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Had some heavy rain but it stopped for a while , got the kayak out with some nightcrawlers. It was about 33-34 degrees but I got a nice SMB and yet another walleye. I’ve caught more walleye than bass this year! That’s a first . Todays was just over 22”

Thank you guys so much for the kind and encouraging words!!!!! Means the world to me as nobody else would understand and get it. My best buddy spent hours last night trying to recover them, but no luck. So I just packaged the card up and sent it to a repair lab in CT. No charge if they can't get it back, but it'll be $354 if they can. I didn't realize how much a memory is worth in terms of dollars until I got put into a situation like this. Luckily it's not as much as Katie's recovery at $1000. I suspect many people who do this professional recovery have lost finincial data, passwords, etc. Knock on wood, the tech in the lab is going to see Bass fishing videos and think I've lost my mind 🤣 I'll be sure to keep you guys updated since we're all invested in the outcome at this point. Small little silver lining is that at least I'll always have the bait that got retired. Caught it on a Red Craw 1/2oz Damiki Vault blade bait with upgraded hardware.....Owner Hyper Wire #1 or #2 split rings (can't remember which size) with Owner STX-38s in size 6. I can't emphasis enough how much changing out the OEM hooks for STX 38s makes a difference. If you notice she broke one of the treble hook points which I suspect was caused by me having to re bend it in place a few times after freeing the bait with a lure retriever. I should really learn from that and start changing out the hook as soon as I have to rebend it once.

I feel your pain. My SD card from Day 2 of the Kayak Bassmaster Classic got corrupted and I haven't been able to recover it. I got a quote recently from a company that said it would be $900-$2400 depending on the amount of data needing to be recovered (there's a lot, I was catching them good all day that day). Kills me not to be able to even watch the video again, but I can't spend a house payment to get it recovered. I'm in a year long challenge of sorts called Catch and Release Alive for 2025. The goal is to CPR 2025 bass by the end of 2025. So I'll be tracking all my fish this year. I got out Saturday right before the big winter storm hit. It was 27* pretty much all day with 10-20mph east winds and 41* water. I fished from 7-12 when the freezing rain started and I wanted to get home before the roads got bad. Ended up with 34, bringing my yearly total to 36 fish and 477". I only brought 3 rods and fished with 2 of them most of the time, a Ned rig and Jackyll Bling.

On a good note, the Vikings safely flew home last night. It's the only successful touchdown they've had all week!

The topic of rod “sensitivity” is BS! Anyone discussing this topic ever detected a jig strike at 40+yards / 120’ long cast? What rod can do that? The answer is none! The angler holding the rod that made the cast detects strikes, not the rod! The rod simply casts the lure and it’s up to you to detect strikes. The rod helps to get a good hook set and keep the bass under control to land the fish. The line and connecting knot needs to be strong enough to overcome the power of the bass but you the angler that needs the skill to control the fish. I am a big fan of state of the art light weight strong rods that assist and help me cast lures and allow me, the angler, to detect line movements that indicate a bass has my lure. All any rod can do is not dampen line feedback to detect a strike. I caught hundreds of big bass using rods, reels and line most of you wouldn’t use today. Tom

Bit of a project reel. Has a sv103 spool with rays inductor. It's a absolute pleasure on the water.

Nobody thinks you're hijacking a thread. Your story is what we crave as anglers. We rise and fall with each other. You're success encourages anglers like myself that struggle to catch a 3 pounder. I know that sooner or later, a larger fish will strike my offering because Alex, Pat, A-Jay, Team9, Katie, and countless others have taught me so! I will borrow you're techniques, lures, and persistence, and I will succeed!

Throw 15 lb big game line on it and take it fishing. That is versatile rod that will work with many things. Mary not be perfect but you can catch make fish on different techniques with it. Don't over think it!

Thought about not going out today, but we’re getting close to having a 2 week period of no fishing with the multiple Arctic fronts supposed to come through - so I went. It was 50 degrees when I launched, but that fell to 45 when I came in 3 hours later. The winds were why I almost didn’t go - west at 15-20, gusting 30-40 mph. Made a lot of the lake unfishable, but I was just hoping for one bite…and I got four. Lost one, but landed 3 on a combination of jigs and blade baits. Water was 46 deg., well stained, and 2 ft low.

