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I'm slowly starting to work my way through this past week. I have so many stories and pictures to share. Everyone here was incredible with the support. I needed 1 big bite and I was walking the Bassmaster Classic stage, that sounds crazy to say but it's 100% true. We went straight to Grand Lake and stayed in a B&B on Monkey Island for the Classic and fished Thursday-Sunday after my tournament. so I fished every day for a week straight last week. There's a lot to get to and unfortunately work is going to get in the way of me doing that too quickly. I'd never fished or even seen Tenkiller before and it fished a lot different than I expected. Water was mid to low 50's the closer to the dam I got, upper 50's to low 60's the further up the lake I got and the water was much dirtier. I struggled a lot down the lake and did decent from midlake on up. One real key thing I noticed, every pocket that I went into had shad in the very back getting blown up on, every one. The further north I went, the more shad and the more fish there were chasing them. I fished around Chicken Creek where we were camping the first day and did pretty well on a shakyhead, tube, and micro football jig. Day 2 I went to Strayhorn by the dam and did terrible for the first half of the day. I think I'd caught maybe 3 or 4 fish and only a couple were the 12" minimum. I drove a complete lap around the lake, checking out ramps and looking at different areas. I wanted to fish the river but it was so windy that it wasn't safe in my mind. Hindsight, I wish I'd gone to the furthest north ramp and tried there, I think it was more protected and the winner was in the river. I ended up in Snake Creek the last few hours of the day. It reminded me a lot of Chicken Creek and I did well again on the shakyhead and micro jig. Day 3 I went to Barnacle Bill's and struggled a lot, but there was shad everywhere and fish chasing them a lot. The water was dirtier and I did catch a couple nice ones towards the end of my day. The rock snot made fishing a crankbait impossible, and I couldn't get bit on a jerkbait or spinnerbait. I really expected all 3 of those baits to be huge players. By the end of practice, I'd caught 2 on a jerkbait and 1 on a spinnerbait. It really felt more like I was fishing a late summer/early fall tournament than a prespawn tournament. I never found any really big ones, and certainly couldn't find the big smallmouth, but I did find lots of quality that I was pretty happy with.

Got some of Chris Zaldain swim baits and the beast hooks to try in lieu of a small underspin/swimbait I've been catching pretty well on and stuck this nice one in the pads. Ya think she wanted it!?! Missed 4 bites on the bait before catching this one so it definitely gets bit! I missed my first good frog fish of the year sadly and Jake had a good one come unbuttoned in the pads (he thought he was hung for a solid minute of the fight before realizing he was dragging a good fish and giving her slack with his retrieve). I missed one on a bigger worm and then switched to a smaller speed craw and never got bit on the t rig again. Weird day!

Short float with a buddy, got a spot , thinking Ky instead of Alabama

Got out this morning for the first time since last Tues. Surface temp had dropped 5-6 degrees. I only had about four hours to fish today. I spent the first couple fruitlessly chasing muskie, then picked up the flippin stick for the last couple hours. I figured I'd find some LM in deep treetops, but much to my surprise they were shallow. All were caught from sun baked wood in 2'-5'. No bigs, but I caught four of these, and one about 2.5#. I get to fish a full day tomorrow. I'll split time between muskie and bass again. Well... I'll split time again if the muskie aren't chewing. 😉

Yeah... I know it's only 28", but I spent six hrs fishing in a full blown 44 degree monsoon to catch it, plus six straight previous skunkings so, IT'S GETTING POSTED!!! 😂

Seems like it’s been forever since I’ve been able to fish. Yesterday was beautiful but I was working OT so I could render unto the bait monkey. I made I promise to myself that I was gonna fish today no matter what. Well I got 50 degrees, winds from the south-southeast gusting to 37 mph and a steady rain. Decided on the Crappie Hole since it has been producing bigger fish for me. Managed two on a Booyah Blade white/chartreuse spinner bait which had been successful for me there before however I went with an Indiana/Colorado combination instead of the willow leaf/Colorado. Results were similar with two fish today. Smaller than usual from that particular body of water but still bigger than what I had been catching at the Gun Club and the Old Reservoir.

