Bluebasser86

Miami is fun in the spring, man it's tough after that most times though Bourban is a blast if you're fine with just catching a bunch of fish and not much worried about size. Nebo if you're after a monster but if you catch 10 fish you had a great day. I'd like to get to Shawnee SL sometime but don't know when I'll get around too it. I've been wanting to try Wilson SL out too along with Lyon but both are a haul to fish a state lake. Osage SL is a fun one too, lots of fish and some big ones mixed in.

Well Chris and I's big adventure to the pits was not nearly as successful as we'd hoped. I think it's still just too early for them to be settled into a fall pattern. The water at the trout pit was pretty cloudy, still clear but not what it normally is. I caught a couple on a 1/2oz brush jig, several on 78 pointer, and I got this guy to eat my 8" Hudd. Caught it on the fall and just started to run with it like I was fishing a weightless Senko or something. Not nearly the fish we were hoping for but it was cool to catch one on that big bait. I still think my scale is off, it was between 19 and 20 inches and only went 3.88lbs. Next pit we went to normally produces several 3-5 pounders, you could have almost walked across the shad they were so thick. I caught 2 super fat fish that were probably only 16 inches long but 2 3/4 pounds on spinnerbaits. Last pit was a dinkfest on wacky rigs, nothing much over a pound though. We opted to head to Lake Ft. Scott Thursday morning. It was tough, after a couple hours we'd only caught 6-8 that were smaller than average for out there minus one nice spot that I caught on a shakyhead. We decided to try Elm Creek, I'd like to have that hour and half of my life back. After swearing to never return to that lake we went to Bourban State Lake. It was slow for out there but we still probably put 30 in the boat in the 3 hours we had left once we figured them out. They were mostly a little bit bigger than normal for that lake too so that was nice.

Jon and I fished Wyco for a couple hours this morning. He forgot his rain gear so when the rain started the party was over! It was tougher than I expected but I caught one on my 6 3/4" S Waver in the marina, a few on a wacky rig, and missed a whole bags worth of Flat Dawgs and senkos on a wacky rig for some reason along with a couple more misses on a chatterbait. Jon caught one on a jerkbait, broke off one on a wacky rig, and I think that was it. Water temps from 59-63 and very clear.

A little late but I guess I'll add this, our biggest fish of the day on a Netbait Salt Lick just inside of the point that is behind her in the picture and she went 3.02 pounds.

Yeah, it was crowded no doubt, but it can be done. We usually put our bags in the middle of the boat and my buddy stood in the front of the boat while I stood between the tackle bags and the battery at the back of the boat. My rods were on the right railing of the boat facing backwards, his on the left facing forwards. It was a pretty effective system for us and we caught a lot of fish out of that little boat We were probably well over the recommended weight capacity of the boat I'm sure.

There's way more room in that thing than there was in the 8' 2 man I fished out of for years, and we had 8 rods apiece in it several times along with a battery, 2 Cabela's super mag tackle bags, and 2 200 pound guys, I'm pretty sure your rods would fit. Post it up when you find out! I'm not much for expensive toys but you never know

I own around 15-20 St Croixs and if I ever have to send one in all the positive stories about their great customer service gives me confidence that I'll be taken care of.

I fish my A rigs on the same rod I fish my swimbaits on, it works just fine.

Doesn't take a super expensive rod to be a good spinnerbait rod. I prefer something in the 6-6.5 foot range in a medium or medium/heavy with a fast action. Personally I use a 6' 6" MH/F LTB but I have a 6' 6" M/F Mojo that fishes a spinnerbait just as well for $150 less.

That's a pretty sweet little setup, certainly a big step up from what I'd consider a bass bandit! I bet you could buy a nice, used aluminum for what they want for one though.

I've caught a lot of fish at Table Rock dropping jigging spoons next to and above timber and brush piles but I wouldn't drop one through a cedar or anything like that. Good thing is if you get snagged you can usually lift and drop the rod and the weight of the spoon will often pull the hooks loose.

I get Bassmaster, that's pretty much it except for a couple months out of the year when the one outdoor channel we get finally stops showing nothing but hunting shows and actually puts on a couple fishing shows. Of course those usually suck so it isn't much better. On the bright side it probably ends up with me actually fishing more instead of just watching fishing.

Bring it to Table Rock, Lake of the Ozarks, Grand Lake, Eufala, Texoma, Bull Shoals, Beaver, any of those centrally located lakes and I'll be there!

