Broc

Thats a rainbow. Notice the darkish spots on its darker back. But i have caught brookies that look silver kinda like that.

I caught my first few grayling this previous fall. I wish i had a picture to post because one in particular had a big beautiful blue dorsal fin.

Really any jerkbait will work but i suggest rapalas (origional/jointed/husky jerk) from like 2-6 inches long. If you are casting i'd use a countdown type jerkbait. These work really well too.... http://dynamiclures.com/hd-trout/ I caught the trout in my profile pic on about a 5 inch long floating rapala. ive caught 10 inch trout on the same lure.

I'd say this has to do more-so with fishing in general but certainty applies to bass. 1)The age old question, you catch that monster trophy fish/bass from your dreams... do you keep it/mount it? 2)What if you gut/gill hook it and it has absolutely no chance of survival. Do you keep it/eat it? what if it isn't within the slot limit, but at the same time have ZERO chance of being caught if you do? 1 - Personally if i could afford to mount a fish, i would go with a replica.... but really depends on the lake. If im muskie fishing on a smallish lake (less than say... 25,000 acres. like Cass lake) i would always release because i know how genetics play a role in a trophy fishery. 2- If i could afford it and its a monster fish i would certainty mount it.... But last summer i was walleye fishing up in LOTWs Canada and gill hooked about a 35.75 inch pike. Slot limit says 1 over 36 inches... but it was bleeding out badly and I literally spent 15-20 minutes trying to revive it. i was in very remote with very slim chance of being checked for fish, so i filleted it on an island and ate its delicious steaks. So theoretically if you legally catch a big fish? is there a certain size you would kill it to mount it??? or if you accidentally kill a fish, do you mount/eat it? even if breaking the laws but with no chance of being caught?

Gotta love it. catch his grandma!

I've been catchin some monsters trolling muskie sized rapala swimbaits here out in wyoming and have witnessed an honest 19 lbs brown trout caught this year and have herd multiple stories of some 30+ pound brown trout and lake trout caught in a local lake... not surprised at all. So far its been a great fall. Hoping to catch a couple more 10+ pounders on some egg pattern flies. Havent caught a double digit trout on a fly rod yet. The Kokanee Salmon are all spawning up, gnarly looking. and big trout are on an egg binged feeding frenzy............ btw, im 6'4" 240lbs to give some reference to my profile pics size. fish had an 18 inch girth. honestly pretty close to an average sized fish in this lake, a few pounds bigger though..... average 6 or 7 pounds. they fatten up quick from feshwater shrimp and the really big ones from 2-3 pound rainbows. fillets taste like wild pacific salmon. God i love wyoming, absolutely beautiful with world class trout fishing. Grayling and good sized splake are hittin things up as well... not to mention awesome walleye fishing in glendo and pathfinder. cant wait to ice fish some lakers in flaming gorge. or some some rainbow up to 20 lbs in the miracle mile! BTW, check out my profile. I'll take you fishing so you can enjoy the experience!!!

Where i currently live, i bet you'd have a better chance of winning the lottery and then getting struck my lightning on your way to the bank.

Has anyone ever had any luck catching tiger muskies in colorado? I live within an hour or 2 from estes park. Supposedly Lake Estes has tiger muskies.

Adults can swim 30 mph bursts in about 2 kicks of the tail. Its alot of fun when you can watch them T-bone your lure. They can crush it.

Pike destroy all lures. I had one strip nearly off all the balsa wood off the back end of a brand new rapala shad rap once. They bite the skirts off of new spinners, and rip apart plastic. they can easily bite through 50 pound braided line. Bring extra gear when fishing pike waters haha.

Lately I've been having fun targeting other species using typical bass rigs and techniques. I was up in Canada a few weeks back and was flipping a 1/2 oz football jig tipped with a chigger craw over rock piles for walleye. I was killing it too, caught the biggest walleye of the trip doing it. I have also flipped Texas rigs in rivers for trout, and have caught some really nice 20+ inch cutthroats doing so. I guess i love finding new ways to catch the same fish. Also, i think pike spoons are a really underrated bass lure... just saying .

also according to Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, tournament mortality rates less than 14% during ideal conditions is considered a success. Poorly handled fish during warm water can result in greater than 26% mortality rate. - Cant copy/paste the website because its a pdf. But google 'mortality rates bass tournaments', and its like the 3rd link down.

