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Well, it's certainly taken a bunch of my money ?

made a quick stop by my local hole and pulled out this 4.7 lber on my second cast using a top toad.

It has opened the door to the poor house for me.

Got out for about 3 hours yesterday evening/night to Caney Lakes upper lake side. The lower lake side is closed until Memorial Day next year which really sucks, unless you have a boat. There's a boat launch on the other end of that side, but all the bank access is in the park area that's closed. Why? I don't know. Anyways, nothing was doing until about 8:45ishpm and finally got this nonscorable bass on my 1/4oz weighted tequila sunrise 6" Zoom lizard. Then 3 casts later caught another maybe scorable bass(didn't bother to weigh either of them) on the same lizard. My girlfriend wasn't feeling very well so we went on to the house. Wish we coulda stayed a little later, no telling what else I coulda caught, but her wellness is more important and at least I didn't get skunked. ?

Bass fishing has been an active part of my life since I can remember. I met my wife when she was 15 years old. We are both 71 now. We grew up in South Florida and fished together before and after school. We fished together our entire lives. When our son was born, we carried his play pen with us in the car and fished from the bank. When bass tournaments first started in the sixties, I fished everyone I could enter. I have great memories of those years. We fished together as a family until my son got married and had his own kids. He fishes to this day. I can not think of a better family activity. When you are on the lake, it's you, the fish and your troubles are far away. I'm too old to fish now. Those years of bouncing around Lake Okeechobee have taken a toll on my back. Take your family fishing. Get your kids away from the computer and teach them to appreciate a day on the water with their Dad. You won't regret it.

Big Dog Guy ~ Facials are Tucker's specialty ~ A-Jay

I'm with everyone who says it opened the door to let our money out.

Take your Mercedes in to the dealer at the recommended service intervals and have the recommended service and see what that cost you. I used Mercedes because taking a motor to a dealer is in about the same category. I'm sure that $700 is based on the dealer servicing it and doing all the recommended and suggested maintenance. Do it yourself and just doing the general oil change, lube and visual inspection, and water pump every few years, the maintenance cost is minimal. You also have to realize, 100 hours is like 4,000-5,000 miles on a car

You guys have been smoking too much algae.

Fishing has been the best form of therapy for my PTSD, anxiety (including the OCD form), and depression. Fishing has made me a best friend. A guy that I was only ever acquaintances with at best has developed into a brother to me through our shared passion.

Yeah, anger management!

Been a grind the last few weeks working hard for a hand full of keepers and dinks with a couple of maybe 3's in the mix. This week was a little better as I stuck a 5-1 Tues. On a weed demon and a3-3 pitching a jig into holes in weeds on thurs.

My week in photos! Starting with the most recent and ending with last weekend. Lone smallie Thursday. Interesting color pattern on it though! Couple bites that day but they weren't having anything to do with eating. Wednesday, to' some fish up! Smallmouth were sitting on the edges of the fastest current, and eating anything that came within reach. Gar were doing the same, unfortunately, so I lost about 10 lures to those teeth. Feel the bite, set the hook, get half a lure back. Picked up a nice smallie on the second cast that day, and got that nice chunky 2.5lb largemouth which is the biggest green bass I've caught in this stretch of river. Weirdly enough... Couldn't see the fish, but I knew it was going to be a largemouth before I set the hook just by the way the bite felt, and the way the fish started moving with the lure. Caught another dozen or so smallmouth that day, some dinks but mostly 12-15" size. Tuesday had an average day. Different stretch of water, got 6 fish in about 2 hours. They were off in calm pockets out of the current. Monday was the same. Sunday... Sandy river res. Almost needs a whole page for itself. Bait fish EVERYWHERE! No bass on them. And if we found bass near them, they didn't want a lure. My first two of the day were a 3.5lb on a squarebill in 5 FOW. It was apparently sitting on a bed?! Second was a 4 and change that came in about 8 FOW on a ribbon tail worm. I caught three dinks the rest of the day. Had a couple better fish hooked but they shook off before they even got to the surface. Probably not as big as my first two. My buddy was working on a skunk until he picked up a dink about mid afternoon. His next was a 3lber off bottom in 22fow. Next was a 6.4lb 21.5", from some sort of rock structure in 10Fow. Caught on 1/2oz blade bait. Nice solid fish, but that was all he got for the day. One lure, one fish. No single lure produced a second fish for either of us, so obviously we were not on the pattern. The baitfish that were everywhere in main lake were shad about 2-3" long, and try as we did, we could not get a pattern going with anything we had that was that size.