I about lost a LC 1.5 to an old, rotted trotline a couple weeks ago. I managed to finally snag the thing with my lure retriever and found out it ran across the deep end of a swimming beach?? I've cut them out of small state lakes (not legal to set there) and at least twice I've cut them when they were tied off to or set running under fish feeders! Talk about lazy. I snagged one in a state lake that was very well hidden with the ends attached to the under water bases of limbs that were driven into the mud by the offender/s, that had something like 47 hooks on it (only allowed 25 in KS). Very rarely do I ever see a trotline that is properly marked either. In Kansas they have to have the name, address, and phone number clearly visible attached to the line. I have no problem with people who want to set them, I've done it myself, but closing off an entire cove or section of a body of water with one is ridiculous. On the flip side, I've had guys in bass boats roar up on top of me while I'm fishing for blues or flatheads, cast all around and get way closer than I'd like them too, and act like it's my fault when they catch one of my lines. It's all about common courtesy, something that unfortunately isn't very common anymore.

Skin mounts will start to deteriorate with time and need a lot more upkeep than a replica. Most replicas I've seen are works of art that look like they'd swim off if you put them in the water. The one skin mount I have was done by a very good taxidermist and it looks very good also, but I would have much rather been able to take a picture and turn that fish loose. I have no problem with that. If someone else catches the same fish I caught and broke my record that would be great, even better if it happened to be a young angler. My name on a piece of paper as the guy who caught the biggest fish of a certain species in the state means very little to me. Someone else getting to catch the fish of a lifetime because I turned it loose so they could have that experience would certainly bring a smile to my face though.

Here's a good article about bass eating discarded plastics. http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/skinny-fish.html

I'd much rather have a picture of a big fish than a skin mount. I'd like to get a replica made if I ever catch another largemouth over 10 or if I ever get a smallie over 6. The only mount I have is a 6 1/2 pound largemouth that was gill hooked on a small crankbait on light line. The combination of the long fight, blood loss, and high water temps were too much for her and I didn't want to waste the fish. It was well within my rights to keep it, but I wouldn't have if she wasn't dying. If a fish is dying and it's not a legal fish I'm not keeping it regardless if I feel I'll get away with it or not. I know some guys that say it's a waste if a fish is dying but nature will take care of it, isn't like it's just going to rot away and nothing will get any use out of it. Even if I caught a record fish I'd rather put it back and get a replica made than keep it for myself and prevent someone else the chance to have the same thrill that fish gave me.

Terrible, what a waste of a life in both cases. Hopefully they'll catch the guy so he can't steal a loved one from anyone else.

LEO 7 years now of working in a detention center (jail). Not a corrections officer because we still go through the same academy and are LEO certified just like an officer on the street and granted the same abilities/powers. It's a career for very few and I wouldn't suggest it for anyone not willing to commit themselves 100% to it. Probably one of the only careers you can be both hated for doing or not doing your job. It will effect your life a lot if you get into it from the shift work (I'm at work just starting my shift at 0044 hours right now). It will effect who you are because you deal with some of the best and worse that people have to offer and see some stuff that nobody should ever have to see. It's very thankless work most of the time and a lot of time you'll only get noticed when you screw up. That being said I've enjoyed a majority of my time doing it, made some great friends along the way, and have been given the means to support my family and still have enough left over to do the hobbies that I love. I have no desire to go to the road. I work in air conditioning when it's hot, heat when it's cold. If there's trouble I have backup 30 seconds away instead of 10 minutes (ever tried to fight with someone for 10 minutes?) Don't have to worry about getting shot at like several of my friends on patrol have been. A little fewer surprises, I know who I'm dealing with and what I'm going into each day for the most part.

The Avid and Premier are on different levels. Like others have said the Avid is a better rod all around than the Premier, but the Premier is still a good rod. If you have the money for it I'd go for the Avid without a doubt.

Caught my biggest bass of the year so far the first week of March on a Spro Fat John, the fish in my avatar.

My buddy caught a catfish on a Slammer last week and I had one hit a Mattlures hardgill at the bank, they'll eat them just like a bass at times. Nice fish!

I use worm binders, graduated up from ziploc baggies last year.

Check the bargain cave at Cabela's, you can find returned suits in like new condition pretty often. I didn't like my Guidewear quite as much as I like my 100mph suit but they are very nice. Being warm is a huge part of catching fish when it's cold. If you're cold you'll lose your focus and you'll be much less effective.

I agree that if you'd cut that fish open it's probably got at least a couple plastics blocking it up. Plastic baits discarded in the lake will at times get eaten by a fish and then swell up several times their normal size and become almost impossible for the fish to pass, starving it to death very slowly. You probably did the fish a favor and sped up it's ending.