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Skipping has never been my strong suit. Skipping docks, under trees, has been hit or miss for me. Today we had a rare warm day, 50 + degrees, and I was bored so I headed to a local pond to practice. Turns out it is easier than I thought. In no time at all I was skipping a jig I'd guess a good 100 yds. or better. It took me a little while to zone in on the secret, but here it is Smooth ice! It seems the smoother the ice the longer the cast, who'd of thunk it. Although in all fairness, after the first two or three skips it is more of a sliding technique. Anyone know how thin the ice has to be for a bass to bust thru and take it? Please forgive me...…… It's been a longgggg winter.

My wife and I attended my youngest daughter's college graduation today in Portland Oregon. She now has her Masters Degree in Early Education Curriculum Development. It was heart warming to see her receive a diploma, the end of so much hard work. I was and am one proud parent.

I think I got a new “pb “ as the kids say . 23”

Had an unwelcomed guest start tearing our yard up a couple weeks ago, tunnels running all over the place. I was going to buy some traps, but 10 minutes of off the leash time in the yard is all it took for psycho dog to unearth him. Biggest mole I've ever seen.

Some days, you're on top of the world. Other days everything seems to get on top of you.....

Elk hunt ended yesterday on the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, these bulls are safe for another year.

My neighbor has a well manicured lawn, watered daily and zero weeds. I have a mediocre lawn. Maybe water once a week in the summer. I have no moles. He has a mole farm in his yard. Kills at least a dozen a year with traps. I have found the key to mole control is not have the most inviting yard on the block. Round 2 of deer processing. this time made 10 pounds of venison andouille

These reels are completely different than any other casting reel. Set magnetic dial to 0, set spool tension to the spot where it just takes side to side play out of the spool. Then, put brakes on 20 and back them off from there. (Making smooth casting strokes, not a whipping motion like spinning rods) You should not have to touch the spool tension from here on out. Ever. Unless you change line types. Adjust your magnetic brakes when changing lures or during windy conditions. If you set up your reel the same as a regular reel you will not like it and have problems with it. Follow my instructions and your reel should perform great. Feel free to pm me with questions. I own 7 reels with the magforce z braking system.

Whatever anecdotal evidence you may have witnessed or heard , cold has no affect on rods.

How much you wanna bet I can throw a football over them mountains ???

As some of you know medical issues dictated an early retirement for me, so my wife and I came up with a two part set of goals for us. Part one is complete, get a more comfortable boat. We did and couldn't be happier. Part two is our 2019 goal. We fish an area that has four lakes, ponds within five minutes of each other, but are currently an hour away. As we don't have to stay in our current location ( It was close to work) our plan is to sell our current house come spring and buy a place up there. It doesn't hurt that the taxes up there average 1/2 of what we're paying now. So our 2019 goals move to within five or ten minutes of where we like to fish, and then go fishing, again, again, and again.

I would spend my time on a technique, not a particular bait. You can have the right bait, present it wrong, and not catch a single fish. On the other hand, you can skip the wrong bait under a dock and still get hammered because the bait was put in the right spot at the correct presentation. Bass are opportunists and often bite because of the convenience and availability rather than seeking out that perfect color, style or size. That said, work on skipping jigs and swimbaits. Also, perfect your pitching accuracy. Where and how you put a lure in the water is often more important than the lure itself.

My 'goal' will most likely remain the same for the fore seeable future. And that is to do what I can to stay healthy & physically fit enough to go fishing. The rest will take care of itself. A-Jay

Once water temperatures dip to 40 degrees and below, bass become extremely challenging to locate, since they move so slowly. Catching them is honestly the easiest part this time of year, the tough part is making yourself fish slow enough so that when you do find some, they will bite. I went out on a local lake with 2 friends on Sunday, air temps were in the 30s, and water was 38-39 degrees. We know of a few brush piles (we made two of them ) that will hold them in the winter, so we spent a good bit of time fishing those, anywhere from 20-40' deep. We use a weedless ned rig and fish it painstakingly slow through the piles. It can be a really fun time if you find a brush pile with a lot of fish on it. We didn't catch a ton, maybe a dozen between the three of us, and they were little, but given the conditions, I was happy! The highlight of the day for me, was catching fish in 3 new spots I had never fished before. Fishing that slowly in really deep water is a tough thing to do with confidence, so finding a couple new areas was really rewarding. The ned rig is a vastly underrated bait for cold water. She has lipstick on so you know it's cold!

