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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

Ladies and Gentlemen, Members, and Friends, Today we celebrate an extraordinary individual who has been the heartbeat of our community for nearly two decades. Today, we honor and bid farewell to Kent (A.K.A. RoadWarrior, or RW for short), who is retiring after 18 years of dedicated service as a global moderator. When I think about the journey these forums have taken, it’s impossible to separate its success, growth, and culture from the incredible contributions of RW. He has not only been a moderator but also a mentor, a friend, and, most importantly, a cornerstone of the community we cherish so deeply. RW joined us at a time when these forums were just starting to grow, and through his hard work, passion, and unwavering commitment, he helped shape them into the thriving, vibrant community it is today. His influence can be felt in every corner of this place—from the way we welcome new members to the traditions we hold dear, RW's fingerprints are everywhere. For 20 years, RW has embodied the values we hold high: integrity, excellence, and a deep sense of community. He has been a guiding light, ensuring that our members always felt more than just part of the forums—they felt part of a family. His ability to connect with people, to understand their needs, and to make everyone feel valued has been nothing short of remarkable. RW, your retirement marks the end of an era, but your legacy will continue to inspire us. The warmth and camaraderie you've fostered here will resonate for many years to come. While it’s hard to imagine this place without you, I know that the values and culture you’ve instilled in us will continue to thrive, thanks to the solid foundation you've laid. On behalf of everyone here, I want to express our deepest gratitude. Thank you for your years of service, for your dedication, and for being the heart and soul of this community. You will be greatly missed, but your influence will remain with us always. As you step into this new chapter of your life, we wish you all the joy, relaxation, and adventure that retirement brings. You’ve more than earned it. Remember, this will always be your home, and you will always have a place here with us. Let’s all raise a glass to RW—a true legend of Bassresource. Here’s to you, RW. Thank you for everything. Cheers! Glenn

As many of you know, I run a hotel for a living and on many weekends I host my Fishing With The GM program where I get kids and even adults interested in fishing. It's a great time and I spend my morning baiting countless hooks while the anglers catch bluegill after bluegill. But this time of year, when school starts, I shut down the program until next season. But yesterday I received a call from a gentleman who wanted to know if we had any more fishing events this year. I explained to him that the season ended, but if he visited the hotel I would try and find some time to fish with him. Then he told me his story. It changed everything. He said he was "newly disabled" (his term) and was looking for something to occupy his time and he wanted to learn how to bass fish. He read about my program and hoped that I could teach him. That absolutely floored me. I immediately shifted gears and told him that whenever he came to town I would take the time to fish with him. He thanked me and told me he would get back to me. We talked fishing for a few more minutes and he told me about the spinning combo he had just bought and the few baits that he had. I told him that his best and most consistent opportunities to catch bass would be a Texas rigged, 5" green pumpkin Senko as well as a 3/8 ounce chartreuse/white spinnerbait. He was ready to go to Bass Pro right then and there! An hour later he called and asked if I could fish with him the next day (today). I told him I would clear my schedule and might even by able to fish with him when arrived later that day. Luckily, I just happened to have a few rods set up and a change of clothes in my truck. With him arriving in a few hours, I hatched a plan and sped off to the tackle shop at Sugar Creek Marina. I bought him some 5" Senkos, 3/0 AWG hooks, some tungsten bullet weights, and that spinnerbait. He had told me had had limited use of one hand, so I tried to find one of those Hook-Eze devices to tie knots with one hand but they didn't have them. Instead, I printed out a page from Amazon so he could order one. He arrived a bit to late for us to fish yesterday, but we made plans to fish this morning. As we mad our way down the hill to the lake today I learned his story. He had been a doctor for decades running his own practice and suffered a brain tumor a few years ago. After it was removed he could not fend for himself and relied on his wife and others for everything. He was so despondent while he was in the hospital that he asked if they had a Dr. Kevorkian on staff as he no longer wished to live. I cannot imagine what he endured and how he got through it. He can walk a bit now with a walker and even a bit on his own, but relies mostly on his electric wheelchair. Today, as we headed down our steep hill to the lake he almost went off the sidewalk when one of his back wheels locked up. We got him out of his chair and he used his walker to go the rest of the way. Meanwhile, I dispatched my Maintenance Chief to see why the wheel had locked up. Luckily it was an easy fix. The Doctor had fished as a kid, but told me he hadn't fished in 60 years. But now he really wanted to learn to bass fish as it gave him purpose and something to focus on. He had bought a fishing chair at Bass Pro and we set it up at the end of the dock and talked a bit more. I went over the basics of cover, structure, wind, sun, and locating bass. I set up his rod and showed him where to cast parallel to the seawall. That was my mistake as he popped up his first cast into a tree. Luckily, it was close enough to the shore that I could save is bait and his line. So we had his next casts further away from the seawall, and he gradually gained confidence and was able to cast nearer his targets. I wish I could say he caught a bass, but it was not to be. It was a hot and sunny morning, and our shallow and narrow creek channel is lousy when it comes to summer bass fishing. He fished and we talked, and he tried his new baits, and I could see his smile and his confidence in his cats and retrieves. We worked on a few different retrieves with the Senko, including casting it in the shadow of the dock and letting it sit for 20 or 30 before working the bait. After all he has been through, it was great to see him smiling and having a good time out there. Even when he got a little frustrated because of his limitations, he worked through that and had a good time even though he didn't catch anything. I asked him to come back next March when the fishing was better and I'd take the time to fish with him again. He and his wife live right near Lake Allatoona, but I also told them to check out nearby Rocky Mountain PFA as that location is set up for bank fishing. I know from what he said and his reactions that this interaction lifted his spirits, but it also lifted mine. This was a man that spent his lifetime taking care of people, and now it's a challenge to take care of himself. But he pushes on. He is finding his new purpose in life, despite the challenges. I greatly admire that and hope that I can remember to do the same. I'm going to follow up with an email to him tomorrow and provide him some more resources for fishing with disabilities as well as some links to general bass fishing topics. It just goes to show that you never know what life is going to throw at you, and with all of the craziness in the world today there is still some happiness and joy - even if you don't catch a fish.

