MichiganBass

Thanks you guys for all the kind words and advice,especially basser89. I checked out Lake Fork...Wow, really great work. As soon as the mount comes in Ill post it. The offical weight ended up being 6 3/4 lbs, what a HOG!!! By the way, 8lb line 6ft rod and my old beat up Quantum spinning reel. I think this earned me my new Loomis rod and new Shimano or Quantum reel, plus other assorted hundreds of dollars worth of tackle. I have lots of digital photos and as soon as I can figure out how to actually post a pic I will. Thanks again everyone, Ive only been on this great site a couple of weeks but it feels like years. thx Randy Brighton Mich, Livingston County

Thanks guys for the replies. I will check out Bass Pro near my house. This was a morning to remember. - Randy

I fish tubes 95% of the time, and I truly mean 95%. All summer and right through late fall. It is without a doubt my #1, nothings close. Just caught my 24 inch 6 lb Largie this morning on one.

Hey All I Just caught a 24 inch 61/2 lb Largemouth today! Its my personal record in addition to the lake record I belive, but I am still checking. I Know thats not huge for all you southern boys(lol), but here in my area its real big. Anyway, I just couldnt keep it so I took a ton of measurements with the hope of getting a repro of it done. Does anybody know how or what it takes to do this? Is it worth it? Any help would be great. WHAT A GREAT DAY!!!!!! p.s 1/4 oz pumpkinseed tube in case you were wondering thx Randy

This year was just OK for me or my co-angler. The tournaments didn't go as well as in the past but the recreational fishing was fun and I learned a lot. I did a lot more experimenting and I think it will pay dividends in the future but it hurt me a bit in the mean time. Notable from 2005; -2005 I had the most fun day of fishing I ever had. It came on a 4 hour river trip one day. My brother-in-law and I nailed atleast 30 Smallies each ranging from 13 to 17 1/2" -2005 Really developed our smallmouth fishing -2005 Produced more small keeper Bass than ever -2005 Lacked the midrange and large fish we needed to win tournaments -2005 Big Largemouth-4lbs. 13 Oz. -2005 Big Smallmouth-3lbs. 11 Oz. -2005 Large off species-Carp 16 lbs. 8 Oz. -2005 No top 5 finishes in tournaments ranging from 35-60 boats I do have a classic this weekend. My co-angler and I are 2 of 38 anglers that qualified from 250 plus. I hope the honey holes we have been ignoring for weeks produce for us like they have in the past. I sure would like to get a top 1-5 finish to end the tournament season.

Thanks for the tips. I just started using Jigs often and I am trying to gain as much information as possible right now.

I am not trying to insult anyone but nobody who fish's one lake/pond, with the same people, with no competitive experience should claim greatness in the sport. When I was a kid, I shot hoops in my driveway all the time. I really was the greatest basketball player in the (MY) world. When it came time for tryouts I found out that other kids were thinking/doing the same things as me and some of them were a lot closer to greatness than I was. Like shooting hoops as a kid I used to think I was a 7 or 8 fisherman while fishing my home lake with the same friends over and over. When I decided to prove it against other fisherman on other lakes the result was very similar to my basketball tryouts. Start fishing tournaments if you want to claim greatness, you may find out you're just and average Joe in the Bass fishing world. There are hundreds of thousands of dedicated Bass fisherman out there using the same baits, same lakes, same everything as you and I. What makes us different? I don't think you can actually say you are good until you have seen good and measured yourself up to it. I have measured good and I am not quite there. I am only a 2 or 4. For now!