A-Jay

@KP Duty Reality leaves a lot to the imagination. https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/190145-post-a-photo-a-day/?do=findComment&comment=2897470 Perhaps consider not allowing your mind to wander, apparently it's far too small to be let out on its own. A-Jay

We live in tick central. Between my wife & I and then all the dogs, we've seen & pulled an ungodly number of these bugs off of us & them. Some years are worse than others. We spray the entire dog yard, kennel & property perimeter a couple of times a year. Really cuts down on the over all tick instances, but we still get a few. ALL our dogs are on tick flea & tick preventative meds all year long. Not Free. If & when the tick attaches to the dog, it just dies. It's the ticks world, we just happen to be living & playing in it. Not every tick carries Lyme disease. Identify biters, getting them off right away and then monitoring the bite site is key. Learn the symptoms and know what to do in advance. As mentioned, it can be serious so give it it's due. Having ticks end up in ones bedding is either seriously bad luck or inexperience. Placing any fabric suspected to have ticks, in the dryer on fry for 30 minutes. Is a good plan prior to washing. A-Jay

Nice looking rig. Still has that 20 inch transom though. Weighs 500lbs more than my rig But that 250 should be fun. I just "built" one. Not exactly what I'd get but sort of close. Came in at 85.5K. Sweet ! A-Jay

Sets Hammers apart: Being able to locate bass on a big body of water through each seasonal pattern, as well as selecting a presentation suitable for the conditions, depth and water clarity, And then nailing the proper boat position, making an accurate cast with the proper tackle to mange your catch, are IMO, some of the characteristics we find in bassheads who display repeatable success. Bite detection is pretty far down that list. Familiarization with matched / balanced gear being used helps, as does paying attention to what your doing. We'll never feel every bite but keep doing it enough, it's a skill that can be improved. However the only way I know, is to fish. A-Jay

Interesting question ~ I'll say that the list of whatever I might be doing right, is longer than what I'm doing wrong. Not sure what other bassheads are doing. 😉 A-Jay

I cover up everything when in the sun. April to Oct which is a little crazy. Long sleeve shirt, long pants, socks & shoes. Sun gloves, a face buff, quality eye wear & sun gloves as well. I don't always have the buff completely covering my face, so I wear sun screen. I hate slathering that goop on my face, but I do it anyway. I Apply it in the morning while getting dressed. I use this 😎 A-Jay

LOL ~ And I'll deserved it and Like it ! Good Luck. I've never found any one net better than another with hooks. So I gave up and just bite the bullet. A-Jay

I use a Frabil conservation series net. Works fine for bass & brown trout with jerkbaits. Here's a little tip from me to you. When hooks go in the net, get over it. Take the few minutes it takes to get them out. It's part of fishing. 😎 A-Jay

Took my scheduled off day plus a day on the lake yesterday, which means I was back in the home gym for Workout Day 1 this morning. Went well. #borninfiftynine https://youtu.be/1Eye9m24e34?feature=shared A-Jay

Thanks ~ Not counting the excessive bending and jaw straining we occasionally see when bass are held up (I'm guilty of this in the past) I have never seen anything that says vertically hanging a bass by it's jaw is harmful. After all, they use that structure all the time. But just not in a manner that supports it's full weight out of the water. Seems a bass being completely out of the water subjects it to a version of gravity it never experiences naturally. I'll equate it to our own arms. We use those all the time too. But go hang from something (full body weight) by one hand for a while. If you're not acclimated to it, it doesn't feel too good, and if done for too long can and most likely will hurt something. A-Jay Yea - that's a little wacky. A-Jay

Thank you for the feedback. I have considered getting the weight in the net and do agree it's a valid option. However one of the constant challenges of this deal revolves around how quickly the scale will lock on a final number. In less than flat calm conditions that can take far longer than I'd like. Adding in the net handle waving all over and building momentum with every wave and wind gust, that scale doesn't stand a chance, which might not be helping the bass out. I'm going to continue on this route for a while and see how it goes. If the fish gripper starts showing up again, we'll know what that means. A-Jay

Every seasons different ~ Sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less. However it's a bit more than one or two a year. Personally, once they get over a certain size I prefer to know the weight rather than guessing. It's just how I do it. The old saying of "it had to be at least 5 pounds", makes me cringe. YMMV

Thanks for the feed back. As I get a little more comfortable with this deal, I'm pretty sure I can shave a bit off that time. Either way, I'm WAY better than I used to be. I sort of kept them out for pics * videos unnecessarily long in the past. Also I'm always netting the fish, especially with treble hooks, so slime coat removal would start there if that's a thing. I'm expecting that by wetting the net and the rubber coated bag in advance, I'll be keeping that to a minimum. We'll see how it goes. A-Jay

