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The Crazy Good News continues ~ Lynn's been back out running the trails with Kya for a week now. I am in total disbelief, ecstatic, but still disbelief. From where she started when she was on a couple of rough roads, to where she is now, is just hard to describe. If you're ever wondered what drives me to stay in shape and get into the home gym every other day, she's pictured below. I'm 15 years older than my wife. It's hard keeping up with Superwoman ! btw- Kya's pretty pumped too. A-Jay

I went fishing with a friend this morning locally for largies. We were out there for about 4.5 hours. Cloudy for most of the morning, but about a 40 minute window when some decent rain was falling. We were catching bass every so often, mostly on a wacky rig. Well then it started raining pretty hard, reducing visibility. So I thought I should try something more aggressive and it paid off. Right when it was raining the hardest, I piled into this pre-spawn bucketmouth on a black spinnerbait. I thought it was a sizable fish but then it jumped and I realized I maybe had a new PB on. I measured and weighed it. 20.5 inches and 5.71 pounds - its the second biggest largemouth I've ever caught (by weight). Caught another 4 pounder 10 minutes later just for good measure too.

Took a trip way out east with my brother to a pretty good lake for a john boat sesh. With a few days past the full moon, overcast skies in the forecast and a late moonrise, we had high hopes. But once we got there, the fog was so dense it was like fishing inside a storm cloud. Normally that would be just fine, but just like my local spots, this place has had an early explosion of lily pads, but worse than that, trolling motor battery-killing pondweed was everywhere, so we had to row. Could barely see past the front of the boat with the blinding pea-soup fog which meant every wake bait casted out ended up stuck in pads or pondweed that would not easily give up a lure. Headlamps reflecting back on us just made seeing out farther worse, so we ending up blowing up spots and killing time retrieving pricy swimbaits. We finally committed to running only soft plastics through the jungle and on the bottom. Eastern north shore lakes on this island are often a few weeks behind mine, so I was unsurprised to get the tell-tale bumps and short strikes of nest guarders. We finally rowed into a small, clear patch in very shallow water way up the lake, so my brother winged out a Tiny Tum crank down wake. Got a nice fish right away, and on the very next cast to the very same spot he got a smaller fish which we assumed was the male of a mating pair. We were both whipped by then, so we rowed back, tossed down some geritol, and called it a night. When only one of us lands something, we're content with saying that the boat didn't get skunked. There isn't much that beats time spent with my brother, so it's all good.

Best of the weekend! From the pier at the in-laws, I chucked it maybe 35yds and it's still only about 7' deep. Came on 7" flush w/ a 3/8oz free rig, had a bit of a belly on her, I'm thinking she was an early spawner and also an earlier recovery. scott

My nieghbor Leon called and had a new topwater frog he wanted me to see . I had fished all morning and was relaxing but he’s always so excited about fishing I met him down at the property line. He had had 2 blowups but missed them. He insisted that I try with his combo and frog. It casted probably 125 feet. Boom! Fish on ! 😄 He couldn’t believe it…

I had not been feeling great the last 6 weeks - kidney failure had been getting the better of me. I had several false starts over the last 6 weeks where I would load up the night before but then feel miserable when trying to get u, but p and go in the morning. Stinks to feel bad during the best part of the season but you have to play the hand you are dealt. Well, I decided to try to give it a go again on Friday. I figured with taking an extra day off I would have plenty of time to recuperate if the fishing wore me out too much. I was torn on where to go since I know the Columbia is on fire this time of the year with big fish but the Willamette is a lot closer and less taxing to fish. After going back and forth I decided to ease back into things and make a trip to the Willamette our of 10th street. It ended up being an OK but not great day. I caught 29 bass but they were mostly dinks. My best was only 2lbs and I struggled to catch fish over a pound. Still, overall it was better than sitting at home again Water temp was ~58F and the fish that I caught were mostly in 6-12' of water. None of the fish I caught showed any signs of spawning (tails were all pristine). I am not sure if they have spawned and recovered or not spawned yet. I only saw fish chasing bait one time all day. Usually you see that a fair bit on the Willamette. I never did figure out where the bigger fish were holding but I know where they weren't Probably my best lure was a jerkbait but I did not fish it that much since it is a lot of work and it was killing my shoulders. I probably caught the most on (and fished the most with) a 3" white swimbait. I also caught fish on a flat-side crankbait, spy bait, Ned rig, wobblehead jig and a drop shot. Some of the bites were really hard and some were super soft. It seemed like the bites got softer as the day wore on. Overall I can't complain too much. I was able to get out and I really enjoyed just being out on the water in my kayak. Here are a couple of pics from the day and a pretty boring video.

