paul.

i choose tennessee. ;D if you don't want to start a full blown guide service, have you ever thought about just writing a book instead? perhaps another idea would be an online class where people could send you graph screen shots or map images and you could help them interpret what they are seeing and how to fish it. that way, your knowledge and expertise is out there for anyone and everyone to benefit from.

wow! what a trip. i know you were tore up after a day like that! days like that stick with ya for a while.

excellent fish! sounds like you had a great day.

very nice. congrats big time.

sounds like you flat out smoked 'em! excellent job. i'm real happy for ya chris.

excellent adventure man. glad y'all had a productive day. good job bassn blvd sr. and jr. ;D

that's a good 'un there. way to go.

i fish several different spots. all are small by most standards, anywhere from a couple of acres to 130+ acres. you could call the spot where i caught this one either a big pond or a small lake. it was only a few acres. i am a big fan of small waters.

she was fine with it until they started spawning in there. that's where she drew the line.

cliff, if big-o is offering to take ya fishing dude, DROP EVERYTHING and go. i've seen his pictures. (but just make sure his wife goes along to figure 'em out. i think he's kinda lost on the water without her.)

nice trip and nice post. congrats to both of ya.

wow! you tore 'em up dude. that was quite a trip. and yes, now that you've mentioned a secret weapon, you have to tell us - forum rules.

rock on cliff. always nice to get those first ones every year.

excellent! way to go kid.

that's a good report. glad you got to get out and stick a couple. i know it had to feel good.

thanks for the kind words everybody. it's always nice to get that first big one of the year caught. and it was not a moment too soon either. it snowed here last night. that'll set things back a little. but lunker time is coming very shortly here on bassresource. i'm looking forward to seeing all the springtime hawg pix and reading the cool stories our members will be posting soon here. if you're new to the site, get ready for a treat. south FLA, here is the a pic of the 8lber and my post. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1235588409 best of luck to everyone this spring season. here's hoping everybody gets the one they're after.

once i learned you were gonna go fishin' today, i knew there'd be pix on the board tonight. no doubt in my mind. you're just that good. the dude's got skills y'all. way to go connie! double for you.

those are a couple of beautiful fish there paul. very chunky and healthy looking specimens indeed. obviously well taken care of. congrats on your outing and fish dinner.

excellent! way to go man. gotta love this: i still get excited after over 3 decades of fishing myself. don't ever lose that feelin' kid.

spinning tackle mostly. med action 6 ft. bionix rod. shimano reel. braided line. different locations, but i've forgotten where they are. :-/ :-X :

i think it's at least partly due to cold, fairly clear, shallow water. i just love it when their colors "pop" like that. makes for some really pretty pictures.