Got this one with a watermelon seed fluke jr. I was working from home and suddenly thought of the fluke jr, which I haven’t fished with much lately, even though I got a 6 1/2 on one once. I put one on my third combo, went out back, missed one , then got this one . Not sure why the pic wasn’t clear.

I've posted this in another thread. My lake run brown/rainbow setup. I drew first blood with it a couple of weeks ago when we had a warm stretch. I was rewarded with a 26" brown that I caught on a Hot n Tot in the Ghost UV pattern. Setup is a Calcutta Conquest BFS XG on a Smith Troutin'Spin 7'4" 5-16g.

20+ foot down and the worm goes tap tap tap, fish gets stuck in brush then comes free, fighting like hell on 4 lb test……. Of course it’s a blue cat

With a storm front a few hours away I decided to jump out to my little whopper plopper honey hole on Ray Roberts. All the people camping in that area had packed out already so I had free access to the tree I've been casting next to. It's windy, but it's a south wind which has been the determining factor in the success of this particular spot. Third cast, biggest topwater bass I've ever caught, and tied for the biggest bass I've ever landed on the bank. 7lb 5oz. About two cranks in, there's a good size splash on my lure, and I give it a second before setting the hook. The new airdx/tournament pro combo handled greatly. This fish jumped four times before I got it to the bank. The first jump made it clear that it was a nice fish. I lipped it at the bank, and of course had to document, it was clearly one of my better catches. There was only one barb in the fish. The whole fight lasted maybe 25 seconds, but it felt like forever. Got her released and she swam off strongly. Missed two smaller strikes, a gar, then pinned a smaller bass with a black choppo 75. Sun set, weather started picking up so I called it a night. I think I fished for about an hour.

Don’t worry about it. It’ll show up and quickly. I get digitaka orders in fewer days than American retailers.

After spending a week on the water with my buddy and his son, this was our haul (including the bowfishing arrow and Spyderco Knife). Some of the highlights were 4 rock crawlers (including 1 custom painted one), a custom painted Wiggle Wart and a pre Rap Wee Wart, Vixen, MB 110+1, 2 whopper ploppers and a choppo, Lucky Craft Sammy, 1.5, and CB 20.

Hey Caught my first two Mayan cichlids for the year so far. I was wondering when they would show up 🎣🤘 the one on top has a big appetite 😆

You can't wait to try out the new Nano Alpha hooks from Gamakatsu, get them before they're sold out! I got mine. 😁

Aaron, I'm surprised you haven't gotten a hair citation! Obviously, gimruis is out fishing! But beware...he will return! Ain't bashful about the buffet line, that's for sure! What are they eating in there? That can't be all eggs, can it? Might have et a beer can!

For baits this light where distance is your priority, ditch the plastic line and go light braid mainline to leader, or no leader, and fill your spool. Your distance will increase by quite a bit either way. Line twist related problems will practically disappear.

^^^ That Spotted guy is living it's best pre spawn life clearly 😎

A lot of blanks contain more than one modulus of carbon fiber and they can be and often are, marketed as being a super high modulus blank when only a fraction of the material is in fact that high modulus. Mandrels, scrim, resins, processes all affect the quality of a blank. Design and components absolutely have an affect on the finished rod. I’ve seen it first hand more than once. Obviously a Berkeley cherry wood and St Croix LTB are using vastly different materials and the higher modulus one is obvious. No reasonable person would argue that point. But if trusted brand x claims 40million modulus and unknown brand y claims 48 or even 54 there’s no guarantee they’re better or even as good. Could they be? Sure. Depending on the variables mentioned. It just doesn’t mean nearly as much as some would have you believe.

