senile1

Indeed! If the picture is any indication, that 8 lb'er is one long fish. There's some potential for a future DD there.

Nice fish and congratulations!

That is a well-proportioned 5 and a half pounder. Beautiful fish! Congrats to your Dad!

That's a nice sack of fish and good news about this lake as well!

Interesting interview. It sounds like he was in a do or die situation when he started out. Either he needed to place well or he would go broke. Thanks, Glenn!

Wow! You guys received some nice loot and gave away some as well. Bravo!

Great article! I do have a question. I've never witnessed a bass that was permanently damaged from using an extra-fast tip. Maybe the extra-fast tips I use flex more than the examples he is speaking of here? Just curious.

Nice reading! I'm jealous.

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the community!

Nice post, FishinDaddy! I agree. My last boat was a 15 and a half foot bassboat. My current boat is a 19 and a half foot Stratos 295 Pro Elite with 200 horses on the back. Shallow water is really not a significant limitation. I have ran into a couple of spots where the space between trees was a limitation due to the length and width of my boat but this has been rare.

Welcome!

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the community! It's great that you are returning to fishing.

Join the club! I never posted an intro when I joined either, though that was a few years ago. I hope you can hang out more with us.

I'm glad you were able to get out and wet a line. You can't beat hooking someone else on fishing, especially your significant other.

The worst thing about using a toothpick or a rubber strip is that it causes the weight to be off-center from the bait. I have yet to have a bass tell me that they can't eat it because it is one degree off center ;D You got that right The slight distance that the weight is off center appears to be insignificant to me. Also, I can't remember a time that I've had my line break due to a toothpick nicking it.

Sweet! I love it when they swipe, swirl, and jump over a Spook and miss. Of course catching them is the most fun. I'm glad you had a good time.

Fishfordollars is obviously correct. However, I do throw a spinnerbait a lot, but it's for good reasons. The waters I fish on a regular basis are very stained and often the wind is 20 - 30mph. The spinnerbait fits the conditions on many occasions.

I guess I'm on the southern side of the upper midwest. I live on the north side of Kansas City. We had some warm days and the water at Smithville Lake had reached 48 - 51 degrees. On the days I haven't worked, the weather has been bad so I haven't been able to get out much but I have caught fish on the few trips I've taken. After the last two weeks of mostly cold weather the water temperatures are back down to 45. During that time it seems a cold front comes through every other day. A few days ago we had some record lows around 20 degrees. This weather has made the bite very sporadic and tough.

I purchased a Rapala Lock 'n' Grip this winter and I like it much better than the digital scales with the hooks. The hooks on the digital scales are just too thick in my opinion.

So...what specifically is it that you are seeing that hold bass? X2 Thanks Paul. I meant to ask the same question.

Awesome! Get him addicted!

I absolutely agree. On very large lakes (a few thousand acres) they are indispensable. I know that back in the day there were old timers who caught lots of fish without them but to learn a lake without one, you have to spend a great deal of time fishing it with lures that hit bottom, or you learn information about the lake from someone who already knows it.

It could be a phase as you suggest, Don. I think I go through phases where certain lures just seem to be the ticket for a period of time. I know I never get tired of fishing a Spook though. If they're biting topwater, I'm going to throw one.