God lined up the stars again for my first trip of 2025! He gave me the opportunity to cross the path with five DD bass in 7 days!!! My best 5 for the trip went 54lbs! Also had a 8lb 4oz, 7lb 4oz and 6lb 4oz. The breakdown of the top 5: 11lb 4oz / 25¾" L × 21" G 11lb 4oz / 25½" L × 21½" G 11lb / 25½" L × 21" G 10lb 8oz / 25½" L × 19½" G 10lb / 24" L × 20½" G I've been trophy hunting for ten years now and this trip is what it's all about! I still can't believe what went down. The first 11lb 4oz hit the net within the first few hours of day 1 of the trip! I was on cloud 9 and told myself any fish from that point on was just a bonus, not knowing four more DD's would hit the net before it was over! I was able to watch all five DDs eat on the new Mega Live 2. I also was able to hone my mental fortitude this trip by sometimes going 6-7 hours with zero activity/hits and staying mentally in the game. I weighed all the DD's multiple times on my IGFA certified 15lb Boga Grip. As usual, my custom F5 rods paired with the Calcutta Conquest 400MD's put in work! All were caught on various swimbaits. The series of pics below are in order of the top 5 listed above (better quality pics on IG - 22RangerZ520R, had to resize/shrink them to post here). Man, it's going to be very hard to top this trip and I'm smiling ear to ear just typing this. Can't wait to go again....!

This one recently showed up in the reports thread. But it's such a special and rare fish, I feel like she deserves her own thread. A separate video account seems appropriate as well. Plus, I will probably never see another one bigger. When she struck my jerkbait and I felt her weight, I was really hoping she was a brown bass and not one of the many other plus sized species that inhabit these lakes. Despite not knowing for sure, I really took my time bringing her to the boat. Was especially hard not to get over excited but I managed to keep my cool. Once she was on deck, I was pretty pumped. Be a while before I forget this one. Fish Hard A-Jay

Today I caught my first 8" hudd fish... after over 100 hours fishing it over the years. I've caught fish on bigger baits but for some reason I could never get them on the traditional slow bottom crawl. I was retrieving it mid column and watched this fish engulf it near the end of my cast. A new personal best!

I've not been posting a bunch because of some life issues. My van tore up, and I had another car, a Chevy Tracker but it needed some repair before I could drive it. This took a while, and as a result I only fished 2 times in 3 weeks. During that time, I went through a spell of poor service too, so I wasn't able to check in as often. Well, after I got my Tracker running, I took it to town and went fishing. I went to the heavily pressured public lake that I've mentioned several times. I like fishing this spot because it's a challenge. It's fun to catch a fish here and there when others say they've fished it, sometimes for years, and never caught anything. I'd learned some about tying soft split rings with braided line, and I thought that this trick might just be something that'd give me an edge. I tied my favorite gold crankbait thusly, and had tried it a few times with no luck. It does feel differently though. It pulls through the water with less sound, less vibration, and overall is just "different" feeling. Well, this day, I was by myself, I started working my way around one of the holding ponds that is attached to the north end of the main lake. These ponds are connected to the lake via a small channel, which the city dams up to hold the fish in case they need to work on the dam at the other end of the main lake. This particular day, there wasn't a crowd, but there was 4-5 other people fishing. I fished a split shot rig a bit, with no success, so I switched to the crankbait. I caught a nice 1lb10oz bass. I worked my way down about 20 yards, making a few casts. I was working the squarebill crankbait at a medium speed, probably just nipping bottom on occasion, in about 4 feet of water. I was sweeping the rod tip sideways to move the lure, but not letting the lure pause between sweeps, rather, just letting it slow down. About 10 feet from shore, I felt a strike. I set the hook. I saw my line moving sideways to the left, I began reeling, and the fish ran directly towards me! I reeled as fast as I could. This bass knew all the tricks, he went right for a bush! A skinny bush, but a bush nevertheless. The shore line in this spot is about a 3' drop off. I held my rod out with my left hand as far as I could to persuade the brute to come free of the bush, all the while thinking... I am glad I have 12 pound Big Game mono, and not something lesser! The fish emerged from the bush and just sort of submitted, swimming right to the shore's edge and the surface, looking right at me. I could see it was a very nice fish, and guessed 3-4 pounds. By this time, someone was walking by. Three younger guys. I'd played the fish maybe 30 seconds, but it seemed like 5 minutes at this point. I was thinking... how am I going to land this thing without a net? I was reluctant to flip it because I didn't think it was hooked good enough, and I couldn't tell for sure, but I know there are some 6+ pounders in there, and I didn't want to chance losing this trophy regardless of weight. Well the passerbyers saw the fish and congratulated me. They offered to help, so I let one of them hold the rod, while I collected my possibles, which consisted of my tackle bag and another rod, that were about 30 feet away. I returned to the rod, and took it in hand, then I proceeded to walk up the shoreline about 40 yards towards the nearest spot I could reach the water, pulling the fish with me. The fish knew his environment well, and lunged for another bush, then a large stick that was in the corner. After I made it around the bend, it wasn't far until the water was at foot level, and I was able to swiftly slide the fish from the water right up onto the shore, which consisted of short grass. Without further ado, here is my new personal best, a weighed 4lb7oz, with my scale registering 3/4oz light. I'm quite proud of this fish. I know that it's not the largest fish in the lake, but for me it shows that all the hard work I've done to learn the lake, and how to fish pressured waters is paying off. Up until the above fish, I thought that the following was my PB, but I had not weighed it. I estimated it at 5 pounds based on my box that I had previously weighed. Then, I caught this one: and I weighed it at 3lb14oz, so I was pretty confident that the fish above was closer to 4 pounds, rather than 5. Now, after catching the fish in the first picture there is no doubt about the one I didn't weigh. The new PB fish was physically larger, and it was noticeably heavier to hold. Shame there wasn't someone handy to take a picture of me holding it. I unhooked and released it. I thanked God, and I hollered whooo! Then I got a text message from a friend that heard me holler. He said "you at the lake? I heard you whooo!"