Last week I was hunting with my college buddies...they have land and a great blind on a river here in Nebraska. It's a great set up...short walk, blind seats nine comfortably. Heaters, two burner propane cook-top...we eat like kings! It's a pretty good spot. One of my friends was wondering why they don't shoot limits like we did "back in they day." Another friend reminded everyone that we traded action for comfort and convenience. You see, we used to hunt public marshes and river access. Worked hard to locate good spots, woke up early, carried in decoys and everything we needed to hunt. It was hard work, and some days we really got in to loads of ducks. We were hunting where the birds wanted to be. Now, with the land and blind, we are hunting where we want to be (with heat and hot food), and hoping the birds will cooperate. And we are all in our mid 50's now. I really cherish the days in the blind with my buddies and enjoy myself every time I am invited. Friday night my buddy's son texted and said, "are you busy tomorrow? Good goose feed, you need layout blind with a snow cover...I think this could be a good one." He's 24 years old and can blow a goose call like none I have ever heard. Had been scouting these geese for three days. We met at his house around 8:30 AM...short drive to the field...set up and got the blinds lined up...we had Canadas circling by 9:30. It was FANTASTIC! Wave after wave of geese pouring in to the fields. First group we knocked down eight. I didn't even pull the trigger...popped out of my layout blind and lined up a goose...it fell before I could pull the trigger...locked on another and it fell as well. These guys are really good! Kept careful count, as the local Game Warden knows this crew well, and knows they always follow rules and regulations and hunt ethically. As we got closer to a limit, decided to see if we could land them in the decoys...we were waiting for my buddy to get off work so he could join us. At one point we had ~10 geese walking around in the decoys, and another 400-500 circling. Wow! Ended the hunt with an eleven man limit, thirty-three Canadas. Best good hunt I have ever experienced! Yes, it was cold...thirteen degrees, wind out of the Northeast 8-10 MPH...and picked up as the day went on. We hunted on the X and had a great time!! Wonderful memories!

I had never fished for smallmouth in January before Saturday, but since I had caught my first December smallmouth 3 weeks earlier I figured I should give it a try. When I got to the Columbia I was a little dismayed. The forecast called for winds to be light and variable but it was blowing pretty good out of the East. I looked at the whitecaps and was doubting the wisdom of heading out. To further dampen my spirits the water near shore was pretty muddy. It had been quite clear a few weeks back and cold, muddy water is a tough nut to crack. "Oh well, I might as well give it the old college try" I said to myself and I was on the water around 8am. The day started out as I was anticipating it would. The wind was cold and biting and trying to fish delicately in the whitecaps and waves was extremely difficult. After 3 and half hours I had not had a bite and it had been raining for an hour or so by that point. I was cold, wet and dis-spirited and I was seriously thinking about calling it a day. I was already write the report in my head with things like "it is good to get that first skunking of the season out of the way on the first trip" and other similar phrases. I decided I would make one more pass through the general area where I had spent most of the day (and where I had caught all my fish in December). It was 11:30am and I told myself that I would fish until noon and then slink home with my tail between my legs. I really had give up emotionally and spiritually. I wasn't too cold except for my hands but my gloves felt like they weighed 2lbs each as they were completely saturated. It was indeed a pretty low point. Maybe the bass started to feel bad for me because on that supposed last drift as I was dragging my Ned rig along the bottom I felt a little "pop" on the line. I set the hook and there was a fish!!! I could not believe it. I carefully played and slid the net under a 2lb bass. I am not sure I have ever been so excited to catch a fish. The day went from disaster to awesome with one swing of the rod. You all know that one fish is like infinitely more fish than no fish and I felt that deep in my bones. It was all I could do not to pull up on shore and dance a jig! My wife had got me a new Bubba scale for Christmas and I was out there thinking that I would not get to use it (or even worse that it had bad mojo) soI was beside myself with joy when I got to weigh that first fish of the year. It was a solid 2lb smallmouth. The interesting thing is that the fish were a bit shallower than the previous trip. That fish came out of ~32'. I had tried to fish that shallow a little bit earlier in the day but had spent most of the day fishing deeper (35-60'). Well, I figured if lightning can strike once, why not twice. I went back up to where I started that drift and made another pass and caught another bass. The bite was not on fire but on most drifts I at least hooked a fish. However with each pass my hands grew number and colder. I had to watch myself grab the jighead when I unhooked the fish since I could not feel myself grabbing it, but it is a small price to pay to catch a bass in January. Finally, after two drifts that produced nothing I told myself I would make one last drift. By that point I had 6 bass and I was just walking on air. I started that last drift and went through the productive area without a sniff but I just kept the drift going past where I caught my fish. It was the last drift so i was going to milk it for all it was worth. I was just starting to think about reeling up when I felt a "thunk" and I lifted up to set the hook and was met with some really solid resistance. Just a short while earlier I had retied (which I am usually lazy about) and man and I glad that I did. I could tell right away that this was a better fish. I would lift it up a bit and then it would rip out drag as dove down. Back and forth we went until I finally got that brute up to the surface and was able to slip my net under it. I could not believe it! I had caught quite a few nice fish but this one dwarfed the others. I weighed it and it first it registered as 3lb 13oz, but I noticed it's tail was touching the deck so re-weighed and it settled at 3lb 15oz. I wish it would have gone 4lbs but I won't be ungrateful. It measured at 20" on the dot. What a great fish to end the day on! I decided that was enough after that beast. I thought it was cool to end the day on such a beauty. Well, what started out so terribly ended up being wonderful. Not a sniff for 3.5 hours, then 7 bass in the last 2.5 hours. My best 5 went 2lb, 2lb, 2lb 5oz, 2lb 11oz and 3lb 15 oz (the other two were a 1lb 7oz and 1lb 9oz). It was just amazing to me to catch bass in January, and then to have such good quality was just shocking beyond belief. Water temp was 45F and there was probably only a foot and a half of visibility (near shore it was like 6"). Not sure how many more trips I will make this winter but this one will keep me smiling for quite a while.

