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Made it a point to do some wilderness fishing only accessible swim/wade this time of year . A brief 45 minute hike 2 miles downstream of the car and we hit the water. We ended up with 45-47 fish between the 3 of us and a couple fairly nice ones including what I think was a meanmouth. Also got lots of smallies , a largemouth, some rock bass , redbreast sunfish and green sunfish .

Got to sneak into a couple team derbies during our recent visit back home to NNY with my old man and we hit a couple home runs! Won both by over 3lbs and on lakes we don’t have a ton of history on (and no pre practice). 17.66 and 22.7lbs! Gotta emphasize the equipment in this day and age: - 2014 Nitro Z7 w/ 150hp - single power pole - 9in Lowrance Elite at console - no bow graph - 80thrust Fortrex - blown aerator pump (had to hand fill the well and use recirc/stand alone oxygenators (no fish died) - top speed 51mph, had to lay on front deck to get on plane with a full livewell and half tank of gas It’s super fun to beat guys running $80k boats with all the bells and whistles!

Mom visited TX for work. For weeks before coming, she talked about fishing Stillhouse with me while she was here. So we went out in the yaks and she got a nice bass that weighed 3lbs even. That is her first TX fish. And of course she boat flipped it on a spinning rod like she always does 😂. Me: 🦨 We were around some schooling fish in the morning but we could not get them to eat our topwater. They were too focused on the shad balls I guess. Later in the day I found some patches of hydrilla using my electronics and that was a big deal. There were some big fish hanging around the stuff in 10-16ft. They did not like anything in the small collection of stuff I brought. Mom’s fish was off the marina which can be a reliable place to fish. Ate her weighted senko about halfway to the bottom.

You think she wanted it? Biggest of the evening went 3.73lb. Most of the fish I've been catching seem to be starting to bulk up on shad, this one was still a very skinny summer bass. Gave me a spirited fight, though. Chatterbait setup working as intended so far.

Only 4 dinks today in 4 hours. Tried a bunch of new techniques though. And my new curado mgl 151 6.2 is amazeballs.

Until someone at Bass Resource canoes up the Amazon, fighting off bandits and wrestling anacondas to catch 20-lb. peacock bass, @T-Billy is the most hardcore of us, working full-time by day and catching muskies at night. When I fished for muskies, I fished wilderness lakes from canoes, which feels like child's play compared to night fishing, often alone, for 45" freshwater barracudas. And his wife sometimes fishes with him, so he managed to find a woman as hardcore as he is. Long live the King!

It just proves, once again, that most of us over-think it…. Myself included. Congrats to the kid!

For the everglades big mouths it’s all about slamming them hard and getting them in that net before they even fathom what the heck is going on. Drag? lol, she’s coming in like a torpedo and I’m right there with net in the water ready to scoop her up! The fight is in the net. Not much energy spent. Quick measurements and back she goes. Most all swim off like lightening with me smiling right after them. As far as fighting goes, I’ve had my fair share of it, especially working with NOAA tagging program. Nothing fights like a great hammerhead off-the-beach on a lazy Saturday. Need multiple hands to get those beast in.

Lol!!! Thanks for the compliment Katie, but I'm not alone here. I'm not gonna mention names because I'm certain I'll screw up and leave some out, but this place doesn't have a shortage of hardcore anglers. Think about it, we have offshore charter captains, those who fish the gator, moccasin and python infested Everglades at night, some who wade weed choked waters in the dark, folks who navigate big lakes and swift rivers both day and night, the list goes on... You're pretty hardcore yourself, dragging that canoe around through the dark woods, unarmed, to go catch a few bass. Quite a few usually. That's why this place is so great, it's a community of folks who are truly passionate about this sport we all love. I've never met any of y'all in person, but many of you feel like friends to me. My awesome wife is 65, and she chucked double 10's for 4 1/2 hrs straight yesterday morning in the dark, and said "this really isn't that bad to throw." No more whining about big blades for the rest of us now!!! 😂 Actually, I've found, they really aren't bad if you have the right rig. They used to hurt me, throwing them on a 9' H with a 7.4 reel. I bought a 9'6" XXH and a 6.4 reel, and I can chuck 'em fairly painlessly for hours on end now.

