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So, I went out to fish a pond in my neighborhood today and had a funny incident happen. I caught a small bass and released it. Upon entering the water the bass got tangled up in some weeds and was stuck sideways with it's gill hung up. Me being the fish loving guy I am, decided (rightfully so) to help this poor fellow. The bank was steep and we have had a lot of rain the last few days, as I crouched and started to unstick the fish I began to slide towards the water. I regained my footing and then the bank started slowly crumbling under me! I grasped at the briars to keep from going in. This went on for what seemed like 10 seconds or so. Just when I thought I was safe my backpack flipped up over my head and I fell head first into the pond. It was only about 3 or 4 ft deep, with no gators in sight. I laughed so hard then I realized a lady was watching the whole thing. So I just climbed out, grabbed my rod and started casting again. I thought about how hilarious I must have looked to that lady.

Time to give away some baits- the lures in the pictures and a bunch of soft plastics too. For these free lures, you must be a young angler or someone who might not be able to afford to buy lots of new lures-but you love fishing! If you make $300K, please let these baits go to someone else- thank you! So send me a PM and tell me why you love fishing and what baits you like to use!

Grandsons first solo (put worm on, cast, land) fish. Not need to teach him how to go through the gills to get a gut hooked fish off?

Got out for a few tonight. Had smallies hitting top water and one on the Yamamoto swimming ned. Got 7 total 3 over 2 lbs biggest went just under 20”. Smallmouth are such a rush.

Ran into F&S for one bag of Fat IKAs. One bag, I tell ya...

Any time I shop in Japan, I always go through discount pages, lures and terminal tackle to throw in small things we can't get here. Here was my most recent snag. The shrimpiest shrimp lure I've ever seen. The plastic is made with krill renderings, like Gulp lures. We had a way of rigging shrimp tail below a cigar cork back in the 80s and 90s when we could still get Stazo flex jig-heads (still have a few of these). When you snap the line, the cigar cork clicks, and the shrimp tail doubles in half like an evading shrimp kicking with its tail. It settles down head-first into the grass, like a shrimp swimming with its legs. Looking for a similar rig in lighter weight, found these in Japan, and why not add stinger jig/spoon hooks... The single hook plants the shrimp head to provide structure. It's tough to handle this lure without the stinger hooks stinging you.

Tank is an 11 week old Belgian Malinois German Shepherd mix. We've been waiting a long time for a chance to share our lives with one of these special & stunning dogs. I am over the moon happy right now ! A-Jay

“Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.” With the discussion about intuition & discussions about feeling worm/jig bites. It boils down to time on the water. It's extremely difficult to explain some worm/jig bites when it's intuition hooksets. Some of y'all can measure how long y'all have held a worm/jig rod in hours. Anglers like myself @WRB, @A-Jay, @roadwarrior, @J Francho, & many others who have guided or tournament fished measure it in weeks & months. For 20 yrs I fished from first light to dark thirty or nights from 7pm to 9 am. 97.5% of that time was spent holding a worm/jig rod. A large portion of my hooksets I never really felt anything, something subconsciously said, drop the rod, reel the slack, set the hook.

In case you missed it I upgraded the forums last weekend. Well I wanted to let you in on another new feature that I just enabled: Stock Photo Picker We have come a long way since the late 90s when someone had the genius idea of using a small yellow smiling face image instead of the more common colon-bracket representation of a smiling face. In these forums, there are various places that photography can be used to create visual interest. From uploads in topics, to cover photos for members, and even avatars. The humble upload field has served these areas well, but sourcing images to use can be a pain; especially when you have to walk the minefield that is copyright and attribution. Fortunately, there are a few "CC0" online stock photo libraries that offer quality photography that requires no attribution and are not hampered by copyrights. One such library is the ever-popular Pixabay, which was established in 2012 and has over a million images ready to use, from llamas to boat trailers and everything in-between. The BassResource forums now includes support for Pixabay which brings those images to your fingertips (or mouse pointer if you're on a desktop.) Here's an image I found in seconds.... As you can see, not only can you upload into posts from the stock photo library, but you can also use it to add a cover image to your profile. Finding quality photography has never been so easy! Enjoy!

