Zach Dunham

Welcome fellow Pennsylvanian!

I have not seen anything real to the idea that this was done maliciously. It was most likely a battery/electrical fire.

I throw my spinnerbaits on 25 lb test copolymer (unless I'm in really clear water) and it works just fine unless you go less than 3/8 oz.

I'd say that is closer to the higher end of your estimate, somewhere around 9 lbs. That is HUGE for the north!

Pretty sure that is a smallmouth. Congrats!

I use em all! Rarely less than 3/8 oz, though. Anytime I am in really shallow water or around weeds I throw the 3/8 oz. I throw 1/2 oz if I am really burning it or if I'm going a little deeper. I also throw 3/4 oz if I am slow rolling fairly deep. Night time smallmouth fishing I throw 1/2 oz to 3/4 oz slow rolling with a big black colorado blade spinnerbait and slam them!

Yup. Actually, just the other day at Promised Land Lower Lake, we saw a ranger going to put in buoys to block off an area where there is a bald eagle's nest, and he was using a gas motor on an electric only lake. Go figure.

Black for stained water. Green pumpkin for clear. Other colors obviously work as well but that covers a lot. As a side note, Master Bait'r has the greatest profile picture ever.

I don't want to ask this question to try to get you to reveal the location of your secret spot, but can I at least ask what area of the country you are in? Those are some serious beasts. If there was a place like that around where I live I would probably pay you to tell me where it is, lol.

Thanks!

This is the time of year for spinnerbaiting, my favorite! When the spinnerbait bite is on there is no better way to fish. You can cover a ton of water, fish them 50 different ways, and the strikes are always amazing.

Welcome! That's a nice beast you have there in your main picture!

I agree with having black and white laws. I just am an idealist and think that those black and white laws should be correct to a T. I also think wardens should and do have the power to give a little mercy when someone's intent was obviously not harmful (IE: the tournament fish millimeters from 12 inches from someone who is not known for doing that).

You distinguish it by making a legal difference between "keeping a fish/taking it home" and "livewelling/releasing it later". And also, the whole no culling law is just archaic and needs to change. Culling a livewelled fish has been proven fine over decades all across the country.

I just want to say also, by no means am I complaining about the penalty and whatnot. We deserved the penalty and we learned from it. My point was just that getting fined for such a thing when I thought it was actually 12 inches would have really set me off. I've seen people sitting on shore keeping every single fish they catch and I've called fish and game and they say they'll get there and they rarely ever do, yet they make it a point to be at a lot of bass tournament weigh ins. I just don't get it; the people keeping every fish they catch, well past any limit, are much more dangerous to the fisheries than bass anglers who are 99% catch and release, and yet that's what they focus on. Maybe it is just PA that is like that.

We got a new board after that incident, and also learned that we can get a courtesy check before the weigh in. A few of these lakes around my area are just full of 12-13 inch fish and not much bigger, so they are measuring fish all day at the weigh in.

Good start! Hopefully plenty more to come.

Even if the law is written totally black and white, its short or its not, it doesn't mean that wardens can't use judgment. Police and wardens alike use judgment all the time on who they let go or give a lesser offense to. It's a tournament where the fish is going to be released anyways and it is likely so close that it "could" have made 12 inches on some boards. There is no need to take the full force of the law at someone for that. I actually had this issue once. We had a fish that was 12 inches long on our board and it was literally a millimeter short on the official tournament board. We put the two boards next to each other and, sure enough, they were a millimeter off. Sure, I could have thrown it back because it was close, but it WAS 12 inches on my board, literally right on the line. We lost that fish plus a 1 pound penalty because I didn't know at the time that this particular club did courtesy checks before weighing (that is my fault). Technically, I guess I could have been fined for that. That's what I mean about a judgment call. Fining someone for that kind of thing is not protecting any fishery, it is being a jerk. Lucky for me, it wasn't a big deal.

Pennsylvania 8+ pounder.... I dream of someday getting one. That is awesome.

Strike King Rage Tail Brush Hog

That's absolutely ridiculous. Things like that are what turn people away from fishing. Someone makes a mistake and a fish misses length by 1/4 or 1/8 of an inch and they get hit with that?

I tried that before too and it was just too shaky. I haven't found the best spot yet, haha. The best is just being on the boat and mounting it to the boat.

I'm subscribing to your YouTube channel man! GoPro stuff is the best. Subscribe to mine and check some out! I fell in love with chatterbaits this year. For some reason I never gave them much of a try before. I have discovered that there is no better lure that you can move quickly through weeds and have it come through cleanly. I've already imagined a whole load of new uses for it to try this year.

I always tie direct. Snaps are just an extra point of failure. If you want to make it easier to tie a palomar on bigger lures with more hooks, just make a much bigger loop. It does waste an extra few inches of line but I think it is worth it.

HEY! A 2nd Zach from PA!! I'm from the Stroudsburg area.