paul.

I got to fish Monday and Tuesday. it was some wild action for sure. the first thing I noticed when I got to the lake was a bunch of barn swallows skimming the lake's surface. there were literally birds all over the place. these birds are insect eaters, so I started paying attention and noticed a lot of small flying bugs sitting on the surface of the water. the whole food chain had kicked into high gear. I got to fish the whole day Monday and got a nice short fat 6 along with a 4 and more 2-3 pound fish than I knew what to do with. one BIG bite where the hooks simply pulled out. never saw the fish which is probably a good thing. more of the same on a half day Tuesday with the overall quality being down but numbers being up. had I not been looking for better fish, there is no doubt I could have caught 50 hands down with 100 plus not out of the realm of possibility. I caught them on jigs. I caught them on plastic. I caught them on traps. I caught them on spinnerbaits. long story short, if I threw it, they ate it. in my efforts to hit a big fish, I even threw a 15" worm. no dice though, just more dinks. I wish I could have gotten a picture of these insects. these bugs were slightly larger than a mosquito with puffy antennae. it was not a mayfly or a mosquito. my guess is some type of midge. has anyone else encountered any bugs that fit this description? this was some awesome action and I am definitely going to look for these critters in the future.

2 over 5 in one day! man that's crazy good right there.

great fish. that pair would beat a full house.

man I feel for ya. don't blame ya for being frustrated. that's a lot of miles and a lot of bucks. i'm sure it crossed your mind more than once that you coulda probably done better a few miles down the road at KY lake. but I get it. there's always that chance of a monster at Falcon. the hope of big fish makes us go to extremes. better luck next time man.

save those old torn up tubes. here's a smash tube / craw fatty. cool with pretty much any craw, creature, or beaver bait. works great on a jig head or tx rigged w/ a pegged sinker.

that works too, but often interferes with hookups since the weight is riding in the hook gap.

check this out. and trust me, it works - well. 1. tie on a 2/0 - 4/0 ewg hook depending on the size bait you are using. start the hook in the nose and back out tx style. 2. insert a dipsey swivel sinker in the butt end of the tube - ring first. 3. when you come back through the bait to complete the rig, go through the plastic first, then the ring inside the tube (to hold the sinker in place). 4. finally, complete the rig by coming back through the bait and skin hooking. applications and techniques are limited only by your imagination. works on top walk-the-dog style. works shallow like a fluke. works deep like a jig. falls horizontal or even backwards with a heavier weight. great tentacle flare. slower fall than traditional texas rig with bullet sinker in front. amazing hookup percentage. preserves bait life with a lot less frequent nose tears - even with braid. weight along with a large portion of the hook is totally hidden. also has applications with other hollow body baits like paca craws. probably the most snag free and weedless rig i've ever used. since it's back-weighted, it casts easily and far. i have been flat out puttin' 'em in the boat with this rig. hope it works as well for y'all.

great fish. cool you released it.

i'd seriously ike to see WRB or Fish Chris post their top 3. There would be more weight there than 90% of angler's top 5. and more than quite a few people's top 10. but fish weights are relative. to me a 7 from northern states is equally impressive, if not more so, than a 10 from southern waters.

i don't really have any set "rules" for my bank fishing other than one. i rarely cast straight out unless i'm casting to a specific target. i am always trying to basically parallel the bank at increasingly narrower angles until my casts are coming in parallel only a foot or 2 from the bank. this draws fish in and creates the funnel attack scenario. if you can get a bait between the fish and the bank, you have just increased your odds of catching it considerably.

trip of a hundred lifetimes. so cool.

It's like any other technique or bait - another tool in the box. Don't go crazy and buy a hundred bucks worth of swimbaits. start small and cheap. a 6" ABT banshee will do the trick. amazing, versatile bait. no special gear required. fish it a couple of times and experiment with different retrieves. you should get excited pretty quick. this will build momentum and confidence. where it goes from there, you decide.

catch bass and have fun doing it. what else is there?

when you are fishing and suddenly you start hearing frogs when they have previously been silent, get ready 'cause things are about to get interesting. same with seeing deer or turkeys suddenly emerge from the woods into open areas - especially in large groups. all these things are harbingers of a hot bite to come. same with seeing a flock of gulls take off and suddenly start diving on the river. these cues have helped me put more fish in the boat than i can tell ya. poor man's electronics.

cool. sounds like you're on to something. they're in trouble next time.

good job. fishing below a waterfall has to be a cool experience. nice fish too.

one is better than none. it would be boring if we smoked 'em every time out.

great fish everyone!

good 'un for sure.

great fish! and short sleeves too. kinda jealous. i had 3 layers AND coveralls on today. keep stickin' 'em man.

oh well, it is what it is. the worst thing you can do is overanalyze it. there will be more opportunities. the fish win sometimes - it's that simple. i like your attitude about this and i think you're handling it right. just be glad you were able to spend a few seconds of quality time with her and move on. you won the mental part of the game figuring out where she was and tricking her. many, many guys never even make it that far. allow this to stoke the fire in a positive way. the fish you are holding is great. and 2 like that in one day? that's incredible.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! HAWG ALERT! HAWG ALERT! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL! awesome catch man. small mouth, small head, small eyes. all signs of young fish. and still so big. that's amazing.

small watershed lake Paul, 130 acres of water.

losing big fish always bites but you can't let it eat you up. it's the ones you don't catch that keep the fire burning. cool report.

cool report. who says you can't mix business and pleasure?