Jar11591

When I went to Baccarac, we were told to bring a minimum of 20lb line, and they recommended that line be nylon. So I went with several spools of 20 and 25lb Berkeley Big Game. Seemed like a perfect choice. The cover can be abrasive. As@A-Jay mentioned, the cover is mainly submerged trees. Lots of rock structure as well. The trees are of the very tangly variety and you definitely don’t want to let a big Mexican bass bury down into them. I don’t remember ever seeing a single blade of aquatic grass or any type of seaweed.

I haven’t used dirty jigs, but I do use Siebert jigs exclusively and the brush head is my favorite. It does well coming through weeds. It may not be the best option for heavy weeds, but it comes through weeds well enough that when I’m done pitching it to brush, I don’t feel the need to change jigs when I hit the hydrilla or milfoil next. To me it’s a jack of all trades jig, and an ace at coming through brush/timber.

Made cottage pie tonight

I don’t really know what to say to that.

@Rockhopper hitting out of a cage where the ball is delivered at the same rate to the same exact spot dead over the plate is not a major league fastball. That is a batting practice fastball. Major league fastballs are delivered by major league pitchers attempting to get the ball past the hitter. Not a pitching machine meant to deliver the ball to the same spot every time at the same rate so a hitter can get some practice in. Very different. What’s gonna happen when a major leaguer throws a fast ball at a measly 93mph and buzzes the tower, then paints the outside corner with the next pitch? You ain’t gonna be leaning over the plate like you would in a batting cage!

@Pat Brown It’s the same concept. You can make the same argument for anything. How many naturally gifted basketball players never had time in their schedule to join a basketball league? How many naturally gifted fishermen don’t have the capital to get their foot in the door. But we’re not talking the entry price. We’re talking about skill level to dominate of the best in the world. The percentage of that is effectively zero, in my opinion. Is there that one great white buffalo out there? Of course, odds say there has to be. Is there a non-zero percentage of these people who could dominate? I don’t see how that could be possible.

The White Mamba Brian Scalabrine once said to fans heckling him “I’m closer to LeBron than you are to me”. Hes right. The worst pro is closer in skill to the best pro, than the best non-pro is to the worst pro 999/1000 times.

The question isn’t how many average Joe’s could compete. The question was how many could dominate the pros. And I think the answer to that is a resounding “0”. Or such a small percentage that on any scale that isn’t minuscule, it’s effectively zero. I think people underestimate the gulf between pros and Joes. There is always that guy who thinks he can hit a major league fastball because he hit a couple dingers in beer league when in reality the bat would still be on his shoulders as it whizzes by him.

@AlabamaSpothunter Meanwhile it hit 40 degrees up here in NY today and it feels like a beach day!

Nice, that’s the “inshore grand slam”! Looks like it was an easy choice to use the same guide. I’m in the process of planning a guided salt trip as well for when I go to Croatia in a few months.

The cabin fever has hit me especially hard the last week. And it’s not even February yet. My buddy and I were texting earlier about which lakes we were gonna hit first, what baits etc…This winter has been bitter bitter cold and showing no signs of letting up. At least the ice fishermen are happy.

I prefer an 8:1. Wanna pick that slack up in one turn of the handle.

I usually head north. I live just south of the Adirondack Mountains, and that’s where most of my fishing and overnight fishing trips are done so when I load up the boat I most often hit the interstate North.

@J Francho thank you. I always read through the regulation book every season. I don’t know if this was recent or I somehow missed it. I find it surprising that the DEC cares enough about the bass of Hamilton and Clinton counties to make special regulations for them. Either way, thanks for educating me on something that as a bass angler I shouldn’t be ignorant to.

@J Francho could you provide a link with the information? I do the majority of my fishing in 5, mainly Saratoga, Warren, and Hamilton counties and I am not seeing anything regarding bass regulations being different than the state wide rules. https://www.eregulations.com/newyork/fishing/region-5-regulations#:~:text=Black Bass%2C June 15 through,St. The DEC website has the same information as above.

@Middlestone in New York State you can target bass out of season provided they are taken on artificial lures and they are released alive.

Those 12 hours were way harder on me than I anticipated

Rage Tail Structure Bug - midsize

I learned the basics from my dad, and anything advanced I learned was from either time on the water, or from here. So I guess my coach is BassResource. A good guide should be able to coach a client on some things as well. Whether intentionally or not.

I had a lucky crankbait as a kid. One day I put it 75’ into a tree, still on an upward trajectory when it hit. Wind was at my back that day.

Yes they are. I remember as a kid being bummed about NY not being able to grow big bass. Now I feel as though I live in one of the top few states in the country for bass. Still hard to wrap my head around the state record LM that was broken last year. The smallmouth record I thought may have been ripe for falling, but a 12.5 pound largemouth in NY just seems surreal.

As far as I know, the current PA state record is the only largemouth the state has ever officially verified being over 10 pounds. So catching a 10 pounder in PA is beyond the catch of a life time!

@MediumMouthBass if you’re catching bass weighing double digits in Pennsylvania, I think I speak for a lot of people on here when I ask if we can see any pictures of these 10 pounders?

I organize my tackle again and again, scout new bodies of water, organize my tackle yet again, stare at my boat, organize my tackle again still… Mostly that, but during the winter I play video games to pass the time.

I’ve heard otters or muskrats can completely decimate the big fish in waters where these mammals make a home. One of the lakes I fish used to be known for so many big bass. My buddy caught his NYS PB of over 7 pounds, plus many 5-6 pounders were frequent. But the last 10 years it’s given up nothing over 4lb, and it’s impossible to not notice all the otters scurry along the bank and swim in the shallows. The only thing I can go off of why the big fish disappeared is the otters.