T-Billy

One of my favorite smells in the world.

She'll get back to you this afternoon @LrgmouthShad. Right now she's busy catching 97 bass on a two hour trip.

If an Alabama bass swallows a sinker in California, does it have to have a Prop 65 tag inserted to warn anglers of the devastating effects of eating it?

Thanks @Dwight Hottle. I'm not sure I should even be mentioned in the same breath as those two, but I appreciate the compliment. I did put together a new creation yesterday and got to spend a little time with it this afternoon. It's a chatterbait built on a piece of .062 wire like a bucktail. I used a 1oz tungsten flippin weight for the head, a tinsel skirt, a VMC 5/0 6X strong treble on the buisness end, and a screw lock added to the split ring to hold a trailer, in this case a 6" grub. That tinsel has outstanding action behind that big blade. I had a low 40's and a mid 30's follow it in this afternoon, but they were lazy follows, wouldn't even follow it into the 8. Same deal with a mepps muskie killer. Four lazy follows on it. Slick calm, sunny, and warm, it was actually more action than I expected. I think once this water cools a bit more, and we start getting some fall winds, this chatterbait is gonna be a solid producer. That VMC is a beast of a hook. Perfect for pulling big slimers up out of the weeds.

Alberto with two wraps through the loop to finish before cinching. Never had one fail

I'd say it depends on the bait and fish location in your water. Lots of shad in my local lakes. They're moving into the back of bays that have creeks and weed growth right now, so it's spinnerbait season. Right after turnover those shad will congregate into HUGE schools in the main lake basins. The A-Rig and a flippin stick will be the only rods in my boat from that point until iceover. I'll be chucking the rig the majority of the time, but I'll pull up on some shallow sunbaked laydowns in the afternoon and pitch them. Fish like to lay tight to that wood on sunny afternoons late in the year.

Iron is all we use. Works just fine on a glass top.

Sweet!!! Looking forward to seeing some Brazilian beasts in the other species thread. Good luck down there.

Roger that. I've been getting to experience that feeling alot recently while muskie fishing. Infuriating fish, but oh so much fun. I had no idea that I could get the number of bites that I'm getting, or I'd have started chasing them YEARS ago.

I've had great days and terrible days in every season. Summer is easiest because of more stable weather and patterns. Early spring and late fall are giant seasons vs numbers for the most part.

Only you would call that a cold bite. ?

31" and 37" this morning. Lost a mid 30's and a low 40's also, all within about 45 minutes. That bite window SLAMMED shut. Five follows and no takers over the next 6hrs. Today's MVP was a little #6 Blue Fox Super Bou in white/red. Killer little spinner that has unfortunately been discontinued. I acually found the one I was using today. I just cleaned the auction site out in that color. Shad have started moving into the backs of the bays with creeks entering them. Little white and nickle spinners should be a hot bait until turnover. That marabou and tinsil tail on these has crazy action. Looks like I'll be building bucktails this winter. I need more of these small spinners in my life, with different weights so I can fish them deeper.. Those fish wouldn't look at anything else today.

Lately... The clutch on my Daiwa Lexa WN engaging mid cast. I about threw that POS in the lake this morning. The newer Lexa HD's are AWESOME, the previous model, not so much.

I had a conversation with a Great Horned Owl at about 4:00 this morning. Hooooo.... Hoo..Hoo..Hoo..Hooooooo.......... LOL.

This morning I caught numbers 29 and 30 since I started chasing these toothy slimers on August 10th. Counting only fish over 30". This morning, I caught a 33" in the dark on my musky chatterbait, and the second, a 35.5" on a crankbait. Had four other follows, and had one bite in the 8, but didn't hookup. That's two, in two predawn trips on the chatterbait. I'm building it on Do-It, 1oz and 1.5oz sparkie heads. Using a 7/0, 30 degree mustad hook. The mold calls for a 5/0, 60 degree hook, but going with a 30 allows me to fit a bigger hook in the cavity with minimum alteration to the mold. I wish I could find a 30 degree 8/0, but my search has been fruitless. The mag blade, with a 6" grub trailer hunts like crazy when you burn it, and shakes hard enough to rattle the fillings out of your teeth. LOL. I'm trimming a bit off the tip of the blade to allow for more gap between it and the hook point, and winding on a piece of .051 stainless wire for the line tie. No clip to fail on this bad boy.

I haven't. The gears are backordered at Abu. I cancelled the order. I've decided to just leave them 5 speed.

You've been there, done that Katie. Blood stained jeans are just part of the muskie fishing game. Teeth have only rarely got me, but those gill rakers draw blood on a regular basis. Gloves are for wussies and children. ? ? Bowfin teeth will absolutely do that Woody. A bowfins mouth would be a terrible place to get a finger stuck. They have jaws like a vice, and once they bite down on something they're not big on letting go.

ME TOO!!! Lol. Here's a little preview teaser. ?

Nice @gimruis!!! Those tigers are gorgeous fish. I wish we had some in our lakes. Good job with the bunghole who cut you off too. Always enjoyable when you catch fish behind them and get to heckle 'em about it.

Story of my year right there. Everything is running late this year, and once a pattern does setup, it doesn't last long. I've had a good year, but it's been a challenge staying on 'em. That said, things are setting up for some mayhem over the next couple months. Mostly muskie, but hopefully I'll manage to put a few more big bass and eyes in the boat too.

Ark, Tharp, Money Maker. Better than a lot of rods that cost much more. If you're gonna be fishing them mostly in the jungle, then I'd recommend the Invoker 7'4" Mag Heavy.

Happy to hear they got Mrs B taken care of. God bless y'all.

Caught my first fish on my newly built mag size chatterbait this morning. I got on my spot right at the morning major and on the third cast it got smoked by this thick 44 incher in about 2' of water. I lost another shortly after, at boatside. It was about 40-42". Came unbuttoned while I was reaching for the net. Three more follows by low 30's and then it was like fishing the dead sea for the next three hours so I called it. Happy to have some success on the chatterbait. It's been a bit of a challange finding a hook I'm happy with, but I think I'm good to go now.

An idiot can't do what you do with that bait. You've also added to your bag of tricks this year and put up some truly impressive numbers. You're a pretty well rounded angler IMO. Maybe add a heavy action rod to your bag of tricks next year and fish that deeper thick stuff more vertically would be my only suggestion. Even from that tippy canoe you'll land a high percentage of those big bites.

I think a big key is the KISS system. Learn to locate fish, then find a couple techniques you're really good at and GRIND.