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I see that now. Looks like there is too much of the lake in Alabama to warrant the same aggrements for the other lakes that split up more equitibly between the two. Still, SOME of the lake is in Georgia and the main river that feeds the lake comes from Georgia. With so many folks coming from Georgia to fish that lake......oh well.

Found a nice little funky fish camp RV in Alabama. I live in Georgia. The lake (Weiss) is in Alabama and a section of it is in Georgia. I looked up the permits on the Alabama website. I would be required to have a NON resident permit to fish the section of the lake in ALabama where my fish camp RV that I own is permanently set up. Cost of the permit is $46 as opposed to a $12 resident fee. That will be $138 for the three folks in my family!! I don't understand why two states that share a common border with a lake that also shares the same border can't honor each others' permit, or at least charge the same rate. Why should a non resident rate cost almost 3 times more?? Am I wrong about this??

I use the 1/2 ounce ones. You can slow roll it back. You can let it sink and then yo yo it back SLOW. You can put a 6 inch worm on the back of it and fish it like a jig. I have caught my biggest fish on chatterbaits.

I caught this fish from the bank a few weeks ago. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1226182337

Last week I fished one of my favorite spots that I always catch fish on. I sat there for hours and tried all my colors and sizes and retrieves etc. NO bites. I moved and tried some other spots....NO bites. Some days you just get skunked. It is part of fishing.

So what is wrong with catching 10 pounders instead of 18??

I don't mind a little drizzle, but not that pouring stuff.

Bill Murphy addressess this weight thing in his book. He uses the split shot rig. When the fish picks up the worm it computes to being more natural and he will hold on to it. Also he does not like the way the worm looks on the bottom Texas rigged or pegged. Carolina rig is a good compromise. The weight is well in front of the worm. Worm is weightless.

I have an old football injury to the shoulder. When it hurts from casting, actually the retreive for me is what is tugging at the shoulder and the tendons, I fish a VERY slow worm presentation for a while. Mixing it up between casting and the mega slow worm keeps me at it longer with less discomfort. I also am working on casting with the right hand and retreiving with the left. Amazing how distributing the load between the two helps.

ANALyze everything you did right AND everything you did wrong. You will be a better fisherman if you do.

NICE!!!. I see your spinning rod....what kind of lure did you use.

I have been so happy with my bass fishing. I used to fish so much in the 60s when I was in high school, but I never fished for bass. I did not even fish one day for about 35 years after that. I am approaching 60 years old and it's about time I started enjoying something. Unfortunatly my brothers very ill health has been an impetus for my fishing. I have been driving over to Alabama from Atlanta every two weeks and hanging out with him. He lives on a nice 70 acre lake that he and I used to fish when we were just little kids. We spend as much time as we can out on the water which for him is only maybe a couple of hours a day. When he is resting/sleeping, I go myself and walk the bank. I have caught some beautiful fish there. Fishing for me is so relaxing and theraputic. I have also really appreciated all the info and help here on this forum. It is really amazing what you can learn here.

I switched to bigger baits expecting to make endless casts and getting maybe a bite an hour or a day....it worked out to be about like that, but I started catching MUCH bigger fish. Fish often. You will get the big bite at some point. All this is predicated on the knowledge that there are for sure some big fish where you are fishing. Big fish eat too.

Great story. You got closer than all the rest of us. Don't be too bummed about it. You know where the fish is now.

Next time use your line to measure the length and girth. Just cut the lure off, pull the line the length of the fish and then cut it off. That's the length. Wrap the line around the fattest section for the girth and you have measurements even if you don't have a tape measure. If you just want to get length then measure it along your rod and go back and use a tape to get the length later. BTW NICE FISH!!! That just makes too much good sense!

Bless you Deadeye!! You are a true fisherman! If I can ever return the exaggerati.......uh favor, just let me know! 8-)

That's fine!! I don't have enough experience in weight guessing. By the time the story gets told a few times.......it'll be up to 12 before you know it! 8-) Here is the last shot more straight on. Looks a little less thin this angle. That should give everyone enough pics to do some more estimating.

My wife is standing on a hill above me taking the pic, so the shot is not straight on and might make the fish look a little thinner with the angle looking downward. I did not have a tape measure on me. I thank you all for your estimates. BTW I released the fish after the pics were taken.

OK I put up a smaller version of the original pic just as it was, and added another. Is this better?? Hope this will make it easier to guess a weight. At least I have a pic!!

Ya'll know I have only been bass fishing for about a year and a half. Everything I learned has been from this forum and from my brother. My small 3 or 4 acre neighborhood lake is where I can run down and check out rods and reels and lures. It is an old lake with no creek or anything feeding it, just rain runoff and maybe a little spring or something. I never caught a big fish out of it....until today. I Wanted to test a chatterbait with some new 10lb line. Put an extra trailor on it..a black trick worm, tossed it out. Let it go to the bottom and just hopped it and let it sit there...felt a little pop and the line felt light so I set the hook. Wow!!! Got the fish over in the small pads we have around the lake..it tangled me up pretty good so I have learned to just give the fish some slack and wait it out till it decides to move a little and then I can drag it up and out. Give me some good estimates on how much it weighs. Got to be 10+!

I fish a small lake in my neighborhood. Caught a big one today on a Chatterbait with two black trailors on it. Fished like a jig and pig. Just let it sit on the bottom and pop it up and let it wobble back down and let it set there. Do this all the way back to the bank. Jig/pig combination is good in the fall and winter.

Thank you for that info. Too bad they did not promote that lake to be a dedicated trophy bass lake. Why introduce the hybrids in a lake that was already such a good bass lake? Also, was the hydrilla just an accidental occurance or was it also introduced?

Randall. What happened to lake Varner with all this grass you are talking about. Did this grass growth come about in the last year or so. I don't remember that lake being so grass infested. Are they planning on doing any kind of grass control there?

Ask John Murtha.

I did it yesterday for several hours. Caught a 4, 8 and a 9+ pounder. Made me start rethinking all this "running and gunning" all over the lake. Over a period of time, don't fish move about to feed and do whatever fish do. If you have caught fish off a spot before, won't you have just as good a chance if you fish that spot relentlessly for an extended period of time rather than making a couple of casts and then moving on? I caught all my fish off one lure even though I tried several.