Sold 2 older 2017 Tatula SV reels and added 2 of the new 2024 Daiwa Tatula 100. Also 6 new Powell Rods, 2 of the Max series & 4 of the Naked series when they had the BOGO(the 4th rod is in the closet with no reel 😏)

ALX custom shop Trickster made into a casting rod with carbon grips and a Metanium Shallow spool.

Got rained out, managed to last about 90 minutes before I called it, but I did get 6 bass and culled 2 tilapia. Biggest bass went 5lb 4oz, on a Shadow Rap Shad. I was picking apart a cove where the wind was blowing pretty hard and corralling bait up towards the banks. Bass weren't feeding super hard but they were biting. Was really nice to get into a sizeable bass, they've been stingy lately and it made dealing with the crappy weather worth it. She nipped the back of the bait on a long pause right as I was hovering over a sandy point during a brief respite from the rain and before it got much worse. She never came up, stayed down and dogged me the whole fight. Which was a relief because I barely had her hooked. I've had guys ask me why I spent so much time/money tinkering with this setup (still very much a budget setup though), and this is why. If I was still throwing these on braid-to-leader or a stouter rod like when I first started out with the technique, 100% I'd have lost this fish.

So many great photos, guys. 👍🏻 We’re still stuck in winter water temps here. I snuck out today on Lake Ontario, looking for some early pike with the backup plan being the early catch and release bass season. Sadly, the sunshine they promised never came and it was very cool on the water. The surface water temps on the main lake were the same as two weeks ago (35F) and the back bays that were up to 42-43F on March 8 were only 37-38F today after a cold snap last week. We didn’t even try pike fishing. I was going to try a big rock flat area for smallmouth, but with a SE wind the rollers were not to my liking in a small aluminum bass boat. So, we went for a boat ride up the Cataraqui River to have a look at where we’ll be slaying big largemouth in the summer. 😊🤞🏻 So, no fish… but I own a boat and was out on the water for the third time in March. If it was only 20 degrees warmer…

Bought all my Zillions from them. Japan to my front porch in 3 days each time via Fed-Ex. I don't remember if I got a confirmation e-mail from them or not, but to say Digitaka impressed me is an understatement. Same can be said for Fed-Ex.

@Bluebasser86: One big bite away from the stage doesn't surprise me a whit of a bit. You're such a consistent angler. As always, confidently speaking for all of us, we're so proud of you. Even if I were invited, I wouldn't compete: too scaredy!

I’ve never had nor even heard of a problem with Digitaka.

If paypal says they got paid...you're good (and insured by paypal).

Does it help catch more fish? If so, we might need to have a serious talk about banning it from tournaments.

I know… im firmly against the Alabama crimson tide

I was hoping to fish on Thursday when it's supposed to reach 47 for a couple hours, but that was dependent upon the ground not being icy. It's still white outside. Like, @A-Jay, I won't tromp through icy woods to fish. Sigh.

Handling rough water: First is the driver & then its combination of length, width, & horse power. The hulls ability to stay on plan at lower speeds is key. So is how the hull reacts to throttle inputs. Fibrglass: Bass Cat Aluminum: Xpress Hyper-Lift

Greetings and Happy Spring All! @bulldog1935 Interesting you have a similar observation regarding the drag on the Zebco Omega Pro. I concur the only way to gain line under heavy load is to pump the rod and wind in line when the resistance is minimized. Otherwise I find I just have to hold till the fish tires as I'm not comfortable adjusting to increase the drag setting so I can reel in line. I'm only using 4 lb mono so the threshold is slim and I would rather not risk disaster. Thanks for sharing your stories. Special times with special folks! Be well and Cheers!

I ended up going with a Daiwa SV TW 103. It is really really smooth and small enough for my hand. A bit more than I thought I would spend but as of right now, I'm really happy with it.

I bet I could throw a crankbait over them mountains.... I've got 30lb PowerPro on one of my SLX MGL 70s, holds way more than enough for a bomb cast.

