Ozark_Basser

You're right. Nobody in the history of mankind to our knowledge has ever gotten that big without steroids, but that's not what I'm saying. His competition weight is ~300 lbs with a body fat percentage of ~3%. I'm saying if he never took steroids he could have realistically gotten up to 240 or so with a 5 % body fat percentage. He has the genetics. If I or someone else took just as many steroids as he does, worked just as hard, and ate just as much, we still wouldn't be nearly the size he is. I, however, would never want to get that big even if I could. I think it looks stupid. But everyone seems to have a genetic limit, even with steroids. Trust me. A very good friend of mine has screwed himself up forever trying to push his limit. He took more steroids than you would believe and never broke 220. So the lesson to be learned here is don't do steroids.

I beg to differ. Even though steroids probably put a solid 40 or 50 lbs on him, if he never would have took them, he could probably get up to 240 or so naturally. The genetics are there for him to do so. However, since he has been on gear so long, he will never be able to know for sure. He will have to be on medically prescribed testosterone the rest of his life, even if he cycles off. He will never be able to reach his natural genetic potential if he cycles off. He's way too far gone. That's the thing about steroids. People who take them don't think they will lose whatever they gained when they come off of them, but you will lose all of it. I've seen it happen many times, even to some close friends. It's best to stay natty unless you plan on doing steroids the rest of your life under medical supervision.

For future reference, you can upload photos to photo bucket and copy and paste the link to your post. There's no small size limit.

Drop shot. Ponds this time of year tend to have a lot of junk on the bottom. I'd fish with as light of line as I could get away with and step it up if there is lots of cover. Z man's plastics float and are killer on a dropshot.

Mag light

Bass fishing is done around a lot of heavy cover.

They are really nice to deal with. I just wish they would show which products were on backorder online. At least they called you. Next time I order I will call them first.

I usually just blurt out a curse word. Sometimes I'll just pretend it didn't happen and just go right back to casting, then mumble out a curse word a few casts later.

I skip, pitch skip, and backhand skip with a baitcaster. If you have a bait that skips well, its all about your rod tip and your release point. I skip with a 7MH TFO Signature Series. This rod has a super soft tip, almost feels like a crankbait rod. The lighter the weight of the better, but with a baitcaster, you're probably gonna want to not go lower than 1/4 oz. I pretty much just skip arky head jigs and paddle tails. The trailer does matter on your jig. Chunk trailers with long flappy claws don't skip as well as twin tail trailers or beavers. I usually have a 1/2 oz arky jig with a beaver trailer tied on. I wouldn't try to learn with 1/2 oz though. 1/4-3/8 are good starting points. The head design matters as well. Arkies skip the best. Footballs skip all right. Swim jig heads and brush heads take some practice. Paddletails skip really well, but it tends to wear them out a lot quicker. The screw that goes in there nose tears out while skipping. I always use a 3/16 oz keel weighted hook for paddle tails. As far as the technique, its just a roll cast with a lower delivery, it's all in the wrist. I keep my settings loose. On a Curado I, I have the mechanical break almost turned off, two brakes in use, and set to 3-4 or the dial. I use the same setting for casting. Big flat braided line would help you skip better than 8 lb fluoro. I skip with round braid like smackdown or fx2 and a fluoro leader. Once you get your release point down, it's no big deal. I skip even when I don't need to sometimes just because it's a softer presentation. I almost always skip to laydowns just because it looks more natural and when you skip to a laydown, it gets you as close as possible to the cover.

Only one way to find out....

Braid/fluoro helps. Also, a longer rod really helps, but at the end of a long cast, its harder to stick them regardless. I'm 6'3 and and it takes all I have to stick one at the end of a long cast at about 40 yards with a 1/2 oz jig and a 7H rod, and I'll still miss them if they catch me off guard.

Is he on gear? I'm assuming you are joking, but Ronnie is an IFBB pro, so yes, very much so. He's pretty much a walking juice box. That doesn't mean anybody could get as big as him though. He's still a genetic freak.

Dont get too hung up on gear ratios. Although for deep diving cranks, the lower gear ratios are better in my opinion.

I have a 14' Saranac. I love the seats in it more than anything. Sits pretty low compared to the discovery 169 I have.

The only bait that does well for me around moss is a hollow body frog. That moss should be gone by summer though.

Get a topo map and do some reading on seasonal patterns.

Also learn to fish a dropshot.

Get good at casting. Accuracy is of course important, but get good at your backhand and skipping. It really helps you get to places other bank anglers don't.

Ive always used heavy braid with a 20 # mono leader. I think I remember Butch Brown saying somewhere he uses 15 lb invizx for 8" hudds.

Yes from the bank. No for brackish water.

Newest edition to the build. The LED light i work under makes the colors look different, but it's black Fuji poly no cp with fishhawk gun metal no cp as the highlight thread. It matches up really well with the rest of the build. I'm pretty happy with it.