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As of Monday, I’m a facility maintenance technician. Going pretty well so far

Larger bass are usually located on prime structure & in prime cover They setup on structure & in cover that allows them to see all directions at once. Maybe not 360 but it'll be as close as they feel comfortable. They like to see without being seen

Like lots of terms used by bass anglers isolated structure needs to be defined. The entire lake bottom is structure of some type. Man made structures like bridge and dock pilings could be called isolated structure or structure. My view point is an underwater island or hump is structure and a large boulder or rock pile located on the hump is isolated structure. There are hundreds of different types of isolated structure, could be a stump in lieu of a boulder for example. Cover is another term to define. So use the isolated rock pile or stump with a weed bed ( cover) growing on top. You can’t see the isolated structure but it’s there and so are the bass, that is the spot you want to target. Remember that green aquatic plants produce dissolved oxygen during day light and provide shade cooling the water temps comfortable for bass and other fish. The isolated structure provides the bass a place to hide and is home to prey, win, win, win for predators like bass. Tom

The first part of that is true. The second part is completely false and I take some offense to it. I work in federal law enforcement and I can tell you that just about every single person I work with takes a lot of pride and satisfaction knowing that they are there to keep the public safe, me included. You do realize that the term government includes cops, firefighters, attorneys, judges, doctors, nurses, engineers, crime investigators, and a host of other positions. I can assure you that most of them go to work on a daily basis not because of the money they make, but because they're good at what they do, and because they're trying to help the public. Ya, I know, most of the public thinks that government workers are lazy and wouldn't be able to do private sector work. That's fine, they can think that. That narrative is driven by politicians. But for forum purposes I am not going to get into that any further. Rant over

It's not all roses and butterflies... https://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/grass-carp.html

New SLX 70A. The handle is shorter than the Curado 70's, which I wasn't expecting. Here's a side-by-side comparison in case anyone was wondering about it's size.

It's been a while since I've posted. I've had too much going on to fish much lately, and when I did get a chance it's been a struggle. Finally caught a few in the past week or so. No big ones, but any fish is better than a skunk. The fish on the left was caught on a day when my buddy and I caught 10. He caught a 4 lb largemouth, and a 3 lb smallmouth...which was his PB smallmouth! He was pretty excited, and I was excited for him. It fought like a beast. I think he may want to chase those brown fish more often now. 9 out of the 10 we caught that day were on rattle traps. Any color would do. Orange, red, silver, and gold worked. The LM in the picture was the lone fish caught on a TX rig. The fish on the right was caught on an quick 30 minute bank trip that resulted in 3 fish. 2 small largemouth, and the smallmouth pictured. The smallmouth hit a trick worm like a train. I thought it was going to be a lot bigger, but I'll take it. Just glad to get to fish.

I should add that chippendales didn’t give me a severance package for all that night dancing I did inbetween jobs, the nerve!

Worth a watch... it talks specifically about this (and more)

Four of my everyday rigs.

Got this 5.0 tonight out of a bog pond that I hadn't fished in a few years. Almost no signs of life til I hooked this one. Caught on a plastic worm. She shot up out of the water like a cannon ball and looked bigger on first glimpse. Only fish of the night.

Pat, this part of your post reminded me of a particular passage from "In pursuit of giant bass". I hope it helps someone land a new PB. Off-topic (sorry), but this (below) is my favorite passage from the book. P.S. I lived this life for almost 5 years. I caught a lot of big fish, but it left my mental health, social life, and to some extent even my professional life, in a sorry state. I have since moved on.

I fished Tuesday and I saw quite a few guys practicing on Griffin. Nobody bothered me and I didn't bother them. I'm old school when it comes to fishing near someone. It seems that a lot of people nowadays pull up right next to other boats that are already fishing. Maybe it's because the waters are a lot more crowded and that's what some of the younger people are used to. When I was growing up, if someone was sitting in a spot that you wanted to fish you went somewhere else. If you wanted to fish that place you should've gotten up earlier. You never pulled in on top of someone. The last few years that I was guiding, this happened quite frequently I had other guides (and non guides) pull up so close to me we could cast into their boat. Poor manners.

