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Serious boost of confidence after buying a bunch of jigs and trailers! About as excited as I’ve ever been reeling one this size. Arkie head, basically, in Upshaw craw color with a green pumpkin 4” Pit Boss. Caught this little guy in a pond casting down the bank edge, right where the pollen lines floats above the grass. Had spent the preceding 20+ minutes adjusting retrieve, looking at the lure shallow to figure out how the rod and reel affects the action. Amazed at how wonderfully weedless the jig is not only snag-wise, but also action-wise. I’m holding him a bit funny in the pic, since the other side had some bad wounds on the back (thought I saw a rib showing even, not sure if another fish tried to whack him). Anyway, thanks for indulging the dink celebration!

Only caught 5-6 in the 5 hours I was out. Did catch a decent one on the S Waver though. I’ll admit, I was skeptical about using Glidebaits in these small ponds but the S Waver produces.

Didn't have a lot of time and the weather was meh but I still got a nice little spotted bass. I'm jonesing for a big fish again, even after the big longnose gar I posted in the other species thread...

The ole chartreuse and white spinnerbait strikes again.

I started experimenting with using a Super Fluke as a wacky bait. It has worked surprisingly well, especially during the shad spawn. For the bottom dwellers, a 1/16 oz nose weight worked well too.

Got out for 2 brief bank trips, after work yesterday and before work this morning. About 4 dinks yesterday, one with a lot of heart. Then a last cast before I had to leave for work this morning.

Jackhammer strikes again ! A-Jay

So today is my last day at my current job. I will make it a little over a month shy of 15 years. On Monday, I start my new position as a backend developer for a university, creating APIs that fuel both mobile and web apps. This is a very exciting change of pace and will have a bit of a learning curve. I am both excited for what comes next but it's also a little scary, having been in the same position for so long where I know everything about everything to starting all over again. Wish me luck!

No pics ‘cause they were all 1 lb. dinks lol. Caught 10 and lost two. One of those was a dink. The other wasn’t. I’d say at least 4 lbs. I lost it on a wacky rig. That’s rare. It came out of the water facing me. I saw the gaping maw, the Senko went airborne and the line went limp. Lost the bass and the Senko! All-in-all, a good day. No topwater action. Everything was on soft plastics (90% on Senkos as WR or TR). Tried a chatterbait, a lipless and a spinnerbait with no bites. They were hitting slow baits today.

6poundbass’s room is done. @Darren.Bills mafia

A little clarification on your part as to what presentations you were using and what is what you call moss. A couple of ideas based on the information in your OP. If it's the type of moss that clings to everything, including your knot, you are limited to fishing below it, or above it. The moss around here will stay a foot or so under the surface until the water temps get into the 60's. Personally, I run an UltraVibe speed worm (weightless) over the top and pause it over open pockets. That works fairly well for active fish. I actually do better punching a tube through it and work the structure below. You won't need as heavy a weight to punch through it as you would for matted vegetation. A 3/8oz. sinker, peg and a light wire hook will get you there.

Jig-n-Craw ?

Got back out again last night for a little 1 hour long session. I was curious how the last 2 days of cold temps and freeze warnings were going to effect the fish that had moved up shallow. Appeared most of the bigger ones had sunk back a bit while the smaller males were still holding shallow. Caught 5 again but a much smaller bag. Caught this pretty looking fish on the wacky rig. Everything else was caught via the ned and boy were they munching it! I kept getting short striked on the wacky rig. Figured they were just trying to move the bait instead of eating it. Well the ned rig had me sticking my whole hand in their mouth to unhook. I plan to get after them for a little longer on Saturday but the kids will be in tow so we'll see how productive that is lol. Did see a couple 3-4 pounders up shallow still and now I'm wondering if @casts_by_fly was correct about my fish the other day being a male.

For just a few seconds, nothing else matters . . . . . A-Jay

One last haul, as the kids call it, before the local bass season starts. This should keep the monkey quiet till May 15th.

Of the three rods you listed I'd go with the Tatula. I'll take an ARK Tharp "Money Maker" over any of those. It's a 7'3" Mag MH F that'll do a great job with all three techniques you mentioned for $129.

IMO the Spheros is Shimano's best spinning reel for the price. You get worm shaft oscillation for only $20 over the Nasci and as a bonus the name of the reel is also easier to pronounce. I just wish they made it in smaller sizes.

Caught two 3 pounders back to back casts in a grass filled pond. Only ever caught them on topwater here but I guess today was the day.

