Fish_Whisperer

I wish I had a pic for you guys, but I don't have a gopro yet and didn't have someone with me. Wife definately wouldn't approve of me taking her cell phone out wading lol. So I left out to my usual spot bout 4:50 this morning, after a full day of light/medium rain. Wanted to try something different, so I set up a split shot rig consisting of a number 3 shot, 4/0 owner hook, and a 12" manns jelly worm with the flat tail pinched off, making it about 11". If you have ever saw my pics, you know I fish a dam. On one side of the spillway is a discharge pipe about 5 ft in diameter, it runs from the top of the dam, and discharges about 12 ft deep on the bottom. Years of water constantly running through the pipe have eroded a 50 +-ft diameter hole around the end of the pipe, which goes down about 16 ft. You can wade from downriver 10 ft from the bank towards the pipe, and stay chest deep and lower in the water, but when you get to the hole it drops down pretty quickly, not that you would fall in the hole because the current would push you back. Anyway... I head over that way, and begin stitching. My second cast wielded a bite, a small bass that I never got to see, don't think he had the hook in his mouth. After about an hour I decide to throw directly where the pipe is, you can tell where because the water will bubble up some before being pushed towards you. I let the current take over and after a few seconds or so, know that I have hit bottom about 6 ft in front and 10 ft to the right of the pipe, still on the big hole. I stitch it up to the edge of the hole, and felt my shot catch a snag, or so I thought. I wrap my line a couple times around my index finger to pull on the line, and I feel it move sideways, then I hear the braid scream on my guides as the bass burns a cut into my finger. I had about 3ft of line hanging down, and she pulled all that slack out within a few head shakes on the run. When I got myself together, I tried to turn her away from the hole, but she kept pulling down and going to the left side of the hole. I know from experience that somewhere on the left side of the hole, to the left and the front of the discharge pipe, is some old rebar and concrete of sorts from construction work on the dam. Had many a fish wrap around it and cut the braid. This bass didn't get that opportunity. I tightened down and got her to run back to me about 40 seconds into the fight, and was able to get a thumb in her mouth. Again, sorry for no pics, but I gauged her to be about 6 lbs. If you have seen my most recent report before this one, I shared a bass that scaled out at 5lb 4oz. This one was heavier, but not as heavy as my 7-7 earlier in the year. Beautiful color and football shape.

You weren't kidding, retailing at 219... may the rest of your bass all be double digits, you are the man. Thanks for sharing.

Where are you finding a team lew's pro for 179? I assume this is the reel you are talking about?!? http://www.lews.com/casting-teamlewspro msrp at 299

I personally haven't, but have seen it used from the bank with success.

As I said in another thread, the dropshot rig is not a one trick pony.

To you, maybe. But not to me. I sling ds rigs all the time with success. The drop shot rig is one that people tend to place limits on. Its not a one trick pony.

Not my image, but I made one of these with almost the exact same materials, albeit mine is a little larger in diameter and a ft. taller... Collapses down to 8" for easy transport.

If you don't have a headlamp, I suggest getting one. Good to have when you have hooks to get out, especially treble hooks. I hardly ever run mine except when I re-tie, have a fish on, get hung up, or I am approaching the water and need the light so's to not be stumbling around. ] 10 bucks well spent... http://www.rayovac.com/Products/Lights/Outdoor/Virtually-Indestructible-LED-3AAA-Headlight.aspx

Not at all brother, I agree with ya!

Same fish. I think by holding it by the head and tail it shows the fullness of the body. And yes, best strike i've ever had. I've had some awesome topwater bombs blow up, but since there was so little line let out, it made for the hardest strike I've ever experienced. Almost ripped the rod out of my hands.

Probably, looked early post spawn.

Hit the water about 5AM, started out using the larger kvd squarebill, blue shad color. Caught some 1-2lbers, then got the hell scared out of me by the fish in the pictures. I was in about thigh deep water, and she absolutely slammed the crank about 6 feet in front of me, right when I was about to pull the lure out of the water. I immediately started to loosen drag, as I knew the fish needed some room to tire out. She ran about 20 yards of line out, going side to side. I tightened down on her only when she took a run near a large rock structure, a killer for my braided line. All said and done, she scaled out at 5lb 4oz.

Just saw a facebook post from the site with a picture of mine featured!

