matstone7

Personally, I would do one of two things. Toss a jig/craw in there and soak it or, pitch a T/rigged Lobster or Thumper in there and soak that.

Lol, a rat is probably the only thing that 22 didn't kill.

I haven't fooled with an M14 so my answer might be a bit one-sided. Go with the AR.

What does this have to do with NGaHB trying a Rage toad for the first time? @ NGaHB, glad to hear you gave the toad a try and had good luck with it. Using a straight shank hook is something I haven't tried but, seems like it could make a difference in hook-ups due to hook point angle, just not as weedless. Thanks for including that info in your post.

You may also consider fishing any pockets with a keel weighted anaconda.

Great answers guys. When things get tough around here, I let the wife find the fish, the profile and the color and I duplicate to a degree. Will be a soft plastic bait of sorts or a finesse jig though.

Yep

Timber Doodle? http://www.mepps.com/information/timber-doodle/166#description

Lol, was on the kitchen table. Have you ever heard of a leave-in conditioner.

My better-half once grabbed a bottle of oil-based CB's Hawg Sauce without looking thinking it was her conditioner and applied a large amount of Garlic to her hair, lol. You can only imagine how well it washed out and how wonderful she smelled for the rest of the day.

I have great luck with them rigged on a 1/4oz standup jig head. I often cut them at the score line for a cut-tail presentation too.

Looks like you have a little piece of heaven in your back yard. Great video.

I believe we have now seen fishing soft plastics go full-circle. When plastics first came out, they were tough, they didn't move much but, they were durable. As fisherman, all we wanted was something softer, something with more action and something that catches more fish. Now that plastics are soft and have more action than a Friday night pair of beer-goggles, we as fisherman want durable again. Imo, it's not how durable a plastic is because loosing lures or needing another worm is part of fishing. What's most important is which plastic will up my odds of landing more "Quality" fish and Rage Tail does just that. That bag may have a few less baits or cost a dollar more but, if you are catching more fish on every trip, isn't it worth a couple less or a little more money for a particular bait. I'm sure there are a few fisherman that think RT is a gimmick or just another hype but the fact is, Rage Tail baits are the most engineered soft plastics on the market today. While you may be a little reluctant to jump on board and throw them because that 3dollar bag of something is cheaper, if RT wasn't heads, tails and profiles ahead of other brands, every other company wouldn't be doing their best to copy their designs or features. The short of it is yes, you can and will catch fish on other baits but, bass feed on Rage Tail!

All joking aside clayton, I feel for you. Maybe next outing, you can have something ready and waiting to be microwaved or sitting in the oven warming. My wife is the exact opposite, I have come home and found notes that dinner was in the oven and to hurry up and meet her at the lake. I have had the sweetest little voice whispering in my ear at 5am that the fish are biting and it's time to go fishing. Heck, my wife even asks me to blow-off work so we can fish. My biggest problem is that she doesn't give me a chance to catch the big fish, she lands them all for herself.

My first gun was a Marlin Golden Mountie 39A 22 cal. I can say with much regret that I do not own this gun anymore but, am always on the lookout for marlin 39's. Chambering shorts, longs and long rifles, it was the best 22 plinker/accurate shooter I owned to date.

Great fish! As for the bleeding, it happens sometimes. I'm sure most of us here have had this same thing happen and while it feels awful, it's part of the game. It was nice to read that you took the time to see it swim again and even looked again for it later. Keep after those fish.

Good going A-Jay, nice fish!

Nice catfish, congrats.

RageTail Anaconda or Thumper all the way! Falcon Craw, blue fleck, junebug and of course, green pumpkin.

That's a good answer. Might try a slip shotted Space Monkey, a Rage-Rigged 7" anaconda, baby thumper, craw or smokin rooster. Even a T/rigged lobster would work. Besides the glide everyone is talking about of the beaver, the color and profile at that given time is doing something right. The Rage-Rig Anaconda will fish that grass amazingly well.

During yesterdays fishing trip, I did my best to get a few fish before MrsM which is often times, much harder than you think. After she spent a minute rigging my last black Thumper on a weighted hook & taking the time to color it up with some JJ's, she tosses it in the water and realized it wasn't tied to anything, lol. That was it, I figured it out or so I thought. I convinced her to get a quick pic standing on a rock in the middle of the lake. She was reluctant but, fell for it. Once she exited the boat, the lake was all mine, lol. Funny as it might seem, she caught a fish with an Eeliminater before I could even get a few good casts no some nearby structure. A little later, she managed a big brown trophy. She set the hook and landed one of the biggest pieces of water-logged wood I have even seen boated on 12 pound test. By the end of the day, she managed quite a few fish on the Eel, she caught a few on a rage-rigged baby craw, developed a new way to chum for bass & landed a trophy log. For the record, during the day we both missed a good fish close to her chum(that brand new discarded Thumper).

This morning was the first day out with the boat in weeks. My day started with a baby rage craw on a standup jig. When she hit, the drag was making some noise and I was getting excited. Not sure if it was the RT shrimp scent, the baby Rage craw or just dumb luck,,, it sure was a great way to start off the day. The RT Eeliminator produced a few fish and loads of other bites. Fished on a slip shot rig for the most part today, the JJs Magic on the tail of the eeliminator added a dialed-in touch of color. The slip shot rig allows me to adjust the leader length easily to manipulate fall of the bait. Got broke-off once today using a baby thumper on a shakey head and later landed this bass using T/rigged baby thumper on another rod. The bite was all over the place today. It was sunny, cloudy and we had periodic intervals of wind and rain. Despite the crazy weather, I even caught a couple bass using a T/rigged Rage Lobster too. It's sure been awhile since we had a full day at the lake. Looking forward to the next trip for sure.

Great tip & explained very well Catt!

If the fish originally stocked were from smaller fish genetics (2-4lb), that's all they will ever be for the most part. Big fish, bread fish, that grow big. That's my opinion.

Rage Tail for me too.