Ironically a fight I won’t forget happened yesterday. Luckily my buddy started recording . The fish took a 1/16 oz black marabou jig in clear water, never felt the bite but I saw it flaring its gills and set the hook. The fight was crazy because of the jumps and also the fish buried itself into a rock cave and I had to wade out to free it. You can see it shoot between the two rocks after it comes free and jump yet again. Hardest fighting bass I can remember was a big LM in cold water 2 days after Christmas. I had just picked up my buddy’s rod and made a cast , this fish buried the rod against the side of the boat and I had to push the thumbar and let it take some line or I would have been pulled overboard off the front deck ! 😂. Gotta love it

Glad they're not in the picture. 😎 A-Jay

I picked the wrong landing this morning. I got there around 5:45. A club tournament with ~25 boats was blasting off at 6 so I just waited until they were gone. I didn't want to get ran over. I have a pretty good day after getting started. I caught 11 Bass, 7 Spots and 4 Largemouth. The biggest Largemouth was 17 inches (pictured). 1 Spot was 18" and another was 19" . (biggest, caught on my last cast at 9:58 is pictured) I also shook off a couple Cats beside the boat.

At the inlaws this weekend and catching everything but bass. Did some night fishing and caught this nice sunset. Then this morning had a really good hook up and suddenly went light. Thought I broke off but I had 40# braid. Turns out I broke the hook on a dirty jigs swim jig. No rust... no idea what happened and although it had a lot of weight I can't see any bass breaking a hook.

The strongest fresh water fish for me have been the ones I have lost. They seemingly have had the upper hand from the get go. Both times they dug for the bottom & stayed there until they rubbed my leader line to break. Very frustrating. The toughest fight I ever had was from from a big king salmon hooked just above Devils Hole in the Niagara river. It ran up stream against the current & I thought it was going to spool me. We started to chase it with the boat so I could get some line back on the spool but the boat over shot the fish & created a slack line situation which was all the fish needed to get loose. Another heart breaker. Both my PB smallie & largemouth did put up tremendous fights including jumps.

Steez came in the other day and she is a beaut. I saw I accidentally said I got the “CT” version in an earlier post. I actually picked up the new “SV” model. I love the paint job on it, but if it’s anything like the Zillions, it might be prone to chipping. My Zillions look pretty chewed up lol. At least the Steez comes with a reel cover that I will for sure use. It’s very smooth and a hair lighter than the Zillion. I went ahead and ordered 2, 8 speed Zillions as well. Then I’ll take em out and compare them on the water. Overall so far, I don’t think I’d pay 750 for one, but for a little over 400, it’s a good deal

I particularly love the fight and while largemouth bass are considerable fresh water fighters, they aren't near the top pound for pound. Fished a lake back in May for a week that was equally populated with largemouth and spotted bass. Each fish that I hooked left little doubt which specie was on the end of the line. And then there's these guys 😳

I used lighter line for bass because of Jason Lucas my advocate as a young teen. 10 lb Dacron braid was my line until Sbu came out with Ambassador reels, the all my bass fishing friends used 17 lb Royal Bonyl mono. The mono changed over the early years from 17 to 10 or 8 lb when the Florida LMB where introduced, they wouldn’t strike anything with heavier line the 10 lb. So reverted back. To Jay’s 10 lb buy now mono. Having caught hundreds of big LMB using 10 /12 lb mono the big bass fought hard. My 2 biggest both jumped when hook more then a heart stopping length out of the water and ran hard and fast, great memories. Nothing lazy about these giant bass. The lighter tackle could handle them if you slowed down and enjoyed the fight. Tom

I enjoy the fight as long as I get it in the boat. Using light line makes it difficult with large smallmouth. You have to let the fish tire itself out and try to keep it from jumping. As someone who fishes deep water in the Great Lakes often, I routinely give the fish line when it gets close to the boat and you know it isn't ready to be netted yet. I'm glad these fish don't know that they can break your line by running the line against rocks on the bottom. But seeing a 2-3 lber jump a foot or so out of the water is so much fun (as long as it's not in a tournament).

Fc sniper.