Jake was off one last day today and we had a day alright. 6.3/5.2/4.1 on the bank at the pond this morning on jigs. A few more to round out the pond visit..... And a 5 lber on a gizzard shad @Siebert Outdoors grasss jig and an incredibly fat 2 lber on a Missile Baits D Bomb and a dink on the bizz baits spinnerbait on an afternoon boat ride! Missed a good few too! What a day!

I logged on last night intending on writing up a depressing report detailing how, despite having a great year overall, I haven’t seen a bass since early October. Zero bass all November and the last trip out my fishing buddy pulled up a nice two pounder on a Ned rig in 30ft but I had no such luck. A handful of pickerel and a rock bass was all I had to show for almost two months of effort. While cruising the site I started looking into cold water tactics and found a Mike Bucca article about float n’ fly rigs and thought maybe I could piece something together and get out one last time. I really just wanted one more bass to close out a great year on a high note. I woke up this morning to 23 degrees and quickly changed my mind, accepting that the season was over and I’d be better off using the day to start packing up my fishing gear for winter. I don’t know why by right around noon while pulling out tackle boxes something inside told me this was my last chance and to just suck it up and go catch one more bass. So I got permission from my wife who thought I was crazy, told my fishing buddy who also thought I was crazy, grabbed some gear, and made for a favorite spot that I know well. I was on the water around 1:30pm with water temps 40-41 degrees, air temp a balmy 35 and a stiff 12mph wind. I had with me a piecemeal float n’ fly rig that never touched the water because my other rod had a blade bait and it turns out that’s all I needed. I fished for just shy of three hours before sunset timed me out but in that time I had the best fishing of my entire life. I ended with 11 largemouth totaling 31.68lbs and a new personal best 4.38lbs. Two over 4lbs and three over 3lbs. I started the day throwing the blade bait into deep water off a point and jigging it back but had no luck. However, as I was quickly blown towards shore I tossed it shallow to a spot I’d been successful with spinnerbaits earlier in the year and that’s when I hooked up my first. I spent the rest of the day fishing that blade bait the same way I had been throwing spinnerbaits all year and into the same spots, throwing shallow and pulling it back out deep with a medium/slow straight retrieve that just ticked the bottom. I can’t believe how successful I was today. At times I was hooking up to bass one cast after another and they just seemed to keep getting bigger. I thought I had to be dreaming. I’ve had an incredible year and started 2024 at this same lake back in early March and caught a personal best 3.31lb largemouth only to beat that three more times and end in the same place I started, and to think that less than 24hrs ago I was ready to pack up and admit defeat. The wife and I have our second due late May so I know next year won’t be the same, in fact it’ll be quite some time before I spend as much time on the water as I did this past year making today even more special.

Managed a 21.5 lb bag with just 4 brown Bass. They were all pretty stout. Dress Warm and Fish Hard A-Jay

Best day of fishing in my short fishing life. This is only my third season being dedicated. Only caught 1 bass so far this year. Until today. Also made a commitment to get better at jig fishing. Bought a dedicated jig rod and its had a jig tied on at all times. Also got a new old town pdl 106. Well, this was the first fish in that kayak. Weather's been in the 40s, but windy. Went out this morning. With the wind chill out was low 30s out. I had a wacky worm, a jerkbait, and a bitsy bug jig tied on. Wasn't having any luck. I'd hit the north bank, targeting bushes and lay downs. Then as the wind blew me away I'd start with the jerkbait. Just trying to figure out the pattern. After being blown far enough i started the pedal back to the north bank. As i approached i saw a gnarly looking laydown. Came in slow and stealth. Didn't like my angle. Adjusted. Was about to just make a few pitches to the outside of the laydown, fearing getting hung up. Then remembered all of learned here. Pitched the bitsy bug right in the thick of it. Immediately felt the weight and set the hook. As i did i see the branch i pitched next to move. Dang, I'm hung up. Then i saw the fish, still submerged. She had me wrapped around this branch of the laydown. Long story short, i had to keep the fish pinned while moving the kayak in a better position to get unstuck. Finally did. Kayak got pulled into the laydown. Reeling the fish in when i saw its size. Just started yelling. I couldn't belive it. Got the fish into the net, ny the way i need a bigger net, this thing barley fit. 5LB even. Jig right in the upper lip. Beautiful fish. I know 5 isn't a big deal for some guys. But iv never seen a fish this size in my area. My old PB was on the upper 3s. I was shaking with excitement. It's just awesome. Yes the fish is great. But everything together. The things i learned. First fish in the new kayak, on a bait i wanted to get better at, in a location i normally would of passed on (or at least not got as deep into), in a time of year i struggled in the past, the fight and dealing with getting wrapped up.... all of it. Stoked. And just want to thank this forum. Learned a ton here and multiple things iv picked up on here came into play on this fish. So thank you everyone.

First, let me give everyone a massive big Thank you!!. Last month I asked for your prayers and kind thoughts for us with my missus up coming cancer surgery. So many of you responded and we can't begin to tell you how much it meant to us. Her surgery was last week and yesterday we were told the pathology came back with the best possible results, and now officially my wife is cancer free!! We are still on pins and needles and are so glad they were able catch it early and treat it ( remove it) before it spread. Can't tell you how good it feels to be able to plan our next days, weeks, months with out Cancer hanging over us.

Update 03 Aug ~ The whirl wind continues. This was Lynn at Henry Ford on 16 July in the throws of scary renal failure and insane water retention. This was yesterday 02 Aug - 60 lbs later. Doesn't seem real. Currently going to 4 hour Dialysis 3 days a week, Chemo once every 2 weeks and a completely new diet. We're working on making this the new normal. It's just what we do. Thanks for the support. A-Jay

I FINALLY broke the 5lb mark for the year, in fact I jumped right into the 6lb club with one of the thickest fish I've ever seen.

