Bluebasser86

We can find a man who doesn't want to be found, hiding underground under a rock, in the middle of desert, full of nothing but sand and rocks, but a giant animal/s that doesn't know it's being sought after, living who knows how close to humans for who knows how long, and there's never been any clear pictures? No bones? No positive proof? I guess some folks never stop believing in fairy tales.

You're going to have to go a little deeper here. What kind of business? You mean like per dozen or you're going just buy a dozen minnows and start a business with those dozen?

I'm really sure that's a monster pickerel. Where's @everythingthatswims? We have no pickerel here, but I've caught enough pike to know that's not a pike.

Any smallmouth? Hillsdale has been really good lately, numbers and size. We only had 4 boats Thursday night, but had 2 high 15lb bags caught in 2.5 hours with 4 legit keepers, 1 over 3, 1 over 4, and 2 over 5, and 2 more really close. I think maybe all the work that has been going into stocking the lake might bee showing some signs of paying off. The fish are in full spawn mode.

Looks like a twin tail grub with a couple little arms. Like the cousin of the Hula Grub.

It's probably your bait @Dirtyeggroll I like them too, but they don't come through cover very well at all compared to something like a 1.5. I think the narrow design tends to wedge in stuff. I don't know if changing hooks is going to help you any. You might try to make some plug knockers with some 1oz bell sinkers and cheap snaps. When you get snagged just get as straight above the bait as you can and slide the sinker down the line so it bangs into the bait. If the initial hit doesn't knock it loose then try to lift and drop, work around at different angles because the sinker will be flopping around down there above the bait and jerking it all different directions and will often work it loose eventually. Just another option if the lure retriever isn't getting able to get down to the bait for you. Works when it's getting stuck in small cracks in wood or rocks sometimes.

Beetle spin, super cheap, old school, still catches fish and will catch a little bit of everything. When the body gets worn out just put a curly tail grub on. You can also buy jig spinner arms and make your own if you like. Booyah Pond Magic would be a good option if you really want a skirted style spinnerbait. There's also a little Booyah Pond Magic buzzbait if you really want them to have a good time.

I use a more compact worm and a standup style football shakyhead to skip under overhanging trees. It's really easy to do with the setup I use.

Yep, one of the best fish getters at one of the lakes I fish often that gets pounded this time of year. I'm confident I can fish behind anyone and catch fish out there with a slider, it just works that well there right now. Don't shake it, don't hop it, just barely drag it. It's painfully slow fishing, but it works so good when they're on it and it catches surprisingly big fish.

I'm guessing the water is pretty clear? Just me personally, I've had zero luck with cranks in the types of lakes you're fishing. I'd try the spinnerbait if it were early/late or overcast though.

Hundreds and probably thousands of muskies are landed by bass anglers on bass gear, walleye guys on walleye gear, even crappie and bluegill fishermen, every year. Just don't boat flip them and you'll be fine.

They're a really nice bait. Wish I would have tried one a lot sooner.

Well it was a little "tippy" but I got Lake out in the boat for the first time and I think he liked it, although I couldn't get the livewell pump to pull water for some reason, which was a major disappointment for a 4 year old to not be able to put fish in the livewell.

Muskie fishing is a different animal from bass fishing though, unless you're pulling big safety pin spinners through timber covered in zebras. They cut 20-25 pound mono or fluorocarbon, braid, it doesn't matter. Heavier, abrasion resistant line helps, and you have to get the fish out of the stuff quick. I'm sure with your location you've fished wrecks before, it's like getting a fish out of a wreck, move them fast or it's game over, the shells are just too sharp for the line to withstand more than a few seconds of back and forth across them. It's like the trees are covered with muskie teeth. The best thing I've found if you have to fish in cover that has them is to use light weights that will allow your bait to sink slowly and maybe not be so far down when a fish grabs it so you don't have to pull them back as far, try not to cast over limbs or make long pitches/cast if possible, and just know you're going to lose baits and fish and there's nothing you can do about it.

Everyone's baits are on their way except for nighthawks, I didn't realize the label was ups, closest store is 45 minutes away unless I can get my wife to drop it off when she goes to work Monday, then I'll take it with me to work and drop it off when I go back on Wednesday. I ended up sending everyone's extras back to them. There was no good way to decide how to divide the extras and who should get what and who would like what. Hopefully that decision doesn't upset anyone but when there was 5 participants, and 3 extras from everyone, it was just impossible for my simple mind to come up with a good plan other than just sending them back.