The only picture I have of my very skinny DD I caught my first trip to Mexico. The fish was so long our guide said it would probably have been a 13-14 pound fish if it hadn't been so skinny.

@AlabamaSpothunter - that's such a huge bummer. At least you know where she lives and what she likes to eat. I don't think the big fish flood gates are really even open yet this winter - if that makes ya feel any better. She's certainly a good sign of things to come this winter and probably not the last fish that caliber you'll run into before summer. Just keep at it and by golly - take some pictures every single time and then send em to a friend and email em to yourself lol Upload em to a cloud. All I know is phones and cameras fall off boats and break and stop working spontaneously and all sorts of stuff and I'm fairly certain next time you'll be ready to document it 6 ways from Sunday (and now YOU can see why I'm insane about taking a million pictures when I catch a big fish! 😅😉) I am still hopeful for your file recovery though! Who knows!?!? All I know is - get back out there and catch her Grandma! 😎👍🏼 If anyone can do it - it's you, bud! Another small piece of advice that may be worth sharing - as it is something I had to grapple with. It's very easy to make a very nice DIY livewell with a large cooler and some air pumps and a little DIY grit. I have let 8 lbers recover in my livewell before taking pictures and I can tell you they seem to very much appreciate the extra O2 being pumped in and a chance to catch their breath. 🙂👍🏼❤️ I built it primarily to keep fish alive and take them to the marina for small tournaments and such - but it has proven very useful for reviving big fish (and helping my friends stock their private ponds!)

DS customs! It’s not cheap, but it’s a niche bait. It will float or rig it to make it suspend in super shallow water or sink ultra slow. It shines where other glide baits will get hung up because they sink. You can fish it like a big jerkbait, just slowly twitch and pause. I love slow reel bumps. I’ve caught some really big New England bass on this bait in pre spawn. 8lbs 2 ounce, 7lbs 5 ounce and 7lbs 1 ounce in my first month of fishing this bait between March and April. Also had a lot of smaller fish sub 7lbs fish on it too.

Oh, man - I hope you can recovery at least a photo from that card. Don’t let it ruin your memory though! (darn - no pun intended. 😬😝). Good on you for prioritizing the release though. Fish like that deserve such respect. 👍🏻

From now until January 12 2025. 15% off all in stock soft plastics. Use code SP15. This includes all sale soft plastic items too. Rage Tail Missile Baits Zman

I don't know where all this attention to matching reels to rods came from , but it's IMO highly over-rated as an important consideration. Within common sense, within reason, you can put any reel with any rod. If balance is important to you, then check it out. It's also a fact that all reels are not sized the same, meaning not all 100 size casting reels are the same size or weight; not all 2500 spinning reels are the same size or weight. My direct answser to your question would be : No

Got my first one on a green pumpkin swimming senko. Thanks @Jigfishn10 , for the recommendation!

I’m a native Nebraskan and no stranger to ice and snow. I pulled into my office parking lot one winter with the front bumper of my 1976 Ford LTD PUSHING SNOW. The security guard told me to go home, the office was closed. 😂 That being said, neither my truck or the boat are going anywhere.