I haven't fished/ caught/ posted much in a long time, but good to see lots of nice fish being caught! Here's a 7.5# NLMB I caught today on a swimbait (WCZ citizen) though.

Starting to transition off the crappie bite as it continues to fade. Caught 3 greenies today, but one of them was one of the right ones. Edit: 7-1/4 pounds

Yesterday was 2 hours of skunk, today in an on again off again blinding snowstorm had the jerkbait working. scott

Well my boy's BB game got canceled Saturday, so a buddy and I went to the power plant lake to try to find a few. The wind was way stronger than it was supposed to be, with white caps rolling most of the day on the main lake, and the 18* air temp at the ramp didn't feel good with the 15-20mph wind. Plus there was probably 20 groups of duck hunters scattered around the small lake, it sounded like a war zone out there. The bite was slow, my buddy only had 1 fish all day, I got on them a little better but it was still a grind, all of them were on slow moving baits. I caught a majority of them off a shallow point that has a creek channel swing on the end of it and lots of rocks and a few stumps scattered around it. It's a normal spot for me in the winter that is usually productive. This day the south wind was pushing the warm water from the outlet straight into it, which is a big deal on power plant lakes. I could see the gulls diving from across the lake, so I knew there was bait there. What was confusing to me, was it looked like there was a bunch of big logs on the bottom that had never been there on my sidescan. Well I was dragging my Ned rig through about 3' of water when one of those "logs", thumped my bait. I thought it was going to be a drum from the initial bite, but the hookset was so solid, and then it was just and unstoppable force as it headed out for deeper water. I tried to stay spotlocked, but I knew there was several stumps and actual logs, I was afraid it would get me wrapped and be gone, so I had to follow it. I was only armed with a 7' ML spinning rod with a 2000 size reel, 10lb Seguar Tactx to an 8lb Seaguar Grand Max leader tied to a homemade 1/16oz Ned head with a #2 hook, but we played Tug-O-War for over 20 minutes before the monster finally surfaced. I've never tried to put someone like that into the kayak, it wasn't easy. I got her head in the net and struggled for a minute or two, almost flipped the kayak towards her lifting over the side and then to the other side once we both slide back into the kayak. I've seen a lot of big catfish, I've never seen a fish like this one. My 50lb scale wasn't nearly big enough. I've caught several 50lb class fish, I've never struggled to lift one like I did with this fish. My gut says 70-75lbs, but I'll never know for sure.

Got out this evening for a few hours before dark at one of my favorite spots, started fishing right at 2:00. I really wanted to try out the new reel I picked up for my chatterbait setup, and managed a small bass right off the bat with it. Before moving down the bank, I picked up the lipless and worked my way through the spot again, and second cast with it I hooked into this big girl: My biggest of 2024 so far and will be my first FWC TrophyCatch submission in almost 2 years. Finished working the area some more but no other bites after releasing her, so I moved on. Bite slowed but I was getting them here and there, mostly against grass lines. Got a 2.84 and this 4.52 on the chatterbait out of a windblown corner. I like this Curado 150 MGL quite a lot so far. Worked my way back towards where I was parked, threw the lipless around some more active feeding I was seeing, and ended the night with another big girl, my second biggest (barely) of the year: Unfortunately, the treble just barely got her in the gill she didn't bleed when I got the hook out, it wasn't until I got her up for the picture that I noticed she had started to bleed so the picture turned out bad. Got her back in the water until the bleeding slowed, then got a weight and sat with her in the water until the bleeding stopped and she had a strong release. Both of the big lipless fish made strong runs and multiple jumps and stayed pegged. I don't want to jinx it, but I think I've finally got my lipless setup dialed in to maximize my landing ratio (as much as I can, at least). Star of the show tonight was this lipless, 3/4 oz Thunderhawk Sergeant in the new Shad color. Ended with 9 total, those were the only ones worth weighing, plus a few 1 pounders. Puts my 5 fish bag at roughly 23.6lbs for the evening.

To anyone who reads this that willingly gives out real knowledge on here(so everyone pretty much): Thank you. I started fishing because I was a "fixer" in the Fast Food industry during Covid. I'd go to bad joints and help get em off the bottom of the group table. It was particularly hard during this time. Fishing was my escape from madness and indoor isolation. This website was and is my Rosetta Stone. I asked dumb questions and got smart answers. I learned. I did not receive the same hospitality from local anglers where I started. I almost gave up and just went back to vegging out on Xbox. A death sentence for the soul. Then, I found BR. It was accidental. RangerJockey and Bulldog answered my first questions. RJ is someone I consider a friend now. I can count all mine on 4 fingers. Got a Cetus because of Bulldog. Anytime I want to be the star, I bring that gold reel out. It's a conversation piece. I learn everything I know from here and a local guide I'm fortunate to have a friend in. I was in a really bad place when I found BR. I have mental troubles(Autism/PTSD) and socializing is almost unbearable. This website gave me a place to talk. A place to communicate. A place to not be alone. I'm not sure if this has ever been said on here, but this forum group saved me from myself. I know, I sound like a redditor RN. LoL. But for real, thank you all. My Dad and Brother recently told me if fishing is what caused me to get better, then I better keep fishing. It was, but so was this site. I never fit in. Ever. Here I do. There's something for everyone. Even me. Thank you, BR. The life you radically altered for the better was mine. Al.

Manny, my old dog died April 19, 2023. I buried him in my Japanese garden and planted Creeping Jenny on his grave. The Creeping Jenny now completely covers his grave and it thrives, growing plush and wide. After months of mourning, I'm getting a new dog today, another black and silver miniature German Schnauzer. His name is Joey P. Boots, the "Boots" being a nod to his four white paws. He also has a white muzzle, eyebrows, and chest. He even has off-white ears, so da Boots is quite a handsome guy. A friend and I built a backyard pen last Saturday and the house is loaded with toys and treats. I might be fishing less because puppies have so much to learn. Anyway, big day and friends are already pressing to see him before he's even arrived.

