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I fished in a local kayak tournament this weekend where we could pick the lake. @Hook2Jaw suggested I try Ocmulgee PFA. This is a very interesting managed fishery and I will definitely head out there again soon. There are a lot of areas with Cypress trees and a ton of submerged branches and a ton of branches above the water. It's definitely challenging to navigate and fish. Thankfully, with the steering pedals and the iPilot controls on my AP120 I can make some tight turns. It was calm for most of the day on Sunday, but I imagine it would be really tough to navigate on windy days. Many areas were just too tight to try and spot lock. It was also blazing hot out there. Temperatures were in the upper 90's and the heat index was well over 100. But I will say this - the KastKing UPF 50 moisture wicking hoodie I was wearing was incredible. The one I was wearing that day was orange and black and my body did not come close to overheating. My head got hot a bit with the hoodie on and my boonie hat over it, but not too bad. Oh yeah - this hoodie has a built in gaiter and the thumb holes in the sleeves so your hands stay mostly covered. Best of all, it was only $33 on Amazon. I caught this 21" bass early on in the day on a green pumpkin / chartreuse tip trick worm. I didn't have my scale, but this girl was a fatty so I'm guessing 6 - 6.5 pounds. I saw a few other bas and had one other weak strike, but once the sun started beating down the bass went into hiding. And wouldn't you know it, just at the 2pm time limit hit I saw a few more as I was heading in for the day. The spot where I caught this one was loaded with baitfish and had a lot of sticks and a ledge (take a look at the FFS screen in the picture). I should have just camped on that spot and waited for one or two good bites an hour. But instead I spent time cruising around using my FFS. I was surprised that I didn't find bass or baitfish around the Cypress. And I checked every single one of those on this small lake. I feel lied to by every Bassmaster and MLF broadcast I have watched! To add insult to injury, I got a 1" deduction for the mouth being open. I thought that was a bit harsh because that's as closed as I could get it. Oh - and the big bass of the tournament was just over 21".

Got out to the Crappie Hole with my boy for some birthday fishing. That was a great present in itself but as a bonus I caught a new PB.

Six days ago, I had an iron infusion because of severe anemia. Well, today, I felt like my old self. I fished this morning from four in the morning until nearly ten, shoveled some pea gravel, visited some friends, worked on a couple articles, and then I WENT FISHING AGAIN, for just a little more than an hour and for the first half, I fretted because I always have to find the bass and I didn't know if an hour was enough time. So, I tried the two most likely spots and they weren't there. I only caught one. However, the third spot I tried was where they were and I caught another eight, all on an underspin with a white and chartreuse Rapala Crush City Mayor. Here are some of them, starting with a pic of where they were, i.e. the edge of the marsh. The second bass had a big head, but it wasn't as thin as it looks in the photo. It was gyrating.

Finally put the new SLP knobs on my Steez sv 6.3's (w/ blue zpi parts).

proud of him, he became a great fisherman, sending pics after pics. pond hopping and catching bass.

I was going to fish a bog, but as I was passing a pal's pond, I decided to drive less and fish more. I'm glad I did because I caught 49 bass this morning and some quality fish too. Here are a couple pushing four pounds. They were caught back to back. The first gave me a quite a fight, tiring me, so when I hooked her twin on the very next cast, I was tuckered, but I managed to land her too. The first bass ran behind my canoe's stern and I had extra rods sticking out beyond it, so I had to make sure my rod and the extra rods didn't cross. Then I had to extricate my net from the extra rods in the front. So, when the second bass hit in the middle of a lily pad field, I thought, "Not again!" However, I kept the rod high, which helped, and for whatever reason, she swam out of the lily pads. Whew! Anyone who reads my trip reports knows that I don't fish a lot of different lures. This morning, I decided to try two new lures: a spinnerbait and jig. The spinnerbait caught most of my fish, including my big one, which you'll seen a ways down. Here are a couple spinnerbait bass. Using the spinnerbait was easy because my main lure is an underspin. A spinnerbait is just an overspin and with the exposed hook, I landed far more bass than I do with my underspin. However, I'll continue to use the underspin for pitching into heavy cover. Here's another fine fish, also nearing four pounds: I caught a lot of smallmouth too. A long bass! Spinnerbait smallie: More lmbs of various shapes: Then the spinnerbait really produced. I cast parallel to a shaded shoreline about ten feet out and the girl below hit. A lot of times with bigger bass, I feel like I barely land them. I didn't feel that way with this girl. She was powerful and pulled hard, but I felt in control the entire time, largely because I hooked her far enough off-shore to have some water to play her. There were weeds under me, but not that mat of weeds I find closer to shore. I could feel the weeds pinging as she plowed through them, but there weren't enough to mire and free her. Shortly after this, I lost my Terminator spinnerbait to a pickerel. However, I had a wonderful morning and now I'm confident with a new lure. She's a bucketmouth, huh? Thick jaw too. The photo is a little strange because I raised my camera to capture her full length. I also caught my first bass on a jig, but didn't stick with that because they wanted flashier, noisier lures. My Whopper Plopper and Choppo outproduced my Rapala Skitterpop and wakebait. My two-bladed spinnerbait outproduced my one-bladed underspin. I did catch a couple bass on a pumpkin green worm as a follow-up lure. I'm probably the only BR member to have not caught bass with a spinnerbait before today, but if you haven't used one, do! Unless your screen name is @TnRiver46. Lastly, I'll never know for sure, but I think I might have caught a 20-lb. bag. Four were close to 19 inches long or 19 inches, which is close to four pounds on my chart, and the big girl was over five pounds. However, I think about @A-Jay surpassing 30 pounds with smallmouth earlier this year and I know a certified 20-pound bag would have been nice, but it's not the be-all and end-all.

