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Since I pretty much sit around all day looking for the end of YouTube, I figured I’d get out and do something… Got hired by Cabela’s today to work in the fishing section. 50% off anything BPS branded (hello new guide wear) and 15-20% off of everything else. This could get interesting…

I lost 2 potential world record LMB. The 1st was at Lower Otay that wrapped my line around another boats anchor line. I didn’t see that bass but a highly skilled angler in the other boat did saying it at least a 30” bass. Because I didn’t see that fish it doesn’t wake me up at night. The 20+ lb FLMB happened at Castiac lake at trout point and I clearly got a good look at that bass that broke me off going over the point and remember every detail as if it just happened. This is my nightmare bass that wakes me up 32 years laters. Tom

I’ve caught some large bass from the bank. I even won tournaments from the bank up against kayaks and boats. Nowadays, I usually take my kayak out, fishing close to the bank or cover. However ya look at it, it’s a logical place to fish. Sometimes it depends on where you bank fish to make it worth while or even memorable. All them pitfalls that you mentioned about bank fishing can also happen on the water. All depends on what ya like to do. I just luv to “park and fish” move on down the road or chill out in the AC if it’s blazing hot out.

No, they are all bad - lol. That said, the best rated versions I’ve seen are variations of the same knot that test out very similarly. The slightly stronger version is the Rapala knot shown below. There is a simpler version, nearly as strong, and that leaves your line tie cut pointed back toward the bait, making it more weedless. It’s called the Kreh Loop Knot (aka: Non-Slip Loop Knot). To tie it, you simply eliminate step 5 in the diagram below. You also, in step 2, go through the hole from the same side of the knot as you exited, then in step 4, go through the overhand knot in the exact opposite direction as you did in step 2 so that those 2 lines end up side by side going through that hole. I’ll try and find a diagram of that later today (video added below). Haven’t seen strength testing comparing that aspect of it, though, to verify that advice, but it appears to be what makes that tag line hold pointed back toward the lure and remain weedless. Video: Kreh loop knot

I don't get upset when I loose a fish as long as I had the enjoyment of fighting it. Heck, I was going to release it anyway. I do get upset when my hookset doesn't get the job done and the fish is lost in a heart beat. Never upset with the fish, it gave me a chance and I blew it.

I've been fishing for bass since I was 3 yrs old (no joke!). I stopped dwelling on lost fish long ago. Except if it was a big one during a tournament. That stings and takes me a few hours to get over it. Fortunately, that hasn't happened in over a decade. 😁

I’ve never lost a fish that I lost sleep over. I think I’m lucky enough (or unlucky) to have not known how big it truly was. I have and still do lose sleep over at buck I missed out in NW Nebraska. It was a 160” class 11 point. How do I know it was a 160” you ask? My best friend dad shot it two minutes after I missed it! That one still haunts me.

I have a not-very-old reel on a new rod - together it's a SeaBeast finesse combo, and gets its first use in 9 days. @Eric 26 told me he liked my photos. Evergreen calls this 9'1" finesse rod - The Sweep Master - 1/32 to 5/8 oz. The reel is my C3000MHG Twin Power wearing a shallower Vanquish C3000S spool for PE#0.6 Planning to fish this longer rod on 4' dropper rig, letting me fish my Yamaga Blanks 8'3" TZ Nano/ Vanquish C2000S combo where it shines - tandem 2" swim shad. While I always prefer using baitcaster with anything but these complex rigs, and I always say spinning tackle are utensils, my two most expensive (contemporary) rods are both spinners.

Who wants to tell him it's only January 17th?

Hello Darkness, my old friend. Steez Real Control 6'11'' MH Fast and a 24 Steez SV TW HL. The Bait Monkey is done for the year.

I've lost a few fish over the past few years that I'd REALLY like another crack at. Not that I'd do anything different, just so if by chance I did land them, I'd sleep a little better; especially this time of year. #hauntme It's especially gut wrenching when I can see them, up close & personal in the mostly clear waters I fish. This one just nipped at a jerkbait very close to the boat. Never seemed to get a solid hook into her. I knew right away it was a plus size fish but also thought my chances of landing her were pretty slim. Despite all my pleading, turns out I was right. https://youtu.be/yfnYSE-HjIE?feature=shared&t=887 Finally, and I hate this part of it, but in my mind, I need to lose a few big ones here and there. It's one of the things that makes holding any trophy I'm fortunate enough to land, so special. Fish Hard. A-Jay

