Leaderboard

First club tourney of the year on Lake Seminole Fl. 2 of the better ones. Lucky for us no snow or ice involved.

Here are some to get the ball rolling. Let’s keep it clean so it doesn’t get deleted like the last one did!

My buddy Brian and I were going through my terminal tackle and discussing the merits of each item. He got to a partial spool of 1/4 inch pencil lead and looked puzzled and asked me why my steelhead weight was in my bass stuff. So I explained to him the applications and he agreed it needed to be in his boat as well. With that conversation and it being winter, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the forum for what they are worth. In the PNW every tackle dealer carries 3/16 and 1/4 inch diameter rolled pencil lead for steel head drift fishing, a common sport here in my region. It's actually inexpensive and comes sold by spools or by the linear foot. Here's how I use it. Drop Shot: I fish the Columbia River which has an incredible amount of volcanic rock and that structure eats drop shot sinkers. When I get into that kind of location I use hollow core in place of a swiveled drop shot weight. I just put the bottom end of the dropper through the hole until I see the end come through and crimp the top tight with my needle nose pliers. The weight has a direct connection, can be cut to achieve the exact amount of weight desired and when it gets hung up the setup minus weight can be pulled free. Slide and crimp and you are back in the game. If I choose, i'll some time bend the weight into an arc and this helps snagging issues further. It's that simple. Dragging Rig: This is much closer to the steelhead application. On cleaner bottoms I tie a barrel swivel to the main line. I then tie a long leader, often about 30 inches with a Trilene knot but leave the tag end two to three inches long at the swivel. This is what I crimp my hollow core too. I tie my appropriate hook and add the lure I want to drag. I drag minnie Rage Craws, SK Rodents, Baby Brush Hogs, Fat Robo worms, reapers, tubes or french fries. The nice aspect of this rig is it allows the lure to move freely in current and looks natural. You have to look for line wear and re tie more often than some rigs. The fish, once pinned are separated from any weight to be used as leverage. The hook up ratio is very good. Finesse Carolina: As it sounds. I select a length of hollow core pencil head, slide my main line through and add a bead before tying to the barrel swivel. I ties my leader at the desired length and add my soft plastic lure of choice. I know you can just use an egg singer but the slender pencil lead come through vegetation like no tomorrow. I'm sure there's other ways to capitalize on HC but these have been tried and true for me. I hope it helps another member catch a few for this season, when ever it gets here. It was 27 degrees this morning. Doug

The truth right here gentleman!

You can use a cane pole to drop shot if you want to. A lot of the conversations here center around what would possibly be an optimal setup to fish a technique. That said it does not prevent you from using a tree branch, a cane pole, or broom stick to drop shot. Use what you have and have fun.

Ultra rare photo of ME and the 1st Bass I caught after decades of non fishing! Early April of 2017. I didn't have a scale at the time but it probably around 2lbs. According to lakesonline.com the current water level is 22ft above my head. A couple weeks later I caught a much better one from roughly the same spot. I still hadn't purchased a scale yet. There was literally nobody around to take a photo of me and the bigger girl. She doesn't look all that big in the one handed photo. Bad angle makes her look skinny. I'm really glad I at least though about placing her next to the bucket! You wouldn't even think she was that big by the one armed photo. She's touching the ground and the edge of the bucket. Bucket I believe is 15" tall. I figure she was a around a 5lb'r. I look forward to catching her again some day as she's still roaming the waters as far as I know.

?

As much time as he spends on here I can't believe he has a real job.

Grandson and dog.

Rendering of our new office:

I'd pay twenty dollars to see the guy feeding the bass to wade out there with no pants on .

45 days until I cross the Red River and invade Texas. First item on the list, plant the flag on the south bank and then advance to a favorite Texas lake.

Tired of not being able to find the thumping spinnerbaits and certain colors that I like, so I started pouring and tying my own. Fairly happy with how my first few came out.

Good thing. That are is completely void of fish. ?

Looks like BASS is dragging their feet. They had posted on the website that Fantasy Fishing would be available January 16th. I went on today to create the group and it now says the 21st. Stay tuned everyone!

Both are secondary points in my book...actually, you could consider the red one a tertiary point.

Miss Gilley's Point ?

I have always been of the mindset a point inside a cove is the secondary point. Meaning the second land point they reach before they hit the back of the cove. I would consider that lil red point just left of the red circle a secondary point as well. Put I may be mistaken in my understanding of it.

This may not apply to most as I carry 48 rods in my boat, but if I’m on a good Crankbait bite, I may have 15 rigged up. Different colors, different rattles, different brands, etc. I always have 2 Carolina rigs and 2 jigs rigged up everyday.

Some of Academy's rods were at one time made by American Rod Smith, All Star, or CastAway. All quality rod manufacturers ?

Quick question. What do you consider secondary points? Below is a pic from 6 mile. Would you consider the one in black a secondary or the one in red? I think the black is a primary and the red is secondary.

First tournament I've ever fished in i was the back seater....the guy with the boat was a good guy that I used to work with and hadn't seen in some years. We happened to stumble across each other at a friends get together, talked about fishing and he asked if I wanted to fish as his partner in the morning. When I showed up he was beside himself that I didnt have a baitcasting setup. I caught more fish than he did that day though....

