everythingthatswims

I am pretty much at a loss for words after what I experienced today. A friend took me to a lake and we did some kayak fishing with two other guys, and let me tell you this place was something special. Between the 4 of us we landed between 75 and 85 largemouth. I would say 80% of those were on flipping jigs. The lake has lots of flooded bushes, and the bass would either sit on them or just out from them in slightly deeper water. I personally landed 23, 3 on a shakey head, 20 on a 3/8oz black and blue flipping jig with a living rubber skirt and a baby paca chunk trailer. The best 5 between 4 of us went 19.3lbs, my best five were 15 and change. The average fish there is 15-16", I only caught 3 fish shorter than 15 today, absolutely mind boggling. Not bad at all for kayak fishing in northern West Virginia in February! Both of these fish were 4lbs One of several doubles And my thumb matches the head on my jig!

I have definitely witnessed large fish coming completely out of the water chasing shad. It only happens when they are eating larger 4-5" shad, which should be present this time of year. I would try a big white spinnerbait or maybe even a light weight Alabama rig with white swimbaits and big blades. Yum makes one with Colorado blades on it.

When you feel like someone is stealing the air out from in front of your face while you try to breathe, you are probably going 50+ in a bass boat in sub 40 air temps with just a face mask on because you're too cheap to buy a save phace. I am very familiar with that feeling

The Damiki Rig has been around for quite a while, I'm not sure where it originated but it definitely seems to be a good ol' boy technique for Tennesee winter smallmouth.

I have been keeping up with the elite series tournament on Cherokee that is currently taking place and I am puzzled. I know the damiki rig is known to be deadly in that area of the country but I don't understand why I am not seeing much drop shot fishing going on. People are video game fishing and I would assume a drop shot could fit the bill just as well? I have never seen guys in the elite series fishing the damiki rig and now it seems like they all are. Anybody have an explanation?

It's an ongoing joke I have with some of the guys on here, you're in on it now!

The guys on here love vlog style youtube fishing content

Most people say March and April are the best big bass months. I catch my biggest fish between May and August. The High School National Championship on Kentucky Lake was won by two kids from Colorado throwing floating jerkbaits on spinning rods with braid to 20lb mono leaders, they were catching huge smallmouth in less than 5 feet of 85-90 degree water. I came within 12 ounces of them throwing a spinnerbait in the same areas catching largemouth. Most of my fish were in 3' and I never caught one deeper than 7'. "Ledge fishing capitol of the country!"

"attacking the company in a public forum is not appropriate nor allowed. Such posts will be removed."

I usually rig up the night before if it's a legitimate "fishing trip"

Not all of these are from this past year, but these are some of my favorites.

I can't imagine a shad rap holding up to a calico, that's nuts! It also looks like a filter was used on this photo which would make the color look like something it isn't.

My favorite time to try new areas is in the spring because even if you don't catch them, the big girls will often reveal themselves. I fish a lake that is extremely frustrating, about the same size as this one, in the spring if you walk the bank you will see a 30lb limit every time, but my biggest out of there is less than 5lbs. I have hooked 3 big ones but despite many days there, it hasn't come together yet. I'm convinced that some bodies of water just have smart fish, regardless of pressure.

I guess there are a bunch of different reasons as to why I do it, but my favorite example is from the High School National Championship this summer... When we launched in the morning, something came over me that I had never experienced before. Something about knowing that I was there with the best in the country, competing at the highest level possible for me at that time, but mainly how hard I had worked to get there, and remembering all of the things that fell into place for me to get there. I am usually pretty good at keeping my emotions to myself, but on this particular morning, when we pulled out of the marina and headed down the lake on plane, there were definitely some tears streaming down my face, and they weren't from the 70mph run. That doesn't really ever happen to me, but everything about it felt right. I know it's outlandish and most people laugh at the idea of fishing for a living, but you can bet that I will do my best to scratch and claw my way there with everything I've got. They say "you've got to want it", and trust me, I do.

I can usually find someone at the boat ramp with a 5 gallon bucket willing to take a fish that was hooked deep off my hands

My friend and I took a few cans of corn to the river today and got into some carp. There is a yellow/orange one that lives with a school of probably 50 fish, and it's now my goal to catch that one before spring. I've got nothing but time and those fish are the only ones around here we are catching. My friend hooked a fish today that he didn't turn at all, the fish peeled 40 yards of line on one run before wrapping him in something out in the river channel and breaking him off, I have no idea how big that one was, because the 19lb one that I caught was pretty easy to handle! Top fish was 19 and change, bottom was 13 and change.

That's a mean pair of fish to be on one bait

I would just use something small that you can drag on the bottom. If I am fishing an area that I know has bass, I will drag a bait a few inches then count like I would with a jerkbait before moving it again. Painfully slow but effective, and it sounds like you know where the fish are. A little gulp minnow under a float is a good winter bass technique too, I've caught a lot of them with a 1" gulp minnow on a 1/64-1/16oz head under a float.

Not sure how I did that with a jig.

Woah! You weren't fishing 4 mile run were you? Edit: I just saw that your favorite body of water is 4 mile. Good job, I have heard it's tough fishing.

Y'all ready for pro qualifiers on backorder?

Maybe higher end mono doesn't stretch as much, but the stuff I have used sure does. I have fished many techniques side by side with the same lb test mono vs fluoro, and mono really seems like a rubber band to me. I tend to avoid it for anything but topwater now. With a big swimbait or Alabama rig on 20lb mono, I can feel the line stretch when the rod loads on a cast (not the case with fluoro). As far as hooksets go on a jig or t-rig when using 15, 17, and 20lb line, the hook is driven in significantly harder on fluoro and you can't feel the line stretch like a rubber band when you set it. Edit: the test linked above was stretching lines for very long periods of time, a hook set or cast doesn't last more than a second, so maybe elasticity would be a better term?

FC stretches the same as mono? Hundreds of thousands of fishermen would say otherwise.

4lb seaguar red label is the diameter of 2lb mono, it casts significantly further than other 4lb lines, and it has low stretch. That would be my recommendation.

Congrats. Welcome to the club