Not my first bycatch of the year but by far the most notable. Good times. I was not equipped for gar fishing today. Ate a KVDJ300 in sexy shad. Neat

My buddy has a strange job. He is only off Sunday and Wednesday. I'm self employed, tax season over so after Church on Sunday and on Wednesdays we fish. So we go yesterday evening and it was like a comedy of errors. After each incident I thought, "Well it can't get weirder than this." I learned not to think that anymore. Right off the bat I see a piece of wood I wanted to throw at and bang, I get hit. I net the fish and bring it into the kayak and it's about a 12" bass with a snake wrapped around it. I'm not afraid of snakes but my buddy is a jelly mess around them. I did get bit by a western diamond back in January and noticed I'm a bit more leery than say 5 months ago. I do have one of those rubbery nets that hooks aren't supposed to catch in but my hook was entwined in the net. I didn't think I'd EVER get the fish and snake outta the boat. Next I see fish popping everywhere on bait in 4-5' of water. My crankin' rod had a deep diver on it and I wanted to switch to a shallower bait. I have a Hobie PA and the rod was laying on my right side in the rod tube. I reach down and some how one of the trebles embedded on top and back of my pinky nail under the skin. Would not budge. Couldn't lift the rod any higher and my pliers were on my right side - and it hurt. Had to peddle about 250 yds to the bank and my buddy had to pull it out. He gets it out and there was a fair amount of blood. It made him sick. I was fine until he started spewing. When he started spewing, I started spewing. I had some carbonated water and we were both ok after a bit. So we go back to fishing and I get out my shallow crankbait and a treble gets caught in my glove. I'm pulling, cutting, using pliers and it comes loose and pops and flies toward me and goes thru my shirt and gets stuck just under my right pec. I holler at my best friend again and he tells me I'm on my own with this one. Not as deep and not as much blood and its out. It's just I had a PFG fishing shirt on that was solid white and my wife bought it for me. It now has a small hole and a red stain that may or may not come out. So after I get it tied on I throw it over the side. Apparently it sinks and I'm just floating around putting stuff up and reorganizing. I realize I'm drifting too shallow and kick the fins a time or two. Notice my rod bows up hard. I thought FISH ON! I'm kicking the fins to beat the band and fighting this fish with everything I got. Then realized I'd caught a 230 pounder sitting in a plastic tub. I'd drifted over the crank and got my line caught in my drive. Now the one thing right - the water around me is like chocolate milk year 'round. I've never had the luxury of "sight fishing." We're heading back to the ramp ready to go eat. On my left I see a big mama on bed. Drop the power pole and stand and cast a t-rigged baby brush hog over there. Rod loads and I reel her in. First fish in my 50 years I saw and casted to. 3lbs is a BIG fish in this area and when I weighed her she was 5.14lbs. My PB is 6.08lbs in the same lake and that was 10 years ago so it was the biggest fish I've caught in a long time. I guess the moral of the story is I hope I don't have to go thru all of that again to catch a decent fish.

It changes when you attack the inertia in the spool and level wind. When they're low enough, you can cast without spool tension. When the lure weight is low enough, you can cast without centrifugal. This is my 1500C, inertia is low enough, the centrifugal is removed, there's a spacer in its place, and mag brake popped into the centrifugal race using only 2 magnets - this is a reel for 1/16 oz. The end cap will only tighten enough to almost take out end play. Raced-out LW, shallow lightweight spool, micro-spool-bearings.

More so for spinning, since most folks palm a baitcaster, most or all of the reel's weight is at or near the fulcrum.

Since I've started wearing my pfd all the time, I got tired of re-attaching the kill switch to the jacket and sometimes I forgot to do so. Instead, I bought an electronic FELL marine kill switch. https://buy.fellmarine.com/collections/mob-wireless-man-overboard-system/products/mob-basepack-multifob It's not inexpensive and requires installation but the freedom inside the boat is great and well worth the money and time to install. I never forget to use it as the motor won't start until you activate the unit.

Of all the weird fish , in all the weird west , bass are the weirdest .

Here’s your answer. If you disagree please post your process for evaluating the different spinner baits and the statistical analysis of your results here so that we can peer review them.

Idk maybe it's the scent of the polish

That is a craving that never goes away.

Welcome to bass fishing! ? I've seen times color can make all the difference in world. I've seen times when color made absolutely no difference at all. I've seen times I had to change colors often to get bit. Like you said, "Bass are weird!"

Sounds like you may just need to avoid bottom contact. Spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, swimbaits, top water baits, drop-shot might be better options in this cove.

Yes sir!!! Love those

Flex coat light. Two thin coats. The only size 16 reel seat that is comfortable is Fuji IPS, mostly because it is larger than a typical size 16.

90% of my Spinnerbaits have gold blades and they catch 90% of the fish......but I throw them 90% of the time.

Seems kind of funny that the people who don't want anymore fisherman fishing are not the ones volunteering to sit out, the same selfish mindset of tournament anglers and pros saying there are too many tournaments and recreational anglers.... the hypocrisy is insane

I would say weighted swimbait hooks with screw locks, and your choice of swimbait jig head as far as terminal tackle goes. Maybe some trebles if you want to get into the line thru stuff. “Swimbait” is a broad category ranging from little 2 inch keitechs to 10-12-16 inch baits, but I’m going to assume you want to be somewhere around the 3.5-4.5 inch range. First, determine what kind you want to fish. A lot of people swear by Keitech Swing Impacts but I’ve always been a Rage Swimmer guy myself. Regardless, pick your brand and length and then go get some 1/8oz weighted hooks and 3/8 jig heads to start, that will cover you at least to begin with. So all told you’ll need: Swimbaits of your choice 1/8 oz weighted swimbait hooks (I like the Gamakatsu ones but to each their own) 3/8 swimbait jig head (I use the SK Squadron heads, but they are a bit on the pricey side. Any ball head or darter head style will work) Welcome to the rabbit hole. Before you know it you’ll be buying 10/0 beast hooks and throwing an 8 inch piece of plastic hahaha.