I have had my share of big fish lost & they all hurt when it happens. I lost a really big lake trout ( 50lb class ) that I had on for a long time before she breached & threw my bait back at me. I also lost a trophy pike well over 30lb when she came to the boat cradle opened her mouth & the bait came out. Both of those fish I saw as did my boat mates. On the bass side of things I have lost several big small mouth that I could not control & subsequently frayed my leader in the rocks. Never saw them but knew from the fight & my inability to control them that they were very likely new PB's. Onto the large mouth species I lost two giants down at Lake Bacarrac. One bent a 2X treble hook out on a lipless crank & the other pulled a spinner bait loose after pulling a smoked drag run. Those two really hurt then & still do when I recall the memories. I had a similar surging rod pulling drag largemouth on a glide bait that pulled off fishing a deep water basin off a water control structure here in Florida. Early this month I dumped a DD largemouth while fishing a live shiner. She hit in a shaded cove & started pulling strong left when she came out of the water tail walking. Suddenly she was off. I reeled in the braid & noticed the trokar hook was gone but the polamar knot was still intact. We could only surmise that the knot slipped off at the gap left that forms the hook eye. I was really PO'd at that set of circumstance because it really was out of my controll. But like @A-Jay said in his post our failures make our victories so much sweeter.

A good duo loc snap makes for the best loop knot for me. Tie that on with a Palomar and be safe.

Kinda ordained to loose big fish. I’ve lost some honkers. It’s a sure thing to be angry near crying when it happens. It’s those errors that eat ya. The “would’ve could’ve should’ve”. Take it for what it’s worth, a teachable moment. Keep trying to make it right for next time because there WILL be a next time. Happy days ahead!

A nasty arctic blast is almost upon us. Sunday: High of 13 windchill 0 Monday: High of 4 windchill -14 Tuesday: High of 4 windchill -18

"if you worry about what might be and wonder about what might have been you will ignore what is" I was at the right place, at the right time, doing the right things!

I've lost four or five DD class LM, but I don't dwell on on it or get mad, I just keep casting. It's all good, as my four boats are uncarpeted aluminum, so there's no tear stains to worry with.😀

Most don't hurt for long, it's part of the game, but there are a handful of super sized LM, SM, saugeye, and muskie that still haunt my memories. I'm mostly just grateful to The Lord for all those experiences. Half a century in the woods and on the water. Hopefully I'll be blessed with a few more decades. 😉

The Otay bass happened in 1971 and fishing a point away from the bank where another boat was double anchor near shore. The ran back toward the bank and that doesn’t happen normally only thing I could have done was apply more pressure. The Castiac bass I was back seating in a friends boat and he got too excited forgetting to more the boat away from the point. I didn’t see Gary standing next to watching the bass with a net. Only thing I could have done was seeing Gary sooner and telling him to get out into deeper water. These giant are extremely strong and fast and take advantage of mistakes. Tom

Cartel violence in the state of Sinaloa has increased significantly in the past few months. Would I go fishing there? Absolutely. Cartels, like most gang bangers, anywhere do not bass fish. They like fancy sports cars, wild night life, casinos, strip clubs, and of course drugs. They don't hang out at bass fishing lakes picking fights with anglers. They will kill you if you interfere with their business, or insult one of them at a strip club. but even as impressive as A_ Jay's tackle horde is, they are not interested in the largest most organized collection of Megabass baits in North America. Is it a possibility the buss taking a group of anglers from the airport to the lodge gets stopped and people are asked to hand over cell phones while some crooked cop or other cartel member looks through the call list to see if you are calling an enemy gang. Yes that is a remote possibility, and while it would be scary, all would be well, you would get your phone back and sent on your way to double digit paradise. Most likely the cop would recognize the lodge van and wouldn't even bother stopping the driver to ask questions. If you fly in to the private airstrip near Lake Baccarac your only worry is if you forgot to put new line on your reels. As far as a relative of a friend of a friend's house getting taken over, I wouldn't be surprised. People with multi million dollar homes can be a target for the Cartel, but the the gang members don't have a clue that A-Jay's tackle box is worth more than a dozen of those homes. All of the wealthy Americans that I know of that have had trouble with drug gangs in Mexico, have some how been involved in the game. They might not be involved first hand, but they are having parties at their homes, or hanging out at places game member frequent. They may have friends that they associate, with or do legitimate business with cartel members that they may not even know are involved in the trade. Bass anglers as well as the fishing lodges are completely off the cartels radar. A few years ago, I guy got shot at Starbucks in the middle of a fancy resort area where I work in PV. I even new the guy. He was a member of the yacht club where I occasionally went for dinner and drinks. Everyone was in shock that such a nice guy from Canada could get assassinated while having coffee at Starbucks on a peaceful morning in Paradise. It ended up he actually was the head of a drug gang in Vancouver BC and the hit was carried out by a rival gang from Canada. Of course all any one read about in the paper was Canadian tourist murdered in Mexican tourist town. No one else was hurt, and I think his wife still lives in the condo they had here. My point is Mexico can be a very dangerous place, and you can find trouble very quickly if you go looking for it, but bass fishing is as safe here as it is any other place in the world. The bass fishing lodges have been fully booked and operating the whole time during this latest increase in gang violence, and not one fisherman has been harmed. A rich executive buys a multi million dollar home, throws big parties, and flaunts his wealth he may loose his house, but if he gets killed their may be more to his fortune than is commonly known. All the years working in the coast guard saving lives and keeping US citizens safe was, dangerous work and I thank you for your service. The only danger at Baccarac is watching your PB swim off with your favorite Pop Max. why you wonder why you didn't retie your knot after landing 50 bass. For those that don't think I know what I'm talking about. Please tell all of you friends not to bass fish Mexico. that will leave more bass for A-Jay and I. All that said, I would recommend you keep in contact with the lodge, and any guests you know that fish there, to see if conditions change. The violence is not out of control now, but there is a possibility of it getting so bad that airports and even lodges are not safe. I have a friend that's extended family is wealthy and they have a house and boat at Picachos. He was going to invite me to fish there with him, but had to cancel because his family doesn't think it is safe to stay at the house and use the boat. This sounds bad, but again, I don't have any idea how his cousins and Uncles make their living or who they know. He promised we would go some other time when his family say's it is ok to go. The lodges at Picachos are up and running with no harm to any guests. As with many things in life, that can be dangerous. If you are careful, and don't do stupid things, bass fishing in Mexico can be safe, but whatever you do, do not bring the Bait Monkey with you. Bass fishing here may be safe, but catching multiple DD bass can be hazardous to your sense of financial responsibility.

