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Decided to get out early for a nice topwater bite. Was pretty calm so I started off using a walking bait and it was paying off, plenty of blow ups and plenty of fish an then all of a sudden something crazy happened. I knew something felt weird but was amazed at when I finally reeled them in.. 2 bass on the same bait at once. Never had this happen before

my grandson starts back to school tomorrow so we took the Javelin out..........just one more time

With the yellow perch being the predominant shallow bait fish in many of my home waters, when targeting shallow water smallies, a perch colored Pop Max is tough to beat . A-Jay

Surprise catch of the day a smallmouth a rarity in this lake! 16" 2 pounds used Keitech salty core tube, 16# sniper fc, Tat SV reel, Quantum Smoke 7' M/F rod. This 20" 4 pounder used 16# sniper fc, Chronarch CI4 reel, Okuma Helios 7' M/F rod.

I watched the Live reveal. I wanted Nolan to win, that being said both of those young guys are class acts. For Nick to say he's sure Nolan will be up there again goes to show the maturity of him. The fact that both respected each others space on the lake speaks volumes of their maturity. Some of the Pros need to take a page out of both of these guy's book. Well done to both of you guys!

Usually after 2 hrs & 45 minutes waiting on my wife at doctors office I'm pretty POd...not this time! @everythingthatswims excellent job young man ?

After an extended session of puppy fishing in the front yard, time for a well deserved nap.

I've been fishing since the end of May, so I am still VERY new to this, and to be honest, due to my inexperience I have allowed myself to focus on topwater, as it was how I caught my first ever fish, so it became my confidence technique and all I ever use. Well I decided to challenge myself, since the topwater bite at my local pond is horrible lately. So I tied on a Texas Rig setup and told myself I couldn't throw anything else until I caught a fish on the T-Rig. Well I wasn't having any luck whatsoever, and I started paying attention to my bait. And I soon realized that I wasn't penetrating the grass in my local pond at all, and my 1/32nd ounce bullet weight wasn't cutting it. So I grabbed some 1/4th ounce bullet weights and a pack of Zoom Brush Hogs in green pumpkin and tried again yesterday, after my full time job and before my part time job, and sure enough, this guy hit my Texas Rig so hard, the brush hog was nowhere to be found! Felt good to finally scrape the bottom and come up with a fish!

I groaned out loud when Ratliff got that 2.11 and went ahead. But he seems like a great young man too. Nolan, it was great seeing you fishing . You did us all proud.

I thought the same. We'll need to knock him down a peg two when he gets back.

This week I got a 7' Heavy Fast action Zillion for a great deal from a member here. Went out and picked up a Curado 70 to put on it. Once I got over the fact that it's a Shimano reel on a Daiwa rod, it's become a fantastic combo.

received my new Kastking 7ft 3in speed demon pro worm/jig Rod last night. added my speed demon pro reel, spooled with 40lb power pro. I was a little underwhelmed with the rod at first . It was very slender and the tip seemed too light for a worm/jig rod. took it to a local power plant lake with hopes of hooking a large bass. threw a zoom ol monster with a 3/8 oz weight along rip rap banks. I immediately understood the reason for the light tip. The rod is very sensitive. I could feel every rock the worm hit. Much more sensitive than the fish eagle rod it replaced. Plus it weighed less than half of the fish eagle. didn't catch any monsters, but caught 3 bass between 2.5 and 3.5 lbs. the fish below was the largest. surprisingly hook sets were solid. Even with the light tip, it has a lot of backbone. it easily handled the 3 bass I caught today. It is not a $400.00 rod, but for $109.00 it was pretty impressive. It will get a lot of use on my boat.

Over the past couple weeks I've been trying out the Berkley Powerbait Max Scent soft plastics. To be honest the older Powerbaits have kind of been a little stinky which has left them out of my regular line up. So when I received these in the mail I wasn't too optimistic. The General: I chose the General which is a 5" stick worm. Upon opening the package, you guessed it, curiosity got this cat and I stuck my nose in and took a whiff. Not bad at all, in fact there isn't much scent at all. They are wet, so you can tell they've been saturated in the Max Scent formula. From the package they're strait and true. The front of the package has a nice recommendation on what it's best paired with. They suggested a whacky rig. I went with a 3/0 EWG Gamakatsu and T-rigged it weightless. The bait glides through the water nicely. I caught several fish this way. What I noticed was after catching several fish the General held up nicely, so much so the Senko queen herself (my wife) took notice. For my wife to consider anything besides a Senko is huge! Back at home I took the General and a Senko to my sons pool that's about three foot deep for the ultimate test. Side by side I let the two go. The General has a faster fall rate which was to be expected. That being said the fall rate wasn't fast at all, in fact it was right where I want a stick bait to fall. Not too slow you could take a nap waiting for touchdown, and not too fast is drops like a rock with no movement and flies by your target fish. It swayed back and forth and had a sweet little shimmy to it that drives the fish crazy! At just under $7 for a bag of I believe 9 worms that will catch multiple fish per worm it's a great deal. On top of that the movement is perfect and the scent isn't going to leave you sleeping on the couch waiting for the smell to wear off. Creature Craw: I didn't get as much time with this bait but it reflects a lot of the qualities the General has. It seems to be more durable than some other creature baits on the market. The pinchers have plenty of movement on them which is a good thing. The ribs along the body have plenty of contour so it should be easy for the bass to quickly hone in on. This retails under the $7 price tag as well so you really can't go wrong. The Powerbait Max Scent line up is a hit with me. I'm going to check out what else they have I can load up on, and it looks like Berkley might have converted the Senko queen!

