AlabamaSpothunter

Way to go friend, really nice fish! Had the same conditions except it was gusting up to 15mph today.....little whitecaps on my lake. I knew it was going to be a banger of a bite though with this upcoming low pressure coming from Hurricane Ian. I expect this to continue until Friday at least, maybe even into Saturday. Tomorrow is going to be the same just with more wind I think. I couldn't catch the quality LGM I thought I was going to given how good the bite was, but I can't complain with a raw thumb day using a Crankbait, and this little Chatterback Flashback. Only used two setups, threw the Jackall Crankbait around points and flats, and then fished the Flashback with the 3" Armor Shad offshore around isolated large pods of shads. The Flashback with the 3" Armor Shad is a deadly looking bait, and really turns the bait into a dedicated Bass lure. Guess a bird got a hold of one of these chunky Spots, hopefully it makes it. Second pic was my biggest, a 2.2 Spot.

Guess who's going to drop another $15 bucks tomorrow to replace that pretty Jackall above.....this guy ? Fished that brand new bait for 3.5 hours today, it killed.....caught 11 fish on it. Then right at dark like an idiot I set the hook when it was bouncing into cover thinking it was a fish and it hung. Tried for 20mins to free it. Thankfully cranking season isn't very long the way I fish or I'd be broke. Dang, Japanese Monkey loved you really good ? Eyeing that bigger Zillion right now, can you tell me if the drag dial is plastic or metal? My only complaint on the SV TW

Trout people are nothing more than Karens with fishing poles......prove me wrong ?

I'm envisioning a scene from Point Break the movie, but instead of surfing a once in a lifetime wave, a nutjob Florida man is fishing 48hrs prior to a Hurricane making land fall ?

Just saw the new Sleeper Gills at my local tackle shop......OP you should give these a good look. Pricey but they looked fantastic, and the size seemed perfect on them to catch both big and regular fish.

I've been around Swans my whole life, and I can say without a doubt they are the biggest you know what's in the animal kingdom. At least my mentor lived Mute Swan Attacks and Kills Man on Kayak in Chicago Pond | Field & Stream (fieldandstream.com)

The TW monkey is having a 25% off select items Fall sale for those interested. Local monkey just got me. ETA: I was just looking at the TW stuff for sale, and go figure the one CB I buy today locally is on the list. Would have saved 5 bucks right there. At least my local store is charging the same price as TW before the sale.

Heck yeah pal, a 3.5lb Spot is a fantastic fish. Bet it was super angry, and pulled really hard ?

Agreed on the JDM Zillion SV TW.......it just feels different than any other high end reel I've used. It's off the charts in terms of smoothness on retrieve. Over hundreds of casts with a chatterbait or crankbait, this makes a big difference alone on fatigue. I'm battling right now getting another one, I have a few holes in my lineup that need upgraded, but for the current price.....I find it hard to believe you can get more bang for your buck than a JDM Zillion. This reel gets 5 stars across the board wherever you look. I assume it's the "hyperdrive" part of the reel. that feels so unique and makes it so smooth. Clicking saltwater type drag is just brilliant as well. Sharp looking unit as well. My only complaint is the drag dial appears to be made out of a plastic. You know the monkey is going to chunk a few more reels off the boat, might as well get ahead of it ?

I'm willing to bet everyone who replies to this thread is guilty of mishandling Bass at one time, most being when they were kids, or first starting out. I know I'm not immune, I remember trying to drag a nice 5-6lb Bass behind the boat on a stringer to get a pic as a boy, and when I got to the dock, the fish was dead, I drown it? I don't think the 45 degree thing matters on dinks. I've heard it's bad to hold really big Bass vertically for a pic for that matter, and I still snap pics of 5lb+ fish vertically because it's just me, and not into selfies. Might have to change that policy the more I learn on this specific aspect of handling Bass. I say all that because I think we all are still learning the best way to ensure we release the fish in the healthiest manner possible. It's a really big priority for me the older I get.

People who leave tangled line behind are as low as it gets. It's almost a certainty seemingly that the line will end up on some animal, especially Ducks, Geese, and Swans. My fishing mentor had his arm broken trying to get fishing line off a swan's wing.

Way to go brother! I'll keep you in mind next time I'm complaining while fishing. Keep up the incredible fight, and I hope you get blessed with a new kidney!

Yes, but I'm not Karen enough to lecture people on it.

Limits, conservation, and protection of natural resources is a cultural deal, most of the world doesn't share our values especially on this subject. If you talk to any fish cop, this is a really big problem, and most people are petrified to discuss it.

