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So it had been super hot up north in NY weather has been stable so I figured I would get some fishing in. Got done visiting my brother in law who currently has cancer (is doing very well and most is gone) but he is the one who got me into fishing so he was pumped for me. I went out to this little 50 acre lake I always fish out of my canoe, it was around 8 at night so I was using my hollow body frog bc I want to get better at it. I started tossing it in the usual spots and I noticed out in the middle of the lake was a random grass patch and figured that would be a great ambush point so bass should be staged in there. FIrst cast I slowly walk it and BOOM! The biggest bass I ever seen comes out of the water like a shark and dives back in, I set the hook and install adrenaline started rushing. I do my best to turn it’s head but it dives down and surprisingly takes drag, it was at that moment i started shaking. My drag was set to around 9-10 pounds where it barely slipped if I tried to pull some out so I knew it was huge! I finally get it turned but I feel dead weight.. scared as I see this giant clump of weeds but as soon as it was boat side I could see her massive head sticking out. Without worrying where the frog was I stuck my hand right in her mouth and grabbed hold.. pulled out this giant 7 pound bass and just stopped breathing for about 30 seconds just staring in shock. Hurry and grsbbed my measuring tape. Was 22.5 inches long and 16.5 inches around. Was hoping to hit 8 pounder but for a norther strain ill take a 7 pounder any day ! Thanks @WRB for the advice on Fred’s magic stick! Would have never hauled that out with another Rod

Second best of the summer on the frog. Mid day 90 degrees and full sun. Absolutely choked it and I had to horse her through 20 feet of thick vegetation. Went for 4.63, snapped a few shots and she was on her way. Update: Went out in the kayak for round two and caught a 14 incher, on a frog again. I’m on a frog kick here in Virginia!

I am the opposite with new lures and presentations and try them during a active bite to determine if it works. When you don't have confidence it affects how you fish and consentrate on potential strikes and you start thinking a different lure may work when it's not a lure issue, it's more then likely a location and timing issue. Tom

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WRB and islandbass, I did have something. I deliver auto parts part time for a small, family owned auto parts chain. I deliver only to dealerships and garages. It's not BPS management money but I really don't care. My wife and I are both blessed to have really good pensions after over thirty years each in law enforcement. BPS basically paid for my fishing. Sounds crazy, but at this point I really don't care about the money. For the guys talking about the time shares, it's only going to get worse except it's now credit cards. That's the main reason I walked. Since the Cabela's purchase, credit cards, excuse me, Club Cards are now the focus. All associate's, in each department, are required to sell c/c's. All managers are required to ensure that associates are selling c/c in addition to selling them themselves. All associate's have a quota. Before I left, customers were complaining about being asked 4 or 5 times if they wanted a c/c. I agreed with the customers. I had two problems, four actually. None of them will make sense to some of you. 1. I don't believe in credit cards, heck I don't believe in debt. To many people get in serious trouble with debt. Proverbs 22:7 speaks to it. I personally refuse to have anything to do with them. Sadly, people have to have mortgages and car payments, they don't have to have c/cs and BPS sells nothing that they have to have. 2. I absolutely refuse to make an associate do something that I won't. Even when I was in L.E., I wouldn't make my guys do something I wouldn't do or hadn't done myself. 3. I won't be given a quota. I never had quota's in over 35 years in L.E., believe it or not. 4. When I hired in, selling c/c was never a requirement. Gear guards were. When I spoke to my supervision, I was told it was non-negotiable. I guess I agreed. Before you say anything, I realize they are 100% within their rights to require employees to do things, including selling cards. I'm just not going to be a part of it. Thanks for the good wishes!

Biggest smalljaw of the year so far for me. Was banging flats with a Rapala X-Rap in olive color when this tank decided he was hungry. Hit like a sack of bricks and made me think I had a 30+ inch pike on the line.

Got this big girl on a jig, between a dock and a pontoon on a hoist. What a crazy fight, considering I had about 8 inches to work with between boat hoist and dock. It pays to spend the dough on Sufix 832! Close to my PB, it went 22". I put her back, of course.

