AlabamaSpothunter

Crater Lake and basically the entire state of Oregon left a huge impression on a Southern boy. I drove across the entire state, had no clue a state could have that much diversity of terrain, climate, and elevation. Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam are awe inspiring as mentioned already. The Baths in the British Virgin Islands ("8th wonder of the world) boggled the mind, so did a little bar of Jost Van Dyke that you have to swim into, and the name of the Bar is called " The Soggy Dollar Cafe", and when you pay they pin your money up on a clothes hanger. It's surreal, and one of those experiences that's hard to describe. Honestly it doesn't take much for me to understand how small I am in the universe.....riding on a Bass boat as the fog lifts on an early Summer morning, watching the sunset on the water in the Fall.......all stupefy me in amazement many times, and really put the scope of my own existence into better perspective. Fishing does this very well, something beautiful about watching the brutality, yet beautiful simplicity of nature while being immersed in said nature yourself. If I were Tom, the fish in his avatar would be sheered into my memory. Only place you can't really find beauty is in the large cities it seems......just concrete jungles.

Thank ya'll so much for the kind words and support!!! ? Such a privilege to not only catch these fish, but share them with others that are equally as passionate about them as I am. With anything else I'd die of embarrassment sharing something like that first 3mins of the video, but you guys afford me the buzzword of the last few years.....a true "safe space" ? After a decade + break, I had only started fishing about two weeks until I was searching for a community of great people who I could learn from. Enter BassResource and the amazingly talented, friendly, knowledgeable, and diverse background membership base. I've learned more in 4 months here than I had in all my previous years of Bass fishing growing up and as a young adult. The members here especially in this thread have given me confidence to fish vastly differently than I had in the past. Seeing some of you post ridiculous reports on top waters, others on big Swimbaits, others on Jerkbaits, etc., all stick in the back of your mind next time on the water. I'm inspired by some members, others fascinate me, others educate me, some always seem to make their posts funny, this is a wonderful place because of the wonderful group of people that populate it. I enjoy getting to share the occasions I have some success because there is no doubt that many in this thread and community have played a huge role in facilitating that success. Katie you are spot on correct, that beautiful lure caught me with all three trebles, but one managed to snag that big girl....so now MegaBass will snag more of my money tom., and thus the viscous tackle monkey cycle continues ? You got that right brother! When I stop shaking, I'll go golfing or antiquing or something ?

Had a really fantastic session today. Biggest 5 fish day since this summer with about 18-19lbs. Caught my biggest fish since August 4th, and second biggest fish since starting back, a 7.2lb fish that couldn't have been healthier and fatter. To see this big girl swim off so much easier in the 45 degree water is a big plus of catching them in the winter vs. summer I see. Loved seeing her swim off full of spunk. She'll be my White Whale in about 1.5 years hopefully. Pardon the usual schoolgirl excitement, but wow this fish lit me up on my BFS Steez setup with a 110Jr +1 in Threadfin Shad. She peeled dragged within nano seconds of hooking up. Catfish was the first thought in my head lol. Some might remember a week or two back I lost a really nice fish I never got to see, just got this same lure back with a straightened out treble hook. Note the last picture, WHEW lol eta: @ScottW got so excited after catching her I had to text Scott, told him I'd tag him once I got the video up

Yeah it's mix, but I feel that color best represents the bigger sized ones where I fish

TW has a couple exclusive colors.....one of which I think is the BamaBug. It's the best bluegill imatator in the lineup imho. Caught a number of quality fish on it late summer/early fall. Z-Man Evergreen Chatterbait Jack Hammer - Tackle Warehouse

Great attitude, and lucky man having a wife that abuses fishing tackle that hard. That said, not my style as there is just something awesome about having a beautiful rod and reel in your hands while fishing. My rods get more scratches than my reels as I always use covers and place the reels down where they won't get boat rash.

