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Magnificent and scary looking fish Dwight! Fish like that remind me why every day I don't wake up as a Bluegill is a good day 😆 Finally got an Elephant to eat my favorite little peanut bait, the Flashback Mini.

Caught a nice one fishing the Kissimmee chain.

Two incredible fish, congrats @Dwight Hottle and @AlabamaSpothunter For me, today was a dinkfest. Biggest went 2.47lb and choked the H2OX lipless deep, got her in the gill so no glamour shot, just got her unhooked, got her in the water to make sure the bleeding was stopping, quick weight then release. Got a couple of small ones on the 1/2 oz MiniMax. Have some 3.5" Spunk Shads and 3" Zakos in transit to pair with these, but made due with cutting down a Zoom Fluke, seemed to work just fine. Missed quite a few bites on it, but I think the smaller profile was just attracting more tilapia strikes than usual. I'm starting to see more shad balled up on the surface, which is a good sign of things to come hopefully.

Setting Sun a few nights ago.

This guy has been wondering around my yard at night.

I let two guys deer hunt on my land and two duck hunt. I also let two guys trap beaver. And I've given about 30 people permission to use my land to access the pond. Perhaps most importantly, I took my senator fishing and talked to him about how Maine's lakes, which are owned by the people of Maine, are seized by the rich with their "No trespassing" signs when they buy all the waterfront. There are no such signs on my waterfront property.

The golden era of bass fishing started on April 14th 2022. The day I retired.😆

It was an 8.5 hour grind today without much action, but I managed to add two more to the count. A 42" on a crappie, and a 37" on the rig. I only had a few other lazy follows the rest of the day.

I've been picking up a few green fish on the rig lately while fishing for the toothy critters that eat them. No big's. Most are about this size. Figgered I might should post one in an effort to keep my BR membership in good standing. It's been awhile since I posted any bass. 😁

There’s a big difference between a warranty and a replacement program. Any actual defect will be apparent the first few times a rod is deeply loaded. Anything after that is handling and use related. “Warranties “ offering lifetime replacement are really insurance programs where the most careful and responsible pay for the consequences of the lesser so. Nothing is free. If I see extremely generous replacement offers it just tells me I’m paying extra for something i likely won’t use.

You always catch little minnows , when you gonna try for some big ones ?

the golden era started APRIL 9TH 1963.........the day I was born........LOL.....for me at least..

The greatest era is today, followed closely by the future

Cypress was sprayed & the hydrilla is no longer a problem. Toho on the other hand is almost unfishable & navigation is a problem from outboards overheating. I was on Cypress yesterday & it fishes fine.

Why certainly 😉 Most anglers fish buzzbaits to fast.

This was my final morning in the deer stand last week. Absurdly thick fog when legal shooting time was approaching. It took until almost 10am for it to completely burn off.

Right back at you.... Still like the Core 101 the best.

Yes, it is literally Amazon Japan

I agree. We're currently in the golden era of smallmouth fishing right now, primarily because of the reasons you just stated. Nothing lasts forever though. Get it while the gettin' is good.

Totally understand that, I felt the same way when I bought my Skeeter w 150 Yamaha on it.. that rig was an incredible boat and motor and I owned and ran it for 15 years! It is a labor of love but I’ve never owned a better motor ever. Good lookin rig ya got!

This is the period for me as well regarding largemouth. But right now is the most exciting period for smallies. The first 10lb smallie out of Lake Erie, all the recent 9lb catches from New York & the big smallies from Michigan & other Great Lakes states & all the recent state records being broken & the rise of Idaho as the destination for trophy smallies. The warming water trends across the US & increased food sources are contributing to the golden age of small jaws.

Sensitivity and price are very high on my list of considerations. Warranty and color do not factor. At all. 90-180 days is plenty of time to discover flaws or defects. After that it is on me. And this from someone who breaks a lot of rods.

BOOYAH Single Colorado Spinnerbait - 3/8 oz. - White/Chartreuse Bandit 100 Series Crankbait - Baby Bass Bass Pro Shops XPS Mean Eye Swimmer - 1/4 oz. - Dark Goby Rapala Original Floating Minnow - 4-3/8'' - 3/16 oz. - Live Pike Bass Pro Shops Lazer Eye Pro Series Spinnerbaits Single Colorado - 1/4 oz - Firetiger STORM Suspendots Weights - 80 Pack

My Dad who couldn't catch a fish to save his life and has no interest taught me a lesson I would never forget about that. We came home one day and some lady was fishing in our backyard with her very small son. I was a little **** and was territorial. My Dad walked down and chatted with her. She was a single mom who had a kid who just wanted to go fishing. She had permission to fish from the people with the only other house on the water and just got the address wrong/ My Dad was like just like, "well you are welcome anytime here too" and he let it be. Then when we got back to the house he ripped me a new one for being an ass and made me bring down some cokes to them and apologize. Now I live in an HOA with some ponds and I see these old jerks running kids off that don't live in the neighborhood. It's infuriating.