But I'll never know. Decided to stop by the little river in the town just north of the house about 10 minutes after work this morning. Loaded with gar and when the river gets low, they're really aggressive. I know most shun gar, but they're hard fighters, aggressive, and very acrobatic, on top of the fact that they're dang near impossible to hook. I was fishing a 6' 8" M/F Mojo with a 30 size Pflueger when I got that telltale sharp tap of a gar's beak slapping my grub. When I set the hook, it moved really slow, kind of started wondering if I hadn't missed the fish that bit and snagged a different fish, which happens because of how stacked up they get at times. A normal fish down there is 28-36 inch range, but when I saw this mammoth longnose gar's body, I seriously thought I might have hooked a rogue alligator gar that had somehow found it's way up the river. It was gigantic, I was positive it would swim into one of the 2 log jams pushed up against the concrete walls, but when I was able to slowly finesse it away between leaps and wild tailwalks across the small pool, I started to realize I had a real shot at landed this monster. I grabbed my grippers that were attached to my scale from my open bag and walked to the most opportune spot to try and beach it, really wishing I had a pair of gloves like I normally would so I could just grab the beak. The fish made several more slow, determined runs and at one point stopped and did some massive headshakes that resulted in my line being between it's teeth, I knew the clock was ticking on my 8lb leader then. One failed attempt to clamp the grippers on it's beak, then I lead it to shore once again and clamped further back and drug it onto shore, I could not believe the girth on the fish. I've never seen a gar look fat before, but this looked like a giant muskie's body with a gar head. I had a tape with me, it went right at 53" long. Tried to get a weight, wouldn't open it's mouth, so I tried to pry it open with pliers despite knowing it was a bad idea, and I was right. One huge headshake and I was dripping blood all over and just as fast the fish had propelled itself back to the water and bolted off. The pictures are terrible because they don't really show how truly massive the fish was, but it gives a little idea anyways if you take into consideration the size of the objects around it. It was as big around as my leg with scales the size of nickels.

I have a rod like that. Had it for years, and have caught a lot of fish on it. I never noticed any performance problems; either casting, retrieving or fighting fish. In fact, the only problem with the rod was it bugged the snot out of me. It now resides in my rod rack, and will remain there until I have time to strip it and re-wrap it smaller lighter guides. Which will be lined up!

Had a big rain here today, so I figured the cats would be active. They were.

Took the boat out to one of the local bays to try and get some pike and at first it really was a struggle. After a solid hour and a half of covering all of my waypoints I could only manage a 20-22 inch to follow. Then as I moved along the shoreline of the other side of the bay I started seeing signs of life. Forage, and plenty of it. Probably 1-2 inches long. Some little perch were darting up and grabbing the minnows. Little perch = big pike close by. I started working the shoreline that was stacked with bait and out of nowhere something big slams my golden little cleo. It looks like a muskie just at first glance, but turns out to be just one of the biggest pike in the bay! A fat 5 lber. I slide her back in the water and then get a large pike that charges my olive x-rap back to the boat. I mark the spot and keep fishing around it, working the deeper edge. Takes like 30 minutes, but then I get one to commit. Solid 3.5 lber. Great morning all around.

^ Previous [June 20, 2018] Today was an example of the power of "PMA". It was a Wednesday, Jeremy and I got off work and met up at his place for an after work fishing trip. We launched the boat at 2:30pm, and headed to our first spot. It was shallow, water temp ~70F, we could see bass all over. We both were catching little ones left and right, and having a great time. Then there was a moment where I turned to look behind us and out of nowhere there was a guy in a bass boat on his trolling motor that came right up to us, like less than 30ft away... At first it was all cool, and he asked if we had caught anything. So we told him yeah been catching little ones... Then he proceeds to go right around the back of us, and cut right in-front of where we were headed. Once he gets like 50ft away, he starts up his big motor and just has it idling as he stands on the trolling motor and drives down the next 1/2 mile of shoreline that we planned to fish not even making a single cast... Jeremy and I both look at each-other and are like... "Well, that was rude..." What happened next was - we both continued fishing the shoreline that the dude just cruised through - like nothing had ever happened... (I just checked the time stamp on my images) Less than 5 minutes after that guy cut in-front of us Jeremy makes a cast and hooks into his "fish of the day"... We both continue catching them just like before, Jeremy even breaks his one day total record today catching 30+ bass. Two hours after his catch, I make a cast with a lizard to the outside edge of a log parallel to the shoreline and nothing, I then make a second cast over the log to the inside edge between the log and the shoreline and hook into my "fish of the day"... While I was in the process of landing my "fish of the day", Jeremy doubled up with a nice 3lb 05oz Largemouth. Fishing was so good we didn't arrive back at the ramp till 8:00pm. (We have to be up at ~3:30am for our work schedule.) We both made it work, so good times... Looking back on this day, we could of easily got frustrated and moved to another location and missed out on all of this. Instead we kept positive and continued on with our original plan we had from the start and it payed off. There has been countless times over the past 3 years from when I first learned Positive Mental Attitude from Gerald Swindle that it has saved my fishing day. Whether you choose to believe it or not, PMA is indeed a powerful tool in the tackle box. WolfyBrandon

A buddy and I had a 70-fish Day combined (all LM Bass) recently fishing in kayaks. We both caught fish in excess of 21 inches (5 - 6 1/2 Lb. range) and lots of 3 pounders etc. We were fishing coontail and slop and so there was a lot of hard cranking and lifting. We used everything: frogs, toads (Ribbits), Yum Dingers, Power worms, whopper Ploppers, buzzbaits, and even a few crankbaits and spinnerbaits on the edges. When the day was over we both had sore wrists and elbows and scratched up fingers and thumbs. It took about 48 hours to fully recover from the soreness but it still felt gooood.

