Dwight Hottle

Glen I'm disappointed. I thought your video was about grabbing a beer & some popcorn & sitting back to watch all the stupidity that occurs when unqualified people launch & try to retrieve their boats. LOL

Congrats on the new job now spend a little of the extra time off making better use of that boat. That will help take some of the fishing/catching pressure off @A-Jay.

Funny how the names change. My stash are labeled tigr minnow. They were acquired from lurenet.com

or just paint your own.

So do I it was 38 degrees that morning at the ramp. If they hadn't opened the gates the previous day we would never have had such an eventful day blessed with so many quality fish. Both my buddy & I caught a PB that day. I learned an important lesson that day about current & moving water turning on the Florida bass bite.

My condolences as well Glenn. As a cancer survivor I fully understand your message & experience. Glad you caught it in time & good fishing going forward.

Depends on the cover. When fishing off shore we nose hook the shiner through the mouth & out a nostril that allows them to swim freely while free lining them without a float. We then trail them behind the boat about a cast length away using the trolling motor for propulsion or drift with a strong wind. We are targeting shell beds & isolated grass clumps & hydrilla patches. I like using spinning tackle for this with 20lb braid & a 15-20lb mono leader. I also like using a 3/0 Owner jungle wacky weedless hook. When fishing under grass mats I like to free line them on a weedless Owner K-hook in 4/0 or 5/0 size. Best way to hook them is under the anal fin or butt hook them as commonly called. This allows the shiner to swim under the mat for protection but they usually get trapped by the bass from underneath against the mat. The butt hook versus hooking in the back or thru the mouth is better for mat fishing because it gives me a better hookup ratio. Plus when a bass pushes the bait up underneath the mat they are eating them from the bottom first. If you let them swim too far under the mat you will have a major problem getting a hooked fish out of the cover. I use a heavy swimbait rod with 65lb 4 strand braid on casting tackle to help cut thru the weeds & pull them out. You can also use a float or balloon instead of free lining. The balloon usually keeps the shiner on the edge of the mat until he gets nervous or attacked & then runs under the matt. When fishing buggy whips or reeds we use the same tackle as mat fishing usually with a float or balloon. As others have said you want to use wild shiners for bait. I like to get a mix of sizes as sometimes they want a smaller bait rather than a bigger bait. But no shiner is too big for a trophy bass. Open water I always use a hard overhead hookset. When fishing under a mat with the bait running in hard I like to use a sideways hard set then reel like crazy to get them moving out under the matt. When you have hooked a fish that gets hung up under the matt & you can't get them out you have to either go after them with the boat or give them slack hoping that they will free them self's.

No to the "is it cheating". I enjoy catching largemouth bass both on live bait as well as artificials. And the results for me regarding big fish are about the same. My two biggest on artificals went 11-7 3/4 & 10-3. My two biggest on live shiners went 11-2 & 10-2. So the results are pretty similar. .

I know this topic is about carpet but next time consider using vinyl flooring or synthetic material marine foam like SeaDek or a competing product which basically only require rinsing to keep clean. Makes your boating maintenance life a lot easier.

If you use your phone email the pic to yourself. After you hit the send button a screen pops up asking do you want to send the pic full size, small or medium. Pick either small size or medium and the reduced size pic will work in your post. Just save it in your pic library & noted the save as number to reuse it. See my reply.

Nice ones. Next time try to remember to either reposition your boat or change your position in the boat so the sun is in your face rather than behind you. Your pics will come out much better.

Mike we launched from Big Toho marine & stayed on Toho.

Second day at lake Toho fishing with a guy I have known since 3rd grade. We caught 32 bass drifting with shiners. All the bass were post spawn. Good times for two old guys. We had 16 fish the previous day two days after a cold front.

Best one today fishing Lake Toho after a cold front. We had 16 fish for the day between two of us. Pitching & dragging wild shiners.

Almost all his money is slated to go to the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation as he has been donating to them for the last 10 years or so. Money left to his children go to their charitable foundations already in place. So what ever is left will not amount to much for all you fantasizers.

Congrats on the new PB.

I have been drinking coffee since I was a teenager always black no sugar. As a young adult I drank coffee all day. Now I only drink one big cup a day after rising.

This is what you want for a subtle approach without built-in rattles. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Evergreen_JT-_Topwater_Walking_Bait/descpage-EGJT.html X2-Good answer

Welcome to BR Matt. Sounds like you will have plenty to share.

Yeah especially your state.

X2 I have never willfully killed a smallmouth but I would for a state record. And as someone else has already pointed out menopausal grandmas aren't making babies anymore.

That was a bone chilling read. Remarkable bravery by both.

Frog Worm Fluke Senko Tube

Congrats on the new PB.

Congratulations. Your a believer now.