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Well guys I set a "trophy bass goal" for myself when I decided to take up bass fishing as a hobby back in June of this year, and that was 8 pounds. I've caught a few 5s and one 6 since then. I've been totally addicted since I caught by first bass (one of the 5 pounders). I basically fish every morning before work and during my break (I drive half the day for my job). So I stopped at a decent sized pond I was driving by yesterday and threw an H2O Express squarebill hoping to get a few little guys, which I did catch one dink. I walked to the other side and on my second cast I thought I hit a log til I saw a HUGE mouth break the surface and my lure came flying at my face.... Oh hell no.... I throw it right back, and wouldn't you believe it, she hits it even harder! Really got a good hookset and the fight was on. She peeled off 30 yards of drag that was TIGHT and jumped 3 times. My knees were weak. My hands were shaking... When I pulled her out the water I got two treble points almost to the barb in my finger and didn't feel it. I ran back to my truck to get my scale thinking she has to be close to 8 if not 9.... 8.15 pounds and 26 inches long!!!! I did it! I'm definitely getting a replica mount of this beauty! I want to thank all of the members here, for I've learned invaluable things from you guys! I attached a pic of her... You can see I'm in a daze from the adrenaline!

They are eating up plastic worms lately! We actually got a real cold front and water temp dropped to .......... 73... but it was chilly

Threads on temperature + barometric pressure = winter ?

Got out for a few hours late this afternoon. It was good to have @BassinSoldier along and we got good cooperation from the fish. He was wearing out the fish to start with ,using a war eagle spinnerbait to catch the first 5 or so decent fish. I had caught a few on a super speed craw, and speed worm. @BassinSoldier caught several more on the spinnerbait until it broke, all healthy decent fish. I began catching a few on a june bug trick worm, and switched to a 5 inch pumkin ,chartruese tail yum dinger, and caught several more, including my biggest. In the meantime, he had switched to a rage tail swimbait and had caught several more on it. His big fish came the next cast after my biggest. We caught most of the fish around the eel grass edges again. Ended up with 18 or so. Got to enjoy a GATOR orange and blue sunset too !

14.2 lb LMB was caught on a surface frog a few weeks ago, this is the first "teener" in years at Casitas. Things are looking up if we get rain this year. Tom

I was wondering how much this fish weighs, any guesses are appreciated

can anyone tell me how to post youtube videos?

Not sure about the pot of gold, but I’ve caught some dandy smallmouth and lake trout exactly where both ends meet the water over the years. #potofbronze

Powell crankbait needed a partner in crime so I got another Powell jig and worm to help out!

My brother and I both caught our new PERSONAL BESTS today!!! I caught mine on a 3/0 EWG screw lock Trokar with a BioSpawn Black/Blue worm with a 1/4oz bullet weight. Tail looked bloody and was mutilated like it was spawning. Absolute MONSTER and no way it was any less than 5lbs! Brother landed one on a belly-weighted 3/0 hook with the same BioSpawn black/blue worm as me. I'm estimating his was a good 3.5-4lb fish! We were both shaking with adrenaline and excitement afterwards - they were SO d**n BIG!!!

I have noticed that I have done better than average when the barometric pressure is dropping, both in freshwater and saltwater fishing.

I should be less "strident" about it; it just hurts to see it over and over. But, the original post was in good faith. It is a common topic. I have even read articles by scientists whom should know better and yet they give it credence, but they just haven't done the math or don't understand the logic. Stats: Barometric Pressures and equivalent related water depths in "feet of water": 29.50 = 33.422' 29.92 = 33.898' (one atmosphere) 30.00 = 33.989' 30.50 = 34.555' As you stand on the edge of a pool, you are standing in 1 atmosphere of pressure, all from air. It is about 14 lbs. per sq. inch. or so pressing in on you. If you dive into the pool and swim down a little over 33 feet, the water has added another "atmosphere" of pressure, this from water. You are now experiencing 2 atmospheres of pressure: one from the air, another one from the water. Almost all people feel a huge amount of pressure in their ears, even at lesser depths. Water is not very "compressible," so the added pressure is very linear. A one point move up in air pressure can be offset by moving up in the water column by 1.13 feet. Bass cover more vertical distance than this . . . all day long. Barometric Pressure readings don't move all that fast except in rare circumstances. Even then, it wouldn't make any difference. Here's the issue: how does a bass "differentiate" the pressure it experiences from a high pressure system moving in and, say, raising pressure from 29.50 to 30.50 pushing down on water . . . from the pressures a fish experiences all day long just swimming around? It has always been about the weather. Brad

Thanks Joe and Ronnie. Its been a good year down south. Venice was great til the river came up. The marsh is always good. Place is not sold yet, it may not. If it does I still plan to make trips up there every couple of months or so.

