paul.

my first double was nice. my pb was nice. 2 teeners in one trip was nice. a little while back, i woulda said those were the best. but now, any fishin' trip i ever took with my dad, my wife, or my kids beats 'em all.

true story that happened to me not long ago: with my job, i occasionally have to visit people's homes out in the middle of nowhere in towns other than my own. on one such occasion, i had to visit a guy and didn't recognize the address i was given at all. so i called to get directions. his mother answered the phone. i explained that i needed directions to her son's house. she gave me some vague directions which were somewhat confusing given that i didn't know the area very well. "after you get through town you will go down a hill. then you'll cross a bridge. after the bridge you'll see a bar. we live down in there." i told her i understood her directions except for the last part. "what do you do once you get to the bar?" i asked. her reply? "well, sometimes we do karaoke there." ;D ;D ;D

well, maybe a little. :

thanks y'all. honestly daniel, your guess is as good as mine bro. i just admired her briefly and put her back quickly after a couple of pix. didn't weigh her. she was a beautiful fish though. not very long, but super thick and chunky. probably a little over 2 pounds.

that's some good lookin' water y'all got there. after a bunch of cold weather, at some point it's just nice to get out and go, fish or not. glad y'all got to get out some.

very nice ones man. way to figure 'em out.

nice bud. i know there will be plenty more for ya. way to go. rage tail baits are sweet. i checked out big o's ragetail site for the first time the other day. very cool. keep on whackin' 'em man.

excellent. it's not for everyone, but to me sight fishing is the biggest rush in all of bassin'. i wish they stayed on beds all year long. ;D congrats.

i really want to thank all who replied to my last post on circle hooks with the kind words and sound advice. special thanks to my bud kent for taking the time to drop some knowledge in a cool pm. special props also to my homeboy braden for showing me how it's done in person. i am determined to learn the ins and outs of these hooks to make life easier on me and the bass. y'all were kind enough to set me straight on hook sizing and the science of circles. to all who helped, i really appreciate it. us live baiters have to stick together. it's all starting to come together now. fished with bluegills for a while this afternoon. results were pretty good today. here's a pretty nice one hooked textbook circle hook style. i am really digging these hooks now. thanks again y'all.

ouch! i know that had to hurt. i bet there was no laughter during this conversation. sorry about that man. if she feels like y'all's best times are in the past, that's not a good sign either. but you know, a lot of times what someone is trying to tell us and what we hear are 2 totally different things - especially when we're hurt or upset to begin with. sounds like y'all really need to talk and listen to each other to find out exactly where both of you stand. the good news is, nothing is really irreparable for 2 people who really love each other and are truly committed to the relationship. i really hope everything works out for the best for you man.

o.k. she weighed 8-0. so unless i have miscalculated, ian came the closest. when i first saw this fish, i didn't think there was any way she would weigh more than 7 because she just didn't have much length to her. i'm gonna say she was around 23". i woulda guessed in the neighborhood of 6-12. but when i picked her up, she sure felt heavier and the scale confirmed it. she was extremely fat and probably one of the "thickest" fish i have ever caught for her length. kinda like one of daniel's swiss bass. also notice the relatively small head on this fish compared to her body size. can you say serious potential?

nope. i used to lip hook 'em but i found they either got lazy or outright died too quickly that way. now i hook 'em through the meat just ahead of the tail. (a) they will not tire nearly as quickly. ( they will not usually go as deep or to the bottom where they can hide in something. © i can feel much better what the gill is doing down there because every beat of the tail is transmitted to me. (d) there is just something about this presentation that bass seem to like a little better. but definitely play around with it. you will find that baits will act differently when you hook them different ways. i think this has to do with where the weight of the hook is. for example, tail hooked gills seem to try to swim upward. lip hooked gills seem to try to swim downward. use this to your best advantage with the conditions you are facing. some people hook their baits in the back, or behind the bottom fin. i have found that with these 2 ways, the hook will occasionally rotate and hook back into the the bait instead of hooking the bass. so i don't use these methods very often. hope this helps and good luck with it.

rock on dude! 6-12 is definitely no slouch. i don't know of anybody, anywhere that wouldn't wanna catch a bass like that. very nice!