I would say the mid 70s to mid 90s. I got into it as a kid in the late '80s. Into it is not the right word. Immersed is the word. We lived in rural CT and we didn't have access to cable until the late '80s. I had an official Uncle in Atlanta who used to send me hours and hours of fishing shows on VHS and watched those tapes umpteen times along with doses of Top Gun. My favorite show was the Bassmasters. I remember a show where Peter Thliveros won a tournament with a Carolina Rigged Pumpkinseed Zoom Lizard (I know it's Pumpkin but I swear I recall it being pumpkinseed back then) and I was mesmerized by that skill. The story of how that color was made is also super interesting. My two favorite sports memories are Bryan Kerchal winning the Bassmaster Classic and UConn winning their first BB title in '99. Getting the Bass Pro Shops catalog was annual highlight, the thing was almost phone book thick. Now we have a website, there is no magic in that. I can't put my finger on it but it just felt like a Golden Age to me. Reading about what you guys were catching and doing out west as a kid was fascinating and a great memory. Thanks for your service! I hope you can keep on finding a way to wet a line. As Americans and Sportsmen and women we need to really make a stand on public access. I lived in Europe for years and access to fishing seems impossible. Hunting? Yeah right. Good luck. If we're not vigilant, that will happen here.

Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap and the Cordell Spot are the ones I fish with the most.

In the 80s I use to read Western Outdoor News when they were catching all the huge bass in CA lakes. I fished the local, Castaic, Piru and Casitas occasionally being mostly an ocean fisherman. I worked, part time, at a tackle shop in Burbank and some of the customers took me bass fishing including tournaments. I remember catching the big fish, 6 lbs, at one and winning $108.

Out yesterday for one last time on the kayak with a few friends. We caught around 10-12 fish with the majority being on shallow cranks and a handful on finesse swimbaits. Water temperature was 54-56, not a bad day for mid November in Ohio, they were definitely feeding heavily. Biggest fish for me was 3.30 caught on a flat side crank bait right off a submerged laydown.

Couple football jig fish from the last time out.

I used to play the gear ratio or speed game, decided to take the advice of Henry David Thoreau and “simplify, simplify, simplify”. Use 7.1:1 for everything. If I need to fish slower, don’t reel as fast. Need to fish faster, reel faster.

After a short scrap with a little hairy midget I managed to escape walmart with my wallet mostly intact, found some big game in an interesting coastal brown color which might help for Floridas tannic colored waters, we shall see.

If two of my most productive patterns, GG Perch OB and M Western Clown could be crossed ~ M ENDMAX might be the result. A-Jay

$197-199 now for 7 and 8 speed.

Ive got a Victory 6'10 MLXF. That soft tip really hurts its sensitivity, especially on slack line , so Ive relegated it to small cranks, JBs and spybaits, which it does really well. That tip is perfect for JBs and the rod is soft enough to keep small trebles pinned.

I agree. No such signs should be needed, but lawdy, some people love to post them. There's a guy on my road who's nailed such signs on every third tree.

@Dwight Hottle Calling that a “nice one” might be the understatement of the year. What a fish! @AlabamaSpothunter Big beast on a mini lure. Well done! @Aaron_H Gold is the only H2O lipless I don’t have. Now I need one. Thanks a lot! 😂

Well done @Dwight Hottle. That's a beast. Congrats brother!!!

The Duo Realis G-Fix Vibration Tungsten Lipless Crankbait has shown up in the productive baits thread for several years running. At 3/4 oz it's very thin (compact) casts like a ROCKET, gets deep fast and stays there. Comes in several wildly effective colors and patterns. Don't buy any. 😎 A-Jay

There's my problem -- I'm a little too employed this time of year. I can count on one hand the number of times I've ever fished in November, other than a random 1/2 hour walking the riverbank on the way home. Weather has been pretty cooperative -- I could still be out on kayak regularly this month if I had time. Alas... Best I can do is a pumpkinseed:

Workout Day 5 today. I was motivated by the Spartan #borninfiftynine A-Jay

What brand rod is it? Sound like the guides are spaced out a bit too far. By the way I thought this was an OhioGuy post at first glance

Never bought anything solely because of the warranty. If I need it I buy it, If I buy it I use it. If it’s defective I’ll know soon enough so a 1 yr warranty is sufficient. Sensitively is paramount for bottom contact presentations so that’s where most of my money goes Length of the warranty is secondary For moving baits it’s even less of a consideration Mike

I rarely even acknowledge the warranty until I've already purchased the rod. Sad part is we are all paying for a warranty when we buy the rod. Whether we use it or not. If I snap a stick (and I've blown up a few) I don't expect the company to pay for my mistake or inappropriate use of the rod. That's on me. I'd love it if there were no warranties and gear prices came down 50%. There's always a few bad blanks around and they blow up first use most of the time. So 30 days of coverage is fine for that. But a 10 - 15 year warranty is meaningless to me. There ya go. A-Jay

Whew! ^This^ made me smile.

Rockstar far from it! Not going anywhere as long as I can type with my index finger. Tom

As long as the rod has a one year warranty I’m happy. Any defects from the manufacture will cause a breakage within that time.

Heartbreaking. For me, the greatest era was Tom's prime, when bass in the upper teens were regularly caught and Dottie still swam. Tom, if I buy one of your outfits, I'll want to mount it.

Beer

Happy Birthday Pops, as well as my uncles and all Marines here at home and overseas! Here’s my Dad’s almost 70 year old campaign hat and swagger stick from back in the day.