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I had one of the best fishing sessions of my life this morning, but I want to begin by thanking @Glenn for suggesting green pumpkin EVERYTHING in one of his videos. I'm a match the hatcher, so I use shad-colored Crush City The Mayors, but after hearing Glenn say that green pumpkin works in all soft plastic, I bought some Mayors in green pumpkin and lawdy, lawdy, did they love them. I went through the entire package. I also want to thank @T-Billy for encouraging me to join the Straight Braid Brigade. I was in a couple situations this morning where braid saved the day. And I want to thank @Pat Brown and Tim again for coaching me to keep their heads up in reeds. Lastly, I want to thank @PhishLI for instilling in me a belief that there are bigger bass in my pond that I'd been catching. That kept me hopeful and searching. Well, today, I found them. I caught 56 total, starting at 4:30 a.m. and quitting at 8:15 a.m. I have dozens of bass photos and I'll share them later today and amend this report, but i want to share three of them now as a trailer of sorts. I keep finding new places to cast due to the pond having bog on three borders with many canals and inlets. One canal had reeds at the entrance. Reeds are my mortal enemy. Bass go in and don't come out. The canal was only about 15 yards deep and maybe four yards wide. It was lined with woody bushes. Here's the inlet/canal: The bass below hit my green pumpkin on an Owner underspin and immediately ran past me to the reeds. Again and again, she tried to enter the reed field, but I kept her head up so she couldn't dig into water. There was a lot of thrashing and splashing and I netted her between reeds. She is special to me because she's proof that there are bigger bass in my pond. My pond is a Q & Q pond, both quantity and quality. Here she is and you can see the reeds she wanted to reach: The very next cast yielded this girl, who ran past my canoe in both directions, burning drag, and under the boat too.: The next cast yielded nothing, but the fourth cast produced this girl, who ran into the woody bushes twice, catching both times. She was bigger than she looks in the photo. Yeah, those three bass in four casts. I also caught two other bass in that little inlet and I caught many other fine bass, which I'll share later. I have to get my hair cut and visit a friend. NOW, THE REST OF THE STORY: I began the morning fishing like it was 2023, using a chrome Whopper Plopper. That's what they wanted. I caught 20 bass fishing a marshy shoreline and a rocky reef with enough grassy plants to attract bass. I was quite pleased with their size. Here are some of those fish, including a smallmouth: After I fished the inlet, I worked my way along more marshy shoreline. You know how exciting it is when you see a V as the bass beelines for your lure? Well, for the first time in my life, I had two bass Vs barreling toward my lure. I had that happen one other time with muskies. Here's that shoreline: And here are some of the bass I caught off of it. The third one down was long and plump: While poking around the swamp, I found this swamped boat. I wish I could claim it, but I'll look for its owner. Sorry about the water on the lens: A couple more bass on the way back and then three pics of my boardwalk and dock. The dock was built by the man whose house is at the entrance to my property. See the white rock in the second photo? He took an old stone wall apart and built that. It's quite stable and I love it: One last look at the pond! I am so pleased with the size of the bass in this pond, as well as their numbers. P. S. - I won't be fishing for the next nine days as I'll be traveling. Dang it!

Making it a mission to break 4lbs on a smallie this year. Population density on this river is not great and fish tend to be lean from fighting current all day so this is easier said than done. Got this one as the only fish of the day after a 6 hour grinder. Ate a bubblegum fluke.

On January 25th 2022, I made a post about my nephew Kyle. The post was called How To Motivate A Young Man. Kyle had come to stay at our house, in the hope that I could help him. His problem was that he would not keep a job. He had three good jobs, and quit them all within a month. At the time, I thought he was lazy, and, I came down pretty hard on him. My wife took him to a specialist, and he was prescribed medicine for an anxiety disorder. Now, he's a different person. He's worked for the county road crew for two years, and has moved up to a supervisor position, with a good pay raise. He has perfect attendance on his job, and, is attending night classes at a local junior college, studying computer programming. He's engaged to a really sharp girl now also. I'm proud of him, and am very happy for him. My nephew taught me a lesson in all of this. Anxiety is a very real thing. It can affect people in different ways. What I thought was laziness was not the case at all. If you know a person who suffers from anxiety, try to get them some help if you can. They may be able to turn things around in a good way. Kyle and I will be fishing together this Saturday morning. He's doing fine now.

