paul.

rock on man! that's a good un for sure!

hey dave! yeah, i did have the megaforce, but i decided that little twitchin' bar thingy was more of a gimmick/nuisance than it was a feature, so i upgraded to the exceler. MUCH better reel overall. super rigid aluminum frame, magforce-z anti-backlash control, free floating spool, 8+1 bearings, and the new "swept" handle design add up to one SWEEEEEEEET little reel! i love it. time will tell, but it's probably the best reel i own now (even though i still really like my pinnacle sentara and my shimano cardiff). go ahead and pm me if ya want and i'll be happy to tell ya more. you're right about january fishin' - it can be real tough. i'm glad you got to get out and give it a shot anyway. felt good just to make a few casts didn't it? hate ya didn't catch any though. glad you're doing alright buddy.

it's been kinda a so-so january for me so far. no big fish since the 7 pounder earlier this month. i am still trying to go at least once a week. my favorite lake is kinda stained up now and the water level has risen about a foot. water temps are usually low to mid 40's with occasional ice on the water after a cold night. these conditions have made fishing tough, but i have managed to catch about 5-10 fish per trip when i go. lures that are working are jigs and tubes (on deep structure and/or wood), coffin bill cranks (fished shallow doctored with suspend strips), spinnerbait (slow rolled on shallow wood). the red rattle trap worked its winter magic again last trip (friday) as well catching 4 out of the 5 keepers i boated. they are all 1-2.5 pound fish, but i won't knock it. it's nice just to be out there catchin' a few. here's a picture taken a week or so ago of the typical size i'm gettin'. i've got a new combo (gander mtn. guide series rod and diawa exceler 100h reel) that i'm hopin' a biggun will break in soon for me, but i ain't gonna hold my breath. i hope y'all are catchin' some too.

congratulations on your new secret spot buddies! as if you needed your fishin' to get any better. : well i guess no matter how good it is we'd still like it to be better, right?

wow! what a day. great job guys.

great job. fantastic cold weather fish.

real good job. that many bass will bring a smile to your face no matter when it is but esp. in jan!

congratulations. man that's cool. way to figure 'em out.

great job guys. fantastic fish!

sounds like you really whacked 'em man. a sign of more good days to come for ya i hope.

way to catch 'em man. good job.

the best big fish year i've had was 2005 where i caught 5 over 10 including my 14-2 pb. if i could do that again, i'd be tickled to death. as far as lifetime goes, that's difficult. realistically i've probably already caught the biggest bass i'll ever catch, but that ain't gonna stop me from tryin'. i'd love to get anything over 14-8. that'd break the state record.

took a break from bass fishin' today and went after some bluegills with the ultralight. once i found 'em, it was fast action. caught several nice 'uns in the half to 3/4 pound range. this badonkadonk here was the biggest one of the day. a total blast on the 'lil ul spinner! hope y'all are catchin' some too.

i just noticed this thread today. like a lot of others, i wasn't around here at the beginning of '07 to make any predictions. not sure i would have made predictions if i had been as i am always afraid that i will jinx myself by predicting. my take on it is this. once again, God blessed me with the health and opportunity to fish a lot. that alone makes for a good year. i spent some great times fishing with my daughters, neices, and nephew. to see them running around, yelling and smilling showing off 6 oz. bluegill as if they'd broken a world record was priceless. reminds me of why i fish. sometimes i get discouraged when i'm not catchin' a bunch or bangin' the big ones. it's those times that i try to remember the kids and focus on what's really important to me in fishing. i have a wonderful, sweet wife who understands my need to fish. not once did she complain about me going or ask me to not go. i had some great times with my fishing buddies out on the water, catchin' or not. i continued to have good relationships with kind and generous landowners who allowed me to fish some great spots. i try never to take this for granted. very distantly behind all these things for me were the numbers. i was fortunate enough to catch some good fish in '07. caught 46 bass over 6 pounds. out of those 46, 16 were 6-7 pounds. 19 were 7-8 pounds. 5 were 8-9 pounds. 3 were 9-10 pounds. 3 were over 10 including an 11-4, my best of the year. i wish y'all a great '08 season and hope y'all catch more and bigger bass than ever before.

catt, man, i gotta say i'm just totally blown away by those awesome stats. you had an amazing year for sure. many, many folks would be happy with what you have posted as LIFETIME stats. way to go man, and i hope you have an even better '08. you are also to be commended on your record keeping, something that quite frankly, i only do a fraction of compared to what i used to. thanks for this cool post and congratulations big time.

no, it's a jumbo-sized perch. that is seriously a nice one.

definitely some good lookin' bass there!

sounds like a great trip y'all. of course you realize if they're on summer pattern now, you'll have to go through fall and winter pattern before you can catch spawners. that should take what? 5 days? ::)good job y'all.

rock on lr!! man that's a good 'un. love those trap fish. great way to start the year.

i've got several and love every one of mine. latest was a sentara. great reel!

thanks y'all. yep, she did have some pretty colors. i'll try to answer some questions. probably closer to 24+". i don't think it was anywhere close to 26. didn't measure it though. you are correct! you obviously know your bass from a hole in the ground. ;D ;D ;D just messin' with ya buddy. you are absolutely right man. there is about 2 ft+ visibility. clever of ya to pick up on that. i love bein' on a forum with guys who know their fishin'. caught it on a cotton candy colored tube t-rigged with spinning tackle so there was some drag pullin' goin' on. i tried a suspending jerkbait and shallow crank too, but blanked on those. as far as the other details go, i caught this out of a small lake/big pond below our house. it was around 3:30 - 4:00. i have tried to keep this lake fairly well stocked, but i was set back last summer when we lost some good fish in the drought. nice to know there might be a few good ones still in there though. like BB said, it is usually very clean/clear. there is some grass and mussels in there and that's why. i even saw some small bass swimming around in the shallows. hopin' for another one like her (or bigger) soon. y'all keep your fingers crossed.

hey y'all. caught the first good 'un of '08 this afternoon. 7-5. always nice to get that first one out of the way. hope y'all are catchin' some too.

fantastic buddy! keep 'em comin'!

here's hopin' '08 brings ya plenty more.

congrats man! here's hopin' '08 brings ya plenty more.