Great question. Two big reasons for me. Firstly, when the Jerkbait is working, many times it's REALLY working. Many people will talk about their biggest numbers day being on a Jerkbait. I remember as a kid catching a 100 smaller sized Bass in a Golf Course pond on a small Jerkbait. All my buddies caught 10-20 fish, I was a legend to them after that day ? I've had great crankbait bites, but nothing like what I've had numerous times with the Jerkbait. Secondly, crankbait isn't nearly as exciting sans catching a big fish on them. Outside of squarebills or some shallow running stuff, it can be a real chore to chunk and wind deep running cranks. Along this point, the connection you have with the jerkbait is much greater than the crankbait. A jerkbait seems to keep my attention completely, adjusting pause rate, cadence rate, twitch strength, etc. Lastly, fish tend to hit the jerkbaits like a train, much more sensorial hookup. So many times with a Ccrank next thing I know I've got a fish on the hook. I think Jerkbaiting is more of an artform than Crankbaiting, I know some will disagree likely, but you are totally in command of a Jerkbait. Can't wait until you get on that hot jerkbait bite, it'll happen and you'll know exactly why some are so addicted to these things.

Most excellent replies everyone! Ran out of emotions, but I'm enjoying reading all the replies. Seems to me most people are happy being around a "fishy" area that offers modern amenities except for the cabin in the woods friend.......lol that's me too. I hear Bullard's Bar is in the middle of nowhere. Just set up a fishing shack, buy a 100k Skeeter, and live the dream ? Like most tech forums the average age tends to skew older, this one is no different. Great to see so many of those that have already retired end up where they wanted to be. Working hard should be rewarded. Brother this last week has me looking south ?

That's awesome, take some pics and give us a report if you remember!

Heck ya, this thread has been as quiet as it's ever been since I've joined....those Spots warm the cockles of my mean fighting heart. Tom. I'm back at it again, 3-4 days of freezing temps has me going nuts. Tom. might be the one day when I'm okay not catching anything.

Interesting pick. I'm sure you got Peacocks down there in Tampa though.

Living the dream my man, you deserve it! Oh heck ya, after the MLF event, and where my childhood friend took 2nd place....I'm inclined to believe you. They were bringing in 20lb bags every day. Haha, and yeah we do spring stocking every year of threadfins, but thanks in part to your help I've not realized how huge the Gizzard population is. They were last stocked 25 years ago, and seemingly went away for awhile, but since I've gotten back on the lake they seem just as thick as the threadfins. I'd love to know how healthy the population of these guys are that I caught on a jerkbait.....never stocked, but man I'd eat the heck out of these if I were either a huge Bass or TNRiver46 ? Love hearing that you and A-Jay are living the dream. Hard work pays off, nice to see it in action! Looks like heaven to me brother, well done sir!

For me it would be New Bullard's Bar in N. CA. To me the Spotted Bass record is the one that seems the lowest hanging fruit, not to mention it's my favorite sub species. I'd love to know just the feeling of having your line wet in a body of water that you know has the WR swimming in it. Even if I didn't catch a WR, 5-8lb Spots are quite common, and that alone sounds like heaven. Runner up would be whatever Mexican lake is in a boom cycle, perhaps that would be Baccarac. No doubt there is a WR LGM swimming in one of these Mexican lakes, not to mention the outrageous numbers of 10-13lb fish caught every year. Lastly and most topical, Lake O.H. Ivie in Texas. This lake is entering a peak boom period, and while the WR might not be swimming there, the number of DD fish being caught is likely the most in the country currently. So friends, give me the lakes you dream about moving to ?

