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About time I stuck a half-decent fish here.

Guess who's featured in this video? Yup, our very own J Francho!

Finally got on some smallmouth this evening after work. Only had about 45 minutes of light, and only caught fish in about 15 of that. Caught three, hooked but lost two others, and had one maybe pound and a half follow worm right up to the bank on a straight retrieve. That one clued me in to how they wanted the presentation though, and the next dozen or so casts resulted in 5 hookups. All from the same spot on the bank! Another milestone... The pic is my first ever Ned rig fish! I kinda like this little turd worm.

Here's my solution: don't use a leader unless absolutely necessary. I'd much prefer straight braid or mono/fluoro/copoly than use a leader connection.

Top water was on.....Whopper Plopper for 3.8

My favorite part was when they asked for a fish story... and then IMMEDIATELY wished they hadn’t lol

Here's a Lake Falcon Hawg for you boys!!

I decided I was tired of having a box of topwaters in my backpack because I was supposed to. I never throw topwater. Never had confidence in it. So today I got up stupid early and headed out with my tack, determined to not throw another bait until I caught a limit. It was overcast, humid, sun had just come up but hidden behind the clouds, and it was dead calm with stained water. I tied on the lucky craft gunfish in black with yellow spots. It took a while, but once my first bite I couldn't stop if I wanted to. The first blow up missed, I followed up with a senko and belly weighted jackall rhythm wave, nothing. It didn't take long for the next blow up though. In total I landed 6 or 7 bass in about the first hour or so... man those topwater bites get the juices flowing. I had such a blast that I'm swapping the line on my worm rig from YZH to Big Game so I can walk the dog easier. I'm hooked. Next.... the whopper popper and buzzbait.

So My G-Daughter Mackayla and her friend beg me to take them to a local pawn shop to look at games they could buy. I haven't felt up to par all week , and tried to get out of it, but it's my G-daughter so guess who won ? So we get to the pawn shop, they head to the games, and I head to the fishing area. I'm looking for baitcasters but they don't have any. I almost walked away, but a small, ultralight spinning combo caught my eye. I've always loved them for bream fishing so I picked it up. Then I noticed it looked strangely familiar. It was MINE. It was the combo that went missing last year. I thought one of the kids had knocked it off the dock or something, but apparently it was less innocent than that. I told the shop owner and paid only 16.00 to bail it out.I had a chain saw stolen from a family " friend " last year and had to press charges to get it back, which I did after 5 months of the police holding it. I wasn't about to go through that again. Now I wondered how that combo got to that shop and how long it had set out there waiting for purchase.? Its been missing for almost a year ! I am a man of faith, so I'm thankful and blessed to get it back, and in such an amazing way, since it is my favorite bream combo.? It doesn't take a criminal justice degree to figure out who did it. The " friend " and the monkey on his back.?

Anything Fenwick makes is a better bang for the buck than Loomis rods below the IMX level.

They are a total waste of time!

The only way over that is to make amends.

I thought you were going to reveal that he was the nut who climbed up on the Statue of Liberty this past 4th of July...

I just feel honored to be in his virtual presence ?

Here's yours, for free:

I might have to hand out suspensions, lol.

Hit the stream early yesterday morning for some Independence Day brookies. The area I was fishing was mustly just mud and clay with hardly any riffles so was surprised to do quite well. Panther martin struck gold at one spot with a nice 12.5 incher coming from this open muddy stretch.

Happy 4th fishing with a classic lure. Caught these Bass on a Heddon Baby Torpedo. It was the only lure I could think of that reminded me of the fourth of July fireworks. Top water bite was on as the temps climbed to around 95 degrees. The top Smallmouth was wrapped in someone else's fishing line. I was able to cut it off before releasing him.

Thank's for the heads up. got 12 5XD's for $40 shipped as a non-member!

Got a bass on a shakyhead today, that's one more technique that I'm learning. Before I started reading this forum if the bass didn't want a spinnerbait or frog, than I wasn't catching. Since then I've got em on jerkbaits, jigs, tubes, crankbaits, texas rig creature baits and worms, swimbaits, and dropshot. I fish from shore so i'm limited as far as how much water I can get to; but being able to pick it apart more effectively top to bottom sort of make it seem a little bigger. This site and its members have been extremely helpful. Keep posting and sharing because its been help. Thank you.

Those darn kayaks, I'm proud to be one of them. It goes both ways, I've had Ricky Rocket and his nitro powered bass boat drop in 20-30 yards front of me when I'm running the bank with a spinner bait. Never have had him drop in behind, everyone knows a good yak fisherman leaves no stone un-turned. I do feel your pain and some of our lakes especially the popular ones can be pretty crowded on the weekends. There is nothing like the feeling after paddling for 20-30 minutes to get to a spot and a hundred yards before you get there Ricky shows up and drops in. Courtesy goes a long way and beating on each other just makes things worse. I try my best to be kind and considerate on the water and will continue to do so even when others of both species don't. Regards, FM

I've already forgiven him, life is too short to waste... I'm going to talk to him about it. Hopefully he'll be humble and admit it, and offer to at least pay me the 16.00 back. But I'm not planning to demand it. There is a very small possibility it wasn't him but it was the same pawn shop my chainsaw ended up at at about the same time so.....

I have been using these also with good results. I have been using size 1/0 or size 1

First ever jig fish. Falling in love with this style of fishing. Didn’t even know she was on, but I had a gut feeling that it wasn’t a rock. Set the hook and up she came.Great fight. 2.64lbs and 12 inches.