Hell yeah! Think that bass didn't want that grub?!?

When I went striper fishing using herring, it was important that we kept the spool disengaged so that the herring could move about and we could feed line freely. Because the line stayed tight most of the time, I was scared to engage the spool as soon as I got a strike, for fear of tearing gears up. Stripers typically don't ****** bait and sit still. I would set the hook holding down the spool with my thumb.

7lb 7oz

I claim no such divinity lol.

A big part of my success in getting access to the multiple private ponds i'm allowed to fish, has been offering to do regular weedeating and trash pickup around the banks.

Couldn't agree more! Bank fishermen who practice catch and release should do their research on fish and their slime coats,

flag·ship noun \ˈflag-ˌship\ : the ship that carries the commander of a group of ships : the best, largest, or most important one of a group of things (such as products, stores, etc.) Full Definition of FLAGSHIP 1 : the ship that carries the commander of a fleet or subdivision of a fleet and flies the commander's flag 2 : the finest, largest, or most important one of a series, network, or chain <the company's flagship store>

I'll help you out best I can... Rod: While I am not going into rod brands in this post, I will break down some elements into choosing A rod for you. If you are proficient with a baitcast reel, then go with a baitcast rod, if not then a spinning rod. Length.... You have to take into account the waters you fish. Are the banks open areas, or small pockets opened up between trees and brush? A longer rod will be harder to cast with if you are crowded by trees and such. A good length, if conditions allow, is about 7'. A medium heavy, fast action blank is pretty versatile in that it works with a variety of applications, mostly texas rigged plastics. As far as quality, do your research. You will want a lightweight rod to prevent fatigue on long days. Hold a prospective rod in your hand. Find its balance point (lay it across a finger and move it until it begins to balance) . You want it fairly close to where the reel attaches to the rod (reel seat) or a inch or two higher. Handle materials and types are your preference, some like full grips, others like split grips. I have both, no preference for me. Same goes for cork or eva foam. reel: Make up a budget, and look online for reels in that range. Gotta do your homework and sort through non biased reviews. This applies for spinning reels and baitcast. Higher number of bearings is usually a good thing, makes a reel much smoother (usually). Go to the store and hold a few of them, turn the handles, flip bails. A good reel should have instant anti reverse(some cranking reels don't as part of their functionality) meaning no backplay in the reel handle. Frame materials are important on both types of reels. Nothing sucks more than to be fighting a big fish and feel a spinning reels frame flexing and gears grinding because everythings out of alignment. As far as lure selection goes... The best advice anyone on here can give you, unless they live in your area, is to find the most popular tackle store around you, and I don't mean walmart or academy and the like, I mean a mom and pop store. Go there and ask them what most of their customers are buying that fish around there. My experience has been that the true tackle stores are going to have more local knowledge and really be tuned in to their customer base. Call your local DNR and gather information on the waters you plan to fish. They can provide forage information, meaning what the bass are eating. Making your lure selection based off this knowledge is called "matching the hatch". It's late, thats all I got for now...

The water that the herring are coming from is pretty warm, i'm suprised they're surviving as well as they do. I will be sure to keep a way to monitor temps in the tank on hand. The night thing wont be an issue, as they will be used the same day. Schedule is as follows... 5am: in the water, throwing cast net. between 5-530 is my best time to net herring in the hole i find them. I have a cutout 55gal drum with hundreds on holes that I weigh down beside me, and have yet to have one die even without aeration from a bubbler, the current seems to provide enough circulation of o2 rich water. 5:45 am: turn on the truck tank, quickly bring bait to it by multiple 5 gal buckets. 6am: depart, 1 hr 10 minute drive to destination. once there, the herring wlll be transferred to the cutout barrel at fishing location.

Was going to run leads to the transport vehicle's battery for the ride. If a lawnmower battery will work, then I will go that route once I get to location.

Same here... A mother had her two sons out one day at a local hole. They were catching bream/bluegills on bobber and worm, and saw me throwing white grubs and asked some questions. Berkley powerbait 3 inch white grubs I recall. I had an extra pack, gave it to them and showed them how to rig one and different retrieves. Who knows, maybe they try them one day and catch fish...

I have read that, and my plan was to face elbow or vertical pvc bar with holes going counter clockwise. Does it have a chance, WRB?