One senko fish from the bank today, only had about 15 minute of moving water before the slack tide. Also managed to land my PB seagull this morning while striper fishing, didn't get a hook in it thankfully but had to crush a jighead barb to get it out of his feathers.

The guy I fish with brought his fourteen year old grandson along for his first bass fishing trip in a boat. The kid was using a spinning rod and a floating Rapala. It was the original grey, two sets of hooks model, looked to be about four or five inches. We're not always successful but usually manage to catch some and have a few pretty good days. We caught a few this day but I'd say he easily caught more than both of us combined. When we started his grandfather said, "that's primarily a trout lure, want to try something else". The kid said that since he already had it tied on he'd give it a try. While it was a PIA fishing three in a boat we learned something. He'd throw that Rapala next to cover, give it a few twitches and if nothing hit it then they'd often enough hit it right after he started the retrieve. We alternated between Pop Rs, Senkos and Ned rigs. Maybe the bass hadn't seen many any Rapalas before and maybe it was a one time thing but it sure worked that day. I know I'll be trying one next time out.

I've shared several times how my PB, caught this past spring, felt like a great gob of weeds or a water-soaked log. I've also shared the story of how I also caught my PB-fighter this year. She was barely 18 inches and skinny. I hooked her in a narrow stream and she immediately came at my canoe and kept going downstream, my drag whining. Then she came back at me, ricocheting from the brush on each side of the screen. Then she went deep and I could feel her plowing through the weeds on the bottom. I could feel her cutting them off, a scythe through grass. Of course, she pulled and turned my canoe and dragged me into weeds when it came to netting her and in the net, she was still berserk. She. was. magnificent. And yet, she was the most ordinary bass by looks and size. Skinny even. I caught half a dozen that evening heavier than her, but none greater. I think about her a lot, wondering why she was so loaded with grit, starch, and fury. You can see the stream to the right of her. I hooked her at the top of it and she came roaring past me. Clearly I like the fight. Do you too, valuing it almost as much as size, and if so, do you have a story of a mighty fight to tell?

I caught 12 today. 11 Spots and 1 lone 16 inch Largemouth. I caught the LM on my 3rd cast. Biggest and last on last cast was a 19 1/2" Spot. First and last pictured. The first few came on a spinnerbait. Later ones came on a (gasp) Ned rig. (no I didn't go over to the darkside. I'm still using baitcast equipment)

Good afternoon friends and neighbors! It's been at least two months since I've been able to log on here and just as long not fishing. Father in law died, had to move my mother in law to my town, just a real mess. I hadn't even driven by my favorite farm pond but had the chance to go yesterday. The water is extremely low. Never saw it this low before. Weeds and some sort of vegetation have appeared where they never were before. In all actuality, it looks horrible. This pond is where I've always caught large bass but the crappie and bluegill populations were hit and miss. Usually miss. I think I found out why, though. Caught this pic of four otters swimming and playing near me. They're probably tearing up the bluegill population. Overall, was a pretty good morning though. Caught 15 fish- a mix of bass and bluegill. Caught all of them on tiny swimbaits (less than an inch), a tiny jighead with a #12 hook and fished about a foot under a weighted bobber with a steady retrieve. That was the only way I could keep the lures above the weeds. Couldn't find the crappie- if they're even there anymore. Biggest bass was about 4lbs. Hopefully it won't be another couple of months before I get to go again. Good to be back (here and there!).

Kent had something similar happen with a smallmouth that might have been the new world record. She just wouldn't budge from the bottom. I've never hooked anything close to a world record, but I have hooked bass that were sooooooo strong...and then I lost them, either because I couldn't stop them from reaching weeds or because their head shakes were so strong that the wrenched free.

Don't feel bad, I once got out fished by a kid using a soda bottle for a rod and reel, with a lure carved out of a toothbrush. Fishing a floating Rapala, or a #3 inline spinner on a light spinning rod, are my go to finesse skunk buster tactics. There is a reason every tackle store in the world sells floating Rapala's.

Wish I would have gotten some measurements/weight on that one! I had just mounted a 24” 8 lb from TX the year before and I guessed that fish about the same so we just got a pic and let it go. Now when I see the pics I’m thinking doggone it looks bigger 😂 thing pulled like dump truck

Thank you for not posting photos of these fake bass.

