with my X-bow Congrats on the boat D

For worms 6"-7 1/2" my go weight is 3/16 oz. 8"-12" is 3/8 oz. 4"- 5 1/2" is 1/8 oz Nail weight is 3/32 oz. Drop shot is 1/4 oz. Slip shot is 1/8 oz. I fish Texas rigged with bullet weight and nail weight worms from 6" deep to 30' Drop shot and slip shot 3' to 45' Those are my starting weights and adjust from there. Tom

Got a surprize this afternoon. Was cranking my Rippin' Rap when my phone rang and I let the lure flutter down. Then this happened. (Didn't answer the call). Sorry for the rotten pic but cats don't lay flat like bass.

Here's my vote at 8 mpg and the fuel capacity to drive across the country non stop. You can thank me later @Sam ?

I like specific ones. If visibility sucks then a chartreuse black back with rattle is money. The kvd bluegill I like silent. A shad or black white can go either way or both. If I want natural the clear or natural colors are silent.

New Addition To The Family 7' 0", Medium-Heavy Power, Fast Action, Shimano Clarus Spinning Rod & Pflueger President (5.2:1) Spinning Reel (40X) WolfyBrandon

My great nephew Jace and a nice Guntersville 5-pounder. It was slow for us Sunday afternoon. Weather has been up and down. But spending time with the little man and his dad and this fish made it eventful.

Best. Wife. Ever!

Haven't decided yet what to put on mine. Another first world problem. Got mine from jet.com when they were about $93. I see they have gone up to about $102. Still a very nice price for a very nice rod.

Smallies are a blast on a fly rod. I have only caught them in the rivers and stripping streamers is loads of fun. Limited fishing for bass as I usually by accident catch a few on popping bugs or spiders for bluegills. I did catch a pretty nice one a few years ago stripping streamers for Muskies in a local lake.

This is where an unweighted senko type plastic works very well. Bass are used to looking up for food floating down a river and senkos do this very well without sinking too quickly and getting snagged in the rocks.

Coin toss, you can't make a bad choice one or the other both are good. Enjoy, Tom

Usually anything that sinks into the rocks is lost . A trick that I use is a jig with a plastic body much thicker than the leadhead . That way the plastic becomes wedged and its much easier to pull free than a lead weight . A skinny Road Runner head works well with piece of Yum Dinger . Its not fool-proof but I lose fewer baits that way .

Rattle or no rattle ~ There are some situations where one may be a bit better than the other. I've had success with both in the same situations on more than a few occasions. Perhaps checK out the 6th Sense Crush 50X and 100X Squarebills. Designed for crashing thick shallow cover, ripping out of grass, cranking rocks, or just burning in open water, it dives to 5 feet. Comes stock with quality hardware and a premium paint scheme with realistic 3-D gill plates, 3-D eyes, and 3-D scales really brings this bait to life. The new Backwater Bluegill pattern is Sick. My personal favorite aspect of these baits is it's Faint Rattle Chamber - Creates light knocking sounds. Sort of the best of both worlds. https://6thsensefishing.com btw - the 6th Sense Crush Flat 75X Squarebill offers all the same features and REALLY EXCELS in cooler water. A-Jay

I think there’s a natural evolution many fishermen go through and I’m no exception: Like a lot of people I tied the uni-uni for years - Then I switched to the Modified Alberto/Albright after seeing it beat the uni-uni on Knot Wars and because it’s smaller in diameter - - Then after just a few too many failed Alberto/Albright knots (okay way too many - a flawed knot IMO) I switched to the FG Knot. The FG Knot is a little harder to tie and overkill - but it is smaller and stronger than the above knots... and once you master its not that bad to tie. And anything that is that strong at your weakest connection point is worth the extra effort. A Lot of people don’t like tying an FG Knot because they have to hold with their teeth, so use a Hook-Eze tool:

Which means it is harder to catch them. I never said anything about there is less opportunity to catch them.

I just hate it when the bluegills take my rods

No, it just seems that way because there are far fewer of them. A quarry, particularly a clear one is usually not the most efficient bass growing environment, but if its well established, there should be some bigger fish in there. A sure way to find out is to gingerly walk the perimeter during the spawn.with polarized glasses.

What a pond is capable of producing depends on a lot of different factors. If they have the right combinations, they could have lots of big fish, but if a pond doesn't have the right water quality and food to grow them, then the fish aren't going to get big.

This sunup was last Sat. At the beach at St Augustine Inlet. Fish were not biting much.

Pun intended? Ok, looks like a miscue here. Drop it and move on guys...

Your post followed mine and it seemed to suggest that I was doing something illegal, prompting to "proceed at your own risk." Despite your claim that it wasn't directed at me, that tone is stronger in your post above, referring to my participation in Ducks Unlimited (I'm the only one who mentioned DU in the thread). I apologize if I'm reading something into it. The OP asked if anyone brings a shotgun while fishing, not for a lesson in hunting regulations. I like to think that people know and abide by the rules when they participate in a regulated activity like fishing or hunting. Again, sorry if I misunderstood, Bob

I've been hunting ducks and geese for almost forty years. I'm a former area chairman of Ducks Unlimited. I'm aware of the laws regarding waterfowl hunting and abide by them. As a responsible adult, I do everything at my own risk. Tight lines, Bob

War eagle maybe

Past Chrisrmas weekend I went out manage to pull one in on a baby d bomb. Just texas rigged and 1/4 weight. Just dragging the bottom. Bait you can try out in cold water.

The Silver minnow was my "frog" in the 80's and 90's...............and I learned that trick from my grandfather who had been doing it since the 40's. One of these days I am going to break out all the old timey tricks he taught me again, and I bet they will work as good, if not better than they used to.

I laid a Beretta 390 on the front deck one day while fishing during duck season and got two drake mallards and a Canada goose along with a bunch of nice bass. The last several miles of the southern end of Lake Champlain are like a river, lined on both sides with large cattail and buttonbush marshes. Ducks are flying overhead regularly in the fall. It's quick and easy to put down the rod and pick up the shotgun. Tight lines, Bob