My wife and I got married on Memorial day Sunday 17 years ago. This year the date fell on the Monday, so we celebrated all through the weekend, knowing that the Monday weather was supposed to be pretty bad. Nice dinner Friday night, pool party with friends Saturday, and a new brewery exploration on Sunday. I put in my time. Monday was supposed to be a 100% cloud day with over an inch of rain forecast, so I'm going fishing while she's getting a massage. I've had a lot less time to fish this year due to a new job, so when I do get to go out I'm picking my best lakes every time and not just exploring and seeing what's at all of them. So I went to my favorite lake. Its the site of all my biggest fish for the past 3 years and also has decent numbers. Its my Menderchunk #1. Given the weather forecast and time of year I figured there would be a good morning topwater bite. The bass are done spawning, the bluegills are heavy spawning, and the water is getting warmer. The grass should be in just about full now and all of that adds up to a very early morning throwing a buzzbait until they stop eating it. I launched at 430 with just a hint of light in the sky and started down my favorite bank. Over the first 90 minutes I managed 4 bass, two pickerel, and another 4 blowups that just didn't quite take. The biggest of the day was a 19" 3.5# fish that sharked a buzzbait that landed 2' from shore. That fish must have had its tail on the shoreline as it was between my lure and the rocks. Also it was still really thin from the spawn as a 19" fish here usually pushes almost a pound heavier. It was after that when the wheels started to fall off. I fish the same buzzbait all the time. Not just the same type or size, but the same lure. Its been bent and twisted all sorts of ways and back. It had just the right squeal on the rivet and ran true. Alas, it is no more. I really like the swinging sugar buzz. Occasionally it will twist in the air and the joint between the two sections will get stuck which is a pain, but on the whole its my goto buzzbait. I've never considered that the joins would open up. Apparently boat flipping a 20" pickerel on a well used bait will do it. Looking back at my pictures from the 19" fish, I can see the lower joint opened and it was clearly just a matter of time. It was also at this point in the morning that the weatherman proved to be wrong. We had a sprinkle when I launched, but an hour after sun up I was seeing blue through some of the clouds. The fish shut off of the buzzbait. As always, I text my dad pictures as I'm on the water. On my last update he called (which I thought was weird, but he also doesn't text back). He said pick up a worm. He just had the same thing last week on his Menderchunk #1. They were eating, but stopped looking up. He ended with 31 that day. I had picked up a big swimbait because of the bluegill, but decided he's probably right and swapped to a texas rigged rage bug. A texas rigged plastic was never my wheelhouse. Then I did the all plastic outing and learned a bit. Last year a texas rigged beaver was probably my best producer. In the end I don't think it would have mattered which plastic I put on. I caught fish on the rage bug, a carolina rigged rage craw (my first carolina rig fish actually), a senko, and a bandito bug (I fancied a change from the RB). All in I finished with 15 bass, a pair of pickerel, a handful of blowups, and nearly a muskie that was chasing the 12" bass that I caught last. All of the bass were either 12-13" or they were 16-17" (which was running about 2.5 lb). So long as you stayed near the bluegill beds the bass were there and eating. Any place that I left the bluegill beds (there were 2 other boats doing laps with me) the fish weren't there (or weren't eating). All in, not a bad way to spend an anniversary.

What a great idea for a thread. I've really enjoyed these stories. Thanks, @BrianMDTX! I was raised in a just built suburb, so at the time, there were still-glorious fields, woods, barns, creeks, and ponds* just beyond the tract homes. My brother and I strapped our Zebcos and short fiberglass rods to our bikes just after the rain and rode miles, scouting for farm ponds. They'd overflow and we were looking for the tell-tale trickles. We spotted some and approached the house, but first, my brother combed his hair and I ran my fingers through mine, our version of putting lipstick on a pig. The woman inside saw us grooming and was amused, as were half-feral, a tangle of scabs, scars, and scratches. We had a couple bobbers, a few worms, and two rods and reels built for bluegills and not much more. Well, I found much more when a fine bass engulfed my bluegill and ran with it. As she ran to the deep, I back-pedaled up the bank and our combined pull popped the bluegill free. She wasn't hooked, but I was. *Sadly, those once-glorious fields, woods, barns, creeks, and ponds are long gone and I wonder if there's a scabbed kid who'll have to pedal farther than I ever did to reach the green and blue place where the fields still stretch and creeks still gurgle.

I was driving home from my earlier adventures when I received a call from my wife: her brother and his wife were coming into town to do some shopping and were planning on doing some fishing afterwards and would we like to join them? Well, sure! So I landed three more bass to cap off the day and now I owe my wife something fierce for all the time she's granted me to chase my favorite hobby this weekend.