My buddy came into town for a weekend of fishing and we got some nice ones!

20” this morning breakin in new gear

Saw this a couple of years ago when I was back in the north country for my 50th HS reunion. It was next to the public boat ramp in Balsam Lake, WI. Seemed like a cool idea. Hope that most use it as it is intended.

The prettiest little fish we have in Kansas, a male longear sunfish in full blown spawning colors from a little creek.

Snagged some items on clearance from a local shop that is getting out of fishing. It really saddens me as this shop carried some quality tackle.

I know this is a bass forum but, struck out on bass today. Caught this guy on the Saginaw river today. I think it is a flat head. If it is a flat head it is my first one. I was throwing my chatter bait with boot fluke white trailer to some wood and bushes. Before it floated to the bottom he grabbed. I’ve fought a lot of salmon while trolling and this guy will give 18 lbs king a run for its money. I have never felt anything like this while casting. I was using 10lbs big game line. After I netted him the chatter bait fell out of his mouth. He bent the kvd snap all up. He gave my Black maxx rod and reel everything he had and the rod and reel came through with flying colors.

Man, we were fishing a night tournament last night and things got hairy. We were running about 45 headed from one spot to another and there were a few boats in the area. So as we're running we see a boat headed our way so we turned left to go past and they turned left a little so we turned right to go around. Guess what?? They started drifting right a little. Thinking they would see a 21 foot white skeeter with our light on. We straigtened up and the other boat again just kept coming at us. About 50 yards away maybe closer it became obvious something awful was about to happen so my partner just jerked left and we did a 45 mph donut on the water. I ended up in his lap and soaking wet but we missed the other boat. Thank God. We chased the ppl down and it so happened to be a real good friend of ours who was real shaken and wet like us. He was apologising like crazy and said he never saw us. With everyone soaking wet and real shook up we parted ways. Then I got to thinking about my son and wife and how close they were to losing me and I'm pretty shook up. So to all y'all guys gonna be out these holiday weekends coming up be careful.

Still at the lake fighting with him. Its been 23 years 4 months 2 days that I've had him on the line.

I use 6th Sense Peg Stoppers. $1.99 at work plus I get 20% off of that. You can leave them on your line, when you choose to take the weight off, so you don't have to put another one on when you decide to put the weight back on. ?

I agree, i does not affect its performance. But it would bother me a lot everytime i saw it like that

We have a word for folks with confidence and attitude that lack experience and knowledge, delusional. Their entry fee checks cash just as good though, in fact, even better....

Unless I'm mistaken, I have not seen where any attempt to allow Kastking to react to this issue has yet been made. Might be a little premature to start giving them bad reviews. Every maker has at least a little problem now and then.

Holy crap I just looked at my update an I'm in 60th for all of fantasy fwishing! Lucas Ehler J.Lee F.Shryock These are who's left fishing today

This is a tough one, and I am probably in the minority, but I believe we make our confidence/luck. I believe the more you practice, the luckier you become This is true with many baits. Experience helps dictates the choice in situations. When rewarded, I prefer to think it was my choice, not that a particular bait was on the business end of the line. There is no doubt that some techniques catch more fish and others tend to catch bigger fish.....but it who can catch fish when the bite falls off. Just one guys opinion. On a side note, I have committed to using techniques that I have struggled with......I have a few more " confidence baits" ?

While confidence & attitude can & does play a role in fishing & in Life, so does Knowledge & Experience. Best attitude in the world will do little to overcome doing the wrong thing in the wrong place and at the wrong time. BUT - having fun while we're 'fishing' and acknowledging that we don't catch them all day everyday, can help an attitude out quite a bit as well. Perhaps cut yourself some slack A-Jay btw - " I am probably one of the better bank anglers on this lake." This attitude is probably holding you back. Definitely not improving your success

I have no problems with flurocarbon line and find it superior to mono for my needs. I just can't deal with the stretch in mono and the fact that it floats doesn't help at all. All i will say is not all fluorocarbon is not created equal. I wont mention the brand i use because i am not paid to sell products.

Here is the complete list of fluorocarbon lines I like and feel offer me an advantage:

Hitenausa.com Met these extremely nice guys at the ICRBE this year and got a couple of samples of their rod wrapping thread. I finally got around to trying it, and liked it enough I ordered a 17 spool pack of all their current colors. I got it two days after placing the order. They sent me a sample spool of one of their fishing lines; a 12 strand braid called Pureline. Not being a braid user, I was not aware that anybody made a braid with more than eight strands. I did use a few brands of braid before giving up on it, but it has been a while since I used any. This Pureline is the tightest wound, smoothest and slickest braid I've ever felt. I may have to try this. They make several versions of braid, including one called Silky; which is a 16 strand braid. I can't imagine how smooth that must be. You braid users may want to check this out.