thanks so much guys. y'all are always so cool. here's the story. i have always been a firm believer in the "windows" concept when it comes to catching big fish. it's no secret that jay, matt, and randall are 3 of the best big bass sticks on here. i remember clearly a post from jay where he said, "when they're on, they're on." matt is also constantly reminding us how often the best time to catch a big fish is right after you've just caught one. randall says the same type of thing too. these guys are firm believers that you don't just leave the lake happy after catching a big fish. if anything, you redouble your efforts and fish harder, hoping for another. i respect these guys so much. what can i say? i've been taking notes. ;D problem was, after i caught the 8-5 earlier, i had to leave because i had some stuff to do. it seemed the fish had pretty much turned off after that anyway. but i left with definite plans to return this afternoon. right after picking my oldest daughter up from school. i loaded up the gear and went back out. i decided to concentrate my efforts on the spot where i caught the 8-5 earlier. it's the edge of a grassbed, and a known big fish hangout, or at least it's known to me. well, i fished my little gill for quite a while without so much as a sniff. maybe i should have left well enough alone i thought. :-/ my poor little gill had been out there so long, he had just about given up and he was barely kickin' at all. no way he was gonna make it, i thought. so i reeled him in, took him off the hook and gave the little fella a mighty heave as far as i could chunk him out into the lake. "turtle food", thought in disgust. well, i thought i might as well stay and try to salvage something since i had taken the trouble to come back out. i baited up again and and spent another another fruitless half hour. i thought i was gonna come back and at least catch a few fish, but nothing was happening at all. i started reeling in, debating whether to call it a day, and i spied something floating on top of the water drifting towards me in the gentle breeze. it was the gill i had tossed out a while back. i stared at the little fella as he finned around on top in dazed circles, wondering how much longer he had before he gave up the ghost. and it was this seemingly insignificant gaze that changed the course of the entire fishing trip. underneath the hapless floating gill, i noticed a massive, ominous form. motionless, so as to avoid spooking her if she was what i hoped she was, i strained as hard as i could through the costas. in the fading light i was able to make out the form of a bass, a really BIG bass. after a few seconds, she lazily finned off. i was glad i hadn't spooked her, but honestly i wondered if it made a difference. if she wanted to eat, she woulda eaten the floater, right? :-/ well, i was at least gonna give her a shot. i baited up the biggest gill i had, about 5 inches, and cast it where i had last seen her. well the gill just went nuts, darting this way and that like it was on crank or something. any second now, i thought with an evil grin on my face. so i waited, and waited, and waited. nothing! what was wrong? the gill's actions told me without a doubt that she was down there, probably following the poor gill around like she was on a leash, but she just wouldn't commit. the gill stayed out there for what seemed like an eternity and finally just exhausted himself. well, that'll do it i thought, just sure that she'd lazily suck in the gill now that it had finally given up. again, nothingness ensued for what seemed like an eternity. frustration was building. > i had one more trick up my sleeve. i reeled in and replaced the gill i had on with the smallest one in my bucket, probably no more than half the size of the one i'd just had on. chunked it out there, and within a few seconds, bluegill junior did the trick. the line started moving off slowly. i just held on to the rod as if it was in a holder and waited on the tiny circle hook to "catch". she didn't seem like much at first, even on the spinning rod. in fact, i wondered if i'd just hooked a small bass that had sneaked in and stolen the bait from my trophy. but experience has taught me that first impressions can sometimes be very misleading with a big girl on the line. so, maintaining pressure on the fish, i loosened the drag a half turn and put a little heat on my victim to see just what i had. i felt a massive head shake. this was obviously her way of saying "NO!" and she took off like a shot, and the line just seemed to evaporate off my little reel as she burned drag, testing my equipment and nerves at the same time. i got two BIG powerhouse runs out of her, and plenty of other moves too. she tried every trick in the book to end her marriage to my shimano in an ugly divorce. when i finally saw her come up and give that big cold water slow motion head shake, only one word came to mind. and in my excitement, i think i even said it out loud - DOUBLE!!! she was long and clearly obese beyond the magical 10 lb. mark. all i had to do was close the deal. the combination of patience and february water temps finally did her in. my first double of '09. and believe me, i was tickled to death to meet her. she was weighed and photoed with the utmost care, and released to pass on her superior genetics in a few weeks. what a rush! to those of y'all that are still reading, thank you for your patience. ;D i'll pass on a couple of lessons that were reinforced to me today for whatever it's worth. 1. pay attention to everything. even things that seem insignificant can result in huge dividends. 2. big baits do not always produce big fish. in this case, it took just the opposite. 3. sometimes you just cannot beat the real thing when it comes to tempting mrs. big and tipping the scales (literally) in your favor. 4. treat every fish you have on your line as if it's THE fish until you absolutely know otherwise. it just might be. 5. there are without a doubt "big fish days" and "big fish windows". make every effort to capitalize on these and you just might break the bank. 6. circle hooks are better for the fish and the fisherman. with the tiny bait this fish bit, gut hooking would have been a definite possibility with a regular hook. 7. sizing hooks correctly is of the utmost importance. any bigger or smaller and i might have been telling a story about the one that got away. 8. never give up. thanks again for the kind words, and thanks again to all who have patiently educated me on circle hooks. your advice paid off big time today. as a parting shot, here's a tiny circle hook lodged in a big mouth. hope y'all are catchin' some too.

after the nice fish earlier, i didn't think today could get much better. but boy did it ever!!!! unfortunately, i'm kinda pressed for time right now, so here's a sneak peek. story to follow later tonight hopefully. i am SO stoked right now! enjoy the eye candy.

thanks man. avatar fish went 13 lbs. 8 oz. caught feb. '06 on a jig and brush hog here in the great state of tennessee out of a sunken treetop in about 12 feet of water. second biggest bass i ever caught. quickly released after the picture. if this fish is still alive today, she could easily be a swimming state record.

one of the great things about the sport we love is its variety. different folks with different goals fish in different water with different methods. while i try to be at least somewhat well-rounded in my approach, i've made it no secret that i'm quite fond of live bait bassin'. one reason is that it hearkens back to a simpler time and brings back a lot of fond childhood memories. but i ain't gonna lie, the main reason is that it flat out catches bass, good ones too. i realize that some folks just don't like it or use it for one reason or another. that's fine. i ain't trying to start a fight or or change anybody's mind here. but maybe there's somebody out there who's wondering what the live bait gig is all about. maybe you've decided that want to try something different this year. maybe you've decided to step out of the box a little bit. maybe you're not happy with your results using artificials. maybe you've decided that you want to try to catch your biggest bass ever this year. whatever the reason, live bait might be worth a shot. while it's no silver bullet, it's definitely a viable option for producing quality fish. and in some cases, i'm convinced it's the best option. i was sure happy to meet up with this long, lean 8-5 today. and what a rush on spinning tackle! i wondered if i'd ever get this one turned around as she stripped drag heading for the county line. like so many other big fish of all species across the world, she just couldn't resist the real thing. hope y'all are catchin' some too.