Jar11591

You could go to your nearest BPS and go fishing in their big aquarium. They always have giant deformed looking bass in them. I figure you can get 2-3 casts in before you're asked to leave...but I'm in the same boat as you (no pun intended). I've considered driving down south for a weekend just to get my fishing fix because I can't take this anymore. It's hard to take a 5 month break from something I'm so obsessed with such as bass fishing. The only issue I have with the south is their giant spiders. I'll take a few frozen months over a brown recloose crawling on me in my sleep any day.

"Tahra Dactyl" has to be the best one. Lol....That's so great that I almost can't believe its real.

I want to know the total number if bass I've caught, as well as the combined weight of all the bass I've caught.

If the word "Microsoft" isn't anywhere on the site or in the URL it's a scam!

I always ignore the mercury warnings kind of like the serving sizes of food. And I've never heard of anyone having any health issues due to mercury in game fish. But I mostly C&R except for bluegill/crappie/perch when I accidentally catch them.

I don't know if bass will be able to see a 2-dimensional image like the minnows on the lure and actually read it as several baitfish. I think their visual reception would be based more on colors, not images. But it's all about odds, so the baitball might help your chances ever so slightly. And that's all that counts.

Let's put it this way; If I never bought another bag of soft plastics, I would have more than enough to last me the rest of my life. Will I buy more? Absolutely.

5" YCB senko-watermelon w/ black flecks

Dick's has a brand of lures? I've never seen them. Are you talking about the sporting goods store?

Are you talking about snap-swivels? I never use snaps or snap-swivels just because it's added hardware and I try to use as little hardware as possible. But for plain swivels, I use tiny ones for tying a leader on, because you can reel it right up through the guides.

Some factors may be more important than others, but every variable adds up which is what determines how man fish are caught. If you already have presentation down, why ignore things like color? That's the easy part, and combined with presentation, it might be the thing that tips the odds in your favor. Every single factor changes yours odds of success. Maybe not equally, but it changes the odds nonetheless.

Can it happen again?

I started as soon as I was old enough to hold a rod, so maybe 3 or 4 years old. It was love at first bass!

A 7" bait is very big for smallmouth. Maybe try a 4" Roboworm? I would think it would dance better than a Slug-O on a dropshot also. The Slug-O you could fish weightless wacky rigged. It sinks slowly so it would spend a good amount of time in the strike zone of the suspended bass.

You always catch some nice fish...due to this thick layer of hard stuff on the lakes I won't be fishing for a month or two so the next best thing is reading reports of people who can fish. Can't wait to see the next pictures.

I guess Gar are the southern equivalent of Northern Pike. We have a few Gar up here, but as far as I know they don't get very big. But it sounds like you have a lot of different fishing opportunities close by. If the saltwater bite isn't on, the feeder canal/nearby pond bite might be! Do you ever toss bass lures for saltwater fish? I would think they'd produce in the ocean as well...

A "pit" is referring to strip pit or strip mine. It's basically a pond that was created by a mining operation. They dig these huge deep holes in the ground until they hit ground water, and eventually the "pit" fills up and an ecosystem is created. Pits and mines are usually very deep (at least 30') and the water is usually crystal clear. And for whatever reason, the bass get HUGE.

It's tough to tell. Personally I always use low-vis line but I can't really say if it affects whether or not the bass hit a bait. I would think using low-vis line increases your ODDS of getting bit and vise-versa, even if it is a fraction of a percentage point. I use low-vis line because worst-case scenario, I get bit just as much as with high-vis line. Best case scenario, I catch more fish.

I'm from Schenectady as well. Welcome!

Today is going to tack another 3-6" of snow on to the 36" we already have. Yay...feels like spring!

Yeah the hulagrubs, just like all YCB are usually good for only one fish. They just get ripped apart.

Looks identical to the Yamamoto Hula Grub. They work awesome for smallmouth. I usually just fish them on a jig head, or if I'm largemouth fishing I will C-rig them. Awesome bait.

YCB Hulagrub and Zoom Baby Brush Hog

Shameless, The Walking Dead and most stuff on the World Fishing Network. Am I really the only one on here who watches Shameless? I highly recommend it.

I fish senkos mainly wacky-rigged and sometimes Texas rigged, always weightless. Definitely my favorite soft plastic.