Bluebasser86

Closing the bail manually is the correct way to do it. Closing it turning the reel handle will cause reel and line issues eventually.

2.8" Keitech Fats have been hot here right now with all the baby shad in the lakes. Put it on a 1/8oz bullet head and use it on a straight retrieve.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

My wife and I have the agreement that we can each buy whatever we want, as long as it's within reason and we make sure it isn't going to cause any financial strain. @MassBassin508 I do most of the cleaning and all the cooking in our house too. Not that my wife won't, I just hate the house being messy, and I enjoy cooking. I can't relax if the house is a wreck, which is unfortunate with a 3 year old tearing around the house like a Tasmanian Devil.

Ned rigged a juvenile flathead. It was a welcomed change of pace from the drum I was hammering on.

I'm not sure if they're late spawners or fish that have spawned multiple times. I know in some of the bodies of water I fish, there's areas they spawn every year that, once there's fish on beds in the area, there will be fish bedding in that area throughout the summer. I assume they must be spawning more than once, but maybe there's just that many big bluegills in those bodies of water.

That's the part that a lot of guys get hung up on, feeling the bait. It's a no feel presentation, so heavy winds aren't an issue because I rarely feel my bait anyways. It takes time and concentration to detect a bite in those conditions, especially when the trolling motor is popping out of the water and the boat is bucking like it was. The fish I was catching, I was fishing the standard 10lb braid (bright pink KastKing for visibility), to an 8lb Seaguar leader. The deep water bites were all detected when my line stopped sinking well before it should have. Shallow bites I often detect when the bow in the line begins to tighten. It's a regional skill set, not really a matter of being better than another angler. I'm terrible at drop-shotting, and deep cranking, because I don't do it often enough to polish those skills. I have no doubt that if someone went with me enough times, they'd soon be able to detect those no feel bites with a tiny bait in heavy winds.

I prefer the bladed jig over the spinnerbait most anytime when either could be used. They seem to produce the bigger bite for me. Most of my spinnerbait fishing is reserved to clear water, or snaggy areas. Bladed jigs have basically replaced squarebills for me. I have seen times when one will outshine the other by a wide margin for reasons only the fish know.

I caught one that was 4 1/4 like that one time. I cast my buzzbait behind a dock and snagged on the dock, ran the boat into the dock pretty hard, then noticed her sitting with her nose to the bank. None of the commotion even phased her, ate my Senko as soon as it landed in front of her.

Not as lucky as my wife

Get a smaller baitfeeder so you can set it so a fish can run with the bait when it takes. You can get one for a pretty reasonable price.

They might have backed off to deeper water, or they moved to an area to spawn. Lots of them spawning for probably the second time this year in my area. If you're not around the spawning beds, you're not catching bluegill right now.

Even for smaller channel cats, I prefer to use baitfeeder spinning reels. I have several Okuma Avenger baitfeeders and they've served me well and are available in sizes from ones similar to the Stradic you have, up to monster reels that hold tons of line for big blues and flatheads. You can get a good catfish setup for relatively cheap compared to bass gear. I'd suggest getting a different setup for them, especially if you're targeting large ones or in current.

Looks more like a channel cat than a bullhead in that picture. A sure way to tell would be if the tail was forked or not. A forked tail would be a channel, straight tail is a bullhead. They sure can smash a topwater though. Took my oldest boy exploring in a creek for the first time. Caught a variety of fish, but the spawning longears are awesome looking fish.

I've fished Critzer several times and never been impressed or had impressive results. I've heard of big fish, but never seen any pictures and the reports haven't been from the most credible people.

All my fish on the 130 have been during a slow, steady retrieve. I think a lot of people fish them too fast. I always have to tell guys on guide trips to slow them down, always seems to get immediate results when they do. I reel them just fast enough to get them plopping.

I see it very often, especially if prey items are holding right on the shoreline. Shad spawning will almost always cause fish to be nose to the bank. When I see them like that, they're very catchable fish that strike at almost anything so long as it isn't dropped directly on them, and even then they'll often spin around and attack anyways.

I had one do the same with a 7" line thru that I pour. I watched it come up and completely engulf my bait. Waited for her to turn and hammered the hook into, nothing, didn't even start to catch it didn't feel like. Kind of like when one slams a crank or jerkbait and manages to not get touched by the hooks, always just makes me shake my head.

I've lost a few rods overboard, but never on a hookset.

Not a chance I could get a smallmouth to sit still long enough to take a picture. Of course, it's been almost 100 degrees every day for the last month so laying them on my measuring board would probably brand them.

Welcome from just across the state line!

Welcome!