AlabamaSpothunter

Freaking SWEET! Been waiting for Digitaka to get them in for a month or two. I was waiting for some reviews, where do these reels shine?

All that epic Musky action you recently had should stave of the withdrawals for a little while I'd imagine ?

Haha, I was getting nervous even knowing that he was going to catch the fish. I would have been wigging out, BlueBasser86 is a much calmer person than I am ? eta: I LOVE LOVE that adrenaline dump moment right after you release that big fish and have a moment to collect your thoughts. You have to sit down or bend over and grab your knees like that every time. That's how you know you are doing what you were meant to do on this earth.

LOL.....I thought the same thing, and I noticed immediately they weren't in the group picture when he posted it. Those and the Gantarel you found were the baits I'd find and immediately tie on. Ironic that I found a 110 for my first, who knows how long I'll go before finding another high dollar bait. Only the Choppo I found was mint ready to fish. I think it's just fun as heck colleting them like arrowheads or something. Found my smallest yesterday, a Crappie crankbait that must of cost less than a buck new lol.

Hahaha.....you wish is my command

Had a lot of fun and fished for almost 6 hours with the incoming huge drop in temps. Figure it will be at least 3-4 days before the fish recover. Ended with a magnificent sunset, but the majority of the afternoon it was drizzling, windy, and in the high 40s, low 50s. Caught 16 Bass, and 5 big Crappie. The biggest fish was a LGM that was close to 3lbs, and a Spot that was a chunky 2lb. Lots of just fat little fish, but no big fish. MB 110Jr +1 and the Flashback Mini did almost all the damage. The big LGM came off a 7" Roboworm T-Rigged. First two fish are from yesterday, rest of the action is from today. Not to exciting, but it's not a video full of ice and snow ?

Haha, same here.....it will be 12 degree low tom. but in a week we're getting a straight week of 60+ temps. I'm super excited about that week.

Man you weren't lying brother, those mitts gonna be good as new in no time. Heal up soon, and milk all the TLC you can from the wife, and new doggie ? Dang Mike, killing it. I just discovered I have at least some populations of wild Golden Shiners in my lake, caught an 8" one last week. I so wanted to use it as bait, but haven't really looked into how best to fish them. Not wanting to kill a big fish, I need to learn how to use circle hooks with them. They look like the absolute perfect big Bass bait now that I've seen a big one in person.

The eyes on big LGMs always amaze me too. I really can't wrap my head around things like this or what the guys did in the heyday of SoCal.

I just love the way your mind works Katie! We shared a very similar childhood, trucking around in creeks for Crawdads, building forts, climbing trees, just getting lost in the magic that is the woods. It's funny you bring up those big houses, those are the people that use the lake the least. I see their army of workers more than I see the homeowners. We had a huge flood last year, and it destroyed many docks, ironically many of the ones not built back are those homes. One friend I've made on the lake lives in one of those houses, and bought the world's greatest small lake boat for like 25k, poor guy doesn't even have time to use.

You are very talented man Bob, you have equally as big of heart! Merry Christmas to you, and your family!

Congrats! Glad to hear you didn't a Jelly of the Month membership ? TM will be an awesome way to spend that cheese, the wife unit will surely approve. once you tell her how much I ride you about it ?

This is as brilliant as your solution for a trolling motor ?

You're like a shark in the Flea Market, I'm inclined to believe you ? In all seriousness, most serious Bass fisherman I know have more tackle than they'll use in 10 lifetimes. Just comes with the sport I think.

My last BF order was screwy just because they've already sent me two different shipments, and still have to send me one more. Backorder stuff. Just tell me at checkout that you are sold out, rather than let me pay and then send me something weeks or a month later.

Love me some dark rich colored Largies, great job Mike. You and Katie produce some really dark colored ones. Must be living in what I assume is Eel Grass in the second to last pic.