First bass of 2025: Best fish on first trip of 2025 (20" 3lb 15oz):

There were 577 crashes in Minnesota on Wednesday, probably all those people telling southerners they don’t know how to drive

Big Loomis fan and that is really disappointing. I have seen badly wrapped guides and cork not fully glued but that is a new one. Heard this last year. Rumor maybe......A lot of the old school, skilled workers left during Covid and only a few returned. Some of the finishing work was outsourced to people working from home. Makes me wonder if this caused things to get missed. In any case, I would notify them and have them make it right.

Great stuff Pat, and really appreciate the pep talk!!! The livewell is a great suggestion, and I recall watching Doug Hannon use a similar setup with a beneficial solution like SureLife in it. He would dunk them in the livewell and then release them. My gut and stats tell me she's the biggest fish I'll ever catch out of the lake, but you can never discount pure luck. Thanks again everybody, and I don't want to hijack a picture thread anymore than I have considering I didn't even post a picture.....here's to being able to post a pic in a week though 🙂

I own multiple NRXs and they all have mediocre fit and finish. You can ask them to make it right but the replacement almost guaranteed will have some other issue. Loomis isn’t on the same level as the JDM brands.

I just received an order of 11 custom jigs from Johnny C's California Reservoir Lures. Great jigs. I really like their attention to detail with matching painted heads and weed guards.

I have the 2000 sized shallow spool Miravel mounted on a 6’-8” bps panfish elite ultralight rod with 8 pound Daiwa J-braid x-8 and I find the spool capacity is lacking for my needs of shore fishing. The specs say it will hold a 100 yards of 4 pound power pro but I’ll be darned if I can find 4 pound power pro for sale anywhere which is leading me to either 6 pound J-braid or 4 pound braid from overseas. My point is depending on your capacity needs be mindful.

Whew, I didn’t expect things to fall apart like that for the Vikings. Could you imagine what the Lions would be like with a healthy D? I am glad the Lions pulled away because that was a blown safety call early in the game.

Squalls on a lake are common especially big lakes. Several years back a friend and I was fishing Falls Lake in Durham, N.C. and a squall came up out of know were. Many bass boats were sunk and some people hurt. I had an old high sided boat my brother gave me, so we made it to shore with the lake patrol watching from the bank to be sure we were ok. It really was scary, easy 3 foot waves pounding the boat and water washing in all the while. Nature is strong and sometimes sneaks up on you, no forecast of any kind that day from the weather people.

Well, you landed the fish, got a witness - that's the greater accomplishment. Two and a half years is a drop in the bucket of time, especially on a lake that produces the quality of fish for you that it does, so it's just a matter of time. I've gone 35 years without any picture/video proof of my personal best fish, not even knowing the exact weight, and wondering if it was a true DD or not. There were no digital culling scales or cell phone cameras back then. Got a close measurement, a partner with me who saw the whole thing go down, and said my fish was definitely bigger than the 8-12 he landed and weighed the year previous. I'll never know, but have lived with those thoughts bugging me for most of my fishing life, so I kind of get the feeling of having one little piece of the big puzzle missing and incomplete...but I DID catch her, and recall everything about that trip all these years later

Winter is getting to you huh?

Really appreciate the good vibes @Jigfishn10 ! There's a little backstory to this fish, and the current obsession I've had for 30 straight months now. I grew up fishing a lake that I dreamed about catching a DD on. Then I moved out and went to college, did the adult thing for years, and somehow the universe brought me back to that same lake where I could try to fulfill one of my true lifelong goals. Few things in my life have I ever pursued as much as this goal over the last 2.5 years. @Swamp Girl is best aware of the madness, frustration, and sometimes incredible highs I've had during this process. She's helped mightily along the way keeping my attitude in check, and showering me in positivity. At many points along the way I've felt there wasn't a DD in the lake including hours before I caught the 9.12 yesterday afternoon. To me that fish represented 2.5 years, and it was finally a fish big enough that if I never ended up catching an actual DD from the lake, I could sleep at night knowing I did everything in my power to make it happen. In some ways not having pics or a video doesn't erase that fact, but I'm the type that will absolutely stop fishing if I realize I don't have a scale or camera, so obviously capturing the memory is paramount to my fishing experience. Sounds stupid crying about catching a big Bass, but I felt I needed to vent to friends who actually understand what I'm talking about.

