Bluebasser86

Retro-some of my best days at La Cygne have been when it's stupid cold out and I really had no buisness being out there. Those days are nice because there isn't much competition. There was only 2 other boats on the lake, 1 guy fishing for crappie at the dam and 2 guys catfishing at the outlet. Chris-I did get one off the dam, suprised that was the only one I got. I've caught a couple of my biggest bass from La Cygne off the dam. You're right about weekdays. I've been on nice weekend days and it's a zoo out there and the bite is usually terrible. There was a few bankfishermen and I did see one of them catch about a 5 pounder that got tossed in a bucket. I did see a first out there though, I watched a bank fishermen catch 2 short bass and 1 short wiper and throw them back Normally if it gets caught, it's going home regardless of size or species.

7' MHF with a 6.2:1 reel and 14 or 15lb mono for a baitcaster 7' MF wit a 2500 size reel and 8lb flouro for a spinning combo

I love the look of the Rage rods, the feel of the handle, and how light they are. I don't love how many of the rods seem to have a guide or two that isn't inline with the rest. Like Hi Salenity said I wouldn't buy one online for that reason alone. The warranty doesn't bother me because I take good enough care of my stuff and if it has a factory defect I fish enough it's going to show itself before the 5 years is up. If you can get one in your hands I would really suggest that. I have a few Mojos and like them pretty well but the Rage, IMO, is a much better and nicer fishing rod.

Zoom mag II, YUM, and Rage Andacondas. Don't fish ribbontails alot around here though, so many sunfish that like to steal the tails off my worms.

2 others and us. 1 guy crappie fishing and 2 guys catfishing. Did see one guy on the bank catch about a 5 pounder but of course it went home with him for dinner

Haven't been fishing anywhere other than ponds in almost a month and was starting to twitch so a friend and I decided to brave the cold and rain. Pretty constant rain all day and temps in the mid 40's made weather less than perfect but water temps in the mid 60's and the plant generating had the fish biting! Swimbaits ruled the day, mostly 4" versions of Berkley or Storm swimbaits. My first swimbait bass of the day was a fattie at 18 1/4 inches long and 4lbs 6oz. Another fattie. Swallowed swimbait. Most awesome one of the day. We were at the outlet, skipping swimbaits under the cables when a fish started popping shad right off the rock point. Too shallow for the swimbait I was throwing so I ran a spinnerbait by and a big fish blasted it but didn't hook up. Grabbed my swimbait rod with a 6" Spro BBZ 1, fired it and held my rod high so it would run right under the top. Got to the same spot and got plowed. Didn't weigh her because she got the back hook deep and I wanted to get her back in the water as soon as possible but was probably in the 4.5-5lb range. It was a fun day, wish my friend could have got on a big one but maybe next time.

Got to La Cygne today with a buddy. Rain sucked late in the day but wasn't terrible most of the day and little wind made it more bearable. Swimbaits ruled the day. Minus 2 on jerks, 1 on a crank, and 2 on a shakeyhead they all ate swimbaits. Most of them were on 4" Berkley or Storm swimbaits. My first fish was a porker, 18 1/4" long and 4lbs 6oz. Couple other healthy swimbait bass. Jerkbait bass. Most awesome one of the day. We were at the outlet, skipping swimbaits under the cables when a fish started popping shad right off the rock point. Too shallow for the swimbait I was throwing so I ran a spinnerbait by and a big fish blasted it but didn't hook up. Grabbed my swimbait rod with a 6" Spro BBZ 1, fired it and held my rod high so it would run right under the top. Got to the same spot and got plowed. Didn't weigh her because she got the back hook deep and I wanted to get her back in the water as soon as possible but was probably in the 4.5-5lb range.

Never had one try to bite me when I didn't desearve it. If you stringer fish and there are snappers in the water they will find you though. They're bad about live or cutbait when I'm catfishing too. Usually if they have no reason to move towards your boat they will try to keep their distance. I have had them attack fish that I was fighting in while bank fishing though.

I caught my PB my first trip to Comendero in Mexico. The lake was 42 feet high (yes 42) We were literally fishing treetops of huge trees that had leaves and everything and it made for really tough fishing. I was fishing a Rapala Skitter Pop and had just caught a 7 pounder and was still pretty high off that when a big fish followed my bait to the boat while I was reeling in. I didn't get a good look at it because it was getting late and starting to get dark but I could tell it was huge. I quickly grabbed a rod with an 8" Zoom Lizard and dropped it straight down. It sank about 3 feet and stopped. Knowing it was probably at least 50 foot deep where the boat was sitting I hammered the hook home and she was immediately on the surface. She tailwalked to the front of the boat and then towards the back of the boat and my guide was ready with the net, fight probably lasted less than 10 seconds. She was very, very skinny but weighed 10lb 2oz, probably would have been 13 or 14 pounds if she wasn't so skinny. My best from the states came from a tiny 30 acre state lake in Kansas. There are several brushpiles on the lake and it's only about 3-7 feet deep through a majority of the lake. We were playing follow the leader with the only other boat on the lake and came to a brushpile that I knew was sitting right on the edge of a good drop. The other boat had already fished it but didn't pull anything out so I pitched my YUM wooley hog into the tree. I hopped it a couple times and carefully slid it up and over a limb. As soon as it cleared the limb I got that bite that you just know is a big fish because your whole rod jumps. I hit her hard and she dove under the boat and then jumped and tailwalked by the side of the boat. My friend just stared at the monster mouth shaking back and forth until I said "I might need the net for this one!" He jumped down and grab the net and quickly scooped her up. She was probably one of the nicest looking bass I've ever caught and at 7lb 14oz is still my best one outside of Mexico.