I remember when I killed my first buck. A legal 4” spike. 235 yards with a .30-06. It changed me from a casual upland game and sometimes big game hunter into a dedicated deer hunter. Especially with a muzzleloader and more so a bowhunter. That one buck changed my life. Bass? I liked fishing when I was younger but never really was dedicated. I’ve stated before that I thought lures were a scam as I never caught anything on lures. When I moved to Texas in 2019, I found I had access to numerous local ponds to fish. I did what I always did- I fished with live bait. In particular, nightcrawlers. Until…that one day I saw my bobber get pulled down, and I set that #6 Eagle Claw snelled hook, and was in for the fight of my life. An old Shakespeare 2052 spinning reel with 8 lb. Stren, an UL Cabela’s graphite spinning rod, and a 6-7 lb. bass on the end of the line. When I got that bass on the shore and in my hands, that old “light switch” went from Off to On like it did with that buck. I still have that old spinning rig, but it’s been overshadowed by many new baitcasting and spinning rigs, tons of lures (I think that bass was in cahoots with the BM), a boat and a heckuva lot of fun. Yeah, one bass completely changed my (fishing) life. I went from a casual worm dunker to a dedicated bass angler. Anyone else had one bass that changed your life?

I can think of several bass that changed my life but only two in my formative years. I first started fishing with my dad & brother using a row boat on a local lake in NE Ohio. Our equipment consisted of store bought cane poles that were prerigged with some kind of twine on it and a hook & a bobber. Our bait were red worms that bled mustard when you impaled them on a hook. We caught bluegills, perch & some small bass. I enjoyed the experience & wanted to upgrade my equipment as I matured. I was not satisfied with just a cane pole for equipment. After saving for a while I got my first spinning rod & reel, a small tackle box & a few local lures made by the Fred Abrogast Co based out of Akron Ohio. I vividly remember catching my first bass on an artificial lure. I was casting a hula popper In an area of lilly pads near the shoreline. The instructions were to cast the bait out & let it sit until the ripples from the bait landing disappeared. Then you were supposed to pop it & wait again & repeat. After two pops or so a chunky 2-3 lber inhaled it & I set the hook & both the bass & I were hooked. That bass was one I will always remember because it was a good size trophy for me at that time & was my first bass on an artificial bait. The 2nd bass that I vividly remember occurred when I was in high school. A buddy & I headed to a local reservoir that was the main water supply for the city of Akron. We rented a row boat because gas motors were prohibited. We had heard that the reservoir had been stocked with tiger muskies for the last few years to help control the local pan fish population. Back in those days after reading Field & Stream & Outdoor life magazines for several years we knew that muskies were highly prized game fish & a fish of a thousand casts. So the plan was to alternate rowing by trolling for them on the outside of the weed beds in open water. I had a large brass June bug spinner tied on with a trailing night crawler on the long single back hook. I had read that muskies liked night crawlers so I wanted to increase my odds as best I could. We row trolled for about an hour & a half before the big moment occurred. I suddenly got bit, set the hook & the fight was on. The fish at the other end of my line felt really big & I was sure it was a musky until it jumped out of the water behind the boat. We both saw it was a bass & excitedly exclaimed how big we thought it was. I finally got it back to the boat & netted it. We both thought it was bigger than it actually weighed. We took it to the local bait shop to get it weighed. It weighed 5.5 lbs & it was going home with me to get mounted for the wall. It was a PB that lasted for many years before I got one bigger. It's the only bass I ever got mounted.

Each and every one of us that chases these little green/brown fish has a special story about how we got started. Many of them have been shared in this forum: including mine. After catching my very first bass, to say I was pretty pumped would be a serious understatement. Of course I didn’t exactly know it at the time (or maybe I did) it was a life changing perhaps even defining moment. Either way, from that point on, bass fishing consumed me. It was all I could think about and I could not wait to do it again. 5 decades later, most of that is the same, except for one deal. I have become semi-obsessed with Big Bass. Both locally & abroad. And if I'm very lucky, every once in a while, I catch one. It Always totally rejuvenates my fishing fever to a most wonderful level. At some point, I expect to be living completely on past accomplishments and reminiscing about The Good Old Days. But don't feel like I'm there just yet, so I keep casting. The latest log went on the fire last just over a month ago. A brown bass over 7 lbs will do that. Every Time. Fish Hard A-Jay

I can't say one fish changed my life forever. However I can remember as a kid (maybe 12 or 13) going on a fishing trip to Canada with my father and grandfather. I had very little money and I spent some of what I had to buy a spinnerbait that I saw in a tackle store. Up until that point in my life, I was just a bobber fisherman. First day out I tied that spinnerbait on and started chucking & winding. After a short time, I caught my first fish, a bass probably close to 5 pounds. I think that was the "aha" moment where I converted from a bobber fisherman to a lure fisherman.

