Bluebasser86

Next time, put 2/3 of one of those Senkos on the back of a jig. It works very well at times.

For me, it's not about the situation, but my equipment. Braid=straight shank Everything else=EWG I can not get a good hookup ratio with a straight shank with anything but braid for some reason.

Jitterbugs are a classic lure that still catches fish for sure.

30 yards was the distance I was qualifying from at the moment.

I really like mine. I made an errant flip last week and my line went over a dock cable. There was of course a fish on it immediately and I was able to tug-o-war it back and forth over the cable for several seconds before I was able to get to the fish and the line barely had and noticeable damage. It's been very manageable for a heavy fluoro too.

I think they look silly, but I wear one all the time. There's no way to get sunblock in very fold and crease of your ears, neck, face every time you go fishing. Plus if you have short or no hair like me, that scalp sunburn is a mother and putting sunblock in your hair just sucks. I go with the buff, sun gloves, sun shirt then sunblock my legs and feet. Also, with being a contact wearer, sunblock in my eyes equals blurry vision the rest of the day, no bueno.

Lucky Craft Slender Pointer 97MR, Super Spook JR, or a KVD 1.0.

Not at all.

Welcome!

Welcome!

I saw a fish following the fish I'd hooked so I dropped another bait next to the fish I had hooked and the follower was on it immediately.

They have bow fishing tournaments, but I'm referring to bass tournament guys that release dead at the ramp at the end of the night. It is a lot of fun and it's very challenging.

Most any Wednesday/Thursday/Friday right now. I fish solo a lot due to my schedule but the invitation is always open for someone to jump in with me.

I feel like I've had a long dry spell for big fish. Well I fixed that last Thursday, and could have been way better. Thursday I headed to Cedar Valley Reservoir, hoping to try to expand on what my buddy had shown me last week. I started with a buzzbait, and really wore them out with it. One of those rare CV days where I not only caught some good ones, but I caught a bunch of fish too. I also lost a 5-6 pound fish on a dock cable, another 5lb class fish to a poor net job, and a giant I'm not going to guesstimate but you can see the explosion in the video, and I got a good look at it, she was huge. Bad thing is, I lost a really heavy fish off the same stump last week with Chris. My biggest 5 went 20 pounds 5 ounces. Buzzbait, spinnerbait, homemade bladed jig, and beaver were all I needed.

Had a couple good days in a row this weekend finally. Wednesday was supposed to be a day spend chasing channel cats in the kayak at Pleasanton East. After spending over an hour trying to catch a single bluegill, I was about done with the place. I finally resorted to chasing grasshoppers around, catching bait to catch bait, and caught half a dozen palm sized bluegills in short order. Of course, after all that, I couldn't get the catfish to cooperate. I landed one very healthy 8-10 pound channel that was a lot of fun from the kayak as it drug me all over, but I was hoping for way more than that. Decided to try a place I haven't fished in a few years, Linn County strip pit. I was really disappointed to see trotlines and limblines strung everywhere. The quality bass that used to be prevalent there seemed to be nowhere to be found. I caught a few dinks, and one little channel cat that had somehow avoided the maze of setlines. I was paddling back, frustrated with the meat hunters when I decided to hit a little offshoot of the main pit. It never produces for me, but it's about impossible to get into from anything bigger than a kayak, so I thought I'd give it a quick look. Pitched a few laydowns with a jig before I dropped it in the middle of the nastiest looking one. Line jumped almost immediately and a 4.23 pound fish was in the yak. For some reason my remote and Virb weren't clicking with each other so I got nothing other than an arms length picture of the fish that make it look like a 2 pounder, so I left it out. Happy with that fish, I decided to jump back to Pleasanton West and see if anything was going on. Caught a fat 2.5 pounder right off the ramp, then I fished half the lake before I caught another fish. Of course it was a 3.36 pounder so it was alright. Caught a few and missed a few more before I headed home, satisfied to have at least caught a couple nice ones. Thursday I headed to Cedar Valley, hoping to try to expand on what Chris had shown me last week. I started with a buzzbait, and really wore them out with it. One of those rare CV days where I not only caught some good ones, but I caught a bunch of fish too. I also lost a 5-6 pound fish on a dock cable, another 5lb class fish to a poor net job, and a giant I'm not going to guesstimate but you can see the explosion in the video, and I got a good look at it, she was huge. Bad thing is, I lost a really heavy fish off the same stump last week with Chris. My biggest 5 went 20 pounds 5 ounces. Buzzbait, spinnerbait, wobbler, and beaver were all I needed.

I had a great day this spring on a day with low 40mph straight winds and gust over 50. I just stick to the smaller lakes in those conditions and try to pick one that sets up well for the wind direction.

Catfish aren't picky and there's certainly no magic bait. If you look through most examples of the really big catfish that are caught, a vast majority are caught on live or freshly cut natural baits. Prepared baits account for a lot of smaller fish, but rarely a big fish. I'd choose your bait according to which you're wanting to pursue.

I bowfish, and I understand the concern. I don't eat them, but I am usually able to find people who will and give them away. In the cases where I can't (usually when I have a bunch of silver or bighead carp), I'll find a remote shoreline to deposit them. Nature takes care of them, and people don't have to smell or see them. Dumping them next to a ramp or in a parking lot is akin to tournament guys "releasing", dead fish, it just looks bad. Most rough fish have few predators and very small numbers are removed by hook and line fishermen and can reproduce in large numbers. Bowfishermen help to curb the populations, but just like many examples in this thread about other anglers, some bad apples do the rest of us no good in the PR department.

Only time it's ever been out of the package.

Really like the colors on that fish. It's been too long since I've caught a muskie.

I like Pline Xtra strong or C21 depending on what I'm doing.

Most every pond in Kansas has channel cats and bass coexisting. They're eat each other, but most any fish will eat another fish if given the chance. Channel cats also do not reproduce well in most ponds, so they aren't going to overpopulate. Generally, they're beneficial because they'll eat smaller bass to help keep the bass from getting overpopulated.

In my kayak I try to choose baits that are versatile for a jig trailer. The Rage Craw, YUM Christie Craw, and YUM Woolly Bug are good jigs trailers and good stand alone baits. 2/3 of a 5" stick worm can also be good.

The Tungsten 2 Tap put in a lot of work for me this year.

We had another member do that last year I believe but I can't remember exactly who. I've had a bunch of doubles on treble hooked baits, but never on a single hook, that's crazy.