Thanks to warmwater discharge lakes my season never ends, just limited on how long I can fish other bodies of water. Looking at the long term I might be able to squeeze another outing out before the water gets hard

I got all my shopping done and everything sent out two days ago!

I love the feel of the handles and how they look. The fit in my hands nicely and the grip is very comfortable and I like the way it looks. Get one in your hands and make your own decision on them. Like Hi Salenity said, make sure the guides are straight though, I've seen a couple that had guides that weren't even close to straight.

Like others said just keep them away from rocks and don't smack them on the water to clean the hooks. They're a great bait in open water or on softer bottoms like sand or clay. If you don't want to mess with replacing them you could sell 17 Dt 6's for way more than what you paid for them if they're in good shape.

Try a beaver bait. Everyone fishes them but they keep catching fish and they work pretty well in cover or open water.

A friend and I decided to brave the 30mph winds and rains today to try to get one last afternoon of fishing in at his uncle's ponds before they freeze up. Both of us were saying we'd be surprised if we catch anything on the way there but thankfully we were wrong I was fishing a new color Erratic shad while my friend was fishing a spinnerbait and redeye shad. I started catching dinks almost right away on my jerkbait and never really slowed down. There is 6 ponds all connected so were were just walking between all of them. My friend was telling me the south pond has the biggest fish so we made the short walk and I quickly caught a healthy 14 incher. One of my first cast into the big, south pond I felt like my jerkbait was hanging on a branch. I leaned into it a little bit to try to pull the "branch" in when it started swimming slowly. I thought I'd hooked a monster bass when it streaked off and broke surface. After a 10 minute tug of war I managed to see the big grass carp I'd snagged in the fin. Right as it was getting tired and looking like I might actually land it she made a last lunge after a big branch and my hooks caught and pulled out. We each started walking opposite directions around the pond, fancasting and not catching much. Then I got a good "tick" on my jerkbait and set into a solid fish. After a pretty good fight I managed to get ahold of my biggest of the day. Didn't have a scale but I'm guessing around 19-20 inches and 4-4.5 pounds. Had to try to take my own picture so it didn't turn out great. A couple minutes after I turned my fish loose my buddy hooked a good fish on the jerkbait I finally talked him into using since his spinnerbait and trap weren't doing it. I ended with 19 and my friend got 3 and we each got a solid fish. Turned out to be a great day despite the weather and a great way to spend a few hours before work

I do really well on small 4-6 inch finesse worms in natural colors on light shakeyheads. Just drag them slowly along the bottom. Small jerkbaits like a 65 pointer and jigging spoons along channel edges and vertical cover have also done well for me.

My wife has been really bugging me about wanting kids since her little sister had her daughter this year. We got to talking about how many when we're ready. I told her I'd like 2, 1 boy and 1 girl but if we have the girl first I'm not trying again because I don't want to take the chance of having 2 girls. My wife didn't understand but I don't think I could stay sane in a house with 3 women.

I work on tying a bunch of jigs for the upcoming season. Pouring, painting, and tying jigs is really time consuming, not real expensive once you get the molds and melting pot, and satifying when you catch a good fish on one of your baits. It's a great way to pass the time but at the same time it can start another new obsession entirely. I spend a lot of time hunting and cleaning my reels also. Cleaning the garage and basement are other good ones. Keeps you busy and that way when you finally get nice weather its 2 big projects the wife can't give you so you can go fishing Plus I have 2 powerplant lakes about an hour away so if I get the urge and it's warm enough my guides won't freeze all day I'll get the guidewear out and go fishing

X2, paired with a 50E with 10 or 14 pound Mustad Ultraline.

I've always been a huge fan of Shimano spinning reels but decided to try a Pfluegar Supreme XT this year and love it. It is so light and smooth and casts great. Plus I get a spare spool so I can switch line sizes or from braid to floro if needed. Don't know if Shimano gives you a spare spool or not anymore. Last Symetre I bought didn't come with a spare spool.

Is the water still really low at La Cygne or has the rain they've been getting helped any?

Probably for the best, would have just ended up spending money I can't afford to spend right now.

I would at the very least take it apart and let it dry but would rather clean and relube the reel. You've spent hard earned money to buy the reel, might as well take the time to take it apart and clean it throughly so it will continue to work for you down the road.

Mozingo is a fun lake to fish. Theres a few guys on here that fish there and Smithville pretty regularly. I'd suggest getting some 1/4 and 3/8 ounce bullet weight, 3/0 and 4/0 Gamakatsu EWG hooks (I like the superline version) black cavitron buzzbait in 3/8oz, some Strike King KVD 1.5's in chartruese and black back, sexy shad, and crawdad colors, and a couple tandem bladed spinnerbaits, Booyah makes a good bait that isn't too expensive, and a couple bags of "beaver" style baits. As for jigs, swimjigs through the trees and over the weeds at Mozingo can be really good but flipping jigs in the timber and football jigs along the creek channel can all work well also.

I have a spool of 14 and spool of 17lb of their new floro and have been pretty impressed with it so far. Gave the 14 a real test fishing FB jigs in 20-40 feet of water at Table Rock and it performed really well. It pulled a nice 3lb smallie out of a tree in about 35' of water and was plenty sensitive for me to feel spots pecking the bait. Their orginal live had too much memory for me but it wasn't bad at all on this stuff. It did break right at my reel on one hookset but not sure what caused it.