I have two. One that sowed the seeds and one that eventually sealed the deal. I remember it so vividly. It was the summer of my freshman year of high school. I was feeling Cool. I was feeling like a real man. I knew this year was going to be different visiting my family up in Michigan at the tip of the thumb and fishing on Lake Huron. I knew this year I was going to get to do some night fish with my dad. He was telling me about it while we were at Walmart buying this year's supply of Rapala jointed minnows and Shad Raps and getting lots of 8 lb. Stren Mono for our Quantum Spinning Rod combos. My Uncle had a 20-ft Jon boat with a little outboard motor in the back and a trolling motor in the front. We would often troll around in the bays and catch a little smallmouth here or there or a sheep's head and sometimes in years past, the men were really nice and would hand me the pole and let me reel it in. This year was going to be different. I had my own rod and I was being instructed on where and what to do in the boat and how to help with landing fish and what to say and what not to do. It was all very exciting. A lot of trust was being put on me to behave right and help the fishing trip go well. It felt good. We got up there. Maybe first week of July and it was perfect weather. The smallmouth were spawning on the rocks and we had reports that there were some big ones in the bays that we were fishing. We decided to get everything loaded up for some real full moon night fishing which I had never done at that point in my life. Especially not for a bass. I remember how eerie it felt knowing that we were going to be out in the darkness looking for fish with hooks in a boat with rocks beneath us. But I was very excited by the prospect. I tied on a swivel clasp (which my dad told me would prevent 'line twist') and a 'Hot n tot' - which I liked the name of - and it looked like a crawfish - which I imagined was exactly what they would be eating under that big bright moon. We got out into the bay as the moon rose in the sky. Bugs were everywhere. We started puttering out there to the drop off and started making casts with our baits. Motor off. No talking. Just casting and retrieving and the sounds of bullfrogs and bugs. I did the best I could and made a really big cast as far from the boat as I could towards the 'drop off' - I had been told that big smallmouth liked to ambush things 'where it goes from deep to shallow'....couldnt hurt right? Before this moment in my life, I had caught smaller fish before on crankbaits and I knew the feeling of the bait thumping. As the Hot n Tot' bumped the rocks and began to find purchase in the shallower shelf beyond the apex of my cast, I reeled it down faster until it began to thump and bump HARD into the bottom. Somewhere in there I felt something that wasn't me THUMP my hot n Tot' very heavily and then I felt my bait disappear. At this point in time I was unaware that this could happen and was not sure what to do. I told my dad I had a bite but could no longer feel the fish and I believed it had gotten away. That's when I SAW it jump. The fish was much closer to the boat than I thought it was going to be. And MUCH bigger. It launched itself into the moonlight, a site for me and my uncle and my dad who were now shouting and grabbing for the net. The spectacle of the moment enveloped me. Time stood still. Next thing I know I'm reeling like my life depends on it and I can hear click click click like a machine gun. Is that my drag!?!? Could it be my fish!?!? What seemed like an eternity later, but was probably only a matter of seconds. The biggest smallmouth of the whole summer that we caught was in the boat. My first and only 4 lb class fish up north. I remember the turbulence of it and the joy and satisfaction I felt holding it. I remember not knowing if it was big or not, but I remember after a night of fishing and seeing what my dad and my uncle caught on the stringer back at the house I realized what an accomplishment it was. I spent a lot of time on that family vacation casting and reeling and catching fish but nothing really compared to the intoxicating feeling that that evening provided me. I think that evening did two things. It sowed the seeds for a lifelong passion for bass fishing, but more importantly it sowed the seeds for me to become a big fish hunter. Alone at night or in the wee hours of the morning stalking my prey in the darkness. Looking for that one big bite. Hoping to see that beautiful giant thing launch itself into the moonlight just for me. That's what I am in it for probably more than anything else. And this fish set that in motion. The other one? Well that'd be my first big largemouth - story I've told a few times here and may retell in this thread another time! 😉😉😉😉

1967 with an old zebco combo and a worm. Caught a 12 inch bass and that was it.

