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Called my neighbor and asked if he'd like to join me for a short fishing excursion. We went to the local river and he outfished me with the largest and the most. We fished for about 3 hours and he caught 8 and I caught 5. After I put on mosquito repellent I didn't get another bite. We saw several small alligators and numerous birds of all kinds.

Had a 70 degree day with snow in the forecast in a couple days, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity for a quick afternoon trip. Crazy using the AC on the way out to the lake in February. 😆 First fish on a wacky senko Solid one on a Ned The girth on these spots is something to behold Another nice one on an underspin And, of course, the smallest fish of the day on a swimbait 🤣

First bass of 2025 only took 2 months.

A buddy and I and two high school anglers went and pre-fished for their tournament today. I usually don't fish much when the water is dirty, cold, and it's February. lol We boated 4 and I landed this one (3.25) on a Deep Creek Lures creature bait. I'm way past ready for Spring/Summer.

Finally on solid foods just not a lot for now it's going to be a long process. Having such careing family & friends is amazing. Keep on smilin' through the rain, laughin' at the pain Rollin with the changes til the sun comes out again

My first 3 largemouth this year, I lost 2 trying to set the hook too early. only 1-2 pounds but still happy I pulled them in 😎

Yeah I prefer it this way. Resetting just nullifies the work for the three previous days.

I get that, but I think it’s not fair for the angler that’s way ahead of everyone, to start even again. It’s a matter of opinion. I find both entertaining.

My last bit of ground ice melted away yesterday, but I woke up to an inch of new snow and rising. So I'm just going to stare at this all day:

Like the 'treble buried in my hand' posts, I was very reluctant to open this. Whew

Did you hear about the family of skunks that went to church? They had to sit in they're own pew....

Bought a bunch of these on clearance at BPS for next to nothing. I was a fan of tailspinners as a kid, and they were a good lure in the 90's. Only problem with them is the single treble hook is a little hard to set.

14.1 lbs, 28" long, 22 inch girth, Caught in Georgia, Feb 1998 Grape Shad 10" culprit and is still my PB.

Just released the Lil Man jig in Living rubber. I've also added under the custom colors the Extreme Blue Craw

Big rainy front hit yesterday and I tied on a lipless and managed a nice one on the old Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap! Hoping to get out mid day a little bit for the sunshine! Missed some really big fish on the frog this week swinging like it's August in February. Give em a second when it's still cold - their brains are definitely slower! 😂😂😂

Imagine that at one time, Dustin Hoffman slept on Gene Hackman’s floor for a few weeks, after which Hackman set him up in an apartment with a roommate, Robert Duvall. Three great actors. All Academy Award winners.

Our club has boater and coangler divisions. A boater can fish as a co, but they are at the back of the wait-list for priority and also still compete against the boater division anglers if they do fish as a co. We won't do 3 in a boat for a lot of reasons, so if there are more coanglers than boaters for a given tournament we use a wait-list based on tournament payment date, except for boaters who want to go as a co which is last in line as noted above. This is one those things that clubs need a clear rule on so everyone knows the deal ahead of time. With no rule on the books it's just one guys opinion on what's right vs a other guy's....No matter what decision is made, someone is going to feel like they got screwed. We average around 70 members a season, close to 50/50 split in terms of boaters and cos...So we have more padding if a boat or two is unavailable, but it does come up from time to time on popular bodies of water where tons of cos sign up.

I try and avoid 3 in the boat even when fun fishing. Like others mentioned, I’d withdraw from the event if paired that way, especially if this first event will be dealing with life threatening cold water (or bad weather). They should just cancel or reschedule the event for later in the season.

My favorite retention pond literally just thawed completely yesterday so I’m hoping to stop next week. It was crazy yesterday seeing the Saganashkee Slough in Lemont thawed out on the west side while the east end was still completely covered in ice. If I wasn’t in my work truck I would’ve stopped for a photo.