The door I think fishing has opened for all of us is becoming part of nature.

Small dog guy ?

Many years ago I went to a local lake with friends perch fishing for filet's for the freezer. There was a ton of noise early that morning on the lake that sounded like a boat race. Went up to the marina's/campground office and asked what had gone on....oh....a bass tourney she says.....oh....I say. Went back to my buddies and said .... I gotta do that. During the many years that followed I joined a local bass club and traveled for the state team out west for BASS and it was truly an adventure for both me and my wife and opened so many doors to new adventures. One of the best was getting my pic on the front of a BASS magazine. It's a silhouette shot down in Florida of a sunrise and the cameraman came up to me at a later time and told me he had taken this shot and sent me a couple of the magazines. We had become friends and I believe he is long since retired. Still meeting people and am very thankful. So many memories...gosh. If it wasn't for BASS at that time I wouldn't have seen as many places that I had. I traveled all over the states from coast to coast. Those Wrangler Nationals were the best.

The door it opened for me was the front door. It gets me out of the house when otherwise I wouldn't. It also gives me something to look forward to during those cold, bitter winters we have in PA.

I have a lot of friends because of our shared passion for fishing in general . The best man at my wedding and me his , we met while bass fishing . We were both camping out alone at a small lake , talked that night and fished together the next day .

My dad passed away. He was 90 years old. I still miss him terribly. Mentally he was still sharp as a tack, but his body was just worn out. His passing was not a surprise, he had been in hospice for a couple of weeks. I couldn't have asked for a better father. He was a WWII vet and always worked hard to support mom and us kids, but made time to take me fishing, hunting, all the things I liked to do. The last thing he did for me was to hang on and not pass until today, because yesterday was my birthday, and he made sure I would not always remember my birthday as the day he passed. To all of you whose parents are still here, I can not urge you enough to take every day with them as a blessing. To spend time with them, to talk to them about anything and everything. It was only after my dad passed that I realized all the little things about him and the family I never thought to ask. My wife and I will look at old family pictures, and I go to tell her about them and realize I just don't know. There are so many things about my dad I will never know, so many stories he could have told me that now are lost. Please! Please! take the time with your parents. Don't wait, don't put it off. This is one of my favorite pictures Even as a little kid I had the fishing bug. I was too young to "really" fish, but they gave me a toy fishing rod and dad would take me out around the lake so I could "fish". This was around 1956 and I still have memory's of it.

I am amazed at the number of what I consider accomplished anglers who are having problems fishing jigs in grass. During the early 70s the Hydrilla/Milfoil/Coontail Moss on many southern lake started really getting thick so you either learned to fish grass or learned to enjoy getting skunked. Jigs with craw worm trailers were invented and techniques refined to effectively fish for bass in grass. Here are a few tips that may help with your next encounter with grass & bass. Start at the "outer" weed/grass line which by the way is not the well defined wall where the matted weed/grass stops. The "outer" weed/grass line can be located 15 to 25 yds away from the mat itself and can be found with your electronics. When making a cast, pitch or flip keep your jig at a "near vertical presentation"; the less vertical your cast, pitch or flip the more you actually have work not only your jig through the grass but your line also. Main objective is to keep that jig in contact with the bottom at all times, something most anglers fishing grass fail to do. When faced with weeds many anglers opt for the lightest weight possible; I go the exact opposite using at least a 3/8 oz shaking my rod tip forcing the jig through the grass. When bass are located in grass they are not on top of the grass but buried up inside the grass; they will move to the outer edges or make a quick run to the surface to feed. Yes it's extremely aggravating trying to get bait through the grass but the payoff is larger than average bass. Follow the contour of this "outer" weed/grass line casting parallel and progressively work your way up to the matted grass. Once you come in contact with bass drop a buoy, drop anchor, mark a GPS and work this area in an ever going circle.