In the summer of 1976. I was 13 years old. My mother would drop me off at the local lake, where I would fish off the small dock at the launch. Some days two brothers that were friends and lived by the lake would walk down and join me, other days I fished by myself. I fished with worms under a bobber for whatever would bite, and usually came home with a limit of rainbow trout. One day I had been fishing off the dock by myself for most of the day. Another angler had joined me on the dock and we were watching our bobbers when we saw what didn't look like a carp break the surface near the shore on the other side of the lake. I new it had to be a bass. I had a couple of bass lures in my box I had used at another lake when I went on a camping trip with the boy scouts and wanted to try for the bass. One of the lures was a Jitterbug that I hadn't ever had a bite on, but I was sure it would catch the bass I had seen jump. The man asked if it was legal to walk around the lake to the other side and fish, and I told him I new who owned the land, and I didn't think he would care if we fished off his land. It was a 30 minuet walk to the spot we had seen the bass. We had to cross two fences, and climb over a couple rock piles and find a way down a steep bluff to get to the waters edge, but I had been there before and was determined to catch that bass. We made it to the other shore, and I found a place we could stand on the rocky shoreline. The rocks were large and jagged making it hard to keep my balance, but I was young and used to fishing from hard to reach places. The other angler prefered to wade out and stand on a level place in the water. I saw a swirl in the water right where I had seen the fish jump before. I made a cast and slowly starting working the bait back to shore. I remember it like it was yesterday. Blurp Blurp Blurp splash. The bass came all the way out of the water and exploded on my Jitterbug. It was only about 2 pounds, but it was twice the sized of any bass I had caught, and I thought it was the biggest fish in the lake. It swam over to where the man was standing and he reached down and grabbed it. I was scared he was going to drop it, so I waded out to get my bass even though I was going to get my leather boots wet, I didn't care anymore about anything but holding on to that bass. He laughed and said it was only a fish, but to me it was far more than a fish, it was the holy grail of my life, a giant bass. At that time of my life catch and release was not something I had never considered, so I made a stringer out of a piece of wire I got off of a nearby fence. The sun was starting to set and I was expecting my mom would be there to pick me up soon. I made a couple more casts then walked back to the dock to place the bass with my stringer of trout. That bass changed my life. It was then I new fishing was more important than baseball, bicycles, go carts, or any other thing I liked at that age. All I could think about was blurp blurp blurp splash. It was also the bass that introduced me to my life long friend and nemesis the Bait Monkey. Since then there have been other bass that changed my life, but this first top water bass was the one that started me down a long fantastic road I still travel to this day. This picture was taken during a drought. The water in the lake was a foot higher when I caught the bass. It was two high to cross on the rocks in front of the dock. We had to walk to a bridge, cross, then walk around to where the small bluff boarders the water. I spent every day I could sitting on that dock watching a bobber. The dock washed away in a flood, but I still fish from the bank when I go home to visit.

Yes, I can still see it now as clear as day, forty years ago, I was fishing with my girlfriend in a rented Jon boat out at Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. I was fishing parallel to a ditch in a deeper cut, maybe five feet, which is actually kinda deep out in the glades. The water clarity that day was clear enough to see the bottom. I was working a Snagless Sally along the ledge while arguing with my girlfriend when, suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I saw the biggest whitist mouth open up and engulf my lure with such a violent thump that I almost lost my balance. That fish then yanked and yanked and pulled and pulled and yanked and yanked so hard that she finally broke my 30lb mono leader. Probably the biggest bass I've ever encountered. That one fish on that one day changed my life as it pertains to bass fishing. Even to this day, no fish has come close to the ferocity of that one bass. There was no way that she was coming in; her mind was made up. The determination of that one fish to not be caught has stuck with me my whole life.

Navy 09-13, stationed in sasebo japan

Matt Allen is the human incarnation of the bait monkey

I had a rare holiday off. I went early. I caught 4 between 5AM and 9AM. The lake was already getting full or recreational boaters so I called it a day. (FWIW I'm not a fan of all the pleasure boaters, but I suppose they have as much right to the water as I do) The Bluegill spawn is starting but the Bass are still scattered between post spawn, and summer. I think the hot cold hot cold weather as well as all the rain messed up the Bass spawn this year. I saw very little Bass action during the Shad spawn. The water has really warmed up. It's 9 degrees warmer than it was 9 days ago. (81 degrees this morning) Oh well, back to work tomorrow.

That first bass I ever caught definitely changed my life in the way that I became a life long bass fisherman.

I took some pics this morning of my pond. In order: The beginning of my 4.5 acres. Down my driveway. Another driveway pic. Where the driveway ends and the meandering path begins. The pond! The boardwalk made of pallets to reach the water. I might get approval tonight to have professionals build a raised boardwalk. You can't see it, but on the right side of the lake is a marsh full of bass. Heck, the pond is full of bass too.

Some where in the mid 60s I caught my first bass on Creme Scoundrel. Been chunkin plastics ever since!

Reviving the thread with my best looking pizza yet. Best tasting as well.

My brother in law, my brother, and I went fishing in the rowboat this morning. My brother in law slaughtered the crappie, I caught mostly small bass, although I did get my first top water catch of the year on the bone colored whopper plopper. (About dang time!) Then we took the kids fishing at the river behind my brother in law's house (the Flat River). The kids all got hooks into something. I caught several little smallies, my niece and nephew (bro-in-laws kids) both caught rock bass. And then my brother's five year old landed a super healthy 15" smallmouth using ultralight gear. We cooked and ate it. (Pls don't kill me, C&R only Crowd. It wasn't my decision.)

Well I don't what is going on but I hit a large local pond and caught 30 bass (at least that's where I decided to stop). I only caught 2 or 3 keepers though. It was a two hour dink fest but it was fun. And I caught another massive bluegill, around 11 inches if I measured it correctly.

I still do it better on the susky.

