Bluebasser86

Savage Gear has had their Smash Tail out for a little while now as well. I like the 100 size, it's been a good all around sized bait for me. They're a little thinner side to side but taller top to bottom than a plopper. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-SVGBTS.html?from=basres

Welcome!

It's going to depend a lot on the type of water you're throwing on. If you have slower moving water and smaller pools you can get away with a small net without too much weight. If you have more current, bigger/deeper pools you'll probably need something wider and heavier. I've always found a 5-6 foot net to be a good combo of being easy to throw while being large enough to be productive as long as you're not in deep water. Unfortunately I'm usually throwing for large shad in deeper water during the winter that require something more in the 10' range that weighs a ton and is extremely tiring to throw.

I've caught fish here in Kansas on 8" Hudds and 9" Slammers. Not exactly the big bass Mecca here either. The only thing limiting how big of a swimbait a bass will try to eat is how big of a bait you're willing to try to throw. A Savage Gear Slide Swimmer 185 is good sized bait to catch all sizes of fish and they're really affordable when it comes to swimbaits. I've caught hundreds of fish on them from 12" to just shy of 6 pounds, smallmouth and largemouth, plus lots of white bass and wipers.

My wife loves cows and this little mini highland loved being petted. I didn't know if we'd ever pry the two away from each other so the kids could see more of the animals.

Caught me a little chocolate dipped smallie Friday.

I've been using it on a spinning reel for a few weeks now. Even in a heavy cross wind with a light T-rig I haven't had any wind knots. I wouldn't go heavier than 10lb on standard bass spinning gear though. It's pretty thick and wiry like standard Fireline, especially at first before it breaks in, makes handling much easier.

You have to replace it. It's an easy fix though, even I can do it. There's no putting an insert back in after it falls out.

I prefer a 1/0 hook for a 4" grub unless it has a huge body, which the Kalin's don't. A 2/0 would work fine I'm sure. I fish mine a lot on Table Rock around the cedars and hardwoods so a big hook isn't anything but a limb finder.

I doinked my custom painted phoney off a dock corner this summer. I was afraid I'd see something like this when I reeled it in.

I have a few different types of heads I use, but I pour all my own so I can be picky if I want. Mostly I use just keep a football head for open water/rocky banks and a flipping jig for brush and docks. Also use a ball head for the thinner hook and to do a finesse cut skirt, and some really small snootie jigs for a finesse jig small enough to fish on a spinning rod with the smaller size, then the larger size is a lot like a Bitsy flipping jig.

They're the very best way to fish thin finesse worms T-rigged or any other small plastic that is too little/thin for a shakyhead. They're part of my secret baits for big fish at a heavily pressured local lake.

Had some good weather this last Thursday for our weeknight tournament, it was on a lake that usually produces quite a few fish, and I needed a partner, so I decided to take Lake with me so he could fish in his first tournament. He was so excited when I told him that I wasn't sure I could get him to take a nap before we left, thankfully he did because I'd been at work the night before and needed to sleep too. He did pretty good casting and retrieving his baits, had a couple good blowups on a plopper but I think they scared him because he'd stop reeling each time it happened and they'd let go before he'd start reeling again. I lost him once the snacks came out, he got up and made a few more cast each time I'd catch a fish, but he was pretty busy snacking and talking to any other boat or kayaker that came close enough to talk to. We got to talk and just enjoy a nice night on the water. He loved the clip on hat light when it got dark, not so much when the bugs started coming to it. I don't remember a time recently when I missed or lost so many fish in such a short period of time, but I'm positive I lost way more fish than I caught, and I caught quite a few. Some of the fish that I missed or came off felt really nice, which really stinks on a lake known for small fish. I found one school of fish blasting bluegill on a shoreline between two brushpiles that were all way bigger than average but I couldn't get any of them to bite even when there were bluegills getting knocked in the air everywhere. I was pretty happy with just getting to share the experience with him, I was pretty shocked to find out that nobody else had done any good and our little bag of fish was enough for the win!

Been on Melvern a few times the last few weeks, guide trips and for fun with dad last week. Been nice to see that lake actually producing a little again.

This is exactly the thing. Don't drink the water, don't play in the water or let your dog swim in it, and don't eat the fish you catch from it and you'll be good. The pond I fish usually has pretty clear water and tons of fish and vegetation, I'm sure partly due to all the extra nutrients in the water.

Got the best screen grab I could of the Youtube video from my bigger of the 2 flatheads. You can see the jig skirt coming out the bottom of her gills right at the base of the pectoral fin. It's a miracle her teeth didn't rub through my line.

They ain't got nothing on Mr. Yamamoto.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Buzzbait for largemouth, plopped for smallmouth.

Never with a bass but 2 days in a row I caught a flathead that inhaled my bait so hard that it went in their mouth, came out their gills, and hooked them in the base of the pectoral fin.

Be careful running around out there if you don't know it, there's lots of big logs floating at or just below the surface that are hard to see that will steal your lower unit. Mainly north of the main boat ramp.

Stained to dirty, not really much brush other than fallen trees. Rocks are all pretty obvious.

They break down eventually, but it takes quite a while. Sometimes a fish can pass them, other times not. Some fish are able to survive just fine with a bait in their stomach, others can't.

I fish a pond with really good fishing that is reclaimed water.