Here's one for you...

This is why you fish the structure not the grass! Those little holes, sparse areas creating inside edges, points, etc are caused by bottom changes. Changes in depth and/or bottom composition.

Dates back to at least the mid-late 60s. The late Charlie Brewer wrote and pictured that rigging "trick" in various forms and variations frequently in his Slider articles in the 70s.

Usually damaged blank. Caused by getting banged on something. It usually takes the right amount of pressure/strain on that spot. Happens occasionally if you read all the forums on rods ranging from sub $100 to $500 and up. It's a Croix. You are probably covered under warranty.

Mental health. Before retiring I had a long hour, high stress job. Short fishing trips after work, would always put life back into perspective. Now that I am retired, my constant quest to catch a new personal best bass, keeps my mind working. Retiring healthy and with the means to pursue my goals, also helps.

Good thing a mod didn't post this review. Otherwise they'd be accused of shilling for a sponsor. LOL!!!

It has no roots but it does anchor itself to the bottom . That is why lures cant be ripped free and big wads of it are reeled in. The good news is bass love this stuff and apparently crawfish too . This little lake I fish was devoid of this stuff because of the introduction of grass carp and spraying .Those grass carp have all died and the lake managers appear to have given up trying to control this stuff . The lake has went through a huge transformation and the deep-water bite just has not taken off this year , yet . This algae is now the major bass habitat . Apparently the crawfish population has exploded too because I'm getting a lot of fat bass stuffed with crawdads . The water is a lot clearer too . Every angler I have talked too hate it . They just havent adapted .

The door to divorce court for some.

Until you actually hold one in your hand and see, hear, and feel the difference anything we say can't convince you enough. You truly have to fish it to believe it. But, to answer your question as best I can..... The gill pattern causes water to exit the bait in such a way the no other can imitate. (sight and sound) The rattles inside and the material it's constructed with are so unique. (sound) The shape and balance create an action that is so seductive. (sight) And, YES, the fish can see the sides of THIS bait. When it is "walked" it has a severe roll side to side that flashes the colors to the fish. It just flat out catches fish. Period.

TMac521 and I fished yesterday afternoon together. To say the fishing was tough is an understatement. Didn’t see nearly as many fish yesterday that I’ve been seeing the past few weeks and the ones we did find were suspended chasing Shad. Ive never had much luck on days like yesterday when you see little pods of 2-4 fish busting shad all over the lake. The baitfish aren’t balled up real tight right now and the fish are very scattered chasing them. When we would find a small group of fish somewhere, we had to hunker down on them just to get one or two bites. The fishing was rough, but the company was great. I always enjoy meeting guys from the forum, and TMac was no different. Great guy!! Fishing should get much better with some rain and a cool front to start cooling the water down some. Once the water starts to cool the shad will ball up and the bass will be right behind them.

I have a 250 Verado and take it to the Bass Pro Service Center once a year. It runs about $250 for all lubes, filters, and labor along with about $15 for donuts so they will be glad to see me come in.

When teeth cast a shadow ~ A-Jay

Why did the squirrel cross the lake?...……………………………………………… I have no idea...……………………..but there he was.

