Bluebasser86

I use an XF. I can really manipulate the bait with light shakes, and there's not much of a hookset with a Ned rig, so the XF tip allows for a reel or lift set.

Stump-1 Kayak Prop-0

I've seen them there, but they're always the smaller ones.

Both my boys recently got deep into Pokemon and want me to buy both of them very badly. That price tag is a bit steep for me though.

20-30 feet isn't really that deep and they should be fine. You can always bring them up slowly to give them the chance to "burp", but I doubt it's necessary at those depths.

Confirmed by YUM today that it's discontinued ?

Braid is perfect for topwaters, I wouldn't change a thing. It floats, the lack of stretch allows me to reel into bites instead of having to set into them, so if they miss I don't pull the bait a long ways from them, and I get better casting distance but can still set the hooks at that distance. Only topwaters I don't use straight braid for are baits with a front prop and buzzbaits.

Chartreuse is my default jighead color for smallmouth with a lot baits. With a shakyhead, I might go black or green pumpkin.

Never tried one, I could see where they'd have their uses though.

Welcome!

I caught my sister's cat with a Spook Jr, I was not so lucky and the removal process while not getting hooked/bitten/scratched was very tedious. A 10lb grey tabby puts up a heck of fight when they dig into the carpet though ?‍♂️

This I understand completely. You catch the fish of a lifetime and want to make 100% sure you get great pictures, sure, fill the box and let her rest while you get stuff set up and maybe drop her back in there after you take the pictures to make sure they're all good. Way better than just keeping them out of the water through the whole process. I can also understand guys catching them deep and wanting to make sure they're doing good before dropping them back after they've been fizzed. Or if you have one bleeding and want to make sure it appears to be doing good before putting it back.

Yeah, basically like if they were standing on the weigh in stage for a tournament holding up your fish, except they're not.

There's very few smallmouth left in Leavenworth, but there are a few. You're much more likely to just catch a bunch of small largemouth. It does usually have clear water and weeds that those aggressive little bass like to hide in.

Got to have the end of the day bag pic for the InstaFace to keep sponsors happy I suppose. Still, it's the same fish if you take 1 picture with 5, versus 5 individual pictures.

42lbs is plenty big. Those are some of the hardest fighters, they're still athletes at that size. I 100% use grippers too. Nothing to do with hand size, blues have extremely strong jaws and they like to use them. A big one can remove a lot of skin in a hurry.

YUM doesn't even have them on their website, hasn't for awhile now. One of my favorite pitching plastics. I bought a bunch when they went on clearance, but I burned through them pretty fast. They just had an ad on their Facebook page for them and I commented asking about them, but never got a response.

Yo-Zuri Aile Killifish is what you're looking for. I have a few of them I use in ponds a lot on 4lb test and bass absolutely do eat them. I even caught a flathead a little over 20lbs on one of these tiny crankbaits out of a pond once. I don't believe they're made anymore so they're a little harder to find but still plenty out there. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yo-Zuri-Killifish-Freshwater-Ultralight-F645-HOK/dp/B004Q6XCDQ

Mine was a trip to Beaver Lake in Arkansas. It was almost all we threw for 3 days. I caught largemouth up to 6.25, smallmouth to 5lbs, several 3lb spots, wipers, several white bass over 3lbs, a couple walleye, and several stripers up to 20lbs. Until that trip I probably hadn't caught a dozen fish on it. We started doing way better when we used baits with blades on them. Full sized rigs with lighter heads to allow us to reel very slowly was the trick and the strikes were addictive, they were so violent.

Welcome!

I've caught the same fish twice in the same day, on the same bait. It had a severely damaged spine so it was easy to recognize. Caught on a Bitsy Bug jig off a stump in a pond twice in the same day. Last year, I caught the same fish twice in 2 weeks. First time on a Hoodaddy, second time on a Black Canoe balsa crankbait, about a mile further up the creek. This winter, I caught the same fish twice 3 weeks apart. First time on a shakyhead with a Berkley Flute worm, second time on a Strike King HTC 1.5 flat sided crank, about 50 yards from where I originally caught it.

When I had Mondays off and went to lakes that had tournaments, it was never a matter of if, just a matter of how many dead bass I'd see at the ramp. Guys think because they "swim off strong", they're guaranteed to survive, but it's not the case at all. It's why I can't stand it when guys box fish just to take a picture at the end of the day. The same guys would probably lose it over someone eating a 5 pounder, but they'll stress one out in the livewell all day just for a picture (which would be a picture of the same fish if they took it immediately upon catching it and released it), and potentially have it die a day or two later and feed the raccoons. It's a big issue here in the summer time when our water temps often reach the mid to upper 80s. I'd like to see all tournaments go to catch, weigh/measure, photo, release but I don't see it happening anytime soon. My issues with it are a big reason why I rarely fish boat tournaments.

Unhooking a freaked out cat is really hard too, so I've heard.

Ever seen that? It's pretty amazing to watch.

I've found a couple Megabass jerkbaits, several lucky craft baits, probably 2 dozen whopper ploppers, who knows how many cheaper baits, a couple rods and reels, bowfishing arrows, marsh seats, tons of stuff.