CoBass

Both fish would beat our current state records by less than a pound. I know which lake I need to fish to find the 7lb smallie, but a 12lb largemouth would be much harder to find so, I'd have to go with the LMB.

Nice peacock, congrats. I took a trip to south Fla a couple of years ago specifically to get some of those beauties. I wasn't disappointed.

I wish I had a stream near me that didn't have trout in it lol. The only waters in my neck of the woods that don't have trout in them are small ponds. Off the top of my head I can think of at least 10 different species of trout that can be caught in my state.

That's a juvenile rainbow. Those bars (parr marks) on the sides will fade as the fish grows. Nice fish, congrats.

Around here we call those wipers (hybrid striped/white bass). My understanding is that if they use the striped bass egg and the white bass sperm they are classified as palmettos, and if they use the white bass egg and the striped bass sperm they are classified as sunshine bass. They are great fighters and tend to be a schooling fish so if you catch one there's usually more in the area. They also grow really fast and can get pretty big. The broken horizontal line is the easiest way to identify them. Funny story about those. A couple of years ago a guy on our local fishing forum posted a picture of one on a scale that went close to 29 lbs. That was big enough to beat the state record by almost 2 lbs and the world record by more than a pound. He didn't realize it and ate the fish.

This is definitely worth a try. A buddy of mine has access to a private pond that gets very little pressure. Every time we've gone out there we were able to have 30-40 fish days throwing bigger baits. Last time out we couldn't hardly buy a bite on the same baits that had been so productive for us on previous trips. Just for kicks I started throwing a three inch curly tailed grub on a 1/8 oz jig head on lighter spinning gear and immediately started catching fish in the 3-4 lb range. We had six people on three boats out there and after I boated my fifth fish in about twenty minutes everybody was tying on three inch grubs and catching fish. Sometimes those tiny little easy to catch meals that require very little effort on their part are exactly what bass are looking for.

What he said. Also, just because you don't currently know how to use a fly rod doesn't mean you can't use flies. A fly and bubble on spinning gear is a great way to catch trout. Find out which flies the locals are having success with and tie one on behind a casting bubble. This time of year when the water is getting colder, nymph patterns are very productive around here and they are very easy to use under a casting bubble.

Yes and no to them saving us money. Most of those people don't just drop dead one day out of the blue. A forty year old who winds up on disability because they are obese and had a stroke or abused their bodies to the point they are unable to work wind up costing a lot more than someone like you who worked and paid taxes their whole lives before they started reclaiming their contributions. Working in healthcare, I've seen the uninsured people in their twenties who show up at the ER on a regular basis because of alcohol and drug abuse. It's a revolving door for them. Substance abuse until they are at deaths door, then come to the hospital and stay until they are healthy enough to go home and do it all over again. Yes, they typically die younger than most but they can run up a heck of a tab in the mean time.

I'll fish through a lot of different weather conditions but lightning isn't one of them. About ten years ago I was shore fishing a local pond. I was having a pretty good day and after a couple of hrs I could see some clouds building on the mountains. No big deal, typical Colorado Summer weather. I saw a little bit of lightning off to the north but there was only a few clouds where I was. A few minutes later, the hair on my arms started standing up and when I went to open my bail for my next cast little blue sparks started arcing between the metal hook holder on my rod and my finger. I dropped the rod right where I was standing and took cover under a wooden dock that was close by. Within five minutes marble sized hale was pounding the area with lots of lightning to go along with it. I don't know whether it was all of the static electricity in the air or if I was about to get struck by lightning that caused my rod to spark like that, but ever since that day I don't mess around when it comes to lightning.

Small baits don't necessarily mean small fish. I have a fishing buddy who only fishes ultralight with tiny little baits. Dude catches a lot of big fish. Just last year he caught the state record smallie on a little 2 inch jerkbait that he orders from Japan. The really amazing thing about it is he catches almost all of his big fish from shore, including the record smallie.

I have no idea what the first bait I ever bought was but chances are it was some kind of inline spinner because I was into trout fishing way back then. I do remember the first bait I used when I decided I wanted to target bass. 1/4 oz rattletrap, chrome with a black back. Caught a couple of 2 pounders that day and I've been chasing those silly green fish ever since.

