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Got this 4 pound , 3 oz. Fish on a 3 inch 'gill.

New PB: 5.8 lbs. Caught on a wacky rigged Senko. Also caught a 4.6 lb'er on a @Siebert Outdoors black/blue chatterbait earlier in the day.

Back when I first got into fishing as a carefree 8-year old, my grandfather would often tie me on an in-line spinner. He said it was due in part to the fact that a spinner is a good lure for a kid with a not-so-tuned level of attention, and provided an easy way to catch fish. It was a lure that had been around for many many years and had a proven track record. Now my boxes are full of the latest offerings from various manufacturers. The tackle industry has exploded in the decades that have passed since I first went fishing with papaw, and the baitmonkey has bitten me more than I care to share. Fast forward to this past year and beginning this spring I started to see a trend where many of my normal lures just weren't having the same effect as usual. I was catching fish, just not nearly in the quantities I had caught in years before. I'm not sure if they were getting acclimated to my normal row of suspects or just wanting something different, but I had come up against a wall and couldn't get past it. Then, one outing, while rummaging through my tackle boxes, I thought I'd give a spinner a shot, I mean, what could it hurt? I tied on a #3 Mepps gold bladed undressed spinner....and had one of the best outings I've had in years.....using what was very likely the oldest lure in my arsenal. The Mepps was (and still is, I kept it for sentimental reasons) pretty worn out. For quite a while it was my main go-to lure, so it had some corrosion on it. The hooks were originally dressed but lost the dressing, and the hooks themselves were pretty worn and dulled. I didn't want to chance hooking a good sized fish and losing it and my old friend due to worn components. I took a look at some others at Cabela's and ended up with 2 Blue Fox Super Vibrax #2 both dressed and undressed. The concept of the free spinning shaft appealed to me since I had frequently had line twist issues. I have to say, although my old friend was a Mepps, this Blue Fox has absolutely WHACKED them for me this year. Even on big lakes with big fish, it doesn't seem to matter, it's just outperformed everything else I threw. Sure it catches all the little guys, but who's going to complain about catching TOO MANY fish? Just a quick fun story about re-connection with an old friend of mine.....you might give it a try too!

If you gotta lie to your partner to get what you want out of life, I'd say there's a bigger issue.

Went out for a few hours with my buddy yesterday. Only caught one little catfish on a crankbait. Not sure what kind of catfish, but it was pretty neat. Fished a little pond for an hour or so tonight, and caught 8 small bass on a topwater.

For some reason the t rigged black/blue Dinger bite fell off in the past two days, which is my go-to bait in this particular pond. So I started ripping cranks. 1 of these was on a Livingston squarebill and the others on an H20 Xpress ghost shad lipless. The 3 in the collage ranged from 1.75-2.5. The big girl weighed 5 on the nose, making it my second 5lber this year—so that’s got me pretty stoked. She about got me hung up in the bushes.

3lbs on the top toad.

Took the boys to the zoo last Sunday. Pretty sure we saw a penguin that was in time out. These two stood like this for the entire 5 minutes or so that we were standing there with the back one never looking away from the wall.

Got rid of my Tundra after 10 years and 200,000 miles. Was going to buy another one but I found a new leftover 2017 F250 XLT 6.2L that I worked out a sweet deal on .

Had an interesting catch this last weekend. It may be a bit gruesome, but definitely unintentional, nor was it sight/spawn fishing, but it may be a cool anecdote on the whole pain debate. I was out fishing for largemouth in West Harbor on Lake Erie (Ohio), pitching a tube against some rip rap. I felt a bite, set the hook, came up with nothing. After insisting that I had a bite, I pitch back in there, feel the tick again, same result. But, as I am reeling my bait in, I realize there is something on my hook. I think, "did I impale a minnow, a goby?" Attach0 (6) by Rob Webber, on Flickr After some confusion, and closer inspection, that is indeed, a lip. While I am staring and laughing in disbelief, my buddy tosses his creature bait in and hooks up with a fish, and we joke about checking his lip. Well...you guessed it... Attach0 (7) by Rob Webber, on Flickr Attach0 (5) by Rob Webber, on Flickr Pretty wild catch. No, my hookset wasn't excessive. I'd guess he already had some damage. Without the pictures, I don't think I would have told a soul, no one would have believed it!

