Bluebasser86

Wore these little dudes out. Fished for 1.5 hours and barely moved. Stopped at a nice even 50 so I could get some sleep today. Only took 1 rod with 1 65 pointer and that was all I needed. A bunch of cold water dinks in February, I'm not complaining.

And that's why if I don't have a scale, I don't even bother posting an estimated weight. I prefer fish be held to the camera. I want to show people the fish, not my ugly mug. There's a big difference to me between presenting the fish like the OP is doing, and really long-arming them to make them look bigger. Mainly though, is it really that big of a deal? I see the OP's picture, I see a great looking fish, one that I'd love to catch myself. Maybe it's an 8, maybe it's a 5, I don't really care, it's a great fish. At least there's a picture instead of the story about the 6, 8, or 10 pound bass (because that's the only increments they come in for those stories for some reason), he caught but didn't have a camera to take a picture.

Welcome!

Happy Valentine's Day! Might be fun if everyone post fishing pictures of their Valentine. I'll start it with mine with her PB smallmouth.

Alberto or uni to uni

I have one and it's one of the best all around spinning rods I've owned. I fish braid to a leader on mine and there's no issues with the knot going through the guides.

7' MH/F (fishes more like a MH/MF) Ethos, KastKing Assassin 6.3, Berkley Big Game 15lb. You're probably going to be fishing around grass though, which I'm not. You might want to be tossing them on braid to help rip out of the weeds and to help cut through grass while you're fighting fish.

I know everyone is tired of seeing it, but my gently used tungsten 2 tap is currently my favorite. I'm also a big fan of the Xcaliber (now Booyah), lipless baits. I'd probably be looking for some gold ones if I was headed to Florida.

The reel I use for punching is listed as having 11lb max drag. I lock it down and never had any issues.

I used to fish all Shimano spinning reels, but I've gone away from them in favor of Pfluegar and Okuma. For under $100, I'd go with a President, a used Supreme XT, or an Okuma RTX. The RTX is an awesome reel that just doesn't get any love for some reason. Don't pay full price on the Okuma, very easy to find them for about 25% off full price like I did.

What pound test are you planning on using? I use 8lb on one of my spinning rods for small cranks and jerks and most any mono is pretty manageable in anything under 10lb. I've been using Seaguar Senshi and like it really well.

Zoom Ol' Monsters in black grape and watermelon red candy, or a Netbait C Mac in black grape, redbug, or Okeechobee craw. I mainly fish them when the water gets hot in the summer. I'll also fish little 4" ring worms when I need finesse presentation.

No idea what percentage of each I am, but according to my grandparents I'm Irish, German, and Swedish, which means I have blonde hair, blue eyes, and I get a sunburn if the moon is too bright.

Any publicity is good publicity.

That's awesome! Bass don't have mirrors to know how big they actually are. They don't have hands to grab something to inspect it to decide if they can or can't eat it either. Only way for them to find out, is to try to eat it.

Don't worry about the "hatch". I've never seen a chartreuse spinnerbait in the wild, but bass eat them anyways. Finding the bait is often important, but matching them isn't something I'm concerned with.

MLF, Zona's Awesome Fishing Show, Hunt for Big Fish, Facts of Fishing, Ultimate Match Fishing, and Lunkerville. I watch several others, but those are the ones I DVR.

Welcome!

Welcome! Lots of guys on here close to you, including myself.

Welcome!

Some good stuff on sale at Cabela's right now.

Mark Zona was talking about it on one of their shows together on Zona's Awesome Fishing Show. Sounded like he was smelling a little funky the day they were fishing together. Maybe it helps attract the fish

I've never caught one over 9 in KS. It's less than 3 pounds off our state record. For that matter, I've won several tournaments with 5 bass limits that didn't TOTAL 9 pounds

I found some with the nice painted heads for $3.99 as well, but shipping was $2.50 so it offsets the savings. I could see spending a little more on a swim jig, unless you're fishing around toothy fish. I fish all mine on braid and pretty high in the water, it would be pretty hard to lose one unless I do something stupid with them.

Twin tail grub or Rage Menace