I caught my first Chad shad fish, just a tiny little guy but better than my first fish on a mag draft. I caught 10+on a weightless stick bait after I was done throwing the glide. I had plenty of followers but no takers but it is all part of throwing big baits, I see my swim bait collection growing soon. A wake gill and a deps 160 bull shooter and a few more on the way maybe a real Chad shad. The tequila baccarat feels really good with the spro Chad shad and I like my casting distance with my tatula 200 and 50lb braid.

Iowa should be paying me to fish their crappy lakes.

Couple lil guys before work and some much needed frog hookset resetting. Delay is the way. 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 Wait 🕜🕜🕜🕜 then set 🎣🎣🎣🎣. There really isn't any advantage to swinging fast with a frog. For one thing the fish learn the bait is fake in an area much faster if you swing on every nip. Sometimes that first fish misses and you keep walking that frog and the next one isn't so sheepish. Swinging pretty much shuts all of that down. If they don't get it, they don't get it. That's the cold hard truth of the frog. This morning I hesitated and kept walking and saw SO many tail swats and pecks that would never have happened if I was just swinging. The frog is the best when you lean into the subtlety of the lure.

I used to live on the Wisconsin River. Clear. Sandy. Good current. Its smallies were also lean...and strong. The bass I caught in Ontario, Lakes Superior and Michigan, and the Mississippi were footbally. They were strong, but not as strong as fish that fight the current all day. Nice catches, @bp_fowler! Good bellies on those bass.

Been busy with family stuff the past few weeks. Finally managed to get out to the lake for 2 hours today. It was 71-74 degrees today and muggy from the showers that had just ended. Skies overcast. Wind was from the south at 9 mph with gusts up to 21. I didn’t have time for a complete circuit of the lake today so I just hit the crescent shaped weed bed that had been so good to me last month. Started at the western end of the weed bed since there were active bluegill beds nearby and a deep hole just past the outside edge of the milfoil. Managed two there on the UV Speed Worm and another on the Booyah Blade. The spinner bait fish was smaller but had some gnarly battle scars. Moved on to the opposite end of the weed bed and caught another with the swimming worm. This one had already munched a hapless bluegill. I could hear the tail flapping in the bass’s mouth as I landed it.

I went @A-Jay fishing this morning, i.e. I tried to catch the Kraken I caught earlier this spring, which was my PB. I struck out, but the pond hit a home run for me. It was just so pretty. See? I did manage to catch 28 bass. Here was the first one. And the second, a bit bigger. However, the pond was the real show. I love when the moment is both light and dark. Oh, yeah, another bass! I think it was my biggest. I cast everywhere nowadays because I never know where bass will be. This girl came out of lily pads. And this one was small, but fat. This pond has more small bass than the other water I fish, but it also has BIG bass. I didn't catch a BIG one today, but I'll keep plugging. Time to go. One last look back at the pond. There's the landing! The wheels are strapped onto my canoe and I'm ready to roll. Out of the woods and across the meadow. Back to the car and I'm already thinking about my next trip. Now, can someone tell me where my big girl is hunkering? She was so pregnant when I caught her. Maybe she's holed up in a spa and recovering.

Two things from you...every 5 minutes. 😅 You are the true Bait Monkey!