Pond fishing is cool but an el cheapo $200 sit on top kayak is a killer investment. Enjoy the simplicity while accessing the entire lake and miles of unfished rivers.

I found this along the bank of the lower Danube 30 some years ago. There are remains of a Roman fort about 50 yards away that was occupied until 400 AD. The locals say they find these all the time.

Michigan got me and a buddy 15 years ago as an invite from a new internet friend and we have been going back every year since. Can't wait for May. Cottage is already booked. Smallmouth are fisherman's crack!!

I do very well in local tournaments in a paid for, slow, and beat up old Tracker 170 w/a tired 25 hp motor. My next boat is going to be even less " acceptable" to the $80K rig or your a joke crowd. I'm in the stages of saving for a Tracker 1754 grizzly that I can mod out the way I want, and going to hang a 40-50hp tiller off the back, because I am DONE with carpet, under the deck wiring/plumbing/gas tanks/steering cables. Guess what? I'll probably still do alright.

Nah... Go back to bed, your ac is set too low. You must not have gotten the memo..They cancelled Autumn for down here. Mike

I just caught my personal best 8 pounder on a 6 foot diving squarebill. They will be all up and down the water column for different reasons. If it's insanely hot near the surface and there's no cover, they will go deeper. Even if it's super hot, they could still be shallow if there's cover. In my short experience, bass seem to be everywhere lol. My best luck in murky waters have been wide wobble cranks and topwaters in the mornings and evenings. As far as retrieves, you usually have to just experiment til you find out what mood they are in. Sometimes you can be at the same lake and every single variable is the same as the day you slayed them burning your crank but you won't get a bite that way today, gotta slow roll. Bass are weird man.... What's good one day, they'll laugh at the next! Keep at it, good luck! PS : I attached the big girl I just caught on a squarebill for some inspiration! Tight lines!

Bait casting reels have limitations with weight that spinning reels excel at. One days practice solves casting accuracy. Tom

Let's think about this: Let's say a HUGE atmospheric pressure change happens (1 inch of mercury atm pressure change --> About 0.5 PSI). That same pressure change would only require the fish to move vertically in the water column about a foot to feel the same pressure change. In essence unless the fish is completely motionless in the water for days at a time they aren't going to notice atmospheric pressure changes since it pales in comparison to depth changes. I only pay attention to it in terms of how it relates to changes in weather. Often a sharp barometric pressure change can mean a front is moving through which can issue in changes in temperature, rain/storms/wind, or light levels (clouds). Those things are tangible environmental changes to the fish. Barometric pressure changes probably aren't...unless that fish has literally been sitting

Today I learned heavy winds aren't kayak friendly. But still managed to catch a dink on a squarebill. I love fall crankbait fishing. Up until last weekend I had no faith in crankbaits. I threw them a lot this summer and nothing. Last weekend, I tied on a silent Grizzard shad KVD squarebill. After my third cast along rip rap I caught my first crankbait fish. It was no trophy but a fish nonetheless. Today, I went right back down to the same spot with a chart black back rattling squarebill and caught my second crankbait fish.

And so it begins . . . . . A-Jay

Those look stunning! I never considered buying a Powell, but now I have yet another contender on my big list of rods I want.

I picked Blueberry because of the name and the Colonial ordinance reference. I figure there’s a senior member around here who fished during that period....

Went ahead and bought a Pflueger Supreme. Got a really good deal on it off EBay.

