paul.

jig 'n monkey wins! got this one plus many more today on the brand new "Big O" brush jig from Gman at Siebert Outdoors. color to be announced later. ragetail space monkey trailer. this jig is everything i hoped it would be and then some. thanks Mike!!!

love these jigs more and more every time i fish 'em. another great day using 'em today. the hook is an absolute monster. strong as can be, but sets with the ease of light wire. and this hook holds a point like nobody's business. even after weeks of hanging fish after fish (and the occasional tree ), there is no noticeable difference in sharpness between the ones i've been using and the brand new ones i've got. and i've yet to jack or roll a point - something i've done all too often with other so called "premium" hooks. even using 7 foot rods, 50 lb. braid, and wrecking ball force hooksets, this jig comes through unscathed time after time. and best of all, i've not lost one fish that i've put a hook in. i've put this jig through some serious torture, and it's come through with flying colors. i've not lost a single strand of weedguard and it remains as well anchored in the jig as it did the day i took it out of the package. the paint job still looks great. this baby is built like a tank. fantastic job Mike!!! you've really outdone yourself on this one.

"Side note - we hit a grand slam the other night, catching a bass, catfish, bluegill, turtle, and racoon all in the same night. That coon was not very amused." you've been on quite a rampage here lately. no aquatic creature is safe. seriously though, you've had a great summer. that's awesome because summer fishing can really be tough sometimes.

http://ragetalk.com/index.php?topic=3033.0

2 suggestions. have you tried punching through the hydrilla with heavy jigs or pegged t-rigs? the fact that you can see the bass suggests you are fishing in open water. especially during the hot part of the day, there will be fish holed up in the thickest vegetation. dropping something on their head is a sure way to get bit. the other suggestion that i would make is try fishing faster baits like a rage shad or rage toad accross the top. fast presentations will often force a bass to commit since they don't have a chance to study the bait.

so many rewards come from pond management - the pride of accomplishment, the satisfaction of overcoming challenges, and the sheer fun of catching fish you've raised yourself. but for me, as well as many of y'all, the biggest reward is the abilty to pass something on to those you love. here are a few pics from a little outing with my niece and nephew this spring. i was so tickled to see them enjoying themselves at the pond catching these nice bass. many folks would tell you that kids are not supposed to catch fish like this. it creates unrealistic expectations. it makes fishing seem too easy. it sets them up for disappointment. really? well, if i've got my way, these kids will always be able to catch fish like this. they won't ever be disappointed when they come to uncle paul's pond. they'll ask every time they see me when they can come back and catch some more fish. sadly, this pond was ruined in the flood of the century shortly after these pictures were taken. the water got so high that the vast majority of the fish were washed out into a field through the overflow. there was so much water coming out of the pond that i found dead fish over 100 yards away from the pond once it stopped raining. it was kind of brutal to see all those dead lunkers out there in the field. i won't complain though. many folks lost much more in that flood than just a few fish. i have since rectified the problem so that i won't lose any more fish due to high water. i have been in the process of re-stocking. the setback has only made me more determined to succeed. i have scrapped many of my old techniques in an effort to improve. time will tell. but if i have my way, i'll be seeing plenty more pictures like this. hope y'all are catching some too. http:// http://

the ragetail baby thumper proved to be the perfect bait for my dad last week. with his arthritis, he cannot consistently sink big hooks, especially with the spinning tackle he has to use. and in the stuff we were fishing, exposed hooks are out of the question. so i rigged him up with the baby, a picasso pro metal 1/8 oz. bullet weight, and the tiny but deadly owner 1/0 cutting point. it was as if he'd magically lost 20 years as he connected with fish after fish on the t-rigged baby. the design of the bait means there is very little plastic to come through and the consistency is of the plastic allows hooks to easily penetrate without tearing up the bait. i'll guarantee ya that for a few chaotic hours, my dad forgot he even had arthritis. when the smoke cleared, we had whacked 'em and stacked 'em to the tune of 50+ fish. and dad caught most of 'em. he said it was the best day of worm fishing he had EVER had. that encompasses 70 years worth of fishing, so that's a compliment of the highest regard to this amazing bait. the baby thumper is the perfect bait for old folks, kids, folks with physical challenges, and newcomers because it allows for a big margin of error in the hooksetting department. in fact, with the rig i described above, you can consistently sink the hook just by reeling and keeping steady pressure on the rod. there's just not much that the baby can't do. for a few precious hours last week, it even turned back the hands of time. thanks for another wonderful memory Steve! http://

my favorite havoc bait. great on a t-rig. even better rigged "sideways" and used as a swimbait with a keel weighted hook.

1. ragetail rage craw. 2. bullet weights in assorted sizes. 3. 3/0 and 4/0 owner hooks. 4. 3/8 to 3/4 oz. jigs. 5. super spook. 6. 1/2 oz. xcalibur xr50. 7. 3/8 and 1/2 oz. spinnerbaits. 8. rapala x-rap, x-rap shad, and dt series in varying depths. 9. senkos 10. zoom mag II worms. fish these properly at the right times and right places. if you don't get bit, go home because all the bass in the lake are dead.

you're on fire. sounds like you put the hurt on 'em. keep up the good work man.

i can tell you're a proud dad, and you should be. y'all had a lot of fun it sounds like.

one day when he's winning tournaments or catching 10 pounders, you'll look back on this day and remember how it all began. good job man. way to get him out there.

that is a nice healthy fish right there for sure. i'll take 'em like that any day of the week. twice on sundays. stay on 'em man.

thanks y'all. i was just barely inching the bait along the bottom on a light 3/16 oz. tungsten t-rig with a 3/0 owner long shank offset hook. (I'm not a big fan of the EWG hook style). they wanted it very S L O W. one interesting thing about this trip was that i intentionally left the graph at home. of course that's not a big deal on a small (about 130 acres) lake that you know fairly well. but for some reason, it just seems like i usually catch more/bigger fish when i either don't bring the graph or i just ignore it. i think for one thing it forces you to be more in tune with your senses and what is happening on each cast. for another thing, you have to fish more thoroughly to determine if there are fish in an area or not instead of just glancing at a screen (which can be misleading). it is this type of deliberate, methodical approach that i think is often conducive to getting to getting the big bite. by leaving my electronic brain at home and dusting the cobwebs off of the real one, feeble as it is, i was reminded yesterday of some subtle little things that can make a big difference. for example, you can often tell by the way fish are hitting a soft plastic and taking off with it (or not) whether there are other active fish in the area. oh who the heck am i kidding? i just left the graph at home because i'm lazy and i hate having to hook up extra crap.

just a few thoughts come to mind here. first and foremost, fish how you wanna. the great thing about this sport is that everyone can do it in the ways that make them happy. if you wanna target 8+ bass with spinning gear and 10 pound test, power to ya. but really big fish seem to come along so rarely. when they do, it's nice to be able to put 'em in the boat. sure spinning gear and light line will get the job done IF you do everything right, IF you don't have equipment problems, and IF the terrain will allow. those are 3 very big if's right there. a big fish will quickly expose the weakest link(s) in your tackle. so imo it's best not to have any weak links. not only that, but you have to totally wear down a big fish with light tackle. in the summer with hot water and thin oxygen, that can be a bad deal for the fish and it increases chances for mortality. the chances that the fish will die are further compounded if you break it off and leave a hook in it. in the long run, it's probably better for you and the fish if you beef up your tackle a little. either way, i wish you nothing but luck and hope you get her next time. wanna see a picture when you do.

glad you to fish some. bad weather can be frustrating, but also very productive. nice fish and that's a pretty sweet looking swimbait setup.

congrats big time to you Clay. you caught a huge fish and you've got one of the best fishing buddies in the whole world.

that's another great fish. you are really putting a hurt on 'em this year.

great story and fantastic pics. times like that you'll never forget.

when you empty it on fish like this one! this 8-5 couldn't resist a green pumpkin rage craw fished off a point in about 8 ft. of water. she was part of a very nice day that also featured a chunky 6-6 off a deep timber line and a whole pile of smaller ones. also caught quite a few on red shad baby thumpers. my rod and reel definitely got a good workout today. here's a couple of pics of the big one.

