Bluebasser86

Been so busy that I haven't fished many of the Thursday night tournaments this year. This last week was the 3rd one I've fished this year and first one I've won, also got big bass. Could have done much better if I didn't miss some chances at bigger fish. Really hurts to miss good bites when the fishing is as tough as it was. Friday was weird. Started good, 2 keepers over 18" in about 10 minutes on top, then it just died and a big storm moved in. Once the storm passed they were acting really strange and no fish of any size would cooperate. I did catch 7 channel cats on bladed jigs once the storm moved through, which was kind of fun.

It was 10lbs 2ozs and, believe it or not, extremely skinny. My guide said it would have been a 13 or 14 pound fish it hadn't been so thin.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome and thank you for your service! Fishing helps me deal with emotions and all that comes with my job and kept me on the right path when I was a teen that my friends failed to follow and suffered the consequences. It's kind of like my brain is a chalkboard, and my job is unattended child drawing all over it, but fishing is the eraser there to clear away all the clutter and mess. Enjoy the journey back and relearning everything there is to know and helping yourself along the well.

That's some rough going right there! At least we've been flooded for a majority of the year so far so you haven't missed a bunch of good fishing weather. Hope you get a chance to get back out there soon!

It could survive, my BIL caught a muskie several years ago with it's gills having been ripped out and were hanging completely outside it's gillplate but it still viciously attacked his buzzbait at boatside and swam off strong after the pictures. They're hated by crappie fishermen at this lake and it was likely an attempt at the fish's life after an accidental catch. Muskie are, IMO, much more fragile than bass as well.

Got a good idea where it's at? The old chain stringer with all the hooks open drug along the bottom is a good rod retriever. Big issue might be how long the fish remained wrapped up and potentially drug the rod from where you last saw it.

3 of the 5 ww caught were on topwater, a bone popper. All our fish were in less than 5' of water. Couldn't get bit in deeper water. I know what you're talking about now. That's usually a good bank but we got nothing off of it. Didn't catch a single drum either, but I don't catch them out there that often.

Not sure what part you're talking about the tubes? We left and went further south to a different lake and caught several bass and bass and 1 crappie. We started great, 2 keepers on topwater in 5 minutes, then 3 more shorts in about 3 hours before the storm rolled in on 3 different baits. Pretty much the whole west side of the lake looks like that.

The big open part is where most of the floaters are at. Basically from the marina south you're good if you stay to the middle. The marina north you're running the risk if you don't know the lake. I almost hit one last Wednesday that I'd never seen before not far from the marina.

The Slider head does excellent in the rocks, but like OE stated, the retrieve isn't exactly what most are looking for in a shakyhead type presentation. In really snaggy rocks, it may be one of the only presentations that works effectively though.

They sink extremely slowly and with very little action in my experience. They're a good one to use with a weighted T rig but not one of my first choices if I want a weightless rigged bait.

The 10.5" Ole Monster is a staple for me and has caught many big fish and tournament kickers. 1/4oz weight with a 5/0 EWG. A lot of the bait is tail though, so it's not difficult for a small fish to eat. The Netbait C mac is a good one too.

I actually heard a rumor that BPS wasn't going to carry Gamakatsu anymore. I was in the one in Olathe last week and checked with the intention of buying another pack of drop shot hooks but there was almost no Gamakatsu hooks stocked, just empty pegs, so maybe there's some truth to it.

My PB largemouth was in Mexico. I was fishing an 8" Zoom lizard on a deep drop. I'd given up on a cast and was reeling it in quickly when I saw the huge shadow right behind it when it got close to the boat. Out of desperation, I released the spool and started pulling off line. No depthfinder, but I knew we were in at least 20' of water. My bait and the shadow disappeared out of sight, my line sank for a couple feet and then just stopped, no jump or thump, just quit sinking. I knew there was only 1 real reason that could have happened, so I hammered back on the rod and she was almost instantly on the surface. My guide had seen the whole thing and was right there with the net and she tailwalked in, the whole fight lasted 5-10 seconds. My PB smallmouth was just a little over a month ago.

My son came out of his room tonight with a bent up pipe cleaner and told me it was a surprise for me. Obviously had no idea what it was, he told me "Remember that creek you took me to a long time ago? (2 yeas which is a long time ago for a 5 year old)". I told him I did and he said that the pipe cleaner was the creek and he wanted to go back there sometime and that he had a lot of fun catching crawdads. It may have just been a bent up pipe cleaner, but knowing that trip meant that much to him really made me feel good. Now that all the flood waters are gone from the smaller creeks, I'm going to have to get him back out again to enjoy what I spent so much time doing when I was his age.

I've got some of the 13" Uptons and I like to use them either weightless or with a light T rig. Haven't caught any big ones with them yet but plenty of dinks.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Pretty sure it's preloaded on my Garmins but I don't know of many other available maps for the lake. Lots of floaters and stumps, some even new for me, keep your eyes open or you'll lose your lower unit.

Tatsu has been excellent. It's very pricey, but I just use a 50 yard top shot so I can spool 4 times off each spool so it's about $10 per fill up and it doesn't hurt so bad.

A lighter football shakyhead has been the best way to avoid snags for me. I rarely go heavier than 1/8oz.

Idk about 30 frogs, but frogs are for sure one of those baits that really does require a pretty specific setup to be effective with them. Congrats on your first frog bass!