Bluebasser86

Exactly

Wow that thing looks good! I thought that was a Bronze eye frog at first, I've never been able to get mine to walk like that. Now that I realize it's a new bait I feel a little better, except for the monkey hanging on my back all the sudden

Jig, if I get to pick up my pitching rod with 17 or 20lb fluoro and a 1/2oz brush jig and never put it down all day then I'm happy, happy, happy!

That's a nice, fat redear in the first picture. You eat them? I've used them for cutbait for catfish before and maybe it's just their diet in our lakes but they smell terrible when you cut them open! Always wondered if they were any good to eat smelling like that.

Just because they fall in the boat doesn't mean they make it to the livewell. Then again, just because they make it to the livewell doesn't mean they make it to weigh in! I've watched more than one bass launch over the side of the boat when an angler opened the livewell to check on his catch. If you cradle them under the belly or grab them behind the head and turn them upside down they will usually quit flopping.

More than likely you're helping the system by cleaning out the smaller fish. I wish I liked to eat fish so I could do the same for some of our overpopulated lakes but bass has got to be one of the nastiest tasting fish I've ever tried IMO. If it don't have teeth and marble eyes it isn't worth eating if it's from freshwater in my book Even a lot of the 'eyes I catch get released, much to the dismay of anyone fishing around me.

I've actually switched to wearing a buff at all times now. I'll put a little under my eyes where my sunglasses don't cover and my nose but the rest is pretty much covered at all times.

Rage Craw or Havoc Pitboss retrieved over and through the weeds will catch fish. A fluke can work really well also.

I have a pull over from them that my wife bought me this winter. It's nice because it's warm enough for cool mornings but cool enough to be comfortable when it starts to warm up. The only thing I don't like is the collar doesn't cuff down very well so you're fishing with the popped collar look, not really my style.

For the second time this year I got a double. This time it was at my super secret after work spot Some of you guys know where I was, just a little spot that could be fished out really fast by one or two people if they started keeping fish.

I would still rather not bring the fish to a weigh in. It just doesn't make sense to risk killing fish to weigh them in a bragging rights tournament. What we could do is have everyone bring digital scales, we'll have a controlled object we'll weigh with each, like an anchor, and then we can weigh our fish on the water and record the weights instead of the lengths. I know it may not be the most accurate way to do it but again it's just for fun and as long as everyone's scales are close then it should be fine.

You might want to check out the B series then, it was before the D. They were a bit heavier but they were very smooth and built like tanks. http://www.tackletour.com/reviewshimanochronarchb.html

Tail up for swimming, tail down for jigging.

The Chronarch D I believe. http://www.tackletour.com/reviewshimanochronarchdpreview.html

Back at you! Next year I'll actually be celebrating Father's Day as a dad myself for the first time!

A buddy from work and I fished Cedar Valley Thursday. It was good in the morning but got tough later one when the wind died and it got hot. Biggest surprise was 2 spotted bass we caught in the morning? They aren't listed as being in there and we didn't catch any the first time out there so it was a shock when I caught a dink on a chatterbait then Jon caught this one on a shakyhead, no doubt it's a spot. No monsters but I had a couple keepers jump off and caught a set of bookends, 3.06 on a baby brush hog and 3.08 on a home made jig. I broke off on a big fish on the hookset too. Pulled my jig off a drop off and just got hammered. My biggest fish of the day was my first fish of the day and was probably in the 7-8 pound range and just inhaled my chatterbait, too bad it was a drum Cbass and I fished Olathe for a bit Friday morning. It was a little tougher than last week with the water clearing up and the fish scattering out. I apparently have the touch for these guys out there though, this is the 3rd one in 2 trips, this time on a Bandit 100.

Where are you fishing for catfish at? If you're fishing ponds I've always found it pretty tough to beat grasshoppers for pond catfish. Anywhere else I prefer either live sunfish or cut shad or carp. Using live or cutbait with fish that are found in the body of water you're fishing will greatly increase your odds of catching a big fish.

Baby brush hog on a T-rig with a 4/0 EWG hook and a 1/4oz weight catches me a ton of fish every year.

I've fished one a bit when I can. They aren't allowed in KS but I've used them quite a bit in Missouri and Arkansas. I fish mine on a 7' 10" BPS Extreme H/XF with a Curado 300E and 25lb Pline C21. I'm not a fan of using braid for them or big swimbaits. If you get a backlash that stops the bait suddenly you'll lose the whole thing. Plus it gives you a little give if a big fish dives at the boat. I like to put swimming flukes on mine. My best luck with them have been during the colder months and they usually seem to really be on it or they won't touch it. The strikes are some of the hardest strikes I've ever had though.

twitch, twitch, pause. I like to make them walk. I speed them up if the fish are really chasing or if I'm fishing spotted bass. For some reason they always seem to prefer the bait to be moving faster.

Geez what haven't I caught on a bait? Snapping turtles on almost everything, they'll really stop a crankbait or jerkbait. Most surprising one was a spook. Catfish on almost everything I've fished, including topwater. Had a 6 or 7 pound flathead on a buzzbait and a 10 pound channel cat on a frog. Caught a sleeping bag on a jigging spoon, didn't look inside it, didn't want to know if anything was in it or not. I've had some rocks fool me into thinking I'd hooked a monster. The thin, flat ones are worse because they glide and feel like a big fish that is just slowly cruising and taking line. I've had a 21" walleye and 21" bass the same day, both on chunks of cut bluegill fishing for catfish. The list goes on and on.

I sight fished a very nice snapper on a Netbait B-bug Thursday. I was flipping water willows and thought I saw a monster bass pushing through the weeds. Turned out to be a very aggressive snapper that was all over my bait as soon as it hit bottom in front of him. Very disappointing fight, seemed he was as sluggish as the bass were. Made it easy to unhook him though.

Congrats on the new PB! Lets hear the story on what and how you caught her! I'd say you right in the ballpark guessing 5 pounds.

If you were in a tournament you couldn't have weighed it in, no catch! Last year when I kept track of every bass I caught I had to have complete control over the fish for it to count.

I get called a lot worse than a grump on a daily basis. Of course that's at my work where a lot of the people I encounter don't deserve my normal bright, cheerful attitude. I believe after a certain amount of time on this earth dealing with some of the individuals out there you earn the right to be a grump at times. Grump on!