I can't tell you how many times where the clock ticked 1:00 am, our energy was flagging, but I would push us through until 2:00, and just like that the bite came alive. So many times, my wading buddy quits, and on the way out he always says, "send me pics". More often than not he'll get one or a few sent to his phone before he gets back to his driveway. The hot bite can turn on at night just like that and is often triggered by baits slapping down into the water. Find the right zone, which might only be 100 feet left or right, and that seems to call in groups who are competitive. Then it's one after the other.

In some ways the was or is my favorite reel could come down to the why for me. The why being though I have tried, I just can’t take my old Curado B’s out of the lineup for deploying moving baits. *it probably didn’t help installing Carbontex Carbon fiber drag washers and regular bearing maintenance.

Picked up a few of these Shimano Curado's in the 1990's, along with Citca's. I like them so much, now when it's time to get a new baitcaster...I run towards eBay... I have four Curado's and four Citca's.

Mojo glass rod is without a doubt my single worst rod purchase. Heavy and dead.

Milliken let his 5th keeper go about 15 times because he didn’t know the length limit…… ouch. Probably would have only added 1-1.5 lbs to his total but points are points

I say that it is hilarious that multiple bass utubers can cash a check saying just about anything. Chatterbait is the worst, because it really can work fished so very differently. Wouldn't be hard to find five more contradictory videos about a bladed jig.... they're good around wood, avoid wood because you will lose them... fish them like a jig, fish them like a crankbait... fish have become immune to them, or the vibration is such that fish will continue to react to them no matter how many they see.... don't use braid; only use braid...sweep hookset, or jam 'em....

mineral sunscreens are effective, but they don't rub in very well. A friend has to use them because he has sensitive skin. Oxybenzone is an endocrine disruptor which is the biggest safety issue. The cancer risk is related to the hormonal interference, primarily breast and thyroid tumors, not acute skin contact and skin cancer. And the risk of cancer from useage is far lower than the risk of skin cancer by the sun with non-usage.

Lol. Once a fish gets to crunching a tail, she's got 6 treble points stuck in her mouth...probably does not matter much how realistic the tail tastes by that time

Whatever line you want. We all have our own preferences, and most of them are going to be different. And for each of us, there can be a definite right and wrong answer. It's just that we're all a little different and fish differently, so what's right for us might be wrong for someone else. Like if it were me, the answer would be simple. I'd use the same line I use for just about everything else. 30# Sufix 832 braid. But you're not me. So that might be a bad idea for you.

Hey! you're getting better at click bait!!!! 👍

Emailed Gomexus and they are sending me two..

@gimruis I think you might have taken that comment a bit different than what I meant. It wasnt a comment on the work ethic of gov employees or their dedication, there are certainly crap workers in any industry regardless of the employer. It was more to the fact that without the excellent benefits and retirement there would be a lot less keeping good employees from finding better employment elsewhere. Typically, in my experience, gov jobs pay less than private sector and the amount of political BS that effects its employees and how they do their job is quite a bit more than other employers. Enough, again in my experience, for those people who may love their job to look at other industries that give them the same job satisfaction with a much better work/pay structure. Getting into keeping employees there is certainly a lot more than just those things that keep people. Like you said, how the people feel about the satisfaction they get from doing their job, the people they work with, a good manager. All those things contribute and from knowing and being related to quite a few people in those fields you mentioned I can say I understand where you are coming from with your reply. My comment was broad and certainly didnt mean to diminish the dedication a lot of people put into their gov job.

I didn’t even think about the fire issue. That’s all I needed to hear— a switch is getting installed.

I’ve been headhunter for almost 40 years. I’m retained by companies to find their next President, CEO, board member. Stuff I’d never be qualified to do…

This 50$ Kastking has performed great! Smooth, great casting distance, no backlash issues. I will probably only use it 1 season, and pass on . I like trying new stuff a lot. Even cheap reels . I think I probably have at least 1 of all the major brands. like this one. Shimano SLX. Was not expensive.

That last passage in the book is the last 20+ months of my life. Incredibly spot on. It's hard to describe the level of obsession. If I'm honest I've neglected many other parts of my life. On the other hand, I've learned more in 20 months than my previous 20 years of Bass fishing. Obsession is a two way street, it creates greatness, but at the cost of sanity and a person as a whole. It's really kind of embarrassing which is why it was such a relief to hear the author's passage, and Deep's reply. I have no plans of seeking treatment, rather doubling down.....I moving to Texas 🤣

After telling myself I'd take it easy on tackle for a while I ended up getting a couple packs of Geecrack Bellows Gill Swimmers since the bass in my local pond seemed to be eyeballing the bluegill like crazy today. Hopefully they are worth the price...