I had to hang around the house this morning while my new garage door was being installed, so I didn't get to the lake until 11:30. I fished until 3:00. It was on like Donkey Kong with the 30 somethings. 39", 36" and 31" pictured. I also lost another high 30's and caught a mid 20's dink. Six other aggressive follows, but they're really skittish with the clear water, and I couldn't quite close the deal with them. All ate in the 8. I was BURNING a Llungen 22 Short over grass in 10'-13'. Same deal as when I was hammering them last August. I don't know why I was sticking my tongue out in the pic of the 36". Musta been thinking of @gimruis!!! 😜

Got home from work and was hanging out with my wife, but she had some business drama to sort thru on the internet and asked me if I was going fishing twice, don’t have to tell me 3 times! Haha The water in Knoxville has changed drastically over the last couple weeks. The two reservoirs upstream have finally reached full so they are no longer holding back water. So now we are getting swift flows of chilly water from the bottom of the dams, maybe making the fish think it’s back to march. Water temp was 62 degrees!! got one on the big bait that looked pre spawnish and a few on a worm (including a ky spotted bass that people think are extinct) Also found a crankbait and quality inner tube floating down the river and scored a pair of channel locks someone left sitting on the ramp dock 😂

My leaders (and I'm only using them on spinning gear) are all 25 ft plus. I do this so when a big girl gets close to the boat, the connection knot stays on the reel. Otherwise if she makes a couple of hard runs while boat side, which is almost inevitable, a shorter leader will be ripping back & forth through the entire guide train. Not to mention that it's usually under a decent strain from the reels drag at that time as well. (No - I Don't back reel @Team9nine ) If the leader is only 3 or 4 feet, this probably doesn't apply, but I'd be retying far more often as well. As for restricting casting, hasn't been an issue for me but none of my rigs sport super tiny guides either. A-Jay

Cold water, warm air, raining, and the sun shining

On a straight J hook (no offset eye, no offset point), you're pulling the hook point directly in line with the line itself. There is nothing blocking the hook other than the bait itself. When you offset the eye, whether an EWG or a standard offset offset hook, now the hook point is 'hiding' behind the eye of the hook and the little bend. The fish has to press your bait inside that gap and the hook point has to catch on something in the fish's mouth as you pull. Obviously it still works or else we wouldn't use them, but you lose just a little bit of hookup ratio. An offset hook point is to try and get some of that back. This is an extreme example from circle hooks (which are an extreme hook in the first place), but if you look at (b) below while thinking about the picture on the right of (a), there isn't a lot of space for the fish's mouth meat to get into that gap. So you offset the point like in (c) so that its easier to catch. The same with bass hooks (picture below). That little bit of offset lets the hook point snag just a little piece of mouth meat as you then drive it home.

She’s an albino. She’s 8 yrs. old. Been hanging around our property since she was a fawn. @Bird that’s a close up of her.

Two things from me

Beautiful fish, @T-Billy! I've only ever caught one musky. And it was tiny. (At least I think that's what this tiny guy is.) Didn't need no figure 8 to catch this river monster. He attacked a spoon about half his size on a straight retrieve.

So I hope the mods don’t delete this. I have been around here a bit now and truly had my dad buy for me off Temu. He has ordered from there already and I refuse too with my information. I believe the brand is also on Amazon. Now I do like to fish budget reels, especially spinning reels. In 2022 I retired a Shakespeare Excursion from 3-5 day a week use in season after gosh 18 years or so, great reel by the way and it is sitting on my shelf of special things. I also think about kids or people not able to drop 400 per combo. So I got the reel on Saturday and spooled it up to use on Sunday. Build quality and materials is similar to the Lews American Hero 40ish dollar baitcaster I own. There was some gear noise, but nowhere near as bad as my Quantum icons and Pfluger Presidents. The drag settings were more than adequate and I was easily able to lock it down. Spool tension knob did what it was supposed to and the braking system set at 80% only backlashes when I didn’t load the rod and rushed the cast. That does it with all reels. on the water it was smoother than expected, and in my mind I was trying to remind myself this is a cheap !*,* reel and it should suck, but it didn’t. I even did some sloppy backhand pitches to docks with no issues. Casting distance was on par with my Lews crush. Once I just was dialed into fishing, I found it to be a very capable reel. I managed 2 pike and a 3-4 lb bass on it. By no means am I telling anyone to go out and by one, but I scrounged some money together to buy two more before they disappear. Being in ,y 50s now, trying to get the house paid off and save for retirement and other house and travel things has crushed my rod and reel budget. Maybe this reel is my new excursion, but I would be thrilled if it lasted a 1/4 of what that reel did. Tight lines everyone.