I come from a family of commercial fisherman. Mainly shrimpers and oystermen. I've been fishing as far back as I can remember. Most of my fishing when I was a kid was with my grandmother. We would fish mostly from the land around their fishing camp and would keep whatever we caught that was edible. Mostly redfish, speckled trout, drum fish, etc. This was basic fishing with dead shrimp for bait. Every once in awhile, we would go freshwater fishing from the land in some canals around my grandparents home. This again was basic using either dead shrimp or worms for bait and simple equipment like cane poles or spinning gear. We would catch a few small green trout(bass) as my grandma called them. One day I got bored of fishing with worms and found a small rusty beetle spin in an old tackle box. I tied it on and cast it out and this small bass just crushed it. I remember feeling the hit from that bass even though it was probably close to 40 years ago. From that day on, I was hooked on bass fishing. I also figured out that I could get saltwater fish to also hit artificial lures, which changed how I fished to this day. I wouldn't catch as many fish as the people using bait, but to me feeling the hit on an artificial lure was worth it. I've been hooked ever since.

I have brought up a bass named Moses a few times. This bass changed how I fished for a lifetime. I triton catch Moses for 2 summers at Big Bear lake and finely caught the big bass. I was so excited and ran with the bass back to my grandma’s cabin to show off fish. Gram told me to clean the bass and we would have the fish for dinner. It broke my heart to clean Moses and the experience changed how I would fish forever. Tom

The majority of my fishing life bass were really just a bycatch. From boating to bait casters it was all foreign as my 1,000's of fish came from waders and fly rods. My future brother in law invited me to fish a weeknight lunker tournament after 2 casual outings that I guess he thought I was competent enough to catch fish. I brought a 17" fish that was on its death bed with high hopes to the scales that evening, but that feeling still remains 7 years later.

I dont have a fish that started it for me. My father fished and since before they knew I needed glasses I was going with him. For me I stayed in it for the memories it brought back camping and fishing with my dad and uncle and a big part of why I still do it. Not to sound too hippie about it but it makes me feel connected to all of that and what I consider a good childhood. Part of that changed for me when I hooked into my current PB. Up until then it was something for the memories, to relax and to be out in nature. Now its all of that but trying to get better to really hunt down bigger bass. It kind of takes some of the sweetness away from the "smaller" fish and make them seem more like practice leading up to a main event. Dont get me wrong its still tons of fun, I just know my own personal bar has been set higher because of that experience.

Took my buddy and our kids out on a panfish mission and boy did we crush them. The stringer pic doesn't do the size justice. Several were 12 ounces or bigger and bigger than our hands. Caught 30ish sunnies and 10ish small bass. Most fun I've had fishing in quite some time. The kids ate it up and the fish tacos we turned them into were one of the best things I've ever made even without proper shells.

A big bass I missed years ago. It made me determined to get better at bass fishing.

@redmeansdistortion The bronze pinion always takes the wear, and it's nice OS is out there so we can replace them. The 6.3 ManFish gears include stainless pinion - been on my watchlist through the stock of this run, and I got the last set. The maker says this will be the last pinion we'll ever need...

26 bass this evening at a pal's pond. Some samples below. In order, a long one, a fat one, the thickest one, and the prettiest one. @king fisher, your account of the lost monster was thrilling. Congrats on the 8-pounder, the 5-pounders, 4-pounder, and the others.

Memorial day weekend was a bit rough figuratively and literally. I've never in my life regretted owning my tracker until this weekend. The lack of length and weight made it a FIGHT just to stay on plane without rattling the teeth out of my head. I worked that throttle probably more times than I have in the past 11 years of ownership. Fishing was also tough. Saturday we drove up to my inlaws in the morning and by the time we said hi, got everyone together and set out it was 1pm already. Full sun, no clouds and not even a gnat fart for wind. Caught 2 ripping a swim jig through weed edges in 5-7fow in about 3 hours. Took me a while to find them, wasn't sure if they were still sitting near their spawn locations or working their way into summer spots. They were off main lake points but didn't get much time once I caught my 2 with dinner and such. Sunday was same conditions except I had a little wind. I was down by the dam Saturday so I made a 30min run up the lake hoping fit less boat traffic but it was a muddy mess. Wasted the first part of my day I there and then spent some time with the family. Did 2hrs before dinner and ran back down to a hump off a main lake point I found on my way out the day before. Fished the points weed edge first with no luck and then hit the hump. Tried spinnerbaits, jig and swim jig over the stumps on the hump and no dice. Then I figured I'd pretend I was Ajay and broke out a jerkbait (I've caught maybe 2 fish in my life on one). Second cast and it got crushed. In about 15 minutes I picked up 4. I just released the 4th and cast my beautiful megabass vision one ten jr+1 in pro blue and hard SNAP. Off she went into the netherworld. Wasted 20 minutes trying to grid search for it but it was gone. Went to tie in another and realized the first guide on my used poison adrena cracked, likely cause of the break so now I'm down a 110 and gotta find someone to replace a guide. Caught 2 more off another rod and then it was time for dinner. Size was nothing great but it was nice to catch on a lure I had little confidence in. Looks like 3 spots and a LM?