I need directions on how to get to the Big Pond?

First and foremost I enjoy being on the water - every. minute. of. it. I really enjoy my tango with the small but mighties - they dart, dive, jump, repeat - and challenge me to keep up and endlessly try and guess (virtually always incorrectly) what their next move will be - I love it when they give it their all out effort ! With that said I do my best to be a good steward in the process and return them to the water as quickly and efficiently as I am able to - yet this week I got two of the three treble hooks driven in to my thumb by a small but mighty who continued to thrash and fight once in the net/boat - I actually had to put my hand/the fish/the net in to the water again because I was struggling to get at my bolt/wire cutters and didn't want the fish to die - I eventually got the bolt/wire cutters and cut the stems of the treble hooks and then got the other trebles out of the fishes mouth and released the fish (the fish has a little smirk on it's face and I think she said "You, You got me --- but I GOT YOU !!) - the two hooks from the treble were driven deep in to my thumb - and as much as I would like to tell a story of ripping them out he-man style I ended up going back to the dock (and waiting for 45 minutes - due to a Weds. night fishing tournament starting) and eventually to the Urgent Care - the doc had to make small incisions to then get at the barbs and then cut the barbs and get the hooks out - got back out today, thumb all wrapped up - and caught two more small but mighties !

To identify a bad bearing, it must be complete cleaned, flushed and dry. Spin the bearing at low speed on a pencil point etc. It should spin smoothly and quietly, coming to rest gradually. Obviously, you can spin test an AR bearing, but don’t overlook it. People don’t always realize that the AR clutch spins constantly during retrieve. I don’t recommend replacing gears just to possibly eliminate subtle noise because due to the likelihood of repeated symptoms. That’s your call. If you find you need to replace a bearing, ABEC3 SS frame bearings and ABEC5 ss spool bearings from a reputable supplier like Boca is worth the couple extra bucks. You want LD (less be dry) spec on spool bearings.

Seaguar Invisx is my go-to, very good stuff

7+ lber in Texas. This fish went berserk. Jumped three times with a jig in its mouth and started to dig once it got close to the boat. My PB was also a great fighter. Ran and bulldogged in deeper water. It never surfaced until it was right next to me and of course the first thing I saw was its gaping mouth.

I prefer the fight of a sizable smallmouth myself, especially in a river. I posted this in another thread recently, but this “slob” jack as my guide referred to it as was the hardest fighting fish I’ve ever caught. Tarpon were up there too but their fight was more aerial-driven.

I dislike any line bigger than 6# Tatsu on a spinning reel. My PB smallmouth was caught using this line on a ML rod, just a couple inches longer than 6'. Before anyone cries foul over catching in open water, it was from rocky, zebra mussel encrusted water in 38' is water and bulldog'd me the whole way up. No jumps, no dancing at the surface. Just held the bottom and eventually came up slowly. If I had lost it, I would have thought it was a huge drum. Not a great fight, but a great catch.

I will go out on a limb and say over 90% of bass anglers use tackle with line that exceeds the weight of the bass by 3X and rods that can lift the bass out of the water. Few bass anglers actually use the reels drag, they lock it down. We have a thread discussing Medium - 3 power bass being too weak for bass fishing, confirming everything just stated above. How do you expect a bass to fight against tackle capable of controlling fish 5X the bass being caught? Some bass don’t fight well do to poor health, big hook injury or wrapped up in weeds. Even trying to fight against tackle 3X stronger then needed to control them they still put up a good fight pound for pound. The spinning finesse bass angler tackle is more appropriate for bass a high % of the bass caught . But… I flip and pitch in heavy cover and need heavy tackle…60 lb braid…. Not really 30 lb will work. Tom

One last trip before the 90-100 degree heat returns this coming week. That will keep me off the water for a while. A mixed bag of fish that included a pair of keeper bass, including one good one. This fish was strong - couldn’t turn it or stop it. Figured it might be a big cat. Ran right out into a large fallen tree and wrapped me up. I get over to it, a little see-saw action, then nothing…then something…then nothing again. After about 60 seconds of stalemate, she somehow comes back out and free, and she’s big and green 😎

As much as I love Fishing and collecting fishing gear, it takes up too much of my time and I am struggling to keep up with the everyday basics such as cleaning and maintaining my home, so something has to give. I will be getting rid of my collection. Below is a list of what's available. Serious inquiries only, please and don't insult me with your offers. Thanks for reading and understanding... 1. Dustpan and brush 2. Sponges 3. Febreeze spray 4. Mop and bucket 5. Window cleaner 6. Vacuum 7. Dishwashing liquid 8. Laundry detergent 9. Fabric softener 10. Laundry baskets 11. Toilet brush 12. Cleaning sprays 13. Scrubbing brushes

Sunline Sniper Invizible.