Would've could've should've don't beat yourself up over bass fishing. If anything, try to find your rhythm with things that you are comfortable with, even if they are not of the so called "norm". Unless you are tournament fishing, I really wouldn't worry about it. Have fun, enjoy yourself, your surroundings, thanking the almighty for another beautiful day!

I know many anglers use FFS to locate bass, but our senses can also find them. An example: Last night, I only had an hour and fifteen minutes to fish, so I tried these places: A stretch of fertile water that is often loaded with bass. My count? 1 bass A reef with both muddy and rocky bottom, so it attracts both SMBs and LMBs. My count? 1 hit The dropoff from the reef. My count? 1 fine SMB that jumped and threw the lure. A grouping of lily pads in 5' to 6' of water. My count? Skunked. So, in four, prime places, I'd caught one bass and the clock was ticking because I don't like walking through the woods alone at night. I decided to burn about five minutes paddling across the pond to a marshy shoreline. I knew that bass liked to hunt parallel to that shoreline in wolf packs at dusk, but when I reached it, I saw no feeding bass. So, I simply paddled quietly along the marshy shoreline and watched. Up ahead, I saw a wave of slight ripples coming out of an opening in the marsh. I hadn't heard a fish feeding, but I figured the waves were made by a feeding bass, so I positioned my canoe for a cast, lobbed my underspin into the opening, and it was fish on. Repeating that pattern, I caught another six bass in eight casts and picked up my ninth bass on the paddle back. Here's one of the indentations and that first bass: I'm wondering when one of your senses clued you to the location of bass, something you saw or heard that broke the code for you.

I use my senses all the time out in the glades, have to. Electronics are useless, literally. Look for the gators, find the fish. Listen for the frogs, find the fish. Follow the birds, find the fish. Feel the current, find the fish. Punch the cover, find the fish. Bass also make a distinct sound at night when they are busting on something topwater. Hear the explosions, find the fish. Many such sites or sounds or natural occurrences offer strong clues as to where the fish are and what they are doing. All one has to do is follow those clues.

Felt like the appropriate thread to put this in. Is the Megabass PopMax the greatest trap the bait monkey has ever devised? I mean just look at these things Its like bait that came from a candy store

Some more 4th of July sale stuff.

Its been a busy and productive last two months https://www.youtube.com/@AManAndaBoat

I cast aimlessly and pray.

Caught a couple bass this morning: I started out with the Mepps #5 and hooked into a good one, but lost it right at the bank. Two casts later, I hooked into an even larger bass @17" long. Ole boy put up a heckuva fight, but I managed to keep this one on. Caught one more before I had to go to work. This one came on the Crush City Mayor.

Stock up time - Omnia has a buy 2 get 1 free on ALL soft baits. No code, discount applied in cart - excludes Megabass.

I've been using this for years. It's fantastic. You can swing it behind to your back if you like, but I find it fine to cast with it on my side as shown. Magellan Outdoors Sling Pack | Academy

Just arrived. Perfect unused condition. Incredible steal @ $73.50... now to sell my Curado K and get an ultralight Vanford

I know that I’ve always had an issue with not being very open minded while bass fishing. Lately I’ve really noticed this more and I’m trying to catch myself doing this. For example yesterday i got to a lake I hadn’t fished in a while and i saw some matted grass, I immediately thought of a heavy t-rig to punch these mats. I fished one for probably about an hour with no luck. At that point I should have probably picked something else up but I was so locked into the idea of punching that I kept going and didn’t have a good day at on the water. I guess struggle because I feel like im supposed fish my gut feeling and fish techniques I have confidence in, but I’m so focused on these things that I can’t open my mind and realize that I should be doing something different. I’d love to hear you thoughts/ advice on this. Thank you

August, I would never spend an hour fishing one way in one spot to not catch a bass. I skitter. My canoe is always loaded with six to seven rods, each with a different lure, and I rotate through all of them until I crack the code. Usually the answer is in using one of the seven rods at the right place on the pond/bog. Of course, as @Zcoker wrote, it's important to enjoy the ride. That's why, in nearly every trip report I write, I share a photo or three of the glories I saw and I also often share what animals I was lucky enough to see.

