senile1

Hmmm . . . pictures and angles can be so deceiving. She has a gut on her like she hasn't spawned yet. I don't know her length so that may be where I'm missing it, but I think your scale jipped you on her weight. If she is less than 5 lbs she must be a very short fish because she has some girth. That's one heck of a smallie!

Awesome! Nice fish.

Congratulations! She's a chunk.

Very nice fish!

About 7 years ago, I was fishing a pond in a jon boat. At the time, the pond produced some solid fish and I had just gained permission to fish there. The owner of the pond kept the jon boat on the bank. I had been fishing for 30 or 45 minutes and had already caught two or three bass in the 3 lb range if memory serves me correctly. I was sitting down in the boat and, at that point, I happened to notice some movement on my foot. I looked down and there was a spider crawling onto my foot and its body was huge. I swear, it looked like its body was an inch wide. I jumped out of my skin for a second and shook my foot. When I jumped I tipped the boat way over and water poured in. The boat righted itself but there was too much water in it to really stay afloat, or so I thought. I grabbed my rods and jumped out of the boat holding them high over my head. The pond was a bit over 15 feet at its deepest spot, but fortunately for me, the water where I was standing was only up to my neck. So walking with my rods over my head and with one hand on the bow of the boat I headed for shore. My tackle box was still in the boat, underwater. However, when I got to shore I had the task of pulling the boat through a few feet of thick cattails. I picked the thinnest spot I could find to do this. With the water in the boat, it was quite heavy, and after a couple of minutes of work I had the boat next to the shore. Then I reached my next obstacle. The shoreline was quite steep so I had to drag the boat up far enough to tip it and pour the water out. I finally reached my destination, covered in muck and all manner of vegetative debris, thankful that I had not encountered a snake. I started to tip the boat up to empty the water and as I was doing so I noticed the big spider was still in the boat, floating on top of the water, as if gloating over its conquest. I gladly raised the boat and the spider was swept away into the pond with the water, though I suspect that didn't do him in. After all, it was walking on water. I poured the water out of my tackle box and straightened everything up as well as could be expected and then continued to fish. I finished the day with 16 bass and a silly story to tell.

A-Jay and 00 mod, your guesses are right there with mine. I'll give a little more info. That fish was very close to 21 inches long. If she had some belly to her, like a few weeks ago during the spawn, she could have been maybe near 6 lbs. I usually guess a range when I don't have a scale so I put her at 4 3/4 to 5 1/4.

I went out with my Grandson to Hartell lakes yesterday evening. We didn't take a boat so I packed light. When we got to the conservation area I noticed that I had left my craw and plastics bag at home so I was stuck with fishing what I had on my rods. I had left my scale, my measuring tape and my scissors for braid in those bags at home too, but I did bring a box with crankbaits and terminal tackle and I also had a pair of needle nose pliers in my truck. I had one rod with a jig and craw, a rod with a Biffle Bug setup, and a rod with a Senko type worm. That was it for plastics. My Grandson tried pitching the pads with a senko but wasn't getting bit, and with the heat, he was getting a little frustrated. The water drops off pretty quickly on the outside of the pads so I suggested to him that with the heat index around 100 degrees, he should grab a lipless crankbait and go out on the floating fishing dock which would allow him to cast toward the outside edge of the pads and fish the deeper water on that side. The water at this place is clear and vegetation grows out past the lilly pads. Within a few minutes he had landed a couple of healthy two pounders and his frustration had dissipated. I started out pitching to some lilly pads near the bank with the jig and craw but within minutes, a bluegill had bitten off the claws so I had to switch to the Biffle Bug. I was pitching holes in the pads and hooked this bass within a few minutes. She was deep in the pads and it took a bit to drag her out and to the bank. Anyway, as I said, I didn't have my scale. I did measure her length against my leg and then checked that length with my tape measure when I got home so I have an idea of her possible weight. Having said that, I thought I would post this picture and see what everyone else thinks. She wasn't the hugest fish but she was decent. I held her out toward the camera just to make the guessing more difficult. Her dimensions are such that it does make for a difficult guess in my opinion. Hints: She didn't have much girth but she was long. Unfortunately, I will never know her true weight but that's ok. If she had been close to a personal best I would be pretty upset with myself right now.

I've had eye allergies for as long as I can remember. Not only do they itch and burn a bit, but they get gunk in them when I am around the wrong types of pollen, mold, etc. In addition, as I've become older my eyes dry out quite often. Eye allergy drops that lubricate the eye work wonders for me. I carry a small bottle everywhere I go. By the way, when your eyes burn and itch, don't rub them. That will make it much worse.

Location of fish is the most important item, bar none, and it is made up of many factors. My first five factors would all relate to locating fish so I added a sixth for presentation. Once you locate the fish, you have to present the lure properly to catch them. Season - Affects fish location Forage location - Affects fish location Types of structure - Affect fish location Current - Affects fish location and fish positioning Weather - Affects fish location and activity Presentation - lure type, depth fished, and speed Edit: I read the original post more carefully. Although I can't control some of the location items I mention above, I can change where I fish based on these factors.