I love when @WRB writes about the glory days.

Physical therapy. The arthritis in my knees used to be pretty bad. I started wading rivers. The low impact walking against the river current strengthened my legs and I haven’t been bothered by arthritis in my knees since

If I want a fight 😉

Our Florida bass have a very long growing season compared to O Canada, like @ol'crickety said a 6lber in your waters will be a much rarer, much older fish than the same weight this far south. But yes, there are some true giants in this pond. It's not the same one I caught my DDs in, but my longest bass ever (pushing 28" or so) came from here. Sadly I caught her in the middle of June with no belly so she went 8lb 9oz, I dream of catching her in prespawn. Her head was so big I was able to comfortably fit both fists in her mouth, and her shoulders were so thick I couldn't get my hand around her. I had to hold her back away from me just to get her all the way in the photo. For reference, I am 6'3" and my forearm from where my wrist is bent to the point of my elbow is 11.5". She was a big, healthy girl.

Spanky you're bad tryin to get this old man over the weeds with those nice lures on lite gear, lol. your tryin to bankrupt me. Seriously I may need a 3700 Plano full of them soon.

I often remember the In-Fisherman Master Angler chart, which is really a latitude equivalency chart, when it comes to LMBs. On that chart, a 6.5-pound Northern Strain LMB is equivalent to a 10-pound Southern LMB. For an Ontarian like you, I'd stretch the difference a little more and suggest that a 6-pounder in Kingston would be equivalent to a 10-pounder in Orlando, a 10.5-pounder in the Everglades, and perhaps an 11-pounder in Lake Baccarac, as you have serious winters. I'm actually a little bit north of you, so I'd apply the same equivalencies to my bass, as I've a moderating ocean. You, of course, have Lake Ontario, which would also moderate your lows, but our bass still go through low metabolism stretches that last for months where they're barely feeding and growing. Of course, genetics also prevent northern bass from peaking much beyond ten pounds. What's interesting about the chart is that there is no difference between southern and northern smallmouth. A six-pounder caught in the north equals a six-pounder caught in the south. They're equally rare. In the last three years, I've caught multiple 6+-pounders and especially in 2023 when I focused on the bogs. Here are some of them, all weighed or measured. Note that they're bass with bellies, except for the first one, and all have hunchbacks. For comparison, the first bass, which is the skinny one, weighed 6.54-pounds. The third and fourth fish are silly fat. I caught another two that were six and three-quarters in 2023 and a bass in 2024 that was longer and fatter than any of these, but 2024 has been more about quantity than quality simply because the quantity ponds are easier to reach, which matters because I turn 68 this month*: The quantity ponds are also great fun and full of four and five-pounders, like this gal caught this week:

I'd like Clayton to buy me a lottery ticket. He's on a streak. I went to my pond for 90 minutes this evening, just grabbed a couple rods for a quick session. I caught fourteen, but forgot my camera, so I took a couple photos with my cell phone. The evening light was gorgeous and the bass, like so many Maine bass, refused to pose for their photos. They just never stop fighting.

I don’t glue soft plastics to jigs that don’t have keepers! What I do is hold the jig hook at the bend in a vice. Tie on 20 lb mono line wrap about 5 to 6 spiral turns tightly onto the hook straight shank then tie off with a double hitch knot. Super glue the wrapped line and knots. Let dry then cut off the line leaving about 1/8 ends. This will hold soft plastic firmly on the hook shank without tearing. It. Tom

This topic has mid winter Cabin Blues written all over it, and we're only in August.

I have absolutely no problem telling my wife just how things are going to be….. when she let’s me.