5/25/24 Miami River north as far as you can go. 6:00AM-11:00 AM Sunny and Hot 90*+ W/T 88* Wind NE 5-10 Clarity light stain A good friend of 30 years just got a new boat, a Ranger 521c, and wanted me to experience the ride. We headed out before first light and found half the ramps along Alligator Alley are closed because of low water and poor ramp conditions. We searched for an open ramp and found one at MM35. We decided to head up the Miami River and fish the north cuts. First and every cast we were experiencing constant exotic hits from Oscars, Jaguars, and Mayans. We had to go heavier and deeper to get to some largemouth action. The canal was full of gators with ten or more at every cut. This section of canal is 6 miles from the closest road so there is lots of wildlife on the surrounding Islands. No sounds of civilization and no other boats. .In the past I have heard bobcats calling in the morning, eagles, hawks, river otters playing along the bank, hogs, and a variety of song birds doing their thing. We even once saw licensed python hunters up on the island looking for snakes. Although it was hot we had lots of shade from the big tree canopy. We ended up catching over 30 rock bass, a bunch of Jaguars and Mayans. Once we figured out the bass bite deep, we caught 20+ with the largest just over 2 lbs. The big old girls didn't come out to play. The canal is full of fish but not necessarily the ones you want. It was a pleasant day, on a big comfortable bass boat, with a good friend, and lots of action. I even caught a camouflaged Gator in a pad field. I thanks to him for breaking the 15 lb floro. We had several big gators come within two feet of the boat, and it's breeding season. A fun day in the wilderness, and thanks Steve for the invite!

That spool in the Black Max 1600 is 10.5g, it'll throw 1/8 no problem. Get Abu part numbers 22565 and 22567, the bearing retainer and brake blocks for the CS Rocket reels. It's very capable.

3 1/2 years later....

I tossed this around just today

@PourMyOwn - my custom Zzeta 4500CT has 6.3 gears and just got the brass gears upgraded to 6.3 stainless from UK - everything about this reel is a joy, but it's crazy difficult to photograph because it blows so much light back at you. Didn't start with a reel, but built entirely from parts. I know @redmeansdistortion has built 2500CI this way. When I first tried matching my rebuilt Royal Express with a Japanese Smith SS offset-grip + separate rod blade, the graphite/plastic foot would bend and spit out from the reel seat. So I replaced it with a NOS alloy frame with chromed brass foot - all I could get was a red frame, so I call it my Black Cherry. Another thing about these reels, they're built to last, easy to work on, parts will always be available from aftermarket makers, OEM parts from e-replacement parts and repair shops like Dad's Ole Tackle and Mike's in BC, Ebisu in Japan, Abu bench-built limited runs, and UK vendors build their own Ambassadeurs. RocketReelCo complete C3 drive plate, sold with stainless main gear and BB main shaft - it's cheaper to buy the complete C3 plate than buy their mainshaft and gears separately.

That's exactly what the Royal Express is, pre-2000 with instant anti-reverse coming in at 8 ounces, less than a Millionaire CV-Z 103 and less than a '21 Calcutta Conquest 100. They were made in 2 runs, 1992 and 1999. In the hands of a truly competent tuner, there really won't be much that it can't do. It's a blank slate ready to be crafted into a spectacular performer. The plastic worm pipe is the weak point of this reel as it adds friction to the level wind. The metal pipe used in other 4000 sized models is best. Other than that, there's nothing a little elbow grease and a few fun parts can't address. A lighter spool and addressing the friction points will put it in an entirely different league.

What does black with blue trailer match?….nothin but is the #1 jig color combinations for decades because bass eat it! I prefer to match a color in the jig skirt because it looks good to me, sometimes the bass agree. Tom

I was on the water long before the sun came up. Clear and warm with a nice 10 mph breeze. Started out at the south end of the lake. I Tried the pad crasher for awhile , and had one half hearted blow up that I missed. I went to the Bama bug dinger and immediately caught 2 good fish. Then I moved to the southeast corner of the lake , and caught another good one on the dinger . I picked off a couple fish on the horny toad in the deepest hole in the lake, and one on a red bug truck worm , then began fishing around the east side of our island , hunting for shade. Got several on the June bug speed worm and lost several in brush piles. Came around the south end of the island and switched to a watermelon seed super fluke, and caught a few going up the west side of the island, including these 2… I caught a couple more on the fluke as I headed home , and stopped at the north deep hole on the way home. I had switched to a Houdini super fluke because it was so bright, and got this 4.25 pounder to close the morning. It was the best day I’ve had in several years on my lake. The lake is clearly rebounding since the otter has been gone the better part of the year… Ended up with 16, with a 16 pound bag for the top 5… It was one of those rare days where nearly everything went right! Got a good case of bass thumb to go along with it lol . Happy Memorial Day everyone!

