Davis

x2 x3 x4 lol Great service and prices.

I have such confidence in the Palomar though. First breakoff of the year. Never had trouble with breakoffs in my life. That's why I said it was just stupid and lazy because I never even tried to tie the Palomar on......until after I lost that fish. ;D That's all I can do is laugh. ;D THAT FISH WAS HUGE!!!! I'm going to be sick lol. Hopefully I can get him to bite again.

Title says it all. Temps were back up in the high 70s here in Western NY. So I got home from work and starting sifting through my tackle to choose what I was going to take to my favorite spot. Decided to fish a GYCB Hula Double Tail Grub in a watermeleon red for the first time ever. Teamed it up with a 1/4 BPS XPS football weedless jighead. I was going to be targeting some rocky structure that was deep so I thought this would work well. But the eye is tucked into the jighead so I wasn't sure if I would be able to tie my Palomar knot in there. So I went with an improved clinch knot (never tied it before). Moving ahead to the fishing spot.......third cast......bouncing it off the bottom in small spurts.....about 14 foot down.....something just nailed it. There are some big brown trout in there but I'm assuming that there not going to hit that bass setup (who knows though). Thing was just bending my ST. Croix Avid like crazy. Started to come to the top and I was prepared for a jump.......but instead I never saw him. Instead of jumping the sucker took a monster lunge back out towards the middle of the lake. The drag screamed for a bit and I made the mistake of horsing him in while the drag was screaming. Well the next thing I know........I felt nothing and reeled up nothing but line. The darn knot gave. Talk about doing something so totally stupid. Tying a knot that I have never tied before. Having almost crap for luck in this fishing spot I thought I may get some dinks. But instead I lost what definately would have been a personal best and he is swimming around with a jig in his mouth. No questions asked he was huge. Never felt a bass that big on my line before. Never saw him so I don't even want to guess on how big he is. Still beating myself up over it. The sad thing is I tried to tie a Palomar knot with a new football jighead after that lost fish and it worked just fine. Caught two more dinks all the while that monster fish that got away was still in my mind. All because I was lazy and stupid. > :'( The only positive is that I found that I got a nice fish on the first time using a football jighead. So confidence was built there on another bait. But confidence lost in my ability to tie a improved clinch. But man.......a PB Largemouth lost because of me....not my setup. So people!!!! Never go out fishing with a knot tied on that you have never tied before. Always go with what works.

lol when the fish saw my Ika yesterday they may have said "What the heck is that thing"....but they sure did crush it. 8-)

Guess I don't know how to fish a spinning rig than if I don't care for it. :

Oh no offense taken at all. I fish from a raft lol. ;D I just wanted to make sure that you guys understand that I'm not knocken the veterans. Sometimes typing on the internet can come over different than what the real intent of a post was.

Wow this post wasn't meant to knock the older crowd. Again in my experience it has been with a couple of older guys that don't catch jack and all they do is moan and complain. I'm NOT saying that the older crowd are all mean, cranky, stubborn, idiots. That is why I said SOME older fisherman. ;D

Agreed but I don't fish tourneys so my answer is.......... The Lunker!!!! ;D Catching numbers is fun, but what puts that smile on my face for the rest of the day or weekend is that one monster that I was able to land. 8-)

I agree. Although the Fat Ika has worked for me on my last trip. Muddy speaks the truth though. If you can see them.......they can see you (usually). My dads pond is the same way. I have to cast parallel to the bank and work my way around . So I'm always casting to areas where they have not seen a glimpse of me. Try to find some drop offs near shore as well. Also weightless 4" Flukes with small jerks could get those cruisin bass to bite.......if they don't see you.

I can tolerate getting skunked. But I wasn't even getting bit at all. That is what bothers me when I can't seem to locate them.