You should get a free pass anytime you want if you gotta watch Jersey Shore

Never lie to my wife, and I expect the same from her. There are no white lies, just lies.

Got the decks fitted today. Not long now. Quite pleased with it so far, despite the adversities of a lack of appropriate materials!

My wife is most always in the back of the boat so no worries for me. I catch crap when I take my friends fishing and not her. There is one thing i miss sometimes..... silence. ?

I’m with LionHeart above. I don’t mind fishing. I like being outdoors on a nice sunny day, on the water with a nice breeze to keep me comfortable. But the part I like best, is catching. If I’m catching fish on a regular basis, that’s when it’s fun for me. If I’ve been skunked for 4 hours or only had a couple of bites, I’m ready to leave. I know guys, like musky fishermen, who will throw big heavy lures hour after hour for days and are happy if they even see a fish. Me, I’d rather stay home and paint my house. I don’t care if they are big or small fish, I like when I get bites. I’m even particular about the type of fishing. Fishing in the slop where you are pulling weeds off your lure on every cast or fishing deep water doesn’t interest me. Bass fishing to targets with a variety of different lures is what keeps my interest between bites. Because there are so many ways to fish, from a worm and a bobber, to fly fishing, to deep sea fishing, there is something for everyone. Some people love all of it, some only small parts of it.

They look like something a kid would design but I have caught a TON of fish on the Mepps Comet Mino's. In fact, it's the lure that got me going in bass fishing a bunch of years ago. I was a standard hook and bobber guy until I found one in a parking lot. I tied it on and gave it a try. Boom! 2 lb'er. Immediately hooked. Don't throw them that often but they are still in rotation and they do come out occasionally.

I think I can understand why some people don't get into fishing by thinking about the reasons I personally enjoy it so much. The biggest draw for me is the solitude. There's nothing like being away from everyone and everything for hours. Don't get me wrong, if someone asks to go with me, I happily take them and we usually have a blast, but not in the same way as when I get to go alone. Just a different experience all together. The next, and most obvious is actually catching fish. To me, the excitement of this is amplified by the countless hours I've spent not catching diddily squat (at which I am an expert). All the things that go through my head once a bass hammers a lure... how big is this sucker? is this fish gonna stay pinned? Am I gonna get wrapped up again? etc. Very exciting. If it weren't for the catching fish part, I'd find another hobby. Absolutely not one who can enjoy a day on the water just as much even if I don't catch anything. The patience it requires... my least and most favorite part. Slowly dragging a lure across a rocky bottom over and over and over can be painful, but like the saying goes, it definitely builds character. I think a lot of people simply don't find reward in any of those things mentioned. They like to be around people all the time, can't stand the quite, and have little patience. Frankly, I cannot begin to wrap my head around how so many people can spend hours on facebook, staring at their phone to see what another person had for dinner, what alcoholic beverage they are drinking, or how many of each exercise they did at cross fit. To me, all those things are meaningless but it sure is a popular activity. I suppose those people feel about fishing, the same way I feel about social media (there is simply no reward in it).

I completely understand how people could think it's boring. Just like I don't enjoy going out to a club or to the casino, lots of people don't like going out on the boat or walking a pond bank. Different things make different people tick.

As I have said for years...if you pick Daiwa or Shimano you will not only be happy in the short term but you will be happy in the long term especially if you take care of your stuff. This will show up in the longevity of the reel, the resell value, and should you get a wild hair, the tuning parts internally and cosmetically. For what Daiwa has done with the Fuego CT, Tat Ct, Tat SV, etc. (all Sub $200 reels) they certainly have some fine offerings!