Blew up my old boat last month and bought a tin boat. Rewired, cleaned, changed the impeller, spark plugs and lower unit oil. Took it to the lake, Lanier, this afternoon where my buddy was fishing just to have some help if needed. Launched, parked the truck and the boat was running on 3 cylinders, it has 4. It planed @ 18 mph on 3 and I went fishing. Saw a bunch of fish on the screen and dropped a spoon down for naught. I threw a worm @ a marker pole and caught my first bass, 11" spot, on my new boat. I ended up with 6 spots and 2 LM, all on worms with the largest 2-4. On the way back in the boat suddenly ran on all 4 and the GPS said over 30 mph. It's a 16' Grumman Renegade with a Merc 45. Loading the boat it started missing a cylinder again and stalled several times getting loaded. At least it doesn't leak.

I lost one of the Biggest largemouth That I have ever hooked today but it could have been worse. No bites at all where we found the big smallmouth yesterday

KVD 1.5 in Sexy Shad

Well, let's try again, the recent issue of Bass Angler is the Winter 2018-2019 issue just released as the first of their quarterly publications cycle. The article on Page 58, Mono vs Flouro, is thoughts on the subject by pro Pete Ponds, Tackle Tours' Cal Shew and Vicious Fishing VP of sales and marketing, Greg Meunier. Not gospel, just a discussion on use. New anglers on here may get something from it and the "experts" on here probably will not.

Don't know about the other areas, but I've fished south Jersey in a limited way and caught probably a dozen over 6 and one over 9. They are there.

I've fished them quite a bit. The trout pit has state records swimming in it, but they're very wary in that super clear water. I live 30 minutes from the best big bass factory in the state anyways.

This little warming trend has everything opened up. No need to go to the power plant lakes right now if you don't want to. Slow down, nothing moves fast in cold water including the forage. Barely twitching a small jerkbait and slowly bumping a Ned along caught several for me this afternoon. No big ones, but they're all fun this time of year, especially when you have the lake to yourself knowing the warm lakes are bumper to bumper.

Was a DX HP 795. Trying to get rid of it now. Too tight of quarters to use it. Currently it's a DX 746

Back in 82 I could skip a jig a quarter mile..... Uncle Rico out.

Use the same rods you use in summer. Temp has nothing to do with it. Being careful does.

That has to be the most beautiful spinnerbait I have ever seen. If I owned one I wouldn't know whether to frame it or fish it!! The blades alone are a work of art! And that head is amazing.

There is a small screw/cap that houses a 'pawl' under the worm gear itself. May need a new one as they eventually wear out. Super cheap part. A-Jay

Stick Bait ? A-Jay

I don’t have any real “goals” but I always want to spend more time with this guy. We should be yanking fish together through the ice here real soon once we get a bit more ice on our favourite lakes.

The one thing that builds confidence in bass fishing is catching bass. Spending hours on the water learning various lures can be unproductive and discouraging. Trying to become efficient with 5 to 7 new lure types can take a lifetime, depending on your skills. My suggestion is start with a lure type you have confidence with catching bass, whatever it maybe. When you locate active bass by catching a few then pick up the new lures you want to master and try catching those active bass. I agree with Catt, don't over do it use 3 types for a year before adding more. Being effiencent with top water, mid water column and bottom contact lures cover the entire spectrum of bass fishing. Good luck, Tom

A good friend took me out for my first time winter fishing deep structure. First time drop shotting also. Worked hard for 7 fish in about the same amount of hours. Had a great time, learned a lot, and great company.

1. Spend more time on the water. 2. Fish outside my comfort zone. 3. Quality over quantity

Awesome getting out on a near empty lake today. Bite wasn't on by any means, but we still had a great time with hit/miss action. I was expecting something a bit bigger with the big SB! (9.5" Explorer) (8" S-Waver) Nice spot on a Ned Pops getting in on the action

Been waiting for almost two weeks to get back out. Finally got rid of the ice today and got out briefly after some rain just before sundown. Only had about 45 min. but managed a couple on a 3" wacky Senko. Both were about this size. Not real big but a lot of fun in mid Dec. in Indiana. I'm planning to get out Sun. and have time to really focus.