El Menderchucko

I don’t think about missed big fish anymore because there are hundreds of tournaments on Table Rock with as many as 500 boats in them. Fish over 4# have become a rare thing. I can’t remember the last time I had a good fish on down there.

I’ve never seen a buck that size while deer hunting. But 3 years ago, my dog kicked up one that big while pheasant hunting about 4 days after the season ended, on the property right next to where I deer hunt. I watched in amazement as that horse trotted off in plain sight and wondered where it was the week before.

Some of my new lures arrived. Since it looks like this lure is being discontinued, I bought a bunch, a lifetime supply. It really works for me. I went from catching NO FISH IN MY ENTIRE LIFE on a walking bait to many four to six-pounders with this lure. I love the black one on the far right. You can't see it, but it has a fluorescent smudge above its eyeballs so that I can see it more easily in the dark and fog. Watch out bass, I'll be a walkin' your way!:

I do all the time, sometimes when driving home from work in the evening.. if there is fishy weather and I got some time I'll stop and fish for a while, some other times I'm just to lazy to get the boat or the kayak out. I take only one combo and my light tackle backpack and walk the bank for a few hours.. very relaxing..

@N Florida MikeThe first time I spent a week in Florida was in Inverness. This was in the early 90s, stopped at a local gas station & bought a map. This is what I saw 😉

I fished for lmb in Ohio farm ponds, but then smallmouth and muskies had me hooked for about four decades. When I took up lmb fishing again about 2.25 years ago, I was fishing heavy weeds for the first time in my life. I'd lose big bass to the weeds and I'd think again and again about how it happened and wonder what I'd done wrong. However, I've caught so many big northern bass since that I no longer dwell on lost big bass. By big, I mean bass over four pounds, which are fine fish for someone nearly halfway between the Equator and North Pole. I boat most of my four-plus pounders now, but don't dwell on the ones that I do lose. I'm wondering if it works this way for you or are you like I was two years ago, perpetually pining for lost bass. Caveat: The only thing that bugs me still is when I hook a big bass and it surges, taking line, and then breaks free, but I never see it. I wonder about how big those bass were, but not for long. It's more curiosity than sadness.

My experience with Berkley hooks is they arent very sharp, nor are they super sticky as there marketing team likes to call them. When i got some Gamakatsu hooks i was blown away, but i keep buying Berkleys because they are my #1 confidence hook when it comes to holding up for big bass. Now 6th Sense hooks are sticky, i barely gripped a new lure the other day and almost got hooked on bass fishing even more😂 But for your question the 6" is a size 1, 8" is 2/0. Source is BPS

When i got into bass fishing i was not very good. I would walk the bank 4-6 hours a day and catch nothing. I had no clue what i was doing and didnt know about this place then, so there was very little advice and information to go off of.... My first real bass (over 1.5lbs) was caught on a ned rig, i hadnt ever caught anything on these before and was beyond excited! I saw the fish 1' under the front of the boat and it jumped and there it went.... Ive lost several fish since then (variety of species), including some big ones😌 But every bass ive lost was 100% user error, i dont dwell on losing them. I use it to my advantage and learn as much as i can about preventing it going forward. Making gear changes, bringing them in a different way, etc.... Learning from what went wrong. So far it seems to be working. Although years ago something big bit my dads jerkbait he was using when we were trolling back when we first got the boat, it was huge and jumped once. Line snapped clean. Always wondered what it was, im thinking a big trout since it was brown in a largemouth only bass lake.