For all of us Northern IL guys around the Chicago Region…Happy Opening Day!!! Heading on out to BWood for giggles…not expecting much though with the air temps right now, but will be nice to get out there! 😎

My 4600C3 ended up in PE#2 (45-lb) frogger niche, but still set my mag brake casting 3 g. I would consider Avail 5-mm deep UC spool (photo is 6500CS Rocket in surf-lure, 1/4 to 1 oz). AMO spool is notably lighter, but 3-mm deep limits you to PE#1, equivalent dia to 4-lb mono. Since I swapped to the deeper Avail spool above, I have this 4500/4600C3 AMO spool set aside. If anyone wants to tinker the AMO spool, I'll sell it cheap. Aftermarket parts slick the LW and reduce weight/inertia - alloy LW rider also includes TiN line-guide coating for fishing braid. Here's JunSonada's priority list for tuning these reels: https://japantackle.com/Tackle_topics/abu_tuneup.htm Mike's Reel Repair in BC sells LW upgrade kits, with option for alloy rider and zirconia pawl https://www.mikesreelrepair.com/reel-tuning-upgrades/wormshaft-upgrades/

Honestly, scratch the 5500 and look for a 4600. They can still be found even though production ended 4 or 5 years ago. Abu only discontinued them because they were eating into Revo sales. A newer 4600 has a "light-ish spool" (15g) and already comes with a lighter line guide compared to its predecessors. With a polish tune and low viscosity oils, they will cast in the 5-7g range fairly easily. If you need to go lower, you can always do the 2BB cog, 2BB level wind, and an AMO spool. If a magnetic brake is your thing, Avail makes a good one that is pretty set and forget.

We call that “eliminating unproductive water”. It sounds better!

DNR has made many claims that we have no mountain lions , Yet I've seen them on my brother's game cam and several friends. I spend an enormous amount of time in the mountains and have seen a dozen or so bobcats but have not laid eyes on the big cat.

Got out briefly after work, wind was howling and current was 5-6 mph, borderline unfishable. I found like 10 sq ft of soft water in an eddy and was able to get some panfish on worms. Did mark and incredibly large school of what I think it white bass and skipjack, won’t be long until the 50 fish days start happening. Need the water to slow down

Ice-out is still presumably over 30 days away for my part of upstate NY. But that hasn’t stopped me from thinking about what I’ll be rigging up when I can finally get the boat out on a thawed lake. I’ll be going out with 8 rods - 1 spinning and 7 casting. The baits ill have rigged up are: -Wacky senko 5” -3/4oz Rattlin’ Rap -MB Vision 110 JR -Alabama Rig -Catch Co. Bull Shad -Bladed jig -Siebert Outdoor 3/8 oz brush jig -Strike King 3/4oz double willow spinnerbait I’ll probably spend more time throwing the spinnerbait than anything else for the first trip post ice. But I spend more time huckin a spinnerbait than any other bait no matter the time of year. The last couple years I’ve gotten away from throwing a lipless early in the season but I wanna devote more time to it again. It was always a good producer in the spring for me. Also excited to spend more time throwing the A-rig and bladed jig. I told myself I was going to fish the bladed jig a lot more and try to make it a confidence presentation. So my fellow northerners who are still iced in, what do you plan on throwing that first trip out?

I sat down, and laid my rod down and out of the way.. I was frantically tying on a deep diving crank and was struggling a tiny bit without my reading glasses.. I hear a loud clack, and the line disappears from my pinched fingers. I look up befuddled and I see my rod (well, the guides-rod + my reel) sinking into the lake. "NOOOOOOOOO!" my fishing bud lost track of his surrounding and shut off situational awareness and had casted with too much line hanging off his rod tip. his crank, hooked my rod and basically flung it Trebuchet style into lake Picacho. that one hurt...hurt bad. it was a Curado MGL150 DC attached that rod and it sank fast as F. deep water. I thanked the heavens it wasn't my lucky Zillion or Bantam..and clipped a lure off and started tying the crank on a new rod. my guide tried trolling for my stuff, but it was a goner...the wind moved us off the spot immediately. I love that DC reel. it was my Oklahoma reel where I needed to "Surf cast" to the horizon for Stripers. and in Mexico, it flung a big deep crank so far, my guide would sometimes applaud in jest. in wind, there is no rival (in my hands). I might take this opportunity to upgrade to a Met DC but need to verify line capacity. (and cost). my friend wants to buy me a new DC, but it was an accident. he didnt do it on purpose..and my friendships hold zero grudges.. moving on! hahhaha..

Jig and a bladed jig are always my go to. Might toss a wacky if I’m feelin spicy. Oh yeah I forgot you can’t say the C word anymore. Silly me

My younger brother saw a big cat riding the 3 wheeler when we were kids. We didn’t believe him until my dad saw the cat a few months later.

Made this post outdated pretty quick. Yesterday, I put a Rage Craw on a Fogy, only because it was the only red plastic I had. Always heard that red is the spring deal. This girl slammed it like I owed her money. There is more to consider, I suppose. I was fishing this fairly slow, with short hops off the bottom - just enough to get some vibration and then drop. So, more like a 'regular' jig. More crawfishy than baitfishy. Maybe trailer choice will also depend on what I think the bass thinks this contraption looks like.