Whatever brand you decide on, just remember ultralight doesn't have to mean ultrashort. My ultralight is 6'6" and the extra rod length gets me a lot of extra casting distance with lures as light as 1/16 oz. It also gives me more control when I hook into a larger fish.

Well said, that's been my experience too. Smaller fish attacking the crawler and tearing it to pieces before a decent bass had a chance at it. It did work well for me once when I was shore fishing and was able to sight fish larger bass in the shallows. I was able to cast it past them then swim the crawler close to them and pretty much drop it within a few feet of their nose.

I like throwing suspending jerkbaits when the water gets below fifty degrees. X-raps and husky jerks in perch colors are my favorites. I've found that long pauses letting them just hang there in the water column with a few short twitches in between gets me the most bites. I also like to throw small jigs like bitsy bugs worked slowly and Carolina rigged plastics. I'm on the other side of the mountains from you but the same presentations should work in your neck of the woods.

Good for you, I need to do the same. Deciding you want to quit is the best first step. Too many people quit to please others in their lives, not because they made the decision to quit for themselves. On top of all of the things you listed, smoking also restricts blood flow which is another inhibitor of muscle growth. Good luck, it sound like you have the right attitude towards quitting.

If they're feeding on shad, try something more shad like. I would try a lipless crank like a red eye shad and if they weren't willing to chase that, I'd switch to a suspending jerk bait that could be worked slower.

There is a tree in a local reservoir I fish that is 30-50 feet from shore depending on water levels. Sometimes that thing looks like a Christmas tree with all of the tackle hanging from it. Me and a buddy make it a point to take the boat over there several times per year to collect all of the free stuff hanging from it. Mostly it's a lot of bobbers and hooks but there's usually a few decent lures to be had as well.

Retiredbosn's post reminded me of another genius idea from my youth. When I was fifteen, me and a couple of buddies used to sneak out in the middle of the night and "borrow" one of our parents cars. Three fifteen year old unlicensed drivers joyriding around in the middle of the night. What could go wrong? One night we borrowed my friends dads brand new bronco. I was driving and when I pulled up to a red light a cop rolled up right next to us. We were all doing our best ignore the cop next to us acting job when he put his car in reverse, backs up and shines his spotlight on the license plate. We all thought we were done for. Light turns green and he speeds off. Giant sighs of relief all around. Turns out the temporary tag on his dad's new bronco was one day from expiring. If we had "borrowed" that car one day later we would have been busted for sure. We did get caught by our parents a few months later but at least they didn't get the come down to the police station and pick up your kid and you car call.

I'm not a doctor or neurosurgeon, but being an x-ray tech I have been in the operating room for many spinal surgeries. When a discectomy is done, the entire disc is not removed, just the herniated portion which is typically very small. Chances are very slim that the Radiologist miscounted, especially since you already have hardware at that location. You more than likely have a herniation of the same disc on a different section of the disc. If you have concerns, you should seek a second opinion from a different neuro and see what they have to say about it. Having a relapse is annoying to say the least, but it doesn't necessarily mean your original surgery wasn't done correctly.

At least you only have the wind to contend with. The next two days here are supposed to be mid 30's for a high, snow, and windy. Good luck beating the banks, you might do better than you think.

Maybe it was the same three people who unfriended me. My feelings were really hurt. This weeks banner ad is for download manager software. They want me to click their ad to take me to their "webdite". Companies that can't even proof read their own ads don't inspire a lot of confidence in me.

My understanding has always been that the lighter colored fish have been spending most of their time deeper or in lower light conditions while darker colored fish are the result of spending most of their time shallower or in higher light conditions. One of the lakes I fish has very stained water pretty much year round. Most of the bass caught there have that washed out winter look to them even in the middle of the summer.

At least the lizard got a good laugh at your expense. We used to shoot firecrackers at each other with our slingshots. You had to be pretty quick to get it lit, draw back, aim and fire before the firecracker went off in your hand. Needless to say, it only took being too slow once before the game lost its appeal and we moved onto the next stupid idea.

I've landed a couple of Canadian geese that swam through my line but never had one take off on me. I can tell you that trying to untangle a ticked off goose isn't easy or fun.

Nice job getting the kids on some fish. Those Disney rods always seem to have the magic touch, I'm thinking about getting one myself lol.