From a pure usage and power standpoint based on the time and thrust you listed, that size battery will be just fine for what you need. I've learned from hear and in real life now that variable TMs are vastly more efficent than a standard Endura 5 speed/3speed reverse TM for example. I assume yours is a variable, if not you'll be like me and end up pushing your group27 size battery to hard and shorten the life. I fish on average 5 days a week I'd say, and after only 3-4 months, I can already see that the battery gives me 75% at most of what it did when new. I just use the $50 cheaper Group27 batteries from Wal-Mart. Ultimately, I'm about done with lead acid batteries. The future is coming fast in terms of lithium batteries, and until then I just buy the cheapest ones I can find. Don't forget there is gonna be a nice chunk of change in addition to that 149 for "battery recycling" or something. At least in Alabama there is.

Yeah I don't know about the Landsat as they only offer 3 models in the new Levantes. Good luck with your search, maybe Conquest/Loomis series of rods are what you are looking for.

You'd being doing yourself a disservice if you didn't at least look at the MegaBass Levante Whipsnake and even Shakeyhead models. They fit your specs, price range, quality, etc. I own the Shakeyhead model.....my only complaint is the top end is a bit too light, but outside of that the sensitivity is fantastic, balancing extremely well albeit 4+ ozs, and it's the most beautiful rod you'll likely ever see for under $500. I really like the Zodius, but not as much as the Levante. Check it out, especially since you are wanting sensitivity a more forgiving top half from the sound of it.

The purity line is decided by the collective Irregardless of both our opinions, and the collective is okay with using FFS in Bass fishing. My main concern is the Bass's health, FFS is certainly not hurting that, rather it's vastly improving it. I hate they killed the 10lb SM on Erie, but they will no doubt learn a ton from that fish. In Texas, all these lunkers caught using FFS will create amazing fisheries for our children and grandchildren. Hate or love Josh Jones, the fish he's contributed to the Shared Lunker program alone merit his place in Bass fishing history, and why regardless how much self-promotion he does, it's outweighed by the good he's doing. I said it earlier in the thread, but in 5-7 years, FFS will look poverty tier. Couldn't have said the 3rd paragraph better!

Pardon my ignorance but do big Northerns get the same size as Muskies.....I see pics of big Pikes and many times think they are Muskies. That pic above makes the Musky look a bit heavier, but generally they look quite similar. I hear Pike aren't good fighters, is that true? I know Musky are awesome fighters. That's some kind of experimental "sea plane". It's like a paramotor on steriods combined with a ultralight combined with pontoons. What a weird cool, and I'm sure extremely fun plane.

It's a big boy reel meant for hammering toads, nothing finesse outside of the weight and ergos of these reels. Totally worth the price you paid, you'll just wish you had more money to buy more if you are like me.

I've had blackened Alligator that was good....gamey but good. I've also had Kangaroo. That's as far down the TnRiver46 Rabbit hole I go though ?

Just watched this video from BR after wanting to try a swimjig after the Jones epic stuff. Didn't really touch on what I wanted in regard to the way Josh Jones is using them, but I learned something I think will be very useful. The Best Winter Swim Jig Tips and Tricks - How To from Wes Logan | Video | The Ultimate Bass Fishing Resource Guide® LLC (bassresource.com) TL/DW: All that warm rainwater will be constantly washing into the lakes, which also will be adding organic particles which collect heat and increase the temps even higher in those shallow areas. Will the White Whale venture shallow to feed ? BAWAHAHAHA....don't let this fool come down there, he'll eat all those Iguanas ?

I couldn't even imagine, but I hope you and the rest of the family are finding at least some bit of peace as time goes on. Thank you for sharing a little bit about him with us on Christmas. Today can be either a very joyous or very sad day for people, holidays are certainly not easy for everyone.

Merry Christmas Tom, very sorry for family's loss. Did he share your passion for Bass fishing?

That Sunline Super Natural is my new favorite mono.....fantastic price, made in Japan product, and perhaps the most manageable line I've ever used. Great stuff, perhaps the Trilene XL of modern day.

Caught a fish on that Frittside 9 the other day, same color too. Those are great tight wobbling baits, great colder water crank I've found, I have three now in the various sizes.