AlabamaSpothunter

Gives you a whole new appreciation for God and Mother Nature doesn't it, the complexity of nature is incredible. I'm always reminded of this when I read about another failed attempt to grow the world record LMB. Great stuff Bob, you work so hard on that pond, so it's nice that you take the time to really enjoy the critters in the home you've built them.

Just getting home from night fishing 😁 Good luck in a few hours, but I know you don't need luck 😎

Katie, I think adding a small water temp gauge to your gear would be super helpful. The one thing I've found in terms of environmental factors that's the most consistent is water temps and how they relate to Bass movements. This is especially true pre spawn, spawn, and post spawn periods. You can kind of get a jumpstart on the Bass before they move, for example down here once I see 55d in Feb., my first stop each day is to see what's moved to the banks. I always record my water temps in my daily logs.

Check out the "Bass After Dark" and "Big Bass Podcast" on youtube for the episodes featuring a guy named Jimmy Zinker.......hours of knowledge on fishing for monsters at night with modified jitterbugs. Some of my favorite stuff I've watched on Youtube.

Yes the action will be different based on the line type, size......the reel size, and retrieve, and lastly the rod length, and action.

Once the water reaches about 80d, I don't think it's ethically right to catch big fish on spinning gear. It takes me several minutes to catch a 7-8lb fish on 8lb FC on spinning gear. I rarely need to net a giant caught on spinning tackle because I expend all their energy during the fight. That same fish takes me 30secs with 18lb FC on baitcasting gear. Just something to think about with this topic. Get those big fish released asap once that water gets hot, do whatever it takes to not prolong the fight with these special fish.

There's no more noble action in the sport of Bass fishing than to take a kid fishing! Proud of you Katie, you've gone from being a rookie at green fish just a few years ago to now being such a great Bass angler that you can put kids on fish. My father wasn't into fishing, and if it wasn't for a neighbor who mentored me, I never would have learned how special LMB are.

Double SDJ or standard SDJ knot

Awesome day Katie, and glad to hear you got home safely! Get some rest, those Bass will be there in a couple days 🙂

Amazing how B.A.S.S. always has so many tech difficulties on live and during weigh ins. MLF coverage is a million times better, and that really pains me to say.

Agreed, a number of fish have already died this derby. Several anglers mentioned they had dead fish at the weigh in yesterday. One thing that strikes me as wrong is B.A.S.S. doesn't say at the weigh that the angler's weight is reduced because of a dead fish penalty. BMP lost last year to Davis Jr on Lay Lake because of a dead fish penalty......I was there and nobody, but Brandon said a word about it.

How dare you @TnRiver46.........I don't type with peanut butter stuck in the roof of my mouth 🤣 Christie's 9.4 last year on Lay Lake is the best catch I've seen since being back in the sport. He's got the video on his youtube channel. Epic catch and fish.

This thread is a testament to why night fishing is the ultimate cheat code in Bass fishing imho. Very few Bass anglers night fish.

The fish are so scattered out right now because of the time of year, and lack of current that it really makes it hard for the scopers to do their thing as efficiently. Lake is fishing very tough today. Very few bags over 15lbs. Maybe B.A.S.S. will schedule the events in Alabama during the Fall next year, only way to make our fisheries look worse. By the time they leave Alabama, folks will think the state is one big Sabine River 🤣

There is a whole great podcast on this subject on Bass after Dark, my takeaway is that oil based scents really only work as masking agents because apparently scents have to be water soluble for the fish's olfactory system to actually pick them up in water. That said, I'm a religious user of Bang Garlic on my soft plastic. I use heavy bug spray especially during the nights of summer months. Certainly hasn't hurt my game, and at least in my mind has made a major difference since I started using it.

7lb 9oz fish is an amazing fish for June on Wheeler. Turning into a great derby already.

TA TA TA TA TINY BASS 🤣 ETA: Let's go John Cox with 22lbs......nobody more likable in Bass fishing than John.

One of the few derbies I've seen on Wheeler where the Decatur Flats weren't a player.....at least as of now. It was a huge player last year at the Open. ETA: It's hot here, but June is nothing compared to July and August.

All these boys just sizzling like pieces of bacon 🤣

I mean it's really no different than any other derby this year........rookies staring at screens, veterans fishing history praying they can compete. Lot of screen watchers this derby, but a fair number of non FFS as well. The leaderboard reflects how weird this derby this starting.....I mean Clifford Pirch in the top 10, Crews and Prince in 1st and 2nd. I expect this leaderboard to shift around big time sans Crews.....dropping 19+ on day 1 will ensure he stays up there.

Silt survey or just using common sense when you evaluate a property in a creek. Look at the runoff, look at the composition of bottom in front of the area where you'd launch a boat. Look at the flood history of the lake, look at the effects and high water marks in relation to your property. At the end of the day, there is no better place on earth than living on or within throwing distance of a lake/river. The ocean is a totally different story though. Just my 2cents.

Somewhere b/t 7 and 8 lbs is my guess. It's a really nice fish, congrats.

Welcome from Alabama!

The MLF already lost all credibility and integrity, but this takes the cake......it's like they're purposely pulling the drain plug in the middle of the lake.

The ironic thing is that Zaldain is a rather poor FFS angler, he admits as much. I like him and watch a lot of his YT content, but he's way behind the tech curve. I think this is actually a great example of what we discussed in the PM.......he knew that if he wanted to be competitive, he had to embrace the technology, but ultimately, he's way behind the curve because he just this year really tried to embrace the tech and learn it. These guys feel pressured into buying all these graphs, multiple transducer locations, crappie brakes, etc. The guys who are really dialed in with FFS will tell you all they need is one LVS 34 and a 12" graph. He's still packing $25k in tech though......2 console graphs, 3 bow graphs, and a pair of crappie brakes