paul.

normally i hate muddy water. but in the spring, i actually don't mind. i knew i was going to be fishing in chocolate milk today with our flood conditions, but high muddy water really helps you narrow your depth and bait choice options. so after about 2 hours without a bite on spinnerbaits and dark swim jigs, i switched to mr. arashi. i hadn't made 10 casts with this bait until a nice 6-3 slammed it off an old gravel launch ramp. that's good i thought, i might be on to something. but my new-found hope was short lived as the raindrops started falling shortly after i took a pic and put her back. what a day for the weatherman to be right. that's bad i thought, i'm gonna be wet and miserable in about an hour. one look at the sky told me this rain was not going to let up and now time was a factor since i had no raingear. so i headed to a sheltered little cove that has been pretty good to me in the past. about halfway into the bay, i spotted a big log next to a flooded bush. i know a squarebill will come through some stuff, but i did not want to risk hanging up in this bush and blowing what i thought was a pretty good lookin' bass hangout. at least not until i'd hit it with some less snaggy options first. so i picked up the spinnerbait rod and eased close enough to get in a pretty cast. right on target. that's when it got crazy. as soon as it hit the water next to the bush, you would have thought i had pitched in a grenade instead of a spinnerbait. the water just absolutely exploded and scared me half to death. i jumped so bad i nearly fell out of the boat. for a half second my heart was in my throat and i had absolutely no idea what had just happened. then as i saw the giant wake headed for the boat, i put it together. the "log" had been a grass carp that had to be at least 50 lbs. my bait had landed right beside it and spooked it. but not nearly as bad as it spooked me. Ok, that was kinda funny, i thought when my heart stopped racing. that was all i could take. time to go home. i don't know how anybody fishes around gators.

i've ordered from both and both are fine. i'd say go with the one who offers the best deal on the product you want. maybe it's a mistake on my part, but i've always been more concerned about what kind of deal i'm getting on the purchase than about what kind of service i'm likely to get after. when you're talking about service after the sale, more than we realize, it depends a lot on the person you're dealing with rather than the company. i'm sure some folks that work for both places are extremely nice and accommodating and easy to deal with. I am equally sure that some folks who work for both places are probably not. if someone gives you a hard time over what you think is a legitimate issue, keep nicely asking to talk to their boss until the problem is resolved. chances are everything will be fine then.

all good choices mentioned for cheap rods. here's some more. ABU Garcia Villains on sale for half off at gander mtn. hard to beat a 180 dollar rod on sale for 90. gander mtn tournament le rods are pretty good sticks too. reg. 100 bucks on sale for 50.

man that's a really nice spot. don't see many that big. excellent!

great fish bro!!!

dude you are flat out wreckin' shop! and already in shorts and short sleeves in march too? couldn't get much better. i seriously think you're gonna be hoisting a giant on here soon.

plz keep us posted on how this performs. also would like to hear other feedback on these kastking products. very impressed w/ what i have heard and seen online so far - esp. the stealth. hard to believe getting a reel with carbon fiber components for less than 50 bux. i am a "cheap reel" guy. that doesn't mean i want junk. i just want good reels at a fair price. and based on what i've heard so far, kast king fits that description.

now that's slappin' 'em around! that's the kind of ridiculous day that stays etched in your mind for a long, long time. bet you look at your torn up hands a few times at work tomorrow and get a little devilish grin.

big sale at gander mtn. looks like they got excellers and airds for about half off. just thought i'd pass it on.

pretty good outing with a couple of nice ones today. hot new baits come and go, but these 2 will always be staples i keep tied on in the spring. they earn their keep in my box time and time again. hope everybody else got a chance to get out today. weather was awesome here.

bittersweet. sticking fish - cool! having to work afterwards wishing you were still sticking fish? not so much. LOL. grats man.

criteria 1 - it's gotta feel good in my hand (light, not tip heavy, etc.) criteria 2- it's gotta excel at its designated purpose, but be able to do at least one other thing well in a pinch. criteria 3- it's gotta be on sale. i am a firm believer that no rod or reel on the market today is worth the "regular" price.

you're on fire! MONSTER fish. grats on your honey hole. Hope you get plenty more outta there.

amazing. just amazing. to say you're smackin' 'em around is an understatement.

good vid. bending shank of the hook just a hair so that the hook point comes both up and out (off center) very slightly doesn't hurt anything either. some manufacturers are even making their hooks with an offset built in now. another key point is setting so that the rod butt stays in your ribs rather than off to the side or above your head so that you have absolutely no leverage. my problem has never been with single hook lures. i always sweat bullets when i hook a good fish on a treble hook bait. i have always been too cheap to buy a specialized crankbait rod and i know that would help immensely.

grats man. nothing like breaking a pb. that's a great lookin' bass.

LOL that's great. Some healthy lookin' fish though. and any fish is a good one. and the kayak setup looks sweet!