Great smallies! 4# would be a PB for me too -- mine are all lean and mean fish from small to medium rivers...not so much "footballs" as "torpedos"

Those pumpkinseeds will eat a bare Aberdeen hook if it’s in front of them. Voracious little guys. I remember as a kid, my friends and I challenging each other with who could catch one on a weirder bait. Wood chip, chewing gum, and dandelion heads as well as bare hooks are some of the things I remember catching pumpkinseeds on. They are about the prettiest fish that swim, too. I love targeting them on dry flies.

Trying to pull free a snag with just the rod and reel?

I use one of these to wrap the line around and for tying leader knots. I've seen too many damaged reels that have been used as winches to pull out a snag to know better than to tighten the drag all the way down.

Stupid sales keep getting me.🤣

What can I say 👏👏👏👏👏

Glad to see I’m not the only one on here who throws the Scum Frog. The original is the only one I use now and have almost since they first came out. I gave away all the others Mike

Power washed and replaced some decking. Opening soon...

I'd say ~8. Always been a tech-nerd. Have owned my own URL / web site since 2001, build my own computers (it's about time for a new box), wired previous house for CAT-5 Ethernet, and probably my most important and satisfying job, tech support for my 83 year old Dad and his android phone, and Chromebook (and cable TV). Good stuff!! Boat is a few years old, but electronics were new last August. No FFS or 360...still learning all the features of the Helix and Ulterra.

a kirbed hook point... to more easily catch the flesh when setting the hook.

It worked

This spring I purchased a 50$ Kastking reel, just to see what it’s like. I have far nicer reels. I will say it seems great, very smooth, casts great, drag not bad. However, I have no expectations of it lasting more than 1-2 seasons. I would say if your expectations are not too high, some can be just fine, just don’t expect them to last long. And if you can get some fishing done, on a budget, that’s great. And it matched the rod😂

@WRB @Way2slow @Woody B @DinkDonkey30 Thank you to each of you for your thoughts and suggestions/ideas -- you are helping build my confidence that this can be repaired ! Based in the information provided, tomorrow I am going to take the lower unit to an "engine machining shop" that is located north of me and see if they are willing to take it on as a project -- I feel that the re-drilling/tapping of the hole/having the hole drilled straight to accommodate a new insert is a bit beyond my skill level/tools I own level/my confidence level -- I believe on the first attempted fix some of the broken off bolt is still wedged in to the insert area and that might be a bit tricky to remove (I am sure a skilled machinist/mechanic with the correct tools will have the expertise needed to complete the job correctly). Thank you ! I will let you know the outcome

Ordered 10x Coda Apex Jigs for dock skipping in NC soon. TX-based small company. Wire-tied jigs with owner jungle hooks and a little shorter skirts that flare well.

Took my little brothers fishing yesterday afternoon. They must have caught every bluegill in the pond. The eight year old caught a nice bass. (Not posting his picture with the fish here because he's 8 and not my kid. Lol) I nabbed two bass as well. One of them just over sixteen inches. @raggydoo, that is an awesome smallie! Congrats on the new PB!

Went bank fishing on Sunday for a couple hours and ended up catching my PB smallie, 21” and 4 1/2 lbs.

White works every where. Black works everywhere. Frog works everywhere. They all kinda mimic perch and bugs regardless of the nitty gritty details. The colors are more for different water clarity/light intensity to be honest.