LOL! just messing around dude! It's basically for anytime I don't feel like using bait casters, I was a long-time spinning setup guy specially in my younger days, brings back memories but with a nicer setup.

I have a boat, but still fish from the bank a lot. Fortunately for me I have some excellent access in a local public park, with channels off of Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin. It can be absolutely great during spring and fall. Easy to do after work, and it’s 5 minutes from my house. I do a lot of short 1-3 hour trips. can get 10-15 or more in short trips at times.

I’m more influenced by the people on this forum talking about gear and all of your thoughts than the influencers on YouTube. A lot of fellow, relatable, addicts on here. 😂 That said I like hearing Punch Fishings opinions on rods and reels, because it seems very genuine and unbiased. I wish there were more like him. He’s an addict like us. Chewy Thao has some good reviews too. The Reel Test is an odd duck that has favoritism towards shimano, I’ll watch a cast battle from time to time but that’s about it.

Yeah, it most definitely will get out of hand quickly I’m afraid. Wonder if I could get 20% on a new Ranger or Nitro? 😂😂

Gosh, I hope Tom (@WRB) doesn't lose sleep over his two world records. Instead, I hope he sleeps deeply and peacefully and dreams of his 16, 17, 18, and 19-pounders. FWIW, if I ever say, "I think I lost the world record," do not believe me. I think four-pounders are big. I could lose a nine-pounder and think it was the world record. Tom, given the unfathomable strength of a 22 or 23-pound bass (at least I can't fathom it, but you felt it), and given that you only have split seconds to react while adrenaline fills your body, losing such a fish seems more likely than landing it.

Was just listening to Bass After Dark podcast and they were talking about Billy Westmoreland who lost what he believed was a WR SM on Dale Hollow on XMAS day 1970. They said until his death he never got over that fish. They also said that he would wake up in the middle of the night after a dream over that fish, and he would immediately hook the boat up and go fish the spot where he lost that fish. Quite literally that fish haunted his dreams. A panelist who currently has the C n' R state Idaho SM record lost a 10+ SM and said he didn't throw another cast that day, or for a couple of weeks after.

That's a mistake I make pretty much constantly. If I suspect I'm going to be catching bigger bass, I might retire, but otherwise, I just keep casting.

The ones that sting for me are when I make some stupid mistake, where I knew better but got lazy or careless. Like failing to check the line for abrasions and retie.

I blanked today but I got to see a cormorant take off and drop a huge deuce right onto the head of a blue heron. That's a catch of sorts. I wish I had that on video. We're due for a huge cold blast this weekend so hopefully some decent fishing comes after that

I remember almost every big fish I've ever lost. They haunt certain spots for me lol

I'd fail with 8 lb. test too and I've landed 20 lb. pike on 4 and 6 lb. test while fishing for smallies, but they were open water pike. I use 30 lb. test when bog fishing.

if I had to guess. members on this forum have created a bigger buzz on some gear for me. I would have never tried a Zillion if it wasn't for the Zillion-Cheerleader squad on this forum.

When I got back into fishing I made the mistake of fishing coontail with spinning tackle that had 8 lb line on it. Mr. Bass got me down in the weeds and I my gear didn't have enough muscle for me to get him out. I ended up breaking off. I think of that more as a learning experience than a failure.

Oh I'm definitely haunted - wouldn't fish with the appetite I have if I wasn't! 😉😉😉 Thankfully for everyone - I get one every now and again and manage to live a somewhat functional life. 😂👍🏼

Understood, Tom. You're in a different class than the rest of us and losing a world record TWICE is beyond my ken. Tom, if you had a chance to land both those bass again, is there anything you could have/should have done differently? As experienced as you are in catching HUGE bass, I can't imagine you making a mistake. Wisdom. In a few years, we'll all be pushing up daisies. Staying happy, grateful, and present lets us suck the marrow out of life.

I'd rather just have it get off before I see it. Its way more painful when you get a good look at it and then lose it.

nothing better than a small body of water that is fishable from the bank. simple, efficient, peaceful. i feel like with a boat you are more locked in to fishing for a longer period, because of the extra baggage a boat entails in expense, time, packing.... that being said - most places i guess a boat allows you to fish a lot more spots......especially on large bodies of water. and it's fun when people stop and ask "caught anything?" i don't think they do that when you're in a boat.

I hope nobody in here got influenced by googan squad, and bought their rods🤡

I grew up saltwater fishing offshore on boats, it's practically all my family did. These days, I love bank fishing because there's no prep, no boat to lug around, no ramps to deal with, no washing the boat when I'm done, no additional fuel costs, etc. I can just hop in the car and fish for a couple of hours after work. 99% of my fishing now is bank fishing.