Bluebasser86

Zoom Mag II and Ol' Monster Netbait C-Mac YUM ribbontail

I'm still having no issues finding what I need online. Even new baits that people are having a hard time finding are riding around in my boat after a little online searching.

I throw one with a toad pretty often. It's considerably heavier and makes casting in the wind or into tight spots easier. The one I use is one of the Hack Attack buzzbaits from Academy.

Walking back to the truck with my youngest last week when momma and baby popped out of the trees and walked by, less than 10 yards away at one point.

Little bruise on my hand, but all my fingers are there and no holes anywhere so I'll survive.

BPS made almost an exact KO of a Huddleston 6" swimbait. It was available for maybe a month before the lawsuit and got pulled.

It's not how I was taught, but once it was explained to me by the Shimano rep when I worked at Cabela's how it reduces line twist and makes reels last longer, I started doing it manually.

I walk them as fast as I can for smallmouth. Largemouth usually like a slower retrieve. WTD baits are a must have bait without a doubt. They tend to catch bigger than average sized fish for me.

Wire keeper on a head that I pour will get me a half dozen fish if they don't bite the tails off, sometimes 10 or 15 fish if I'm lucky.

Excited to try them. Should be the perfect size. Always felt like the baby was a tad too small and the regular was just a touch too big. Got some of the BBB BFE on the way to the house too, should be here early next week.

Okuma Cerros 7.3:1, Ethos Micro 7' MH/F, 20lb Kastking Super Power braid, no leader. Swap the stock trebles for short shank EWG #6 Gamakatsu to help it ride higher. I fish the 90 way more than any other size.

That one was in <5' of water.

It's not the heat, it's the humidity that gets you. The humidity, combined with 90 degree temps we've been having makes it pretty rough some days.

Tried to blow my hand up with a roman candle, other than that it was good. I guess when they say not to hold them in your hand it's in case they malfunction and explode like that one did ?

Watermelons are starting to grow. This is a Sugar Baby so likely the only fruit this vine will produce, I will guard it with my life if necessary.

It's not a longear. I catch tons of them here and that looks very little like one. That would be a massive longear sunfish also, most are less than 6". This is my oldest with an adult Longear in his 5 year old hands. Did a lot of creek fishing with the boys this weekend to avoid the crowds. Took Finn by himself Wednesday so we could have some 1 on 1 time. Had a blast catching all kinds of fish including his first ever flathead catfish! Friday I took both of them with the intention of taking the johnboat out to a creek that has a little ramp but the gate was locked for some reason. We circled back and bank fished another spot for 1.5 hours before it good real hot and again caught several species and Lake finally got his gar. The boy has wanted to catch one for well over a year now and we finally made it happen with a little Mepps spinner.

Had a serious case of indecision Thursday on where to go. Torn between 3 lakes I decided to make the long drive to a lake I hadn't been to this year and I was afraid would be full of holiday goers. Should have listened to myself. First fireworks were popping at 8am and the first wake boats, skiers, and jetskis were on the water shortly after. The lake is about 180 acres and I was in my johnboat, so that was fun. There was also "zombie drum" everywhere. Never seen it before but they were hanging just below the surface in schools of dozens of fish of all sizes and they wouldn't move even if my bait ran into them. I could almost run the trolling motor into them before they'd kind of dart and spiral away, really looked like a mass fish die off about to happen but it was 100% drum. I saw some healthy looking ones cruising too, but these ones didn't look good at all. The bass were tough to come by also. I think I caught 3 bass over 2 pounds all day. One was nearly 4 pounds on a homemade kudzu/orange jig, and another was 4.5 on the same jig. Also had a heartbreaker 10lb channel cat that ate my jig as it was falling off the front of a deep dock just like the bass were doing.

Cheapest I could find it. https://www.fishermanswarehouse.com/product/daiwa-rod-aird-x/120457

X2. Nearly unbreakable and the reels are pretty solid too. I bought the spinning one for my oldest when he was 2 for $10. He caught a bunch of fish on it but I burned the reel up playing with the dogs during the winter. Found a couple zebco goldcast 11 triggerspins on clearance at Academy for $2 each and hung one of those on it. Now my 3 year old wings a broken crankbait all over the place with that setup.

I'm always amazed how many baits I find that are so easily recovered. I've even had Lucky Craft baits that reached up and plucked from trees like picking an apple. Maybe they were in the back seat and their boater didn't want to go back? Maybe they were having a bad day and just broke it off out of frustration? Not sure but I appreciate the ones that are easy recoveries.

Berkley jointed surge shad has been good for me. Liking the Strike King 2.5 wake too. It stays on the surface easily and has a nice knock to it.

Black Market Balsa and Black Canoe Lure Company.

Ebay man, have not had any problems getting supplies during the lockdown from online stores on the Bay.

Yes, warmer water will increase fish mortality. That's why some states don't allow summer time tournaments and some tournament circuits reduce limits during summer months to help with fish mortality. Don't fight them to exhaustion, don't handle them too long or keep them out of the water a long time, don't haul them around in the livewell, and release them as quickly as possible to give them the best chance. You may still lose one occasionally, but that's going to happen regardless of what you do.