So outside of the usual dink fest, I found the master of my favorite local pond. I have been chasing this fish for a few years, I believe. I couldn't believe it when it crushed a buzzbait. It was as epic as any catch I have ever had. It came out from under a mat, jumped two or three feet out of the water and crushed it.

Three pics of today's trip. In order, walking through the woods with my first glimpse of water, on the pond, and my one bass:

Back at the graveyard pond at crack of day. Got this one on a hand sized bream. No, I don’t have a scale because I dropped in the water the other day. I did get a measurement from my reel to first guide.- the fish fit perfectly between them . I will get the length when I get home( forgot my fish ruler too. This isn’t the one I’m after, but it’s halfway … I guess 5-6 pounds…

I took our senator fishing for three hours this morning. He sits on Maine's Inland Fisheries and Wildlife committee, so he remarked that it helps him to be reminded of what he's protecting. He'd never caught a bass before this morning, so he was thrilled to catch them and a quick study. He caught them on the surface, on a T-Rigged craw, on a T-Rigged worm, and on an underspin, both trolling and casting. His casting improved throughout the morning and he said he loved hearing me explain why I moved the canoe here and there. He's a terribly busy guy, so I felt honored to have him spend three hours in my canoe. He's also a great guy, both brainy and down-to-earth. Here are a few of his fish. See his smiles!

7 lb 6 oz NLMB on a Roma Trout today (it's a 7.5" wedgetail swimbait). Only bite in about six hours. Fishing a main lake point in about 15 FOW, fishing it sort of slow on the bottom. Water has warmed up to high 50s/ low 60s in the last three weeks since I caught a swimbait fish (two skunk trips in that time). I fish whenever I can. That means not very often. I still keep track of moon phases and moonrise/ moonset times. Interestingly, I caught the fish right at moonset. Of course, I have fished hundreds of times without catching anything around moonset time, so it probably doesn't mean anything. Dobyns 867/ Calcutta 401D/ 25# PLine PF

Yesterday, while watching the eclipse, I ran into a dude who was in a fishing club I used to be in. We started talking about the old days and the one thing that stood out was how little we (both) fish now, because of all the work/ non-work related responsibilities we have. Can't believe I actually got out to fish again today. That's twice in two weeks lol! And I caught a couple pictureworthy NLMBs too. 4 lbs 10 ozs on a Hiroshima hardtail. This bait is an xxxs, almost suspends. I was fishing a main lake point, fishing it with reel pops and long pauses since the water is still pretty cold (low 50s) in the central VA mountains. Kinda remarkable catch since I don't usually catch very many decent fish on hard swimbaits (except rats). Then I caught a 6 lb 10 ozs fish on a secondary point inside a cove on a custom-painted 7" WCZ Citizen in about 7-8 FOW, fishing it pretty slow on/ near the bottom. Honestly surprised to find a shallow/ close-to-the-shore fish this early in the season, but sure glad I decided to spend half an hour in that cove.

Took the last ten days off, as the window on the big crappie bite has closed. Got back out today, but spent two hrs double checking some of the last areas I found a few but without a bite. So, pulled out the bass sticks and started refocusing efforts there. Only got two bites, but they were decent ones. On the right path it seems. More green fish focus going forward.

Highlights from a super weird cold front. Lotsa toads! Too many to post smaller than this. Been a fun last 24 hours. Can't wait to see what this weekend has in store for us!!! Jake started us out right before it hit with a 5.5 on the boat and I followed him up with some chunky pre and post spawners at the pond while it blew hard and got chilly.

I spent the morning chasing those uncooperative muskie, once again without success. I found lots of shad up in the creeks, but no slimers with 'em, so I called it quits with them about noon, and picked up the flippin stick. Ended up with 11 LM before I called it quits at four. 10 bucks in the 1-2# range and this 3.48#. First one over 3# this year. Hoping to get out in tomorrows monsoon, but it's looking like lightning may scrap that trip.

Well I'm way behind on my reports, but I guess better late than never. Day 1 Launched at Sizemore Landing with about 12 other kayaks. I was the only one without a motor so at 0630, I watched everyone else blast off, then hopped in my kayak and started kind of kicking around and scanning since I hadn't fished this area at all in practice. As soon as the sun started to lighten the sky after lines in, the schooling started. I hadn't had much luck getting the schooling fish to bite, but I had a different bait ready for them this morning and it flipped the switch for them. The Rapala Crush City Freeloader on a 1/16oz Hover Head just slowly swam through the schoolers did all the heavy lifting in the morning on day 1. I started with a 16" fish. Then went back to back with 16.75" inchers. A 17" fish and a 13 incher rounded out my limit. It all happened so fast, I had no idea what I had, what time it was, what had even happened really. I culled the 13" with another 17" fish. And then culled the 16" fish with another 16.75" fish. It was about 0830 at this point, only 1.5 hours into the day and I was already into the mid 80's on my limit, which was my goal for the day. My buddy Jon and his son pulled up in the boat to watch me and then another boat pulled up. I thought I was going to have someone park on top of me and fish because it had happened so many times, but it turned out to be Mark Cisneros from Bassmaster. He introduced himself and told me he was going to take some pictures. My heart was already going, but I knew what it meant having the camera boat pull up on me, even if it was early in the morning on the first day. Trying to fish when I knew they were there watching me, I haven't been that nervous since I drove my first born home from the hospital. Jon took a picture of the camera boat, taking pictures of me. Some action shots, unfortunately the bite had died by the time they got there and I only caught 1 tiny smallmouth while they were there. Now when I tell you that my bite died, it was stone dead. If I only knew how close I was to the motherlode though. I fished until 1330, with 1 more dink largemouth to show for it, before I decided to move to another ramp where I had 1 short stretch of bank across from the ramp where I'd done well in practice. I caught several more there in the last hour and hooked 2 that felt good, but both just came off my jig for some reason. I ended the day in 20th, but it was a tight race and it wasn't out of reach. I never looked at the scoreboard, couldn't make myself do it, but my wife took a couple screenshots. Sorry about the audio on this video, but there may not be a day 2 video so this is all I've got for now. I did go out for a few hours yesterday on Easter and caught myself an overinflated football. 17.5" and 3.75lbs on the Strike King Rodent with a Gamakatsu Nano Alpha 4/0 EWG Superline hook.