New Video! Ready to up your game during the hot summer months? Join Russell Lane shares new tips and tricks for using soft swimbaits to catch more bass, exclusively on BassResource.com.

Congrats @bp_fowler, you've been putting in that time on water, you deserved that magnificent fish! Beautiful fish Katie, but more importantly glad to hear your feeling better!

Is there less skill involved? IMO, yes. To say there is no skill involved is foolish though. I still fish live bait occasionally, especially when I take my boys fishing. I enjoy it, they have about as much fun playing with the bait as catching fish, so it's a win-win. Toss a live crawdad on a barren flat and see how many fish bite though. Or fish one that is improperly hooked or rigged so it dies quickly or isn't allowed to move freely and give the main benefit of a livebait, natural movement. You still have to know where the fish are and you still have to know how to present your bait of choice, or the fish are going to be few and far between.

I call it my attack bag, it's actually a camera bag. It can hold three 3600 series Plano boxes plus numerous sacks of plastics. It has pockets that holds spinnerbait, jigs, everything without treble hooks. I set it up based on where I'm fishing.

I took a farmer friends two oldest boys out this morning, which is becoming a couple times a year tradition. I’ve been on two weeks’ vacation and fishing has varied from “poor” to “ok” so I was thankful to have an “ok” morning for them. We started in a big bay, working along a weed edge that’s usually pretty reliable. It was near flat calm and they brought live frogs - I was shocked they caught nothing on them. I caught a 2.5# on my first cast with a popper, then after a while with no more bites I tried a dropshot along the weed edge where it drops for 4-5ft. to 10ft. and got them on a few with that. Their family likes fresh fish so this is a rare occasion I’ll keep some. They brought home five bass about 1.5-2.5# and a couple medium size perch. They were happy… and I brought home a thank you gift of four T-bone steaks from their own beef.😎 Back to work for me tomorrow. I’m ready to go back though, and today was a nice way to end my vacation. (I don’t want to post pics of other peoples kids, hence the markup. Their youngest brother climbed up in the boat to join in the at home photos.)

I recently discovered that today is @WRB’s birthday! It’s difficult to believe this wealth of knowledge and wisdom is slightly over 50 and bass still tremble at the mere mention of his name. So I’d like to say on behalf of myself and the Bass Resource community “Happy Birthday Tom!”

It isn't broken. It's designed that way. The knob will not add tension whatsoever in this particular model even when fully locked down with the supplied tool. The cap only allows for access to the pinion bearing. Expand on that. Rod and line? How lightweight of a bait are you trying to throw?

I stick with my confidence baits way too long just about every time I'm on the water. Sometimes that results in getting skunked. I don't see myself changing, though. 😉

I'd think your thumb should be the first correction. But adjust away on the tension knob, I have moved every single one of mine without poor results. scott

What I do is if it’s a larger 3-4+ or using a treble hook that is not wholly in its mouth, I always belly land. Maybe that’s what you’re seeing. For smaller ones I’ll boat flip or lip. If hooked with a single hook It doesn’t matter as much because I make certain that the lower lip is always straight never bent forward. What I would NOT do is use a Boca grip kinda thing. If you’re not careful the clamps will grab thier jaw too tight causing unnecessary damage or worse they will jam and grab the tongue! Yes, lipping a bass will momentarily “stun” it but it must be done right. The problem comes in when it’s held by bending it’s jaw forward too much as I said, especially with a heavier fish. Mike

@IcatchDinks: Fishing with the Mayor is Crick fishing. Now, if you were fishing in a creek, you were Crick-crick fishing.

