Bankbeater

No way it’s cheating. Fishing with live bait has its own ups and downs. The biggest drawback I can think of is trying to keep the bait alive. You don’t have to worry with artificial baits.

Wonderful news! Congratulations!

Fake. We've had the same tree for 25 years.

I've gotten to the point where I use mono for everything except punching. Usually, 15, 10, and 6 pound line will cover 95% of my fishing.

I don't use a trailer on a spinnerbait, and the only time I use a trailer hook is when I'm getting short strikes.

I spent a couple of seasons trying to find something I could carry in a boat, or while walking around the bank. I ended up with the Plano 1155 Satchel box for bank fishing and a BPS Extreme Qualifier 370 for fishing out of a boat.

I've used a wacky rigged plastic worm and senkos under a floater before. Light tackle worked best for me, but I couldn't seem to catch anything but dinks.

I know. I want a winter warm up over my Christmas vacation. A few days in the '50s or '60s would be just fine.

Welcome to the forums

Way to go! Congrats!

Dang!

Some more sassy shads, and a pack or two of round bend hooks are the only items I can think of right off the top of my head. Gift cards are always welcome.

Are you trying to suspend the bait over the top of the weeds that are 2-3 feet deep? Since you can see the weeds in the center of the pond I'm thinking that the pond isn't that deep. You might try a wacky rigged senko type bait under a bobber.

I use mono for almost everything now. Big Game on all my bc reels. I’m still trying out different types of mono for my spinning reels.

I’ve never seen that before. That’s wild.

My Dad ground it in my head to never trust the ice. When he was a kid he went through the ice in shallow water up to his knees. He said he never had such pain shoot his body.

For me it depends on the clarity of the water, and what type of cover it is. If I’m fishing timber in clear water I’ll be making long casts so I’m not seen by the fish. If I’m fishing coontail in murky water then I’ll get close and flip. With the murky water and coontail I’m not as worried about running the fish off.

Thoughts and prayers for Clayton and his family.

My Parents has one of those. The tree would change color depending on what color on the wheel is in front of the light.

I like a 1/8 ounce jig until I get the feel of the vegetation. If the hydrilla isn’t too thick an 1/8 ounce should pull through the surface pretty easy.

I had the same thing happen to me last weekend. This pond I like is usually hot in October and November, but when I got there the pond was iced over.

Nice cat! I bet landing that was a fight.

That's a great story with a wonderful ending.

Hog on ice. Super hog that is.

This year was screwy. Spring was great, but from mid-summer on was a struggle. Early fall looked like things were going to turn around, but nope. March and April: 3 of my top 5 bass for the year so far were caught. Lipless crankbaits, shallow running crankbaits, and jerkbaits caught most of my bass. May was things started getting weird: A 3", or 4" Stik-o on a split shot rig kept the skunk off me for most of my trips. The crankbait and lipless bite dried up, and the bass weren't going after jigs or plastic worms at all. The topwater bite started off very slow, but picked up as the month went on. June: Most of the bass I caught were on topwater, and jigs. I picked up one or two here and there on plastics, but for the most part I stuck to jigs and spooks. July and August: No clear winner in the bait department here. Almost all of the baits I used caught bass, but no size or numbers. September and October: With the exception of the bass hitting some crankbaits these months were just like June.