The old barometer debate ? Believe the math works out to about 16" or so in extreme examples, less than half that under normal pressure changes. Let's get ready to rummmm-bleeeeee

Barometric Pressure has absolutely zero direct effect on bass. Zero. Even a large swing of a full point, say 29.50 to 30.50, on pressure readings means a fish has to make the tiniest of depth adjustments to offset the change. Bass and other fish swim around all day at various depths, up and down, up and down, deep to shallow and back, to degrees that far, far exceed the tiny differences in atmospheric pressure pushing down on water. There is a column of air 60 or so miles in size to create 1 atmosphere of pressure at sea level. Water? 33 +/- feet to add a second atmosphere. What it (atmospheric pressure) does do is reflect what weather patterns we see, what we are in. Here, we do know, emphatically, that fishing changes with clear skies versus cloudy/gloamy days, windy days versus dead air days, cold days versus warm days and more, that these do affect fish behavior. I'll share the math of the actual distance a fish has to "adjust" in the water column to offset a particular quantity of added air pressure if anyone wants to see it. Brad

Scored a Hawg Tech Prototype handle for the Tranx ~ Just in time to accompany me south of the border to hunt Mutants A-Jay

I’ve had a bit of a slump for most of the summer and have been routinely catching small spotted bass right at sunrise using a 90 series Whopper Plopper in one small area around the neighboring pier. Little fella fought above his weight class. I thought it was bigger as I was reeling it in.

We’ve had a really ugly year weather-wise in Minnesota... blizzard in late April, ice barely off the lakes by the mid-May season opener... and now Fall and really cold about a month early... Lost at least a month off an already short season... So, what if I hitched up the boat in November and drove just far enough South to find good fishing... and also found a place to store the boat when I’m done, then return in Spring to fish again for awhile before driving back to the Tundra for fishing when our season opens again.. What are some some potential destinations just South enough, and also have boat storage potential..? Am I crazy to consider this..? Pretty much a crappy year, but trying to make the best of the situation...

Here's a riddle: Why would a body of water ever get overpopulated with stunted bass from lack of harvest? If bass eat their own kind wouldn't they keep their own population in check? Or is stunting resultant from some other factor. Most "dink factories" I know of produce mainly small but well fed bass. Go figure.

Drove 30 hours to Arizona 350$. No sleep for 2 days. Spending 3 days with your boys at fish camp chasing giant smallies priceless! Shallow big feasting fall smallies nothing like it. Battled small craft advisories, rain and no sleep but it all worked out! My buddy has only been to Az and mexico and so cal. He is living northern Michigan's fishing. Incredible largie fishing and smallmouth fishing. He said its paradise up here.

Menderchucked spinnerbaits all day. Battled smallcraft advisories, water crashing over the bow of the boat all day, 40F high temps, and the worst wind I've experienced on a body of water. 12 hrs on the water was so worth it!

Ya man all the Menderchuck lake's up here are all smallmouth sanctuaries! Let me and @A-Jay know if you ever get permission to fish em.

Haha thanks. Unfortunately I can't divulge that info lol. Lakes are small and fragile.

5.9lb green head down 35ft, below a giant school of young of year smallies in the Fall.

Went up to northern michigan AGAIN and pounded the fish. Going for that 25lb inland lake smallies bag and we were so close! This trip we fished flawlessly and big fish went 5.99 lol. So we got the giant fished flawlessly but never got another .25lbs. Fish were inhaling tubes, spinnerbaits, and 5" keitechs.

That's a nice bunch of monster smallies! What a trip!

Some trips I can't even find the BOARD ! A-Jay

On occasion they make me feel like I have nothing but pawns on my side of the chessboard.

Top water from the bank has always been my favorite.

There are no stripers in NYC! Everyone knows you have to go to Montauk or Jersey to catch stripers.... shhhhhhhhh....

Wow that is awesome.

I may be going back to the ol basics on some rods/reels. Seems fluro if you get even a small backlash weaken's the line to the extent I can't trust it. Everything has it's applications and I think on my jerk and cranking rods I'm going back to good ol mono......just saying......to be continued.

Wacky rigged crawfish.

That’s Amazing! Thanks for sharing man. Yeah, he might be, but he’s got some great memories.

It’s football season! And the giants are playing!

Stopped at F&S this weekend on a whim. Turns out they were having a 20% off everything in the store sale. I had been eyeing this MB Levante Launcher rod for a while. They had it on clearance, but not especially cheap (slightly cheaper than the regular TW price). They had it discounted 30% in addition to the 20% off sale. Ended up getting it for quite a deal, IMO. It'll be my new cranking rod! Can't wait to put it to work. Its by far the longest rod I own!

Since I stay at Six Mile I launch at Six Mile My suggestion always has been learning one area at a time; you could spend a year easily in Negreet and still not know it.