senile1

Sounds like they were biting anything your were throwing. I hope the bite continues for you.

That's a nice picture of a beautiful fish. I liked your story too. Congratulations!

Crazy stuff. I've had a couple of encounters where I was caught in a lightning storm out in the boat. I don't ever want to experience it again. If thunder is even remotely close I stay close to the ramp and I get off the water if I have any doubts.

Sounds like a great day. Go Cardinals!

Very nice fish, Kevin. Keep throwing that jig!

I agree. The equipment used by the pros makes us aware of the product, but one should base equipment decisions on what works for him or her. Reviews of equipment from sites you trust and other individuals, as well as experience, are useful in making these decisions. What a pro uses, or claims to use, doesn't carry much weight for me since professional anglers have a monetary interest in promoting their sponsors' products.

Congratulations on your new PB! Nice fish.

That's a solid fish! Congratulations.

Sweet fish! Congratulations!

Very nice catches! I love the dark color on those fish.

Very nice fish!

I won't fault anyone for fishing in the manner they want to fish as long as they enjoy it. More power to you. For me though, fishing baits like jig/craw combinations that require concentration, and feeling the bait every step of the way, is what I love the most about fishing for bass. To catch a large bass on a bait where I have to recognize a bite that isn't obvious is one of the greatest feelings in fishing. I enjoy working it through thick brush and having to feel my way through it to avoid getting hung up. When I have to do that, I know that it is likely my lure is in the right place for a good fish. Every bait you use has its time and place. When the fish are hunkered down in cover, baits that require concentration are paramount to catching fish. We never know how many bites we miss. We can only work to increase the concentration needed to miss fewer and fewer bites and there is lots of good advice in this thread on how to do that.

I use my own. Having said that, the information gathered from shows, books, and sites like this one allowed me to learn the basics of bass behavior, bass seasons, bass use of structure, and how the bass generally reacts to its environment. That allows me to derive patterns when I am on the water. A lot of patterns will overlap between individuals because there are generalities of bass behavior that can be applied by everyone to come to the same conclusions. There can be numerous patterns that work at any given day and time, just as on tough days there may be only one or two that work.

Nice to hear from you, Paul. If you get a chance, fill us in on the bass fishing in the Phillipines.

Rocks and cover can seem to pull back if your boat is not perfectly stationary. Wind and current can create illusions. That's where anchoring in some manner (talon, powerpole, regular anchor), or just awareness of what is going on with your boat, is handy.

I wondered about George too. People come and go. Catt, myself, Rolo, and others have disappeared for months at a time. Participating requires time that is taken by work and other responsibilities. Sometimes people just need to take a break. I was also wondering about Randall and paul. Both of these men used to post some major hawgs on here. I haven't seen Paul Roberts much either.

What a loss. I remember Mork from Happy Days, and then of course, Mork and Mindy. But what really blew me away was Robin's 1983 HBO special. At the time, there was no comedy like his and it was so cutting edge. I don't think there was a moment in the special where I wasn't laughing. From then on, to me he was brilliant with one of the quickest minds in comedy. You had to think fast with Mr Williams because he would be gone and on to the next joke while you were still trying to figure out what he just said. He had a lot of great roles in movies, and like others, some that weren't so great. I know we all know the ones that received attention like Good Will Hunting and Dead Poet's Society. Going back to the second movie of his film career, I was very impressed with "The World According to Garp" in 1982. If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend it. I have to place "The Fisher King" up there with his best as well.

Mike, I have to give you credit for the design. I think most of us could use a jig that is difficult to hang up in rocks.

I get RW's point but I also would like a football head that is even better in rocks, especially those slab shaped rocks with the narrow deep cracks between the slabs. I always lose a lot of jigs to this type of rock even when using football heads. Mike, how does this new jig stand up when you view it in water with the skirt and a trailer attached?

In the hot summer months I have read that nights around the full moon can be excellent for night fishing, though I have done very little night fishing to verify this for myself. I believe the idea is that bass have the advantage in the low light of a bright moon and they really put on the feed bag. I have heard it said that fishing the next day can be rather slow though I know someone is going to post that bass don't just bite when hungry. It seems there could be some logic to this idea though. I like this excuse and use it often.

I fished Smithville Lake today for 5 hours and caught 5 bass. I didn't nail down a good pattern today. The fish were caught in 1 foot of water and down to 15 feet in and around grass edges off of main lake points. If there was wood in the grass that seemed to help. The two biggest fish were 3 lbs 4 oz and 3 lbs at 18 and 17.5 inches respectively. I also caught a 4 lb channel cat on a black/blue jig. The skiers and tubers really were irritating today. I was fishing on the main lake where there is plenty of rooom and they were still driving by within a cast of me. And these were not little runabouts. I don't know why someone needs a boat with a cabin to go skiing. There were some huge waves rolling in most of the time I was out there.

Beautiful smallies, A-Jay!

That is a very nice fish! I like the coloring on that fish.

Preach on, brother Sam!

Welcome, RangerDanger. I am from the KC area as well though I am on the Missouri side.