thanks for the tip bb. that's what i was trying to do. in fact i think i under-did it and didn't put quite enough pressure on the fish 'cause i was trying so hard not to jerk. ;D what can i say? it's a work in progress. : it just felt so odd not "setting the hook." l do you hold the rod up or point it at the fish when you are reeling down on it? i was holding it up so it would "load". is this right? :-/

sure doug. no problem man. most of my live bait fishing is in small lakes or ponds with few obstructions, so i go pretty light on equipment. spinning equipment just seems to work better for me with the conditions i fish. of course this also enhances the fight and it's more of a challenge to land the fish. i also don't spend a ton of money on my live bait rigs. i just don't see why breaking the bank is necessary with this type of fishing. i'm no expert, but here's a rig that works well for me. rod- 6 ft. medium action bionix. reel - shimano syncopate 2500fe. line - 10-15 lb. test braid. of course i just listed the setup i use most often. i occasionally toy around with much lighter stuff. but anything similar should work in obstruction free water, as long as you have your drag set properly and play the fish correctly. if i was specifically targeting bigger bass or fishing water with more potential snags, i would either go heavier on the spinning tackle or use baitcasting tackle. the braid is an important component to me because i freeline my baits. i do not use floats or sinkers. i want the presentation to be as natural as possible. with the sensitivity of the braid, i can always feel what my bait is doing down there. usually i can tell ya within a couple of seconds when i'm about to get hit because i can "feel" the bait getting nervous. hope that answered your question. thanks man. that's quite an offer. ;D i was using live bluegills.

5pb you are a multi-species master. congrats on your catches.

i have decided that this year i am going to try to switch to circle hooks for all my live bait fishing. this is definitely going to take some getting used to. any tips from circle hook veterans on here would be much appreciated. i got out and played around with circles for the first time today with some bluegill. still haven't quite got the hang of it after 35+ years of using "regular" hooks, but i'll get there. i did manage to get this nice one right before dark. this girl here would be a good one to play "guess my weight" with 'cause she sure fooled me. i guessed her weight wrong by over a pound before i put her on the scale. not gonna say which way i guessed wrong yet in case any of y'all wanna take a crack at it. i guess i'm a little rusty. hope y'all are catchin' some too.

i'd say pretty good day is an understatement. way to go man!

you really did a number on 'em. good goin' man. that xr50 is tough to beat.

excellent! that one was worth the wait.

took my young 'un out for a little while this morning and we caught a few little bass. it was a fun trip. today she actually held bass with her hands for the first time. for the life of me i cannot understand why she will carry a five pound catfish around like she's holding a baby, but she hesitates with a bass. ;D i think it's the fins. this is progress though. i am so proud of her. she was a brave girl today. here's some pix of her fine catches. i like the one with dad's hat and sunglasses.

i have bed fished for a few years now. to me, there no bigger adrenaline rush than matching wits with a giant bass, knowing it will probably be the biggest one you will have a shot at all year. there's just something about trying to fool a fish you can see that transcends the excitement of any other type of fishing to me, even topwater. to me, it's fishing in its purest form. unless you've ever set up on a giant female bass, it's impossible to describe the feeling. those who have know exactly what i'm talking about. there are a special set of skills involved, and it is admittedly still a work in progress for me. but i would bed fish 12 months a year if it were possible. it's just that addictive to me. with that said though, i cannot place enough emphasis on getting your pix and getting the fish back in the water. big fish are just so special. and it is nice to know those genetics will be passed on for the future generations. taking the female off the bed for a quick photo session is usually a lot less harmful to the nest/egss than it would be to catch the male since he usually has the bulk of guard duty. i don't tournament fish, but speaking from experience with bed fishing, i'm not sure how good a strategy it would be to bank on bed fishing to win a tournament unless you are very, very good at it. it's already been mentioned how tough it can be at times. it's probably a good strategy for a kicker, but maybe not the best strategy in the world for putting 5 fish in the livewell. as for the unfairness of it, bass fishing itself is unfair. we are always "taking advantage" of one or another of the bass' instincts, or at least that's what we are trying to do. to those who question the "fairness" of bed fishing, my response is pretty much always the same. throw away all your 10 bearing reels, super sensitive graphite rods, superlines, chemically sharpened hooks, scent attractants, electronics, 60 mph bass boat, super quiet trolling motor, polarized glasses, ultra realistic baits, etc. fish with with a cane pole from the bank or a jon boat that you paddle yourself. if you are willing to do that, i'll listen to your gripes about fairness. if not, it all just sounds a bit hypocritical and ridiculous to me. i don't know of anyone who is criticized for NOT bed fishing. i just wish that those of us who do it got the same courtesy sometimes. just my opinions here though. this is a very interesting topic and it would be nice to have a civil discussion without this thread getting shut down. we'll see.................... ;D

that is an absolute monster. who and where? c'mon jay, if you caught that you gotta post in the trip section. don't make us wait 3 weeks to hear about it and see all the pix like usual. ;D man, what a fish!

just noticed there were some posts on the previous page (mine was one of 'em) that aren't there anymore. what happened? :-/

sorry for all your trouble. best of luck as you try to adjust. hope everything works out. i know you'll find a way 'cause you are one stubborn son of a gun. ;D