My heart goes out to anyone who has a loved one struck down by some unfortunate incident such as this. This could very easily happen to any of us. Like some have mentioned above, sometimes I am too careful, but at other times I am not careful enough. A lot of us fish in the rain when we don't hear thunder, but just because you don't hear thunder doesn't mean that the potential for lightning doesn't exist. I was fishing in Northwest Arkansas a couple of weeks ago and, in the local paper, I read about a lightning strike in the lot of an automobile dealer in Rogers, AR. Two men were struck as they carried on a conversation in the lot. There were storms in the surrounding area and dark clouds were nearby, but at the time, no one had heard thunder.

Same here. That May snow was a surprise. I've put fish in the boat but the biggest have only been around 4 lbs which has been somewhat frustrating. I've found myself pushing a little bit. Yesterday, I hung a fish that felt good, but being a bit anxious I horsed it and lost it. It took a leap and looked like it could have been my first for the year over 5 lbs. I felt like sticking my head in the water and drowning myself.

Very nice! Congratulations.

Nice stuff, A-Jay! I haven't been on the boards much the last couple of weeks due to intense working hours but this is an awesome thread. I'm looking forward to when you are rewarded for your patience and commitment.

That is difficult to answer with any degree of certainty. It depends on the structure of the lake bottom and what seasonal behavior you expect from the fish. If you are anchored near an island you might possibly have a point or a finger that is underwater that the fish could relate to. Also, keep an eye out for any indications of cover or tree lines as trees or stumps with an open pathway between them could indicate that there is a channel beneath the water. If you don't have a choice regarding where the boat is anchored there may or may not be fish in the area. If there are no cover or landmarks to read, and if there is no fish finder on the pontoon boat, your guess is as good as any about where and how to fish. I would take enough lures and rods to fish shallow, mid-depths, and deep because you don't know what situation you are facing.

Very nice fish, Speedbead!

I agree with a lot that has been said and I believe Paul sums it up quite nicely. However, there is one element I want to comment on and that is critical thinking. Many have mentioned it as one of the things that separates the pros from the rest of us. There are doctors and mathematicians who are just average fishermen. Fishing and marketing are not rocket science. Fishing and marketing are not higher level math. Fishing and marketing cannot be compared to deep, high-level IT work. I have known anglers whose critical thought in other areas was poor but they could catch fish better than most. I think there is an element of critical thinking involved but it is specific to finding fish under the circumstances presented. There are probably some geniuses involved in fishing as in anything else, but for the most part, there is a specialized type of critical thinking that a higher performing elite angler has with respect to finding and catching fish. I think that type of thinking has to be honed through study and many hours on the water under different circumstances. And I think, like many forms of intelligence, some people may be genetically inclined to be better at it than others.

That's incredible. My heart would be in my throat.

I agree with that. I'm going to enjoy the trip no matter what I catch. The poll asked which would be more ideal, which is asking for a preference. I would prefer the bigger fish, but bigger fish and smaller fish are not mutually exclusive with respect to enjoying fishing trips. However, I definitely get a bigger kick out of the larger ones, and hence, greater enjoyment.

Great work, John. Your humility is exemplary. To those guys, you gave them a day they won't forget.

The mats of milfoil should help you in this regard if that is where the fish are. If they are under the mats that may help to conceal you though I would still take precautions and sneak up to the bank, standing back as far as possible to avoid detection. I would probably try pitching rather than flipping the mats, if possible. Keep in mind that the vibrations of your steps can tip off the fish as well. Walk softly and carry a sensitive stick. Also, when fishing the jig, stay in touch with your bait as it falls by keeping just enough slack to let it fall straight down, but still not so much that you can't feel and see what is going on with your line. Maybe some of these fish will bite it on the fall before it gets down in the slime.

I guess I shouldn't complain. From the comments already posted I see some of you have it much worse than me, but what the heck, I'll add my woes to the pile. In my area we should be experiencing air temperatures ranging from the 60s to the low 80s depending on the day and the weather. Temperatures hit the 80s the last two days but right now it is snowing and sticking. It is an extremely rare event for Kansas City to have snow in May but the prediction is for up to 3 inches per the weather channel. Three inches isn't much for a snow here, but it is a lot for May.

Welcome to Bass Resource and thanks for the support.

When I use my small tin boat I will review the lake I am fishing along with the conditions with respect to the season, and then I will determine what baits to take with me. When I am in my bass boat, I will still do the same review but I take everything I can. Unfortunately no matter how well I am organized, on occasion I find myself trying to remember which container I have a bait stored in when I take so many containers on the big boat. I have my containers labeled though the labels are worn and probably need replacement. I think I may need to draw up a "schematic" of where everything is in my bass boat. It would probably help if I would stop being lazy when I take everything. I need to store the baits I expect to use in one box like I do in the small boat. Then I would only be looking in the other boxes when I'm hitting the wall and need to try something different.

I can't make a pronouncement that Sam's suggestion wouldn't be an acceptable substitute for a Rage Tail craw without more evidence. Either I would have to try it or I would have to hear from a number of people I trust who have tried it. Then I could make an informed statement of opinion. Having said that, I love Rage Tail craws and have a lot of doubt that a substitute could be found so easily, considering the time and research that have gone into the plastic formulation and action of these baits. I never say never, though. I hope your craws serve you well, Sam, and I hope you report back on your results as you use them more.

Yep. Using one bait is a good way to learn and gain confidence with it, but if it is the wrong bait to be using at that particular point in time or if there are no fish in the area, you're wasting your time and ruining your confidence.