Nice, try using a black sharpie and coloring the blade black next time

Welcome back

Had our Thursday night tournament at the dreaded mudhole this week (which I love). The lake that I caught a 5.74 pounder at on Tuesday. @gardnerjigman had to bail on me to be a good son-in-law in install a sump pump for the impending monsoons that never happened (thanks weatherman!). My boat is still in the shop (I pick it up Monday), so I was in the tin can, by myself, with no gas motor, on a 5k acre lake, in 20mph winds, odds were not in my favor. So 5 minutes into it, I stick a 3.64 on a spinnerbait, which is enough to win on this lake at times, so that's a good start. 10 minutes later I miss and then catch a 1.19 on my next flip. 15 minutes later I add a 1.59, then I have a fish hit my bait 3 flips in a row but keeps pecking at it but not committing. A bedding fish for sure I think. So next flip I'm prepared and the instant I feel the bite I swing and a poor spawning male crappie flies out of the water over the boat. Untangle the mess, release the surely shaken fish. Next flip was much different as my line jumps immediately as it lands next to a tiny clump of dead water willows, slam the rod back and a big fish is just as quickly airborne into a bush, tailwalks to the boats, wraps the line around the end of the end of the dead hedge tree the boat was next to and proceeds to try just as frantically to relieve itself of the hook as I am to get the live loose from the tree. Thankfully, I was able to free the line and lip the fish, finding the hook had all but worked itself loose. Fish was about 100 yards down the bank from the 5.74 on Tuesday, in the same cove, same side of the cove, and went 5.80. Me thinks it was the same fish. I caught 2 more in the back of the cove to finish out my limit, and it wasn't even 7 yet, we launched at 6. I was flipping a YUM Bad Momma so I picked up a 1/2oz jig to see if I could pick up a bigger bite on the same little bank I'd just fished. Pulled my jig over a limb and got whacked. Fished charged to the boat, never really got caught up to it and when I tried to flip it into the boat it just popped off. I'll make a confession, I was 100% certain I'd won already at this point and everything from this point on was just icing on the cake, so I was fishing relaxed and really only trying to break my personal record for my best Thursday night weight, which was just a tenth of an ounce shy of 15 pounds, and I was already over 14. I ended up culling 3 more times with very slight culls, but putting myself over 15 up to 15.69 when what turned out to be disaster struck, I dropped my scale in the water, making it so it wouldn't turn back on so I couldn't weigh the last few fish I caught, which at least 1 or 2 of them would have helped, but like I said, I was positive I didn't need them. Get back to weigh in, feeling great, first boat to check in has 15.72 pounds, .04 pounds more than I had, all I could do was laugh and shake my head. I had a great night, caught a bunch of fish, set 2 personal records and 2 club records, but fell just short of the win because my scale got wet. Wouldn't have taken much to get that tiny little bit I needed. First video was from Tuesday, when I prefished and had just shy of 14 pounds. Then the tournament, I should have included the part where I hook myself in the leg with a spinnerbait but left it out for anyone that's squimish. You can tell I thought I had it in the bag.

I usually look for stuff that is similar to what I'm used to fishing, that way I have confidence right from the start and I have an idea how to fish it.

My dog

I use to fish a pond just like this. Your problem is too many bass, not too many bluegill. The bluegill spawn, the bass eat almost all the fry but the few bluegills that get too big for the bass to eat get huge because once they get too big for the bass, nothing can eat them. There is no other food for the bass to eat, hence the skinny fish. You need to start keeping bass every trip. Depending on the size of the pond, you may need to remove dozens, to hundreds of fish to have the desired results.

Durability was always the issue I had with Oakley's. I've owned several pairs since I can get good deals on them because of my job. Never had a pair make it to it's second birthday. I'm not the easiest on them, but not throwing them around and stepping on them or anything either. I've had a lot of issues with finishes on the frames coming off too. Been a few years since I've tried a pair though, maybe they've worked those issues out.

Welcome and thank you for your service!

Welcome!

As in politics, it's quite likely that threads are often put to rest, or warnings given, at the request of fairly new members, and it just isn't noticed like it is when someone who is well known with perceived clout does it, (like a celeb giving their oh so valuable political opinion and news stations making a big deal about it like it actually means something). But that's enough of that, as just mentioning politics is more political than I like to get on here or in real life.