Bluebasser86

Very nice rat fish! Congrats on the PB! Did she pound it or just suck it down?

X2, cheap too and it comes in strong enough SPF ratings to keep my neon white self from burning.

The longer rod moves more line on the hookset and allows you to lift a fish more straight up out of cover, both very important factors when it comes to flipping and pitching. Once you use a longer rod a little bit you won't even notice the extra length.

Better go back and catch that sucker! Pretty sure the world record is just over a pound and a half.

Really hard to tell without a close up of the fish and with a lot of it covered up. I'd say it's either a redbreast or pumpkinseed.

That has always amazed me how fish can do that. I can't tie a crankbait on without sticking myself!

Croppie, or disappointing, whichever.

Casting a #7 shad rap or flicker shad or casting or jigging a 3" Gulp minnow on an 1/8oz jighead are 2 of my favorite ways to fish for walleye.

If you'd have a chance to get out on a Thursday I'd be willing to be your on the water guide. Can't promise any monsters but I can put you on some fish.

Well it's going to have to be October 5th for me to make it now. The "Classic" for my Wyco Wednesday nighters is going to be the 28th and 29th of September. So unless a bunch of guys can't make it that day we'll plan for it to be that Saturday.

I have a couple of the newest models of LTB rods in spinning and casting. One of the spinning rods I use Nanofil on almost exclusively. While it isn't a braid it will wind knot on other rods, but never has on my LTB rod with the K-frame guides.

The tail on the squirrel tail has much more action and it floats instead of sinking like a trick worm does. They do come in a smaller pack but they're a little cheaper also.

Almost all my cranks have red VMCs on them. I have no way to prove or disprove their effectiveness but they cost the same as the black nickel and are just as sharp so I use them. They certainly don't seem to scare any fish off and I have confidence in them which is one of the most important things there is when it comes to putting fish in the boat.

I hate fishing during a bright, full moon, just never have done very well, but you can't catch them if you're not out there right? When the moon is bright I like to fish lighter colors instead of my usual darker colors I fish at night. Light blue colored plastics or jigs seem to produce best during a full moon.

I guess I just don't understand the need for a shakyhead that supposedly stands up at rest. What are the odds that it actually lands perfectly on the bottom and doesn't fall over? It doesn't seem to be an issue when it comes to T-rigged worms that almost surely lay on the bottom at rest. I'm more interested in the correct weight and a sharp hook than head style. I pour my own that are just a plain ballhead with a screwlock and have no problem catching fish with them.

Buy a soft measuring tape and get the length and girth and then you can at least get a ballpark guess with a fish weight calculator. Looks to me to be around 4.5 pounds.

I used to hi light stuff I wanted in the catalog and that's all my parents had to do for me for Christmas or my birthday. Now I live 15 minutes from one so making a list isn't nearly as important. Besides if I forget something it just gives me a reason to go back.

I caught the same bass off the same spot twice in the same day off the same bait. It was just a little 14 incher but he had a very crooked back and he ate my bitsy bug jig off a stump once in the morning and then again in the afternoon. It was middle of summer and the water was very warm so I know he wasn't spawning, just dumb and hungry I guess.

Catfish will hit any kind of artificial and are very efficient predators, more so than most give them credit for. The love baits with vibrations or strong scents for them to hone in on. Not many days will I go without catching one if I'm fishing a squarebill or chatterbait a lot. I've seen a few of them explode on a buzzbait way better than any bass I've ever caught has.

This past winter I was tossing a crankbait at some riprap when it got hung up. I tried to pop it loose once and it didn't work. Second time I tried to pop it loose it had moved to the side a few feet from where it was supposed to be. I reeled down again and when I leaned on it again (the first time I'd pulled when it was snagged it wasn't moving and was without a doubt a snag) it swam off pulling line slowly. I assumed a catfish or carp had gotten itself snagged on my bait while it was stuck and pulled it loose until a big head and massive mouth were on the top attempting to shake my bait loose. She was barely hooked but we still managed to get her in the net. The end results was the 7.76 pound bass in my avatar.

There's one, There he is, or if it's a solid hookset "That's a real one".

I was just T-rigging it on a 4/0 hook with a 3/8oz. I really liked it because after it hits bottom the tail and apendages float up off the bottom and move with any waves or current.

No there isn't. There isn't many lakes with boat rentals in the area and a lot of them that do you not only have to buy a state permit but also a lake or county permit. I went to Douglas State Lake for a few hours this morning. Caught a bunch of little bass and a couple crappie on buzzbaits, poppers, shakyheads, C-rigs, 5XD's, and 6XD's. Stumbled across another good one too. I made a cast by the fish attractor buoy with a 6XD and caught one that went 4.23 pounds and had a good sized bluegill in it's throat. Oddly enough my next cast to the same spot with the same bait resulted in this little crappe? Must have been waiting for that bass to leave so it could eat I guess.

squirrel tail on a shakyhead

I donno man, it's been real tough the last couple days. We fished the Wednesday nighter last night and between me, basshunter0731, kanasbassfisher08, and another buddy we managed a whopping 8 fish, and one of those was a catfish. Today the wife and I went to Osage, which is supposed to be a good numbers lake with a few bigger fish. I worked hard fighting the wind while the wife laid out and put maybe 20 in the boat on a jig mainly. Did finally get a couple better bites on a Zman Palmetto bug (really impressed with that bait) pitching brushpiles.