Alex, that man's half your age and outweighs by 40+ lbs. It wasn't a fair competition. 😆

I did and you are correct. They changed their verbage and said " there is no known sustained population of these big cats ". Confusing because if one or two has been seen, who's to say it's not a mating pair.

@bassmedic46 - MY BROTHER! I'm the same way....get skunked, but keep trying. BTW - like the town as I was born and raised in Worcester...Athol was a favorite biking destination when I was a kid.

Berkley Big Game on everything except the punch rig, and the ultra light. Punch rig has braid and the ultra light has BPS mono on it.

That's all great for you guys, but not in my boat.

My superpower? I can tell you where the fish are NOT located. If you see me on the water, your best bet is to fish somewhere else 🤣

State record smallmouth in MN is 8.0 pounds even. But it was caught way back in 1948 when no proof or witness was required. They've re-classified it as a "historical record" now instead. The new state record can be classified now into 2 categories: C & R length, and verified weight. In order to obtain status of either, you need proof. And in order to be recognized by weight, you will need to kill the fish. I've looked up the forms for submitting state records here and the information required is fairly detailed. And once it becomes official, it's public information. If I caught a state record out of a big lake, I'd submit for a C & R version. But if I caught one out of a smaller to mid sized lake, no way would I do it. I don't need to show up at my local access and see a line of 30 boats waiting to launch. It simply would not be worth it solely based the increased fishing pressure it would create. You might see me holding it in a photo here in the rare event that this happens.

Good on him to self-report but man, the action taken to DQ and fine simply does not match the breach. And honestly, that’s such a stretch of a violation. These rules really need a refresh.

Can you imagine how many anglers have been in the same situation as Martin and not self reported.....and then never had to take a poly, or when taking one passed it because they had no idea they even broke the no-info rule when Bubba at the gas station said they're hammering poppers in pockets. I'm fine with the outcome, and I've got even more respect for Martin. It does really suck not to see Martin fish this event, his win last year at the Open was perhaps the most impressive win I've ever seen in pro fishing. The way he caught them was just next level.

Stepfather told me he had to rewire his boat due to electrical issues. So I bought him a Lowrance Hook2 Reveal 7 Tripleshot. (It was his birthday..so...) Going on a 18' Polar Skiff.

Make him start an hour late or dock him 5 pounds. What's next, so called fans intentionally giving anglers info and recording it to see what happens? Or going after guys they don't like .

Fished for a little while before dark. I caught the bigger one after hooking a little bream and she swallowed it. Nice fight on a small bream hook, 6 lb test , and ultralight combo. Got 2 more on the same brushpile just down the lake… on the june bug magnum speed worm…

Ice has finally started to melt here. The pond we call the Gun Club was first up for since I use it something of a bellwether. If they’re biting there the larger bodies of water aren’t far behind. I started out throwing flatsides, jerkbaits, and slow rolling a double Colorado. I spent about an hour and fifteen minutes with nothing to show. I think in my excitement to get out on the water I was a little too aggressive with my lure selection. I downsized to a 3.25” paddle tail on a 1/8 oz bal jig and worked my way back around the bank. I caught this guy which is way smaller than most of @Team9nine crappies, but it’s my first bass of 2025 so I believe it’s worthy.

Got one of the new Vision 110 SR’s in the mail today. Now we just need ice out to get here! A close up of the new lip -

Encountered YES. The DNR says we don't have them here in Ga.. Everytime I'm in Publix I'm concerned for my well-being with all the Cougars. I wear this gray beard but I'm pretty sure they can tell I'm younger than I look. It's a truly dangerous situation because you're not supposed to turn your back on them. But when there's dozens, what are gonna do?

Losing a big fish is one thing that seems to never get easier to deal with, really hate to hear that, Bob! I have no doubt that a big girl is coming real soon for though, you're a fantastic angler and you live around some fantastic fisheries. Not to mention my dad always says...."good things happen to good people". I actually lost the last big fish I hooked on a jig of all things. That one burned especially because I've been trying to dedicate time to the jig. In 2024, I lost 16% of all the fish I hooked over 5lbs. After the first two months this year I'm right around that same percentage.

Send him up to Maine. I'll have him cast into the bog below. A bog bass will bully his buggy whip pole and then he might be ready to listen and learn. Note all the grass around the bass below, even though I'm constantly pitching grass from my canoe because you're not just fighting big-shouldered bog bass; You're fighting their home too: