paul.

going to the same old spots and fishing the same old ways might bring back some painful memories for now. try something new - new spot, new technique, new tackle. above all i'd suggest going fishing by yourself to re-discover the reasons you fell in love with it to begin with. good luck.

congrats on the fat smallies and the tasty walleyes. that's a real nice one you got in the pic there.

that sounds like some fine fishing. just once i'd like to catch a peacock. wouldn't even have to be big. real cool man. congrats on your mixed bag day.

well, as of a little while ago, i can mark another lifetime bassin' goal off my list. this is something that i've wanted to do for a while, but i wanted to make sure the timing was right so as not to possibly injure a big fish. i've tired it a few times previous to today and caught some decent fish, just not the one i was looking for. after a break from work this morning, i headed out to a little lake armed with my one of my favorite soft plastics, and one of my trusty spinning rods strung with 4 POUND TEST and NO LEADER. the conditions told me it might be a pretty good day to catch a biggun. everything seemed right. i went to one of my favorite areas, and after hauling water for a little while, i finally saw the line twitch and take off. tightened down on her and sunk the hook. didn't take long to figure out i had a real contender on and i was ever so careful to do things just right so as not to snap the thin wisp of line between me and the fish. fortunately, i managed not to screw it up and quickly got this picture after bringing her in. perhaps i cheated a little bit by waiting so late in the year when the water was cool and the fish wouldn't be quite so lively once i stuck her. but like i said, this was intentional so as not to risk over-stressing the fish by having to thoroughly play it out in warm water. that's the same reason that i got such a quick pic rather than taking the time to pose. i wanted to get the fish back in asap after having to play it on the light line. so y'all will just have to try to believe me when i say she was over 8. 8-) how do i know? simple. she was over 8 last time i caught her and it didn't look like she'd been on a diet. as a matter of fact, if you look closely, you can even see the spot i stuck her last time. chalk up another great moment thanks to catch and release. so yeah, i'm pretty happy right now after catching my pb light line bass. sorry i couldn't show y'all a better pic, but i gotta try to take care of these big fish. hope y'all are catchin' some too.

i've always wanted to catch one of those. and that's a nice one for sure. congrats!

totally amazing!!! adventure of a lifetime for sure.

very nice. congrats on the lunker.

excellent! i am so hoping to be able to spend more than one day this year and being able to fish some. i'm gonna keep my fingers crossed that everything is gonna work out.

I didn't get a chance to meet you at Ky Lake. Hope that changes at Pickwick. Kelley Same here. No need to sleep on the floor. I think Mike gets lonely and has room in his bed. ;D ;D you might be right, but i heard mike was already spoken for. not callin' any names (blaine). just sayin'. :

agree with tin. i've caught many bass, both big and small in clear water when i've been very close. and not just with live bait. and not just during the spawn. it's not easy, but sometimes it can be done. one thing i'm suprised no one has suggested is fishing during low light conditions. this would be another great way to catch these wary fish.

nope, not bad at all. in fact, that's awesome. i knew you'd caught some nice ones, but nothing like that. those are real trophies for sure. even down here, many guys would call those fish of a lifetime. i would say that would be the equivalent of a teen fish in the south. congrats. now go catch another one.

very nice. that's a fine looking fish.

very nice, but no need for that at all bro. if anyone is sleeping on the floor, it's me. i'm not sure what my work schedule will allow at this point, but i'm gonna try to do something. even if it's just stopping in to say hi to all my buds like last year. but i'm hoping to be able to stay awhile this year. keeping my fingers crossed.

here's 4 thoughts. 1. bring some live minnows, preferably wild. 2. bring a spinning rod with light line and a small circle hook. 3. bring a scale. 4. bring a camera. 8-)

so lemme get this straight. your 8 pounder, 2 12's, and a 65 pound carp out of the same pond. that's pretty amazing. what's even more amazing is that apparently big fish are being kept out of this pond and it is still kicking out bigguns. is this pond by any chance connected to a nuclear waste disposal facility? ;D what state is this pond in by the way? and what species of carp is the 65 pounder on the landowner's wall? just curious.

that's a fish of a lifetime for sure up north. probably one of the most impressive catches i've seen posted on here in a long time. a huge congrats for a huge fish. and the fact that you released it makes it even more impressive.

is this still open to guys without boats?

agreed. but since we are tying to avoid confusion, the only way keeping 7-8 pound bass can be classified as "selective harvest" is either if (a) there are several 10 pound plus fish in this pond or ( the management goal of this particular pond is to raise large numbers of smaller fish. that said, jsj caught this fine fish and it's his to do what he wanted to with it. i'm sure he was proud of it. i got my first big one mounted too back when i was younger. there weren't replicas then and i didn't know any better. i'm not going to throw rocks at anyone for keeping a big fish. education is the key to more people releasing big fish, not criticism. negativity just turns people off. that's a good 'un for sure jsj. good luck with the mount. hope you release your next one.

actually, looking at the pics again, that "bluegill" is an especially nice catch because i don't think it's a bluegill at all. it appears to be a green sunfish. if so, that's a VERY nice one. your state record green sunfish is 2 lbs. 1 oz. and that one appears to be about 3/4 of a pound. so his catch is especially impressive. if that pond has green sunfish that big in it, ya'll might have a shot at the record. good luck. http://photobucket.com/images/Green%20Sunfish/

excellent! way to spend that quality time dad! fine fish too. be sure to tell your son that we all said congratultions. this comes with a price though. he'll be outfishing you before long. i'm sure you won't mind though.

every once in a while, i like to leave the bass alone and chase something that pulls a little harder. this one didn't disappoint either. there was a lot of drag pullin' going on after this one hit. lots of fun for sure. i have tried to get this particular fish out of this particular pond for a while because i'm sure it eats a lot of the bass forage. i've been wanting to put it in a friend's catfish pond, but my daughter is having none of it. she says i have to leave it alone and keep it right where it is. she has caught it several times over the years and grown quite fond of it, even naming it a few times. ;D so i guess it will live to a ripe old age in the pond where it was born. it will probably be eating 2 pound bass before long. ;D sometimes it's hard to say no to the princess.

not bad indeed. a rattle trap is one of my favorite baits. glad you slammed a few on it.

ky lake has been kickin' 'em out pretty regularly here lately. glad y'all got some. sounded like a pretty cool trip to me. congrats on some good catchin'.

looks like y'all got on 'em pretty good. way to go.

y'all did real good. very nice. congrats to you and your husband.