Thanks friend! The worst part is that I'm debating whether I wished I didn't even catch her yesterday, went from being on cloud 9 at the top of the world, to feeling like I want to vomit since last evening. Hopefully this serves a purpose and helps others in the future. Take pics from multiple sources, don't rely on technology.

Had an incredible yesterday and caught a 9lb 12oz absolute beauty of a fish. Also had close to a 26lb bag with another beautiful 5.5 fish. I was so in a hurry to let her go; I didn't bother with a cellphone pic because I had the Go Pro rolling. Get home and my computer corrupted the MicroSD card....... my best friend does IT for a living and tried some things last night to recover it but no luck yet. I'm praying and willing to pay or do whatever to get back those files. If anybody knows someone who can recover my data, I'll make it worth your while. Absolutely heart broken and gutted is an understatement, but hopefully I can recover the data 😰😱

Thanks for shining this light. I see posts all the time bragging about doing 20+ reels a day claiming they do full tear down service. Same goes for those that charge $15 a reel and claim to do a full cleaning. I sure as heck ain’t getting rich but not working for $10/hr either.

I'm still waiting on mine. Had three bites the other day but couldn't connect. First swipes on a jerkbait of the season. Tomorrow it's a high of 37 with wind chills between 6 and 16. I'll be hitting the rocks with some cautious optimism because it's supposed to be sunny. I have a lineup of jerkbaits to throw. And the dang jig

We are allowed 2 brown geese daily in California. Comfort is pricey for a private club hunt. At 50 still carried decoys and enjoyed water fowl with my son and Freckles the Brittany. Tom

Whole lotta pothole filler right there

More broke-off fish with hooks stuck in their mouths? That's fodder for PETA. It's a hard "NO" for me.

Nice fish man. Hope you can recover the pics. I got a 7 pounder once that was one of the 2 chunkiest bass I ever caught. I couldn’t get a pic and it still bothers me a little.

Well wouldn't ya know? Nailed it. That makes the Seahawks the only team in NFL history to have back-to-back winning seasons without a playoff appearance. Hey, you gotta "win" at something, right? 🤣🤣 It's also their best record since 2020.

6’6” spinning rod the balance point should be the center of the reel seat on the rod referenced, reel weight is negated. Reel size differs on weight for each mfr and model. I suggested the specific 1000 reel for its excellent reputation, smooth drag and performance at the price point. 1000 size reels have slower IPT and gear ratio’s, advantage for the OP’s use. Tom

Suggest Shimano NASCI FC size 1000 and spool with Maxima 5# UG copoly line. Tom

You should try that in a crude transport if ya really wanna have a good time!!! It's extra super fun when your trailer starts trying to pass you!!! 😂 It's looking like we're gonna get a real winter in OH this year. I'm guessing mid March before the lids come off the lakes if the extended forecast holds.

I shoveled the drive way twice today and may do so again before bed. I'll have to shovel again tomorrow, possibly twice . I'm getting to old for this.

I’ve had the following go overboard hat sunglasses pliers scissors Rod and reel x3 (thanks wife and son) and a Pug (we got him back)

Ebay LC's. I was after the MS colors (MS= Magic Scale). Jerkbaits are Slender Pointer 97's, with the top 2 being MS Wakasagi. 2 MS KJ flat 1.5's as well Picked up 26 various Black Label balsa baits while they were discounted. Grabbed 24 packs of missle crawfathers, a few of 'the 48' worms, Ned bomb worms, Gambler 7" Fat Ace and burner craws, BBB limit makers, and a couple picasso carbon chatters 30pks of Lake Fork Tackle chunks...

FYI the Hook Up Tackle still has their misfit sale going on (24% site wide) but in addition to that this morning I noticed they seem to be selling most lucky craft baits for $9.99 ea. Just picked up a few LV500s and a couple of other ones as well...

@Blue Raider Bob I'm out of reactions today, but I definitely chuckled. ^^^ Took the canoe out on the 30th and ended the year with a slow morning and a good afternoon bite. The water was discolored from the rain the 2 days prior, but it warmed up to 40 in some spots. I found the dozen or so bass on the remaining green milfoil in 15 ish fow and caught them on the bottom with a jighead minnow and weirdly blanked on a jig and blade bait. Only a few that got pics... scott

This time of year can be fun

Since this is an old post I'll update my new PB. She weighed 7.47. Funny thing @Lucky Craft Man started this post hoping to catch the elusive 7lber & as of now he has three smallmouth over 7lbs to his credit. I think he did a pretty good job of full filling his dream.