hey guys. been a while. despite a busier than usual spring, i have managed some fishing. i have been concentrating on my favorite lake for the past few months. this lake really got hurt badly a couple of years ago. it was drained WAY down to fix a leaky overflow pipe. while it was down, unfortunately a few idiots took advantage and basically just raped the place. on top of that, it stayed very low during the hottest part of summer, undoubtedly killing even more fish. i really had my doubts about whether this lake would ever be the same. well, i have been very pleasantly suprised. since starting to fish there earlier this year, it has been a rarity to have a trip with less than 40 fish. big fish have been a lot more scarce than they used to be, but i think there's still a few in there. numbers have been as good or better as they ever were. in the long run, this drawdown may be the best thing that ever happened to this lake. here's a few pictures. during the spawn, the rage craw was the hot ticket. this bait single-handedly produced over 200 bass. after the spawn, i took advantage of some red hot bluegill and shellcracker action. the vast majority of the fish were good quality, this size or bigger. plenty of fun on 4 pound test. lately, despite the spawn being long done and water temps around 90, i am still finding lots of fish on shallow wood and grassbeds - 3-5 ft deep. there was a large algae bloom on the lake for about 2 weeks. due to light being unable to penetrate, much of the lake's lush grass died - especially in deeper water. only a few patches of shallow grass survived. i have been keying on these and doing fairly well. baits of choice have been squarebills, rattlebaits, and worms. the zoom mag II has been the best producer of all. in fact, the mag has outshined all my other worms by a very wide margin - even the more expensive ones. some plastic companies are charging over $5 for a pack with less than 10 worms these days. it's good to know that worms costing $3.99 / 20 pack will still put a bunch of fish in the boat. here's a decent mag II fish, best of the trip yesterday. needless to say, i am quite happy with the way this lake has bounced back. take heart if your favorite water has fallen on hard times. given time and opportunity, mother nature does a pretty good job of healing herself. hope y'all are catching some too.

very nice lunker there. nothing like being able to find a pond loaded with bigguns. hope you get plenty more.

right now Kent a variety of lures are working. i caught the picture fish on a secret spinnerbait. i won't give away my favorite spinnerbait, but i will tell ya that i prefer the smaller profile, double willow baits in the half ounce size. several companies make baits that have the majority of the weight hidden behind the skirt, and these have always worked well for me on ky lake this time of year. but a spinnerbait is not the only lure that will work well for the fish i'm on by any means. square bills and rattle baits are money as well. eliminating water until you find fish is key, so i prefer baits that i can sling a long way and cover a lot of water with. do not sleep on cranks that run in the 8-12 foot range either. it never hurts to have your favorite topwater tied on either because believe it or not, the fish will come up and bust shad this time of year. i prefer a super spook because you can throw it a mile and it has big fish appeal, but that's just me. once you do find a good school of fish, slowing down with your favorite plastic will often put a lunker in the boat for ya. as you can tell, there are a variety of things working. one thing that does NOT seem to be working well yet is the bush flipping bite. 2 reasons for this - falling water and water temps falling back into the 50's. if one of these factors changes, the flipping bite should improve a bit because it will cause some a few fish to move up into the bushes and shallow cover. if BOTH of these factors change (water rises and water temps climb past the magical 60 degree mark), you better have a jig and flipping stick in the boat. right now, i think a few people are trying to rush it. finding shallow fish can be tough when the aforementioned factors are working against you. but several people are still trying to force feed 'em a jig in the bushes. i have heard that success has been limited at best for these taking this route and this tactic has been hit or miss lately- mostly miss. based on what i've said so far, you have probably figured out that i'm primarily fishing points and flats. the single biggest key, at least for me, has been finding key areas CLOSE TO DEEP WATER. the spot i did the best on friday was relatively close to the channel. i would give the nod to primary points first. but secondary points will work too, as long as they are close to deeper water. this will not matter nearly as much once the water level stabilizes, but it seems to be very important now. if you do attempt to fish a pockets or cove, i would stick to those with deep water access. and i would concentrate my efforts on the first few yards going in on both sides as fish tend to pull to key areas at the entrance of pockets and coves as long as the water is falling. now some other folks may be slaying 'em doing something else, but this is what's working for me. i am BY NO MEANS an expert on ky lake as i have only been fishing it regularly for about a year and a half. there are several reliable guide reports available online. but to me the most reliable source to dictate how and where i'm going to fish is TVA info. the two things to pay major attention to is the water level trend (rising or falling) and how much current they are pulling (anything over 100,000 is great). here's a link: http://www.tva.gov/lakes/kyh_r.htm. sorry, but i don't know a thing about crappie. the only ones i catch are by accident when i'm bass fishing. hope this helped.

kentucky lake is on fire! over 30 fish yesterday with some nice ones in the mix - even in the sleet. and the fish have obviously been eating well. everything i caught yesterday looked to be at least half a pound bigger than it "should be". to say they looked like footballs was an understatement. they looked like footballs that had swallowed softballs. i think the guys who fish the road trip should have an absolute blast (barring another epic flood and lake closing of course ;D). here's a pic. this one was 5 on the nose and it has to be one of the shortest 5's i've ever caught. and all the fish from yesterday were shaped like this. just really, really fat and healthy bass. talk about a good time! hoping for another outing like this one again next week.

phenomenal trip! maybe even "once in a lifetime" caliber outing. simply amazing.