Movarus

Wow, that is some great info. I always love to read stuff like that, especially with my first tourney coming up this weekend. I'll definitely keep it in mind.

Indeed you do, and it always feels good when you relieve that itch! Great fish!

x2 I have heard nothing but great things about the new gen stuff and I can't wait to get my hands on them. Especially after recently trying out some of the current rage tail items and loving every minute I was using them. That shad produces some real fun fishing! I'll be keeping an eye out for all the new stuff!

Could it be the color of the dye? What color bait were you using? I think the best test would be to use the clear version if you wanted to say it was the scent that drove them away.

Great story, leading up to an awesome fish! Congratulations!

Awesome! That is some great luck that the second rod was tangled in the first. Great to hear!

This didn't actually happen to me, but to someone I fished with a while back. When I'm on a boat I tend to take my shoes/sandals off and walk around the boat bare foot. I know it's stupid, but I keep an eye out where I'm going and have yet to hook myself on many outings. One time though, while out with a friend fishing, he was complaining about his feet being hot. Me, already bare foot, told him to join me as my feet felt great. Plus, I could dip them in the water if they got really warm . Well, he takes his shoes off... then his socks. He starts to talk about how much better that feels, rolls his seat around, stands up to cast... and of course hooks himself in the bottom of his foot. Man, that was some bad luck. :-/

Honestly, other than the flashy flakes and the major vibration, I actually do well with natural colors in the muddier ponds/lakes I fish in as well. Green pumpkin, watermelon, black, and also bait fish like colors are great ones. The flakes help, but I have definitely caught fish on baits without flakes in a pond where the water pretty much looks the same.

Er... dang... :-X

Definitely a nice looking fish! If you can't get a scale, get a cloth measuring tape and get the length and girth of the fish. There are formulas that can give you the weight... It's not 100% accurate but usually very close.

Thanks a lot guys. I'm still pretty hyped about it. Just proves we found a good pond with some great sized fish. And for those people who shore fish, always explore where you can. Just be mindful of those snakes! Can't wait till we get ourselves a small boat/kayak/flotation device to get out to the other areas of this pond. I actually only have those two pictures, but I'm typically a goofy guy anyways, so they are ok with me.

Wow, I know I'm a little behind, but that is terrible. Again like everyone said, it's good to hear that you guys are ok. I'm actually just getting into using small crafts on lakes/ponds and I know that is always a fear. Good luck with getting all the stuff back! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Well that kind of sucks to hear. Ana I will definitely take that into account when I finally get myself a good swimbait. Still a nice fish though!

So my last post had me complaining and asking for some help with my mistake hook-up ratio. I got a ton of good feedback and put a lot of it into play this time around. Last night, me and my fishing buddy, went down to the "secret pond" again. We fished our normal area with no action. After a bit we decided to wander around and try to get to other parts of the shore. We went one way through a bit of swampy areas, and after going into the mud many times, didn't really find any spots that produced. So, lets go the other way. We come back around and went up the other direction on the shore. After throwing in a few nice looking spots we still weren't having any luck, but the exploring was fun so we kept going. Which led us to a new cove we hadn't seen before. It was beautiful. A small area of water, probably only 3-4 feet deep at it's deepest point with a few cypress trees sitting at the inlet. Wow, what a nice spot! Even if we didn't catch anything, it was still a sight to see. Kind of wish I took a picture of it. Anyways, we get set up and I put on a 5" Green Pumpkin/Char Lam trick stick on a 5/0 EWG hook without a weight. I throw across the area into a large branch that had fallen into the water. After a few flicks of the bait, BAM! A fish hit it, but didn't keep it. I figured it was just a small fish hitting the bait and moved on. Hey, it was still some action. I walk a little further and cast from the long end into one of the mouths of the cove right next to a cypress tree. As soon as the bait hits the water, I feel a tick (not a BAM) and I see my line moving. I let it run a bit and give it a good hook set. Thinking it wasn't going to be too big, I was completely surprised when it ran a bit and pulled my drag! I was excited! This guy was a good size. I was letting him kind of run with it, but noticed he was heading for a tree. I fought him a bit and got him back on track and yelled for my buddy to get over to me. As he was heading over we saw a beautiful fish launch out of the water. We both got pumped! ;D Once I got him in we took a picture and measured him at 22 inches long and 14 inches around. (tongue is out for *** tourney) After the picture we measured him correctly and got 24 inches long and 14 inches around. Using (length x length x width/1200) I got 6.7lbs. MY NEW PB!!! Just wanted to say thanks again guys for all your help. I have definitely seen amazing results since I have joined this site! 8-)

Mine says "Spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, hardbaits, tackle and more!" I was definitely looking at the tackle, and I have to agree on that end the savings aren't that great. :-/

Those are some amazing fish, and one right after another in just a days time is even more amazing. All this swimbait action is making me want to get one. $23 per bait is crazy though. Guess I know what I'll be asking for come X-mas. :

That is exactly what I was thinking :o

Great show, I laughed a lot! ;D ;D ;D And you can't beat the trick stick!

I have before, guess it depends on how frisky I'm feeling. ;D

I understand that small fish do hit big baits, I never said they don't. Again, my point is that I feel the hit, wait a few, set the hook, and most of the time I'm actually reeling in the fish. I can feel the weight of the fish as I'm reeling. It's definitely not always small fish. Then as I'm reeling in, the fish spits the lure and I get it back without the hook set, sometimes the hook has never even come out of the plasic. Heck, there have been times that I have seen the fish break the surface before they spit it. I catch fish in this area on other baits all the time, things like buzzbaits, lizards, worms, brush hogs. The only bait I seem to have a problem setting the hook with are the 6" flukes, they are definitely thicker than the typical plastics I use. That is why I was asking for ideas. And again, thanks for all the feedback.

While I love to get out on the water, heck sometimes just for the simple pleasure of being out there, I don't have a boat either. So I wade in rivers and fish from the shore most of the time. I can tell you, my two best fish have come from the secret pond me and my buddy found. 8-)

Nice kayak! I want to get one myself. I bet that works real well on smaller waters. How does it do with the wind and such? Do you throw out an anchor to keep yourself in a spot that you want to fish a while? Never really been out on one, but I would assume they move just as easy on the water as a bigger boat does, but you dont have a trolling motor to help keep you where you want to be.

I think I'm going to pick up some ultra-soft yo-zuri hybrid probably in 8 or 10lb test. I need to respool my reel anyways, so this is a good chance for me to check it out and see if it helps. I might try to get some of that line conditioner in the future as well.

Thanks again for all the advice guys. I think the first two things I'm going to work towards is getting some new line that is copoly or braided (probably copoly) and I will work on setting the hook a bit harder. I was sitting in bed thinking about it last night, and I think that at the top of my hook set I'm dropping the rod for some reason early and pulling in slack line, instead of following through. I will pay a bit more attention next time around and try my best to keep pulling on the hookset instead of letting it drop and reeling in slack. And I always use an 5/0 EWG with my 6" fluke. I read about that extra gap somewhere in the past. I like the EWG a lot, and I think Gamakatsu is a great hook, so that is the brand I usually go with. 8-)

Hmm, now that is a good point. Maybe I need to try a line with less stretch. Are there any huge drawbacks to switching over to copoly or braided line on a spinning real? I actually need to respool it soon anyways, so this might be a good chance to try.