Bluebasser86

My parents have pictures of me sitting on a sandbar holding a fishing rod in a diaper about a month before I turned 1. I'll be 36 in a couple months. I started fishing for bass when I turned 9, tournament bass fishing when I was 16, won my first tournament at the same age. Back when it was all about bringing home something to eat. My dad, and sometimes my mom, and I would wade the small rivers and use punch bait on a sponge or grasshoppers for channel cats. My grandparents had a pond loaded with fish. Who knows how many catfish, bass, and big bluegill I caught out of there.

I misspoke I guess. It's actually a MH/MF. I fish 78 pointers on it no problem up to SK 300s. I would say that the MH rating is heavier than what it fishes like. It fishes much more like a M/MF and it's specs reflect that (10-17lb test and 1/8-3/4oz). It handles big fish very nicely as it does have a good backbone that kicks in about 1/3 of the way down the rod.

My main one is a 6' 9" MH/F Okuma TCS with a 6.3:1 Daiwa Fuego SV with 10lb Sufix Advanced mono.

I use this same toolbox. Fits in the back deck area of my kayak nicely. I added 8 rod holders to the sides. It holds 3-4 3700 planos and a few gallon bags if plastics plus several tools and items in the top compartments as well.

I hate fishing a Crig, it's not fun and I'm fishing to have fun. I really don't care if they're eating it, I'm not fishing it unless it's a tournament and I can't get them to eat anything else.

A senko or Ned rig skipped under docks will pull fish from under docks behind anyone.

Got some sweet new line through swimbaits in just in time for winter to finally get here ?‍♂️

It does bleed but very nice line.

I'd go braid to a fluoro leader, and I have a few spinning reels filled with straight flouro. The braid is much more forgiving than fluoro for someone learning it and you can still do almost all the same things you can with straight fluoro.

My favorites are the "reviews", of products that the users have zero, or next to zero actual usage hours with. That's not a review, that's a first impression.

The other one I fish is predominantly smallmouth, but they don't seem to gather or become as active in the hot water as the largemouth do.

I almost went catfishing instead because it was supposed to be so nice. The lake was packed when I left but I caught them early before it got too busy and went home ?

Finally had a good day on the water this winter at the power plant. Haven't been able to get bit on a jerkbait or crankbait yet so course today that's what I caught almost all of them on. Had a 4 that was just over 17" on a 6th Sense Provoke. Then I got a 5.13 on a Stike King HC 1.5 flat sided crank. Not sure if this fish swatted at it or what but it was hooked back by the tail by the time I landed it ?‍♂️ Got one a little over 3.30 on the Provoke Then it was several smaller fish on a DT6 and the Provoke, one being another nearly 3lb fish on the Provoke. Switched colors on the Strike King crank and ran back through the same spot and stuck an even bigger one, this one went 6.15 but was only maybe 20" That put me a little over 21lbs for my biggest 5 on the day. 20lbs is my benchmark for a really good day so I was happy and it wasn't even noon. Ran to the cold water and found one in some 38* water on a Ned. Decided to head for the house after that because the lake was getting too crowded for my liking.

I have a display on my back wall of my garage with a bunch of vintage baits I've found hanging from a wire with various fishing related signs, awards, and a bass mount positioned around them. Probably 20-30 baits, maybe more and always adding to it.

You can use regular squarebills just fine. It's like anything else, some days they'll eat a flatside better, some days they'll eat a regular one better, even in the winter.

Clearly none of them have ever owned property of any kind ?‍♂️ I don't care if you're hurting anything or not, if I don't know you, we're going to have problems if you're walking around my back yard or in my driveway.

Suspending or very slow floating.

We "fished", on top of the ice for the first couple hours of trout opener once. It's still dark when they open the lake up and we'd picked a shallow mud flat that trout cruise looking for bugs so we didn't realize that our baits hadn't sunk, they'd actually landed on top of the ice that hadn't quite melted all the way yet.

I just use it like a top shot. 50 yards at a time, 4 spool ups off each 200 yard spool, brings it to $13.75 a fill up. That's how I justify it anyways. I don't use fluoro for many long casting techniques, so I don't need much at a time.

I don't do anything different other than wear warmer clothes

Nobody releases them here either but we have lakes that kick out 2lb crappie regularly. So many shad and fertile water I think grows them fast.

Tatsu for most but also use AbrasX and InvisX as well.

If you can find a Lucky Craft Spazz, they are an excellent very shallow running jerkbait with 2 hooks. I have a couple I use for trout in shallow rivers and streams. The 3 3/4" bait is listed as a 1-2 foot diver, so very shallow running.

Jerkbaits are one of my favorite bank fishing baits in the winter months. I stick to the lower end baits in case I lose them, but I don't seem to lose them often.

I walked a short stretch of bank Saturday and found a half dozen baits. Only 1 exciting bait, a 100 pointer, but almost all the paint was knocked off it. I believe one is a very old Rebel Wee R, I'll have to get a picture and let one of the Rebel experts confirm.