I use both spinning and casting. Neither is required, it's about using the right tool for the job at hand. Pitching into heavy cover where bass live does require thicker line and strong drag, something casting reels do well. Accurate pitching is another technique that casting reels excel at, for me anyways. Baitcasting rods generally are beefier for throwing heavier jigs, lures, and plastics. Open water, lighter line, with lighter baits is spinning terrority. Spinning rods throw lighter baits very well and spinning reels allow the bait to fall naturally. At the end of the day it's about using what you like. I wanted to learn the advantages of casting reels so I tried one and liked it. It won't replace my spinning rods, rather add more versatility. Live bait does not work well for my lifestyle. I fish whenever I can, may not be able to store live bait or go get some. I actually enjoy the endless choices of plastics. Some of it is marketing for sure, some of it is a hobby that people enjoy, and some of it is about learning new things.

Actually, I think everyone just helped me understand that it's me that has the problem. I'm really not sure why I'm trying to hide it. I think I'm a really good father, I spend a lot of time with my kids when they're awake, I spend a lot of time with my wife and even watch her shows with her (Jersey Shore, Dancing with the Stars, Catfish)...maybe I just feel guilty asking her for time to myself. Anyways, I'm going fishing Friday after hitting some golf balls after work, and that'll be the first step in stopping these white lies.

I think it's because when people think of fishing they think of casting out a nightcrawler, sitting in a chair and staring at a bobber for hours on end. That is insanely boring.

Father / Daughter bonding time

I always tell my wife when and where I am fishing. She wants to know so if anything happens she knows where to look for the body and collect the insurance.

Someone needs to tell these poor fish I just lucky catching them on mono on my spinning gear since there's no way I should have been able to feel their light bites in the cold water. Seriously, the whole mono isn't sensitive enough thing is silly. That's all there was for a long time and lots of bass were caught on way less advanced gear than what we have now. You can get a good higher end mono like Sunline Defier Armilio and it will handle as good and probably better than fluoro and if you can tell a difference in sensitivity, you're a better man than I am.

No offense, but I could not imagine texting my wife to tell her I would be gone for a week. Seems like something that should be discussed in person. This goes to show everyone's situation is unique. Only you know what your spouse will tolerate.

I remember this a lot when in college. My buddies would be like, we are going out tonight. I'd tell em, no thanks I'm getting up at 4am to go fishing. Waking up at 4am to go fishing is a much better time than sitting in some club, for me at least.

For some reason it wont let me upload the picture because the file is too big, but anyways i finaly got a normal sized bass im assuming it was like 2 pounds probably a bit more its still not the biggest obviously but a huge step for me from my last two and only two bass i ever caught that were under one pound! Prior to catching this bass about five minutes before i got smoked by another bass that pulled my line way harder than my fish that i actualy landed i was flipping a black and blue jig with same color craw. After that i was so ticked so i just switched to a C-rig and went to another spot like 10 feet away i hooked up an all black worm and dragged it along the bottom and maybe my 3 rd cast i saw the line slacked in a weird manner and i didnt even think i just yanked it and sure enough it was a bass? Thank you guys for answering all of my questions these past few weeks i wouldve never been able to catch this guy if it wasnt for all of your advice i really do appreciate it❤️

An hour and a half prior to the raising of the moon on the horizon. An hour and a half prior to the setting of the moon. An hour and a half prior the moon reaching its apex Kinda sounds like the sun huh!

So, from this thread you've probably realized that the answer is "literally anything used to catch smallmouth will also catch walleye."

Let them think it's boring... more lake for the rest of us.

Daiwa Battler strapped onto a Megabass Poker

I'm just a simple humble basser with some wins and losses and color does matter...

I told my parents that I had to go fishing as part of an english project, being like Thoreau and exploring the wilderness. Ended up writing about a different time on the water, but I got to go fishing and skip soccer practice!

caught my biggest dupage forrest preserve bass a week ago on a black frog. dont think i have ever had a bass smash a frog that hard. just measured it with my rod and it was 19 maybe a little more. then went to busse on saturday, first time on the kayak this year. was catching fish pitching jig to shoreline cover. no big ones though...