One time I was clowning around on my deck trying to act like Mike Iaconnelli (not break dancing or spinning, I’m a bit heavy for that) but running and jumping around screaming how I had a Big’un on. Truth an 11” Smallie. My foot hit the rear part of the gunnel just right and over I went. My arm was able to catch the gunnel so I really didn’t go all the way under. Bout 7 feet of water. Never lost my rod or the fish. It all happened so fast. I got a good laugh over it.

Somewhere in the expanse of this landscape in Farson, Wyo., sage grouse, might be found...or not. Depends on how much ground you and your dogs are willing to cover.

I went fishing yesterday morning and had a decent day. The bait that produced the best was the 4" ZMan Streak Curly Tailz in the "moodring" color. I put it on a Ned head, ideally the hook should have been 1/8th of an inch longer in order to lay in the grove better but it was working fine. I started out catching some small bass on a wacky around cover then went to a point and started throwing the curly tail Ned rig around patchy grass or on the outside perimeter of the grass line (5 to 10 feet of of water) I was catching bass every five cast or so. Nothing big, 2 to 2.5 pounds was the average. I did loose a nice drag burner that that pulled off and I watched a big boil come to the surface~ grrr. I had a buddy there in another boat and he was not doing as well and asked what I was using. I told him to come over and I'd fix'em up. He had been throwing a crank. He ties one on and on the first cast caught a two pound bass. He quickly caught six more and I told him I needed the bait back. Shortly after that we had to go. I ended up with 16 bass and a five pound catfish~ always a let down because at first you think it's a big bass, again ~ grrr. My buddy ask me to order him 4 packs of the StreakZ and I'm down to one bait myself because he would not give me the bait back. I'm going to order the 5" StreakZ as well. Anyway, I'm sure there are several here already using this bait in some forum or another, I just wanted to give a heads-up to others that might want to give it a try. It would make a great drop-shot bait as well and there are many other applications for it's use. It's got great action, it's kind of a half fluke, half grub. The only thing I will add is do not skin hook this bait... The ZMan TRD soft baits are a different animal and if you shin hook it you will loose fish because the hook will be "trapped" in the TRD elasticity.

I had a similar incident a few weeks ago. I’m lucky enough to have a few nice ponds near the clinic I work at and I was fishing about an hour before my client was scheduled to arrive for our session. We had some heavy rains in the days leading so everything was wet. Well, it was time for me to head back to work so I packed up and started to walk along the bank toward the clinic and slipped on a patch of mud that was slicker than snot. Mind you, my client was due to arrive in about 5 minutes and here I am covered from behind to elbow in dark brown mud on my nice light gray scrub pants and white tee shirt. I get to the clinic and rush into the bathroom to try to clean up as best I can but it didn’t help a bit. I looked like I had been in a battle with dysentery and lost. I walk out to the parking lot to get my client from his mothers vehicle to start our session and have to explain why I’m covered in mud. I ended up calling my wife to bring me a fresh pair of clothes and of course she thought it was hilarious. So she shows up with a pair of BRIGHT PINK scrub pants just to rub it in ?. Needless to say I now carry two extra pairs of work clothes in my car at all times.

Told this one a while back. I was reassuring a homeowner that her great dane and I got along just fine as I proceeded to walk right into the pond.

Chukar country in Green River, Wyo. It's said that shotguns don't fill the game bag, legs do. Especially with chukars that will lead you uphill and down over and over again, all day long.

Today the conditions were perfect, cloudy/calm/foggy with a huge rain front coming in tonight. Caught 2-3lb SM most everywhere herding shad, capped it off with a 3# that gave me a good tussle. I went up a pad line throwing a stick bait and switched rigs to rage craw when I saw a large swirl up line. When I got to that spot I threw the craw back on pads and skittered it to the edge to let it fall, a huge head appeared and lure was gone. He was big enough to move my 14' boat around so I worked him out to deep water and he jumped twice both times fully out and even though I kept the line tight, he threw it the second jump. Oh well I know there are 6# in here so its just a matter of time. Got one serious size pickerel also. Best day all year so far and a nice mix of both SM&LM.