I clicked on this thread to see if Catt had posted a photo of a roll of TP. Not even kidding 😂 wisdom

Some Titanium framed baits I made for someone recently. Allen

I was about 11 or 12 and used to catch fish in a small perculation pond that was fenced and they would chase you you off. Found a culvert that ran under the high way and when the wind was right would float a bobber under the road into the pond to catch fish. Wonderful how kids can solve problems

My pond in the jungle. It's tiny, you can see in the picture, not much bigger than the turn-around at the end of the dead-end road it's situated by. It's easy to cast all the way across in any direction and can't be more than 5' deep anywhere in the thing. Pretty sure the state killed it by clearing the trees off the dam and pushing a lot of them into it, basically filled the thing in. It use to have fish like this in it though.

Fished up the river this afternoon for a mixed bag. 4 bass, 2 bowfin and many all kinds of bream. Good weather, not too much wind, low 70s water temperature and cold beer. Withlacoochee River, FL

I run 2 Helix 10 G3N's, ethernet, auto-bilge, auto-livewell and a BT radio and speakers off my Group 24M cranking battery, 56AH 1000MCA. I've fished with all my electronics on for long long hours (8hrs+). The Helix 10's don't draw much (I think I calculated 1.7ah at one point), and I put the brightness around 60%. I just tested the battery and it's at 97% health in year 3. That being said, I'm putting in a 105AH dual purpose LiFePO4 to replace it next week. I'm finally making the change to lithium batteries because my 3 year old onboard charger has a bad bank and I'm replacing it with a NoCo GenPro.

Yes, if the wind is blowing from the north, the waves will be largest on the south end and smallest at the north end. And vice versa.

@Capt Steve, let us know if ya go!!!

I'm just newly back into bass fishing after a 4-year hiatus in Montana. We have huge pike, monster trout, but almost no bass over a couple lbs. Even then, I had a couple of spots for bass and fished them religiously. At least in the past years, Spring sucked ass. I always missed prespawn, never saw fish on beds, and never caught a bass over a lb when I was up there. My dad caught a random 5 lber, which was the only decent bass I saw up there. So this Spring has been amazing for me. I've caught a satisfying amount of bass, some of them decent, and I'm starting to see bass guarding fry and beds. Y'all got it good down south! Tight lines!

Yeah I am trying to learn to be serious and casual. Serious about the fishing when I get to do it. Casual about the failure that is sure to come most of the time pursuing giant bass. The good thing is I have enough success to keep me feeling like it has a purpose. It takes some major mental discipline though and I'm learning that balance all the time. Great post @deep .

Zoom dead ringers are wonderful, it’s a worm and a grub all rolled into one

First winter/spring here in SC for me, so wasn't sure what to expect on all new waters. I will say that once I figured out I had record class crappie around me, I spent an awful lot of time the past 3 months chasing them while the window was available. But I did scan through my pics from Jan 1 through April 1 and had a pretty decent run on bass for as little as I fished them. Looks like I landed 17 bass over 3 pounds, with 4 between 4-5 lbs, 3 more between 5-6 lbs., and then one over 7 lbs. Add to that the 46 crappie over 2 lbs. I've been able to catch, and I can't complain. Will be spending a lot more of my time chasing bass the next 3 months if things don't get too hot around here, so we'll see what happens.

They are spawning everywhere and have been for months BUT they have been way more 'waves' of fish that slide up and back and it's way more confusing than years where the spring is warmer. On the big lakes it's not the way it was last year with seemingly every fish on the lake on bed at once. It's more like the little areas that SHOULD fire first are firing and the rest of the lake is slow to catch up as the water progressively stabilizes in the low 60s. I have been catching pre spawners, post spawners and bed fish all month on ponds and lakes all from the exact same areas. They're just kinda all over the place and in many different stages.

This one. Team Daiwa X

You will find out by your cranking battery not being able to start your motor. I have 3 Solix units and they would do that to me so I pulled them off the cranker and put them on a stand alone 100 ah lithium.

Shimano Curado 200 E7 Mike