Ever heard of Butch Brown or Bill Murphy? One thing both trophy bass anglers had in common was a good understanding of big bass habits based on thousands of hours studying and catching these special bass. Murphy was a dental color technician and unstood every nuonce of color variation under every lighting condition. The variations with white for white under different lightning and shades is mind boggling let alone the entire color spectrum visible to the human eye intrepation by the human brain. Murphy understood changing colors was important to catch bass. Butch Brown is very meticulous duplicating prey colors with his lures and spent hundreds of hours studying variation of wild and hatchery raised rainbow trout under different lightning conditions. Various shades of green in the trouts back, size and number of dots, shades of coral pinks and silver white bellies. Like a taxidermist artist duplication a fish mount Butch creates life like lures. Why go through all this studying, observation and detailed colors of prey if it doesn't matter. Because details do matter and the success of both Brown and Murphy clearly prove that color matters. Detail and color matter to me and are the key to my success. None of you who debate color on this thread have spent more time bass fishing and successfully catching giant then I have. Butch Brown and the late Bill Murphy knew color is important and their success proves it. You can ignor the facts or keep an open mind and experiment with colors to improve your bass fishing. You might learn there more choices then black and blue or green pumpkin. What you learn is bass can be unpredictable. Tom

I use 6 and 8 lb mono on my finesse setups usually Vicious Ultimate and spray ReelSnot on the spools to help with line twist.

Nope, no point anyway. She's a trained interrogator.

Color is important to me, if I don't like it the lure stays in the box. Over the years color has proven to be critical during a tough bite and it's tough where I fish 80% of the time. When it matters it really matters, when it does't everything works. Tom

Went out with my tournament partner for a fun day of fishing for some post spawn bass. In the last creek arm that we were fishing that day, we saw a big fish on a bed still. We made a few flips, but scared the fish off. We came back 5-10 minutes later and we could see that the fish was back. I stepped up on the front deck next to my buddy and made one flip and a short hop. Boom, fish on! We thought for certain that it was a 7+ pound largemouth based on the size of the shadow we saw...

"Color occupies in most fisherman's minds, about 50 percent of their thought process in a given days fishing, and really, it should occupy only about 2 percent. There are many, many things much more important in locating and catching fish than color" - Rick Clunn No doubt there are instances where it makes a difference, but I go with the majority of cases where I simply choose a color based on either/both confidence or water color, or just because, and let the chips fall where they may until proven otherwise.

Well my gym is down stairs so that's out . . . . And my wife's all about my fishing. I'll often get the "You need to go fishing" line. Which now that I think about it, may or may not be that good . . . . A-Jay

"Some men run their house, and some men run around their house." - Sam Cassell

I don't catch walleye as easily dead sticking artificials, but 3" - 4" soft swimbaits and grubs swimming lazily just above bottom will entice either species. oe

got a couple nice packages today

Wow! That's exactly what we saw at Candlewood Lake in Connecticut over the past week or so. The water temperature ranged from 69 to 71 degrees. My partner I managed a 16 pound, one ounce, probably all spawned-out male largemouth bag while prefishing it on Thursday, and a 13 pound, eight ounce, three spawned-out male largemouth and two smallie bag during the tourney on Friday. Everything was caught shallow with slowly fished weightless wacky Senkos in two to four feet of water. The fish were gently hoovering the lures off of the bottom near pilings and rock piles. I tried a deep diving shad crankbait while pre-fishing on Thursday to try and get to the suspending fish at 15 feet, but never saw any action from them. However, a one and three-quarter pound smallie we later boated shallow barfed up a couple of shad. Here’s a three and one quarter pound spawned-out male largemouth from Thursday that should have weighed four pounds:

Some of my catches from Tuesday. Full report in my kayak challenge thread.

I finally got her fixed up, I bought this thing when it looked like a trash boat. It looks a lot better than it did. I don't have any before pics.