My precision casting is excellent. I can hit the only rock in one hundred yards to test the durability of a new crankbait. I can catch a single limb 10 feet up a tree that even a bird would have a hard time landing on. I can hit the water next to a lily pad so hard fish half way across the lake can be attracted to the sound. I can work the land side of a shoreline, better than most anglers can work the water side. I have even wrapped a lure in a power line. Now that is precision casting.

I'm not a great caster either but not terrible . I think most new anglers pay to much attention to lure colors and other things . They need to forget all that stuff and step up their casting game . Bass are not rare , they are prolific and like to hang around stuff , so if enough stuff is fished then one is fishing where bass are . Learn how to present the bait with low trajectory cast . Take spinnerbaits . The most important aspect of a spinnerbait are not the blades or color but weight . Match the weight to the rod to make those precision low trajectory cast .

I use the Pro's Choice Big Monster worm. I buy them in 50ct bags on the fleabay. Great tail action, great price. Lot's of good choices out there though. Pretty much everybody loves the Zoom Ol Monster. No wrong way to fish 'em. My favorite is to SLOW roll them on a 1/16 or 1/8 oz T rig. They CRUSH it.

Caught this while bass fishing in one of my work route ponds… It has the mouth of a warmouth but otherwise looks like a copperhead bluegill. The tail isnt small like a warmouth.

New additions... 7-6 ML/M and 7-1 MF

By all means, get out there and wet a line! And take my posts with a grain of salt. I'm fairly new to BFS. The folks with most experience in it have had, by necessity, lots of experience dealing with the Japanese Domestic Market and know the ins and outs of it, as well as being knowledgeable in customizing available equipment to make it optimal for BFS. As a BFS newbie, most of my experience is with trying to round up some affordable gear that's somewhat easily obtainable and works well out of the box. It appears that BFS is gaining popularity and it might get a lot easier for folks to wade in and give it a try. I hope so... it's a blast!

@TnRiver46 No room, I'm working on my 1500C Among many great parts for this one, Avail makes a BB pinion support. ps - I take all those photos for bread crumbs - need to find my way home

All gone-thank you BR!

about a month ago I had just finished putting in my new Force TM on 24v, previously only had a 45lb thrust 12v. Well I cranked the speed up to about 7 or 8, put the TM in the water and didnt realize since the peddle wasnt center the TM would quickly go that way once I put in any direction input. Well I hit the gas and must have moved the peddle a little and the front shot left HARD. I instinctively threw my foot hard right and pushed to keep myself from both falling and going over the side, over stretched my leg and fell backwards mid fall and somersaulted backwards off my deck into the seated area. Fortunately and unfortunately no one was around...after all that I wanted it to at least be entertaining for someone other than myself. It was a hell of a ride.

I haven't tried one. As has been mentioned, there is a difference between a BFS "trout" rod and BFS "bass" rod. Both may list a similar lure weight range but the bass rod will have a lot more reserve power that you'll need if you target larger fish. The bass rods are generally better for fishing bottom-contact baits, too. Without having any more information, I'd guess (and a WAG, at that) that these rods, listed as "UL" power, might be more along the lines of trout rods... maybe not. Also, no-name guides and reel seat... For another thirty bucks you can get a rod with good Fuji components.

I fish a small river in midsummer every season (not this year, its too low because we're in a major drought). We float it in a small jon boat and just go along with the current from one canoe access to another that takes about 4-5 hours. Precision casting accuracy is required. Smallmouth bass hang out near fallen logs, behind large rocks, and near undercut banks in the shade with over hanging trees in many areas. The target is often about the size of a dinner plate. If you miss too far, you get hung up. If you short it, you won't get a strike. Mind you this is when we're moving along with the current too, so we're not stationary either. I'm fully convinced that any lure will work in this situation; you just have to hit the target. I almost always use a bait caster but I have a spinning setup as a follow up with a plastic on it for fish that miss the first one. My accuracy is much better with the bait caster. I can hit the target probably 9 out of 10 times with it using a BC. Spinning accuracy is about half that. This style of fishing has taught me how to cast left handed pretty well too over the years even though I am right hand dominant.

