Glaucus

No, but I consider live and dead bait to be boring. I don't like to soak something. Half the fun is being engaged in my bait and succeeding.

I believe there's a God given natural love and talent in hobbies. We all know people who may or may not be pros (it doesn't matter) who are better than the rest, who love it more than the rest, and in many cases we are those people with our hobby. Many of us know really good golf players, really good pool players, really good bowlers, read good video gamers, really good mechanics. People who are in tune with what they do and they love it. Same with us. I'm no pro and many of you aren't pros. But most of us are really good and we love what we do. For me personally, I'm by far the most into bassin compared to my circle of people. By far. Y'all are too. It's why we're here. I and many of you go out and outperform the crowd most days and we're enthusiastic. My wife once asked why I can fish a place and catch fish and catch good fish at 10 times the rate of the rest of us. I told her ultimately I don't know, but if I had to guess it's because of time spent fishing and learning, and loving what I do. We feel the water different. We see the water different. We can identify bass locations and fish them effectively. It's 100 perfect feel for the sport and a true love. Like all sports a hobbies.

Wrong thread

I have 2 fishing buddies. Funny enough their ladies fish and so does mine. So it's 3 fishing couples. Pretty sweet deal if I may say so. One of my buddies told me I get just as excited over a 10 incher as I do a 3 pounder. Yes sir I do. I love to catch them. I love the bass species. I don't care how big or small unless we're talking BIG. I'm a little kid out there every time. As a Packers fan I compare it to Brett Favre playing football. He had the time of his life no matter what. That's how I am fishing. That's how almost all of us fishermen and ladies are. Some men like golf, some like pool, some like video games, some like cars, some like it all and everything inbetween. A hobby hits your soul.

If you've tried drop shot, Senkos, and the amazing Ned Rig and haven't and can't catch a bass, it's as simple as there being no bass where you're fishing. Either in the water period, or in the locations you're picking. Those will pluck out many, many small bass with some good ones mixed in, no matter who you are or what level of fisherman you are. Line could be playing a part. What kind of line are you using? However line isn't solely responsible for zero bass. It's your location. My little kids catch bass on the Ned Rig, and I've caught bass dead sticking Senkos or getting distracted talking and slightly moving my rod as I talk, not even paying attention and getting hooked up. So the point I'm getting across is these baits will catch them no matter who you are, if they're there.

Anyone addicted to bass fishing is addicted because they love it. Like any hobby.

Stuck drinking heavy stouts now til spring like a proper Lutheran boy

Replace fish with a beef steak. Gimmie a nice IPA to go with it, some taters, I'm in heaven.

If a fish that I catch dies, I leave it out for the animals to eat. If one is struggling and keeps going belly up and is a for sure death waiting to happen, I put it out of its misery. I know my fisheries well. I know where to place fish for an animal to chow on. I go back the next day and it's gone. Circle of life. I don't eat fish and I don't take anything with me to keep a fish, so leaving it for animals is the best I can do. Don't get upset about it. Just move on.

Ned will get it done. Shad rap. Drop shot.

Quite honestly if you are feeling you're traumatizing them by catching them, you've moved into a different tier of human and probably shouldn't eat meat you find in stores.

Actually on here. I of course can't remember where, but questions arising over spinning gear. Using 20lb braid because it's typically the diameter of 6lb mono. On ML or M rods rated for under by a fair amount. People posted that rod makers actually admit that their line ratings for rods are irrelevant for the most part. Like people will use 40 or 50 pound braid on a MH rated for up to 20. So common. How does that make sense if rod line rating is relevant? Not many people use 30lb braid on a casting setup and yet MH is probably the most common with 20lb being the most common rating for it. We'd have to be using whale rods if it mattered. Or like is your frog/big swimbait /big heavy cover jig rod really rated for that 65lb braid? No. It doesn't matter

This little Larry fought like a savage. Like I said, it was a Smallie year. Not many lmbs. Got a good release photo on a LMB I had a blast man. So the shopping cart photo needs a little explanation. We parked at my buddies a few blocks from the bar and walked up like smart people. I got lit up and on the walk back we came across a random cart in the road. I wasn't walking too well so they put me in it and pushed me. I don't remember getting back to his house at all lol

This was another cool day from this season. One of my fishing buddies told me I can't crank. We were supposed to go out and he was supposed to lay it to me cranking. Well he dipped out and I went. I caught 5 good ones on consecutive casts and peppered his inbox with them. Can't crank huh buddy? Lol Then I whopper plopper'd one just cuz I can

I've heard that the line ratings on rods are useless/pointless.

