Djman72

i almost threw up

I love zoom baits, they are cheaper than most and catch just as many fish. As for types, trick works, flukes, and most of their creature baits. Love Rebel Pop-r's and anything rapala is almost always quality but $$$. I like strike king spinnerbaits and for roosters the only choice is mepps. Senko's are my goto stick baits but again, $$$. I like a lot of what lake fork makes I always seem to catch quality fish with their bait.

0-2 baby bass crank, I Forget the model.

Haha I guess this all that matters. Thing hit like a ton of bricks... Fish here in NW Indiana don't normally get this big. She was a trophy here for sure.

off to wally world

The best part of the picture is the beer in the coozee. Nice fish though, that's a hog inside of a hog.

Hello all, I was fishing with a buddy of mine on a lake that can be hit or miss. We were having terrible luck until the last 15 minutes of daylight, he caught a nice 2-3 pounder and then a few casts later I caught this fish. We didn't have a scale with us and, despite my buddies pleas, I released the fish instead of getting it mounted. (never liked killing a fish that I wasn't going to eat, especially one this pretty). This fish is undoubtedly my new PR as my previous one was just shy of 6. My friend and I guessed about 8-8.5 pds but I thought 'd post up here and see what you all thought. Please excuse my stupid face, I was beyond excited. As a reference, I'm 6'4 and about 250 pds.

abu silvermax and a berkley shock rod. Solid setup and should come in right around the $100 range. Both rod and reel can be used with other equipment easily, they are versatile.

pflugs all the way

I would keep it simple at the start, I've been bass fishing for 6 years and all of the lures are overwhelming to me as well. Do what's comfortable and don't over think things. Figure out what style of fishing you like and what style produces and expand from there. Good Luck!

Fishing, Cute girl I met and got them digits, and if the harsh Chicagoland winter killed off a large amount of bass in the shallow bodies of water I fish. Oh, and the Cubs.

Very nice! What kind of rod are you scoping out? What applications?

Pflueger Patriarch baitcasting reel Pflueger Supreme Spinning reel 2x Fenwick silverhawk rods 1x Fenwick HMG rod $75 in random soft plastics (mainly flukes and trick.ribbon tail worms) A few new spinners, jerkbaits, and cranks That about rounds me up. Seeing that all typed out kind of makes me sad I spent all that $$$. Oh well, as they say, "You've got to spend Romney to make Romney."

Pop-r T rigged anything. Lipless cranks Jerkbaits Spinnerbaits Weightless senko n trick worms

Just remember this! If you can see the fish, the fish can more than likely see you. Gotta be stealthy!

Retention ditch off of Calumet Bridge is bad. I was just there and more of the same. I went to Lake of the Meadows and that was a Disaster. My favorite place to fish around here is White Hawk Golf Course in CP. Needless to say it was saddening to see all the dead fish. Not many deep lakes within a short drive around here. Could be a rough fishing season with a lot of travel. Most of the lakes/ponds I fish are less than 8 feet deep.

I love my berkley rod. Hell, i've even taken it Salmon fishing and it held up outstanding. Great buy for the money.

Men, My diehard fishing buddy and I went out to our favorite golf course pond today to see if we couldn't get some fish to show themselves. We live in NW Indiana and the ice just broke on most of the waters around us. Had to 100 or so dead fish from all different kinds of species mainly crappie, bluegill, and bass. We fished a bit but it was like fishing a toxic lake with every 4-5 feet of shoreline we had numerous dead fish. Needless to say we didn't even see a living fishing let alone drag one out. We packed up and went to our other favorite honey hole across town and this lake was even worse. I lost count of all the dead mature bass washed up on the shore. Are we in for a rough fishing season? Anyone have any experience with this? I know the 02 levels get low with that much time under ice but man I swear it looked like half the fish population was wiped out. I know it gets colder in places farther north and people still catch great fish year in and year out, I was just in a bit of shock I've never seen anything quite that devastating on small ponds/lakes.

I was fishing from the bank yesterday (water temp 34*) The ice melted the day before. I had that itch and had to go cast around a bit knowing I wouldn't catch anything. I ended up catching one bass on a jerk bait fished as slow as humanly possible. Was a good day!

God Bless and watch over you and your family Mark. You'll have my prayers as well.

Zoom and Havoc, all you need! I have a pack or two of senko's when the fishing is tough but i try to only use them when the bite is dead.

I have these as well and they have done me well. They get a bit heavy/hot if you are fishing in the heat but aside from that I have no complaints. Great buy for the buck.

Fenwick HMG ML-F 6'10" I just got mine and love it $100 rod with great sensitivity and very lightweight. Plus you have money left over for other goodies.

Try a topwater bait like a Rebel Pop-r. When the fish are shallow chasing minnows this is my go-to. Also, as mentioned before flukes and senkos are great too.

Pink Floyd - Welcome to the Machine on repeat until I catch a fish. Then I move onto everything else by Floyd. Fish seem to like the acid inspired tunes!