Bluebasser86

The wife and I will be at Melvern with all the crazies on Thursday. Hoping to get a little fishing in but will depend a lot on how rough the lake gets. If anyone else is going to be out there let me know and maybe we can all find a cove to hide in out of the waves!

I've had "other fish" categories the last couple times and either very few catch anything other than bass (highly unlikely at Melvern) or nobody really cares to submit them. Heck I've caught a couple sunfish at Wabaunsee I almost took pictures of they were so big. I've caught walleye/saugeye the last 2 trips, catfish and drum happen a lot, and I haven't made a trip out there without catching a crappie yet.

Zman flapping crawz, made of elaztech so they're very durable and the whole thing floats.

A little purple worm is the deal on Table Rock with a dropshot a lot of the time. Blackberry is one of my favorite creature and worm colors (black with large purple flake) I tied some purple/silver flake jigs this winter and the bass have been liking them.

Senko-watermelon/purple flake Worm-watermelon candy or watermelon/red magic Creature-summer craw grub-smoke Obviously things change day to day but those are my favorites right now.

I think everyone has been caught daydreaming at one point or another. Sucks when it happens but it helps to remind you that you need to stay focused and it can be the fish telling you to slow down!

Only company I could find with both a skeletal bass and muskie shirt. http://www.fishskinz.com/products_new.html

Jika rig is great for fishing down through cover because the weight is attached to the hook but then the bait moves a little more freely than a T-rig with a heavy pegged weight like you would normally use in heavy cover. Plus the sinker isn't in the way when you set the hook so you get better hookups.

I've caught tons of gills, crappie, sunfish, bass, even some catfish on that tiny little bait. A little light for casting very far but with some good, light line it does alright.

I was just about to text you about a truck I saw for sale the other day, right up your alley. '94 F-150 extended cab 4x4 with 110K miles for $2,400. Would have been a pretty decent pulling rig as long as that was all you were using it for. I'm sure it would have been just as bad on gas though. Pretty good looking old truck, the one you got ain't bad either

Same thing happened to me out there, twice. Both of them ate chatterbaits. First one it was still dark out and it never rolled like they usually do. Plus it ate it out over deep water after I'd pretty much given up on the retrieve. I've never seen a drum choke a moving bait like that. Really thought I had ahold of something for a minute instead of the stinky, croaking mess I ended up with.

Alabama craw in either of these baits has lots of orange. Get some methylate JJ's or an orange Spike It pen and dip the claws. If you really want to get a bright orange one that Bass Assassin comes in a bright white or clear you can color that whole top half up with that orange spike it pen. http://www.bassassassin.com/p/-Alabama-Craw-4%22-Pure-Craw-%28BANG-Lures%29/bass-fishing-lures/-4purecrawbanglure/-4%22-Pure-Craw-%28BANG-Lures%29/PCA56479/ http://www.ragetail.com/news/color-charts/rage-craw-color-selection/

Unless you're fishing really thick stuff I'd stick with the 10lb. I use 10lb for all my cranking except around really heavy cover when I step up to 15 and I very rarely lose a fish. You'll be fine with that gear ratio, it'll keep you from moving your bait too fast, at least that's what it does for me.

Silliest rule I've ever heard. I could understand the boater getting some kind of reward for their nonboater catching fish because they can greatly influence whether or not their nonboater catches any fish but the nonboater has almost no influence over their boater catching fish. A buddy of mine told me they did away with that rule the next year. It only worked to my advantage during one of the tournaments, the rest I would have done better if it was just an individual weight. It was only in the Weekend Series as far as I know.

Not saying you shouldn't, just saying they'll probably destroy it just the same as they do the cheaper ones. They may last a few more fish but then when it breaks you have to replace a much more expensive bait. If you go with a more expensive bait I'd suggest the titanium Terminators.

I thought the judges reactions were great. Couldn't really understand the little girl but I've never heard a song in that genre of music I could understand so she must be doing it right!

And if it's legal in your state take a bunch of those little bullheads with you for bait! Big flatheads LOVE to eat bullheads!

Whatever length rod you feel comfortable with. I have several UL and L rods for different applications. My favorite is actually a 6' 8" L dropshot Crucial rod. It launches little baits and is extremely sensitive. For a purely fun fight I have a 6' Avid UL that makes almost any size fish feel like a monster. I'd suggest something in the 5' 6" to 6' range for most applications and a good, limp 4-6 pound mono.

Get some Sonny's Super Sticky and some Team Catfish EZ load dipbait worms or Furry Thangs and you're good to go, forget about all that headache. Better yet, catch some shad or bluegills and chunk them up into cutbait and forget all the stinky stuff, you'll catch more big cats with the real thing.

Get a flyrod out there! Those big pumpkinseeds on a popping bug would be a blast!

I actually had a pretty good bite on a 5" Optimum LT swimmer last Thursday

The cheapo Wal Mart spinnerbaits probably aren't a terrible choice for you here since you're fishing for a fish that's going to destroy a wire bait pretty fast. I love War Eagles but they're thin wire that I'm guessing a peacock will destroy in no time. Terminators are great because they're titanium so they last a long time but I hate the quick skirts because almost every bite pulls the skirt down. I'd suggest getting some really small zip ties or some bread twist ties and either zip tie the skirt on your wal mart baits real tight or wrap and twist the bread tie on nice and tight to hold the skirt up.

Great pictures!

I was fishing the BASS Weekend Series on Lake of the Ozarks a few years ago and got my heart broke 3 times in the same day. At the time they had a monster bass tournament at the end of the season at El Salto for each angler who caught the biggest bass of each tournament. I had my 3 fish limit (non-boater) and had culled a few times to something like 10-12 pounds so I needed a big bite to cull again. We were fishing a deep drop off so I started dragging a one ounce football jig and after just a few casts it got smoked. I stuck a very heavy fish that I was guessing was a catfish or big drum but it never rolled so I wasn't sure. When I got her up to the boat I saw it was a bass that was way bigger than anything I had in the boat. My boater all but refused to get the net (his day wasn't going nearly as well as mine was) so I broke a cardinal rule and grabbed the line to try to lip her. She dove under the boat and popped my line. I was fuming but kept to myself since no amount of yelling or cussing at my boater would change anything. (On a side note my buddy was prefishing the same area the next week and caught my fish with my jig still in her mouth, she went 8lbs 2ozs). My boater got tired of fishing the deep water so we moved to a shallower gravel bank and he started cranking while I kept dragging a jig. About 10 minutes before weigh in I stuck a fish in the 5 pound range. I thought she was mine but for some reason she just popped off at the boat. She would have added at least a pound or two to my total. The 3rd big disappointment was back then BASS had this silly rule where if the non boater caught at least one keeper fish then they added the boaters weight to the non boater. So like I said my boater had a bad day and only weighed 3 keepers for 9 pounds. I had the highest individual weight for a non boater but because my boater had done poorly I ended up in 5th place. I still have flashbacks and what if moments about this tournament.

Looks like something took a bite out of it by it's tail too? Possibly found dead on the bank?