Bluebasser86

100% largemouth

I've had it happen several times with bluegills, crappie, and smaller bass. Best solution I've found is to start fishing swimbaits that mimic whatever fish it was that the big bass was trying to eat

Like WRB said, crank like crazy to load the rod up and then lean into them, don't cross their eyes. The hooks on those scroungers are razor sharp, just have to keep tension on them and let the hook dig in.

A stout rod that's at least 7' long, high speed reel, and braided line are a must for frogging IMO.

Go somewhere else. The fluctuating water levels out there has made it about impossible to get onto any kind of solid pattern and the fish seem to be in a constant funk. Last time I was there was last fall and the best pattern was to catch a fish on a bait and put it away. During our practice day I caught 3 keepers on a 1/2oz black brush jig with a blue sapphire trailer. 2 days later during the tournament they wouldn't touch the jig. I caught both of our keepers, 1 on a 7" slammer and one on a one knocker spook, that was good enough for 3rd place. Flat points with standing timber were best for us and most fish were in 1-5 feet of water. I also broke off a big fish the last 15 minutes of the tournament on a 7" stick O rigged with a 1/4oz weight. We mainly fished up the Grand arm.

Going to try to do a live weigh in but the 3 fish limit is aimed at helping guys like you so you could use a cooler for a livewell even in that little boat and still participate. Of course if someone with a bigger boat is fishing and needs a partner you could always fish with them too.

For those of you wanting to do the weekly deal, we may possibly have to change the location of the very first one due to a possible change in the size limits on Douglas SL. KDWPT's website now has Douglas listed at 2 bass over 18". I've fished out there several times and caught 2 over 18" in all those trips. If we wanted to do it by length it could still work but if we're wanting to weigh fish it would make it tough. I'm planning on going out there sometime after work this week to check the signs by the ramp to see if I can confirm what the limits are, the states website has quite a few errors and it's always been a slot lake as long as I can remember. If anyone knows for sure let me know otherwise I'll be headed out there to confirm what it is.

The Okuma Avenger baitfeeder spinning reels are great catfishing reels, I own 4 of them, 2 in the 30 size for channel cats, then one 65 and one 90 for bluecats on the rivers. Pair them up with an Ugly Stick or Cabela's Whoppin' Stick and you can get a combo for under $100 easily that will handle any catfish you hook.

My favorite other than bass are big flathead catfish. I have a custom made XXH 7' casting rod with a Penn 309 and 130lb PP braid I like to lob big green sunfish right up next to snags with. When a fish eats you have to dig in and do everything you can to move them away from the snag, and sometimes that's not enough.

I like 20-25lb Pline CXX Xtra strong or C21 for baits in that size range.

7 or 9 inch MS Slammer River2sea S Waver Black Dog Shell Cracker Mattlures Hardgill

I used to have some banjo minnows and caught a ton of fish on them, of course they were about the only bait I owned so that had something to do with it.

The Pit Boss and Papa Pit Boss are both great surface buzzing plastics when rigged weighless. Plus they're durable and cheap! Nice fish too! That's 2 more bass than I've caught on topwater in about 2 months

The fish in my avatar ate my crankbait off a rock while I was snagged. I was trying to pop it loose and then when I went to pop it once, it was moving towards deeper water At 7.76lbs, it's the second biggest bass I've caught in Kansas.

Fish grippers float and take up very little room, which is at a premium in a kayak. They work on a 1lb bass or a 50lb catfish just the same, and they don't cost much.

I try not to keep them out of the water longer than I can hold my breath. Even if they can be kept out without being able to breath, you still have to worry about damage done to the slime coat, sunburn, and freezing. Fish don't have eyelids so in cold conditions their eyes can freeze very quickly.

Jigs catch bass everywhere they swim all times of year in all conditions.

A lot of lakes around here have longear sunfish which have lots of orange on them even when they're only 4" long. I normally don't put that much orange in them but it was a special request for a guy that fishes lakes where they eat lots of longears. I pour and paint my own heads and wire tie my own skirts.

Sorry I missed this post.

It's a Trokar swim jig head from Do it.

I bought a used 2 man boat for $50 when I was 13 with lawn mowing money. I fished out of it almost every day on a semi private lake and most of the people who came out to the lake all the time called me "Little Harold" after Harold Ensley. Someone stole the boat off the dock when I was 15 and all the great people out there pooled their money together and bought me a brand new one to replace the old one, man I miss that place

Only one and only way I fish it.

What size swimbaits are you talking about? Price range? There's tons of good options out there but it'd help if you narrow it down a bit.

I get the best results reeling as slowly as I can while keeping the bait on the surface.

Has anyone received their free baits for doing a review of their baits? Just curious what baits they're sending out because I'm planning on trying some of their other baits but don't want to buy them yet and then get some sent to me for doing the review.