For the past several seasons, I have used the same fish weighing procedure. It included a digital scale and a fish gripper which was clamped down, pretty firmly, onto the bass’s lower jaw. Worked OK, the fish often flopped a bit but never came off the fish gripper. However looking back at some of my more memorable (insert Bigger) catches this winter, hanging a 5 or 6 lb plus smallie by its face might have not been the best plan. Could possibly jack up the fishes jaw. And while I never really saw any evidence personally that it did, I was thinking I could do better for the fish. In every other case, I always fully support the fish’s frames for photos and wanted to simulate that while weighing them. This is what I came up with. I’m still ironing out the finer details but right off the bat this Arsenal Fishing Pro-Performance Rubber Mesh Bag already seems better for this bass in the long run. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Arsenal_Fishing_Pro-Performance_Rubber_Mesh_Bag/descpage-AFPPRMB.html Btw - In the attached video I said the fish was 4.42 lbs in the bag, but it was actually 4.44 lbs so I jacked that up a little. My scale is in Tenths not ounces. A-Jay

I don't - but Calelas says that have one ~ https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/st-croix-avid-series-spinning-rod A-Jay

Yup ~ But it was cool because it matched that Strike King Cap perfectly. #fashionista 😎 A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ And here's to continued good health A-Jay

I've had a few crazy catches over the years but this is one of my favorites. I posted this clip up right after it happened and a few times since, But I never gets old - at least not for me. While fishing for smallmouth bass in northern Michigan, I caught my personal best Musky. The fight and especially the landing of this mutant, (my line broke) was quite an adventure. After a measurement and the giant fish photo op, this beauty was released and swam away strong. So glad I was able to capture this very special memory on video. A-Jay while fishing for smallmouth bass in northern Michigan, I caught my personal best Musky. The fight and especially the landing of this mutant, was quite an adventure. After a measurement and the giant fish photo op, this beauty was released and swam away strong. So glad I was able to capture this very special memory on video

Might not be a gains vs loss type deal. Perhaps more of a full cork and effective action situation. Just the way I like it. A-Jay

Hi Mike ~ I do a bit of jerkbait fishing for smallies, much of it is with a spinning rod. I think I get what it is that you're looking for, as much of what you've described in blank characteristics, falls in line with what I prefer. In the past 15 years plus I've fished many different sticks looking for the right one. And after a fairly long search, I do believe that I have found "The One". At least for me. So much so that I bought three of them right out of the gate. St. Croix Avid Series Spinning Rods ~ 7 ft Medium Handle length is listed as 14 3/4 inches. I prefer mid priced gear, and this one MSRP is $ 235. I realized that it's more than you want to spend, but for the price of a few gallons a gas, you'll have what you're looking for. Been fishing them hard and they take it all and seem to be looking for more. Good Luck with your search. A-Jay

I became a big fan of the EXO reels just as they were on the way out. Light, strong, smooth, good consistant casters with great line capacity. Managed to scoop up several both new & Used. 100 and 200 size. They have accounted for some great fish for m me. Stiil going strong. A-Jay

btw @The Baron First I know I catch a bit of flack for this and it's been a running joke here for a while but; If you want the fish to look their very best in your pictures, hold then very close to the camera. I use a couple of goPro mods including a wide angle lens on my cameras which is a huge help when capturing as much as the fishing action as I can. It also allows me to get a close up of the fish and still have some background to work with. https://gopro.com/en/us/shop/mounts-accessories/max-lens-mod/ADWAL-001.html https://gopro.com/en/us/shop/mounts-accessories/camera-media-mod/ADFMD-001.html Here what the whole mess looks like on my rig A-Jay

Depending on what PC editing software you have, there's almost always a way to take screen shots out of the video. It's super easy even an A-Jay can do it. It's actually pretty cool as it allows one to really zero in on the exact perfect shot & angle. Admittedly, I take all this into consideration when I hold up a big fish for the camera. I use different views and different angles because it's hard to tell which one will be 'the one, until I start editing it. However in every case, if there is sunshine IT NEEDS TO BE IN YOUR FACE AND LIGHTING UP THE FISH. Anything else offers a fairly poor photo. So I will either turn the boat around or, relocate the camera or sometimes both to get the lighting right. So it's easy to see that not much of this happens by accident and planning ahead is helpful. Good Luck.

@Bluebasser86 Here's a 4 inch https://www.providertackle.com/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=66_69 and a 5 inch https://www.sportsmans.com/fishing-gear-supplies/soft-baits/dry-creek-5-inch-maxi-tube/p/1413900 Hope that helps A-Jay

This has been good for 3 seasons now ~ My ProXS asked me for it by name. She's fairly demanding btw. A-Jay