Mista bass

That looks really impressive! Great job man!

I know what fluxing is but what do you mean drop out?

Here's two of my chunks!

We came in 7th with 25.56 pounds and I had second biggest fish with 4.3 pounds. I only missed lunker by 3 ounces and 29 pounds won so it was really close. I caught our 3 biggest fish, all over 4. This was my first tournament ever so I'm pretty happy with how I did.

I dont believe I'll ever fish another team event unless it's someone I know well.

I fished my first tournament the other day with a local guy I met. I'm 21 years old and have previously owned a boat and have fished all my life. I know how to fish pretty well. I backed the boat, offered snacks, money, help with clean up. It seemed whenever we were on the lake for practice he couldn't go ten minutes without yelling at me for something. If he had a problem with his boat, he yelled at me, if he got snagged, yelled at me, if I got snagged, yelled at me. The night before Tournament day, I told him I'd make jigs with his mold, he said he'd gladly split all I made for my efforts. Well I made 100 of them and come the end of tournament day I ended up only keeping 17 that I left at home because I didn't have time to finish. He said he knew he said that but he out way more into fishing then I did. Started listing things like gas, boat parts, insurance, etc. I finally said whatever. Come tournament day the yelling and complaining was even worse. He kept telling me how ticked he was that I didn't switch out my line for all flouro "like he told me to". Every time I got snagged I just broke off, so as not to make him go out of his way to get it un snagged(that made him angry). Well he didn't like that I broke off either. He'd start yelling at me for not having my line in the water and blame it on the fact that I was using braid with a leader and that in the only idiot on the lake using braid with a leader. I caught fish all day, and I believe I ended up with the 3 biggest fish in our bag. He stil wasn't happy with me. He would complain if I took a drink, had to retie my line, really anything that normally happens while fishing. I asked him to give me notice when we were changing spots to make sure I was ready as to not hold him up, he never gave me notice at all and would flip if i say down 5 seconds after him. I caught at least 2 smallies over 4 and got excited, he told me not to and I better hurry up and get my line in the water. It was just a horrible first experience. He told me he wanted to fish another tourny this weekend, but that I had to have all flouro on my reels or I couldn't go. I just said I'll pass because I'm not going to be told how to fish, what line to use, how to jig my Baits, how to scratch my a$$, etc. I felt like I was in some kind of fishing bootcamp. There was a few points throughout the day I was ready to swim back to shore. If this is how tournament fishing as a co angler is going to be I'm ready to cut my losses and be done with it. I was miserable and unhappy and I'm really not hard to get along with, I aim to please and be helpful. I have thousands invested in tournament fishing this year. I could've bought a used bass boat for what my gear and tackle costed me. Then after the tourny he asked if I had "fun"........I was polite and said sure. We came in 7th and I had second biggest fish so I guess I was pretty satisfied in that aspect. Is this common fishing as a co angler? Do boaters normally treat people this way? He could of at least not screwed me over by keeping all the jigs I spent 6 hours making for us...sorry for the rant but it's just a let down from how excited I was to fish.

I started making jigs a few weeks ago and I finally got a chance to use them and I caught some great fish on them. You really fmget a sense of accomplishment knowing you made that jig yourself and it's now catching fish for you.

My favorite style of fishing is probably finesse. I'm curious what everyone's favorite combo for finesse fishing is? Mine is a Dobyns champion 682sf med light, fast action, with a diawa ballistic 2500. I have it spooled with 10 lb power pro braid and a seaguar flouro leader. I feel EVERYTHING with this set up. I can literally feel each and every pebble I drag my shakey head over. This is probably my favorite rid in my line up.

Just like bassinlou, I've had this reel for several years and it's still buttery smooth and cast great. quality product that I can see myself still using years from now. Well worth the price you pay for such a great long lasting product.

Shimano saros. I Bought the first model when it came out years ago and it's still buttery smooth working flawlessly. If you can spring for a little more, the diawa ballistic is a great reel that can be found for around $160-180.

Don't you dare! That secret spot is mine! lol

Green pumpkin 365 days a year.

We got the pattern figured out we think and we got a limit of some really decent fish today. We got a good chance going into this tournament. Check out this chunky momma!

These were taken just after catching them.

Only as a leader. I use braid on all my combos except my top water combo and that's mono. On all my braid set ups I use a flouro leader, works great.

+1 on the keitech swing impacts on a 3/8 oz football jig. I use the green pumpkin. Killer smallmouth bait especially for finicky fish. i use the 2 inch swing impacts.

It really is pretty amazing. I'll be sharing many more photos throughout the year so you'll get to see all the different variations of smallies in my area. I personally enjoy catching smallies more then any other bass. I just wish they got as big as the largemouth and spots.

Has anyone seen these? Supposedly they emmit an electronic bait fish sound to attract fish. Is this just a gimmick comparable to "mighty bite" or does it actually work. I can't bring myself to believe it would actually work. I Bought one to see what it was about and I've never heard any baitfish make these noises lol. Anyone have any experience with them? Let's hear your take on it! -Matt

Just my iPhone with no filter. These fish were literally that vibrant. It's amazing how vivid the smallies in candlewood are. Some of the most beautiful fish I've ever seen. The perch in candlewood are beautiful too. Next time I catch a jumbo I'll post up some pics. The perch are so vibrantly colored it will blow your mind. Candlewood is one of kind. If you haven't had the chance to fish it you're really missing out.

Even from how it looks worse in the pictures, according to that is still be in the "safe zone". Either way these fish were fine and released.

Yes sir. The wonderful lake candlewood. I love this lake!

The angle of the pic makes it look worse then It is. Wasn't much pressure on its jaw. It does lookike that in the pic though.

Finesse for me is exciting. Anyone can reel in a crankbait, it takes skill and patience to work finesse baits!

We got on the water at about 8 am today for some tourny practice and the bite was real slow, as it has been the past week. I didn't manage to get any but my partner Jeff did. The good thing is I think we found where the big ones are holding. I wanted to share how beautiful these smallies were. They were some lunkers too!

it happens man. I've gotten skunked the past 4-5 times I went out. On a pond that I normally catch 20-30 fish over 3 pounds in a day, and a top 25 trophy bass lake. Sometimes they just don't bite, wether it has to do with temperature fluctuations, wind, or pressure. My only advice that helped me finally get a fish out of the pond the other day was slow rolling an underspin up a drop off, and a small paddle tail on a football head jig. Keep at it and eventually you'll get on a bite. Tight lines