The example of Barry St. Clair was not to say Crappie Jigs are a big bass lure! Barry was in the right place at the right time & put a crappie jig in big Momma's face & she ate it. Would she have eaten a big swim bait... probably! But that aint what Barry had in his hand! Location & Timing ?

I run over a few of mine when it was cold outside and they broke.

Hahahah. I’ll take any wins I can get at this point.

Awesome reels.

Christmas came early this year, I just had to be my own Santa Claus. Should be a fun winter project, these new models come with heavy duty hyrdrualic hoses and necessary components for a very clean (and lightweight) install - should be very slick looking on the Lund. Paired with the Ultrex I shouldn’t have a problem preceisly controlling the boat in just about any water depth or conditions.

As always, my one goal is not to make any goals again this coming year ?

New boat! Let´s see...

I’m not complaining that I’ve caught a couple hundred+ smallmouth and largemouth over 5 lbs... but I have yet to crack 6 lbs. Biggest are a 5-12 Smb and 5-15 Lmb. Close but no cigar... So the 2019 goal, yet again, is a Sixer..!

My big fish thoughts in regards to lake/pond fishing for green bass, and I’m not far from Chicago often fishing southern Illinois 1. 4# and 9# fish will both eat “big” baits 2. Big soft swimmers in cooler months 3. Hard swimmers or chatterbaits in warmer months up until it gets too warm 4. In the dead of summer, a large t rigged worm or mag Shakeyhead is king 5. Jigs catch big bass all year long 6. Don’t get too hung up on the big bait=big fish thing. In some lakes, the big fish just don’t want a 10 oz glide bait 7. Experiment and see what works best for you, every lake is different 8.Don’t get discouraged if at first you don’t succeed

I want to catch a 4lb SMB*. The Illinois state record is 6.7 and before that it was 5.5, so I don't want to get too crazy thinking I'll catch a (or some) 5's, but 4lb should be a good target. Of course bigger is absolutely welcome as well. Other than that I pretty much do everything I want to do within realistic expectations. The only other thing is that I've never fished with my dad but he wants to get into it with me this season. *I may have already caught a 4lb SMB, but I have no way of knowing what either of these fish weighed because I didn't have a scale on me and I didn't measure. I caught them this year. If anyone has a guess on their weights please let me know.

Nope. I enjoy buying fishing gear almost as much, if not more than actually fishing itself.

Plastic worm

Keitech Swing Impact Fat

I upgraded to the NuCanoe Frontier 12 this year.

I'm a huge fan of 1/16 to 1/8 Crappie Slider jig heads. I fish grubs, tubes, and of course Slider paddletails. Comes through laydowns, brush piles, standing timber like a champ. Cast and slow retrieve works well for me.

That is so true. this year i have gone back to my fishing roots, on some baits. All of the old baits still catch fish.

With all the hype, high pressure sales, and the desire for magical mystical lures or techniques anglers have been deceived into believing the Texas Rig is an old antiquated technique that should be shelved like Jitterbugs, Tiny Torpedoes, Johnson Spoons, and Inline Spinner baits. The lure that had the biggest impact on American fishing started in the late 1940s in a basement in Akron Ohio. That's where Nick and Cosma Creme cooked up the perfect combination of vinyl, oils and pigments to produce a molded worm that not only looked and felt soft and alive, but also stayed that way when exposed to air over time. 1949 would be the official birth year of the now famous Creme worm. But we’ve been told that today’s modern “Trick” worms bare no resemblance to this old tired chunk of plastic. We have even been convinced that the “Super Mystical” Punch Rig is not a Texas Rig because they have added a skirted bead between the weight and hook. We’ve been convinced that flipping & pitching if far more productive than casting your Texas Rig out and finessing it back to the boat along the bottom feeling for nooks-n-crannies and twig-n-limbs. We’ve even forgotten that the plastic worm is the only lure made that a BASS CANNOT REMEMBER! That is, a bass will continue to strike a worm even after repeated catches, whereas a bass will "turn off" to other lures, spinner baits and crank baits etc. after wearing them out on them. That’s why you cannot continue to catch them on your honey hole with the same lure over and over. Bass will stop eating that which will eradicate them. Not true with the plastic worm, however. Although we all know bass will prefer a different bait at different times (i.e. "the pattern") you can always go back to the worm to catch them. I guess y’all can label me Ole School since I refuse to give up on the #1 most productive lure and technique ever invented.