Ratherbfishing

Looooove spinnerbaits. Especially when in shallow flats where I can fish them above the veggies. The bass really seem to wallop them. My primary choice of colors is white with a silver blade when the water is clear and/or the sun is out. Chartreuse or brown/orange with a gold blade when the water is stained and/or it is cloudy. But I use other colors if these aren't working.

I asked someone, once, where he caught one of those fish. He was reluctant to tell me and I said, "Don't be koi with me!"

It helps if you sear it first to keep in the juices.

What do you mean? An African or a European swallow?

I'm really a nice guy! If I had friends you could ask them!

I'm gonna say a white crappie but I could be wrong. I can definitively say it's not a star-bellied crappie.

Love the markings on that fish. Either a Musky or a Tiger Musky.

In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter and it's not worth bothering yourself over. Certainly don't let him drag you down to his level. On the other hand, if it bothers you that much, as a friend you have every right to asked him to stop. (Certainly you don't have to allow him to pose with any more of your fish).

Dang it! You beat me to it! : )

As GIMRUIS said, the Structure Scan feature does NOT come with the basic unit so don't get sucked into that. You either buy it from the beginning as a bundle or you add it later (at about half again as much as the basic unit). In other words, the basic unit, by itself, does NOT have side-imaging.

Standing on the sometimes heaving deck trying to operate the trolling motor footpedal withOUT a seat (or at least SOMETHING to lean against)? No thank you. That's a recipe for a good dunking.

What does rain do to bass? They get wet.

True enough.

First, it's difficult to beat a live minnow so don't let that be the litmus test. Fishermen often use artificial baits for a lot of reasons but I suspect it isn't because it's better than live bait. Although sometimes....... Whose to say we're better than average? But for those who are, a good portion of it comes down to, as others have said, time on the water, tenacity, a genuine curiosity, and an ability to "connect the dots." But mostly it begins with a pure enjoyment of the sport-in its various manifestations. If you want to be "great", start with what you love and the rest will fall in line. If you want to catch more fish, the obvious FIRST question is this: Are the waters you are fishing any good? After that, it all comes down to practice, practice, practice.

I can cast that well....IN MY DREAMS!!!!

Before I "knew better", I fished with the handle on the right side of the reel (I'm right handed). I did fine for the most part. HOWEVER, now that I've switched, I will not go back. It's odd to me that very few of the right handed fishermen I know place the handle on their spinning reels on the right hand side but they habitually purchase bait casting reels this way-even though most reel makers now offer a "left-hand" version for most of their products. But...different strokes for different folks.

I've never yet been able to cast accurately to a way point.

Well, I start the day by leaving the drain plug out of my boat. Then, I make sure to flood the engine by priming it too much. I will intentionally forget to lift the trolling motor out of the water so as to create a big rooster tail to shower me and my passengers with dirty lake water and finally, for good measure, I will often forget to pull the anchor up and drag it around for awhile-all the while wondering why my boat is moving is so sluggish. Usually these practices will ensure that I will only fall out of the boat once.

How EVER do you keep the sun off your neck?

The only suggestion I have is to upgrade the size of your baits. If the forage base of smaller fish has been "picked clean", than use larger baits. This might keep a few of the hammer handles off and the bass may have adjusted to eating larger forage. I have used 1.5 ounce rattle traps in Canada to catch smallmouth so a largemouth can easily eat something that size.

Yep, mostly loss of habitat. All (most) of the farmers around here mow all the roadsides-and not just near the intersections. Like it's going to kill them to leave a little habitat standing.

You're right. A scale would have jinxed you. Terrific fish! You definitely earned that one.

Hey now! Just because 4 or our last 6 governors have spent time in Jail, we can't pass a budget, most vendors won't touch us with a ten foot pole, and people are leaving the state in droves doesn't mean the fishing is bad here! It sucks for different reasons.

We used to have tons of birds around here but with the MUCH larger farms and much less habitat, one is lucky to see one or two birds a year. That and the coyotes (which HAVE made a comeback) have made pheasants around here pretty much a thing of the past (which I greatly mourn). I'm glad some places still have them. I wonder if there is any difference between our "once" pheasants and yours.

I think this is why many of us carry numerous rods with different baits tied on. If a place looks "fishy" and we don't catch anything with one bait, we can put down that rod and pick up another. Sometimes it works and sometimes nothing works.