One of the great things about todays match is that neither angler lost it. Both showed their talents and were able to perform under alot of pressure. Congratulations to Nick Ratliff on the win and again to Nolan for a great performance.

Did anybody else's heart almost stop when @everythingthatswims pretended to set the hook with about 20 seconds to go? Dude you did awesome! If you're looking for a president for your fan club give me a shout! Seriously though it's been a ton of fun following you this year, and I see big things for you in the future! Great job!

and Bryan Kerchal .

Regardless of how this event turn out. Mr Minor's performance so far today is very reminiscent of young angler I followed several years ago. Routinely known by just three letters, he's now a legend in this sport. We could be witnessing the earliest stages of the same deal. #recognizetheawesomeness A-Jay

BAM ~ ! In the boat. Takes the LEAD ! A-Jay

Yes.

Hey Riggity, you're doing it right if you have to fish from shore this time of year. Rivers are a better option. I went out with my Father today and fished the river. We caught 25 smallmouth in under 4 hours, mostly on topwater. The water is so warm its like a bath tub but man they are so aggressive. I am fully convinced that it does not matter what lure it is, as long as its in the right spot, they will smack it. Several of the fish we caught were spitting up crayfish too, so its obvious what they're eating. The biggest one was a 19 incher below. Most of you know what river I'm talking about...

This is an easy fix. You are NOT setting the hook. You are hoping the bass hooks itself and just reeling it in. Sometimes it happen, most times it does not. Rarely does simply reeling in a bass after it has struck a bait - including a topwater presentation sufficient to successfully land it. Despite having treble hooks, it is almost always a good plan to have at least some semblance of a hook set. With your bait seen in the clip you provided, it's not necessary to come out of your shoes with it but once you feel the weight of the fish, a sudden yank back to bury some hook points, BEFORE you start reeling it in, will No Doubt improve your strike to land ratio. Here's a clip of a smallmouth I took on a topwater bait this week. You'll see the strike and what I mean about the hookset fairly well. Good Luck. A-Jay

summer break is over for this guy. but we do have the memories, and there are lots more summertimes to go.....

We all have stressful days. In my type of work, rarely does a day go 100% smooth from start to finish. Someone doesn't show, materials not delivered, correcting mistakes, dealing with subcontractors, and meeting deadlines. Some days I come home pretty burned out. Those are the evenings I go to the pond. The laid back , quiet type of fishing is an automatic stress reliever. Fall is my favorite time for this. The scenery is great.Of course I go there to catch fish. But it's a different fishing than bigger lakes. No loud boats, no party crowd etc. The best way to unwind that I know of.Anyone else do this?

Last night a buddy and I picked up a few Thermocells at a hardware store and gave it a go and I cant believe i didnt try this out earlier. as a night time angler ive spent many nights ruined because of mosquitoes. no more sweating it out wearing long sleeve clothing in the hot muggy nights. even with the lotions or spray you still have them buzzing in your face and God forbid you miss one square inch on your body. ever put mosquito repellent on your face and then get sweaty? yeah fun times. people have asked me if i was on drugs because of the marks on my forearms, thats how bad it gets if you frequently fish at night. Im not sure on how it will work on breezy days but as for now this is a gods gift. im currently shopping around for the best deals on refills because im going to buy them by the truckloads.

Congrats to these two anglers. Both showed some real class here

Nolan is smart as a whip! Duh, he had 13-4 - he figured it out. You can't have 13 and change and be 13-0. The only answer is 13-8.

Not a photo, but this gives a whole new meaning to the umbrella rig...lol! ?

I believe what has set Nolan apart from the others in this bracket tournament has been his poise & confidence. As a young man in a highly excited environment, it is very easy to let the situation overwhelm you and your plans. From Day one, he knew the contest he was fishing, what he needed to do and kept his ego in check in order to accomplish it. Rare are the multi-day tournaments where the winner is comes flying out of the gate and then is hanging on at the end (like Tim Horton did on Okeechobee a year ago). Starting well and then increasing as the tournament progresses is the strategy that wins, but is so difficult to do mentally while you are in the midst of it. Nolan has shown a maturity past his years. If he does indeed keep the lead & win today, I just hope he doesn't long-arm the trophy for the photos... ?