Caught a nice one fishing the Kissimmee chain.

I went this afternoon/evening for about 4 hours an hour from my house. It was warm and windy out, but I knew there was going to be a weather change coming. I got on the water and could see the cloud deck coming in the distance. There was no rain associated with this change, just a drop in air temps, thick clouds, and a major wind shift from the south to the west. I crushed them on both a spinnerbait and a newly acquired tungsten evo chatter bait. The terminator spinnerbait was probably a little better, but I caught the biggest largemouth of the season on the evo. In total, I landed 19 largemouth and 5 pike. Every bass was at least 16 inches. I took photos of the 5 biggest, which included an 19, 20, and 21 incher. I weighed the 21 incher and it was 5.97 pounds. Some of you may remember a 20.5 inch prespawn largemouth I caught back in May, which at the time, was a second best PB. This bass today replaces that one as a second best PB. The only one I have caught bigger was way back in 2006. Quite often, these rapid changes in weather produce a bite window and the fish become very aggressive. That's exactly what occurred and I timed it right. I think the fish are moving into more of a fall pattern now too here, finally. I expect the next 2-3 weeks to be very good before I hang it up for the season.

Hit the Columbia on Sunday the 25th and I caught a beast of a smallmouth. At 21.75" it was the longest smallmouth I have caught and it tipped the scales at 5lbs even (well short of my heaviest which was a 5lb 14oz bass from 2023). That was definitely the best summertime smallmouth I have ever caught. It really turned a somewhat mediocre day into a great one!! I got the the river around daybreak and the wind was calm and forecast to be light out of the West all day long (that turned out to be a lie) so I decided to head East for the first time this year. I was a little nervous about that decision since I don't know that part of the river very well since it is not often that it is fun to fish from the kayak. The other things that gave me were different for this trip is that the shad smolt are out-migrating and it looked like it was raining there were so many dimpling and the river was probably up a foot or two from anything I had seen this summer. I thought the shad smolt would be there but I was surprised by the water height. I dd hit the point by the ramp to start the day and promptly missed a couple of topwater bites and caught a smallish fish. I then headed East and picked up a small smallmouth just upstream from the ramp. I was starting to feel like this was not going to be the greatest of days. I headed upstream to a point I have done well on in the past but only managed two bass off of it. One was decent (2lb 4oz) and the other was a little over a pound. After fishing that point I gave serious consideration to turning around and heading West but for whatever reason I decided to keep going East. The next couple of spots each produced a handful of fish. Mostly dinks but with a couple of decent ones thrown in. Overall it was a grind with a lot of work going into every fish I was catching. The fish were in 15-25' of water and it was a lot of slow and tedious probing for each bite that I got. I was rotating between a Ned rig, drop shot and wobblehead jig and each produced some fish. By noon I only had 11 bass, about one every half hour. Definitely not lighting it up. I had two bass that were over 16" and a lot of the rest were dinks. Several spots that normally produce were completely empty and I kept thinking I had made a mistake in heading East. I had not given up hope completely since I had not yet reached my favorite spot but I definitely was just hoping to catch at least a few fish off my favorite spot. By the time I made it to the spot the wind was starting to pick up which I was hoping would stimulate the bite. I started carefully probing the spot and it was crickets. I was starting to really feel bad about the day at that point. I stopped to eat my cherries and think. I said to myself, "There have to be fish on this spot". I realized that the wind was making it hard to control my kayak so all my fishing a bit haphazard. I decided to extremely carefully re-probe the spot making sure every cast had a purpose in sifting the water. Since the wind was making it hard to fish I decided to make the wobblehead+Zoom speed craw my primary weapon. It gets to the bottom quickly and is pretty easy to fish effectively with even in the wind. After a bit of careful probing I found a section of that spot that was holding fish and quickly caught a few nice bass and big (3lb) pikieminnow on the wobblehead. I switched to the drop shot for a bit but realized I was having a hard time keeping contact with the bottom. After a bit I realized I should mostly keep the wobblehead in my hand. Three casts later I felt a thump and then no weight at all. I reeled in quickly and when I caught up to the fish I slammed the hook home. It was one of those beautiful moments where you rear back on the hookset and it feels like the tip of the rod does not move an inch - oh yeah, this is a big one! The fish fought hard but I was able to get it to the surface pretty quickly. When I saw that fish I almost lost my mind. Fortuneately I was able to keep my wits about me and keep good pressure on that fish. I was not going to make a stupid mistake on this one! As I went to scoop it with the net it made a thrashing jump and sort of bounced off the side of the kayak. I was able to scoop it up on the rebound and the beast was mine!! Just a beautifully healthy 5lb 0oz, 21.17" piggy. I stopped fishing for a few minutes after this and texted that picture on the board to a handful of friends and my family. A somewhat mediocre day just became epic! When I got back to fishing the bit just kept getting better and better. To try to keep them biting I switched up to a Ned rig for a bit and picked up a 19.25" 3lb 1oz bass. Then it was back to the wobblehead and I picked up a couple more decent ones and then a 17.5" 2lb 13oz fish. For most of the day I could not find a decent fish and now the small ones I was cathing were as nice as my best fish from earlier. I am not sure if the bite just turned on or if my careful probing is what made the difference and I don't care I ended the day with 20 bass and the 1 pikieminnow. My best 5 went 91.25" (21.75, 19.25, 17.5, 16.5, 16.26) and weighed 15lb 1oz (5lb, 3lb 1oz, 2lb 13oz, 2lb 4oz, 1lb 15oz). They were still biting good when I left but the wind was becoming ferocious (turns out the light winds turned into a 20mph blow). It took my 55 minutes to slog back to the ramp through the wind and the waves and I did not regret a single second of that ride Here are some other pics from the day and my video.