I'm 55 and I still growl....Must be a 5 thing.

They do last a long time. I tend to lose the whole rig on a snag long before I wear out a TRD

Well...I can look a ways off and see the Hill which I hear is everyone’s lake not to like but...it sure gets hit. I like it...especially in winter. But also Norris,chic,Cumberland,louden,Watts,Cherokee and last but not least....Douglas. Living the dream

I don't know if I've ever related to a meme as much as I do this one.

I have this net. Rubberized netting, and it folds down to almost nothing when not in use, but it's easy to deploy with one hand if needed. https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-gold-series-folding-landing-net

I recently broke my Kistler H3. I was just going to replace the tip, then I remembered about my warranty. I just bought the rod last April. So I called up TW and they told me to ship it back and they'd replace it for free because these rods carry a 3 year warranty. I asked if I could replace it with a different brand rod and they said yes. I ended up getting a Dobyns Champion XP Split Grip. I sent my broken rod off on a Monday and received my new rod yesterday afternoon. Great customer service.

BPS does have a rod and reel repair center, and they do sell parts. Well, they did while I was there. Who knows now? Doyo did produce some of the BPS reels. Seaguar makes BPS floro line. Their mono lines are made by Berkley.

Ya do any grocery shopping? ?

You're welcome to start a new meme thread. New year, new thread!

Agreed. And... that pretty much describes every critter on the planet. Granted, some much more than others. The breadth of the scale is mighty wide. But many fish -bass included, maybe especially so- are turning out to be much more complex, in terms of perception, memory, learning, decision-making, sociality -cognition in general- than has ever been imagined. No, they aren't terribly good at being human. But then, there's only one critter on the planet that is.

Do it all the time

IMO, a lot of the articles, videos, seminars, advice, etc are geared toward 'idealistic' bass waters since it would take way too much time to go into the specific details for all the types of bass waters out there. Need to take that stuff with a grain of salt and realize that while the core info is probably accurate, it's also sort of a generalization and might not be directly applicable to your waters.

Actually fish are robots, robots that have been programmed somewhat differently by evolution as a survival mechanism.

Me, too. I fail miserably, too. I told my wife I'd only spend $20/wk on fishing stuff. I figure I'm somewhere in the middle of the year 3767. jj

I met and went fishing with someone from the other side of the globe off this site. What can be more cool than that. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought something like this could happen.

Lake got his package in the mail from Randy Howell today!

Had a good day on the pond today. Had 15 fish that measured, best 5 between 15/16 lbs. Fishing secondary points in 25 to 30 fow. C-rig and drop shot both produced well, pumpkin lizard with dipped tail and robo watermelon magic on the drop shot. Was fishing six mile.

Slinkys are a weight system made with parachute cord and lead shot. You cut the lengths, melt the end, fill the cord with shot, insert a snap swivel and shrink melt that end to the snap swivel. The are very effective Don't transmit any feel of the bottom. I make my own but never use them for a bass fishing application. I can provide pictures if there is interest.

Here's my current St Croix lineup. I have other stuff but this is the Croix family picture: L to R: Legend Xtreme 7' M - Tatula LT 3000 Silver edition Legend Tournament Pro 7'1 MH Swimjig with a brand that can't be named Legend Tournament Pro 7'1 M Plastics - Lews Tournament Pro G Legend Tournament Pro 6'8 M Jerkbait - Tatula 100 Legend X 7'1 MH - Tatula 100 Legend Glass 7'2 MM - Lews Tournament Pro Avid X 7'4 H - Tatula 100 Avid X 7' M - Shimano Casitas

Not supposed to be much wind the next couple of days so you’re good there. I crossed the lake today at 75mph. Wasn’t “glass” but pretty close. Unless the lake is clearing from the upper end you’ll probably be fishing a very heavy stain, if not out right muddy, based on what I’ve seen from mid-lake below the bridge. Either we’re still getting a lot of runoff or SRA isn’t putting a bunch of water through the dam these past 2 days. All I can say is Good Luck! Went to the backs of a couple of creeks hoping to find the water clearing up but - wasn’t to be. Lack of water movement is probably the reason the creeks haven’t started clearing up and if that is the case it doesn’t bode well going up the river either. I know I’m working the south, six mile to the dam, today.

Nice one! I hear stuff like that, and I miss my old DW Collectors. Gotta remember that I have my Masterworks waiting for me at home. I give that 9/10. Guitarists improv skills are tight. The pig is killer! Here's a snotty 12/8 rocker we're still working on. Sorry in advance for the OOF.

This works: Have her fish with a weight only, no hook, no lure, nothing. Have her drag it through brush piles, rocks, stumps, etc. She wont have to worry about identifying a fish on the line, and she will learn how things feel through the rod. She will learn what inanimate thigns feel like, and how they hold and release pressure on the rod. 5-10 minutes of doing this and she will have a general idea of what common structures things feel like, making it easier telling a fish from a branch/rock/whatever. If she wants to be able to tell the difference between bite and structure, then she first has to be able to identify one or the other. Once she can tell whats not a fish, she will be much more confident with identifying an actual fish bite.