Had a recent smallie fest

Feels good to get back on the water, spent the last 8 weeks out of town for work. Saturday first light was one of those epic feeding frenzies for about 20 minutes. A bluegill crank down was getting bit on every cast. After that, a weightless 7" fluke, jig, and free rig were picking them off. I had a handful over 20" and another in the 18-20" range, one of them could easily have been my lake pb if she wasn't all spawned out, though the pics don't really show it. scott

Got this one at the local heavily pressured place this evening.

I finally caught a good one on Saturday. I was going to do some work this weekend, but my wife told me I should go fishing. I always try and do what I am told so I put the kayak on the car. I didn't plan on going until late Friday afternoon, so I wasn't gong to have time to go to a lake I wanted to try. So I went to my old favorite, which has let me down so far this year, but was worth giving one more try. I got to the lake early Saturday morning, and started fishing at first light. The water temp was 74, wind calm, and water clarity was around 2 foot. The water was at a perfect level, and any other year I would have had greet confidence. There were two other anglers in a small boat, that went to the other end of the lake. I was glad they passed the best fishing spots for this water level. They must have been there before, when the water is up, and the far end of the lake is a flooded pasture. I new they wouldn't be at the far end of the lake for long, so I was in a hurry to try most of the visible cover before they came back to the deep end of the lake. After a couple hours I had caught a few one pound bass but hadn't had a decent bite. The other anglers came by and reported they were skunked. At 10:00 AM the afternoon winds came early. By 11:00 the other anglers had left, and I was really wondering why I was still there. The wind was blowing 20 MPH. and I hadn't landed a bass over 1.5 pounds. I was working hard to get even one good cast into one of the offshore trees, before loosing control of my kayak and having to reposition. The bass wouldn't hit my moving baits which was odd for this much wind, so I had to try and fish soft plastics. I ended up catching a 4 pound bass on a Skinny Dipper so the day wasn't going to be a complete disaster. By 6:00 PM I was tired and thinking about calling it a day. The wind was blowing to hard to set up my tent, and I was even contemplating cutting the trip short and going home. I decided to stay and fish hard until dark, after all that is what I came there to do. I peddled over to the tree I had caught the 4 pound bass from and made a cast with a T rigged June Bug Ole Monster I had just put on. First cast I hooked the 8.1 pound bass in the picture. I landed a couple other 2 pound bass on the Ole Monster, then fished a rock bank with a square bill until dark, landing a bass around 3 pounds. I am so glad I didn't give up. Sometimes all it takes is perseverance to catch bass. That and a lot of luck is what I count on most of the time. The wind died about 10:00 PM and I was able to set up my camp. The next morning I started off with the Ole Monster, and landed a 5 pound bass along with a few small 1 pounders and hooked a big bass I wasn't able to get a look at. The wind started early again on Sunday. This time of year has the strongest winds, but I have never seen it start blowing before noon. I had to leave for home around 12:00 so I was in a hurry to fish everything I had planned on casting to. I ended up at my favorite tree from past years, that so far this year hadn't produced, but it is hard not to fish history. After a few minuets of hard peddling I had the kayak positioned to make a perfect cast. A small bass bit the tale off the Ole Monster so I got blown way out of position while I put another one on. The next cast I hooked what I assumed was the same small bass. When I had the bass close to the boat I saw a flash out of the depths, that looked like a good size bass trying to grab the worm. I got the small bass a few feet closer to the kayak when a giant bass came up and completely engulfed my small bass. I instantly put the reel in free spool and watched the line go away from the tree. With as much experience I have fishing in saltwater I would have thought I would stay calm and not make any mistakes. I didn't, I got excited and made a rooky mistake. When the line stopped going out, I should have waited until it started running off again before doing anything, but I just had to feel if the bass was on the line. I lightly thumbed the spool, and felt the heavy weight of the giant. I clicked the reel in gear and was going to set the hook when suddenly the heavy weight was gone. The big bass had let go, and I had ruined my chance at a fish of a lifetime. I reeled the small bass back to the kayak, and when it was a few feet away the giant came and swiped at the bass. Of course I frees pooled the small bass again, but the big one was just showing off, and wasn't about to get fooled again. All the mistakes I made were ones I never would have done saltwater fishing, but seeing a bass that size made me panic causing me to completely choke, and loose the opportunity of a lifetime. I don't know how big the bass was, but the small bass was 12 1/4 inches and completely disappeared when the big bass hit it. I had to leave early so I decided to make cast at a tree near the launch. I hooked and landed a five pound bass, and of course I turned on more last cast into 20, but finally had to call it quits and go home. I am glad to see my favorite lake still has at least one giant that will keep me going back. Maybe with more perseverance and some more luck, I will catch one. The lake is not anything like it was, but that only means I will have to work harder. For now I will have to be happy with an 8 pounder, and a good one that got away story.

Only had a couple hours this morning. Air temps were low 60’s at launch, and a stiff breeze out of the east which isn’t ideal. I had a short strike on a Plopper and lost one by the boat on a swim jig. The only catch of the day was this one by 6poundbass.