I keep my tackle organized so I can find it when needed. My boat is garaged so no need to remove tackle or put it back between trips. Tournament fishing I know what to expect before leaving to fish so my tackle is organized to use specific presentations, the choices are reduced and quantity needed for the event are increased, everything needed placed where it can be accessed quickly. I keep my finesse hooks and weights in 2 Plano 4600 boxes, weights, beads, etc in 1 box and hooks in the other box. Spare hooks hept in original bags in 1 gallon zip lock bags. Worms and soft plastics are stored in 3700 boxes by finesse by color or larger size worms by color and creatures by color. Spare soft plastic kept in 1 gallon zip lock bagels. Since I have a good idea of what is working I organize the soft plastics by putting the boxes intended for use in 1 location. If tournament fishing in another boat, the choices get reduced further and placed into a tackle bag designed for the boxes. If I know the exact soft plastic to use I take a 50 or 100 bag of that specific soft plastic. It takes skill to reduce tackle to what is needed. Tom

When I fish from shore I start out with a t-rig with a 1/4 ounce weight. I make short casts maybe 30 or 40 feet along the bank, and straight out. I'll fish a 3/8 or 1/8 jig from the shore depending on how much wind there is, and how much vegetation I have to pull through.

No, but it sure helped me lose a wife!

All of my closest friends are people that I fish with/against locally. Our families all know each other and we see each other outside of fishing events, all that good stuff. Obviously wouldn't have these people in my life without fishing. The guys I talk to and/or hang with every day are people I know from fishing. I have no idea what my life would be like if I didn't fish...Other than I'd be spending a ton of money on something else .

Just bought: 7' MH-Mod Falcon BuCoo SR 6.3:1 Daiwa Fuego CT Daiwa Zillion TWS 90mm Handle Assembly Daiwa Handle Nut Plate and Screw set - Red Gene Larew Biffle Bug Blackberry Sapphire 4.25" Dirty Jigs Tour Level Pitching Jig Hematoma 3/8oz Dirty Jigs Pivot Point Football Black 3/8oz 4/0 Whopper Plopper 75 T1000

Celebrating today in Indiana - that was 2 long weeks of living with the "cone of shame"...but he was officially given his freedom back by the vet this morning. ?

[September 06, 2018] My "Fish Of The Day" & Jeremy's Personal Best Northern Pike! CONGRATS! 15 lb 05 oz, 38 & 1/2" WolfyBrandon

Yes lack of weight spec is highly annoying. What I'd really like to see though is weight spec stamped on the lure. Once the packaging is gone and the lure is in the tackle box, I often can't remember what lures weigh and which rods are suitable for them. If weight is not on the packaging, check the retailer's price tag which often contains the retailer's SKU which sometimes gives a clue about the weight - "xxxx18xx" for 1/8 oz, "xxxx14xx" for 1/4 oz. In the photo below the lure is a 1/4 oz. It may be sitting at the bottom of Square Pond right now, but it's still 1/4 oz.

I'll admit I have a lot of Yamamoto because that is the only plastic I throw. How I decide on what colors is through reading different forums and from personal experience as well as those around me experience. Then I field test them. I can tell you out of 20 guys I know that fish the Potomac, there are at least 15 different "favorite" colors between them. And every single one of them will claim that their favorite catches them the most fish. What does that say??? C.O.N.F.I.D.E.N.C.E. I am a firm believer in confidence. I've said it before, I was told by Gary Klein when we were working a show together one time...... "I don't know that confidence helps you catch fish but I do know that if you have no confidence in a bait, you won't catch fish" I always remembered that. By the way....this is how my Yamamoto orders come in, so I have quite a few colors to try at any given time.

Started throwing this one from O.S.P. last season. I was looking for something different and perhaps a little 'smaller' This model has a clear blade & a smaller profile overall. A little hard to find but has been a good producer for me; especially on cooler, clear water smallies. A-Jay http://www.osp-lures.com/product/o-s-p-blade-jig/

When I feel my jig is getting a bit tangled I simply apply pressure, then release, apply a tad more pressure, then release; if this doesn't work I apply pressure while shaking my rod tip. Once my jig breaks free I pause for a good 15-20 seconds cause before I can count to 20 I done got bit! Oh sorry A-Jay, I don't think there is a better jig for grass fishing than Terry Oldham's jigs; trailers are Gene Larew or Rage Tail.

Welcome. Fellow Canadian here, SW Ontario. This is an amazing forum to share and learn from.

Let's hope history, in this case, repeats and keeps Flo out to sea.