(stone cold steve austin voice) "if you love spring bassin', gimme a big heck yeah!" there ain't nothin' like it. that magical time around the full moon in february and march when the bass start chewin'. spring got off to a good start around here for me with the red rattletrap doing damage last week on points and just inside the mouths of coves. lost one good one playing around with her beside the boat and just enjoying the fight (didn't matter, no one with me to take pics and she wasn't huge) monday, pulling up to see another guy sitting on the spot i had been catchin' 'em on was a blessing in disguise. I told my buddy, "well it looks like we gotta go find some more." and we did, in the very back of the lake in about 2-3 ft of water keying on last years pad stems underwater. We caught about 30 fat and sassy bass that day with a few in the 3-4 lb class. hard to believe they are that shallow already because it hasn't been exactly warm around here. i think it's because the water is stained from recent rains. CJ and i intended to finish what I started with my other buddy the day before, but rain and battery issues cut the trip short after a few decent fish. didn't get to go back until today. arrived at another lake to find more stained water. checked the deep ditches and brushpiles just to make sure, but as i suspected, no dice. time to go flippin' and pitchin'. Got out the jig and homemade slither rig and caught a 4 in short order. then a one pounder. tried the spinnerbait and rattletrap for a while. Nothing but dinks. they wanted the slow stuff and who am i to argue? back to the slither rig. pitched 'er around some shallow brush on a bluff bank and there's that sweet heaviness when i lift the rod the first time. hammer time! when i stuck this fish, the war was on. I knew instantly this was the biggest bite i had ever got on a short line and i instantly felt like the rod was under powered for the task at hand as she put her nose down and dove for deeper water and a nasty cluster of brush. it was turn her or die trying. fortunately the duckett was up to the task with me winching like a madman on the reel. when i got her up and got a look, it was the old "Lord, please let me land this fish" prayer and thankfully He answered favorably. 9 lbs. and 1 oz. on the digi. Found some crappie fisherman nearby who were kind enough to take a few pics before i released her. a few more small ones and then there's another good bite, this time on a swim jig in super skinny water. This fish was probably in the 5-7 pound class and for some reason, she just pulled off shortly after i stuck her. But i know her address now and Lord willin' i'm going back tomorrow. CJ i'm tellin' ya you gotta get down here if you can. i think it's gonna bust wide open tomorrow.

CHA -CHIIIIING!!! It's spring and everybody is lookin' for one like that now - but you found her. rock on brotha. gotta love that jig.

dude i am absolutely stoked for you. double digit fish or not, it's an absolute bassopotamus! and that is definitely a double digit grin on your face. savor this moment and relive it often (like i have to tell you that right now, LOL). this is what it's all about! about formulas, the one i've found to be most reliable (based on the results of the calculation vs. the actual weight on a scale) is length x length x girth / 1200 but to me that's not the point here. a monster fish is a monster fish. and this is definitely a monster fish. many, many, MANY good fisherman go a whole lifetime and never get to hold a bass the size of the one you just caught. gratz man. you deserve it.

any trip with my wife, my kids, my dad, or my buddies. to me its the company and the good times that make the trip. sooner or later you're probably going to forget how many or how big. even if you don't forget, sooner or later you realize that how many or how big matters to very few people except you. but the smiles, the high fives, and the laughter come back to visit often and call to mind a time when just for a minute, life was perfect.

after a somewhat disappointing day saturday with only one decent fish and a few dinks, i was determined to make something happen today. figuring i had miscalculated saturday and fished too deep, i took a shallower approach today concentrating on a smaller secondary ditch through flooded some flooded timber in about 5-6 fow. didn't take long for a nice one to come calling and let me know i had made a good choice. this is one of those times i really wished i had someone with me to take a pic. this photo will have to do. if i can duplicate these results a few more times, i will be pretty happy. released as always after the pic.

soft plastic swimbait on a keel weighted hook or tx rigged. it'll cast a mile, come through the slop clean, and you can work it a variety of ways until you find what the fish want.

t-rigged compact profile plastics, jigs, and occasionally a senko on a lightly keel weighted hook. that's 80% of my winter fishing. the other 20% is squarebills, rattlebaits, and spinnerbaits. i know lots of guys who do really well on suspending jerkbaits but i hate using them so i don't throw them.

i really love the cold weather months - family times, good eating, and fish stacked up in predicatable spots. any fishing i do may through october (which usually isn't much) is just fun fishing for numbers. but November signals the beginning of winter pattern around here and time to break out the slow stuff in search of big fish. my work schedule got me off to a late start this year, but i managed to get out last saturday and get one that went nearly 6 out of a brush pile adjacent to a secondary creek arm to kick off the month. a few dinks rounded out the day and kept things interesting. but i knew this would be the week to be out there with that big full moon hanging in the sky. fortunately i have a boss that understands my addiction and she let me off tuesday afternoon and yesterday afternoon. the fishing was incredible. with the full moon feed on, a few smaller fish were still there for the taking in 2-8 fow on spinnerbaits and rattlebaits. but the best fishing for numbers and quality was on deep timberlines in 8-15 fow using slow presentations. concentrating on irregularities in standing timber, i managed a 4 and a 5 yesterday, plus one i estimated to be 6 or 7 that i let get off having a little too much fun playing around with it once i saw it wasn't a giant. when it was over, i was blessed to have 28 fat green fish visit my little jonboat briefly before release. yesterday i only got to go for a couple of hours, but it was time well spent. again focusing on the deep stuff, i managed 19 fish raging from dinks to average with a nice 6-5 kicker to end the day. this was perhaps the fish i dumped the day before as i stuck her only a few yards from where i lost the good one on tuesday and she had a fresh hook mark in her mouth. or maybe someone else had caught her before and released her. either way i was thankful for her and i put her back too. there is still time to take advantage of this full moon. i wish everyone a happy and blessed thanksgiving period full of good times, great meals, black friday fishing deals, and of course plenty of bass action.