Out of reactions, but seriously thanks to everyone for putting my mind at ease! Makes me feel much better. Hope that slimy sucker washes up and I can get my Lucky Craft back?

My state prohibits me from liking this post ?

When I was kid and would catch bigger Catfish, they'd "slime" the line by the way they fight, something about the tail thumping the line. I lost a $20 Lucky Craft BDS 3 to a really big fish this afternoon. Upon inspection right where the line broke cleanly (no curly cue tell tell of a failed knot), the first 12-18" had a thick coat of fish slime on it. I've broken off a few big fish over 5lbs, last being over the summer, but never had thick slime like that. Only time I've ever seen that is when I caught catfish as a kid. I just re spooled with Sunline 14lb mono a few days back because I didn't want to run further to a place that carries line I trust. Not all the blame goes on the sunline potentially though as the mystery fish blew up my CB right when it was bumping into brush, and I'd say the first 5-10 seconds the fish was lightly wrapped, but quickly it took straight off into deeper open water. Then about 30 seconds later that sickening feeling hit. The more I think about it, the stranger the fish pulled, or fought. Never once in that 30-45 seconds did I feel the fish was coming up, or I should be preparing for a jump. It's been decades since I caught a catfish so I can't recall the nuance to how they feel or fight. I just remember them fighting unique. Losing a $20 bait, losing potentially a really nice LGM, both not what really bothers me, it's the fact that a 3" long crankbait with big #2s on it could be stuck in a big LGM's mouth. Seems like it would be close to a slow death sentence. Nothing I can do about it anyways, but I let it ruin my fishing session like a petulant child. Kept hoping and half expecting to find the lure floating, but no bueno on that. I'm in central Alabama, I wish we had toothy long slender fish, but we don't. The only culprits here could be a Channel Catfish or a really large Bass. What says the hive: Channel Catfish or large LGM Bass?

I inherited my grandpa's Old Timer pocket knife that he bought in the 60s, and literally never left home without it. He was a mail carrier for a long time too, so I imagine he used for various things daily, perhaps why he was so religious about always having it. It's hard to open, archaic like a dinosaur, but the steel used, and the manufacturing quality of it ensures that I could give it to a grandson one day if I wanted. For me it's two companies......Kershaws for actually carrying daily, and using to cut, pry, scrap, etc. with, and then Microtechs, the knifes I buy thinking I'll carry them, but then realize I'm not about to cut some boxes with a $400-500 OTF knife. Kershaw makes a fantastic affordable blade, many great designs, and their assist opening models are darn near auto fast.

Dang I'll just go sit in the corner and be poor ?

Give this thread a read as it kind of documents my journey to finding the rod, never even heard of Alpha Angler a month ago, now I intend to buy a couple more rods from them. Since that thread has been updated, I already received my new rod from them with prepaid shipping label for old rod. New rod was perfect. The rod itself was a gamechanger for me, but to see how the company handled my issue really gave me confidence in the company going forward and recommending them to friends. I went from missing well over half the bites I had the chatterbait using existing rods I had, to now catching 90% of them. Caught a pig a few days ago that paid for the rod already ?

Okay so I went down and found the bait I was talking about, along with a few others I think would be great as well depending on water color/clarity Mattlures is who makes this nice one. Thing is huge, and unless somebody has DD fish swimming beneath them, kind of pointless to throw imo. Ironically I have DD Bass in the main lake I fish, but just don't want to lose it haha.

I'll take a pic of the bait, it's some custom high dollar swimbait I'm too afraid to throw lol. The Chatterbait is the 3/8th oz ZMan Weedless series in Breaking Bream. I use a Lake Fork Magic Shad in Albino on the back, and then spike the tail chartreuse like a bream has. It's dynamite for bigger fish. The reel is a JDM Daiwa Zillion SV TW 1000.

Chatterbait in Bream no doubt.....and I have a swimbait that looks exactly like that lol. Something about the "pulsing" action really drives big fish crazy, and I imagine it has something to do with the vibrations larger sized Bream and Crappie put off.

For whatever stupid hording reason, I put them in zip loc bags. Half of them have their bottoms ripped off from small Spots. My friends 12 year old son got a worm making kit, so I'm gonna see if I can donate all the old stuff to him so he can melt it down, and if nothing else practice with it.

Haha, I would have to agree with you. Sadly peak night fishing season is over down here for me. About July it peaks, and it's much easier for me to find bigger quality fish holding in the deeper parts of a lake, especially by dams. I can't tell you the number of times I set the hook on a Bat hitting the line ?