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I caught a new PB yesterday and would like to post a photo of it. Can't quite figure out how to do it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I got a chance to get back to Lake Erie out of PA waters after leaving four years ago to move down south permanently. Our group of four guys planned a week trip with 6 days of fishing shortened to just four hours of fishing daily. The guy I fish with can only handle limited time on the water before he gets worn out. Since we are all retired the extra time off fishing gets devoted to playing poker, having a few drinks & just enjoying the comradery. I had a great trip fishing jerk baits my favorite approach to catch smallies. We caught a few casting but most of the damage was done drifting. My most successful baits were Smithwick Rogue DD & Lucky Craft pointer 127 & 128 models for the shallower water 10-18 fow. The Smithwick DD did the most damage & was ticking bottom in 15-16 feet while covering 18-23 fow. We didn't catch a lot of numbers but caught quality fish. Water temps were 47-51 over the trip. Air temps went from a low of 45 to 58 degrees. We had mostly cloudy skies, fog & rain off & on. We lost two days of fishing due to high winds/waves. I ended up with eight smallies over 5lbs & a beautiful 7.47 lb trophy girl. Actually a new PB beating my old PB by 1.5 oz.

Today was an awesome day! We caught 7 bass and 1 giant crappie. My friend caught his new PB at 5.5 pounds on a jerkbait! We caught all the other fish on clipless crankbaits. 8 fish in 5 hours isn't bad for December.

Stealing my start directly from Geo G Loxahatchee 2/18/18 7-10am Clear sunny day Wind ESE 2-4 mph Water temp 72.5* No current Water light stain Was able to get out on the kayak for a few hours this last Saturday morning. Always get excited when the forecast calls for light wind conditions when fishing from the kayak, and the weather guys were dead on this time around. Wind was nonexistent up to a light breeze for the large majority for the morning. High bright skies and overall a beautiful day to be out on Lox regardless of the fishing. Paddled directly back into one of the more secluded flats that I typically target just north of the Lox boat ramps. With the high water levels it was very easy to get back there. Actually with water levels so high, this was the first time I saw a bass boat back in the same flat I typically fish. Looked possibly like a guide with his client who clearly knew where he was going. He went directly to an area that I just fished through 10 minutes prior and only caught one small LMB (less than a lb). Difference is they were live baiting and from what I could hear from the constant splashing of fish on the other end of their lines, they did a LOT better than I was doing. Although I'm not a live bait fan, it looked like a fun time. On my end, mainly fished that back flat and had a great time doing it. Started with a HB frog and had two on early but wasn't able to bring either to the kayak. Never got a good hook set. Then it went flat for the remainder of the first hour or so, I continued with the HB frog, switched to a grass pig swimbait, also threw a swim jig for a bit with no takers. A bit discouraged, I tried to slow it down and switched over to a watermelon fluke and the bite turned on immediately. I'm guessing by the color and presentation that it was resembling a baby bass in nature. In any case, the bite for the next couple of hours was fairly steady. Caught 10 fish in total all on the same watermelon fluke (9 LMB, 1 Cichlid , 3 got off (including one rather large mudfish that hit about a 5 feet from the kayak). 2 of the bass were in the 2-3lb range, otherwise most of the others were less than a lb. but still fun to catch of course. The highlight of the morning was hooking into my new personal best pictured below. She was the bedding bass I was searching for. Her tail was all bloody from making her bed. Unfortunately I didn't have a scale but I'm guessing she went at least 5.5 to 6 lbs, thinking maybe more judging by her gut. Pretty fish! Made my morning. Looking forward to getting back out this weekend and continue the hunt for these big girls. Hope you all are doing well. Good luck out there!

This last year I was able to catch 3 bass over 5 lbs and it was an awesome experience. I like catching numbers but I'm really wanting some more 4+ lb action this year. I'll be fishing in Texas in a small boat on lakes mostly 2,000 acres or smaller, most have standing timber and some vegetation. So what should be my strategy this spring and summer for some quality bass. Currently I'm thinking I will keep a rattletrap, a big worm and a jig tied on pretty much all the time. And when I night fish I will add a black spinner bait to that list. (2 of my fish over 5 lbs last year came on a rattletrap) I'm not wanting to give up smaller fish exclusively but I want to better my odds for some nice fish. What's yalls thoughts? If y'all had the same goal in mind would you pick differently? Should I consider adding anything? I understand it's not all in the bait/lure but I do want to choose my startup wisely.