Flouro is one of those products, where “ime” the more expensive the better it is. If someone likes just a little bit the lower and/or middle line products ,they would love the top shelf stuff.

I've seen lots of loaner life jackets at state park ramp docks in Missouri and just recently in Kansas too. No excuse not to have all their life jackets now. Celebrating 'Merica with some food, guns, and fireworks yesterday at our house. Had enough fire power the neighbors came over and asked if we were getting ready for a war ?

These sorts of lists are more for fun than much anything else. They are also intended to "catch eyes" and I see them all the time, oft-repeated ones like "The 10 Best Cities to Retire" and others. Some magazines include articles like this in almost every issue. As regards accuracy? Hmm? An analogy: Most of us, if asked to list our favorite meals or restaurants, in order, we might go really strong for the first 5 or 10 . . . then it really falls apart after that if asked for more names. We sort of "fill out" the list struggling to complete it. Here in Texas? We have a half dozen lakes that are perennial favorites. Even some of the best are also known to be very frustrating. I read all the time about anglers going out to the legendary Lake Fork, skunking or catching just a few small bass they could have pulled from a pond, then asking "What's the secret?" The secret is, by the way, that most anglers can "not catch fish" just about anywhere, any time, even on lakes with the best reputations. Still, guess I'll be another wanting to read down the list of "100." I have been programmed to do so. Brad

Got to share this sunset with my gr. Daughter going home from a spring fishing trip.

I use bobber stops, peg-its, and tooth picks, they all work. Bobber stops are my preferred method, but it make take a couple if you're using heavier weights for punching.

I got the 4MH 7'6 paired with a Steez SV TW and 12 pound Shooter. Unbelievable combo. Will write a little review after some more tests.

For the record, ice does not make them stick tighter. Ice helps. As counter-intuitive as it seems, ice shrinks the material making the ID of the female section bigger and the OD of the male section smaller. Might not work every time, but it is theoretically the right solution.

You 2 gentlemen stay safe out there. From what I here, gator bites hurt like a butt cheek on a stick!!

This is a favorite of mine. Curado 100B with Chronarch 50 MG spool. An updated handle to finish it and this reel casts and performs as good as anything current (at least in my opinion).

You're overthinking this. It's a 7' deep pond...there is no "deep" water. The surface and top couple feet will have the most oxygen because it mixes with the wind and gets the most sunlight (photosynthesis). Don't worry about a thermocline in this situation, either. It's a simple process of elimination. Start in the shallows and around any cover with a variety of presentations. If you don't get bit, they either aren't there or they are but aren't biting. Fish a little deeper; maybe off the ends of the cover that reaches out the furthest; any weedline edges if there are such things. Expect slower action on sunny calm days and better activity on cloudy breezy days. Maybe fish in the evening or at night. Fish move around in a pond regularly, so after a couple hours, don't hesitate to go back through the shallows and see if anything has moved in or become active. Sometimes a simple wind change is enough to stimulate the bite. I've been fishing similar ponds all year. Some days I catch 3, some days I catch 30. Unless you know something is out in the deeper sections, it's usually a waste of time to just randomly cast into these holes, except in winter. The active fish will be moving or near the bank.

Living in Ontario, we have quite a few amazing fisheries that could easily make the top 100 list, but I’m with you on this. Kinda glad we don’t get much mention on there, some of the best waters can be changed a lot once the word gets out about great fishing.

There's people like that everywhere you go anymore. Key is to not let them get to you and just do what you do despite them. I try to focus even more and catch fish behind guys when they cut me off, making sure they splash around on the side of the boat so they can see them a little more than usual too Good job keeping your heads in the game and catching some good ones.

Blue Hour at the International Bridge - Sault Ste Marie, MI. A-Jay

I have been out on the Minneapolis Chain the last few nights and done pretty well, probably caught about 30 fish between the last two nights but fish would only hit the wacky rig. I was able to end last night with this 21". No scale but definitely a healthy fish, put up a good fight on my medium light rod as well

Got my first decent fish in awhile and a few of her friends this evening. They were all over the small June bug yum dingers.

Took advantage of a 20% off discount on ebay and ordered me a Lews Team Lite: I was looking for a sub 6oz, bellow 200€, reel to put on my small paddle tail swimbaits/grubs rod. Was a little divided between the Lews and one Okuma Helios Air, in the end the 20% off and external adjustable brakes made me go with the Team Lite...

Honestly, any baitcaster and M rod should be able to cast that bait. A 5" Senko is 3/8 oz by itself.

All about the Top Water today! Some good fish. MegaBass Pop-X did most of the damage. A few came on spinnerbaits as well.