Hammer 4

Unfortunately, there's more at stake here. First you kept a bass that is clearly Under size limit for your state, then you transported it , likely against the state regs. You have no way of knowing If the bass has any issues that could potently impact the body of water you want to release it in.. Also, people don't really think about what can happen when they think it's o.k. to take a wild animal or fish home, then later decide to release it. If anything, I hope you have learned a lesson from this, and maybe pass it on.

Used a ton of booyha and War Eagle. Still have a few of those. This year I'm giving the Dobyns D blade a whirl. I like the design and how the last willow blade doesn't extend way past the hook. Normally I throw 1/2 oz, but also have some 3/8 and 1/4 oz too. Look for wire/hand tied skirts, the ones with bands tend to degrade over time.

My old Lab was the same way..Miss that ole girl..

Another vote for the Fuego, great reel, smooth as butter, and it has an anti-reverse..

Just gonna add my opinion here. I had a neighbor that had 2 14" bass in a 75 gal aquarium. Even with fake plants, and a big rock all they did was suspend. Unless you have a 100+ gal. tank, leave the bass in their natural habitat. If you want to keep a good fish pet, get an Oscar or 2.

Some guys will trim the legs to where they are only about 1 1/2" long, some only trim about 3/4" off. There is no set rule on length.

Does the new water have ample food for the bass, i.e. bait fish, crawdads, ect..? Are there any big predatory fish in the pond that could eat your bass..? I assume your new place for the bass has some cover for it to hide in. Lastly, are there any known parasites or diseases in there that you know of.?

When I was about 9 or 10 yrs old, I was fascinated with frogs, predatory birds, and of course snakes. I us to catch them, and keep them for about a week, fed them really well, the returned them to where I caught em. King snakes, gophers, black and blue racers, king snakes, and others. About 8 years ago while up in the local mountains, I had to go #1 Really bad, so pulled off the road, found a spot, took about 10 steps, and almost stepped on the biggest female western diamond back rattler I have ever seen. Lucky for me, she was sunning herself to get her metabolism going, and not active. The girth on her was close to 3" in diameter and about 4 to 4 1/2 feet long. Backed off and just looked for a min..then looked for another spot..lol

While fishing creature/craw type baits on the bottom, sometimes, not always, a bass will inhale the bait, then just sit there on the bottom. I've had this happen more than once..Being a good line watcher, and keeping a finger on your line is a good idea, you can't always feel the bite, but if the line moves off just a wee bit, you can detect it.

^^^ This. Braid isn't a cure all. What Tom describes, a back lash is much easier to clear with mono vs braid. Good advice.

Many new folks mess up at some time. Don't worry bout it. Hang around here, and learn..

Maybe the camera angle, but it looks a tad off to me also.

Rod..? Maybe change the Title to this post..

Read through this thread, some good info on the coastal for ya.

So, when you catch a Bass, just from the short fight to land it, the fish gets pretty stressed out, this will vary, depending on age, but in a long over drawn out fight, it can kill a bass. Now, add to that the prolonged time out of the water, and the bass not getting any oxygen, can be fatal. So, have your camera/cell at the ready, when you land the fish, snap as few pic's as possible, quickly, and release it, That fish beat extreme odds to grow that size, so Please do everything possible to insure it's continued growth.

How long can You hold your breath..?

IMHO, any size that you catch, and makes you smile is a good size, be it 2 lbs or 10 lbs.

The amount of bass caught on a spinnerbait compared to a chatter bait, for me is about 200 to 1, in favor of the spinnerbait.

99% of the mono I've used, and still use is either mist green, or camo green, whether the water is clear, or stained. Caught 100's of bass in both types of water. BTW, the camo is sufix camo elite line.

My Son and I were fishing during a WON tourney..We had several guys that were in the tournament ask if they could fish the spots we were fishing. I always said yes, and we slowly backed away, being these guys were fishing for $$$. Seems like every time one of us would catch a bass, another would ask, can I fish through. Well after about 6 or 7 guys, I/we became somewhat agitated, but never let it show. We just moved as far away from the majority of boats as possible. At the end of the day, come to find out, had we entered we would have had a 3rd place finish..We weighed all of our fish, just for the heck of it. We had a great day despite all the interruptions. Also, we were fishing heavy cover, so close quarter stealth was the name of the game. I don't recall any of those guys catching anything in taking over our spots. Just a side note, we have always done pretty dang well at this lake.

Circle hooks are especially useful when using a drop shot, and whacky rigging. Keeping one of your fingers on the line at all times will help detect bites.

Red Snapper=awesome fish tacos...

Hate to rain on your parade, but some of us have been doing that downsizing for about 40 years now..Nice that you figured out on your own..

Not sure if there are any mass produced hand poured worms. Back in the 80's, I bought hand pours from Don Iovino, Great worms, caught a ton of bass on them. To me, and I don't research worms much, but the Roboworms come pretty close, as do some other brands that I can't think of right now..Senior moment here..?

I have an Old surfing/wetsuit back pack, that holds a good amount of tackle. Usually have 2 3600 boxes, plus my terminal tackle box, and packs and baggies full of soft plastic's, some swimbaits ranging in size from 3.8 to 7", I normally carry 4 to 6 rigs, depending on conditions.