Bryce C

I did the same thing earlier this year but with a set up that wasn't so expensive.....managed to reach down and grab it before it sank from sight luckily. Wet hands and a hard cast don't mix well. Sorry about your luck.

All of my local Gander and Dick's stores have had the sureset DT's clearanced..... I was under the impression that it was only there sureset hook baits that were going?

x3 Fish it fast, slow shallow or deep and anywhere in between.....catch fish on jigs all year!!

This is kind of how I see it too.....if you know how to find and catch fish moon phase isn't going to impact you nearly as much. Maybe it affects the peek feeding times of the bass, but imo most of the strikes that I get are triggered/reaction strikes so when the fish are actively feeding doesn't necessarily mean that's the only time you can catch them.

I'm in the same boat as you here John.....I killed the smallies last summer and into early fall on some small local creeks. Now that it's warming up again those same fish are nowhere to be found. This is only my second year wading for smallies and I can't wait to get on those gold fish again.

1. Become proficient casting with either hand for several types of casts. 2. Give the swimbaits a try for more than a few minutes and really learn when and where I should be using them. 3. Learn something new every time I hit the water.

Mid day always seems to produce the biggest fish of any trip for me.

Aside from chasing bass one of my other hobbies is reptiles....so if I'm not on the water I'm in the woods looking for snakes and lizards. Cotton mouths just don't exist most of Indiana anymore, they are a state endangered species. Though most outdoorsmen have a horror story of a coming across a water moccasin/cottonmouth, lol. I can't tell you how many fisherman in my area kill snakes when they find them out of fear that it is a water moccasin. There are tons of species of water snake in the U.S. that mimic this species for protection from predators...so know that not every banded serpent you see on the water is definitely a water moccasin. The dead give away is the head shape.....cottonmouths are a pit viper and have a very muscular and triangular shaped head. Of course another obvious sign of this species is if you stumble across one and it gapes at you, which is their defense mechanism. If you don't know for sure what species of snake you have run across the best course of action is to simply steer clear, but please please please do not be one of those guys that thinks he has to kill this deadly snake before it hurts some innocent person. They would rather get away from you than be forced to defend themselves and in some areas killing these snakes can bring a high penalty. Happy fishing!

Bill Dance and the In-Fisherman here....been watching them both since I can remember. Although I will say that I get most of my information here, lol.

That's definitely a carp scale.....a local private lake that I used to fish had a problem with grass carp and we used to snag them with large trebles to get them out of the lake and into the field.....came up with plenty of scales like that in the process.

That's the best way to learn.....and gain confidence in a new bait. And once you gain that confidence in a lure it's always game on!

I love to fish jigs.....nothing better than feeling that little tick and watching your line just take off! Or waking a spinnerbait just under the surface and seeing that giant wave come up right before the strike.....especially when that wave comes from the side because you just know they are going to kill it! Those two are my favorites, but they ALL get the blood pumping!

Great photos and beautiful fish! I always enjoy watching others catch them just as much as when I do.

I just got this reel last week! I love it too, but I haven't used it enough to experience this happening. I'm kind of surprised that you were able to put enough pressure on it to make grooves in the bail arm.

That's a good deal for $20, but don't count on it lasting more than a season if that. I tried them out last year since I couldn't quite afford a higher end rod and they did alright, but the guides wore out pretty quickly on both my casting rod and my spinning rod.

I know what you mean, haha! Tried that didn't work at all.....sometimes it has though.

Thanks for the input guys, this doesn't happen very often, but always sucks when it does. The creek I'm fishing is pretty small so I try to put as little stress on the fish I do catch out of it so they will be there next year for me. I may remove the barbs from the one kind of jig that is usually to blame and try that out Crestliner. Thanks.

my goal this year was to learn how to skip baits under cover, I'm pretty good at it with my spinning gear but still working on it with the baitcast setups. Other than skipping I tried to work on overall accuracy and landing my baits lightly. Setting goals and learning new things is one of my favorite things about bass fishing, and when you catch fish on something new that you've learned it makes it even better!

Nice smallies!! Got to love that fight they have in them.

Alright so this isn't the first time that I've ever had this happen, but it's the first time since I've been a member of a forum where I could ask. So I was doing a little wade fishing this morning and caught a nice two and half pound smallie on a jig. Once I landed him I realized the hook had come out through the eye socket on the fish, but not through the eyeball. The way it was in there made it really difficult to remove the hook and when I tried I ended up bending the hook, which made it even more difficult to remove. It seems like I have this happen mostly to fish in this size range since small ones can't get the jig that far down and bigger fish give you more room to work. So not wanting the fish to lose it's eye I simply cut the end of my hook off and slid it out. Are there any tricks you all use to remove hooks when they are lodged in at weird angles like this or is ruining the lure the only option? Also, if the hook does go through a fishes eye do you guys try to save the eye by cutting off the barb or just do your best to remove it as best you can? Any help is appreciated. Bryce

Senkos this year.....soft plastics in general. I've done a lot of jig fishing and really seem to catch them as well or better with a jig in the same situations that I would use soft plastics.

I fish almost entirely from the bank unless I'm out with one of my buddies and I have used the same plano waist pack for several seasons. It doesn't hold much, but enough to cover most situations. For longer outings I also wear my hydration pack and that will fit a few more baits as well. With the waist pack I can hold an extra rod by putting it through the belt on my back, this works so so and so I usually only carry one rod. Bassmajor.....that pack looks awesome! Thanks for posting that.

Those fish are amazing!! Congrats on some fine smallies. I recently caught the smallmouth bug after being a pretty dedicated largemouth angler for almost ten years. In my opinion they are one of the most amazing freshwater fish you can pursue, beautiful and man what a fight!!

Got to love it when you get a surprise like that! I catch a lot of rock bass and crappie on jigs in a couple of lakes I fish. Channels on plastic worms and even spinnerbaits. One lake I fish has white bass in it also, seem to always catch a couple of those when I'm cranking. I've kept some of the white bass and channels on occasion, kind of cool to be able to fry up some fish even after a day on the water just doing some bass fishing!

Thanks for the info! Those jigs look awesome....probably won't be adding too many though to start, I lose way too many to be throwing these all the time, lol.