I am such a precision caster. I know this because I can quickly decide that, wherever my bait landed, is exactly where I meant it to go ? Seriously, I get it exactly where I want it about 30% of the time, on a good day.

you Gotta know your audience, man!!! Hajahahaha

At least you’ll admit it!! Since I work with wildlife everyday, people always want the creatures to follow human patterns. “I see the skunk every night at 9:30 so that’s when you’ll catch it if you put the trap right there. Oh and put some cantaloupe in the trap, google says they like that.” It’s mildly infuriating to have someone who has never caught a skunk tell someone who has done it 40 hours a week for 15 years just how it’s done. the same thing applies to bass fishing. If I’m fishing a shallow cove in prespawn with a rattle trap, automatically I should catch a 12 lb bass because I read it in a magazine or on google. Creatures are unpredictable and most people refuse to admit it

All Lepomis sp. sunfish hybridize readily - here, long-ear with green.

I'm checking youtube just in case

One rod I thoroughly enjoy is the Daiwa Bass X 642LB 1/16-3/8, excellent backbone, lightweight, and can be found anywhere from $80 to $100 on the various Japanese sites. I paid $75 for mine last year when Digitaka was having a sale. It's my go-to rod when fishing the flats of Lake St Clair for smallies. https://www.digitaka.com/item/4/6/5/4960652222464 https://www.daiwa.com/jp/fishing/item/rod/bass_rd/19bass_x/index.html

He said over two but never said under 3……… it could be a riddle anyway you slice it, nice smallmouth(s)!

@Jonas Staggs No question my shore light game rods are the wrong choice for bass fishing, while the kokanee rods are made for trolling, they might work for shore light game. A good BFS bass rod is still progressive taper to cast those light-end lures, it's shorter and much faster taper - hard to recognize the fly rod derivation - the exact opposite taper from traditional American UL. @redmeansdistortion is leading you in the exact right direction with the Major Craft Benkei 67L. You don't want to spring for my Valleyhill, but this one rod covers enough bass fishing range to be a single bass rod for me on kayak paraphrased, to you, BFS equates to the one niche rod you want for it When you're buying the parts from Japan Tackle to turn an all-purpose Daiwa, Shimano or Abu into a BFS reel, Jun repeats as he rates each spool. You can cast over 2 g You can cast over 3 g You can cast over 4 g You can cast over 5 g You don't lose anything by having the ability to cast lighter lures. What you gain is distance and cast reliability with whatever you want to cast. I don't have to fish my BFS-mod Zillion for 1/8 oz in salt ML, but It's A Hoot. All these reels have the original deep spools I can swap in for mono. The first thing I did was build a surf BFS reel. It casts all the lures I'd ever want to fish in the surf, and absolutely spoils you for casting fun.

I haven't used BFS, mainly because I'm cheap. But I've always hated spinning reels. I have two rigged up in my boat and I use them frequently. I still hate them. I've caught lots of fish on them. I still hate them. I find them awkward to use, awkward to cast, awkward to reel. I'll have to give the BFS thing a try.

I have that rod in 7'6", one of the first rods I bought when getting into BFS a couple of years back. It's a pretty decent rod but it is a moderate , almost slow action, with a deep parabolic bend. I really have no complaints about it other than I find it too long for the type of fishing I usually do, which involves a lot of bushwhacking through the undergrowth. It's a good rod for fishing spoons and spinners or floating bait, but for something like jigs and cranks, you will want something faster. I think for a better all around budget oriented rod on your end, the Major Craft Benkei 6'7" L would be worth a look. It runs right around $100.