I've stopped messing with braid and fluoro. My finesse spinning stuff has Yo Zuri Hybrid in 6lb and my casting stuff has Trilene. No leaders, problem free. Don't even notice braid casting that much further than copoly for it to matter.

Being in North Central Illinois, the fishing season has been over for me for a little while now. Looking back, I had a really fun season. For the first time ever, I largely skipped out on LMB fishing in favor of SMB fishing. I had the time of my life on the river. First fish of the season. What a donkey: First (and one of few) decent LMB of the season. I didn't go to work that day because I had Norovirus. It was my 28th birthday too. As it was my birthday, I mustered up some strength to go to the tiny pond a couple blocks away to fish for 20 minutes: The season got juicy from there as I spent 99% of my time on the river chasing Smallies. My first big SMB: I looked like a little kid after catching this fatty: Another nice one on the Ned Rig: Whopper Plopper fish? Whopper Plopper fish! This thing was a beast. I've never had a bass peel drag on a casting setup the way she did. Absolutely incredible to watch her fighting in relatively clear, green tea water, right in front of me: I got this one on a KVD 1.5 right before the lightning struck. What was a promising night was cut too short, as was my season: It was an amazing season and I can't wait for spring. My wife had a great season too, but she doesn't like her photos online. We've restocked our gear and have ordered some brand new kayaks. We're going to start the season with a river tournament with 2 other couples. Guys vs Girls, 3v3. Here's to an even better 2019! This is what happens after you end a day long fishing trip with your wife and buddies at the bar. You end up passed out drunk in a shopping cart somewhere. Or maybe it's just me:

We settled on the Old Town Vapor 10 Angler. It's a sit in but hits everything we wanted at the price range for the most part.

My family knows not to buy me fishing gear/tackle. It's too specialized. Much better to get me giftcards to tackle shops.

My wife and I have spent these cold days on replacement gear and tackle. Now we've got about $1,000 (little more, little less) of fishing budget left and we're looking into 2 fishing kayaks. As it stands we have a couple of cheap kayaks that aren't really meant for fishing and which become uncomfortable after a short while. They're sit-ins. We're looking to sit on top, but sitting inside a comfortable kayak is fine too. Looking for something in the 500 dollar range per kayak (can be a little more, but nothing over 600 and closer to 500 if possible). We will be using these in small to medium sized Rivers, but mostly small (3 to 5 feet... One river will average 7-10 feet). Some small rapids and some sharp bends that can be a bit fast moving and turn the yak around if you're not on your game. I mention river conditions because we've never sat on top, always in, and don't know if that has any impact.

You always can. Mono didn't suddenly stop working because of the popularity of braid, fluoro, and hybrids. Fish don't suddenly have an aversion to it because some guys tell you you have to use fluoro now.

Groundhog Day

What's wrong with taking back 10-15 year old gear that was used and that didn't hold up? If they are going to offer lifetime, they should expect gear listed as lifetime to be brought back if it doesn't last. I don't think that's abuse of the system.

Get a ML/F or M/F spinning setup. Get a M/F casting setup. Get a MH/F casting setup. You've now essentially covered a majority of your bases. You can do almost anything. I would go moderate in price to be able to have nice gear AND options.

It's the water you're fishing. Your water sucks. Move to a different body of water. The start to this season sucked for me too. Water that had always produced became trash. Thought it was me until I moved to different water. Turned out to be the best season of my life. People talking about fall transition, meanwhile it's 90 degrees with a real feel approaching 100 today here in Illinois and it's going to be this way for another week.