… and spent $200. When I’m at work I occasionally run over to Sugar Creek Marina to grab some lunch. Their food is actually pretty good compared to grabbing fast food. They also happen to have a good tackle store with competitive pricing. You can see where this is going. I picked up my chicken sandwich, then grabbed three bags of Crush City Freeloaders. Then I realized I needed some more jig heads because I’m always snagging them and losing them. On the way to the register, I walked past the St. Croix rods. I already have one of their BassX rods that I really like and the next thing you know I was carrying another one to the register. And that’s how a chicken sandwich cost me $208.

I took Cosmo with fishing today. Fishing was good. I found a nice weed line and taloned down along it, catching bass after bass on a Neko rig. At one point, when I was fighting one of the bigger fish of the morning, I looked back and said "Cosmo, grab the net." She looked up at me, looked at the net, and then looked back at me like W T F.

Got a solid one to come out from under the dock, working a glide in and out. The ensuing fight was chaotic-the extra rod was getting in the way and being on a paddle board I couldn't just power the fish in like I would from shore. Luckily she was hooked so well even after the 4th jump she couldn’t throw the bait. Definitely need to start packing a net. Fish was 21” and didn’t quite make 5. Post spawn blues.

God lined up the stars for my annual Michigan smallie trip! I still can't believe what went down... Three 7lb class smallies and two 6lb class smallies made up the 34lb 8oz bag I had the second to last day of the trip!!!!!! I almost had a 2nd 30lb+ bag the same day! Along with the 34lb 8oz bag (listed below), I had another 6lb 8oz, 6lb, 6lb, and two 5lb 4oz, making another 29lb 4oz bag, missing a second dirty 30 of smallies by 12oz!!! Shaking hands and big smiles stuck with me all day as the madness unfolded. I'm definitely spoiled now, and it's going to be hard to top that day (although the very next day which was the last day of my trip, I had 31lb 8oz with another 7lb kicker! That bag included a 7lb, 6lb 8oz, 6lb 6lb, 5lb 8oz). I've had the goal of a 7lb+ smallie for a few years now, and it feels great to see all the time, money, preparation, and mental fortitude pay off! I'm finally a member of the 7lb smallie club × 4 all within 48 hours! For the entire trip I had: (4) 7lb class, (15) 6lb class and (22) 5lb class smallies! The four 7lb class smallies were between 21½"-23"L and 17"-17½"G and all were weighed multiple times with my IGFA certified 15lb Boga Grip. The 34lb 8oz bag consisted of: 1. 7lb 4oz 2. 7lb 4oz 3. 7lb 4. 6lb 8oz 5. 6lb 8oz Can't add many photos on here, got one pic of one 7lb 4oz. More pics on IG - 22RangerZ520R

Pops starting off the afternoon trip with an eager buck on the edge of the tulles. Up to this point the best fish was an unexpected crappie 😆 Dinkfest for me this time His best fish in years. Long arming so it's not quite as big as it looks, but it was still a solid 4lbs with an incredible amount of girth. Great afternoon!

Found a few on a pattern I've never seen before. They were hunting trout in open water, not relating to any particular structure or cover. Every now and then I'd see a trout frantically trying to escape being pinned against a steep island bluff bank but for the most part I was seeing these massive explosions out in open water and occasionally against the bank. There wasn't really a way to target these fish other than being in the right place at the right time. Ended up with 3 at 4-5, 4-11, 6-0 on a deps 250. Only thing I figured out for certain was that they wanted an uphill presentation. Cast out into deep water and retrieve toward the bank and they'd pin it against the bank like they'd been doing to the trout. There were definitely bigger fish in the mix, I missed out on a large part of the bite window before I realized what was happening.

The fish were a bit more cooperative today than they were yesterday. I got out for about four hours, put 8 in the boat, and lost two more. All were caught pitching flooded brush. The two lost were both dinks that came unbuttoned as they were sailing over my head. 😂 Best of the bunch was this 3.21#

Had a great day out on the water. Started off sunny and by lunchtime the storm had moved in with some cool rain and snow up the hill. Water temp 58* and saw some bucks up shallow making beds. Good times just right around the corner. They were primarily interested in finesse and a wacky senko was the ticket. Underspin also picked up quite a few, including this overzealous crappie. No giants but catching a bunch of 15-18" spots was a great time.

With a storm front a few hours away I decided to jump out to my little whopper plopper honey hole on Ray Roberts. All the people camping in that area had packed out already so I had free access to the tree I've been casting next to. It's windy, but it's a south wind which has been the determining factor in the success of this particular spot. Third cast, biggest topwater bass I've ever caught, and tied for the biggest bass I've ever landed on the bank. 7lb 5oz. About two cranks in, there's a good size splash on my lure, and I give it a second before setting the hook. The new airdx/tournament pro combo handled greatly. This fish jumped four times before I got it to the bank. The first jump made it clear that it was a nice fish. I lipped it at the bank, and of course had to document, it was clearly one of my better catches. There was only one barb in the fish. The whole fight lasted maybe 25 seconds, but it felt like forever. Got her released and she swam off strongly. Missed two smaller strikes, a gar, then pinned a smaller bass with a black choppo 75. Sun set, weather started picking up so I called it a night. I think I fished for about an hour.

Been a slow week, but we’re not starving. Think the bass are back in transition with this warming trend this week. Mostly smaller keepers, but getting a few a little bit better. Then there are those crappies - got a couple from 2.6-2.75 lbs, plus a few smaller ones.

