everythingthatswims

Have to keep myself occupied when bass fishing conditions are *less than optimal*

How much she had to eat that day or how many eggs were in her belly isn't something I'm all that concerned with. A 25" bass with a head on it like this one did is a fish that wasn't born yesterday and being on the hot side, she has probably seen hundreds of baits. I'm too happy with the fish to be upset about not having scales with me

That place is going to get pounded

I fish a ton of places with the gap between 15" and 6lbs like you're describing.

To me it looks like their is a lump on one side of the fish that would indicate something going on with the spine of the fish. I see it in hatchery trout a lot, a 10" fish that weighs what a 13-14"er should because it looks like you put it in a trash compactor. I've cleaned a couple fish like that and usually the spine is all jacked up with a lot of fat surrounding it, you can't eat the fish because the filet is all fat and no meat.

You're in Florida... "Winter" Bank Fishing

Looks like a spawning male black crappie. They are usually my first topwater fish of the year haha.

And he has them he just lets the suspense build for a while haha

Try throwing a big swimbait or an a-rig all day

Mattlures Hardgill. "Heavy Floater"

Had some fun on the hot side today, fish on the right was 4.46, didn't weigh the other. Everything else I caught was little.

Smallies are usually pretty easy to find, if you have current and rocks you have them. A laydown with good current running through it means there's a big one, you may not catch her but she's there. Largemouth are predictable too if you know what to look for. They are lazy and even though in lakes they go TO the current, in rivers they tend to go AWAY from it, so I look for the calmest water I can find. In my experience, river largemouth like wood more than rock but you can catch them around either. Anywhere with big patches of grass that create current breaks are good places to start. Key spots are feeder creeks, and places where the river "skips" a bend in periods of high water, this creates a pool of slack water when the water is at a normal level and it receives little or no flow. These are always good, but in the spring they are really good because they warm way faster than the part of the river that has a constant flow, and the largemouth will gather there to spawn. Feeder creeks during a flood can be shooting fish in a barrel also! Favorite smallie baits (In typical conditions) are a 4" t rigged senko with a very small weight, super spook jr, a 1/4oz jig, and a war eagle double willow spinnerbait. For river largemouth I like a Cavitron buzzbait, 3/8oz-1/2oz flipping jig, SK swimjig with a swimmin' fluke jr trailer, and a T-rigged zoom 'ol monster, I fish it in the same places I use the jig.

It's crazy to think about what must go on beneath the surface in that lake

Mine didn't get away

http://www.itsumofishing.com/?product=6-club-tail-worm-watermelon The whole bait floats, it's biodegradable, you can catch 40 bass on one worm......And the other day I caught a 10 on it...............

My brother and I caught this fish a combined 3 times in 3 days from a pond in Myrtle Beach including jumping it off and hooking it again and landing it an hour later the first day. Fish was not on a bed.

That's why I love the ocean. Just when you think you've seen it all, something happens again

I will keep that in mind thanks. This fish was very cooperative and pretty much was paralyzed until I released her.

This fish had quite the appetite for zoom z-drop worms. Fished jumped between the kayaks and we realized we were both hooked into it.

I'm still pretty much in shock. I took my kayak out to the hot side of Lake Anna to get my fix like I have been all winter. Today was a really tough day, wind was blowing hard, making 90% of the lake unfishable from a kayak, water temps were low, and the waves coming over the nose and side of the kayak had me soaking wet. I'm not one to throw in the towel because of less than favorable conditions, so I ended up paddling for around 2 hours to find some protected water that was warm enough. A toasty 64 degrees compared to the 54 I started in. 4th bite of the day I lean back on the shakey head and start winding. Wow feels like a good one, then she *tries* to jump and I realize what I'm in for. I was only a few feet from a set of bridge pilings and that's exactly where she was headed with my 8lb leader. Somehow I managed to paddle myself away from the bridge and coax the fish into open water. A few heart stopping moments later I was able to lip the fish and bring her in the kayak with me. WOW what a fish. She measured 25" long 17" around, my last PB was 24" so I can at least call it a PB even without a weight. She wouldn't have bit anyways if I had a scale in my kayak! Not sure if I was okay to hold the fish like this, give me some feedback please. I was a little excited

Everything in the southwestern portion of the state is pretty much top notch from what I have experienced

DT4 doesn't have a square lip........but they are definitely worth a look

Food For Thought....... This 23" went 5.9lbs This 24" went 5.4 I believe

Smallies hammer marabou jigs and they will definitely eat that one. As said above it looks like the wire on that hook is too heavy, it will still catch fish but a light wire hook would fish better. I like using an 1/8oz black or brown marabou jig with a floating worm as a trailer during the spring and summer for river smallies.

I buy ZinkerZ instead of TRD's because you get much more product for the same price, and I don't see how there could be a difference. Ned rig started with ZinkerZ anyways.