Bluebasser86

It was a bladed jig for me. It was back when it was first really taking off. I'd bought some and fished them quite a bit and never had a bite. It looked good, but the fish plain ignored it. One day, I wasn't having much luck with anything so I tied a white one on, but decided to try something different and put a bright chartreuse trailer on the back. The contrast must have really done something for them because I wore them out on it the rest of the day. That combination worked for me everywhere I went and built my confidence in the bait, allowing me to learn it. Those early baits were also the reason I decided to build my own because the skirts constantly got pulled down, the hooks rusted and dulled quickly, the blades corroded, it was just overall a poor quality bait but the fish loved it.

Should have brought the old school spot lock with you. I always carried an anchor in my kayak before I got the motor and still do on occasion. One of my first wins in a kayak tournament the wind was blowing 25+ all day straight into the bank I wanted to fish and the ramp closest to where I wanted to fish was closed for repairs. So I had to pedal about 4 miles each way, into and across rolling white caps. I was soaked a good portion of the day. That was the day that I decided I wanted a foam vest instead of an inflatable. I figured I pedaled 10-11 miles that day fighting the wind a majority of it.

War Eagle, Booyah Covert, Nichols, and homemade.

My dad got me, twice. Once was in a 2 man with a T-rigged tube. Smacked me right in the cheekbone with a bullet weight but thankfully no hook. It still was an instant headache. Second time was in a 24' pontoon and we were the only 2 in it. No idea how he managed that one because I was running the trolling motor on the front of it, not moving around. He hit me with the deep diving crankbait he was throwing in the top of the head, 3 of the trebles dug into my scalp, and his cast ripped them about 8" across the top of my head before they tore free. It really was like getting a golf ball fired into my head and the burning from where the hooks ripped through was so intense. In the end though, I would have preferred them to rip through like that instead of burying and having to be pulled out.

This monthly challenge has been a slugfest. I was leading going into the weekend with 98.25" and then got knocked into second place when another angler caught a 20.75" fish to put him at 99". I needed to cull an 18.75" fish yesterday. A cold front blew threw on Saturday. It was windy and cold in the morning Sunday but supposed to warm up into the mid 70's, the wind was never going to let up though, howling 20-30 mph all day. I decided to try a small lake I hadn't fished in several years. Last I knew it had some big ones in it and rarely gets fished because it's so tiny and is down a dusty, dirt road and has a terrible ramp. It's surprisingly deep for it's tiny size, 15-20' just that far off the bank in many places, which I'm guessing is why the water was several degrees colder than I expected. I still caught several fish but they weren't what I was looking for, until right at the end. I was just thinking I should pack up and move to a different little lake down the road when my line jumped while I was pausing my jerkbait. I thought I'd hooked the fish in the side but saw when it got closer that it was actually a nice one. I thought I had the fish I needed, but it was just a super healthy 18.50. So I headed 10 minutes down the road to the other lake. They were biting immediately, but every one was 12-14 inches. The action was fast, but the size wasn't there. I was really second guessing my decision, why my bladed jig felt like it just bogged down on a branch. It even felt like a branch dragging for a minute until it darted out away from the banch and then hit the surface to headshake. I didn't know if it was going to do it, because it was such a thick fish, but it turned out to be a 20.25" fish that had tried to swallow my bladed jig. So now I wait to see if my 99.75" will be enough or if I'll get jumped again in the last 2 days of the month 😅 I don't know if I want to do any more of the monthly challenges, it's almost felt like work.

Unreal, catching 5 bass that most anglers will never catch in their life, in a single day. That big one beats the state record in a lot of states (mine included). Congrats, I'm sure you still feel like you're floating.

Mine is rated for 4 and that's 2 too many IMO. We do it fairly often when the whole family is in it, but it always feels like a hook in the back waiting to happen.

I post on a regional fishing forum and a catfishing forum occasionally. Other than that, it's just my social media pages.

I'm pretty fond of the idea of living in South Carolina, somewhere within a reasonable drive of the ocean. I'll always be a multispecies angler, so the allure of being able to fish the ocean where you can catch so many different species has always been attractive to me. The climate is much warmer, which I like, and there's still really good bass fishing as well as other freshwater species that I like to fish for.

Sounds good, but I'm a creature of habit. I'll stick to my beef jerky and Belveeta bars and water for the simplicity of it all.