All sonar technologies are going to increase in resolution to where you can see the fish in full detail. Where do you draw a line? Assuming you do. Do you ban all sonar? The technology will outpace any regulations that are put against it. As of now statistical studies do not show any negative impact to fish populations for recreational fishing. If it does in the future state fishery agencies can simply adjust seasonal and catch limits to address. IMHO environmental and other impacts have much more impact on fisheries than sonar.

The golf analogy has been raised a few times in this thread. One solution might be akin to the golf handicap. Each inch of screen diagonal is so many points. Each transducer is so many points. Spotlock, sidescan etc. is so many points each. You can spend those points how you like, but there are never enough points to have everything. So, you may be able to have FFS and spot lock on the boat, but only one 9" screen on the console and one 12" screen on the bow. Or maybe forgo a GPS enabled trolling motor and get 2 bigger screens on the bow. This is kind of like video games where, as you level up you get to choose where you spend your points, but it's never enough to get everything. This way nothing gets banned and everything becomes compromised best suited to how you fish.

This man speaks the truth. I joked in another thread asking if anyone would ever ask a question that Glenn does not have a video for. I got back into fishing in middle age after having stopped fishing in my late teens to do other stupid things like alpine mountaineering. Glenn specifically, and too many people to mention by name who are regular contributors have elevated my game immensely. I rarely ask questions, because there is usually a thread or video that addresses the question. This place is awesome.

i’m kinda excited about these. First my jig making business has been outstanding this spring. I originally wasn’t going to make jigs to sell this spring due to my wife being pregnant with twins. but, due to very mild winter every ones been walleye fishing. i started getting texts mid february with people looking for jigs. anyhow the point of this post. here is pro-tech matte black and matte water melon. Along with the do-it gamakatsu ball head mold. i now can pretty much replicate the jig heads that great lakes finnesse are selling. These matte powder colors are going to do a number on the smallies up here in our ultra clear water. in this picture are matte coated poison tail jigs. ready for weed guard and skirts. here some of the walleye jigs in the 4th photo is blue flash. it’s a very cool color. every one should try that color. my photo does not do it justice. 5th photo is what i call Saginaw Special.

Sometimes you know the most fish are going to be caught fishing a wacky worm but I would rather go throw large swimbaits for 8 hours trying to catch 1 huge one...

'Fair weather fishermen don't catch fish' 'You need to suffer to catch fish'

Heck of a fish man. Almost as cool, that flannel is rad.

My second Daiwa Tatula 100 arrived today from Japan along with a free crankbait.

The red and silver JM is a Daiwa Procyon. Do it.

Well, after 'several days' of on & off snow and single digit wind chill temps, Lake Menderchuck is Re-Frozen ! And it looks pretty solid too. Don't think I'd try to land a G6 on it, but I ain't fishing for a while either. So, the countdown has been re-instated. 09 Days ~ Might be close too, especially of it warms up a little. Either way, I'm double trouble ready this time around. A-Jay

Good day yesterday. Wind and rain much of the morning; surface temps 55*. Got some in backs of small coves on twin buzzbait and lizard early, then a few 3-4's on 5" paddletail/underspin fished tight to secondary points and main lake pockets, Got this 5 on a Rage Bug off wood in the back of a pocket. Around 1, the sun came out and spinnerbait killed it on windy flats.

Water is heating up here in S. FLA now and the Peacocks are warming up!

Keeps me fairly busy ~ A-Jay

I bought a few Arukus, at the recommendation of Stringjam, a few months ago when we had a good lipless discussion going on (also bought some Jackall T/N70s). It's an impressive bait. Highly detailed, nice and durable finishes. Best of all, it has a very good action even at low speeds, and will sink and stand on its nose on the bottom. Since then, I've bought more. So far, the best three lipless I've ever fished are the Yo-Zuri Hardcore Drum, Jackall T/N70 and Spro Aruku Shad. All have great actions at very low to high speed, and all will nose-stand on the bottom.