My first "Real PB". Christmas Day 2021, first holidays without Dad. 6.82# on a chatterbait micro. Meant a lot to me and I think set me on the path to trying harder. The 4-1 smallmouth with someone else's bait in its mouth was also a special moment. As cool as it was to catch my 7-10 PB, I think those other two were more unique experiences

Here's my observation specifically about heavier frogs between 5/8oz-3/4oz excluding the Launch frog. That thing catches wind and doesn't cast as well as traditional, stiffer bodied frogs. Give the 3/4oz Fish Lab Rattle Toad a try. While I really like lighter spools between 10.5 grams to 13 grams for general purpose reels, for heavier frogs specifically, I want a spool between 17-20 grams unloaded, which when loaded with braid tops out at 29-31 grams. I've found that these heavier spools in conjunction with a rod that loads well to the weight of the aforementioned frogs somehow help in launching them crazy distances. If the spool happens to be about 36mm tall, even better. I have several reels that fall into this category, and each is a heavy frog bomber. If you want to test my hypothesis, give the latest BB1 Pro a shot. My markers for distance in the lakes I fish are reliably defined pad field edges. My 13 Omen Black 2 7'6" MH rated to 1 1/4oz is in actuality a heavy rod, and I can set a Beast Hook at the end of a max distance cast. With the BB1 Pro riding it, I can hit marks with heavy frogs only equaled by my JDM Catalina TW which has a 36mm spool and a stiff inductor spring. To answer your specific question, the BB1 Pro will dust the Zillion G in this particular situation. So will my Pfluger Supreme XT with its 20 gram unloaded spool and older DOYO/ABU 6 pin centrifugal brakes. That reel is a heavy frog bombing monster, but it's long out of production. The new BB1 Pro is smooth, has a nice 100 mm handle and 36mm spool, and the 6 pin ACB brakes are simply fantastic and are far less twitchy and touchy than the current SVS Infinity system, IMO. Flush the spool bearings of the factory's heavy grease, or simply add oil to them to break it down. Do this and you'll realize the potential of this reel for your specific application. P.S. I probably should've remembered your preference for tiny reels before writing anything. Oh well. The BB1 isn't tiny, but it isn't huge either.

May be out of your price range since you are looking at Piscifun reels, but try finding a used Pixy in good condition. Holds 95 yards of 6# mono. Will handle those weights with ease. Should make the 40 yards.

I’m with @Bird on the fluke, more specifically a Yamamoto DShad. On my trip to St Clair last week, we were in a bay packed with pencil reeds throughout in addition to pads and arrowheads closer to shore. I rig them Texas style on a 4.0 EWG Gamakatsu hook and spinning gear with 6lb test mono. We got largemouth, smallmouth, rock bass and pike. They are heavier than your average fluke/super fluke and I can cast them a mile.

London.

28 Bass, and they weren't dinks. I'd like to strike out like that.

Shimano 2024 model SLX 70 can easily handle .008D line plus it’s a Shimano reel with factory parts and customer service. The 2024 has MGL 3 spool! Sales are going on now Tom

with only sporadic grass I’ll throw a buzz bait over a frog any day.

Midway has 25.00 off of 100.00. Looks like it works on Megabass and sale stuff too.

Remnant of old Florida meeting strip mall …

$215 to-my-door for two mint condition old magnesium JDM reels - one first gen Steez (with a SV spool), one first gen Aldebaran - I'd say it's a pretty good deal.

Here is a new glide bait that I recently finished and painted in a bluegill pattern. It is made from Cherry and has a slow suspending sink rate. I got this quick video of it in a pool but was holding the phone with my left hand and dragging the bait around with my right, so I couldn't work it very well. 🙂

Got out Sunday morning in a downpour. It wouldn’t quit and I nearly froze to death even though it was like 65 degrees maybe warmer, just soaked to the bone. Fish were biting tho, Got 5 LM, a SM, a bluegill, a catfish, a carp, and 3 skipjack .

Here's an example of some creative lure modification....modifying a small 4in lure that is normally a lite tackle minnow lure into an all out monster getter. 400lb #19 stainless thru wire threaded by hand from nose to belly to tail. This lure has produced 180lb tarpon off the beach....no boat to chase them down, all tackle and two feet. I call it the BEAST!