I used to think it was less skill but it's really just different skill. Some of the largest bass in the world have come from live bait fishing. There are no guarantees, even with live bait. Knowing where to catch the bait, hook the bait, where to throw it, how to rig it, making sure it doesn't die first, and then still fighting the fish and knowing how to set the hook to avoid a gullet. Those are all skills. Choosing a bait is a skill. I would probably do it more if I didn't drive a sedan lol lures except powerbait smell "better"

prime day goodies, not a bad haul for $38

I feel badly about your one inch deduction. They were too fussy. Bass are ornery, strong-willed creatures. They do what they want to do. Deducting a full inch for something that might have given you 0.03 millimeter advantage doesn't serve the spirit of the law and certainly doesn't protect bass. Do they want you to wait another minute for the bass to be so oxygen-deprived that it's more pliable and submits? As far as pounding the cypresses, I would have done the same thing. I've watched videos of guys fishing those trees and have dreamed of doing it because they...look...so...bassy. Anyway, congrats on the biggest bass. As far as I'm concerned, you tied for biggest bass. An inch? Sheesh. Here's an example of being pro-bass. When I snapped the photo below, the bass was thrashing, as they often are. I looked at the pic immediately after taking it, saw that I didn't capture her full length, but shrugged and let her go because she was drowning in air. The rules should take into account that bass aren't putty and not push anglers to deprive them of even more oxygen:

Awesome fish! It’s hard for me to keep their mouth closed also, especially with SMB

They're still doing work for me. Even when conditions are tough for me to get a good hookset (and I certainly didn't), they still manage to hook and hold when I needed them to most on my biggest fish of the day.

God bless your wallet @NorthernBasser, you aren't a victim of the bait monkey, rather the dang monkey himself 🤣 In all seriousness I always appreciate your posts because of the great pics.

We are 100% open , up and running full steam. If you seen or heard anything to cause doubt please let me know so I can address it. I can be reached through my website with several links throughout the forum www.delawarevalleytackle.com, phone at 973-459-2835, pm here and messenger on Facebook & Instagram. Pretty much anything beyond smoke signals. Lol Let me know how I can help.

If I were you, I would just take a trip to a local academy, basspro whatever it may be and test out the rods in your price point. If I had to name a rod, possibly a berkley lighting.

Re-stocked on some Easy Shaker's (awesome drop shot bait) and some Super Chunk Jr's, which I really like for finesse jig trailers. Along with the Cavitron, War Eagle is probably my favorite buzzbait. Siebert order. The Baby Rage Craws are also great finesse jig trailers. TW 4th of July sale. The new TW Black Blue color is probably my new favorite. I hate that it's TW exclusive since I'm used to getting Jackhammer's around $11-$12 other places. But TW doesn't run many sales like that, so I took advantage of the 15% off and got 5 more. Never fished these Hag's baits but figured I'd try them out. I thought they looked a little familiar. Turns out they look a lot like one of the Googan baits.

Coaxed a few the other day.

The first two came from a sweaty trip this past Thursday to a regular spot. Then I drove through rain on Friday down to Virginia where I met up with a good friend who drove up from North Carolina and we had an even HOTTER day fishing a Virginia lake all day Saturday. I caught four and my buddy caught four. Nothing big enough to brag about but I was happy we were catching in water that topped out at 92.5 degrees.

Got a couple nice bass today before some buffoons in a couple trailers started making ob oxious racket driving around the road behind the lake and back. It was a great day and both these fish slammed love bluegill and danced on the surface of the water like skipjack. Lots of fun. And got to do it in the company of s really good friend who just got his DD 214 from the Navy and transferring back to civilian life.

'MERICA

It hasn't changed the way I fish, because I can't afford it. It has changed the way I think about my fishing. Every time I go fishing and get skunked, I wish I had FFS. Every time I crush them I brag about how I don't need FFS.

A net or lip grippers or else directions to the nearest medical center Edit - you did include a net, my bad

Braid usually for me at least backlashes the most, mono the least but I tend to like FC the best. Confusing for sure. Braid, depending on brand, can retain water changing the weight of the spool and how your braking system will work and react to casts. Braid can also flatten causing line to dig in but this takes time. Braid digs deeper into the spool and can be harder to get out. On the other hand, mono is softer and will cast better and further but breaks down faster. Some FC can kink and become weaker with backlashes. In my opinion, I would stay with a good quality mono if backlashes are the concern. I would suggest trying to grab a spool of Sunline Defier Armilo as it has been discontinued or Sunline Machinegun Cast. They also have Super Natural but it does not last as long as the aforementioned two lines.

205 pounds six foot one inch. Released unharmed shortly after photo was taken.

6poundbass and I hit the water today. Nothing big but the numbers weren’t too bad. Ten fish in three hours, seven bass, and three pike. First bass of the day choked a @Siebert Outdoors swim jig. Besotted Lures lipless crank accounted for three bass, and something I haven’t done in a long time is throw a deep diving crankbait. The Besotted Lures deep diver accounted for three bass and a pike. Vibrating jig was the other key lure of the day.

Congrats Woody, a 5lb Spot is a really special fish! Few things meaner in this world than a 5lb Spot, 24/7 murder machines with fins.