Thanks Bob, and Katie, makes my day knowing you guys enjoy the videos. I get excited now knowing I get to share these times with friends who share my same passion for these fish. I try to tell "normies" about catching a fish, or something that happen.....I see the life drain from their eyes in boredom ? Fished from 12-4p today. Water temps were 50.5-52.5, outside temp was 48. Covered a ton of water looking for active fish, saw more bait today than I've seen in a couple of weeks. Blankets on the sonar of Shad at 10-15ft. This is where I was able to catch the active fish today. Caught 8....one of which would have been around the 4lb mark. A couple Spots over 2lbs, and a couple beautiful 2lb Largies. Not sure why they were so vivid and full of color today. The LGMs also jumped like SM today......you couldn't keep them down, so fun to watch even a 2lb Bass make 5 or 6 jumps. Lastly caught 2 nice Slab sized Crappie. 6 Bass + 2 Crappie came on the magic Flashback Mini/Armor Shad. 1 came on Berkeley Frittside crank, and lastly the best Spot came on the MB 110 Jr +1. No bueno on finesse jig, A-rig, and BD Shad. Got big hopes for tomorrow, as I had for today given what's going to happen tomorrow night. It's gonna go from 58 tom. afternoon to 12 degrees by the next morning.

That video of Butch Brown's stringer with him releasing them all is on youtube. I also watched a few videos of his with "Cast to Catch" monsters. Josh reminds me of Butch, you, and all the other guys that only cared about catching super sized Bass. He's a big Bass savant just like you guys, he's just a new generation. Most anglers are extremely jealous over guys like you, Josh, Butch, etc. It's not easy to put aside your own ego and admire true greatness when you see it in your own passion pursuit. FFS is the way many choose to undermine Josh's success, or the younger guy who didn't catch but found the 10lb Erie SM with savant FFS skills. Yeah it's on youtube, not great video but it's there. Handy Cams and Go Pros have come leap years just in 20 years. He's a really cool dude, lots of neat videos about him. A true legend in my book, and I love his approach and using the same boat all those years and how he came to get that boat.

Tag.....big need of mine with a growing addiction to stupid large baits lol

Absolutely epic, you and WaterOtter are my savant mentors, and it's crazy how fast my success is picking up. Got my first two-fer today. I surmise the same guy lost both, ironically these are dynamite baits for the lake. No doubt a trespassing bank angler. The advice you guys gave me about winds, trees, and specifically bank anglers who then don't have the ability to get otherwise "low hanging fruit" for those of us in boats is paying off the most. You can actually hunt lures this way. The others I've just lucked into.

Haha, I thought that rod was gonna snap. What a feeling that must be to know you are setting the hook on a monster, and then you feel the load of its weight on the rod. I'd get Bass Fever, I'd be shaking like a leaf. Every time I catch a 5lb+ fish I shake. When I stop shaking, I'll know it's time to quit

Once I found my first, the second two have come much quicker......oddly enough there is a whole artform to finding these baits. I'm obviously a newb, but a couple guys in here are savants. You'll start finding them once you train yourself to start looking for them.

It always gets better friend, ALWAYS! There is always a silver lining to things like this, and for you it's finally getting rid of the cancer in your life. Alcoholics are incredibly hard to deal with, you'll recover, your finances will recover, and most importantly your kids will recover. That door has closed, but the new one opening is full of promise and happiness, just keep pressing on. You've been dealt a terrible hand, but men weaker than you have overcame it.

My guess is his goal is vastly bigger than competing in fishing tournaments. The man wants to etch his name in Bass fishing history and lore. He's pursuing history more than a career. Dude sleeps for days at a time in the back of his truck/rig while travelling all over looking for the next headline fish. Beyond that, he gets paid big money by the best tourney Bass fisherman in the country to learn FFS. He still guides, but I couldn't even imagine how much he's charging, and how long you'd have to wait to fish with him. As also noted, he's sponsored up like a tourney fisherman as well. He posted a video about 24hrs ago of him losing a 13lb fish. He was watching the fish on FFS and you can see him set the hook on her, talk about a huge rod bow.

Excellent, thanks for the info as always Tom!