"Does anyone else fish the craws with success?" Certainly one of the most productive soft plastic on the planet. I would also STRONGLY recommend the Baby Craw.

They spent three days and two nights camped out at my house. We got along pretty well - well enough to joke around.

Thanks. I will cherish it always.

Wow ! I just found this site last week and had been reading on it never imagined it was still going strong after 10 years ! Been looking for a site like this ! I love to fish and love to fish Toledo bend , I know a few spots on the south side that produce a few fish but always wanted to know the lake and how to fish it better ! I haven't been in the water in 2 years but we r heading that way at the end of the month for 5 days ,we r staying at pirates cove !

I don't mind it on light setups, like a spinning rig with 15# braid, 8# leader for finesse stuff, but I try to avoid it on heavier setups. To me, if I need fluoro for clear, rocky water, then I'll use straight fluoro. I do not see the benefit of a leader. In weeds and slop, then straight braid - no need for a leader.

Watch out for this baby ?

?

Crazy!! The pawn shop owner has to keep a record of everything that is sold to them correct? I would verify the name and then have a little talk with the "friend" who pawned er... stole it.

That shay cray bro...

Smallmouth can start showing some signs of barotrauma around 20 ft, with a sharp increase at just over 30 ft. Once you reach 60-70' it becomes a catch and keep game because most will die without immediate attention (fizzing). Playing them slowly does nothing except possibly make the situation worse. Get them up quick and then try and immediately release them so they can swim back down.

Love watching the world wake up in the mornings on the water.....also really enjoy the water's going to bed at night after all the commotion of the day. Is there a bad time on the water....yes.....Holidays....sometimes these days and the way people act tend to have me thinking not so good thoughts about my fellow man but......is what it is.

Why wouldn't I throw baits that match the forage. These are baits that proven themselves time after time. No disrespect (you are very respected) but you seem to be more hung up more on color then I am. Exactually why would I throw FireTiger, chartreuse w/ black and blue backs when they don't seem to produce well for me. Why would they be a confidence bait there. On the Big D that would be different. I can't say that I've had a lot of days like you have but I always have tied on what I feel will produce first. Shape and slight action change. But still able to cover 8-14 foot depth range. Can agree 100%. Very possible but I just related it to color. I thought that was the greater difference. I get hung on certain shad raps I have. Sometime things may start out great. Then it will die off. Why??? No idea. I'll tie on a jointed version of the same Shad rap and pick up a few more fish.

I'm a weekend angler with a wife and 2 young daughters so mornings work better for my schedule. I'm not crazy about getting up at 4 in the morning after working all week but I enjoy eating supper with the family and putting my girls to bed so fishing in the evening is a rare event for me.

So finally got to get some new gear: 2- tatulas 7.3:1 3 rolls power pro 50lb pack of rage swimmers 2 packs strike king swimbait heads 5 series 1 freak cb 4 series 2 freak cb 4 packs of v&m smallie tube hook

One of my greater skills (that of course requires minimal brain power) is being able to work and fish out in the extreme heat. It only comes in useful a couple weeks out of the year but it’s necessary! I would rather put up with sweating through my clothes for a few months than having to drill holes in the water for a few months

I also have an Alvarez from the mid 70s, it’s a copy of a martin D35. Sweet guitar, still has the Brazilian rosewood 3 piece back

I don't know if its being exaggerated, but who's doing the complaining, the bass or the bass anglers? oe

Oh man, if you think walking the dog is addicting then you need to get a heavy rod, some 50lb braid, and a hollow-body frog. I love my Zara Spooks but those frogs are the coolest thing in plastic. Congrats on a great morning!

Was 75 % today. straight braid on a MH CB rod think I have 41’s on the one in the pic The ones that made it in the boat hit it on the initial splash! ........all of them

First fourth, first fireworks, and first funnelcake for the grandson

For those that shop at Sam's Club and like Strike King. Take a peek at the website. There are a few goodies left to be had.

From the lake to the fryer. The wife loves bluegill fishing. Kept some for the first time in a couple years. Fried them the day they were caught. This meal was some count!

After 20+ years of playing (99% church stuff) I decided to try Open D tuning. That was the bees knees for me. So darn easy that I set out to play tons of different stuff in Open D. I simply love the big open droney sound. Yeah, it isn't for every style/song but doggonnit, it's fun, and so much easier on my fingers. Oh, main reason I switched was due to a stupid clippers mistake while trimming an out of control shrub in my yard. Almost lost the tip of my left (fret hand) middle finger. Nerve damage. So anything to reduce pressure helped. Open D was answer for me.

Who's doing the buying? I'd love to know, because as a member of the media, I get to vote. And nobody has ever tried to "buy" or otherwise influence my voting. If somebody's doling out dough, I'd like to find out who so I can sign up! On a more serious note, everyone at ICAST - and in particular small business owners - are VERY proud of their products. If you talk to them, they are very passionate and obsessed about their company and its products, and truly believe what they are offering will completely change the fishing industry forever. They believe in their hearts, their stuff is the most unique and amazing products the world has ever seen....and is therefore a natural shoe-in for winning "Best of ICAST". In their eyes, there is no other reasonable outcome. When their lofty expectations aren't meant, then in their eyes, there's no other reason than a conspiracy at work. Hence the rumors of "buying" votes, or that everything is "political", yadda yadda yadda. That said, I do believe some things win when they shouldn't....mainly because there's nothing else better competing in their category. A new color of the same bait is not worthy of an ICAST award, but it happens sometimes. SMH LOL! Add to it "revolutionary", "amazing", and "innovative" - words liberally used in just about every ICAST press release every year. LOL!