I don't think these shirts will display my beer belly like a performance sunshirt does.

Unreal. some people should not be running a business. What they fail to see is by treating you badly they not only lose your business but other business as well. this was a high dollar reel and they should have looked after you. terrible treatment of the customer in this case. this wasn't a $20 reel.

Hard to find a mold that these hooks fit so I made one. These are 1/8oz that use both the 1/0 and 2/0 VMC hooks. I use a lot of the Owner ones like this for shakey heads so this should save me some money. Allen

"This is not the biggest bass in the world, no. This is just a tribute." Almost kicked this cold, made a 4 mile hike this evening at a spot close to the house I don't hit often. Did decent, ended up with 14 with chatterbait doing the heavy lifting and whopper plopper scoring a handful. That little pipsqueak nipped at the Whopper Plopper 110 right at the bank and caught the front treble. Not the caliber of fish I was after here, there are a few real big mommas swimming in here but I wasn't able to find them this time. Aside from a couple of dinks, catches were all pretty cookie-cutter 2-ish pounders. Fun little fights and some good topwater blowups and hard eats on the chatterbait. Sadly that was the last photo I took with that chatterbait before I lost it. Line wrapped the tip on the backswing of a roll cast without me noticing, and POP! Saw it land only ~18" from the bank but it gets deep quick and it's chock full of muck and vegetation. I dug down shoulder deep for about twenty minutes before I called it and tied on a backup. Only a few bucks, no great financial loss, but I had that one perfectly tuned. Instant start up and it thumped hard. Been throwing that one since 2018, so I can't say I didn't get my money's worth out of it. I have the startup speed tuned about 99% on the new one already, but it doesn't feel like it thumps quite as hard, hopefully it will break in a little. Still caught a couple more on it after the switch. Might have to hit the spot with a magnet in the next few days and see if I can get it back before it rusts. Side-note: I decided to try throwing the Whopper Plopper 110 on the 7'2" medium SLX rod to see if it could handle the 1oz bait. I was talking with another member a few weeks ago about the medium SLXs being stouter than their rating as I'd seen some guys throwing 1/2 oz chatterbaits on them with ease and was curious. Rod took it like a champ, even harder overhead casts it never felt the least bit overloaded. Bent deep on those fish and kept them pinned well, I think this is my new favorite WP rod.

Scheels and part of an Omnia order came in. I don't need most of it but I am excited to finally get the Albino Pearl Magdrafts and the Bait Fuel. I also picked up some Sunline Shooter Finesse Special and some Depps soft plastic but it will be next week before they arrive.

It was a cold one but I still managed to find a few. Report & video later. Might be several days if the fishing's good. Fish Hard A-Jay

Slightly late post but got out monday about 9-2. Got 15 bass, 8 on a spinnerbait with the best at 5-12 and also 7 on a buzzbait including 3 that went 3-2, 3-12, and 3-15. Heres pics of the 3 largest of the day.

Crappie are getting ready to spawn and getting aggressive This poor catfish was in rough shape.

Is the main culprit the search engine ? I've noticed an increase in decade old threads being resurfaced and start to replie then bail once I see the date. Lol It does however create more discussion but most times the OP is long gone.......and I thought I was old. ?

There's a resurgence of old threads...People need to go out and fish.

Still moving along - the last of the FRP to block off compartments to the under-frame area are in. Basic templates for the casting deck and rear area are cut. Lines drawn on rear port/starboard templates for cutting the hatches once the main pieces are cut. That hole in the rear template is for the underside of the Kingpin base...there will be another one cut in the casting-deck for the forward seat.

Lotta my buddie are like, what the heck lol My fortee is tagging sharks for NOAA, big sharks, like over 14 feet, absolute monsters. So when they see me now banging in the Everglades for lil 'ol bass, they are very, very confused. And I try to explain to them, all the preparation and the sheer magnitude of the 'hunt', all of the exploring in endless waterways filled with total serenity, yet they still don't get it. Even when I classify bass as the "sharks of freshwater" lol they still shrug up their shoulders. Nothing I can do or say can make them see what I am seeing now. Sometimes I can't even describe it myself. There's a secret sort of mystery with any fish, really.

A lot of variables go into choosing the right setup. What type of water are you fishing? If there's current you'll need something to handle heavier weights and the additional strain while fighting a fish. What is your average and what is your top end sized fish? What species of catfish are primarily going to be targeting? What type of bait and rigs are you going to be fishing? I have everything from 7' MH Ugly Stick Lites I use for lake channels, to 8' XXH with a Penn 309 I use for big flatheads, to a 12' surf rod with a 90 Okuma baitfeeder that I use for big blues on the Missouri and Kansas rivers. It's just like bass fishing, have to suit your gear to the task at hand.