My man using the jig and not that lame little soft stick thingy. Atta boy!

Had to go look at my football jig inventory .... not sure why!

I'm gonna use up all my likes on this thread alone.

Keep it up!! I'm pretty sure my refresh button is broken and nothing at work is getting done.

Go into meetings when he only had one fish, get out and holy shirts and pants! Let's go Nolan!

Smashed another one ! "Total Cluster" I foresee a Bass Mafia Sponsor ship in his future The Bassmaster media dudes are learning and seeing first hand what we've known & seen for a while. So Good. A-Jay

I have been really impressed with his poise. The camera hasn't fazed him, being behind didn't have an impact and neither did hooking one in the side. This guys talent is shining, both the fishing and the personality are being showcased.

watching live, im more excited watching this than any other fishing event. watched that 2.11 jig bite live, sweet!!! btw my work day is trashed.

And the freaky good performance continues . . . Little behind the 8 ball to start but there's plenty of fishing ahead. A-Jay https://www.bassmaster.com/video/college-classic-bracket-live

I have stood in the store holding this reel at least 5 times. I need another reel like I need a hole in the head, but I started on Abus and I will always have a sweet spot for them. Thanks for the review, now I'll probably buy one, hate myself and get kicked out of the house. Gee thanks.

Nothing wrong with house rods. Cabelas Tournament ZX rods are excellent for the money and go on sale for $ 80 often. Never tried BPS rods though

I don't know how you knew but - you are right. Not to hi-jack Sam's thread but from 1983-85 I was a small boat coxswain at the USCG Search & Rescue Station right there in Newburyport, MA. Many times when the Merrimac river Bar was breaking too big to get back in, while wait the 6 hrs for the tide to turn, we would go out to the Isle Of Shoals, tie up and check it out. Doing at night was a heck of deal. Place surely seemed like there was always someone watching us despite the place had been deserted at that point for some time. Oh the times we had. Thanks @jbmaine for allowing me to take a walk down memory lane. Btw - running that river & Breaking bar at night was wild - especially in the winter with Volkswagen sized sections of Iceburgs tumbling around in the waves with us. Talk about scary ! A-Jay

Well, I still use a couple Berkley Lightning Rods ($35 normally, but I got them on sale for $25 each) that I bought more than a decade ago. I have a 6-6 MH for spinner/buzzbaits and a M for topwaters and cranks. At the time I bought them I always thought I'd replace them with higher quality when they failed. But they never did. They're reasonable light and the actions are spot-on for the techniques. I have some higher quality rods for sensitive or specialized techniques. And I've eventually changed out all my reels to better quality units. If they do what you want there's no reason to change.

Not much to choose from at BPS. I think they sell the Mojo Bass rod which is a good rod for the money.

What about the carbon light 2.0 rods? They feel nice in hand. So does the Fenwick HMG, but I haven't fished either of them.

What you are referring to action is actually power. Action and taper is the amount of bend the rod has. Extra fast, fast, moderate fast, regular, moderate, Slow. People, and even companies confuse these a lot of times.

The brakes on this reel are amazing!

I'll be honest... I'm not going to put that much effort into the 'Tonka derby. Work's really busy this week and we've been running around the state camping/fishing the last few weekends. I'm a little burnt out and definitely can't devote the time/focus it would take to try to win on Sunday. I'm just glad we got into the TOC! That being said, i'm still going to get out there and do a very small amount of practice. I just really hate making that drive from Andover to 'Tonka... especially with 169 down to one lane through Champlin. If you want to toss something that river Smallies (and walleye) love, rig up a 1/4oz jig head and a Keitech swimbait. That's been a good producer for river fish, especially from the bank, for me over the years.

Bad day at work for guys in my line of work means you don't go home. I forget about everything I've dealt with, seen or heard at work when I'm on the water.

Got bit really hard last month. Rediscovered my love for jerkbait fishing so went searching for a new jerkbait rod. Ended up finding a 2 for 1 deal on these Daiwa Zillions. A 6'6" MH-F will be my new jerkbait rod. Hoping to use the 7'4" MH-R as my new jig rod. Also needed a reel to go with the new jig rod. Found ebay had a good deal going on the Revo ALX-HS, especially with the promo codes people post up around here. So far I love the reel. I don't think i'll notice the extra .5oz compared to an MGX. Finally got lucky (no pun intended) with a local Ollies. I had given up hope in the spring time after visiting 3 local stores. Happened across a new one and got lucky. Got the LC lures for $5.99 and the Arashis for $2.99. I don't need any of these lures, but I figured at that price why not give them a shot! The bait monkey is satisfied....for now