From time to time people tell me: Lighten up, it’s just a dog”. Or “that’s a lot of money for just a dog”. They don’t understand the distance traveled. The time spent or the cost involved for ‘just a dog’. Some of my proudest moments have come about with ‘just a dog’. Many hours have passed and my only company was ‘just a dog.’ But I did not once feel slighted. Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by ‘just a dog’. And in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of ‘just a dog’, gave me comfort and a reason to overcome the day. If you too think it’s ‘just a dog’ then you probably understand phrases like ‘just a friend’, ‘just a sunrise’, or ‘just a promise’. Just a dog brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust and pure unbridled joy. ‘Just a dog’ brings out the compassion and patience that make me a better person. Because of just a dog, I will rise early, take long walks, and look longingly into the future. So for me and folks like me, it’s not ‘just a dog’. But an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment. ‘Just a dog’ brings out what’s good in me. And diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day. I hope the someday they can understand that it’s not ‘just a dog’, but the thing that gives me humility. And keeps me from being just a man or just a woman. So the next time you hear the phrase, ‘just a dog’, Just Smile. Because they just don’t understand. A-Jay

Originally planned on going tomorrow (and I still might). Either way, I called an audible and hit local Lake Menderchuck for an afternoon trip. Surface water temps were still 75, despite a cold east wind and mostly bogus on & off rain in my face. Been a while since I've fished in the rain but I knew the boating traffic would be non-existent in that mess, so I went for it. The brown bass were, for the most part, fairly cooperative. A swinghead with a Keitech Swing Impact FAT Swimbait did all the damage today. Got plenty of bites and I needed every one. A-Jay

I got about 3 hours of sleep total last night. Just could not stay asleep. So I decided to stay as close to home as possible. So…another 45 second drive to the pond lol. Haven't had much success here lately and as far a quantity is concerned, only 4 in 4 hours. But, I did catch my new topwater PB this morning. Not huge (just under 4 lbs.) but yeah, it’s my biggest topwater bass. Decided to start out on a PopMax and it was a good choice. About 10-12 casts in, as soon as I made the first twitch, it was gone. No big blow-up. Just gone like sucked down the drain. She put up a great fight. Nothing on a jig this time. One on a Zoom Z Craw worm in California 420 on a Texas rig and two on a WR black Senko. All fought hard. The topwater bass started pulling drag!

First tournament of the year for Kansas Kayak Anglers and Kansas Bass Nation was this past Saturday at Big Hill Lake in Cherryvale Kansas. Big Hill is a 1,200 acre, timber filled lake with only 3 ramps, so it was a crowded lake with 41 anglers participating. It's the same lake we started the season on last April, it went something like this. So I was cautiously optimistic going into the tournament, despite the fact that historically, Big Hill doesn't play very nicely with me. Prefishing conditions were very similar to last year, so I fished the same area as the previous year and caught several fish, as well as shook a bunch off. After just a few hours, I was off the water and went to a different lake where I caught my biggest bass of the year so far. Tournament morning, I started on my best bank and planned on catching a quick limit and building on it from there. At the end of my best bank, I had absolutely nothing to show for it, not even a bite. I fished the little pocket that was magic the year before, it wasn't magic this morning. It took almost 2 hours before I finally landed a squeaker 13" keeper on a Strike King Rodent. The next 2 bites I had were dirt shallow, which surprised me because of the cold front conditions, I lost both fish. Next fish got yanked clear out of the water because of my trying to make up for the 2 lost fish, and it only being 12" long. Well past 2 hours into the tournament, and I was sitting at a whopping 25" when I was sure I would have been culling by now. I fished down a bank I'd had no bites in practice, but was quickly running out of ideas. I missed one and then quickly got another bite on the Rodent that was little more like I was looking for, a 16.5" fish. There's a little pond attached to the lake I was hoping to maybe fill my limit out of. I don't normally fish it, but desperate times and all that. It wasn't much, but I found a 15.75" on a Ned rig and a 11.75" on a spinnerbait to fill out a very small limit. Cutting across the lake, I started catching fish fairly regularly, but they were very small culls. Instead of the 16-18 inch fish I needed, I was catching 13 inchers. I culled up to barely beyond the 70" mark, but it regularly takes 95"+ to win on this lake, I knew I had to make a change. I only had 2 spinning rods with me. Too much timber for the standard Ned, so I opted for the Big TRD on the weedless Ned head. I got bit by what felt like a good fish right away, but it came off. I caught what I thought was going to be a good upgrade, but it was just so fat it looked bigger, only a 13.75" fish, but I was getting bites and doing it behind people. Back to the bank I started on, fishing the big Ned along laydowns and stumps. It was after noon and things just weren't happening, I needed things to start happening, and this is when they did. I pulled into what I thought was grass, then it moved a little. Hookset was solid, and it launched eyeball high into the air. I had a long battle through the stumps in the wind before she was in the net. The 18.75" fish was over a 5" cull at this point in the day. I turned around and went back down the bank. Right in front of another laydown, I hooked another good one that was creating all kinds of commotion on the surface immediately. Another 18" fish hit the net and another big boost to my score. A few cast later next to a log, a little "tick", and I set into another good fish. This one not quite as long, but the 16.75" fish was still about a 2" cull. I could feel it now, I needed to get rid of one last 15" fish and I had a shot. My bank was suddenly crowded. No spot vultures, the lake was just busy and guys just happened to be working through at a bad time. I looked across the lake and one of my secondary spots was finally open after being occupied all day. It was almost 2PM, lines out was 2:30. I shot across, weaving through the timber. The wind was pounding the bank and the bait was hard to feel. I fired a long cast against the wind into a laydown. I worked the bait a little and by the time I got to it, I realized the line was headed out towards the kayak. I popped the rod straight up and it was on the top immediately and right in the net. I put the 17.50" fish on the board at 2:12PM. In the last 2 hours, I rocketed up from the low 70's, to 87.50", all on a big Ned rig. I didn't think it would be enough, but to my surprise, I had it when I caught the 18 incher.

Pops starting the day off with a nice one again. Being a littlestitious, I shaved the poor excuse of the start of a vacation beard into a goatee figuring the bass clearly didn't know who I was when they hid from me the day before. First bass didn't help. 😆 The start of an accidental crappiefest. Double hookup. And some mild trash talk of my crappie is bigger than your bass... Finally got into a good one. Incredible sunset to close out a great day.