Yeah i've seen my fair share of ''failed'' releases of all species of fish. When water temperatures warm, especially during the summer months its best to have your release tools, scale, and camera easily accessible. I always wet my hands when handling fish to reduce slime take off. slime is very important part of the fish's immune system. Just saying pulling a fish from cover is nothing flopping around on warm ,dry carpet. It makes a huge difference when it is touching objects that are wet, compared to dry. But sure it is going to happen. Mortality is part of fishing. It's just best to be as efficient as possible.

I'm not sure if im interpenetrating your question right but i start out with with search lures, lures that cover a lot of water quickly. Personally i start with a spinner because you can fish it in so many different ways. Steady, erratic, fast,slow,deep,shallow and in basically ever type of structure.. Once i locate fish i might switch to a lure that is a bit more specialized for the structure i am fishing. Examples, cranks on sunken rocks. jigs/texas rigs near timber. Frog's over pads or slop.... Or even just stick to my spinner, ha. But if you are talking about 'basics' of bass fishing. I started with a spinner and pretty much stuck with that for years when i did go bass fishing.... but bass usually wasn't my target species at the time. Believe it or not, i then started using a super top raider (a massive 9'' 3.5 ounce muskie prop lure) because i caught a lot of big bass while muskie fishing, it worked pretty well actually. I got some pretty funny looks throwing a duck sized lure that leaves a boat sized wake in 10 acre lakes haha. But then naturally after i turned onto bass fishing i moved to more traditional bass lures. I think poppers, cranks, flukes and traps first. Then plastic soon after. To this day i am still trying to learn and practice new and old techniques as much as i possibly can. Whats the point of having a box full of tackle if you only know how to work a few lures?

I'm fairly new to jig fishing as well, just started this summer. Probably obvious to jig fishermen, but i found that matching size of jig and size of trailer based on the cover you are fishing. If im flippin and punching through patches in grass i use a fairly heavy jig with a low profile trailer so the jig steadily falls through the cover, staying in the strike zone to the bottom. If im flippin/pitchin any structure with open water (timber, outside line of weed walls) i use a bigger trailer, like a big creature/craw so the jig falls slower, with more vibration. IDK, just keep trying i guess. Just read that you have rock structure on your lake. Start there, bounce it from the top to the bottom of the rocks (like a crawfish). Jigs are designed for cover. Maybe throw a deep crank or heavy lead weight and try to feel out any hidden logs or rocks in the open water.

Double willow blade spinner, copper blades in stained water, silver in clear... dont really care much about the skirt color, but usually use green/combination.

just saying, there are actually 7 species of bullhead. Yellow, brown, black are the common bullheads but there are also white, snail, flat, and spotted bullheads.

rock bass... they dont interbreed. Rock bass are genetically closer to crappie and sunfish than 'black' bass.

Yeah i guess its an out... but for me, fishing is much more than that. its a life style.

I have been keeping a super specific log for muskies for years, and am now starting a simpler log for bass. For my detailed muskie log i keep track of every fish seen and/or caught. i include everything from, water and air temp, general wind speed and direction, water clarity, location (rocks, weeds, weed lines, depth, drop offs....), time of day, barometric pressure, size, and lure used. This really helps with patterns when fishing gets tough. Yeah i know, i go overboard but when you put in an average of 10-40 hours per fish caught its worth it. I dont think you have to be nearly as specific for bass, but simple estimations of water temp and clarity, weather, structure, lure used... would be a good place to start after catching a nice fish.

not cheating but boring as hell.

Yes, i do like to fish during full moons HOWEVER in my opinion, Weather > Sun rise/set > Moon phase Honestly i dont pay a whole lot of attention to moon phase other than look up at the sky. From my experience current weather patterns have a much greater effect on the fishing. Although sun rise, sun set, moon rise, moon set can certainty open up brief feeding windows on tough days.

God id be afraid to know how much i spend. I know ive spent at least 3000 easy, this summer alone. but fishing is pretty much what i live for so im ok with it.

If it is your first summer, I think you just need more experience catching fish in general. Over time you develop a better sense of 'feel' and your hooking percentages should increase with practice.