My suggestion would be to stick with what you got right now. How much fishing you got left for the season? 2 months? When you're done for the season, do your research. Find out what makes a good Frog set up and target that. In the meantime, go to stores and hold reels. Put them on a rod and see how they feel. You might want a righty, you might want a lefty. You've never used a BC before and the middle of the season is NOT the time to learn. It will frustrate you and you will put it down and never use it. Learn how when the snow is flying and there is nothing stake. For now, go fish what you like, relax, and enjoy. There is no right or wrong. If you're enjoying what you're doing and catching fish, you're fine.

Good to see you can laugh about it. Glad to see you didn’t get hurt. Good fishing.

I bet it was quite the site ….. she was probably going ….” He’s got it , he’s got it …. Nope he don’t got it”…. Just as you fell in. Some of my best laughs have been at myself, glad you didn’t let it ruin your day.

Congratulations! Great loyal dogs! Does he prefer a baitcaster or spinning reel?

More then likely looking at big ribbon tail worms. As noted Mister Twister offer both ribbon and buzz tails at low price points. Berkley Power worms in 7 1/2” & 10” are staples that work everywhere. Upton Customs, Josh hasn’t been able to meet demand and difficult to find now. Both Strike King and Zoom offer 10” worms. Keep in mind the lure is rarely the answer to catching big bass, location and timing is. Tom

TM first. If you're primarily a bank beater, I'd put the power poles in the number 2 spot. If you're primarily an offshore guy, I'd put the electronics in the number 2 spot.

@Jonas Staggs BFS = bait finesse system - it's a reel, it's a baitcast reel made to fish light lines and cast light weights. Since the Japanese coined the term, it's only fair for them to define it. What makes it a system is the shallow lightweight spool, low-inertia bearings, and brake system tuned to cast light lures, and even better, an extreme lure weight range. The rods cover a dozen niches, from stream to offshore XUL jigging - bass are in there, also, and so is shore light game. The trout rods are going to come closest to traditional American UL - short rods with narrow lure weight range and para taper. If I take it to the copystand, I can give you great example Harnell UL rods from my 1960 catalog. I fish bass and shore light game (inshore), and having rods designated to cast 2 to 20 g and protect light lines, it's nice to have a BFS reel that can match those ranges. Every shore has its threadlining tradition, XUL, finesse, progressive taper rods based on fly rod tapers. The rods are capable of an extreme lure weight range, light tip, fast mid and stout butt for turning big fish - the reels to match them should be capable of the same extreme lure weight range. The tradition is certainly spinning reels (Atlantic salmon in Scotland), but now we have baitcasters capable of the same and even better - BFS - bait (baitcast reel) finesse system. That said, I have a prewar baitcaster designed and capable of fishing 1/8 oz. You can call this threadlining, XUL, finesse spinning, shore light game, but you can't call it BFS, because it uses a spinning reel and not a BFS reel.

Yeah, and give a fool a coupon...

Stick with what ever you have, spinning will be fine. There is no advantage for the purchase of a $100 baitcasting combo.

Fishing has been terrible lately. Tons of dinks. My biggest fish in a while has been in the 2.5lb range. I did lose two really nice fish right at the boat one day. The heat is killing me lately, it's in the 90's at 10am....I'm getting old I guess.

Just FYI, this would be considered Wanton Waste and a ticketable offense in a lot of places. You maybe could have been alright with claiming attempting to protect the body of water from potential diseases, but by throwing it in the trash can and leaving it without notifying someone about a potential issue so they could at least examine the fish, that argument loses all it's merit.

I like working 3rd shift maybe, bad for the monkey though he fills my head with thoughts of what I still need to round out my tackle selection lol. Not too much this trip, assorted white buzz baits to round out the selection of black ones I bought last week. Next we have a couple black top water lures to help balance my tray. Then we have 3 max lbo mega bass jerk baits, been wanting to try these. Last but not least a pack of some of my favorite local stick baits and a interesting color of keitech that I haven’t seen before. Then we have a pic to show them added to there respective trays. I was surprised they still had some leftover flat worms in black maybe 10 packs, probably the color. If you live in the Kalamazoo area D&R sports is where I saw them at 9 am.

Anacondas, Ol Monster and Jelly Worms are the 3 most popular and have been for years. I rig with a 5/0 and a 1/4 oz weight most of the time. Mike