It’s really cool, especially for bigger lakes where you can see water clarity, water inflow and outflow, patterns for different sections of the lake, and others.

Went out yesterday hoping for a 20+ inch fish for my monthly big bass challenge. I really wanted to go to the power plant lake but the wind forecast wasn’t favorable for fishing along the dam where I wanted to concentrate on. I checked the Deep Dive app and it confirmed my concerns. It couldn’t have been blowing from a worse direction for what I wanted to do. I checked it for a nearby small lake that would be more tolerable in a kayak. Most of what I wanted to fish here is along the east and north banks, making it a much better option. Checked my suggestions for baits for the day out of curiosity. Water temps were warmer than I like to fish a red crawfish crank in, so I went chartreuse/purple back instead. And just like that, biggest fish of the year hit the net on for the first fish of the day.

I like to be difficult I guess. It’s mainly because the baits last longer with the mono keepers than with the wire and it’s easier to rig a bait. With the cost of some of these minnows, I’d like them to last as long as possible.

Yeah, I’d be surprised if that fish was actually a spotted bass either but it’s the standing record for now. I caught one that was just shy of 4 years ago, but this one is probably my second largest from Kansas. Not an impressive fish in a lot of states for a spot, but it’s a great one here

Trout I suppose, stuff just taste awful. My likely one and done entry, 3.26/4.44x100=73.423 Spots don’t get very big in Kansas, so catching a 3lb spot is about the same as catching a 9lb largemouth or 5lb smallmouth here.

Took the day off from work to surprise my wife and we spent a very warm day on the boat. I caught one of the biggest spotted bass I’ve ever caught in Kansas, only a pound off the state record. I also caught keeper largemouth and smallmouth, these were the biggest of both. My wife took big fish honors for the day though with a super healthy 17.75” 3.53lb smallmouth.

Nothing is always on the deck for me, but a Ned rig is pretty close. If I'm after largemouth, a bladed jig and either a jig or T-rig has a really high potential of being out also. For smallmouth, there's either going to be a jerkbait if the water is colder, or some kind of walking topwater if the water is warmer. I'm going to almost for sure have a Ned rig laying out no matter which one I'm after though.

Seems like a version in betwen the two sizes might be useful. I could see it being nice for people not wanting to bring a fish into the boat or kayak. I'd personally rather not bring a drum or catfish into the kayak if I catch it while fishing for bass most of the time, but it's pretty impossible to lean over far enough in my kayak to reach them and unhook them. I'd think there'd be a good number of guys that felt the same way about pike and pickeral.

Hot glue is an idea I hadn’t considered, I wonder how that would hold? It might even make a good base and then epoxy over the top.

This is the exact ones I’m using that I’m wanting to do something similar to. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/VMC_Minnow_Shaker_Ball_Jig_Head/descpage-VMMS.html

It’s really not flexible. The ones I have the mono is so thick and short that it doesn’t really flex much at all but the little bit it doesn’t probably helps to flex with the bait and maybe prolong the life of the bait a little bit instead of just cutting and tearing like wire. I don’t lose many of them and I could pour my own. I’d rather put a few minutes work in on the bench tying up a few jigheads and not have to order them or go to BPS.

Is anyone making their own and tying a mono keeper on the hook shank somehow? I was thinking of trying it with some 50lb mono and epoxy the thread and see if it holds? The prices they charge for a plain jighead with a little mono keeper is just insane. I paid $8 for 4 unpainted 1/4oz jigheads a couple weeks ago, not even tungsten. Sure they work, but it seems like something pretty simple to replicate.

Same, I'll even cover your shipping cost. I've had several KK reels and rods. They're decent and get the job done, but I've never had one that blew me away and they always felt "loose" and geary. I think I still have a couple that I've tried to sell multiple times but never had any takers. FWIW, I've never fished one of their real, high end reels, a Speed Demon Elite I think was the highest end I tried, but it was underwhelming to say the least and no way I'd drop Tatula money to try their top of the line models.

Zoom Ol' Monster Big Bite Baits Kreit Tail Worm YUM Mighty Worm

I carry them with me but rarely throw them. I think of applications when it should work, and then forget to try it when I run into those situations. I need to try it in place of the minnow for Livescope fish to show them something different. It makes sense to me because it gets down quick, should have a good return, and resembles a baitfish the fish should be looking for.