Wrote in the general thread about my problems the past week. No bites......cold weather.....just miserable. Was trying everything. Draggin bottoms with worms, senkos, etc.....spinnerbaits....buzzbaits....weightless and weighted flukes.....but still nothing. Now finally a week after that cold front moved through the bass have started to hit again. Caught 7 yesterday in two hours including these decent sized bass. Not sure on the weight or length because my son took two of the pictures and was really taking his time so I didn't want these fish to get too stressed out. Anyway......Green pumpking black flake Fat IKAs were the trick last night. Rigged skirt up. I missed at least 6 other fish though.....most likely small dinks. Just glad to be fishing and catching something with this cold winter weather headed my way. By the way, I caught all my larger fish just where the shallows drop off into deeper water. Probably a drop off from six foot to 15 foot. There not monster fish but man it just feels good to be fighting fish again. Then I caught this guy....my biggest of the day on my last cast lol. My son already ran back to my truck. I yelled for him to come take the picture but he couldn't hear or see me (I was at my dads pond). So I had to pull an Avid. ;D BrokeJew if your reading this, this last fish chomped down on my hand like your fish did. Just before I thumbed her so I could take the picture. I had all four fingers in her mouth and she bit down HARD. First time that has ever happened to me so I had to chuckle seeing how you got it good the other day as well.

There is another old guy that rocks at the same lake of that "crabby dude". Guy is a crappie slayer. I have tried to pick up on some of the things that he is doing. Uses a slip bobber and crappie bites from Berkley. Fun to talk to and always pleasant and informational.

Exactly. It's what you feel comfortable using. My stepdad uses an ugly stick and he had just as much success with his rod as I did with my higher priced one while we were fishing a pond. Fishing weightless plastics. But if we fished deeper water with a shakey head rig than I probably would waste him because of the need to feel the bottom and those subtle strikes. But in truth the US isn't going to be as sensitive as other rods. But if your catching fish and you like it, than thats cool. Nothing wrong with that.

No he is saying that the smallies can get bigger down south. Which I would agree with. Erie and it's tributaries can produce some nice smallies (I know), but just like LM bass.....the south IMO can produce some larger ones.

What style and color do you guys favor? Looking into picking some up for next season. There are a couple different worms so I want to know what the best way to rig each one. So if you list something please let me know your favorite way to fish them. Thanks!!

What ya catch him on Johnny? Yes I have dealt with that "burst" on occasion. Especially when they come out of the rapids and into calmer water while hauling them in.

My wife and I shut down our SAT dish and went back to nbc, cbs, and abc for that reason. Even then there is nothing but craziness on. What ever happened to shows like Cosby and the A-team? I used to check the news daily to see what was going on but I haven't done that on the net for months now and I'm thankful for that. Just going to get worse boys. Anyway....back on topic.

That's awesome. For the record guys.........thats why I put "SOME older fisherman".

I have been using the 4lb for my trout/panfish setup. It's okay but IMO it's not as great as everyone talks it up to be. Had some trouble with it on my spinning gear to tell you the truth. I thought that it would be so much better than vanish (which I didn't have a problem with at all).......but IMO I liked my 4lb Vanish better for my trout setup. But I'm going to spool it up again next spring and give it another fair shake.

Ithink Avid,Risk Kid and Long Mike best fit into this catagory All of whom I have great respect for. Now these guys are very knowledgable and I have taken some great advice from there posts.

Ah I'm not. I just think it's funny that he complains about the same thing every time I talk with him. I'm not condemming all old codgers as my grandfather taught me how to fish and is very skilled in angling. Very humble man. I have great respect for most older fisherman. There are plenty of younger people that are idiots as well. But I can't wrap my finger around this man. So when I see people like this it just cracks me up I guess.

Fishing...... But buying fishing stuff is still pretty fun in itself.

I'm one of those people. Get me in anything over 20 feet and I feel naked lol.

I agree. I catch a bunch of bass that size out of my raft. Fun times. Even those smaller guys can really put up a nice fight out on that water. Like the crappie as well. There neat looking fish. Have only caught one this year and it was by accident. I may try to learn more about them here in the winter months and target them with my UL next year.

I wish. Right now the only smallie creek that I can fish is loaded with steelhead fisherman. They crowd the banks. I'm not big into fishing one spot with a guy on my left and right both only a couple feet away from me.