mddrew88

Yeah I wouldn't go any less than 12 lb mono, but I prefer 20 lbs because I fish in and around weed beds. : The specs on your reel: LV 2506 4.8 (71cm) 7+1(3 CRBB) 205 3 PE 0.8-130, 1-100, FLURO 4lb-170m, 6lb-100m I'm no expert but it looks a bit on the light side.

Look at the bright side, now every time you wear it you (and everyone within 30 yards) will know you're a true bass fisherman. Or garlic harvester. lol

I heard its not uncommon to pull 8-10 # bass out of there, with the average being about 4-5 #. Yeah I'm jealous.

You'll have to reply when you get back with what you caught. Bring a scale! I'm kinda curious, I've never heard of such.

Sounds like my idea of a Disney vacation right there. Have fun.

I'd have to come to an agreement not to call while I'm fishing. It's one thing to have an emergency but for trivial things...yeah I wouldn't be happy.

I've never really noticed a bad smell from bass that regular hand soap wouldn't remedy. If you still smell rank after that then it might not be your hands fault.

Not knowing anything else about the lake I'd start on those pads with a hollowbody weedless frog or texas rigged worm, 6-8 am and pm.

Yep

Yeah I would think you could have at least identified your gear and they would give it back after the investigation.

Fish like that make me want to just dive off into the water after them. lol I guess we've all been there, seeing our potential pb slip away. Don't give up, it'll be twice as sweet when you bring him in one day.

That's hilarious. Maybe someone read about fishing with soft plastic worms and got confused. Was it Texas rigged? lol!

Welcome, and nice fish. You'll catch some more LMB. If it makes you feel any better I've never caught a SMB, there's only LMB around here.

I had a cheap Zebco reel completely disintegrate on me while reeling in a pretty sizable fish. I threw everything down and started reeling in by hand and then he shook it off. I was not a happy camper.....err fisherman.

Some years it doesn't start cooling off til about November. Then again we never get snowfall this far south, but having lived in the sierra mountains before I'm just fine with that!

Finders keepers? Or did you give it back?

It's cooling off? In E. TX it's far from over. We're still seeing 95+ days and its been like this for the past month and a half at minimum. Hope it comes soon.

Found a 30 lb snapping turtle hooked to my topwater once. That was fun to reel in, thought I had a lunker. As far as gear, there's all kinds of lures stuck in the trees around this pond. Never found anything of real worth. As someone else said I'd like to find a decent Abu one day fingers crossed.

Best way to not feel so bad about it is to only go at peak times, sunrise and sunset, and probably better if you go only at sunrise. Stay a few hours and leave before you waste all day. After a while you'll realize when its just not gonna happen, especially if you've gave multiple lures a shot and no bites. I got skunked this morning by a double digit. Bass-tard ate my hula popper for the third time and snapped my 12 lb test. I saw his massive head come up out of the water and he exploded under and popped that line like he wasn't even trying. That was my third hula popper I've lost in about 2 weeks. Needless to say, yeah I'm ticked. Time for some new line.

I'm not exactly sure I understand fully what's going on here. Are you saying its breaking the line or comes untied? Is the reel freezing up mid cast and then it snaps when it runs out of slack? What kind of knot are you using to tie the lure/hook on? You didn't use any old line did you? I always make 10 loops in each knot, pull the 'noose' tight and then another knot the same way. So two knots with 10 loops each. Like I said though, I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Maybe its a reel issue (no pun intended). I agree with roadwarrior, sounds like some funky line. Normally you don't get coils in the line unless you realllly stretch it out by hand.

Do you guys anchor your kayaks or free float? I ask because I've recently been fishing my pond out of a 12' aluminum canoe and the wind blows me all over the d**n place.

Thanks for the help here guys. I think I was a little quick to jump the gun, there's definitely bass here. They just needed the temps to cool down some (We've had several 100 degree days in a row). I just got back from catching a 1-10 bass on a yellow magic popper. Amazing how a bass even that small can make your day. About the bluegill, I tried a size 6 hook with bits of nightcrawlers and nothing, absolutely zip after several locations and 3+ hours. Also tried a few nymphs but no bueno. I don't really care anymore though, I stayed away from their schools and used the popper in the still waters to get a few bites and the catch. Now I know. Oh, I forgot to mention the pond is clay bottom and stays turbid almost year 'round. Adding catfish would probably mean perma choco water.

Lol, I'd like to keep my remaining bass not make them food. Would be fun to catch though.

What kind of artificial lure would you guys suggest to get the gills to biting? If I have to keep putting crawlers on they'll run me out of house and home before long. There's just way too many for real bait I think.

Hah, yeah I was about to ask do you mean what do we think of the bass or the girl. Both look to be keepers to me. Nice bass. Seems like the women always have the better luck.